Uploaded 19.12.17

Chapter 10 is here! I have an announcement at the end of the chapter, make sure you read it. Enjoy!

Chapter 10: Day 54 – "H-he's gone..."

Once more, the scarf-wearing bee and her royal guard headed for the pokemon city. However, this time, Sandshrew would not be returning to the hive. Understandably, there was a weighty silence between the two. Only the quiet fluttering of Ribombee's wings kept the two from going insane from the silence. Each step Sandshrew took was one step closer to his world. With the farewells done, all that was left was to go through that portal Metagross had constructed. There would always be more Sandshrew wanted to say to the others. But there was no time to think about that.

"…So, that goodbye, eh?" Ribombee tried to strike up a conversation.

"What about it?" mumbled Sandshrew as his thoughts were once again dragged back to that tearful moment.

"You're really going to miss them, aren't you?"

Sandshrew nodded, eyes focused on the floor in front of him.

"We're all going to miss you, too. In fact, I think a certain green pokemon will miss you the most."

"Ribombee, please. Don't make this harder than it is already."

"Sandshrew, tell me. What was that hug back there? Do you…?" her sentence tapered off, as if to suggest something.

"What do you mean?" the royal guard didn't quite follow. Ribombee rolled her eyes and nudged him.

"I think you know what I mean, Sandshrew."

Sandshrew sighed. This was definitely not the time to be thinking about the leaf pokemon.

"Not the best time to ask, Ribombee. I hugged her and only her because Mismagius doesn't have a corporeal form to touch and Flareon would've probably incinerated me. Also, it… it looked like she needed it."

Ribombee put her hand on his shoulder in understanding.

Time passed. The terrain continued to wander past them at a sluggish pace as they went ever closer to the city. Through the sadness, Sandshrew began to feel an overwhelming feeling of optimism. He was returning to the human world after so long. He was going home. The anticipation of it all increased his walking speed. Soon, after a long time of travelling, the city could be seen over the horizon.

"Hey, Ribombee. One last race?" Sandshrew smirked, gesturing to the city ahead.

"You're on!"

Sandshrew barrelled down the hill at a wild pace, feeling the ground race beneath him inside the sanctuary of his ball. While he was rolling forwards, the hill in an endless cycle of being on his back, then his tail, then his head, then his back, endlessly, it gave him a spot to think while he continued to dart towards the city. He would miss being a pokemon. He became a pokemon when he arrived here, so it would have only made sense if he stopped being a pokemon when he left, right? Sandshrew could not sense where Ribombee was, being in the air. She could be miles ahead, or miles behind. Feeling a large quantity of feet, he knew he had arrived. Unfurling, he looked behind him to see the minute bee whizzing towards him.

"Well, it's always good to end on a high note," Sandshrew mused as he took in the victory of their little race.

"Yeah. Do you remember the way to the lab?"

Sandshrew scratched his head. Truth be told, he paid little attention to the route they had taken.

"No… But, I have an idea. There's no rush, is there?"

Ribombee tilted her head in contemplation. Really, she hadn't thought about that.

"I like your thinking, Sandshrew," she grinned.

Sandshrew and Ribombee spent some time simply wandering the town. The sights, the smells, the voices, the people. None of these were things Sandshrew would ever see again after that day. The houses that loomed over the streets had a cozy and homely aesthetic, the structures strangely foreign yet familiar to the yellow mouse. Ribombee showed Sandshrew around, making sure to point out every little shop as they passed it.

"…And what's this?"

Ribombee fluttered around the stall a couple of times.

"This stall, Sandshrew, sells the best fruit in the land. Chople berries, sitrus, leichi, waccan, you name it. Actually, I've had a thought…" She trailed off as she pointed to a succulent-looking sapphire berry with lighter patches. The Leavanny at the stall carefully picked up the berry and handed it over to the bee. Ribombee thanked the Leavanny and turned to face her guard.

"Why don't you try it? Yache berry, fresh from the mountains. I hear its good for ground-types," she beamed as Sandshrew gratefully took the berry.

"Leavanny and I are good friends, so we don't have to worry about payments. Isn't that right?" she asked, looking over her shoulder. The Leavanny bashfully nodded, sparing a small glance at the Sandshrew before covering her mouth with a hand.

"She's a bit shy; she only just recently evolved…" whispered Ribombee to Sandshrew.

Sandshrew took a bite of the berry. The hard, outer skin gave way to a soft and dry inside that held an unmistakable warmth to it. Sandshrew felt the warmth of the berry descend down into his stomach.

"A yache berry, was it? That tasted great!" cheered Sandshrew.

Ribombee chuckled.

The duo continued to wander the streets, in no particular hurry to reach the laboratory in the centre of the town. Sandshrew soaked in as many of the sights as he could and listened to as many sounds as he could. Before long, they had crossed paths with a little Vulpix. His tails swished back and forth as he gazed at the taller ground-type in front of him. Sandshrew knelt down to his size.

"Hello there, what's your name?"
"I'm Vulpix. What's yours?" The fox tilted his head in intrigue, not expecting an exchange in pleasantries.

"I'm Sandshrew. Do you like living in this town?"

The Vulpix giggled.

"I'm not from the town, silly! Everyone knows Vulpixes are from the west," he chuckled.

"Of course. Is it nice over there?"

Vulpix nodded. Why was this stranger asking these questions? Sandshrew looked to Ribombee.

"Maybe you should visit there sometime."

"Where're you from, mister?" asked the small voice.

"I'm… I'm from somewhere very far away from here. I'm returning there today, in fact," Sandshrew smiled, keeping his sorrow from the younger pokemon.

"What's it like where you're from?"

"…Well, it's… it's very different to this place, I can tell you that. The towns are a lot bigger. Taller, too. There are millions upon millions of my kind. I'm a human, you know," Sandshrew smirked at the Vulpix.

"You're silly, Sandshrew. Humans are a myth!" laughed Vulpix.

"Oh, no. I'm very real, Vulpix. I gotta get back to my world," he got closer to the Vulpix and whispered, "shh, don't tell anyone, it's a big secret."

Ribombee hovered behind, amused by this entire exchange. Her hand was covering her mouth, stifling a bout of laughter.

"Well, I'd best be off now. Give everything your best shot, Vulpix. I'll try and do the same. Deal?"

Vulpix shook Sandshrew's outstretched hand before running off into the crowds once more.

"It's getting late. We'd better get you back home, human," Ribombee joked.

"Yeah, time's ticking away."

In the dying light of the day, Sandshrew and Ribombee once more entered the lab. The humming of wings and heavy footsteps advertised their presence. Whizzing around quickly and avoiding the expensive equipment, Ribombee could see no-one. Sandshrew looked around, at the pristine surfaces.

"Do you reckon he went home for the day?"

"No, Metagross sleeps in his lab. Even then, that's a rare sight to see…" Ribombee trailed off as she whipped upstairs to check. Sandshrew leisurely walked around the floor, inspecting the foreign-looking machinery and vials. Bubbling liquids of every colour surrounded him, their purpose unknown to the curious shrew.

"Fascinating, aren't they?" came a voice from the doorway. Amber eyes to Sandshrew he was in the presence of the overturning pokemon, Malamar. Sandshrew quickly stepped away from the test tubes.

"It's alright, Sandshrew. Look, if you want."

A fluttering of wings behind the yellow mouse could be heard as Ribombee returned from upstairs.

"There's no-one upstai – Malamar! I… I didn't see you there," Ribombee nervously scratched her neck. The squid smirked before entering the room, his gaze not leaving the two other pokemon.

"So, where's Metagross?" asked Ribombee.

"He's nowhere to be seen, your Majesty. He said he would have delighted in this seeing this through personally. It looks like the honour is all mine," Malamar said. Silence lingered between the two groups for a brief time.

"Well, come along, then! The human world awaits you! Excited?" Sandshrew looked in disbelief as the dark-type cracked a smile and headed for the stairs.

In front of Sandshrew stood an archway. This archway was surrounded by numerous coils of different-coloured wires. The assortment of scientific equipment buzzed and crackled as visible charges of electricity surged through the wires. The pentagonal frame had several vials filled with unidentified chemicals strapped to it. Malamar flicked a switch and the machine whirred louder as something came into being inside the metallic frame. A twisting and winding vortex of white and blue swirled within its confines, the occasional bolt shooting out to one of the nearby lightning rods. Sandshrew visibly recoiled at the sight of it. He was going to walk… through that? Staring into the middle, something beckoned him towards it, but he resisted. Was this safe?

Ribombee saw the worry in her friend's eyes.

"It'll be fine, Sandshrew. If all else fails, you're a ground-type, so you should be okay with the electricity."

This was little consolation to the mouse pokemon. Malamar stood behind them, proud of the creation he had helped to create. Sandshrew nervously took a step forward, edging closer towards the portal. He was stopped, however, when Ribombee took his hand. Glancing back, Ribombee was holding back tears. Sandshrew turned his gaze to the side.

"How long will this portal last?"

Malamar shrugged.

"If you feel the need to say your goodbyes, I can turn the portal off until you are ready. It is no problem."

After entering an unoccupied room, Ribombee and Sandshrew stood in silence for a few seconds.

"Thank you," began Sandshrew. Ribombee shot a quizzical look at him.

"For taking me in. You could've left me underneath that tree. Without you, I'd probably still be terrified or unconscious under the tree. You took me in, trained me, helped me, there's no end to the list, Ribombee. This is my last chance to say these things, so… Thank you."

Ribombee embraced the sandstone-clad pokemon.

"It's been my pleasure, Sandshrew. Goodbye, my royal guard," she said, putting on her mock regal voice for the last part. The two of them shared one last laugh over that.

"Ribombee, is what Chikorita said true? That humans had always appeared when something bad was going to happen?"

"Yes, but I'm sure that thought was just Chikorita being Chikorita; a little scared of the world. You know what I mean, right?"

"What if she's right?" asked Sandshrew.

"That's a risk we'll have to take. Now, stop thinking about us, and…" she teared up a little, "…and get through that portal, Sandshrew!"

It pained her to say it, to her friend, but it had to be said. It was for his sake that this was happening, and she wouldn't forgive herself if she were to not let this happen.

Sandshrew nodded, unwilling to speak for his vocal chords would betray him with a melancholic tone. They both wordlessly returned to the grin and piercing eyes of the squid.

"Are we ready?" asked Malamar, anticipation oozing from his voice. Reaching over, Malamar once more flipped the switch and the portal was zapped into being. The whirring beckoned Sandshrew towards it.

"Are you sure this is safe?" called Sandshrew, struggling to be heard over the incessant noise.

"Very much so. Metagross himself tried the portal out."

Metagross could be trusted, so that was all Sandshrew needed to know. He stared into the portal, into the crashing lightning in front of him. He looked behind him, one more time. Waving goodbye to his dear friend, he took a cautious step forwards before he found himself too scared to go through once more. So, he took some steps backwards, signalling for Ribombee and Malamar to move over.

"Goodbye, Ribombee."

Before Sandshrew could find another excuse to doubt himself, he curled up into a ball faster than he had ever done before and flung himself straight forwards, the floor rumbling slightly as he went. In an instant, he had barrelled through the hectic storm of the portal and was gone. Ribombee stopped shielding her eyes from the blinding light that was emitted as Malamar turned the portal off. Despite knowing he was gone, she couldn't help but expect to see the mouse pokemon standing on the other side of the frame. Alas, the portal had worked.

Sandshrew had returned home.

Ribombee had a mixture of feelings. Happy that the portal had worked, sad that he was gone, relief that he was back where he belonged, anger that he had left. The cacophony of emotion stunned her into silence as she continued to gaze into the empty portal frame.

"Sandshrew is gone, your Majesty," Malamar stated, matter-of-factly.

"R-right, yeah. Thanks. Thanks, Malamar," she muttered as she exited the ornate building.

Ribombee fluttered back to her hive in silence. Already, she missed his company on the long journey home. Rain lightly patted her all over, as though trying to console her, but only working to make things worse. The steady thrumming of water on the grass below her helped to ease her spirit as she vacantly looked at the greenery pass below her. She heard Durant in the distance signal her return. He had mainly stayed out of the way of the impish Sandshrew during his stay.

She landed as eloquently as ever and made her way to the throne, where the other guards were still gathered.

"Your Majesty!" exclaimed Flareon as they all stood to attention.

"I-is he…?" enquired the small voice of the grass-type behind Flareon. Ribombee nodded as she went over to hug Chikorita. Mismagius remained as silent as ever but held a face of sorrow at the absence of the ground-type.

"What happens now?" asked Flareon.

"We continue to live our lives," was all Ribombee could say. She didn't believe she would be able to do that. None of them believed they would be able to do that. Flareon spared the rest of them her usual snarky remark, understanding that the mood didn't require it. Chikorita stayed within the embrace of her Monarch.

"H-he's gone…" whispered Chikorita.

Sandshrew and Ribombee leave for the city and Sandshrew goes home.

Once more, I tried to emphasise the emotion in this chapter. I have no idea how good I am at doing it, but I did my best. This chapter was fun to write and, as I said last time, if you shed a single tear, I've reached my goal.

Thanks to my beta-reader, once more! Your comments were as humorous as ever and very helpful. This chapter couldn't have been made without them.

And thank you to my audience! Every single one of you that has read or will read this story! You may be but one person, but each and every view, every visitor, means the world to me and brings me an immeasurable sense of satisfaction.

I told another one of my friends about my stories. They read through all of this story in one morning. Refreshing the views page every hour or so to see more and more chapters read, I have to say, it's one of the best reviews I've ever had.

Now, the announcement. Things seem to be drawing to a close on this story, don't they? I could end it here, but I won't. There will be another chapter. This chapter will be different. It will be uploaded on/around (timezone shenanigans) Christmas Day. Make sure you keep an eye out for it!