Forgotten Memories
Ingo stared at the wall of his cave with a saddened expression, much like Zach he'd traveled to the past in his modern day clothes however he still wore them as they weren't torn beyond repair and he felt a sense of attachment to his conductor's jacket and hat which wasn't helped by these occasional flashes he witnessed along with a ghostly apparition of somebody who looked preciously like him but with a white jacket and hat.
People were certainly friendly and welcoming towards him but Ingo was never able to fully adjust to the time he was stuck in and instead chose to remain at the Coronet Highlands, the place where he was discovered and where his memories ended. It was strange but he felt so close to his home here!
"Brother..." Ingo jerked his head up as he saw the ghostly apparition standing at the far end of the cave, tears were flowing from Emmet's eyes as he frantically looked around for his twin brother. "Brother where are you?!"
Ingo stared at his ghostly double as a tear fell from his own eye, he reached out in an attempt to grab his lookalike's hand only for Emmet to disappear shortly before his hand made contact with him. "Brother..." Ingo muttered, his brother's name however was still a mystery to him and it saddened him that he forgot!
"I'm pregnant!" Arezu excitedly exclaimed to Zach and Irida as the pair entered Diamond Village, Rei stood next to Arezu with a proud expression across his face while Arezu's hand rested on her lightly bloated stomach.
"Really? That's great!" Zach exclaimed with a smile.
"Congratulations you two!" Irida exclaimed, offering the couple a warm smile. Though she felt a slight tint of jealousy as her gaze flickered towards Zach, hoping that someday that could be her showing off to Arezu, Rei and Adaman while Zach proudly watched on like Rei was doing.
"Thanks, I can't wait to see what they look like!" Rei beamed.
"I bet they've got their father's looks." Arezu gushed while taking hold of Rei's hand. Rei flashed his girlfriend a smirk before leaning his head up against hers.
"Hopefully they got their mother's looks as she's better looking than I am!"
"No, absolutely not!" Shouting could be heard from within one of the Diamond Village's cabins, interrupting the warm moment as a Diamond Clan member stormed out of it with a mixture of jealousy and frustration upon his face. The man had long violet colored hair and greatly resembled James and Harley, though Zach sure wouldn't see the resemblance as he hadn't met either of them.
Adaman raced after him. "Melli stop being so dramatic and think for a second! Me wanting to ask him for help doesn't mean that I 'love' him, heck he doesn't even swing that way so even if I 'did' there wouldn't be a point of trying!"
Melli turned to face Adaman with a light scoff, it was clear to everyone else that Adaman was being honest with him but Melli seemed so convinced the newcomer was a threat that he wasn't willing to see reason. "Then why are you asking for his help? Diamond Clan got on just fine before he came along, why do we need an outsider's help now?"
Adaman facepalmed. "I've already explained this to you, Zach is the strongest trainer we know and he's already quelled Kleavor, Lilligant, Avalugg and Arcanine's frenzies so of course I'd ask him to help with Electrode! And in case you'd forgotten, as soon as Electrode's frenzy comes to an end that space-time rift is likely going to close meaning that our problems will officially be over! So will you prepare the balms or not?"
"No." Melli crossed his arms while keeping his back to Adaman causing the man's eye to twitch.
"Why not?! He needs that to beat Electrode!"
"I fail to see how that's my problem." Melli huffed.
"Ugh... you remember when Iscan informed us of a large 'demonic bird'? Well that thing came out of one of the space-time distortions and really well could have killed the Arcanine noble had Zach not been there, just imagine if something similar were to appear right here in the village... we'd be toast!" Adaman shouted.
"Isn't Arcanine Pearl Clan's?" Melli rolled his eyes. "Still not my problem."
"Melli..." Adaman groaned as he facepalmed once more. "I swear you are-Hey, I know! If Zach beats your Skuntank that is sure to show you that he's best suited for the job!"
Melli turned to face Zach, easily identifying him as the other Wardens described him having an unusually large Garchomp with him and said Garchomp was currently resting on the outskirts of the village after flying Zach and Irida there. "That is the guy?" He started feeling foolish as from all the talk and the fact that Irida was said to have fallen for Zach, he honestly expected a big bulky handsome individual! "Ha! I bet he couldn't lay a finger on my Skuntank! You're on!"
Adaman turned to face Zach and started to sweat upon seeing all four of them staring right at him, he couldn't blame them for listening as Melli was being rather loud and he had to shout back to try and get through his thick skull! "Well I guess you heard all of that, so I trust that you're okay with battling Melli and Skuntank?"
"Of course, it's crucial that we quell Electrode's frenzy as soon as possible so I'm willing to do whatever it takes!" Zach exclaimed while turning back towards Garchomp. "Garchomp, you up for a battle?!"
"GARRRR!" Garchomp shot right up upon his trainer calling out for him, the giant land shark raced towards his trainer before taking his place beside him.
A Skuntank similarly took his place alongside Melli before sweating as he looked up at the towering Dragon that stood before him! "Skun... S-Skuntank!" The skunk Pokemon quickly turned to Melli with a pleading look. 'Please don't make me fight that!'
Zach noticed Skuntank's fear and considered switching over to Luxray but Melli engaged the battle before he had the chance to do so. "Flamethrower!"
"Garchomp, take to the sky and blast him with Hyper Beam!"
"Garrrr!" Garchomp swiftly flew up, evading Skuntank's stream of fire while a bright orange-yellow light began charging within his mouth. The land shark proceeded to take aim before firing off the attack which flew towards the ground below and exploded at Skuntank's feet, sending the skunk Pokemon flying!
"Skun!" Skuntank cried as he flew through the air before landing on the ground in a collapsed feat, an eye briefly shot open before closing as he feigned being unconscious.
Melli's jaw dropped from shock while Zach gave Garchomp's neck a light pat as he returned to the ground.
"Good job Garchomp!"
"Zora!" Zorua chimed in from atop Zach's shoulder.
"N-No, impossible!"
Adaman couldn't help but smirk at his lover's shock. "So will you help him then?"
"No." Melli huffed while turning his back to them once more.
"No? But you just said-" Adaman started.
"I'll prepare the balms but he is to climb the mountain on his own."
"Well that's simple, Zach can just fly up with Garchomp!" Irida exclaimed.
"If he wants the balms he is to climb without the aid of that beast and without yours." Melli pointed towards Adaman.
Adaman crossed his arms. "Come now Melli, this is just ridiculous! Stop acting like a child and help-"
"I'll do it, I'm not afraid of climbing up a mountain!" Zach proclaimed.
"But how will you get to Electrode without knowing where you're going? You've never been to the Highlands before!" Arezu exclaimed.
"But I have, I could-" Rei started.
"And you were almost killed by an alpha Gabite!" Arezu exclaimed with a frightened expression.
"Yes but Zach caught it, with him around I could-"
"No!" Arezu gave her lover a light glare while forming a tight grip on his arm. "I'm not letting our child grow up without a father, I don't want them to go through what I went through!"
"But he needs-"
"Actually there is somebody there who could help us," Irida spoke up.
Zach's eyes widened upon hearing Irida hint that she was coming with him. "N-No! You can't come with me, if it's truly dangerous I don't want to risk you getting hurt or worse!"
Irida heard his frightened tone and offered him a light smile while placing her hand atop of his. "And worry myself sick the entire time? Zach, I love you I told you this before and my feelings haven't changed. I may not be your girlfriend but that won't stop me from feeling the way I do and besides, you never perfected crafting! What if something happens to you up there and you need medicine or some Pokeballs to capture another alpha? I'm going with you rather you want me to or not and you won't have to worry about me as I'll be right next to you the entire time!"
Melli had stormed off shortly after Zach accepted his challenge so he didn't hear Irida's statement.
Zach sweated while offering Irida a light smile, he could tell that Irida was sincere about her emotions as she was giving him the same look that Akari gave him. He wasn't comfortable with the idea of dragging her along but there was no sense in arguing about it as it'd just be a waste of time. "Alright, I suppose you can come along. So who's going to help us find our way up the mountain?"
"Ingo, he knows that mountain better than anyone else in Pearl Clan. He can get us to Electrode no problem!"
"Hey Ingo!" Ingo uttered out a light sigh upon hearing his leader's voice before getting up to exit his cave.
"Yes...? What is it, Irida?" Ingo questioned.
As Ingo stepped outside Zach froze up upon recognizing Ingo's uniform, he may not know Ingo personally but he recognized the conductor uniform all too well as he'd been on plenty of trains throughout his time in Galar.
"Trains!" Zach blurted out.
"Huh?" Irida gave him a questioning look. "What are trains...?"
"I-I'm not sure..."
The word seemed to stir Ingo's memories as well as the man stared off into the distance. "Trains, I remember... I like trains. My brother and I used to battle on them!" Ingo seemed to catch on that he wasn't in the timeline he was supposed to be in based on the looks he was getting and upon spotting Zorua he knew who he was dealing with. Perhaps Zach was from the future as well but had a more severe case of amnesia? Whatever the case he sure couldn't tell him that, especially in front of Irida who looked as if she wasn't going to leave his side. "Something I can help you with...?"
"Yes, we'd like you to guide us to the noble Electrode. The Diamond Clan warden is being a stubborn fool as usual, only this time he thinks that Zach is trying to steal Adaman from him!" Irida rolled her eyes.
"Really..?" Ingo's eyes darted between Irida and Zach. "That's strange." Ingo could tell just from looking at the two that the rumors about Irida falling for Pearl Clan's hero were true. 'Why would Melli think that? Adaman and him are several years older than these two... I guess jealousy really does make one blind, stupid too!'
"So will you help us? We'd like to stop Electrode as soon as possible." Zach spoke while motioning towards the space-time rift above. "We theorize that it'll close up as soon as the final noble is quelled."
"Yes, that would be nice..." Ingo clenched his fists. 'I must have fallen through one of those time distortions, I'm sure that my brother's safe in the present but if it got me and Zach... then it needs to be stopped before anyone else gets dragged to a timeline they shouldn't be in!' "Of course I'll help you but... I'd like to ask a favor of you."
"It depends on what the favor is," Zach responded with a light tilt of his head. "What is it?"
"I'd like to battle you!" Ingo exclaimed, theorizing that fighting a powerful opponent would help stir his brother's name from the depths of his mind. "I've heard how strong you are and I'd like to witness that for myself."
"That's all? Fair enough I accept but after I beat Electrode."
"Of course," Ingo bowed his head. "The sooner you beat him the better!"
Thankfully they didn't have too much trouble climbing up the mountain, they did stumble across Gible, Gabite and even some Garchomp that attempted to stir up trouble but upon getting a look at the alpha Garchomp all of them quickly abandoned the idea and ran off rather than face Garchomp. Though they did run into a bit of trouble as the neared the top of the mountain as an unusually large Rhyperior stood directly in front of the path they needed to go down!
"Garrr..." Garchomp growled out upon bursting from his Pokeball.
Zach held his hand in front of Garchomp and quickly shook his head. "No sense tiring yourself, we'll need you if more of your species shows up."
Garchomp paused for a moment before nodding in agreement. The Rhyperior had his back to the group which provided the perfect opportunity for a sneak attack!
"Goodra use Rain Dance then follow up with Water Pulse!"
"Goooodra!" Goodra cried out, the slime Dragon raised up his arms as a heavy downpour rained down on the mountain.
"Rhy?" Rhyperior glanced towards the sky above as if he wondered where the rain was coming from before getting knocked off his feet as a geyser of water splashed him from behind! "R-Rhyperior!" The Rock type cried out as he went careening over the mountainside causing Zach and Zorua to yelp out at the sight.
"Oh my gosh, I didn't know that he was that close to the edge!" He quickly raced towards the edge before nervously peering over the edge to see if Rhyperior was okay before uttering out a sigh of relief as Rhyperior was seen at the foot of the mountain, eyes were swirly while his stomach continued to move as he breathed out suggesting that Rhyperior was okay! "Praise almighty Sinnoh..."
"You gonna catch it? If you dropped a ball it'd likely land on top of him." Irida informed while catching up to him.
"Nah, I think I caused it enough trouble. Besides Garchomp and Moltres are large enough, I don't think the village would be able to tolerate a third Pokemon of that scale!" Zach laughed.
"You're probably right."
Ingo continued leading them up the mountainside before eventually arriving at a large open cliffside. "This is as far as we need to go."
"What? I thought Electrode lived all the way up there?" Zach motioned towards the mountain's peak.
"No silly, that's where almighty Sinnoh is said to reside. Nobody else lives there." Irida giggled.
"Right, Electrode lives up here just over those rocks." Ingo stated while motioning towards the distant Melli. "See?"
Melli soon caught sight of the group and let out a surprised gasp. "You actually made it?!"
"Skun..." Skuntank lowered his body as he feared having to battle Garchomp again.
"Yes, he did! Now give us those balms like you promised!" Irida shouted.
"I-No." Melli crossed his arms while turning his back to them once more.
"No?!" Zach, Irida and Ingo exclaimed simultaneously as they couldn't believe how selfish Melli was.
"What do you mean no?! I climbed the mountain just like you asked!" Zach shouted
"Just goes to show the lengths you'll go to win Adaman's heart, I'm sure you have it set in your brain that beating Electrode will win Adaman over!" Melli huffed.
"What?! That's crazy, I don't even swing that way! Besides I'm still not ready to get into another relationship and even if I was looking for one, I'd already be in one! Adaman's a cool guy and I'm sure that the two of you are happy together but if you keep acting this way then you're likely to push him away!" Melli's behavior was annoying him but he tried keeping a level head rather than antagonize him. "So why don't you drop this silly argument and go back to him? I'm sure that he'll forgive you for it."
"No, I don't believe you." Melli huffed. "This is just some trick to make me lower my guard!"
Irida and Ingo facepalmed while Zach uttered out a light groan of frustration.
"What will it take to make you see that I'm not a threat to you?"
"How about going away and never coming back?" Melli sneered.
"What?! Are you crazy, he's the only one that stands a chance at beating Electrode!" Irida shouted.
Zach let out a light growl as Melli was really testing his patience.
"Garrrr!" 'Can I eat him?' Garchomp seemed to have already lost his.
"Aha!" A light bulb suddenly went off in Zach's head as he turned towards Irida before reaching out to grab her by the arms, pulling her closer to him.
"Zach..?" Irida's cheeks turned as red as a tamato berry and a large smile formed as the distant between them grew smaller until his lips pressed right up against hers! "Mmm!" Irida wrapped her arms around his back and pushed up against him as the two met in a kiss, Irida didn't misread it as she knew he was only doing this to get Melli to see sense but that didn't mean she couldn't enjoy it! She leaped up into his arms as she pushed further into the kiss and uttered out a passionate moan.
Melli's eyes widened upon seeing the Hisuian hero and the Pearl Clan leader sharing a long passion filled kiss and he immediately began feeling stupid for acting the way he did. Melli clenched his fists before turning to fetch the basket of balms.
Ingo turned his back to give the two privacy while Garchomp watched on with a proud smirk.
"Garr..."
"Y-You think that worked..?" Zach pulled away from Irida and shot a glance towards where Melli had been standing only to find that the stubborn Warden walked off.
"I hope so but regardless that was so worth it!" Irida's cheeks remained a bright shade of red.
Zach shot her a warm smile before looking to the ground with a guilty expression. Akari may be dead but he still didn't feel right about moving on without her. Irida placed her hand on his shoulder and offered him a comforting smile. "I know it wasn't real, Akari would understand your reasoning for it."
"I hope so..."
Melli soon returned and dropped a basket full of balms while offering Zach an apologetic expression. "I'm sorry, I-I should have known... should have realized, a boy and a girl your age traveling all alone? There had to have been a reason and I'm willing to keep your relationship a secret, I won't even tell Adaman about it!" Melli was clearly convinced that the two were together. "I'll head on back and apologize to Adaman, hopefully he won't be mad... g-good luck."
"You were just jealous, I understand." Zach offered Melli a light smile while giving him a wave. "Good luck, Adaman really seemed to like you so I hope you don't have any troubles."
"Trode... Electrode..." The giant wooden Electrode snored peacefully in it's sleep though the familiar golden glow surrounded it's body, signaling that it'd be anything but peaceful once disturbed from it's slumber! Zach grabbed hold of two different set of balms while shooting a glance towards Typhlosion, Garchomp and Zorua. "Alright, I'll strike first and knock it's shield down then you all attack with Sludge Bomb and Flamethrower, got that?"
"Zora!" Zorua barked while giving off a quick nod along with a flick of his tail.
"Typhlo!"
"Garrr." Garchomp quietly growled as to not disturb Electrode.
Zach pulled back his arms before unleashing the balms upon Electrode, nailing him in the face while the golden glow began to fade away from his body!
"Got him! Now attack!"
"Zora!" Zorua hacked up a ball of sludge and spat it out, firing it towards Electrode while two different streams of fire shot towards the Electric/Grass type!
Electrode let out an annoyed grunt as electricity began to spark off his body. "Elec...trode..."
"Garrr!" Garchomp growled while shooting a glance towards his teammates. Typhlosion and Zorua caught on and hid behind the alpha as the electric blast shot across the field, preventing any of them from getting hurt as Garchomp's invulnerability shielded them!
"Electrode?!" Electrode blinked before twitching an eye. "Electrode!" It's body began lighting up as it prepared to self-destruct!
"Uh oh..." Zach knew that if an Electrode of that size blew up then he'd likely take a good chunk of the mountain with it causing any nearby Pokemon to get flung off or even cause large portions of the mountain to crumble down and squash Pokemon or people down below! "Garchomp, pick him up and hurl him into the sky!"
"Garrrr!" Garchomp raced forward and quickly grabbed hold of Electrode before hurling him into the air. Electrode went flying up towards the heavens before the sounds of an explosion could be heard, Garchomp evidently threw him pretty high up as Electrode's body was the only one that came dropping back to the earth.
"Trode..." Electrode's eyes were reduced to swirls as the golden glow vanished from his body before the light flashed back up towards the space-time rift. Zach, Irida, Ingo, Zorua, Typhlosion and Garchomp all shot expectant looks towards the rift only to frown after a few minutes as there wasn't any changes.
"What now...?" Irida asked while Zach collected a yellow plate that Electrode had dropped.
"I'm not sure, that was supposed to have sealed the rift up... you sure there's not another noble around?"
"No, I'm positive. Electrode was the last one, you've beaten all the them!"
"Well that's peculiar.." Ingo frowned. He secretly hoped that the rift would close and he'd magically be reunited with his brother. 'I suppose some things are just fantasies...'
"I guess we'll head back to Pearl Village," Zach shrugged before turning back towards Ingo. "After our battle of course!"
Ingo offered him a smile before nodding in agreement. "Right, how about a three on three battle?"
"Sounds good to me," Zach returned Typhlosion and Garchomp to their respective Pokeballs while Zorua leaped up onto his shoulder as he reached for a different ball. "I've got just the Pokemon to start things off with too."
"Well alright then, let the battle begin! Magnezone lend me your assistance!" Ingo threw a ball forward which burst open to reveal Magnemite's final stage!
"Magnezone!"
"Heh, perfect! Growlithe this one is all yours!"
"Growlithe!" The canine howled out as he burst from his Pokeball!
"Electric Terrain!" Magnezone fired off a magnetic pulse which created an electrical field around the battlefield, powering up Magnezone's Electrical attacks!
"Use Fire Fang!"
"Growlithe!" Growlithe leaped upwards to sink his fiery fangs into Magnezone's body!
"Magnezone..." Magnezone grunted out while a light scorch mark remained where Growlithe had bitten him.
"Use Thunderbolt!"
"Magnezone!" Magnezone's body sparked before firing off electric bolts!
"Yelp!" Growlithe yelped as the electricity surged through his body, the pup collapsed to his side with a light whimper before raising back to his feet as he didn't want to let his trainer down!
"Alright Growlithe, let's keep our distance. Use Rock Slide!"
"Grow!" Growlithe howled out as rocks began falling down on top of Magnezone causing the magnetic Pokemon to grunt out before flinching as the burn sapped away more of his health.
"Thunderbolt!"
"Escape with Dig then come up and bite him with Fire Fang!"
"Growlithe!" Growlithe hastily burrowed beneath the ground, disappearing from view as the electrical bolt crashed where he stood moments ago. Growlithe soon remerged from the ground below and swiftly sank his teeth into Magnezone's body causing the magnet Pokemon to cry out once more!
"Finish things with Thunderbolt!"
"Magnezone!" Sparks flew off of Magnezone's body as he gave the attached Growlithe an electrical shock! Growlithe yelped out while Magnezone groaned as the burn took away more of his energy, both Pokemon started falling towards the ground before landing in collapsed heaps alongside each other while their eyes reduced to swirls. "Zone..."
"Grow..."
"Return!" Ingo returned Magnezone to his Pokeball.
"Growlithe return and rest up, you were great out there!" Zach returned the downed canine to his ball before reaching for a different one. "Alright Moltres, let's see what you've got!" If he was his usual self, he'd never of used Moltres like this but he wasn't currently aware of Moltres' status as a legendary Pokemon.
"Tres!" Moltres screeched out while spreading out his wings as he emerged from his Pokeball.
"Moltres..." Ingo's fists clenched as he had a brief flashback of him and his brother having a double battle against a trainer utilizing a Kantonian Moltres! "Probopass, I need your assistance!"
"Probopass!" The Rock/Steel type cried out upon bursting from it's Pokeball.
"Use Power Gem!"
"Pass!" A light blue energy beam fired from Probopass' mouth and flew towards Moltres before striking the legendary Pokemon's wing!
"Tres..." Moltres grunted out.
"Fiery Wrath!"
"TRES!" Moltres screeched out while a vast fiery aura surrounded his body, giving off quite the intimidating appearance which caused Probopass and Ingo to sweat. Irida couldn't help but shiver from the sight and edged closer to Zach before lightly clinging to his arm, despite the fact Moltres was clearly on their side she always felt frightened when Zach used that attack though this was the first time he was actually hitting a proper target with it! The fiery aura whisked across the field and surrounded Probopass before closing in on him, the rock Pokemon let out an agonizing screech as the Dark energy seared across his body before coming to a collapse as swirls filled his eyes.
Zach sweated at the sight before emitting a nervous chuckle as he turned towards Moltres. "Perhaps you should return for now."
"Tres..." Moltres sweated before nodding in agreement as he returned to his ball without complaint.
Ingo was visibly stunned but didn't appear to be upset as he recalled when a certain purple haired trainer appeared in the Battle Subway and curb stomped him and his brother's team with the help of Electivire and Ursaring! His brother collapsed to his knees before hanging his head in shame as the purple haired trainer took his leave.
"It was like we weren't even trying, we don't deserve to call ourselves the Masters of the Subway..."
"There there Emmet, there will be other battles! Everyone has a bad day now and then and we just experienced ours, we'll win the next battle just you wait!"
"Emmet, that's his name..." Ingo muttered out with a fairly large grin as he reached for a final Pokeball. "Tangrowth, I need your assistance!"
"Decidueye, let's wrap this up!" It was only fitting that he ended his final battle with the first member of his Hisuian team!
"Hooot!" Decidueye cried out as he burst from his ball.
"Ancient Power!" Ingo shouted.
"Growth!" A silver rocky sphere formed between Tangrowth's hands as he prepared an attack!
"Decidueye dodge it then assault Tangrowth with Brave Bird!" Zach shouted.
"Hoot!" Decidueye waited until the last moment before swiftly stepping to the side, causing the rock to go flying past while a golden glow surrounded Decidueye as he tucked in his wings before taking flight! The owl swooped across the field before slamming against Tangrowth, knocking the colossal Grass type off his feet and onto his back!
Tangrowth grunted out before slowly raising back to his feet with a determined expression.
"Aerial Ace!"
"Tan...growth!" Tangrowth swiftly shot across the field with surprising speed before slashing Decidueye! Decidueye let out a pained cry as he was pushed back before shaking himself off, ruffling up his feathers as he leered at Tangrowth.
"Stand your ground with Triple Arrow!"
"Hoot!" Decidueye pulled three quivers from his wings before firing at Tangrowth, striking the Grass type as the arrows pierced through his body!
"Growth..." Tangrowth grunted out while gritting his teeth.
"Tangrowth use Hyper Beam!" Ingo shouted out. If he had any hopes of taking Decidueye out, that would be it!
"Counter with Aura Sphere!"
"Hooot!" A sphere of aura began flaring up between Decidueye's wings while an orange-glow appeared around the area that contained Tangrowth's mouth. The two attacks fired off simultaneously and shot off across the field before making contact with each other which resulted in a large explosion that sent dust and dirt flying everywhere, obscuring the view!
"Decidueye...?"
"Tangrowth?" Ingo shielded his eyes with his arm as the dirt and dust flew towards him.
After awhile the dust storm faded, revealing Decidueye and Tangrowth standing across from each other. Both Grass stared each other down with deep heavy breaths as they clearly reached their exhaustion points, neither of them seemed ready to call it quits as Tangrowth began charging up another Ancient Power but Decidueye swiftly retrieved an arrow and fired it faster than Tangrowth could manage, the arrow pierced through the Pokemon's vines right as he fired off his own attack!
"T-Tan... growth..." Tangrowth collapsed onto his side.
Decidueye flashed a light smirk before soon joining him as he collapsed shortly after.
"Decidueye return, you were amazing out there!"
"Zora!"
Ingo returned Tangrowth to his ball before giving off a light wave. Throughout their time together Ingo realized that although they had similar circumstances they were quite different from each other, other than the fact Zach's memories seemed to be harder for him to reach it was almost as if he was supposed to be here while Ingo was here purely by accident! "That was a good battle, now if you excuse me I think I'll be heading back to my cave."
"Huh? Why don't you come back to Pearl Clan with us? You'd probably be happier there than you are here." Zach offered.
"Sorry kid but the cave's the only place I feel happy, my brother's so close I can feel it..."
"Brother...? But nobody else was there-"
"Shhh!" Irida placed her finger on Zach's lip. "Just let him be, some people have problems that just can't be helped and Ingo's unfortunately one of them. He likes it there and we can't just force him to leave so it's best we let him be."
Zach frowned as he didn't like the idea of just letting Ingo leave like that but he sure wasn't going to take him back to the village against his will. 'I'll find some way to help you Ingo, I promise!'
Garchomp soon burst from his ball and lowered onto the ground in preparation to take the two back to Pearl Village.
"So what do you plan on doing now that you've beaten all the nobles?" Irida questioned as she sat behind him, her arms wrapped around him as to avoid having to form a tight grip on Garchomp's rough skin.
"I'm not sure, I-I'd like to find my way back home to my Pokemon but if I can't... I'm not sure." He couldn't recall their names but he knew he was close to the jackal and badger and was sure they were missing him!
"Well if we can't find a way, there's always a place for you in Pearl Clan." Irida smiled while leaning her head up against him.
Zach formed a light smile at the thought of settling down with her but that would have to wait, he wouldn't rest until he found a way to close the rift and get reunited with his Pokemon back home. He just hoped that his new team got along with the old ones!
While atop Mt. Coronet's peak, a dinosaur shaped silhouette began forming within the space-time rift. "KIA!" The Pokemon screeched as a purple finger phased through the rift.
Sometime later, a golden glow surrounded Ingo's body as he sulked within the cave. "Huh? W-What's happening...?"
Emmet was in a similar position on their apartment's couch, sulking while wrappers and cans could be seen sprinkled throughout the place. It was clear that both brothers missed each other deeply. "Eh?" Emmet glanced up as a golden light filled the apartment, his eyes then began to water up as he saw his brother appearing in the midst of a bright golden glow!
"I-Ingo!"
"E-Emmet!" The brothers shouted simultaneously before hugging each other as tears of joy flooded from their eyes.
"I never thought I'd see you again! What happened, where were you?! What are you even wearing?" Emmet questioned. "You were gone for months!"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Ingo lightly chuckled before looking puzzled. "Though as for how I got back here? I don't rightfully know..." Though he did have this odd suspicion that his time traveling friend had something to do with it. Ingo closed his eyes and smiled. 'Thank you Zach, wherever you are now.'
Next time, the Hisui arc finale!