Finale: An End to an Adventure and a New Adventure Awaits
After a day of relaxing in Chosen's Respite, Solestral, Paul and Normad warped to the storage box outside Bright Hill Mystery Dungeon. However, the group noticed that the portal to the Mystery Dungeon was no longer in green. Instead, it became red!
"What is going on?" said Solestral, "I thought Zygarde's defeat would make all the portals back to normal?"
Paul replied, "I thought so too. But I think it doesn't matter to us anymore. We should inform Mistress Bloomsle of this matter though."
"Alright, then. Let's see Mr Vigour. He can open the treasure chests for us."
"Got it. I shall…carry both of you there then," responded Normad.
The big owl shuttled the black kitten and the blue tortoise to Mr Vigour's store in Periwinkle Village. The Durant was surprised to see the group landed in front of his store. Nonetheless, he asked the group cheerfully.
"Hey, chaps! Welcome to my store! Do you need me to open a treasure chest?"
"Yup! We have three treasure chests for you to open, Mr Vigour!" said Solestral.
"Wonderful! You have promised to bring them to me after all, gal! Show them to me. I will open them in a flash!"
The group put the treasure chests on the counter. Vigour then opened his mandible and broke the lock for all the treasure chest. The treasure chest swung open, and Vigour took a peek at the contents. He was baffled at the sight of them.
"These…are Mega Stones! They are exceeding rare. Congratulation of finding them! Although, I found the sparkling design in the stone a little odd. Where did you get these treasure chests?"
Paul answered, "From the high-level weird Mystery Dungeon in the Evaporation of the Fifth Sunray?"
"Oh, dang. I would like to explore that Mystery Dungeon, but I can't close my shop for too long. Besides, no one can open the treasure chests like me!"
"Right," commented Solestral sarcastically.
Emily the Bellossom responded, "That is Vigour for you. Anyway, dear, I heard that you had saved us. Thank you, thank you very much for returning the day time to us!"
"Yeah, mates! You have my thanks too," said the silver ant.
Other villagers noticed Solestral's and her friends and they started to gather around and praised them. Even Kelstar boosted that his wares had helped the black kitten to succeed in her mission, which was blatantly his way of promoting his products. The black kitten and the blue tortoise were blushing, except for the big owl closed his eyes and nodded. Eventually, Mistress Bloomsle arrived at the scene and commented to the trio.
"Thank goodness, all of you are alright, child, Paul and Normad. I was worried that fighting the planet destroyer was overwhelming, but allies aided you until he was defeated. It is a big relief to me that the mission is over. Ah yes, I have a reward for each of you. When you are ready, please drop by in my tent."
She walked away, and Solestral frowned at her, "She could just give them to us here. I hate making the extra distance to go to her tent."
"Even though it takes two hundred metres to get there?" said Paul.
"That matters to me! Anyway, what do you want to do now?"
"We should celebrate. Just make sure you don't binge eating," proposed Dr Flore.
"I agree with Dr Flore," replied Normad, "but I need…to discuss with my parents about…a pressing matter. I am sorry, but I will have to…come to the party later."
"We can accompany you to your house, Normad," suggested Paul. "It might be better if your parents listen to our views too."
"If you don't mind. I appreciate your help."
"I guess we have to delay the partying then," said Solestral.
Emila responded, "Not to worry. The feast will be held tonight. Well then, let's put up a celebration that the heroes will never forget!"
The villagers cheered, and they started preparing for the party. On the other hand, Normad led Solestral and Paul to his house. His house was not in the village, but in the forest no far from there. His house was a square-shaped treehouse. Two tree trunks secured the house, and the vines were covering the wooden exterior of it. There were shrubs with Berries growing on the sides of the house. The house placed above the ground, so the big owl gave the black kitten and the blue tortoise a lift to his home. Once Solestral and Paul alighted from Normad, he knocked on the door. His Decidueye parents opened the door almost immediately and hugged him. His parents looked like hooded archers that had feather down coats.
"Oh, my son!" his dad spoke, "You are back! How I miss you so much!"
"Quick, come in! I will serve snacks to you and your friends too," said his mum excitedly.
Normad replied, "I am home, mum, dad. And can…both of you stop squeezing me already?"
"This is a familiar scene," laughed Solestral.
Eventually, the trio and the big owl's parents entered the house. Normad's mum took out the snacks from the food jar and put them on the leaf, respectively. They were dried Apples and candied Occa Berries. The black kitten nibbled the Occa Berry. Fortunately, the sweet stickiness nullified some of the spicinesses of the Occa Berries. Although she did not like spicy food, she deemed candied Occa Berry as her new favourite snack. Unfortunately, Paul hated Occa Berry and settled for dried Apples instead.
As Solestral and Paul continued to have their snacks, Normad bucked up his courage and told his parents that the seal on Mewtwo had weakened. His parents, too, became serious and his dad went to his belongings and took out his cherished enchanted wooden bow with swirl engravings and strapped it on his neck. He did not take anything else. He kissed his wife and said.
"I will be back, I promised."
Normad's mum replied with a smile on her face, "Please be safe, my darling."
"Hold…hold on," commented the black kitten, "I don't think there is a need to seal Mewtwo anymore. I mean, his foretelling came true!"
Normad's dad answered, "Even if that is true, we Decidueyes must restrain him. He will unleash his rage upon the earth if we let him run free."
"Then, let me come with you, dad," requested the big owl, "I shall…tell him about the Ultra Beasts arrival. And, if he…decides to attack, I will fall back and let you…"
His dad shook his head. "No, my son. I cannot risk you joining my team to take him down. You might have contributed to taking down Zygarde, but dealing with Mewtwo is a task for the male Decidueyes that wield strong phantom abilities. Normad's friends, could I ask you to take good care of him while I am gone?"
Solestral and Paul nodded. Normad's dad then petted his son's head and headed out of the door. Normad's mum hugged her son and said.
"It will be alright. Your dad is a strategic player. If he knows he can't win, he will have no choice but to request more aid."
"Actually, Mum, I want you and…dad to eat together with me…since I was away for so long. I have so…many things to tell both of you. And my friends are present as well. They have their stories to share too."
"Well, they can tell me first, isn't it? I am all ears to what you all have to say!"
The black kitten and the blue tortoise took turns to explain to Normad's mum of their adventures, while Normad spoke a little for his part. Normad's mum expressed joy, sadness, worry and anger when she heard all the phrases of the trio's travel. Although in the end, she clapped her hands when everything went well.
Normad's mum commented, "Ah! So now is what Solestral is going to do, isn't it?"
"Yeah," the black kitten replied, "I have made up my mind on what to do next."
Paul and Normad looked at her intensely. Solestral felt their piercing gaze and giggled her way out, "I want to party! It better be good since we had gone through all the trouble to succeed in the mission. Isn't it, Paul and Normad?"
"Uh, yeah! I am excited for that," responded Paul. Although, he did not expect Solestral mentioned that she wanted to celebrate.
"I am sure…there will be a performance too," said Normad. He was slightly relieved that the black kitten did not bring out the date of her departure.
Normad's mum spoke, "Solestral, I am sure that you will enjoy the party. Though, the party is most likely taken place at night as that is when we are most joyous. Since it is already early afternoon, I don't mind entertaining you until night falls."
The black kitten answered, "Nah, I'm good, Normad's mum. We need to see Mistress Bloomsle first."
"Ah. All of you should make your way there then. Feel free to visit us anytime; we will always welcome you for being Normad's friend."
"Yup! I will take your offer. Please excuse us."
Solestral, Paul and Normad waved goodbye at Normad's mum and made their way to Mistress Bloomsle's tent by air, thanks to Normad. Once they entered the tent upon the pink mantis's approval, they were bewildered to see Mistress Bloomsle holding a golden relic of a cat Pokémon with a long flexible tail, big eyes, and puffy cheeks. She passed the relic to Paul and explained.
"This is a tribute to Mew, the mother of us all. Hook and I found it in the Ruins of Origin. He analysed it and said that this item could attract legendary Pokémon to challenge you. But no one has challenged me yet. It is either it has lost its power, or only the worthy can use it."
"Are you sure you want to give this relic to us, Mistress Bloomsle? It seems that you had gone through a lot of trouble to get it," asked Paul.
"I have already made up my mind. I feel that this item is better suited to the ones that had saved the world," the pink mantis paused for a while before continuing speaking, "So, a party is in process. I hope that you have a great time tonight, child."
The black kitten responded, "I will! But I have things to do before that."
The pink mantis nodded, "Then, you should attend to them. Alright, I have one last thing to say."
She bowed down and said, "Thank you so much for helping us, child. Even though you had arrived in this world probably without your consent, you still aid us. You are indeed the heroine of us all."
"Woah, woah!" astonished Solestral, "There is no need for you to bow down at me! Uh…I just do what is right, and I swear a lot. I am not a heroine at all."
"No. You are. There is no definition of what it takes to be an ideal hero, but saving the world makes you one. Child, I hope to see you again. Maybe, there is a new adventure awaits you when you come back again."
"But, I don't think that I can come back…" thought the black kitten. But she decided not to say it and answered back differently, "I will. And together with Paul and Normad, we will explore more Mystery Dungeons!"
"Yeah!" cheered the blue tortoise and the big owl together.
Mistress Bloomsle smiled. "Alright, off you go. See you during the celebration, child."
The trio bowed down at the pink mantis before making their way out of the tent. Once they were outside, Solestral told Paul and Normad that she needed alone time until the party started. The blue tortoise and the big owl acknowledged and went away to do their things. The black kitten then walked towards the library to return the 'The Influence of Dawn and Dusk in a Life Cycle' book back to Hilton. The male Ambipom greeted her and conversed with her.
"Ah, you have returned. Did the contents of the book helped you for your journey?"
"A lot. And I happened to meet the author of this book too," she replied.
"Really? What is his name?"
"Is a female, actually. She is a Delphox from another world. That is all I can say."
"Ah. She doesn't want her name to be known, huh? I guess this book stays a mystery then. Alright, feel free to come back to read the books, Litten. I have a feeling that you need to be somewhere now."
"Yup! Have a good day, Mr Hilton!"
Now, Solestral walked into her tent. She put her backpack on the ground and stared at it. She did not need her bag anymore since she was going back to her world anyway. She then made her way out of the village and to the pond where she had met Melanie. The black kitten sat on the edge of the pond and looked at her reflection on the water. She sighed and thought to herself, "It is better that I leave this world now. Ah, I promised to see Melanie again, but… It will be hard for me to be alone because she will play with me until the party started. I feel bad that I won't be able to attend the celebration…"
Tears went down on her cheeks while she muttered, "What should I do? I want to go back to my world, but I won't be able to come back here."
"It is a dilemma, isn't it?" said a voice.
Solestral turned around and saw Lunala hovering beside her.
"Dusk Guardian Lunala!" surprised the black kitten, "What are you doing here? Isn't your power has returned, and you can't leave your domain?"
"Well, I sensed that you want to go back to your world, but you hesitated. Solestral, there is no need to worry about that. I think you should get your memories back first before I continue explaining. Do you want them back now?"
"Yes."
"Alright. It is done."
"So quick? Argh!"
Solestral's memories flooded back to her. It was painful to get her memories back suddenly, but she remembered something else that puzzled her. She 'saw' a grey human-shaped figure spoke to her.
"Heroine. This image is an implanted memory from me, Eterna. I know that you want to go back to the Pokémon World, so Lunala and I had created a code for you if you wish to return. It is called: 'Sereni Serebii Paradise'. You just need to think of this in your world to get back here. To return to your world, think: 'Earth Unique Utopia'. Just remember; time flows here is the same as your world. Your parents will be furious if you suddenly disappeared," she chuckled before continuing speaking, "So, don't leave this world feeling alone. Go and enjoy your time as much as you want. Another note, this is the last time I am helping you. I am needed in another dimension. It is my pleasure to aid you in your mission, Heroine. Farewell!"
And the black kitten 'saw' the figure bowed to her and disappeared gradually. The black kitten still crying, thanked Eterna and Lunala for allowing her to come and revisit the Pokémon World again.
She said, "Now, I have no more worries, and I can enjoy the party to the fullest!"
The Dusk Guardian replied, "Yes. I am happy that we have managed to solve the space-time fabric issue. Anyway, since I am here, I shall attend the party as well."
"But who is keeping watch of the night time?"
"My brother Solgaleo is. He was to make sure that the daylight doesn't come early. Besides, he has to make up to me for suffering so many years under his tyranny," answered Lunala angrily.
Solestral had nothing much to comment about the Dawn Guardian's 'punishment'. Instead, she said, "Oh. I guess I can show you around in Periwinkle Village then?"
Lunala seemed to be beaming in excitement. "That will be wonderful! I haven't experienced what it is like to roam around a village. It will be an experience that I will never forget."
As promised, Solestral brought the Dusk Guardian around the village. The villagers were astonished to see their guardian in their area, but they let It in peace as they were busy preparing for the party. But, Lunala's presence attracted young Pokémon, especially Melanie. In the end, together with the Dusk Guardian, the black kitten played with Melanie and the other youngsters.
Eventually, night falls and the village had already decorated with make-shift tables and straw mats just enough for everyone to sit and dine in. There were coloured-dyed dried leaves with ropes weaved in and placed on tall poles which looked like party ribbons. Kelstar provided the floating yellow light orbs illuminated the village, but only for that night. A gentle breeze swept through the town, blowing the coloured leaves and causing the yellow light orbs to bob up and down.
The villagers decided to commence the party. The first activity was a speech from the villagers to thank Solestral and the others for saving the world. However, she did not expect that she had to give a statement as well. She was not confident to speak on her own in front of many people. With some encouragement from her friends and the villagers, she resolved to say a few words.
"Um… Hi everyone. I am glad that I have performed what I needed to do, but I can't do it on my own. I am thankful for all the support you have given me to complete my mission. So…um…that's all I have to say."
Everyone cheered and praised her. Then, a banquet announced. All kinds of Berry, Apple and even bizarre Gummi cuisine were placed on the tables and on the ground for villagers that could not eat the food on the tables. The Pokémon enjoyed the feast and performances. Dr Flore's dance was elegant like water, Hilton did a breakdance, and Vigour that showed off his strength by opening five treasure chests at once. The silliest performance was Greyberg as he tried to act like a kind Pokémon, but his face and claws 'frightened' his students away.
Solestral had a blast from the party. She had spoken to so many Pokémon with different personalities. Yet, they were willing to help. Even for Blazar, who was a bad Pokémon told her about Zygarde's weakness. She wondered whether humans could be as generous as the Pokémon in this world at all.
The black kitten approached Paul and Normad. They were sitting with their parents chatting away, except that Normad's dad had not returned from his duty. The black kitten nudged on Paul and Normad and urged them to come with her to Bright Hill. The big owl offered a ride to the hill, and the trio promptly reached the top of the hill. They then lied down and looked at the stars. Even the galaxy's clouds were visible too. They had a chat about random topics until Solestral talked about what Paul and Normad had been anxious about for hours.
"Paul, Normad," she said, "I decided to return to my world now. Will both of you…be fine without me?"
The blue tortoise replied, "I…won't. Can we meet each other again?"
"Of course, we can! But I cannot tell you when I can come back. I…have things to take care of in my world. Like getting good grades, and get a good job when I grow up… Besides, my parents and my friends will be worried sick about me if I am missing for too long."
Normad spoke, "I see. At least, we can still…meet each other. I respect…your wishes to go back to your world, Solestral."
"Me too…" Paul cried a little.
Solestral responded, "Oh, geez. You should be happy that I won't be here to bully you for a while, Paul! But, I can do this for now."
She hugged them. Now, all of them began to cry.
The black kitten stuttered in her words because of her sadness, "I will tell both of you of my life…from my world next time. Please make sure…that my tent and my belongings are intact when I come back. Otherwise, this is goodbye. Lunala!"
"It shall be done, Solestral!" acknowledged the Dusk Guardian as It suddenly appeared in front of them.
The next thing Solestral knew, she was encased in a bubble and levitated towards the sky. The black kitten waved her friends goodbye, but her tears could not stop flowing. Even though she could see them again, she could not comprehend why she still cried. She thought that it could be that she had finally made friends that appreciated who she was.
Gradually, the Pokémon World disappeared in front of Solestral's view, and she could see her world above. In between the two worlds was the familiar water scene that covered Planet Sereni and her world above. Her appearance also changed into her human self. Before the bubble reached her world, a low tone voice echoed. She had never heard it before.
It said, "Your actions have saved the world that I have created, Solestral. You have my thanks…"
And its voice faded away. The next thing Solestral knew, she was on her bed facing the ceiling with tears in her eyes. She rubbed her head and wiped her tears. She wondered that what she had experienced was a dream until she realised that her stuffs were neatly organised and cleaned. Even her Ragdoll plushie had a citrus fragrance. And, a calendar was marked with fourteen crosses on each date respectively. She headed out of her door and saw her parents lying on the floor mattress with a thin blanket over them. She shook them and said.
"Mummy, Daddy! What are you doing on the floor?"
Her parents woke up abruptly, and tears came down on their cheeks. Solestral then remembered that she had to hug them as what her 'parents' in the void had mentioned. She hugged her parents tightly, and her parents hugged back. They spoke.
"You…are back! We are so glad that you have come back!" said her father.
Her mum had lots to say. "We have…changed our jobs so that we can have more time to spend with you. We are sorry for making you feel lonely for so long. We have realised that earning money does not equate to more happiness. It is just that when we were young, we had experienced hardships of not having enough money to have a decent meal."
Solestral commented, "Mummy, daddy. You don't need to go so far for me. I know that you are doing lots to help me. I didn't complain about both of you working long hours at all. But, I appreciate that both of you are willing to spend time with me. It may be selfish of me to be happy about that, but I do really want to have fun with both of you."
Her parents were shocked that their daughter seemingly mature in her words. They hugged her more and cried even more. Her mother replied.
"You silly girl, it is alright for a child to be spoiled by their parents. Come on, we shall have our first vacation to the country you have always wanted to visit!"
Solestral was astounded, "Really! We can go there?"
"Of course!" replied her father, "Oh, yes, let's plan what to do there! And should we stay in Airbnb too?"
As Solestral and her parents discussed what to do in that country, she thought that she was about to embark a new adventure…an adventure of fun, gratitude and bonds. She grinned and thought to herself.
"Haha, being a heroine is a privilege, although it is not the same as the stories I know. Ah, it is time for me to be responsible, huh? That is what I am going to do! I will do my best in my world and the Pokémon world. And now, time for me to start my new adventure!"
/
Author's comments:
The end~ I hope you like my fanfic for PMD. This is my last work as I will be busy with my life. What I can commend on is that I have improved on my sentencing, but lack on creativity. I guess when my mind matures, things are getting less interesting? Who knows?
Thank you for reading all my works. And see you!