While I've tried multiple times to explain how little of the entire ordeal is my fault, my Pokemon are still suspicious of me after the entire legendary ordeal. Unfortunately for all of us, we're all slaves to fate. I give them the rundown on what Suicune said anyways late that night, excepting the detail about Ten living for... personal reasons.

"So, in conclusion, we're going to have to keep going at the same rate and we can expect to at least make it to the Pokemon league." I finish with a flourish of my hands. "A long time ago, when I was taking care of my other team, we went into a situation like this where things seemed to be at their worst. I'm giving you guys the same offer I gave them."

"Go on." says Reginae, his gaze intense.
"If all of you so wish it, you are free to go." I tell them. "I'd like to have Pisces for the road home, but once we're back to Olivine, I'm asking her the same question."

"I'd never leave you, Ashley! We're a team!" Ten says. "Always."

Reginae nods. "Owl has a point for once. You're not supposed to ditch your starter."

"This is really touching, but are you trying to get rid of us?" Fang asks. "Ow. That-" he sniffs, "That really hurts."

Rose gazes deeply into my eyes. "Ashley, my commitment to this team is unwavering. If not to you, it would still be to them. For the fallen!"

"Right." I say. "If you guys are ready..."

"It's time, isn't it?" Ten asks.

"Whatever else we have to deal with, it's in the past. We can't think about it now. What does matter is that we take the gym out tomorrow and get back on the road. I'm expecting some kind of lull between storms."

I keep expecting for someone to say something but the room is deathly quiet. All their gazes are trained directly on me, not in a vicious or brutal way, but just pure, undivided attention.

"I know every Pokemon in that gym. While they might look like one trick Ponytas, a lot of the supporting Pokemon owned by trainers actually have a large amount of type diversity. Getting to Chuck will be half the battle. Luckily, we've been training too. We have a plethora of psychic and flying type moves to barrage them with."

Rose and Ten both look primed and ready to fight at this.

"However, we're going to need back up. The gym leader's final Pokemon is a water type. That means you get to take it out, Reginae." I tell him.

"Right." he says. "I'm ready."

"Woah, what?! My first gym battle! Okay, okay. Tell me what to do. I'm so hyped for this, you have no idea..."

"Do you really think we're letting a Normal type tank at a fighting type gym, Fang?"

"What if I evolved overnight?"

"Then you'd be a Dark type, which are coincidentally still weak to fighting types. Maybe next time." I ruffle his fur and he pouts at me.

"Oh yes." he says, staring skywards in that stupid pose he pulls when he thinks he's being dramatic. "Next time, I will rule the gym. I will make the gym leader rue the day they decided to-"

"Next gym's steel type." Reginae says.

Fang frowns. "Okay then, I didn't need those dreams anyways. Thanks, Reginae."

I yawn. "Speaking of dreaming... we should go to bed." The hotel we're in makes me pine for Olivine, and while it has a similar seaside aesthetic, the ocean is no longer just mildly appealing, it's terrifying. I try to get myself to sleep that night but all I can think of is the crashing of the waves outside my window, the mourning ocean trying to swallow me whole.

I look out the window around 2 AM to remind myself that none of it is real.

The water drags away at the sand. Two carefree Pokemon play and splash there, perhaps two young lovers.

They're dead.

I don't remember when I fell asleep but I wake up and the sun is already a good way into the sky. Fang is pressed against my head and I try to push him off desperately, my breath short again, and he falls straight off.

"Oops." I tell him. "Looks like that hurt."

"I'm fine!" he calls. "Landed in the trash can. It's nice to be home."

I grimace. "Alright, enough shenanigans. Is everyone up?"

Reginae places a large plate of food at the foot of my bed. "This is for you. We heard you screaming in your sleep last night so we thought you might want to sleep in."

"I-" I'm going to cry again. Ashley, stop, darnit... "Thank you so much." I take a bite and bring my hand to my face. The pancakes are so sweet and best of all, they're covered in cinnamon. I thought only my mother did that... "How did you get these?"

"The person at the restaurant on the main floor speaks to Pokemon too. He was very helpful." Rose says. "Come on, we have to get going!"
I finish my pancakes and leave a small tip for the maids next to the plate, putting them both on the hotel room table next to that complimentary coffee they always seem to have. Together, my team and I head out into the city. It's bustling today, mainly with those who came out of the hospital. A woman embraces her husband in the street, her Grovyle bounding alongside her. The Grovyle reunites with the man's Marshtomp as the woman reunites with her husband.

I smile as I pass by. It's nice to know that there are happy endings in a world like this.

I take a quick detour into the pharmacy, as I'll need to receive the medicine anyways for Amphy and I might as well pick up some battle supplies for my own Pokemon. I don't know how bad the gym battle may be but I'm not taking any chances.
There's a dark haired woman standing there in the corner, her skin slightly tanned. Her eyes widen as she sees me. "You! I remember you. You were the owner of that Beedrill."

"Oh. I- uh-" I say.

She holds out a Pokeball to me. "This was my sister's Ekans. She was also in the wreckage. Your Beedrill saved her as well." My face blushes a bright red thinking of D'spinas, and I try not to cry. The death is fresh in my mind and is still stings so badly. "She gave up training Pokemon the very next day." the woman continues. "Your Pokemon are very brave. Supposedly, Pokemon will often take after their trainer... I do not know the kind of person you are, but I ask that you are kind to this Ekans. It has been loved well."

I take the Pokeball, smiling sadly. Just the gesture means so much. "Thank you."

"Good luck on your journey." She turns to leave the pharmacy, and with the tingle of a bell. She's gone.

How do people lapse in and out of existence so quickly? Where do they come from? Where do they go?
Unable to answer this, I purchase several Hyper Potions, some Full Heals, and pick up Amphy's SecretPotion for good measure. I return to my team, waiting outside, and they stand with me in silence as we enter Chuck's famous waterfall training room. I can hear the cries of fighting Pokemon echo throughout as owners and Pokemon alike brawl for supremacy. They whirl and kick as if they had been born knowing how to do it. It's amazing just to see them work.

"Shall we?" asks Ten.

"We shall." I reply, and closer than ever before, my team begins to move.

Just as after Nina, we find ways to close spaces and despite the loss of our best sniper, it turns out that the massive Pisces is actually full of surprises herself. She's nearly half as tall as the waterfall, and yet she manages to dodge blows or move so that the opponent just misses her. A Hitmonchamp moves in angrily with a ThunderPunch only to be blocked by Reginae, who takes next to no damage. A Fire Punch comes from the other direction and Pisces responds with a massive blast of water. The Surf attack brings Hitmonchamp to its knees in seconds. Pisces smirks and Reginae and her headbump, seeing as neither can really high five.

I see through Rose's eyes as we twirl upwards, using Extrasensory on as many foes as possible while still trying to stick close to the team. Ten flies alongside us, yelling terrible references and grasping the stick in one hand and attacking with an open talon with the other.

"Where can I get one of those?" we tease.

"It's a sonic screwdriver. One of a kind." he insists.

What a nerd. I think.

I've always respected him. Rose counters. He's unapologetically himself, and sometimes that's the best thing you can be.

Finally, I open my eyes and twist one lever as Pisces twists the other with her teeth. The waterfall slows to a drizzle and then disappears altogether, and Chuck looks up. "Ey! Who turned my water off? I was practicin'!"

"You'll be practicing with me now." I tell him confidently. "My name's Ashley Hart, and I challenge you to a Pokemon battle!"

Chuck cackles harshly, his belly fat (or is it muscle?) jiggling. "Feisty. I like it! Go, Primeape!"

"Go, Rose!" I yell.

"This one's all mine, isn't he? You shouldn't have." Rose says. Her Extrasensory causes the Primeape to fly up, hit the ceiling, and then she drops it, holding it an inch from the ground. The Primeape breaks loose of her psychic grip and attempts to punch her in the face, but she dodges, only barely moving her neck. The Primeape's nose flares and it inundates her with a flurry of punches. Several connect and Rose flies back, the water parting as she slides into it and slams to a stop. The Primeape's focus tightens as it wrinkles its nose and prepares for the devastating final blow, only for Rose to disappear off the battlefield as Ten takes center stage. His wings fly up and he soars, pulling into a dive. The Primeape moves aside and he turns on a dime, sliding past the Primeape again and again until a single Wing Attack causes it to buckle over.

Chuck frowns. "Poliwrath!"

"Reginae!" Reginae stands up to his ankles in the water, somewhat limited by his own lack of mobility.

"I gotcha now. Poliwrath, use Hypnosis!"

The Poliwrath's stomach spiral turns rapidly, and though the rest of my Pokemon have their eyes closed shut, Reginae falls fast asleep, lying down against the shallow water, half submerged (and I feel a little faint myself).

The Poliwrath gears up for a Focus Punch.

"Wake up!" I yell, but he can't hear me. I try to flash, but it's not working. I put my hand on the Pokeball, ready to withdraw him, but the Poliwrath swings its red-coated hand down with a punch that makes the arena shake. My heart skips a beat but I watch as only half of his health trickles away on the monitor. He's almost completely fine, especially considering the sheer magnitude of the attack.

Reginae opens one eye. Our eyes flash gold and I can feel his breath, and see through his eyes. Pure elation courses through us and all I can think about is how in this second, we were both born just to do this. A storm of brightly colored leaves fill the area, descending until we can hardly see a thing. Water flies up around us and our opponent, who appears within seconds, defeated.

I give a cry of victory and realize I'm cheering back in my own body. Chuck looks somewhat confused but he gives me the badge anyways. "Uh... there ye go. Do you want the TM too, or..."

"Nope!" I say. "Thanks for asking, though. You should probably keep it. Those things are super expensive."

He nods. "Uh huh."
With that, I turn to leave, leading the rest of my confused but excited team as well.

Reginae is shuddering. "We did it."

"I didn't mean to." I tell him. "Honestly, I-"

Reginae shakes his head. "I wanted it. I really don't know why, or how... but lately, the team's finally been coming together and I just felt so powerful, even for just a second. Do you sometimes feel like when you're with someone that everything in the world is going to be okay, even though everything is going to shit around you?"

"Story of my life. It was Bronze once, then all of my Pokemon, and then... well, then it was you guys." I smile. "I think we might just make it. I want to believe we can."

"Me too." says Rose. "Now, if you don't mind, I believe we have a new teammate to welcome." 

(so apparently this was written well before my "break" (in quotes because I worked my ass off over said "break") and the delay in updates was actually due to my lack of consistency and Extraordinary and Double Rainbow: Retold chapters, since I like to maintain a schedule and it motivates me to write both if the success is one is dependent on the other. If you're wondering why I didn't update on Friday, when I got out of camp...

Sleep deprivation, hacking threats by sixteen year old with overinflated ego, having to deal with said sixteen year old, clash issues, more clash issues, an insane amount of chores and unpacking, and then a root canal. Did I mention I went to the emergency room because my paranoia combined with a few symptoms from a tooth abscess made me think I might be dying? That was pretty fun too. Mix that with my general lack of motivation due to how long it's been since I worked on these stories and for Arceus's sake no one really cares so there's no reason for me to justify this to you. Regardless, enjoy the story.)