Author's Note: I know what I said in the last chapter, but this wound up being longer than I thought. But, at least it's more detailed that way! Besides, there are only two more chapters after this! The final battle against Red's ghost, and the epilogue. PS, for those of you who like Ritsu and Nico's interactions and ship teases, this is the chapter for you! So, enjoy this chapter! We're at the tip of the finish line after two years, everyone!

Several weeks had passed, the date now marking the 15th of November. A lot had happened since I was coronated as Champion, including my battles with the Kanto Gym Leaders, earning the Gym Badges in the process. So now, I had a total of fifteen badges in my new Badge Case.

At that moment, I was in the Viridian City Gym, the Rhydon before me falling to the ground unconscious after Lady conquered it with two measly Waterfall attacks. The Gym Leader before me was an 18-year old guy named Blue, who applauded me when his last Pokémon was defeated.

"Bravo, Champion Ritsu," he said, recalling Rhydon back. "As of this moment, your training is complete. I present you with the Viridian City Earth Badge!"

Blue placed the badge in my palm. Staring at it for a few seconds, I happily placed it into the last slot of my Badge Case next to Blaine's Volcano Badge from the Seafoam Islands. I smiled at my complete Badge Case and gave Blue a handshake of gratitude.

"Thank you, Blue," I said to him. "Thanks to all the other Gym Leaders here too! I'm ready to go and find Red and put an end to his curse."

Just as I sent Lady back to her PokéBall, Blue put a hand on the overall strap on my shoulder. I turned around and saw the sadness in his sepia eyes.

"...Be careful out there," Blue warned me. "Red used to be my best friend in the entire world since we were born, so… he's definitely not the guy I know anymore. Whatever it takes, stop him so he can finally rest in peace."

"I will, Blue. That's definite! I'll stop Red, and everyone will finally be at peace."

I walked out of the Viridian City Gym, only to crash head first with what sounded like a woman. I rubbed my head in pain and saw that I indeed crashed into someone. She had straight red hair that fell to above her glutes, clipped back at the bangs with a cyan hair clip. Her eyes were the same shade of blue as the ocean, and the woman overall looked friendly… yet very familiar.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, ma'am!" I apologized.

"No, it's fine-" she began in a gentle tone before bowing with respect and becoming frantic. "Ch-Champion Ritsu! Please forgive me! I wasn't looking where I was going!"

"It's okay, ma'am. No need to be formal with me, okay? Where are you headed to?"

"Well, that I'm not quite sure of. I heard that my son was finally home after being on his journey for so long, so I wanted to see if he was back here in his hometown again."

"Your son? Do I know him? I have the sinking feeling that I do."

"Hmm, I don't think you do. Poor Nico has had trouble making friends with others since he was little."

I did a double take the moment the woman had said that name. Upon closer inspection, she did look like she could be Nico's mother; they both shared the same red hair, after all. The only difference was the automatic kindness and eye color.

"Actually, I do know your son!" I assured her. "If he's a redhaired, 15-year old boy with a grumpy face who's been travelling around Johto, then that's him."

"Yes, that's my Nico! Ah, I know he seems rather unapproachable on the outside, but my son's a wonderful child! Besides, Nico has his reasons for acting in such a way. His father being one of them…"

"I can only imagine how bad it is, ma'am. I believe you about his good side. He wasn't so good at first, but he's starting to improve."

"Hey, would you like to come over? I'd love to talk over some nice hot drinks."

"Sure! Lead the way, Mrs. Nico's Mom!"

"Oh, please call me 'Liliana'."

Liliana led me to her two story home in front of the Viridian City Gym. I took off my red sneakers upon stepping on the indoor mat before making my way to the sofa.

"Thank you for coming over," Liliana said to me. "It's been quite a while since I've had someone around Nico's age here."

"Is that… is that Nico when he was a baby?" I giggled, looking at the framed photo on the coffee table.

"That's right. Oh, how cute he was back then!" Liliana chuckled, joining me in looking at the picture of a nude baby Nico playing with a rubber Ducklett in the bathtub. "Look, here's one when he was only five," Liliana pointed out, picking up a picture of a little Nico smiling and standing beside a Sneasel.

I knew right away that the Sneasel was Shadow, who I heard left Nico for good one day. I found the topic to be a little sensitive, so I chose not to bring it up, instead sighing at the picture. The smaller and smiling Nico in the picture was a lot different from the older one I knew, so Giovanni's abuse and neglect must have done a lot of damage on him.

"Coffee's ready, Lily!" I heard from the kitchen.

Walking out of the kitchen was an unfamiliar Pokémon holding two cups of decaffeinated coffee, handing it to me and Liliana each. The Pokémon resembled a Sneasel, only its head was covered in an array of red feathers, almost like hair. In addition, it had a red collar-like neck to match.

"Thank you, Shadow," Liliana said to it with a smile. "You've been a real help to me ever since you came back."

"Sh-Shadow?!" I gasped, coughing a bit as I took one sip of coffee. "You're Shadow?"

"Yes, I am," I heard him say. "You've heard of a little Weavile like me, Miss Champion?"

"Yes. Liliana's son has told me about you."

"Nico?! You know Nico?!" Shadow gasped. "Do you know where he is?"

"Sorry, no. I haven't seen him in a month. I wish I could tell you. But, I don't think he'd be ready to see you because he thinks you abandoned him."

"Abandon him? No, no no! That ain't right! I'd never do that to my best friend! I left him a note saying I'd be training for a while, but I promised I'd come back for him! Look, Lily should still have it! Just ask her!"

"Miss Liliana, you wouldn't happen to have a note addressed to Nico, would you?"

"Actually, I do," Liliana answered, opening the drawer and taking out a plain envelope.

It had been previously opened, presumably by Liliana, so taking out the letter was no problem. The handwriting was a little scribbly, but I could make out what it said.

"'Dear, Nico,'" I read aloud to myself, "'I'm going to be gone for sometime. I don't know how long, but I promise I'll be back someday. I would never abandon you any day of my life, so this isn't forever. When I do come back, I'll be new and improved! I'm gonna get strong for you so we can hopefully be partners by the time you start your journey soon. TTFN, Shadow.'"

The note itself was downright upsetting because of what Nico had told me in the past during my time travel journey. Until now, I had believed that Nico had been abandoned by the Pokémon he trusted the most, but now I knew that there was a misunderstanding afoot.

"This is, this is quite a note," I breathed.

"Indeed. I thought Shadow had left for good, but he came back to us one day," Liliana informed me.

"But by the time I did," I heard Shadow add, "Nico was gone. He left me behind for his journey."

"...I've gotta find Nico," I decided, taking the note. "Miss Liliana, if it's alright with you and Shadow, can I take this to Nico? This is something he needs to see."

"You can go," Shadow and Liliana agreed.

I took the last sips of my decaf coffee from the small pink cup and set it on the coffee table in front of me. I thanked Liliana for having me over, and headed out the door. Up in the sky, I saw a Golbat flying towards the house with some Bloom Mail between its teeth before landing in front of me.

"Hey, you're that Ritsu girl my Master's in l-" Golbat almost said, "I mean, you're that one he's trying to become stronger than!"

"Are you Nico's Golbat?" I asked him.

"You'd bet! The Master wanted me to bring his mama a letter so she wouldn't get worried. He may have been a little harsh on us when we started out, but the kid sure loves his mom through and through."

Golbat dropped the floral envelope through the mail slot in the door and began flapping his wings. I stopped him so I could possibly get a clue on Nico's whereabouts.

"Where are you headed to, Golbat?" I asked him.

"We're training at Mt. Moon near Cerulean City," Golbat answered. "If ya wanna follow us, you're more than free to~," he hinted with a wink as he flew off again.

When Golbat was out of sight, I called Louie from his PokéBall, and he came out a little groggy and drowsy from an afternoon snooze.

"Yes, Ritsu?" he yawned, "Are we going to tussle with that ghost of Red now?"

"No, not yet," I said. "You guys all seem more than ready, but there's something I have to do for Nico first."

"That fellow? You're not possibly becoming enthralled by him, are you? He's quite a ruffian from what I've seen of him."

"A-Actually," I objected meekly, "I have a good feeling that Nico's attitude is starting to change. I'm actually starting to like him, but not in the crush sort of way! Now come on! We're heading to Cerulean City!"

Louie allowed me to climb onto his feathery back and soared north towards the next city. His flight speed with me on his back had increased tenfold, so we reached Cerulean in a matter of minutes. We hurried west of the city, hopping over small ledges and obstacles until we reached the entrance to a cave that I can only assume was Mt. Moon.

"We're here," I stated. "Nico should be in here."

I hesitantly entered the strange cave with an eternal moonlight, being wary of the possible Zubats awaiting me. I heard tiny sounds coming from nearby the further I went into the cave, so I prepared Louie for the worst. I let out a scream as something jumped onto me, until I finally took it off of me. I calmed down when I saw that it was a little Clefairy.

"Hi! I'm Rini!" she greeted, "Who're you?"

"My name is Ritsu, and this is Louie," I introduced, pointing to myself and my Noctowl.

"Salutations, young child," Louie greeted. "Enchanted to meet you."

"Hee-hee! I like you guys! Can I come with you on an adventure? I really don't have a place I can go, and I'm sick of walking around these caves for a living!"

"Hmm… okay! Hold still."

I took out an empty PokéBall and gently tapped it to Rini's forehead. In three shakes and a click, I had caught a new little Clefairy, who had unfortunately been sent to the box where my other off duty Pokémon were (among them Phoebe, who I had gotten back from Florence's care about a month before, and was now a fully-grown Lanturn).

"Well, if it isn't the Neo-Champion herself," a voice remarked as they got closer to me.

"Nico, there you are!" I exclaimed, "I've been looking for you!"

"Y-You have?!" Nico squeaked, his cheeks becoming florid again. "Wow, that's so… uhh, stupid! Why would the esteemed Champion need to be obsessed with looking for me?"

"I'm not obsessed! I just have something important to give to you is all!"

"Tell ya what, Ritsu. How about we have a little match first before you give me something that's oh-so crucial to ya? Now that I've been training my teammates, they're bound to beat you!"

"Okay, I'm game! At least I know I won't lose the title if you defeat me since you don't have any Badges or Elite Four battles."

"Details, details…"

Nico and I stood far across from each other, one PokéBall each in our hands. The first Pokémon Nico chose to use was his Sneasel, whom I could tell made him feel slight discomfort even at this point. For my choice, I stuck with Louie since he was already out and about.

"Preparas morir, man!" Sneasel taunted.

"Sneasel, use Icy Wind!" Nico commanded.

Sneasel's breath released a chilling blizzard at Louie, who began shivering as snow began piling up on his freezing feathers. I sprayed him with an Ice Heal, and Louie was feeling fit already.

"Use Fly, Louie!" I instructed.

Louie soared at a high enough elevation before crashing down like a meteor at Sneasel. The attack left critical damage, but much to my surprise, Nico actually walked over and sprayed Sneasel's injuries with a Hyper Potion.

"Keep goin', Sneasel," Nico said to it. "You should be fine now that I gave you that."

"Thanks, man," Sneasel thanked in its Spanish accent. "Now, I'mma take you down!" it taunted towards Noctowl.

I smiled and clapped at the way Nico acted towards his Sneasel, utterly proud of his improvement. This only made him look away with what I saw as embarrassment, but he still continued to battle.

"Sneasel, attack with Faint Attack!" he told it to do.

"Dodge and use Fly again, Louie!" I shouted.

Sneasel managed to strike Louie with its claws, but Louie still flew up to the air and crash down on his opponent again, this time defeating it upon making harsh contact.

"Not bad, kid," Nico remarked to his Sneasel as he recalled it. "Go, Gengar!"

When Gengar had taken the stage, I could only guess that Nico found a way to evolve his Haunter over time. I kept Louie out since his damage wasn't critical, and he was still willing to battle.

"Louie, Extrasensory!" I told him.

"Gengar, use Confuse Ray on Noctowl!" Nico said to his Pokémon.

Louie never got the chance to use his attack, because Gengar released orbs of energy that swirled around Louie, causing him to feel dizzy and out of touch with his senses.

"Everything looks… doubled…" Louie groaned.

"Don't give up, Louie! Use Extrasensory again!" I shouted to him.

Louie attempted an Extrasensory attack, but due to his confusion, he wound up hurting himself when the power of the move backfired before its release. I was worried for my Pokémon, but Nico looked especially proud of his.

"Pretty damn impressive, Gengar!" Nico complimented his Ghost-type.

"Hey, thanks, Nico!" Gengar cackled, "Let's win this thing! I got 'im all confused!"

"Use Curse this time, Gengar!"

Gengar conjured a ghostly nail that dug into his head while he endured it. In unison, the same nail dug itself into Louie's body, making me horrified at remembering the identical fate Hermia had suffered in the past. I took no time to heal Louie with a Hyper Potion of my own as Nico did the same for his Gengar's wounds.

"Louie, you gotta focus, bud!" I encouraged him. "Focus and use Zen Headbutt!"

Squinting, Louie had his eyes locked dead on Gengar. As his head began glowing blue, he charged at Gengar and left a sufficient amount of damage. Nico tried to have Gengar repeat its Confuse Ray, but Louie evaded the attack and struck Gengar down with a successful Aerial Ace attack.

"I'd expect no less from the Champion herself," Nico commented as Gengar was withdrawn.

"You've improved greatly, Nico!" I told him. "I've noticed you're treating your Pokémon better than you have months ago, and I gotta say that I'm very impressed and proud of you!"

"Th-Thanks, Ritsu," Nico gulped, scratching the back of his head nervously. "Uhh, let's get this battle over with so I can finally win against you! Golbat, it's your turn!"

When Golbat took the stage, I withdrew Louie in favor of Merida. Golbat attacked with a bold Air Cutter, inflicting damage into Merida's body. But, she was still willing to fight.

"Merida, Power Gem!" I commanded.

Merida's red forehead orb fired off a ray beam of mystical gems at Golbat, who deflected himself by using his wings as a shield. But, the sharpness of the magic rocks left some bad cuts on the outside of Golbat's wings, causing him to become wracked with pain. Just as he was about to make himself pull through the battle, Nico forced him to stop for a second.

"Not so fast," Nico said firmly, spraying its wounds with a Hyper Potion. "There. Don't try to fight with scratches like those, got it? You won't get anywhere like that."

"Got it, Master Nico!" Golbat confirmed.

"Great. Now, use Air Cutter again!"

Golbat flapped his newly-healed wings over and over, releasing sharp gusts of winds at Merida. Each gust cut through her body, but she deflected it with her veteran Discharge attack, which spread to Golbat and left critical damage.

"Merida, finish up with Thunder!" I told her.

Merida's red orb on her forehead began crackling with electricity. She focused her mind as a burst of lightning came crashing down from the dark clouds formed above us. Spreading her arms out, the lightning crash spread wider throughout the cave, critically damaging and KOing Golbat.

"Yeah, that's it, Merida!" I cheered.

Unfortunately, my celebration was cut short by the mighty lightning striking the walls of the cave, causing a loud rumbling followed by the rocks of the cave falling from the walls and ceiling. The wild Pokémon around us scattered to safety as the large rocks fell faster and faster. Before I knew it, a large rock was headed towards me and Merida.

"Ritsu, watch out!" I heard Nico cry, shoving me out of the way without letting go of his unconscious Golbat.

I fell to the rocky floor as the rest of the boulders fell behind us. I opened my eyes to the dimmer moonlight and Merida beside me, but also Nico pinning me to the ground. I let out a yelp of surprise as I felt my face mildly heat up and turn ruddy; Nico's doing the same after he looked into my eyes for a few seconds before removing himself from me.

"S-Sorry about that," he coughed, "you should look where you're going next time, ya klutz."

"You… you saved me!" I realized, "That was really brave of you, Nico. Thank you for that- ouch!"

When I tried to get up, I felt a pain in my right ankle. Clutching it, I knew the pain wasn't bad enough to completely drag me down, but it was still very uncomfortable to try and attempt to walk on it. I saw Nico give his Golbat a Revive and a Super Potion, restoring him back to full health.

"Thanks, Master," he panted, still regaining consciousness. "I really needed that."

"Don't mention it," Nico told him. "Listen, I need you to do me a favor."

"What's that, Master? What do you need me to do?"

Much to my surprise, Nico temporarily lifted me up bridal-style and placed me onto Golbat's back. I looked at him with curiosity, to which he just turned his head away from me stubbornly, cheeks still flushed with presumed embarrassment.

"Got a staring issue?" he questioned, "It ain't a good idea to walk when you pull somethin' in your ankle. Golbat, I need you to help Ritsu out until we find a way outta here."

"Roger that! I'm used to flying you around, so this will be a piece of cake for me!"

Golbat started flying into the air, lifting me off the ground as I remained on his back while we moved forward. When I looked down, I saw Merida; her hands together in a manner as excited as the grin on her face as she walked with us. I raised an eyebrow at her sudden enthusiasm at the odd situation.

"I knew it!" Merida chirped, "I was right all along! He does like you!"

"What?" I questioned, "Merida, don't be silly. I'm sure Nico's just being nice to me… for some reason. I'm grateful, but it's no proof that he'd have some sort of crush on me."

"Th-That's right!" Nico squeaked from below, blush spreading further across his face. "There's no way in hell I'd ever f-fall for a girl like you! I respect you and all because you're the Champion now, but who the hell would have feelings for you? That's ridiculous!"

Nico's insensitive words felt like arrows to the heart, reminding me of when I confessed to Lance last month and ultimately got turned down. Although it hadn't been as painful as back then, I started to sob as tears welled up in my eyes and fell from them and onto Golbat.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Nico asked me, "What's with the sudden tears?"

"Forget it!" I snapped at him, "You've said enough, Nico! Let's just find a way out of here, okay?"

"Smooth, Master Nico, smooth…" I heard Golbat say sarcastically.

"What? Cut the sarcasm, smart-ass!"

"Golbat, you don't have to keep flying me around the cave," I sniffled, still despondent. "I'm sure Louie can- huh? Hey! Where's the rest of the team? My PokéBalls are gone!"

Nico also began searching around his waist for his PokéBalls, only to find them missing completely. We both realized that they must have fallen off during the rockslide, so we turned back to an area closer to the source of the accident. Since the rocks were too heavy to be moved, and neither of our Pokémon had the strength to break the rocks, we had to find another solution.

"Fan-fuckin'-tastic…" Nico groaned, "Now I'm stuck here with you guys forever! Just my luck."

"And what's wrong with that?" I questioned, climbing off of Golbat to see that my ankle had stopped hurting as much from earlier. "There's nothing wrong with us! We'll be reunited with the others soon, but work with what you have for now! It's not like we're gonna just ditch you in this cave!"

"Tch, I'd bet…" Nico scoffed, "You may not know this, Ritsu, but just when you think you can trust someone, they'll prolly up and turn their back on you for no reason! Just like someone I thought was my best friend ever…"

"...Are you talking about Shadow?" I asked him, noticing the way he winced when I said that name.

"How, how do you about him?! Answer me now!"

If I told Nico that he was the one who told me about Shadow because I time-traveled, he'd think I was making it up. So instead, I pulled out the reason I came to find Nico to begin with and handed it to him.

"Your mother invited me over to your house, and a special guest wanted me to give this to you," I explained. "She told me the truth, and they're not what you think happened."

Opening the note inside, Nico's eyes skimmed the letter. With each word he passed and processed, I noticed tears beginning to form in his saddening gray eyes. When he finished reading the letter, he dropped the paper and collapsed to his knees, head bowed to his chest as tears fell from his eyes to the ground.

"...He came back," he choked, "I recognize that messy handwriting anywhere, and it couldn't be anybody but Shadow who wrote this. I should have never left him behind! Shadow, I'm so sorry, buddy…!"

I went over and comforted Nico by hugging him, to which he let out a sound of surprise as he looked up from the ground. This time around, Nico returned the hug to me before pulling apart quickly. Just then, Golbat fluttered over to us.

"Master," he said, "I may not know who this Shadow is, but I promise I'll never leave you! After all, Shadow never really left you behind, so why should I. I didn't think this would be true when you first caught me, but… me and the others have come to care about you! And you've started caring about us too, even if you don't always admit it! But I can't deny it, we're… we're all your friends!"

As if the last word was the trigger word, Golbat was surrounded by swirls of purple ooze at the same time he started glowing. His size increased, two more wings sprouted beneath his first set, and his shape altered. The magical glow of evolution that made Nico, Merida, and I become awestruck ended, and Golbat was now a full-fledged Crobat.

"Hey, ya finally evolved!" Nico remarked, smiling, "It's about time, Gol- I mean, Crobat! I didn't think you'd ever pull it off!"

"I think you're part of the reason he did," I told him. "Golbat only becomes Crobat when they grow attached to their Trainers and form a strong bond of friendship. Nico, I'd say you have a promising future ahead of you at this rate. You've truly changed from when we started out."

"I've only got you to thank for that," Nico said, smiling as the blush in his cheeks grew stronger. "So… thanks, Ritsu. Let's find a way outta here before we're totally trapped."

"Uhh, Master," Crobat interrupted. "Now that I've admitted how I feel about someone I care about a ton, perhaps it's time you finally do the same? I couldn't imagine a more perfect place than Mt. Moon; aka, the place which has the most romantic object in space always shining above it!"

"What? Nico, what's he talking about?"

Nico gulped nervously as his blush nearly overcame his face. He took a deep breath and faced me, his hands clasping onto mine. I noticed how stressed he looked by the way he shifted his eyes away when he started speaking.

"...Ritsu," he began, now looking at me again, "do you remember what I said back in Azalea Town? Y'know, when I said I don't really hate you?"

"Yeah," I answered, blinking, "but I always thought the opposite. After all, you usually fling rude remarks at me and stuff. Why is that if you don't really hate me?"

"Th-There's a reason, Ritsu. A really good one. I just don't know if I can say it! I know I've called you names in the past like 'Plumber-Breath', 'stupid girl', and even a waste of time, but… I don't really feel that way about you."

"Then how do you feel about me? What have you been hiding from me this whole time? Why are you so hesitant to tell me this oh-so important secret? Why, Nico? Why?"

"B-Because… it's because…"

"Here it comes!" I heard Crobat and Merida beam.

"It's all because why…?"

"Because I love you, okay?!" Nico confessed loudly, still clasping onto my hands with his sweaty ones. "I love you, Ritsu! Ever since you treated my arm back at Burned Tower, you've been on my mind 24/7 and driving me absolutely crazy! You're the only human being who isn't my mother to actually give a shit about me, even after all I've said and done to you! I've never met anyone else who never gave up on me; you've encouraged me to become stronger, and… no matter how hard I've tried forgetting you, I can't see myself feeling this way about anyone in this stupid world! Say what you want about me, I just wanted to get that and this off of my chest for good!"

I was utterly surprised and shocked at Nico's confession of his true feelings for me, but what happened next was even more shocking. In unison with the moonlight glowing brighter, Nico pulled me closer and grabbed both of my arms as his lips locked onto mine. Without thinking, I found myself sinking deeper into the kiss as I unconsciously wrapped my arms around him; Nico doing the same thing to me as well while the rockslide mess collapsed with a crash.

"Ugh, we finally got outta that- WHOA!" I heard Blaze gasp before Nico and I pulled apart eventually.

"Blaze, everyone!" I cheered, running over to them with Merida. "You're okay!"

"Yeah, we are," Blaze agreed, still processing what she had just witnessed, "but the question is, are you? What the hell were you doing sucking face with Nico?!"

"It's… a long story," I laughed before I turned around to an embarrassed Nico. "Although I'm still pretty overwhelmed, let's just say that everything's fine. I don't think you're a freak or anything, Nico. In fact, I'm glad you don't hate me!"

"You are?" Nico wondered, "You don't think I'm some soft weirdo or anything?"

"Nope! I mean, things didn't work out with Lance, but I don't really know how things would go between us. I do like you, but I'm not sure about romance at the moment… Let's give it some time, and an answer will pop up soon."

"Fine by me. I'm just glad you don't see me as any less, Ritsu."

"Now that we're back with our teams, don't we have a battle to finish?"

"That's right! Bring it on, Little Miss Champion!"

The battle then proceeded as it had earlier. Eventually, my team won against him again. When Nico's Alakazam fainted, he went over and shook my hand for the first time.

"As expected from you, Reets," Nico remarked, surprising me with my nickname. "At least this time, I can feel my team improving completely! One day, we're gonna be strong enough to beat you for sure! Now if you'll excuse me, I've got somewhere ta be. I'll see you next time."

"You can count on it, Nico," I agreed, giving him a peck on the cheek as I felt it was appropriate. "Keep up the good work, okay?"

"Y-Yeah…" he breathed, smiling as he lightly touched the spot where I kissed him. "Until we meet again, Neo-Champion."

Nico walked his own way with his team beside him, and I did the same towards the other side of Mt. Moon with mine. While Blaze and the others were beyond confused and shocked, Merida was grinning with the utmost bliss.

"See? I was right all along!" Merida cheered, "Nico's in love with Ritsu! He did everything I said he would, but you guys just didn't believe me!"

"I still can't believe it," Blaze uttered. "He's been coverin' up his emotions with that attitude 'a his that it wasn't horribly obvious."

"But, how do you feel, Ritsu?" Rose asked me. "Do you like him too?"

"Well, Rose…" I chuckled, my face turning rather pink as I led the way up the cave ladder and towards the other exit, "Let's just say my opinion of him from months ago is different now. I don't know if I'm exactly in love with him, but I know that I like him. He's changed his tune a lot, and he's more caring towards his Pokémon now. If Golbat evolving into Crobat amounts to anything. But, we'll see what the future holds for us."

"Yeah," Blaze decided as we all left the cave. "Right now, we've got an evil spirit to dispose of!"

Blaze's words reminded me of our most important mission ever. Looking beyond the horizon, I saw a tall mountain in between the border of Kanto and Johto. According to my PokéGear, it was definitely Mt. Silver, the place where I was destined to fight Red. I called everyone back to their PokéBalls except for Louie, who started flying me to the Pokémon League Reception Gate, the spot closest to our final destination of our grand adventure.

"Red," I said to myself as we flew through the chilling air, "we're coming for you. With Arceus as my witness, you won't win this battle!"

Pokémon obtained: Rini the Clefairy, Female, Quirky nature, Highly persistent.

Deaths: None.

Boxed/Unboxed: Rini the Clefairy.

Author's Note: Well, at least there was finally romantic closure for Nico. PS, I always thought of the whole "Betty and Veronica" trope with Nico (Veronica), Lance (Betty), and Ritsu (Archie). It's a common one, but it exists. Now, all of you lovelies should stay tuned for Chapter 39, it's the final battle after all! Love you all who have made it this far with me!