How to Train Your Pokémon

A/N: Here it is! The final chapter of this story. I can't believe how far this had come from super cheesy transcripts I wrote in eighth grade to pass the time since I was a bookworm, teacher's pet and unpopular among the students.

But I like who I am, and if others don't, then that's their problem. Because I'm not changing who I am just to satisfy someone else. Now, let's get on with the last chapter of this story: Chapter 27. Roll it!

Bold italics- Pokémon speech

Chapter 27

A Brighter Future

It had been at least a week since the final battle. Mari still hadn't woken up from her comatose state, and Elysia never left her side. The only good news that the Ketchum family received about her condition was that the smoke had finally cleared up in her lungs, so she wouldn't need the breathing mask anymore. Other than that, nothing else had changed.

Elysia slept on deeply next to her Trainee, still dreaming away that she would reunite with her best friend soon. While she slept, she felt something shift near her. She stretched out her limbs and looked over at her Trainee.

Her head had shifted.

Elysia moved out of the way where she could get a better look at her. "Mari?" She asked softly.

Slowly, the ravenette fluttered open her eyes, revealing two dreary brown orbs. Elysia's own beady black eyes welled up in grateful tears. "Mari!" She exclaimed softly.

She carefully climbed over to her and gently nuzzled her face, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Hey, Elysia." Mari whispered hoarsely, softly stroking her partner's fur. "What happened?"

"You nearly scared everyone to death." Elysia said, sounding firmly but she still spoke softly. "You stayed behind to fight against Lysandre, or make sure that he didn't escape again."

"We won't be seeing him again." Mari answered her. "I saw him get swallowed up by flames before I blacked out."

"Well, just don't do that again." Elysia said, gently nuzzling her face.

Mari lightly chuckled. She then blinked as she took in her surroundings. "Where am I?" She asked, her voice gradually getting stronger.

"You're in the hospital back in Pallet Town." Elysia answered. "You've been out for at least a week."

"A week, huh?" Mari said. "I'm surprised I'm not dead."

"Don't joke about that." Elysia gently chided the ravenette. "You're my best friend, Mari. I don't want to lose you."

Mari smiled at her. "I'm a Ketchum." She said. "We don't go down so easily."

Elysia returned the smile before she pressed a button near Mari's hospital bed. A buzzing sound was heard, and right away, a nurse came into the room.

"Oh, thank goodness." She said, coming over to the teenage girl. "You're awake. How are you feeling, Marianne?"

Mari bit back her tongue to keep herself from correcting the nurse. Marianne was her birth name, after all. And Mari was just a nickname that everyone who knew her personally called her by.

"I'm doing okay." She said. "Just a little thirsty, and my head is buzzing a little." She gently reached up with one hand to cradle her head.

The nurse smiled at her. "Well, I'll bring you some water soon. In the meantime, I'll be removing those bandages and notifying your family immediately."

Mari just then realized that her arms were wrapped in gauze and bandages. The nurse came over to her side, not at all bothered by the female Pikachu resting beside her. Carefully, she unwounded the bandages to reveal bright pink marks on Mari's skin. Each one was like a lightning bolt. Mari stared at them, her eyes wide. Then, the nurse left, leaving her alone with Elysia and her thoughts.

Elysia looked over at the burn marks on her Trainee's skin. "I wish that you came out unscathed." She said. "But then, I would be lying. The doctors say that they might leave scars."

Mari took a deep breath and gently fingered the tender skin. "Well, I guess that comes with being a Ketchum and a Trainee." She said. "There will always be some scars to have."

Just then, a knock came on the door. It opened and Mari's family came inside, looking overjoyed to see her. Her parents were beside her first. Dawn looked much happier to see her daughter okay. She now wore a soft pink blouse under a black cardigan, jeans, and black knee-length boots. Her hair was now loose and trailing down her back. To Mari's delight, her Piplup was awake, hanging onto her right shoulder, his soft blue feathers preened and cleaned.

Ash now looked much better than he had in years. He looked clean, with the stubble shaven and his hair trimmed slightly, though it still looked pretty wild. He wore a black shirt under a red and white short-sleeved jacket, light jeans, and black and white sneakers. On his hands were green fingerless gloves and on his head was a red and white cap with a green logo on the front. His Pikachu was on his right shoulder, as usual, now looking clean and healthy, his fur shining like the sun.

"You okay, sweetheart?" Dawn asked.

Mari nodded. "I'm fine, Mom." She said. Then she turned to her father. "I like this new look, Dad."

Ash lightly chuckled. "Well, I feel better than I had in years." He said.

Mari lightly giggled and then looked ahead to see the twins and their own partners with them. She noticed that they had cleaned themselves a bit themselves.

Luke had gotten rid of the blue color in the sides of his hair, and it was just his natural navy blue shade; the dark color mimicking crow feathers. He wore a simple black T-shirt, jeans, and dark gray sneakers. Next to him, his female Lucario had a silver hoop earring in her left ear. She supposed that they decided to do that to show his partner's gender.

Evan also got rid of the neon blue color that was on the sides of his head, just having his normal sapphire color. He wore a simple pine green shirt, navy jeans, and white sneakers. Perched on his right shoulder was his own Piplup, who wore a red bandana around his neck.

"Hey, you two." She said.

"You gave us a scare, sis." Luke said. "Try to not to do that again."

Mari raised her brow. "Uh, have you forgotten about our family's reputation?" She asked rhetorically. "No promises."

Evan laughed, as well as his parents. "Well, at least try to be careful." He said.

Mari joined in the laughter. "Like I said, no promises." She said.

Then, the twins came over to her. "Well, we did give our partners names." Luke said, changing the subject. He then turned to his Lucario. "This is Xena."

"Pleasure." The newly named Xena said, bowing her head respectfully. Mari returned it before looking over at her brother.

"You picked a really awesome, butt-kicking name." She said with a twinkle in her eye.

Luke just rolled his own fondly. "Well, my sister is now a hero." He said. "Next to her parents. Might as well pick something that stood out."

The two laughed until Evan took his Piplup off his shoulder and held him in his arms. "And this is Dewey."

"Hi, there!" Dewey said, waving his flipper. Mari giggled at him and returned the wave. He seemed like the likeable Water type for her youngest brother.

Dawn's Piplup carefully jumped off Dawn's shoulder and onto the hospital. Mari smiled at him and reached out to touch him to activate her comprehension ability, but he already started to speak.

"Thank you for saving me from that terrible man and bringing me back to your mother." He said. Mari withdrew her hand when she realized that she could already understand him. "Yeah, you touched me before, when you were a little hatchling."

"Then, why don't I remember you?" She asked him.

"Well, you were more of Daddy's little girl." Piplup explained. "And Pikachu was almost always with him since you really liked him." He looked over at the male Electric type on her father's shoulder.

Pikachu laughed. "It's not my fault I'm good with kids." He teased.

Piplup rolled his eyes. "Yeah, keep telling yourself that, old buddy." He said.

Mari giggled at their interaction, knowing that they were the best of friends for a long time, even before her parents got together. Dawn picked up Piplup off the bed and then reached into a little satchel she brought with her.

"We brought you some clean clothes." She said, bringing them out and placing them on the side of the bed. "Let us know when you're done, because a lot of things happened while you were out."

Mari took the clothes. "What kind of things?" She asked.

But all of her family members had an odd twinkle in their eyes, along with their partners. "You'll see." Ash teased his daughter, winking playfully.

Mari narrowed her eyes at their little inside joke, but they could tell that she wasn't really annoyed. They then began to leave the room. But before doing so, Evan turned back to his sister.

"Oh, yeah." He said. "Aiden wanted me to give this to you." He went out of the room for a second, and then returned with a small bouquet of Gracidea flowers in a tiny basket which had a yellow ribbon tied in a bow at the front. He placed them by her bedside.

Mari stared at the soft pink flowers beside her. She thankfully resisted the urge to blush at the kind gesture from the boy she had been secretly crushing on since she was ten, but she could feel the heat starting to build up in her cheeks.

Ash looked over at the pretty flowers meant for his daughter. "Should I have a talk with him about these?" He asked his wife as they started to leave the room.

Dawn chuckled. "Maybe another time." She said. She had a feeling that her husband still kind of sees their daughter as a little girl since the last time he saw her was when she was just a baby. But he should also know that if their daughter was anything like them, she can handle herself and that she is in no rush for romance. After all, it took forever for them to figure out their true feelings for each other.


Eventually, Mari was ready to see what her family had to show her. She was dressed in the new clothes her mother got for her, which was a light teal T-shirt, dark wash jean capri, white crew socks, and white sneakers that had pink stripes on the sides. She also found a pink ribbon that was for Elysia, and tied it carefully around the base of her partner's right ear.

Then, the entire family left the hospital to find a crowd of both people and Pokémon waiting for them. Mari's eyes were wide with shock.

"It's Mari!" Someone exclaimed and the crowd began to cheer loudly, along with the Pokémon.

"I knew it." She said sarcastically. "I'm dead."

The twins laughed at her sarcasm. "No, but nice try, sis." Luke said. "This is all real."

"What do you think, sweetie?" Dawn asked her.

Mari looked around and saw her people finally being one with Pokémon once again, just like it had been fifteen years ago. It was even more heartwarming than she had imagined.

"I think the reason why you were looked down on wasn't because you looked like me." Ash said, making his daughter look up at her. "It's because you are a warrior, but you fight for the right reasons. You wanted to make your world a better place and end the war, but you didn't really know how until you and your brothers learned the truth about the past."

Mari smiled at her father and then saw Gary come up to them. "I always wanted to see this family whole again." He said. "And now finally, it is." He then turned to Ash. "Welcome home, Ashy-boy." He teased.

Ash rolled his eyes at the old nickname his old friend gave him when they were children. "Good to be back, Gare-bear."

Gary lightly frowned at the nickname, but then laughed good-heartedly with everyone else as he wrapped his arm around Ash's shoulder, mindful of Pikachu.

As Mari laughed, she suddenly felt a little but hard flick on the back of her head. "Ow!" She exclaimed.

When she turned around, she saw Aiden standing there with a frown on his face, his Espeon next to him. "That's for scaring me to death!" He said.

"Oh, come on!" Mari groaned at her old friend as Elysia jumped off her shoulder and gave Aiden a quick little wink. "Is this going to be a regular thing with you, because-"

She was so busy ranting that she didn't notice Aiden's frown change into a soft and grateful grin. Then, he grabbed her shoulder and quickly pulled her closer to him, placing a soft kiss on her lips.

When they broke away from each other after five seconds, Mari's face was turning a soft red. She opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. Then, she cleared her throat and tried again.

"I am going to get you back, though." She said, trying to sound threatening, but the little dopey smile on her face betrayed it.

Aiden just snickered as his own face turned a delicate pink and he rolled his eyes. "I'd like to see you try." He challenged her.

"Ahem." A voice said, and Mari and Aiden turned to see Ash there, his arms crossed. "I'll be having a talk with you two later." He said.

Mari slightly cringed at her father's tone. She wasn't going to be looking forward to that, because she knew that it was going to be painfully awkward. Not just for her, but for Aiden as well.

Then, Gary placed a hand on Ash's shoulder, giving him a reassuring nod. He next turned to the ravenette who was his friend's only daughter. He smiled at her. "Welcome home." He said.

Mari smiled at him and gave him a hug. He returned it before he let her go and Elysia jumped back on her shoulder.

The eldest Ketchum then stepped ahead to the front of the group as the crowd began to head back to their restored peaceful lifestyle. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm in the mood for a flight." She said before turning to her brothers and Aiden. "You think you can keep up?"

The twins smiled confidently at their sister. "Oh, you're on!" Evan accepted the challenge. Luke and Aiden just gave her confident smirks.

The three Ketchum kids looked over at their parents for permission, and they nodded their heads in consentment. They beamed at them and gave them quick hugs.

Mari stepped onto the platform in front of the hospital's entrance and made her Continental patterned Vivillon wings appear. She missed seeing them. Then, she turned over to look at Aiden and her brothers who had their own wings already.

Mari then looked over at Elysia on her shoulder. "You ready?" She asked her.

"You bet!" Elysia said, her little fist pumped up.

Mari grinned at her partner and immediately zoomed up into the sky, whooping wildly, feeling as free as the wind. Aiden and her brothers quickly gave chase, Dewey hanging onto Evan's shoulder, Aiden's Espeon using her own psychic abilities to follow her Trainee, and Xena being lifted into the air by the power of Luke's Trainee wings.

As they flew around the town, admiring the now peaceful and happier life Pallet Town had, Keira and Jenna saw them from where they were walking with their father, with Keira's Umbreon alongside her and Jenna's Larvitar in her arms. They looked over at their father, silently begging him to allow them to join their brother and their friends. Ritchie nodded, and they took after them with their partners, their wings appearing.

Ash and Dawn watched their children have fun up in the sky with their friends. They then looked over at each and smirked, Pikachu and Piplup quickly catching onto what they were planning. Then, they made their own wings appear and took after them, Gary laughing at them as they did. Those two were true soulmates, knowing exactly what the other was thinking without even having to say it. They were always like that, even back when they were teenagers themselves.

The Ketchum kids beamed brightly at the sight of their parents joining them in flight with their friends. Everyone laughed as they took off even higher into the sky. It seemed that life was only going to get better for everyone from then on.

True, Pallet Town was still considered pretty small compared to some other establishments throughout Kanto, and that it was fortified heavily so that hardly anyone can get in or out. The only upsides now are the local pets. While some other places have weasels or some type of trained wolves, Pallet Town has Pokémon.


A/N: It is done! Finally! After so long, too!

Actually, I had planned this for a trilogy, but I'm probably not going to get started on that for a while because of other projects that I want to finish first. And also, I have online classes coming up in about two weeks. But I will say this: one of the main focuses on the sequel will be centered around Mega Evolution.

Interested? Well, try to be patient. Until then, I'll see y'all! Please leave a review about what you think. They are highly appreciated. And stay healthy and indoors.

Got to fly! ;)