Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.

I woke up in a bed that wasn't mine. I started to panic, but then I remembered yesterday. I shook my head and got out of the bed. As usual, I was the first one up (I hated it, but what can you do?). Instead of waking the others, though, I decided to go for a walk through the abandoned city. I was just walking down the street, heading further inward, when I saw this huge stadium. My eyes widened, and I walked towards it. I entered, and I saw it was made up of a bunch of small stadiums surrounding a larger stadium. I walked towards the large stadium and went into it. I looked around, and took in the huge amount of seats and the dirt arena. (And yes, to all readers, I am making an anime reference. I will make references to both, but mostly the video game franchise.) As I took in the surroundings, I started to hear cheering. I looked around, and I could see some sort of half-people in all of the seats. In the middle of the arena, I saw two other half-persons battling with half-Pokémon.

I looked on with amazement, then heard from behind me "You can see them, too? Good, I'm not crazy…" I turned and saw Eoniai walk in. He came and stood next to me, saying "Maybe the Psychic is giving us a link to what used to be…look at all of them."

I looked at all the people, and I saw his point. They were all happy, ecstatic even, even the Trainers and their Pokémon. I wondered…were these really the same people that exiled Pokémon? I heard Eoniai say "They didn't exile the Pokémon, the Pokémon fled from the tyranny." I looked at him. "Dude…that was private."

He gave me a sharp look, but the fact that he had just read my mind wasn't my top priority at the moment. "Well, we've heard both interpretations, right? So…what's the truth?"

We looked at each other, and a determined look came over our faces. "We're gonna find out!" I said, and he nodded. With that, we headed back to where the others were. After they woke up, we said our good-byes to Colton, then started to head towards Rustboro, location of what Eoniai said was the Rock Ring.

As we travelled our various modes, I kept wondering about the truth behind the exodus. One way or another, someone didn't want the Pokémon around. Who, though, was definitely the big question…

I didn't have long to ponder as we got close to Mauville. I landed, and the others grouped up with me. I said, "We should stay on the ground, make sure we don't get caught or get our cover blown." They nodded, and we went into Mauville. The city looked the same as when we had first seen it, and instantly Tardon made a beeline for the casino. Leave it to him to be predictable. We followed him, and the place looked the same. He was looking around, excited as usual, when the woman behind the counter said, "Oh, you guys are back? Convenient, there's another package for you." We turned towards her, she held up the parcel, which was brown paper and string, and I went over to it and picked it up from her. I held it in front of the others to examine, and Eoniai took it and focused his Psychic abilities. Then his eyes shot open. "Throw this! Now! Out the door!"

Instantly, Tardon took it, ran over to the door, and used Vital Throw. The package went flying, and a few seconds later, we heard a large explosion. I looked at the woman behind the counter, whose eyes were wide as she said, "I couldn't see the guy's face, and I figured it was the same as the other one! I'm so sorry!"

"It's fine," I said. "How were you to know? Thanks anyways."

She looked relieved as we left, probably just because we didn't do anything to the casino. I looked at Eoniai, who pulled out a map and said, "If we head west, we'll hit a town called Verdanturf, which has a connection to Rustboro called the Rusturf Tunnel." He folded up the map, and we headed west.

As we walked, I heard laughter. I cocked my head, and a few seconds later, my question was answered. Apparently there was a day-care center on this road. I smiled at the thought of toddlers going around the place, pretty much being totally nuts. The thought of children brought to mind Eoniai's misfortune five years ago, and I got a little sad. Eoniai came over to me while we walked and asked, "What's up?" I told him what I was thinking about, and he got a little teary-eyed about it. "You need to sit down?"

He nodded, and we found a nearby bench for him to sit on, Tranco next to him. He started to actually cry, and I heard him say "I could have saved him!" I slapped him and said, "Dude, if you had tried to save him, you both would've died! Remember, there was only one death, not two!" He took a deep breath, and he nodded, saying quietly, "You're right. I just…I thought I had gotten over that."

I shrugged. "Five years is probably not long enough to get over something that traumatic. But we'll be there to help you through it however much you need it. And…your brother's memory will not be forgotten."

He stood, saying "You're right. Drestan may be dead, but here…" He touched his heart. "…He always will live."

"Especially if he's not dead."

Eoniai gave me a shocked look, then punched me in the face. "Don't be like that! I'm trying to get over it! God damn, he's dead, and I've accepted it!"

"He's not dead."

Eoniai's eyes got wide, and he said quietly, "What are you talking about?"

I got up, dusted myself off, then looked hard at him. "You sure you can handle it?"

He nodded, and I did too. He looked at me puzzled, but then he got a shocked look when Bushma hugged him and said, "Brother, it's good that you finally know now!"

Eoniai shrugged him off and said, "What?! What are you talking about?!"

I went over to Eoniai. "When I used Miracle Eye on him in Fortree, I saw he was keeping that secret. He confirmed it when I pulled him aside. He said he was keeping it secret until he thought you were ready."

Eoniai looked at me, then at Bushma. "Is this true?"

He nodded. "It is, but I prefer Bushma over Drestan, if you can help it."

"But…how?"

He sat on the bench, and Eoniai sat next to him. Bushma turned to him and said, "Someone set the house on fire. I don't know who, I don't know why, but they set it ablaze and took me, sticking me in an orphanage."

Tardon perked up. "Wait, that sounds a lot like Tranco's story…" He looked at her. "No…I…I didn't have a sister. I was an only child."

I shook my head. "Nope. When she was taken, you were so emotional that you blocked that memory to stop the pain. Tardon…Tranco is your sister. I believe that means…you two have closure."

As Arceus' second message went through my head, Tardon and Tranco embraced, crying their eyes out. I smiled, looking at both the happy pairs of siblings. Alyssa nudged me, I turned to her, and she said, "You don't have a sibling, do you?"

I shook my head. "Nope, no crazy sibling stories for me to tell. I'm glad those guys got closure."

She smiled. "Me, too. Honestly, I'm surprised it took Bushma this long to come out with it."

I chuckled. "Well, he didn't have much of a choice after I said Eoniai's brother wasn't dead. He never saw that coming."

She laughed and punched me playfully in the arm. "You jerk! Why would you do that?"

I gestured at the scene in front of us. "In my position, wouldn't you have done the same thing?"

I'll leave this on a thought-provoking note. Hope you enjoyed!