Bronze presses one long-clawed hand against the earth, then the other, and lifts himself onto his feet. His mouth is agape, though the sides are both spread wide into a ridiculous grin. His navy fur is knotted and messy, and his cream chest is thick with twigs and mud, but he still carries himself with pride. He's so much how I always remembered him, with thick musculature and an easy confidence about him. He has a fighter's physique and a leader's gaze.

He hits me like a truck.

I have my arms open before impact and I manage to cling onto his back fur as he swings me around, holding me so tightly I can hardly breathe. When he sets me down, hunched over so I can keep my own feet on the ground, I press into his warm fur, breathing in his scent. My fingers curl further into the weave of his coat and tears begin to fog up my limited vision.

"I thought I'd lost you forever," I whisper, ashamed that it even crossed my mind.

"We were on our way home from the moment we left," he replies, his snout close to my ear. "I never stopped searching for you. Neither did they."

He draws me back from his side and I see them on two levels. On one, there's the team, dead and living alike, and on the other is the network of glittering, shining light that lies beneath us like a cityscape at night. The bonds have not lessened with time.

My team is home.

The final team of Blackthorn catches me first. Khrys, Sky, Dill, and Toxis all circle up, and I'm afraid Toxis might break every last bone in my body before he lets me go. Khrys gives me a delicate nod and Sky, who seems more tired than when I knew her, is holding one of Khrys's arms with one of her wings. The happy couples are close as ever, evidenced by the thick golden bonds between them, like rope.

Once Toxis is done trying to break my ribcage, Dill jumps up on me, tail wagging like mad. "Ashley!"

This is too much for my poor human body, which falls onto the ground and lies there, staring up with a stupid, giddy smile at my teammates. One of them pushes through the protective barricade formed by the 'core' team, grabbing Bronze's hand in her own cloven hooves. She holds the other out to me, dark eyes glimmering with warmth. "Lilly," I say, scrambling back onto my feet with her help. "You look different from the last time I saw you,"

The newly-evolved Ampharos twirls in a circle, dark eyes aglow with excitement. "What," she teases, "Have I put on a little weight?"

"You might have been a Flaafy the last time I saw you. Actually, you were human, which is even weirder. Were all of you...?"

"Yes," says Ferro, from the back. He, too, has evolved into a long and thickly pelted Furret. "We all were." He still retains the way my Ferro used to cock his ears, the sly smile, and the markings are of similar size and shape.

I have to remind myself again that this is my Ferro. This isn't some alternate version of my team. I retained something from that universe besides Ten and my own memories.

Better yet, I can confirm now from the nearly two dozen Pokemon looking at me that everyone, regardless of status at the end of the adventure, is back and fully evolved. I press a hand against my face. The happy tears are coming like rain on a warm spring morning. I choke out, "Sorry. I just can't believe it. This is a miracle."

"It's a second chance, Ashley." Lilly assures me.

"Don't worry. We earned our miracle." Bronze says, patting me on the back.

"Trainer-ing is hard." Chompers says. "Really, really hard."

"And we gave up a lot to come back," Sky says.

What could they have given up? I take another headcount of the group, but no one's missing. Are they referring to the Pokemon they trained during their time in Kalos? It would make sense for them to be upset over that, but even though I can't hear their thoughts, I get the feeling Sky's not just talking about her own team.

I can't hear their thoughts. Of course. Even if we're picking up where we left off, there's a colossal gap between where we left off and how far I've come since. In the best case scenario, they'll still be playing catch up long after we defeat Red. I can't see Bronze being happy about this. I can't see Reginae being happy about this, either.

Bringing my new team out is going to be an experience.

Thoughts or no thoughts, the team can tell I'm anxious. All of them are turned my way with quiet concern in their eyes. I run my fingers down my cheeks, which are thick with water by now, and brush the tears off with my sleeve. "Alright," I say. "I guess you're all wondering what's going on, or what I'm up to right now, or what the plan is. I know that whatever journey you've taken to come this far must've been strenuous, and I'd like nothing in the world more than to settle down and retire with the rest of you. Unfortunately, that can't be the case just yet."

"Red's still around. We know." Lilly says. "Morty told us before we came here."

"Through the portal," I agree, threading my fingers together. "Suicune, did you open that?"

Suicune, who has been a passive observer this whole time, finally decides to speak up. While I believed that most of my shortcuts were closed, to my surprise it appears that the area around Ecruteak was so weak that I could rend a portal straight open without much issue there. Ho-Oh may be interfering once more. Celebi has obviously taken an active role. Lugia is fallen.

"Ethan's fine." I say, waving them down. "Red hasn't planted some tracker or anything in his brain, has he? If so, it would've been nice of you to mention it weeks ago."

No, 'Ethan' is fine. I'm referring more to the fact that the consciousness of Lugia, as in the administrator, has been usurped by a human.

"Ethan what?" asks Bronze.

"I swear to Arceus I'll explain everything in a few minutes," I say. "We can take turns exchanging stories and filling each other in once I get my new team out."

Several of my Pokemon, including Bronze, look uncomfortable at the mention of my 'new team'. The Typhlosion bares a wide grimace while some of the earlier Pokemon look confused, like they expected me to get this far without getting any Pokemon at all.

"Oh boy! I call first." Dill says. "Who wants to hear a three-hour recap of my time at KalosCon? You wouldn't believe who I ran into."

"Relevant stories, Dill. We'll talk about KalosCon later." Toxis pats his spouse on the head, and Dill relents, his fins falling down to the sides of his chubby face.

"I- er," Hershey starts, scuffing the ground with her hoof. "I don't want to be a downer, but you haven't seen Peckers, have you?"

"I have," I say. "And all of you are going to see him in just a minute." I reach into my bag to take out my Poke Balls, even though half of my mind is yelling at me that they're empty. How could they have anything in them when all my Pokemon are right here? It's like I've been transported back in time two years without any of Celebi's time-altering powers. Nothing makes sense anymore. "Can you give me a minute, Hershey? This hasn't settled in yet."

"Hershey," Hershey says. She sounds reproachful. When she notices my puzzled expression, her ears flick up, startled. "Sorry. We might have changed our names over the last two years."

"How many of you changed or want to change your name?" I ask.

Shell, whose new Togekiss form resembles a large, feathery poofball, raises a wing. Hershey can't imitate the gesture, but her position has already been made clear. Rage mutters his agreement (I might have been a little on-the-nose with that one.)

"You don't mind, do you?" asks Chompers, timidly raising his scrawny hand.

"Why would I care?" I say, caring immensely the whole time. "Some of the names I gave out might have been less than ideal. I was a stupid kid."

"You were my stupid kid," Bronze says, defensively, and I want to hug him again for coming to my rescue even when I don't need it. He's just as big of a dork as ever. I missed him. I missed him so much I can't believe I was able to get him out of my mind for days on end. Bronze continues, raising his arms, "We were all stupid kids! I was a weeaboo, Ashley!"

I laugh softly and give up, throwing myself back into his fur. "Okay. Everyone gets to change their name if they want to change it. Tell me your new name later. In the meantime, one more question. Suicune, is Morty okay?"

Morty is fine and is, like the rest of us, wishing you the best on this final leg of your journey. He's lying low, waiting for things to look up.

"Good," I say. My mind, which has become suddenly enthusiastic as one of my beautiful Eeveelutions, begins turning at the word 'Morty'. Our Morty? Is he back? Everyone's back. Our Morty's back. I know he's not but right now I don't have to remember that. "If you guys are ready, I have some Pokemon I want you to meet." 

Their eyes are on me, full of light and confidence, and in a flash of blue I have a network of two teams pulsing against my own consciousness. I look across the sea of Pokemon, old friends and new friends alike, souls of silver and hearts of gold. Never have I been so loved, so happy, and so assured that we will be okay.