Author's Note: I know I'm jumping ahead a bit here, but a) taking care of Darkrai is the most important part of the post-game, and b) it set up for a nice transition into the part I was most excited about doing. Of course, that's not to say the fight itself wasn't fun to write on its own; I did try and expand a bit on Darkrai here, too. Anyway, I have more to say, but... I think I'll save it for the bottom of the chapter. Don't want to take up too much space beforehand, and all. Here we go!
Chapter Twenty-Six: The Final Pieces
The months following her still-baffling return had passed normally. Claire still hadn't figured out how and why she'd returned, but she'd gladly accepted the second chance at life. She wouldn't trade all of their following adventures for anything.
Team Shadow had graduated from the Wigglytuff Guild. They'd explored Sky Peak, an almost unknown place teeming with new discoveries. They'd cared for a young Manaphy and explored with some of Wigglytuff's old friends.
All of that seemed like an entire lifetime ago, though. Now, Claire couldn't stop and appreciate any of it. Not with the battle they were currently locked in—a baited trap that they'd had no choice but to march into. The world was just as dependent on its outcome as it had been back at Temporal Tower, if not more so.
The nightmares had started a few weeks back, and they'd found the one responsible. He'd started subtly with them, made a show of stepping it up with Azurill, and then announced his intentions to spread it further. An experiment meant to led into twisting the fabric of space, just as he'd done with the flow of time before.
"Bruce, watch it!"
Iris shouted out her warning as she swept forward with a Faint Attack, startling the Aggron harassing Bruce. The Glameow was breathing heavily and covered in slashes, a particularly deep one bleeding heavily on his cheek. Rin launched a Bonemerang at a Magmortar, sending him crashing to the floor before she turned around and whacked the Magcargo who had cornered Felix.
To Claire's left, there was a shriek of pain. Cresselia had been knocked into the hot cave wall by a Mismagius's Shadow Ball, and there were visible, puffy burn marks on her skin from the steam rising from the rock. All Claire could see was the blurry streak of pink as the Psychic-Type struggled to get herself airborne again, but she couldn't do anything to help. Cresselia had done so much for them already, starting with uncovering the illusions and deceits that had brought them here, but—
"Shall I scar the other side of your face while I have you here?"
Darkrai had both of his hands wrapped around her body, and Claire struggled to get loose. He'd been behind all of it—from the collapse of Temporal Tower, to the attacks on Palkia's domain, to her own existence. And the 'turbulence' in her first trip through time had been him. Darkrai had scarred her and half-blinded her in one eye, and he would do far worse than his little taunt suggested if they didn't stop him.
"Why are you doing this?" she panted in response. "You don't…you don't have to…"
Darkrai laughed, the sound chilling and grating. "Why? I ask you—what good do you think you could do with powers like mine? You think they'll be accepted as anything other than malicious, no matter what I do?"
Claire blinked, her thrashing weakening slightly. "W-what?"
"Let me tell you a little secret…" Darkrai pulled her close, whispering, "When your mere existence sends others into never-ending pain…when simply being near someone causes them to never wake up…you can either seclude yourself and live in fear of your own abilities, or you can learn how to control them. I made the only rational choice! I decided to find a way to not only control but magnify my powers—and I will not let you ruin another opportunity for me!
"Your future was such an easy place to test my abilities. When everyone has already given into despair, the nightmares spread so easily! They feed me and strengthen me! But if I must do it manually, one by one…I will."
With that, he tossed her aside like a rag doll, and Claire yowled in pain as she was sent skidding across the burning floor. Around her, Darkrai's followers—and she wondered how many were simply following him out of fear—had started to fall. Cresselia had knocked out the Arbok; Rin and Iris had teamed up against the Rhyperior. Felix and Bruce nodded to each other as they tackled Mismagius to the ground. Aggron had gone unconscious some time ago from Rin's repeated Bone Clubs, and now they just had to take care of Magmortar, Magcargo, and Darkrai himself.
But…could they? Claire weakly rose to her feet, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in her limbs. She could see Rin striking Magcargo with a well-timed Bonemerang, and Bruce proceeded to bite Magcargo on the arm, sinking his teeth in further when the large Fire-Type roared and flailed his arm around in pain.
No, they had to. It wasn't the time to ask if they could—only how they would do it. Claire closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and charged forward as her claws sparked with electricity. The Thunderbolt missed its target—Darkrai leered at her as he easily floated out of range. He was met with a howling Iris crashing into him, and his eyes widened as he looked around frantically. Cresselia had an unusually smug look on her face; she must've let Iris get up on her back and use her as a platform so she could leap towards Darkrai.
"Eat it, you son of a—"
Iris had swung a Needle Arm towards Darkrai's face, and her spikes hit him square in the mouth. Darkrai hissed as his eyes started to glow, and Iris drooped before she could finish her sentence. She crashed to the ground, eyes shut and chest gently rising and falling. It must've been Hypnosis—Darkrai had put her to sleep. And if they weren't careful…
Claire growled and shot off another Thunderbolt. This one hit Darkrai directly, and he howled in pain as he crumpled to the ground. Rin followed it up with an Ice Beam, and Felix charged at him with a Thunder Punch. If they could just keep up the pace, then…
Darkrai's eyes glowed again, and Claire's movements slowed to a near crawl. No, no; she knew what he was trying to do. Claire wouldn't let him put her to sleep now. She still had to wake up Iris, or he'd put them both in a nightmare, and…
An Aurora Beam from Cresselia was enough to distract him, but Claire's eyes continued to droop as Darkrai snarled at his opposite. She could hear Felix shouting something at her; she had to wake up, and they had to help Iris, and…and…
Vaguely, Claire could make out the looming form of Palkia. Oh, he'd finally caught up with them. He was going to help, and everything would be fine, and…
Claire crashed to the ground, only waking up when she heard something shattering nearby. A few dark shards of energy fell to the ground, and there was a flickering light not unlike a fading Dimensional Hole in front of them. And, when an unearthly shriek of pain echoed through Dark Crater's pit, Claire knew it was all over.
Claire stared at her surroundings, blinking as she took them in. Their defeat of Darkrai had been over a month ago now, hadn't it? But the memories were still so vivid that she could recall it in her dreams with near-perfect accuracy.
She couldn't help dwelling on what he'd said to her during the battle, either. He had to control his abilities or live in fear of them. Perhaps in any other situation, she would've pitied him; Darkrai was such an awful creature that she couldn't bring herself to do it, though.
Claire yawned as she rolled over and stretched. As thanks for defeating Darkrai, Palkia had fixed things so that she and her team could evolve properly at Luminous Spring. It had been an…interesting experience. The process had been a burst of pain and growth and exhilaration all at once, and Claire had come out of it on all fours. That had been the hardest part to get used to; at first, she kept trying to stand on her hind legs, which had just resulted in her looking ridiculous and falling over.
Claire yawned as she looked around again. Felix was the only other one up, and the Infernape was sitting out by the teeth of Sharpedo Bluff. Iris was sprawled out on her bed, taking up even more space than usual now that she was a Cacturne. Near her, Rin (now a Marowak) was curled up in a ball, breathing as peacefully as always. Claire smiled when her eyes finally settled on Bruce; despite the fact that he'd been the only one of them free to evolve from the start, he hadn't wanted to at all.
"I want to stay cute," she remembered the Glameow huffing. "You guys can change if you want to, but I'd rather stay like this."
Shaking her head, Claire turned around and padded over to Felix. He'd been staring out at the sea, and he cocked his fiery head to the side as she approached him. Claire sat down, glancing out at the water as Felix spoke up.
"How long have you been up?"
Claire shrugged. "Since just now. I don't think I'll be able to get back to sleep, though."
There was still a thin line of gray on the horizon, decorated by a few last streaks of pink and orange. Claire could've gotten some more sleep if she'd felt like it, but she'd been getting up early these past few days.
Felix blinked at her. "Is something bothering you?"
"I guess so." Claire sighed. "I've just been thinking, you know? We know how and why everything happened now. And, it's like…I wish I could tell Leaf and the others that we found all that out, and that now we really won't have to worry about anything like that happening again, but…but…"
Her voice caught in her throat, and Claire swallowed as she looked away. Even before now, it had occurred to her just how unfair it was that she was the only one to come back. No one else had gotten to enjoy this new world; only her. Leaf and Celebi and all the other friends they must've had would never get to see this.
And now, finding out what the root cause had been just felt like a kick in the teeth. Claire knew she ought to be happy about it. At least now the final threads had all fallen into place, and she understood the full picture. But it wasn't enough, not when she couldn't share it with everyone else.
Felix looked at her for a few seconds before glancing back out at the water. "You know," he said slowly, "I think he would be happy for you. I could tell how much Leaf cared about you the last time he was here with us, and…I think he'd like it that you got to learn all that."
"Yeah, I…I hope you're right."
She knew he was, but Claire couldn't help the pang of longing in her chest as she gazed out at the ocean anyway.
Adjusting was an odd process.
Leaf and Dusknoir had been used to how things were in the past—and Dialga had known how it was, long ago. Celebi had quickly grown attached to the green trees and bright sunlight, and most other Pokémon (and the rare human) agreed that it was a considerable improvement over how the world had been before. None of that was the problem.
Re-growing civilization as a whole was harder, though. It took a while to shake the feeling that one would get attacked just for venturing too far from home, after all. Still…there had been enough of the population who wanted to try. And that counted for a lot, all things considered.
It had taken months (and Leaf still couldn't help marveling that they had proper months now), but a few small villages had sprouted up here and there. One of them was even where Treasure Town had once been, and it was where Leaf and Celebi had decided to settle for the time being. He couldn't help a smile as he glanced around at the slightly shabby but still functional shops. It was a relief to see the place almost as it had once been—the way it was supposed to be.
Still, sometimes it was harder to feel so joyful about the whole thing, guilty as that made Leaf feel.
That afternoon, Leaf and Andrew had headed down to the town's market to look for some food and other supplies. Not long after everyone's return, Leaf and Celebi had managed to find Andrew and Jirachi, and the four of them had built a hut together on the outskirts of the new town. And Leaf suspected that Andrew knew best of all what was on everyone's mind, even if none of them wanted to say it aloud. Andrew finally spoke up, though, frowning as he adjusted the sack of food he'd slung over his shoulder.
"You know, it…doesn't feel right," he commented. "Being here without Claire, that is."
"I know." Leaf sighed as he darted ahead on the dirt trail. "I'm…still not sure why she didn't return with the rest of us, but…"
"If the rest of us did, then she had to have, too." Andrew's frown deepened. "But finding out where she is would be…"
Difficult? Nearly impossible? None of them had seen a trace of Claire these past few months. If she was there, surely she'd try to find them, too. But none of them had managed to do so.
It was obvious Andrew didn't want to say that much, though. He'd never been terribly good at vocalizing his thoughts, but the expression on his face made it clear enough. And despite all of his best efforts, Leaf was still a bit awkward at emotional things himself. Leaf glanced away for a moment as he tried to mull over a decent reply, and it was then that something occurred to him.
"You know, if…if she was back in the past when we started to disappear…do you think she reappeared there, too?" he said slowly. "I guess it's a long shot, but…it could be worth a try."
Andrew's eyes widened slightly, and he nodded. Suddenly, he picked up his walking pace—they weren't too far from their hut now. He brushed the entry flap aside when he arrived, setting their supplies down on the floor nearby. Leaf hurried in after him; Celebi and Jirachi were sitting in the middle of the room, talking to Dusknoir and Missy.
Andrew paused, frowning again for a second. Dusknoir and Missy visited them every now and then, and it had taken him longer than everyone else to get used to them. Leaf supposed he couldn't blame him for that, and Andrew generally brushed his opinions aside quickly enough.
That day was the same as usual, and Andrew promptly turned his attention to Celebi. She perked up when he got closer, grinning as she fluttered over to him.
"Andrew, dear, you're back! Did you find everything all right?"
"Yes, but we need to ask you about something else," he replied. "Do you think you could take us over to the Passage of Time? There's something we want to check out."
Celebi blinked curiously. "What? Why do you need to do that? How far back do you need to go?"
Now that time had been repaired, Celebi could go back (or forward) considerably further than she had before. Still, she generally defaulted to the Passage of Time for large trips; it was partly out of habit, and partly because it was still easier that way. Andrew looked uncertainly at Leaf, and the Grovyle nodded and continued for him.
"We were just curious about something. We were talking on the way back, and…do you think Claire might be back in the past somewhere?"
Celebi's eyes widened, and she slowly glanced over at the other three Pokémon in the room. Jirachi rested his chin in one hand as he thought it over, and he nodded after a few seconds.
"It would make sense," he agreed. "And, really, we don't have any other ideas, do we?"
"Jirachi, dear, you could sound a bit more optimistic about it." Celebi snorted and shook her head. "But, still! It is a good idea, don't you think?"
Dusknoir nodded and said wryly, "And I doubt Master Dialga would be too upset with you for using it this time."
Really, "master" wasn't quite the right word anymore. While Dusknoir still worked for Dialga in a sense, it was more generally—checking to make sure the tower was recovering properly, among several other small tasks—as opposed to direct missions like he'd done before. The habit of referring to him as such had been a hard one to shake, though.
Missy rolled her eyes at his remark, but she nodded as well. It seemed everyone was in agreement, then. Leaf looked back at Celebi again, more expectantly this time.
"So, I guess that means we're going to do it, then!" She grinned, clapping her hands together. "Well…we may have to plan this trip a little. We probably shouldn't go in too big of a group, just to be safe. And…"
Celebi gave a sidelong glance to Dusknoir and Missy. Neither of them looked too offended at the implication. Dusknoir probably didn't have the best reputation in the past, after all, and no one there would have a personal connection to Missy. He just shrugged at her and vaguely waved a hand in response.
"I'm fine with staying behind, too," Jirachi said with a shrug of his own. "I'll definitely want to come and visit Claire sometime if you can find her, but that can wait until we know where she is."
Celebi turned back to everyone else and continued, "All right, then. I suppose Andrew, Leaf, and I will go? It may be a short trip, but we should be careful anyway."
"If we find her, we can decide what to do after that." Andrew nodded. "Where do you think we should go?"
"Well…she'd probably either be at the guild or the bluff…" Leaf mused. "So we should aim for one of those. Since Sharpedo Bluff is more out of the way, that might be better."
Besides, Leaf knew his way around well enough that it wouldn't be hard to lead them over to the guild. Maybe they wouldn't have to sneak around so much this time, either, Leaf thought with an amused snort. Everyone seemed to be okay with his suggestion, though, since they were all nodding.
"All right, then!" Celebi's grin widened. "We'll eat and rest up tonight, and we'll leave in the morning. You two can have dinner with us if you like."
She waved at Dusknoir and Missy, and the two nodded appreciatively.
And, as they got to work, Leaf couldn't help the nervous excitement building in his chest. He couldn't believe he hadn't thought of it before, but now they finally had a chance.
"So, should we look at the jobs at the Guild today?" Claire asked. "Unless you'd rather see if Spinda's heard of any new dungeons for us to explore instead."
"Well, I'd be okay with doing a few jobs today," Felix replied. "How about everyone else?"
Rin, Iris, and Bruce shrugged and nodded, signifying their agreement. Claire grinned as she headed up the stairs of the bluff, and everyone followed behind her. She paused to wait for them, idly glancing around the area. It was a nice day; clear and slightly cool, perfect for doing some missions.
And yet…something seemed slightly…off. Claire's whiskers twitched; she wasn't entirely sure what it was, but the air just seemed wrong. Felix blinked curiously at her, but he started bristling as well a few seconds later.
"Something's weird," he said uncertainly, looking around for reassurance. "Does anyone else feel that?"
Iris frowned. "Yeah, it's like…I don't know, but…hey, what?"
Suddenly, there was a small, dark portal swirling in the air in front of them. It rapidly widened, and Claire soon recognized the shape. It was a Dimensional Hole—but how? No one who she wanted to see should've been able to do that anymore. Was it someone coming back from the 'new' future? If so, what did they want?
Her questions were soon answered when three figures tumbled out of the portal. Claire's eyes widened; there were two very familiar Grass-Types and a human lying in a heap on the ground. While she couldn't quite place the human, there was a nagging feeling in the back of Claire's head that she knew all too well. She'd known him before, hadn't she?
"Leaf? Celebi?" Felix's eyes were bugging out of his head. "How did you get here? We thought you…you…"
"Yeah!" Iris demanded. "And…what's that?"
"Ugh, you didn't tell me it was going to be that bad," the human groaned. "You could've warned me, you know."
"Well, sorry!" Celebi huffed. "I tried to say something, but you just ran ahead of us! You really are just like dear Leaf!"
The Grovyle in question snorted and rolled his eyes as he stood up. Then, after he shook himself off, his eyes fell on the assembly in front of him. For a second, Leaf merely blinked at them—then it sank in. He grinned and darted over to Claire, resting his claws on her shoulders when he reached her.
"It's you! You are still here. We thought we'd find you if we came back here!"
Claire's breath hitched in her throat. "L-Leaf? It really is you! But what are you doing here?"
"Yeah, I just asked that same thing!" Iris huffed, folding her arms. "But no one listens to me, no…"
Rin simply rolled her eyes, while Bruce was looking at the trio in confusion. The only one of them he'd met was Leaf, and that had only been very briefly back at Brine Cave. He hadn't met Celebi at all, and he'd never seen a human before, much like three of his four teammates. Fortunately, Celebi piped up a few seconds later and started explaining things.
"Well, it's a long story, my dears!" she tittered. "Believe me, I thought we were all done for, too. But, well…to put it simply, someone allowed us to come back. Our dear Dialga has his own idea on what happened, but he's not completely sure of it. Anyway, how have you all been?"
Her eyes fell on Bruce, and she giggled as she hovered over to him. "Ooh, are you one of Claire's friends, too? I met everyone else once before—way back before they evolved, of course!—but you weren't there at the time!"
"Uh…yeah," Bruce said sheepishly. "I think that's just because Dusknoir didn't realize I was a part of the team, to be honest…"
"Well, Claire will just have to fill us all in later! Oh, but speaking of—"
"Celebi," the human sighed. "Don't overwhelm everyone now. Hold on a moment."
He walked over to Claire, then crouched down and silently looked at her. Claire stared back; the feeling was getting stronger now. It was right on the tip of her tongue, but she still couldn't quite name it. It was so frustrating…
"So, it's true," he went on. "You are a Pokémon now. Just like Blitz, too. Well, except for the scars and the eye. But it's you, isn't it? My sister."
Claire blinked, eyes watering and mouth slightly open. Her brother? She'd left a brother behind, and she didn't even remember him.
"Whoa, you're Claire's brother?!" Felix exclaimed. "So…that's what a human looks like, then?"
He nodded. "Yes. My name is Andrew. And I guess you all are Claire's new friends?"
"Yep! I'm Felix, and this is Rin…" He gestured at the Marowak, and then pointed to the other two as he introduced them. "And that's Iris, and that's Bruce."
"Well…I guess I have to thank you for taking care of her, then," he said quietly.
"I-I'm sorry," Claire choked. "I still can't remember much of anything, and…and…"
Andrew laughed and ruffled her head, and the gesture was soothing. "That's not your fault. Celebi and Leaf told me what happened."
"So…you're okay, then." Claire swallowed, starting to calm down now. "So that means our world is still there? And you're all together, I guess?"
Leaf nodded. "And another friend of ours, but you may need to be reintroduced to him, as well. At any rate…when we all came back, we were wondering what happened to you, so we wanted to see if you'd ended up back here somehow."
Claire frowned, nodding slowly. "Yeah, it was…it was really weird, to be honest? When we were coming back down Temporal Tower, I started disappearing, but I could've sworn I saw you and Celebi with Dialga. And the strangest part was, I thought Dusknoir was there too, and this Misdreavus I'd never seen before? But then I woke up, and I was back on the beach again, and Felix was there…"
"Yeah, for us, it had been months," Felix added. "But…it didn't feel like that to you, Claire?"
She shook her head. Considering how she hadn't quite known what to make of that vision, she'd never mentioned it to anyone before. But the most important part was the time frame, she supposed.
"Nope; to me, it was just like waking up."
Everyone stopped to contemplate this for a few seconds, but then Leaf suddenly grinned.
"Well, that explains that, then! You know, when we started to come back, too…I thought I heard a voice that sounded like yours," he said. "So maybe you were 'supposed' to come back with us after all."
Claire tilted her head to the side. "But then…if that's the case, why did I come back here?"
"Well," Celebi said with a wry smile, "you could always ask Dialga yourself if you want to. But we were hoping you may want to come and see what our world is like now, too. Perhaps we could arrange for that sometime?"
"Er, Celebi," Andrew replied, "I think you were just hoping that. The rest of us wanted to figure out if Claire was okay first. Can you please run things by us before you say them?"
Celebi giggled. "Oh, please, dear Andrew! I know you wanted to see Claire again so badly yourself. Surely it couldn't kill you to have a longer visit with her!"
"Of course not, but you can't dump that on her right away!"
Meanwhile, Claire's brain was pounding so hard she could barely think straight. She could visit the future? Her original home? Of course, it still existed if everyone who lived there did. And, honestly, she did want to see how it looked now. Even if she didn't remember living there, Claire had seen it when Dusknoir had dragged her back there, and she was curious to see how it had changed.
But…would she be able to come back? Claire didn't want to leave everyone here in the past behind, either. Especially not so suddenly. She slowly looked at each of her teammates before glancing back at the future's trio.
"I…do want to come see it," she admitted. "But I don't want to leave everyone else behind, either. If I go with you, will I still be able to come back here?"
"Of course!" Celebi grinned, waving an arm at the still-present Dimensional Hole behind them. "You saw us come back, didn't you? Regardless of how long you choose to stay, we can easily take you back at any time! We can even make it so it's not too long after this point right here, if you want!"
Claire nodded. "All right, then. I think I'll take you up on that." Taking a deep breath, she turned around to face her teammates. "You all can do fine without me for a little while, right? I promise I'll come back to see you again, and we can figure some more things out from there."
Felix nodded as well, though his smile was bittersweet. "Yeah, I think we'll be okay for a little bit. I mean…I'll really miss you…a lot…but at least now we don't have to worry about you, right?"
"Yeah, you better not leave us again, or else!" Iris mock-threatened.
"Come on, Iris, be serious for once," Rin scolded. "But…yes. Be sure to tell us all about it when you get back!"
"Yeah, come back soon!" Bruce agreed.
"Okay…I'll miss you guys, but I'll see you again soon!"
They all pulled her into a group hug, and Claire grinned as she returned it. Then, she padded over to Celebi, Leaf, and Andrew. Each of them nodded and walked towards the Dimensional Hole, but they paused to wave at the rest of Team Shadow.
"Take care, my dears!" Celebi called. "Don't worry about us!"
"We'll be fine," Leaf added. "Take care of yourselves."
Andrew simply smiled and waved one more time. Claire paused, taking one more look at her teammates. They all waved at her, and she grinned at them and bobbed her head in return.
"Goodbye! Stay out of trouble!"
And, with that, she followed Leaf, Celebi, and Andrew into the Dimensional Hole. It flickered around them as they spun through it, and the dizziness didn't bother Claire so much this time. She instinctively reached a paw out towards Leaf, and he nodded as he took hold of it.
Then, the portal whirred loudly, and Claire closed her eyes and let it take her wherever it was going.
It didn't take Claire long to recover when the Passage of Time spat everybody back out. She was actually starting to get used to this time travel thing, with three attempts she actually remembered now. The dizziness wore off soon enough, and her steps were only slightly wobbly when she stood up. Once everyone else had joined her, Claire took a few seconds to look around, and she couldn't help a gasp of surprise.
The forest stretching out ahead of her was bright and green, and the trees were rustling slightly in the wind. Above her, the sky was bright blue with light, puffy clouds drifting lazily across it. There wasn't a hint of the dull gray she'd seen before anywhere in sight—it all looked so normal.
"This isn't…Dusk Forest, is it?" she asked to no one in particular.
"Yep, it absolutely is Dusk Forest!" Celebi chimed in. "Though maybe we should start calling it something else now. It's not very…well, dusky anymore, is it?"
Claire shook her head and grinned, and her tail idly swished behind her in excitement. If Dusk Forest already looked this much better, she couldn't wait to see how much everything else had improved. But, first, she turned back to look at everyone else.
"You said you were all staying together, right? Where's that?"
"Oh, it's not too far from where Treasure Town used to be," Leaf replied. "Everyone's just been calling it New Treasure Town for lack of a better name, but it's come pretty far already."
"We can take you there now, if you want!" Celebi fluttered to the middle of the group. "Everyone, hang on to me!"
Claire nodded and raised a paw up towards her as Leaf and Andrew drew closer. Celebi closed her eyes, and, in a flash of light, she'd teleported them away.
When the spots faded from Claire's vision, she could see they'd arrived in front of a large circular hut. In the distance, she could see the outskirts of a town, with a few vendor stalls dotting its edge. She wanted to check that out, too, but everyone probably needed a rest first. Instead, she just followed them all inside—they could go later.
The inside of the hut was nice, too, Claire thought as she looked around. The floor was wooden, and there were various pots lining the walls containing supplies. There were several hay beds and a cot off to one side, and a large table sat in the middle. Claire blinked as her eyes fell on the table; apart from the Jirachi seated on one side, there was also a Misdreavus, and…Dusknoir?
"Oh, you're back already!" Jirachi smiled as he noticed the group. "And…is that you, Claire? They said you'd turned into a Meowth, but it looks like you've gone and evolved!"
"Yeah, it was…kind of a weird experience, to be honest," she replied, grinning sheepishly. "Not one I thought I'd have, really. I guess we were friends before?" Jirachi nodded, and Claire's gaze turned back towards Dusknoir. "So, then…"
"What am I doing here?" Dusknoir awkwardly looked away. "Well…that's kind of a long story. That is…"
"Oh, just say it, Father." The Misdreavus rolled her eyes. "It's not that complicated! You'd think she'd be upset to see me, but I guess she really must've gotten amnesia if she's not saying anything about it."
"Well, yes, that's because you never…" Dusknoir sighed. "Anyway, I suppose we have a lot to fill you in on, Claire. How long are you planning to stay?"
"I…haven't thought about it," she said uncertainly. "I mean, I'd love to see as much of this new world as I can, but I don't want to leave all of my friends behind, either…"
"Oh, come now, Claire! We said we could bring you back at any time, yes?" Celebi replied, waving her hand in some vague dismissive gesture. "So why don't you get seated, and we'll all catch up?"
She nodded and padded over to the table. Andrew and Leaf settled next to her, while Celebi sat between Leaf and Jirachi. Once they were all seated, Andrew gave her a somewhat awkward smile and hesitantly reached a hand towards her head. Claire promptly grinned and leaned into it, purring when Andrew scratched behind her ear.
"It's…kind of weird to see you like this, honestly," Andrew mumbled. "But you're still you. So if this makes you happy, then…whatever."
Claire paused as she mulled over his remark. She had occasionally wondered what it would be like to be human again. But she'd gotten so used to being a Pokémon, too. Of course, that was beside the fact that she had no idea how she'd even turn back into a human in the first place…
"I…guess that would be kind of nice, if I could change back," she admitted. "I just don't know how I'd do it."
"Um, Claire? You do know I can grant wishes, right?" Jirachi said with a hint of amusement in his voice. "Well, to an extent; I can't do things like bring people back to life or create new things without an appropriate amount of materials. But…I may be able to try, at least."
Claire blinked again, her heartbeat speeding up as everyone's eyes turned to her. She really did want to try it, but she was on the spot now. Not to mention she'd probably have to spend some time adjusting, and everyone would be surprised when they saw her when she went back to the past, and…
No. She'd decided. Claire knew what she wanted to do, and she took a deep breath and nodded.
"I think I'd like to give it a try. It can't hurt to see if it'll work, right?"
"All right—come over here, then!"
Jirachi hovered a few feet away from the table, and Claire followed him. Everyone was still watching, but now Claire was less self-conscious about it. Instead, she just sat down and looked up at Jirachi.
"Okay, what do we have to do, then?"
"Just wish to be human again, and I'll see what I can do!"
Claire took another deep breath. "All right…I wish to be human again!"
Jirachi leaned down and tapped her on the head. A bright light started emanating from his hand, and it soon grew and spread over her. Claire closed her eyes as the light enveloped her, and an odd tingling feeling spread through her body.
It…almost felt like evolving had, in a way. Claire could vaguely feel her limbs stretching out and her paws slowly changing into hands. Her toes turned into fingers one by one, and her hind feet stretched into a new shape. Then, finally, the light was gone, and Claire stumbled before collapsing in an awkward heap on the floor.
Her head hurt, and there was still a faint throbbing sensation all over her body. But…her eyes fell on the arm lying in front of her face. That was a human arm. It had worked; she was back to normal! (Well, she was still lightly scarred, and her left eye still wasn't clear, but she was human again!) Claire scrambled back up to her feet. She regretted it when the blood rushed to her head, but she couldn't help being excited, too.
Claire stared down at her hands for a few seconds. She had hands again! And the floor was so far away, and everyone else was so…small. (Well, except Dusknoir, who was still larger than her, and Andrew, who was roughly the same size. But Leaf, Celebi, and Missy were much smaller, and Jirachi was positively tiny.)
Wait…Missy? Claire squinted; no one had said the Misdreavus's name yet, had they? There was…something fuzzy lurking at the back of her mind. It was very faint, but…
"Missy; your name is Missy," she said slowly, looking at the Ghost-Type in question. Then, she turned to Jirachi and went on, "You were in the investigation team with us, right? You stayed with me and Andrew and Mom and—"
Mom. It was still faint, but Claire could suddenly imagine a weary dark-haired woman who walked with a limp and had a Persian at her side. And there was…another Pokémon there, too, wasn't there? A Poochyena, or…no. He was a Growlithe.
"I remember," Claire went on, her voice catching in her throat. "At least a little bit. I think—I think my human memories are coming back. It's not much, but…but…"
She staggered to the floor, grabbing the table in an attempt to steady herself. Claire moved her arms into a folded position and rested her face in them, trembling. She could feel Leaf and Andrew touching her back, and Claire slowly looked up. Her eyes were watering, but there was a growing grin on her face.
"I'm back," she whispered. "And we're all alive, and our world's better, and—and we're all together now! Isn't that wonderful?"
Leaf smiled and nodded as his claw came to rest on her arm. "Yes, it is. It's…good to have you back, Claire."
As she wiped her eyes, Claire straightened up and settled into a more comfortable position. It still felt strange, but…she was relieved to be human again, too. Besides, she had all the time in the world to get used to it—and see the rest of the world while she was at it.
"So…who wants to get started, then?" Claire grinned. "Fill me in. Tell me everything! I want to know all about what's happened—and you have to show me everything, too!"
And, as everyone started chattering, Claire felt an overwhelming sense of being at home. It was something she'd never thought she'd have before—and, all right, she'd felt that at the Wigglytuff Guild, but here? Here, in the future that shouldn't exist but still did, it was that much more rewarding.
It made everything she'd been through worth it, and Claire couldn't have asked for better.
Author's Note: So, yeah. That's the end of the fic, everyone. I have lots of feelings about this, particularly being happy that I actually have a finished (and vastly improved) version of this story fully posted on ffn now.
And yes, Claire is permanently human again now. What does this mean for Team Shadow? Well... I do have an idea for a sequel to this story which should touch upon that. However, it's still just in the idea phase, so it needs a whole lot of refining (and, of course, actual writing) before I can start posting anything.
Until then, though, the side stories should be going on for quite a while yet, so be sure and check those out if you haven't already! If something didn't get covered in here, then odds are it'll at least get mentioned over there.
I also have to give a shout out to everyone who's reviewed, favorited, and/or followed this story. Though a particular thanks goes to catflowerqueen and my guest reviewer for leaving your comments here since the beginning. You guys rock, and you definitely motivated me to keep posting this.