Deepest Apologies


It had been a long, yet very fun, night for Sage the Sceptile. He had a new boyfriend all to himself (or at least, starting to develop that relationship), his boyfriend's Master had finally expressed his approval, and Sage was going to take his slave training business in a far better direction.

As the Sceptile waved good-bye to the Noivern he became entangled with, he reflected over everything that had happened to get him to this point. Mounting his motorcycle, he thought about it.

Hiawatha's death.

Sage's total despair.

The perpetrator getting off scot-free.

Sage deciding to take matters into his own hands.

Selling the Ampharos to the black market slave trade.

Graduating from college.

Moving to Kalos.

Getting a job at BlackShine Industries.

Accidentally kidnapping his boss's slave.

A fist of steel in his mouth that seriously left a mark.

But more than anything, what Sage remembered in the most vivid detail was meeting the ghost of Hiawatha. Or… was it his angel? Sage still wasn't completely sure if it was real or if he had imagined it late into the night.

Regardless of whether it really happened, it still dawned on Sage to turn over a new leaf and make amends, resulting in him meeting Telokey at the park.

So… here he was now. Everything seemed to be tied up in his life, with no more regrets to be had…

…Until he received a text.

"Telo can't be texting me, I literally just got out of the house." Sage muttered.

'To Sage:

This has been a long time coming, but I'd like you to meet me at Café Soleil in Lumiose City to discuss things further. There's a lot I have to discuss with you. – S.'

"S?" Sage asked. "Who the hell is S?"

He tried to think. "Who do I know whose name starts with S?"

Despite his best attempts, he had a hard time thinking of anybody in particular. He looked at the text again. "A long time coming, huh? Maybe I should hear them out… whoever they are."


It wasn't too hard for Sage to find Café Soleil within Lumiose City. It was on the South Boulevard of the city, across from Professor Sycamore's Lab. It was probably among the most commonly visited cafés in Kalos, and frequently used as a meet-up point. And among all of Kalos' cafés, this one remained a favorite of guests.

The Sceptile parked his motorcycle into the parking lot. It was around evening time, so the café had plenty of guests looking for an evening drink or snack. As he walked in, looking among the many Pokémon and humans inside, it occurred to Sage that he had no idea who he was looking for.

"Ah crap. How am I supposed to find this guy?" He muttered. He looked around once more, but didn't see anybody he recognized. How did this guy know who he was?

Sage checked the time. "8:00. All right, this guy has 15 minutes to meet me before I leave." He decided, sitting down at an unoccupied table.

Sage looked through his phone. "Seriously, who the hell is S?"

"Um, excuse me?"

Sage took his eyes off his phone, looking at the speaker. Apparently, it was an Ampharos. Not only that, but he wore a collar and seemed to have a very nice demeanor as well.

"Uhh… can I help you?" the Sceptile asked, this Ampharos completely unfamiliar to him.

"Well… yes, actually. I… I was the one that sent that text." He admitted.

"OK, but… I don't think I know you." Sage confessed. The only Ampharos he really knew was the one that killed Hiawatha, but there was no way in hell this was the same guy.

"There's… no easy way to say this…" the Ampharos said, seeming to look back at someone else in the café nervously before turning around to face Sage again.

"But I'll just come out with it now. Sage… I'm Sebastian."

Sage blinked his eyes, not fully comprehending this. "This is… hold on. This doesn't make sense. This is some kind of joke. Sebastian is the name of… that… Ampharos…"

The Ampharos chuckled awkwardly. "Yeah… not many Ampharos named Sebastian, I bet. But… this is Sebastian. The one that used to watch trashy porn movies and not give a care when… he killed… a Braviary."

Sage's tone turned dark. "Why did you call me here?" he growled, his voice on the verge of screaming in anger. "Why did YOU have to come back into my life?"

"Well uhh… this is kinda hard to explain…" Sebastian sweated nervously, trying to get the words out right.

"You have 10 seconds before I just leave here."

"…I'm here to apologize and make amends." The Ampharos stated bluntly. "After you sold me off… I realized that I was in the wrong for what I did."

"Understatement of the damn century." Sage groaned. "But I can't grasp this. Still feels like part of this is a dream. Why are YOU even apologizing? Thought Sebastian didn't do that. Thought it was beneath him."

Sebastian noticeably flinched. He was struggling to find the right words when a Gallade approached the table, smiling at the both of them. "Mind if I take a seat, boys?"

"Of course, Master." Sebastian nodded.

"And you are?" Sage asked.

"Jeremy Pappaorange. Run one of these cafés myself."

Sage had to resist the urge to laugh. "Pappaorange?"

"Some of us didn't do so well at the last-name lottery when we were born." Jeremy said with a deadpan face. "But that's beside the point. In case you may have noticed… I am Sebastian's Master."

"…Wait." Sage paused. "I sold you in Hoenn. How did you get into Kalos?"

"The association he was sold into is an inter-region slave trade with slaves from all regions. Hoenn, Unova, Alola… and as you might have guessed, Kalos." Jeremy said.

"I was part of that once myself. I mainly just dealt with Kalos trades, though. Nothing inter-region. If I recall my studies on the trade, those are the only four regions where slave trading is legal." Sage answered.

"Yeah, but only if it's 100% consensual now. The association cracked down big time on that after an… incident regarding Zeke Cain… and we're getting off track again." Jeremy sighed.

"Yeah, where was this going again?" Sage said.

"The point is… Sebastian has actually changed radically since I bought him. When I bought him, he was pretty much as you remember him as. Rude, crass, vulgar, no decency, and tried to watch the trashiest porn movies if my back was turned."

"Oh, don't remind me." Sebastian groaned. "I never want to see those things again."

"Discipline was necessary, to be sure… LOTS of discipline, actually… but I ultimately instilled the morals in him that he never seemed to have at the beginning." Jeremy affirmed.

"And… well, when I actually had an understanding of morals, I felt really bad about what happened to Hiawatha. Or, more accurately, what I did to him." The Ampharos sighed.

Sage blinked. "After all of this time, you remember his name?"

"I didn't at first… but when I told Master, he wanted me to look back into. So I did. Found old newspaper articles about the accident, the obituary for him, statements from his parents, and practically a biography of background information. Could've written a report with all I found. So after all of that, the name kinda just… stayed with me. I wasn't easily going to forget it at that point." Sebastian admitted.

Sage still had a hard time accepting this. It was blowing his mind that Sebastian was here, talking to him, NOT acting like an asshole, and looked like he was just about to apologize for everything. The Sceptile didn't even figure the word 'apologize' was in the Ampharos' dictionary.

"I… don't really know what to say." Sage muttered. "This is… probably the last thing I expected to happen. I never thought I'd ever see you again… and much less so that I'd see you as a changed Pokémon."

Sebastian sighed. "Look… I know this won't make any difference. I know that no words I could say can bring Hiawatha back. And I know that I can't change what I've done. But… I'm sorry. And while expecting it is probably insane at this point… I hope that, maybe not today, but that someday… you'd be able to forgive me."

Sage was staring Sebastian straight into his eyes. Every single word the Ampharos was saying… it was totally genuine. He noticed Sebastian's eyes getting a bit glassy and the Sceptile felt his eyes do the same. He started to wipe his eyes before his tears could fully form.

"You… you've really changed, haven't you?"

"Yes." Sebastian affirmed. "Master… taught me a lot of things that I should've known. And I'm grateful for that."

Sage sighed. "Sebastian… this is difficult for me to say. Extremely difficult, in fact. And, to be honest, I can't believe I'm about to say this… but Sebastian… I do forgive you."

Sebastian was dead silent for a few moments before speaking. "I… I didn't actually expect that. That was more of a pitiful hope than anything."

"…Let's just say, I've learned a lot myself since we last met."

Sebastian simply smiled at that.

"Although… this has occurred to me." Sage muttered. "…What are you going to do about your parents? Everyone believed the story that you killed yourself. Are you… going to go back to Hoenn?"

Sebastian shook his head. "I'm never going back to Hoenn. As far as my parents know, the Sebastian they knew IS dead."

"…I'm sure your Master would allow you to take a trip back to visit them. Don't your parents care about you?" Sage asked.

"…Master taught me more in a few years than my parents ever gave to me. My parents were part of the reason I was that disgusted perverted Ampharos you once knew. They were the kind of parents that only worked and saw their kid as a footnote. They didn't care about me. They didn't teach me anything. Hell, I was actually a carbon-copy of my own father after work."

"…If I may say something." Jeremy interrupted. "After I rightfully educated him in proper virtues, I was going to take him by his parents for a visit and give them an update… turns out that they sold everything belonging to Sebastian and used it to buy a vacation house in Alola."

Sebastian huffed. "They're happier without me, and I'm happier without them. Seems like an easy answer."

Sage didn't have the easiest time rationalizing that, considering his much more loving relationship with his parents. But even fellow students he knew in high school had crappy parents. Sebastian's parents just seemed to be extra crappy.

"…Are you happy with your Master?" Sage asked.

"Honestly… you probably did me a favor, Sage. Granted, what you did was still wrong, technically speaking, but… I did turn out better for it. And I'm much happier with my Master than I ever would've been with my parents. Master is… he's like a real father to me."

Jeremy smiled. "I hope we answered any questions you had."

Sage thought about it for a bit. "…Could I get your contact info, Jeremy? You seem like a decent guy to keep in touch with, being able to… make Sebastian of all Pokémon a better 'Mon."

Jeremy Pappaorange smiled, handing Sage his café's business card, with his café's number and cell number on it. "I had a feeling you'd ask that."

Sage took the card, pocketing it. "Thank you. Still not going to get over that last name. Pappaorange."

Jeremy sighed. "45 years, and I still haven't lived this name down."

Sage started to stand up, ready to leave. "Never considered a legal name change?"

Jeremy smiled again. "Can't. Have this silly little attachment to it. It's kinda who I am. As silly as it is… I'm pretty proud to do the family name justice."

Sage smiled, heading out the café. "For what it's worth, you're the best Pappaorange I know!"

Something told Sage that this wouldn't be the last time he saw the two of them.


Pokémon © Nintendo / Game Freak

Surprise! It's YET ANOTHER SAGE STORY, but I couldn't resist the idea for this one. A comment on one of my previous submissions got me thinking about this idea, and I couldn't pass it up. Don't worry, though. I should be done with Sage for a while.

Read and review/comment!