Thanks for everyone that's supported me this past half-year in Journey of a Thousand Miles!
Final Chapter
"My story is a freedom song of struggle. It is about finding one's purpose, how to overcome fear and to stand up for causes bigger than one's self."
—Coretta Scott King
A week ago feels like an eternity ago. Several lifetimes' worth of shit has hit the fan since we last stepped foot on Mt. Silver. Blue's Arcanine hits the snow of the peak and his Aerodactyl lands at the same time. I have a jacket that protects me from the worst of the chill, and Oz seems unbothered this time around. After making a brief stop in Viridian City, I've gotten my Pokémon back, but the thought doesn't fill me with confidence.
"This place again," Oz says, looking around the barren mountaintop. The sky above is overcast, and after a few seconds, a light snow begins. He looks like he wants to say something else but he falls silent after.
"Nothing seems off here," Blue comments with his hands in his coat.
"That's what I thought," I say under my breath.
"That's what every Trainer sap thought," Oz adds bitterly, kicking a snowdrift. "So, Sean, do your thing."
"I have a thing?"
"You know, just piss off Arceus enough that it comes over. You did it before."
"It wasn't exactly on purpose. And you, you're as much a danger magnet as myself. You were the last 'Red.'"
"It wasn't exactly on purpose."
"And look, we're getting nowhere fast. We should—"
Whatever I was going to say, I don't remember, because the worse pain of all time shoots up my right arm, starting from my palm. My legs give out and I drop face first in the snow, and my hand burns so hot I can
feel it melting from the heat of Arceus' brand. Oz bends down and pulls me up by the jacket before I choke on the slush.
"What's happening to him?" Blue's already reaching for another Pokéball.
"It's his spider senses tingling." Oz's lips twitch as he looks up, where the light snow clouds are quickly turning grey. Slowly, the pain begins to abate, and I manage to get my limbs moving again. "Do we have a plan now?"
I can barely catch my breath and black spots taunt me at the edges of my vision. Coherent thoughts form and shatter before I know what they mean. "Same. Don't die. Didn't change."
"I'm no math whiz, but . . ." A familiar cry sounds from the heavens as the clouds part, and a white equine form descends from above. "I'm thinking our probability of getting out alive is dropping."
Arceus' hooves kick up huge clods of snow as it drops to the summit. Y
ou've returned to Mt. Silver. For your sake, I hope it means you've found a solution. Before we can respond—or stutter our way through a response, anyway—Arceus' gaze lands on Blue, who stares it down with the same intensity.
Pokémon Champion Blue.
"Champion is an old title for me," he says flippantly. "As for the solution . . ."
"We ain't got shit to show," Oz says bluntly.
A wave of energy ripples from Arceus, displacing the snow and sending us barreling into it. I push free, then his stomping hoof nearly takes me head off.
Conceited humans! I've warned you before, and now I will—
Arceus cuts itself off, and at the same time the pain returns with even more intensity. I feel my flesh burning, and even worse, I can smell it. My stomach clenches and I empty the contents of my stomach and traces of blood onto the ground, and it takes too much effort to not fall into it. Blue's Arcanine gives a shoulder, bringing me onto its warm back.
"This isn't good news," Oz says. I want to ask what in the absolute fuck made him think anything about this could have been good but I don't have the strength or focus.
"What is that?" Blue says with alarm. I didn't realize it before, but the mountain has begun to tremble perceptibly, and the faint cries of distant Pokémon echo in the air.
The Legendary Pokémon in the other world. The boundary is at its weakest now. There is barely anything to hold them at bay.
"How many Legendaries are we talking about?"
More of them than I can handle. Blue looks away at his Pokémon, then back at Arceus.
"If I become 'Red,' then . . .?"
"No! That's not an option." Oz steps forward and pushes him by the chest. Blue stumbles back a couple of steps before regaining his balance and staring on with incredulity.
"You brought me here to help fix this mess, didn't you?"
"
Fix it, not dig an even bigger hole. I'm not gonna let anyone else be stuck here as long as I'm ali—" He stops, swallows, then starts again: "As long as I have a say in it." He set his jaw and nodded, then turned to Arceus. "Get it? No one's gonna be in this position again. We're gonna fix this now."
You don't have the time. A greater tremor wracks the earth without ceasing, steadily growing in intensity until it feels like the mountain will be split in half.
No time indeed. The temperature drops even lower until icicles form on my eyelashes. A trail of black and red smoke slithers through the air and stops in front of Arceus, gathering itself until it forms an indistinct mass. Blue stumbles and almost falls before biting down on his knuckles hard enough to bring up blood. His pokémon, on the other hand, drop to the snow. Darkrai's eye sets on Oz, who steps back and tries to make himself smaller.
You're still alive, I see. Well, it's not as if I want you dead, the most recent one to keep me imprisoned. I'd rather you feel into an endless sleep, still alive to witness my dreams.
"Your nightmares," he corrects, but his voice is weak. "G . . . Guys, come on. This is our c-chance."
You want your ghosts to fight me? Something ghastly echoes from it—I think it's supposed to be a laugh.
You, who carries ghosts in your body. —Ghosts in your mind too, I see. Your nightmares . . . They're pleasant to the taste. The pain finally starts to disappear and I blindly grab for a Pokéball. Before I take one, a Shadow Ball strikes Darkrai from the side, causing its form to fall apart.
Be gone, Darkrai! Arceus bellows, raising its forehooves. Darkrai reforms at Oz's side with a low growl and reaches out to his shoulder. By this time, Blue has recovered, and he points at it with his bleeding hand.
"Aerodactyl, Thunder Fang!" His Aerodactyl races overhead before clamping on Darkrai's arm with a jaw full of crackling electricity. It pulls away with its arm disintegrating, then sets a murderous look on the Aerodactyl. Oz falls flat on his face and I scramble across the snow to get to him.
"Do you have a plan yet?" he grumbles, picking his face up and spitting out a clod of snow.
"We have to get Darkrai across the boundary. Then, if we can't stop the Pokémon from getting into our world, we try to keep them in theirs." He gives me a funny look as he tries to understand.
"You mean, going into the world with who knows how many murderous Legendary Pokémon to block them off, that's what you mean?"
"We'll have to confront them either way."
"Yes, but they'll have the home field advantage."
"Oz—"
"Yeah, yeah." Oz struggles for a moment before pushing himself up. Grit and Stein phase from his body to take up positions next to him. He offers me a hand up. "I trust your judgment."
I press the buttons on my Pokéballs one by one, releasing all my Pokémon. They first analyze the scene, Blue's Aerodactyl and now Arceus working to hold off Darkrai, then back at me. I don't feel too confident and Trainer-ish—I most likely look as shitty as I feel, if that's even humanly possible—but I stand my ground. "Look, you . . . guys, look, I haven't been the most . . . ideal Trainer, but I feel I should warn you now. What we're about to do is downright suicidal, so if any of you want to leave, do so now."
They look at each other with confusion and trepidation, communicating in the way only Pokémon can, and after a moment, Umbreon, Pikachu, Charizard, and Eelektross move backwards. As promised, I deactivate their Pokéballs, and they look back at me sadly before leaving the mountain. "Medicham, you won't . . .?" It—he—shakes his head. He was only a Meditite I caught to help with my research—I didn't expect him to stay knowing the consequences. He hears my thoughts and nods once.
We're friends, he says. I open my mouth to say . . . something . . . when another tremor wracks the earth, this time splitting the stone of the mountain into a chasm that grows wider by the second. Looking into it, the pain abruptly spikes in my palm, then . . . vanishes. At the same time, seven dots shine yellow from the gloom within with an odd robotic noise preceding. Then an Ice Beam that has the reach and power of a Hyper Beam shoots out, missing Darkrai in the air but freezing the Aerodactyl's back half and left wing. It gives a pained screech as it plummets.
"Aerodactyl!" Blue jumps forward to catch it and Medicham seizes it psychically, safely lowering it to the snow. Darkrai dives forward only to be launched off path by a Thunderbolt from Arceus. It trots forward and pulls up short of the fissure as Regice comes forth from the blackness. Faint outlines of colored plates circle Arceus before coming to a stop, and its golden appendages darken to red-orange. Oz's hand on my arm startles my attention back.
"This is our chance!" He points down into the fissure. "We just have to get Darkrai down there, right?"
"Regice too now, but that's the gist of it." I pull my necklace from inside my shirt and clench the stone. "Medicham, Mega Evolve." With a flash of light, he becomes Mega Medicham. "Help Arceus keep Regice down, alright? Oz and I will handle Darkrai."
"Because, ya know, we've been doing a stellar job," he says dryly, electricity crackling up and down his arms.
"Can your body still—?"
"I'm gonna go out anyway—might as well be with a bang than a whimper."
Medicham joins Arceus, who is using a variety of Fire-type attacks to drive Regice back, but its exterior is as hard as granite. With Medicham's psychic abilities added to the mix, it begins to budge. Oz discharges a mass amount of electricity, stunning Darkrai long enough for Grit to encase it in ice, but a small hole allows it to disintegrate and flow through as smoke. I take my eyes from his battle and onto mine.
"Medicham, use Force Palm."
"Cham!" Medicham pushes off and drives its hand into Regice's face. Regice maintains its levitation and drives an arm into Medicham's abdomen, throwing him backwards into the snow. Regice prepares another Ice Beam before Stein collides into it as a whirring ball of violet fire. He doesn't have too much momentum behind him, but the momentary distraction gives time for Medicham to recover and strike out with Dynamic Punch.
"It's been a while since I've done this Trainer-Pokémon thing," Stein says, coming to my side. "Sorry if I'm a little rusty. You know my moves, right?"
"I helped to program the newest Pokédex. What do you think?"
"Touché."
Regice uses Ice Beam much faster than before, probably learning from its mistake, but Medicham is ready with Light Screen, causing the attack to scatter against the psychic barrier. "Stein, Flamethrower, while it's occupied." Stein times his Flamethrower with Arceus' and they coalesce to form one attack that hits Regice right in the center. It's knocked off balance as a result and slams into the snow with its face dimming from yellow to dark red. "Medicham, quick! While it's unconscious, us—"
"
Re-gi-iiice." Regice's face blinks white twice as energy builds around it. Stein's flames snap and pop like fireworks, and I later realize it's out of terror. Medicham forms a psychic barrier around me seconds before Regice explodes, but it shatters nearly instantly and I'm thrown back headfirst into stone. Pain lances through my skull, then I don't feel anything.
____
"Sean? Dude, that's a lot of blood."
"—Oz?" I try to open my eyes but there's something caked across them.
"Regice exploded, and you cracked your skull. It doesn't look . . . Okay, I'm gonna be honest: I'm not a doctor, but that's a lot of fucking blood. Some of it froze across your eyes because of the temperature—hold on. Stein, c'm'ere."
"Where . . . are those two?" A warm flame moves across my eyes and I feel the blood begin to melt.
"Um, yeah, about those
two . . ."
I open my eyes when the blood is gone—and realize I'm upside-down. In a black space. Oz is stand—
floating close by with Stein and Grit nowhere to be seen. His expression is tenser than I'm used to. "When Regice used Explosion, a lot of the mountain crumbled into that hole it came out of. You and your Medicham were knocked out and fell in, so we came after you guys. Darkrai and Regice too—they were unconscious too. But as soon as they . . . dropped in, they disappeared. All the Pokémon."
"What?"
"Yeah, exactly."
"Blue too?"
"He's still up top. His Pokémon reacted quickly."
"Wait, you said we fell in? So, this is . . ."
"The world were the Legendaries live," he finishes. "Can't be anything else. Although it looks a little sparse in the 'Legendary' department." He looks at my hand. "That mark isn't hurting anymore?" I start; I'd almost forgotten about it.
"No, it's . . . fine."
Oz is maybe about to refute that, then his eyes lock on something behind me. I can't find my balance to turn around—I guess it's easier for him considering how much experience he has with ghosts—but it doesn't matter anyway, because a fucking
tentacle coils around my ankle and yanks me backwards before any of us can react.
Human, it's human. Spun around, I come face-to-face with Deoxys, who is looking at me like a science project. I spot movement from the corner of my eye and Oz shouts in surprise.
Two humans. Shiny Rayquaza, and it's coiled around Oz.
They hafta be the ones that brought in those Pokémon.
"Where are my—ack!" Oz chokes off and goes rigid as Rayquaza's body tightens around his chest.
You did screw with Darkrai and Regice—it makes sense we screw with your buddies in return . . . right? it said bitterly. Oz's eyes flash and electricity surges from beneath his skin. Rayquaza rears back with a surprised noise, releasing him in the process. Deoxys moves and I kick out reflectively. It feels like kicking granite, and its grip doesn't even falter.
Restless human, it says.
Rest, human. One of its tentacles whips me across the back of my head, right on top of that open wound. My vision goes white, and—what? Some minutes pass? Like I'm a damn timekeeper.
I'm so useless. Shit, I need to think of something. My brain is melting out of my ears— I need to think. Of something. We're outnumbered, outmatched, not outsmarted.
"Leggo of me or I swear ya'll regret it! Hey, leggo!" I force my eyes open to see Pong with no electricity around it, only a miniscule orange form held between Giratina's claws. Oz's body is floating belly-up like a dead fish, and from what I can see, he's not breathing. With no Pokémon to support his life—
Can't focus on that. Have to think. Brain melting— Have to think. Think past the pain. How can it touch Pong? He's a Ghost-type—but so is Giratina. No, that thing at the hospital could possess Grit, her being a Ghost-type as well. It must be a power aspect, or a surprise aspect. One. Or the other. Have to find the others first, then we have a chance. Need to drive out the other Legendaries.
Still dangling from Deoxys' grip, I stare at my palm where Arceus' mark is charred and dull. I've never been the luckiest person around, otherwise I wouldn't be in this godforsaken situation to begin with, but this is my last chance, so by the law of averages, the universe has to give me a break.
"Arceus, if you can still hear me, make something happen."
What did human say? Deoxys' eyes focus on me and two of its tentacles merge together into a human arm and hand, which moves frighteningly close to my face. I grab its wrist and kick it as hard as I can, this time in its core. It releases me and leaps backwards.
"Arceus!"
Watch where you're jumping around! Deoxys is shoved forward as another Pokémon comes from the gloom. Genesect; more importantly, it has Stein balanced on its head and Medicham slung over its shoulder. Pong streaks through the space in a jagged pattern; he almost makes it to them before a stray bolt of lightning strikes him off-path.
Only one can bend electricity here and that is me, says Thundurus. Pong growls and his form distorts even more until he's a ball of white electricity, and he vanishes the next second. Thundurus snaps straight and starts discharging electricity all over the place, striking Rayquaza, Giratina, Deoxys, and Genesect.
"Well there ya go!" Thundurus says with Pong's static-y voice. "
Only one can bend electricity my ass."
"Pong!" I shout over the crackle of static. He looks at me with surprise.
"Yer still alive?"
"Shut up. Don't lose focus."
"Yea." Rayquaza roars angrily and lashes out with its tail, but Thundurus is faster. He turns to electricity and passes between the shocked Legendaries to bowl over Genesect, taking Stein and Medicham as he goes. With a quick shock, they're both revived.
"Stein, move fast! Medicham—" Deoxys interrupts by coiling its tentacles around me, forcing the air from my lungs and cracking a few ribs. Before my intestines pop out, a Shadow Ball whirls around me and catches it in the side, weakening it, then Medicham delivers a Hi Jump Kick to its face. He extricates its tentacles telekinetically and pulls me aside before releasing another Shadow Ball that strikes Deoxys in its core, causing its form to melt into an orange and teal pool.
"Cham," he says with concern, turning my head to examine the injury.
"It's . . . fine. Really." He sighs and shakes his head, then his gaze is drawn to Oz. I swallow and focus on the task at hand. Pong is still creating chaos, firing lightning bolts all over the place, and as the mayhem grows, more Pokémon make themselves known one by one. One of them, Heatran, has Grit's prone form. "Stein, cause as much trouble as you can. We need to draw out Dialga and Palkia—namely Palkia."
"Because . . . Palkia is the Space Pokémon," Stein says slowly, then his flames burst with excitement. "I get it! We possess Palkia, get ourselves out and lock them up in one fell swoop."
"You got it." Of course, there is a possibility that Palkia isn't here. I try not to think about it. "Medicham, you're going up against Heatran. We need Grit back. You're gonna have to—" My hand clasps on air around my throat. My Key Stone is gone, probably fallen onto the mountain. ". . . Never mind. We can handle this."
Because I hate to think what'll happen if we can't.
Thundurus finally ejects Pong from its body, but with the noise created by Stein/Rayquaza bucking madly and lashing his tail at everything within reach, and also by Medicham's flurry of melee attacks directed at Heatran, Pong quickly finds a new possession in Giratina. While it roars and pitches a fit trying to shake him off, I go to Oz. He's cold again, like in the Indigo Plateau, and his lips are a faint blue from asphyxiation. There is a network of scratches and mars on his chest and blood crusting under his fingernails.
Did he choke to death? Of all the ways this reckless, pig-headed, compassionate-to-a-fault boy could've died . . .
My body feels heavy and sluggish, the shock and blood loss finally taking hold past the adrenaline, but I make a decision right there: I'm going to bring Oz back to his family, no matter what.
Heatran is knocked backwards and Medicham grabs Grit psychically, moving her back towards me before blocking Heatran's next attack. Grit wakes up and quickly rights herself, looking at me before her eyes find Oz. She gapes with her mouth open but no words come out. Somehow, I feel obligated to apologize.
"It's . . . It's our fault, not yours." She looks like she has a lot to say, but she only closes her eyes and lets out a frosty breath. "So, what is the plan?"
"Possess the Legendaries and make everything turn to shit." She nods once, then fades out of sight. I can track her location again when several spears of ice shoot from underfoot, causing the nearby Entei and Mewtwo to dodge out of the way. Deoxys recovers at this point, but Grit makes ample challenge for it. No Legendary can retaliate without being either possessed or attacked by the Pokémon on our side.
We're losing? You're kidding! Rayquaza bellows. Grit catches it with an Ice Beam, causing it to roar and thrash until the ice slows its movements.
Augh! Stupid—fucking—
Another roar sounds, but it's definitely not Rayquaza's. Energy ripples through the air, preceding a widespread energy attack that sends Heatran and Thundurus flying across the space. The next attack comes from far across that origin point, a torrent of water that clears the area and reduces Deoxys to goop again and instantly extinguishes Entei's flames.
Now you idiots have done it, Giratina says with a growl.
Of all the Pokémon to bring up—!
Dialga appears first, its appendages glowing bright blue as it roars. Palkia is next with a purple aura lining its limbs. They don't seem to notice any other Pokémon, only roaring and growling at each other. Palkia lashes forward and slashes at air, causing the space to ripple and warp so badly I have to close my eyes in fear of throwing up my intestines. A sudden cold gust and the smell of ozone brings me back to reality.
"Shit! What?" Pong starts zipping through the air because we—our side plus the other Legendary Pokémon—are falling—no shit,
falling—from a few hundred feet above Mt. Silver's summit. Oz nearly overtakes me before Grit and Stein grab hold of him. I look down through the freezing air in my eyeballs and see an odd form racing towards us—slowly, I make it out as Blue on his Aerodactyl. I roll around to have my back facing the ground, and I see Dialga and Palkia still fighting within the clouds. Blue reaches us just as Dialga glows an even brighter blue and opens his mouth for an ear-splitting roar that again causes the space around us to warp and twist. He grabs my extended arm and pulls me astride his Pokémon as the scene blurs to the outside of the Indigo Plateau.
"My god," he whispers in awe. The doors open and a figure exits, a figure I can't quite make out from our height. They don't appear to notice the loud sounds of fighting coming from Dialga and Palkia. "This is . . . twenty years ago," Blue adds.
"Dialga is the Temporal Pokémon. Their fighting must be taking us through time and space."
"Yeah . . ." His Aerodactyl lowers enough for me to see that the figure is Blue himself, about twenty years younger. Right when the doors are about to shut, another figure runs out, one with a bright red cap and a Charizard trailing behind him. They have an inaudible dialogue exchange that ends with Blue yelling at Red before storming away. Blue looks like he wants to give chase but spots the other Legendaries attempting to flee from the Sinnoh Pokémon's splash zone. Pong tries to block them, soon aided by Grit, but there are a lot of Pokémon to keep track of. "Gyarados, help them!" He tosses a Pokémon and his Gyarados starts a fast circuit around the Pokémon, blocking them in a twister. Soon enough, Palkia's next attack rends space yet again.
"Can't you possess Palkia and stop this already?" I ask Stein. We're above an ocean and Dialga and Palkia are still mindlessly fighting.
"Not like this. It might, I don't know, send me to Uranus or something. It has to be off-guard and not mid-attack."
"Got it." Blue draws another Pokéball as Dialga and Palkia rush each other. As soon as they make contact a screeching sound rends the air, followed by a rush of visual vertigo. I feel like I'm falling for a second, then it stops. A flash of red crosses my vision and I follow it to where Blue's Alakazam manifests between Dialga and Palkia. They brought all of us back to the Legendaries' space, although I doubt it was on purpose, and I only hope it's the correct time.
What is this!? Dialga exclaims, rearing back on its hind legs.
This battle is between Dialga and I! Palkia bellows. His Alakazam doesn't respond, only straightens and holds his spoons out. Dialga prepares another Roar of Time; Palkia does its Spatial Rend. As soon as they fire, Alakazam puts up dual Light Screens, bouncing their attacks back. Dialga leaps backwards to dodge the blast, which is when Grit sends a curved stream of ice in from its side, wrapping around its torso and legs like a fist and leaving only its head exposed. It roars and pitches a fit, but being a Dragon-type, the ice has it immobilized.
Blue's Gyarados, catching on, shoots over to Palkia and hits it with Ice Beam. Palkia, on the other hand, is partially a Water-type, and the ice's effect is diluted: it quickly breaks free and strikes back with Thunderbolt. Gyarados quickly plummets, and as Grit advances in its place, Palkia summons a field of jagged rocks and launches them forward. Blue's Aerodactyl stops most of them, but the attack is quick and easily pierces through her body. She shouts in pain as she falls.
"Grit!" Stein rushes to catch her, leaving me to catch Oz's body. Palkia fires a widespread Flamethrower, and Stein guards Grit with his body. The fire absorbs into his translucent head and makes his flames explode with light and heat. Purple fire explodes at Palkia's feet and encapsulate it.
Ha! This will not halt me! It dispels the fire with a wave of its hand and dual rings of water that heal the minor burns it suffered.
"Don't go swimmin' when there's a lightnin' storm brewin'." Pong comes up behind it and explodes into electricity that latches onto its Aqua Ring and surrounds it like—ahem—divine intervention. Palkia roars with pain and falls onto one knee, which is when the electricity abruptly vanishes. It's completely still for two seconds before snapping its head towards me.
"Got 'im," it says with Pong's voice. With everything quiet now, the other Legendary Pokémon find it within themselves to be angry at us yet again.
"Pong, get us out of here
now."
"Yeah, I don't wanna spend another second here either." He flexes Palkia's claws before charging forward, running past me to tear into the space around us. A white scar opens in the blackness and he gestures us to it. Stein quickly rushes by with Grit as the Legendaries advance behind him; Blue's Alakazam works to hold them off long enough for the others to get through, leaving him, Pong and myself. "What are ya waitin' fer? Get yer ass through, bonehead! I'll make it back an' seal the deal too." Pong shoves me forward with a growl, and I land face-first in the snow. A second body lands on top of me, then my ears pop with the sound of one last spatial distortion.
"Everyone alright?" Blue asks, and I hear him returning a Pokémon. I pull up but I can't see Pong or his Alakazam.
"Did they—?" A third frigging body hits me on the back of the head on top of my possibly infecting head wound, knocking me into the snow once more.
"Hehe, sorry 'bout that, ya." I have no further urge to try. "Y'all okay?"
"Yup, we all made it," Stein says, happy but tired. "That side is closed up?"
"Locked up tighter'n a bank. I made Palkia tear up space one more time, and Alakazam over there reflected it with Light Screen, so when we jumped out, the door was shut behind us. As long as no one goes screwin' with these Pokémon anymore, they're stuck in there."
"Oh thank god. And speaking of him . . . where's he gone? He didn't follow us down there, so—?"
I hear Arceus' cry in the heavens followed by two unfamiliar noises. I look up and see it descending with Latios and Latias alongside it. It hits the snow and gazes at us, then at the chasm that still remains.
I suppose the Calvary has come too late.
"What the hell were ya doin', nappin'?"
Time passes differently within that space—faster. By the time I've recruited more Pokémon, you all were shifting through space and time. I've already dispatched Ho-oh and Lugia and Suicune to investigate those points for any further distortions. Latios, Latias, make sure no Pokémon has escaped into the immediate area. They take off with incredible speed in opposite directions from the mountain. It looks down again.
How did you manage to seal the hole?
"With a lotta shit. Hey, Stein, Gri—" Pong goes quiet and stills in the air. I follow his eyes to where Stein and Grit lay on the snow. Stein looks fine, but Grit is fading in and out of sight uncontrollably.
"She fought harder than the rest of us," he says quietly. His flames are nearly dulled to nothing. "Used up a lot of energy doing it, and us ghosts are existing on borrowed time as it is."
"Oz is gone. I don't have any other reason to stay in this world." She says that, but her voice trembles a little. Stein and Pong look at each other.
"She's right," Pong says. Stein's flames dim and he glances at Oz.
"Yeah . . . we don't have a reason to stay anymore." Blue looks up at Arceus, troubled.
"He did help to save the world. Arceus, you can't do anything to repay that?"
Arceus moves closer to Oz and lowers itself to get a better look.
He has a bit of life remaining in him. If I had a moment . . . It rests a hoof on his chest and its Plates appear again, settling on a blue and red one.
"Dragon to increase strength," or so it goes, it says from memory. Electricity crackles down its hoof and Oz's body lurches up. It does it two more times before Oz takes a gasping breath.
"You brought him back to life!?" Stein exclaims. It takes a few seconds for my brain to work through my surprise and its numerous bruises.
"The cold. It's cold here and where the Legendaries were so not as many cells have died as they would under normal circumstances, so there's logically a longer space between full death and resuscitation . . ."
This is only temporary, Arceus adds as Oz coughs and hacks.
His cause of death was the damage to his body—that will not change. I've only restored him long enough for proper goodbyes.
Silence falls, maybe because the others are as at a loss for words as myself, then Blue breaks it by clearing his throat, crouching down at Oz's side. Oz breathes hard with shut eyes, not acknowledging his presence. "I don't know you that well, Oz, but you chose to be a hero rather than letting other people's kids be forced into it. And, well, you put my questions about Red to rest. I'm sad to have to see you go."
Oz cracks one eye open, then the other, meeting Blue's eyes. He starts to speak before breaking into another coughing fit, and at the end of it he simply nods. Blue straightens and seems at a loss for a second.
"You should take your Pokémon to the Pokémon Center," Stein suggests. Blue hesitates, then turns his back to us and mounts his Aerodactyl.
"I won't forget you guys," he says without turning. "Not you two, nor what Red did. C'mon, Aerodactyl." His Pokémon takes off into the air, soaring high before diving and disappearing beneath the clouds.
"Grit . . ." Oz's voice is barely audible as he reaches towards her. His hand falls through hers and his eyes squint with tears. "Don't . . . go . . ."
"We'll meet again," she promises. Only a vague outline of her shape is visible now but that doesn't stop her from moving close to him. Stein and Pong join her, huddling close to Oz, the kid who I imagine is the most dedicated Trainer to walk the earth. Arceus' Plates appear again but its type doesn't change. I look away from it and back to Oz, and I realize what it is that Arceus has done. There aren't three ghosts around Oz, but a Mamoswine, Absol, and Linoone. Oz is crying hard and his words blend together until his voice gives out. "We all will meet again," Grit says again. Her—no, all three of them begin to fade away.
"You were great, Oz!" Stein says and presses his horn into Oz's cheek. Pong jumps onto his chest and curls up there. Oz scrubs at his eyes and throws his arm around his Pokémon, holding onto them until they completely disappear. It's sad, there's no way of mincing words other than saying it's sad. Oz curls in on himself and trembles with sobs and chest-rattling coughs that stain the snow red with his blood.
"Arceus, he doesn't . . . he doesn't
have to die, does he? You can't do
anything at all to help him?
I cannot repair the damage already done to his body. Unless . . . Arceus looks at me, then at Oz.
If he wants to travel the same path as Red's soul has— Oz is already shaking his head as hard as he can. Arceus sighs and clacks its hooves against the ground.
Then all I can grant him is peace in his final moments. This is it, what we've always known was coming: his death. And there's no divine shortcuts out of it.
"Hey . . . Oz?" I want to ask if there's anything he wants to see, but my throat won't work anymore. His eyes widen slightly, then I realize I'm crying. He turns to Medicham and gestures him closer with his chin.
"Cham?" Oz's hand shakes badly as he takes Medicham's. Medicham nods and closes his eyes in focus. Several seconds later, Medicham raises his other hand without moving and rests it on my forehead. I see a stream of images and memories almost faster than I can process, then I hear Oz's mental voice above it all:
"My family wasn't the best, you know. So I always dreamed of going far, far away from them on a Pokémon journey, like the kids on television. I challenged Gyms and all, sure, but what I really wanted wasn't something as easily available as fame. I had my Pokémon, but I wanted a person to accept me for who I was too. You're that person, Sean. That's all I want. Thank you."
Medicham steps back, leaving Oz staring at me with a wide grin even though his eyes are still squinted with pain. I wipe my face furiously with my sleeve and try to maintain some semblance of confidence. I fail terribly. "Y-You're giving me too much credit. I'm an asshole and you k-know it."
His mouth opens for a laugh but no sound comes out. Then his smile drops and he gestures me closer. I lean in and suddenly he jumps upright and throws his arms around my shoulders. His breathing comes heavy in my ear. I keep my mouth shut and hug him back. Well, there's nothing left to say.
Arceus' voice startles me.
Is that all you wished to say? Oz hesitates, then nods a second later.
Then let you be granted safe passage to the other world.
Oz sighs as the tension leaves his body, and within the next second he's completely limp against me. I feel a little hollow as I lay him down on the snow, but his face is more at peace than any other time I've seen him. "Arceus, I have a question."
Yes?
"What's become of the bodies of the other 'Reds'?" It doesn't reply immediately.
They are entombed within the mountain.
"Is that so?" A light snow has begun to fall, and the first flakes settle on Oz's face. "I want all their parents tracked down, let them properly be put to rest with their families."
Medicham inclines his head at me.
You won't? he asks. I shake my head and look out at the snowy landscape extending to the borders of the mountain, then the fresh grass and land beyond that. As a child, it all seemed so daunting: a world full of mysteries, full of surprises. There certainly still lie many secrets in the regions beyond, perhaps even as great as this voyage we've just undertaken, but if I've learned anything in this near week of travelling, it's that I don't want to be the guy doing this, not anymore. I look at my hand and notice it's clean of Arceus' mark now.
I will have my Pokémon take care of that, it promises, raising itself into the air. I
hope we will never need to cross paths again, Sean Isaac DiCaprio. With that, Arceus gallops off into the heavens, disappearing into the grey clouds. It takes a while, but I manage to stand, and Medicham lifts Oz psychically. He looks at me and nods, and the faint hollowness I felt wears away into determination.
"Well, let's get started. It's a long way over." It's a long way until things will even begin to feel remotely normal, but as the famous saying goes, the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. And, as I take that first step, my cellphone rings. I'm surprised it even still works, but as I look at the caller I.D., I begin to believe it's divine intervention. "Yes, Dad?"
"Sean!" He sounds livid, anxious, and concerned all at once. "You have a lot of explaining to do!"
"I very well know. I'm on my way back now."
He starts fuming again. "You're not just gonna stop off to run to parts unknown again, Sean Isaac DiCaprio."
"Don't worry about that. I'm coming home." It takes him a minute to understand.
"Seriously. You're past this 'finding yourself' bullshit now."
"I wouldn't say
that, but as things are, I see you were right."
"Oh. Okay." He's always been a prolific man.
"So, are you ready to hear? It begins with the story of Pokémon Master Red . . ."