This chapter was updated/revised on April 5, 2020.
Epilogue
"I know now that we never get over great losses; we absorb them, and they carve us into different, often kinder, creatures."
Gail Caldwell
Day 80
Move-in day was more of an adventure than a chore.
We planned to leave Pallet Town at 9:00 am on the first Friday after the Allamanda Contest.
For the first time ever, I found it difficult to pack in a timely manner; I never had so many possessions before. Now, I have so much: cleats, a soccer ball, cones for drills, long socks, shin guards, three different custom-made jerseys, and a mouth-guard, and that's just for soccer. I also received a tablet computer, an upgraded smartphone, and over a dozen books. Annie wanted to get me more, but I insisted that a library would suffice, so she stopped getting everything on my reading list. I had many new outfits too, and some of them weren't even secondhand; more than half of my clothing was not only brand new but also handmade out of especially soft materials like Mareep and Altaria wool.
I had two birds helping me pack, but they were also distracting.
"She got you a computer?!" Amber gasped as she picked up my new tablet.
I scratched the back of my head. "Yes. It is so that I can transcribe some of my work. My handwriting is very neat, but it will look unprofessional unless it is typed and formally formatted."
"Of course, you would use it for work."
"There are a lot of games you can download. I'll text you my password for Game Net so that you can have them all for free," Jay offered.
"That would be very nice," I replied.
"This is mine," Amber commented as she picked a folded shirt off my bed.
"Annie told me that was Jay's, but he never wears it."
"Annie didn't realize this was my shirt."
It was a brown shirt with a red owl, perfect for Amber because she is as fascinated with old-world birds as her mother is with water-type Pokémon.
"My apologies," I told Amber. "Please take it back. I did not realize this shirt was yours."
"No, you keep it," she replied. Amber placed it back on the bed. "You have so much of Jay's clothes, not any of mine."
I bowed. "Thank you oh so—"
"Very much," we finished in unison.
Amber rolled her eyes. Then she picked up my Rubik's cube.
"What the heck is this?" she inquired.
"I picked that up while Annie and I were at the book store. I told Annie I didn't want her to buy it, but she saw me staring so she got it for me anyway," I explained. "It is a Rubik's cube. The goal is to get all the colors to go on the same side so that there is a single color on each side. It is very difficult for some people to do."
"I bet I can do it," she responded.
Jay laughed. "It's really hard, Amb. I doubt it."
"I'll show you!"
She lied on my bed and got to work trying to figure it out. Jay and I resumed packing.
"You know how stubborn she is. She will be working on that all morning," Jay whispered to me.
I looked over to see if she was listening. She wasn't, because her face was scrunched up in concertation as she rapidly turned the cube, trying to figure it out.
"Maybe she'll get it," I mused.
"I guesso. There is always that chance," he agreed.
When we went to load the car, we found Sandshrew quarreling with Michio.
"We need the car because we have to bring everything with us," Michio argued.
"We can take multiple trips. I shall teleport you one by one," it replied. "You are wasting resources!"
Logan on the hood of the car so that they could see him clearly.
"Sorry Michio, but Sandshrew is right. It was nice for my dad and James to go through the insurance company to get this new car for you, but you don't really need it. Annastasia and I were just talking about this. She thinks that you don't need the car if you can teleport," Logan told them.
"Aha!" Sandshrew exclaimed as it pointed to Michio. "Apologize, Fool!"
"It is childish," I noted.
Jay and Amber sniggered.
"It's part A," Jay pointed out.
"What are we supposed to do if you are feeling lazy and we can't find you and none of the other Pokémon are around?" Michio continued.
"Take the blond inventor's machine and go to Pallet Town," Sandshrew replied.
"That will put us out of our way. Clemont's teleporters aren't in every single building in the world. We'd have to come all the way to Pallet first, then see if Acorn and Aliyah are around; it would be an inconvenience."
"Lucario and Mewtwo aren't going to leave Annastasia just because she has your own home."
"They probably aren't going to be around every moment of every day, and we might need that."
I knew when he said that he was referencing my needs. Everyone was going to be keeping a closer watch on me now that I was very sick, and Annie had told me that her new goal in life was to make sure that I lived longer than she did.
"People, relax!" Logan ordered. "There's a simple solution to this. Neither of you is seeing it because you are both too stubborn. Sandshrew, if you are sooo powerful, you could teleport the car with everything in it to the estate, this way you have the car in case you need to get somewhere other than Pallet quick and you aren't around."
Sandshrew and Michio looked at him blankly.
"Fine, we shall do that," Sandshrew decided.
"You don't make the decisions for us," Michio grumbled.
Annie had exited the house and was walking towards the car.
"I have more power over you than you have over me," Sandshrew asserted. "Therefore, I am the dominant one."
"Sure whatever," Annie answered quickly. "Thank you, Logan." She looked at me, her mouth and eyes smiling. "Are you all packed up?"
"Yes," I answered.
"We helped," said Amber. I noticed the Rubik's cube in her hand.
"You can come over with us," Annie offered.
"I was just about to ask you if we could," said Jay. "But I have to do something first. You all go, I will ask Aliyah to transport me over there when I'm ready."
"Bye Jay, I will see you later," I said.
"Jay I'll—no, I'll go with Jezz," Amber decided.
"Great idea," Jay said with a wide smile. "Catcha later."
"See ya."
"Will you be joining us before the afternoon?" I asked.
"Totally," Jay replied.
Logan tapped Annie on the shoulder. "Remember what we talked about before…about me wanted to be a bit more independent…maybe helping out with all the new Pokémon you are going to be watching…"
Annastasia laughed and scratched the Purrloin's ears.
"I already told you that you were welcome to stay with us," she said. "It'll be fun to have an extra soul. Get in the car."
Logan jumped into the last seat on the right. "You don't mind having a brother though, right Jezz?"
I sat down next to him in the backseat. "No, I am happy about this."
'Happy' was too small a word, but 'overjoyed' was too dramatic. I was pleased but nervous; I already had Logan's respect and I didn't want to lose it.
But I knew well that Logan was fun, kind, interesting, and I could always count on him to help me out in case there is another dispute between me and Xatu.
"I am grateful for you," I told Logan.
"Awe, ditto," he replied, pawing my arm.
Amber elbowed me. "You started glowing a little when Logan said he'd be coming."
Logan was staring at both of us with patience and blithe.
"I will enjoy having you around," I told Logan. "I wish for us to be dear friends."
"Sweet," he replied.
Amber sniggered at my excitement; she must have thought I was acting Lame.
Once everyone was ready, Sandshrew teleported us, car and all, to the estate.
"Step one," Annie announced as she stepped out of the car. "We need a name for this place."
"Why?" said Amber. "Can't you just call it 'The house' or 'The estate'?"
"Almost everyone calls it that. Let's be creative. Jezz? Logan? Michio? Plusle? Minun? Pip? Bleu? Lil-G? Peruva? Chimecho? Someone, come up with something."
We filed out of the car. Bleu descended his flight and perched atop the car. I released my other Pokémon. Amber and Annastasia did the same.
"Uh…sure…" said Logan. It looked like he was thinking hard. "Call it the house—nah, never mind…"
"Call it the Haunted Mansion, and then we can make it haunted," Amber suggested.
"Pikaaa!" Pip disputed. "Pika pi!"
"Pip wants something that won't scare the little ones," Annie explained.
"Call it The Grendel," said Michio.
"Plussle Plu!" Plusle argued.
"That's creepy too," said Annie.
"What about The Burrow?" said Logan.
"I like it, even though it's a bit too Harry Potter. Jezz, do you have any ideas?"
"We can call it The Grange," I suggested. "But not if Logan really wants to call it the Burrow."
"It's okay, man. I don't care; I just wanted to participate," Logan replied.
"The Grange…like the historian that you are. Okay then, it is The Grange, anyone want to dispute it?" Annie asked.
"Naming an abode is pointless," Sandshrew piped.
"Okay then, it's The Grange."
It took us about two hours to get everything set up. We walked through the door and entered the foyer. Standing there to greet us was a woman whose voice I found vaguely familiar. She was Annie's house-sitter, a Pokémon nurse named Maria. She was taking care of an injured Pidgey. She talked to Annie for a few minutes, and when she saw me and Amber, she gasped and put her hand on her heart.
"It's you!" she breathed. "Annastasia, why didn't you tell me the kids you were bringing today were Amber and Jezz?!"
Annie was caught completely off guard.
"I-I would have, but I had no idea you knew them," she stumbled.
Amber grinned and poked me. "She's a fellow redhead."
"Oh, it's you! Maria!" I said brightly, finally remembering where I had seen her before. I felt ridiculous for not realizing it sooner. "It is a pleasure to see you again."
Maria looked and sounded different; she not a child anymore, but her hair and her eyes were the same.
"We met about thirty years ago," Amber told Annastasia. "Wow, you are an adult now. That's so freakin weird."
"But you weren't alive thirty years ago," said Logan. "I'm confused."
"Oh, I get it," Annie said with a smile.
"Then could you explain it to me?"
"We went time traveling," Amber reminded him. "Jay, Jezz, and I sorta like totally met her."
"You were lucky," said Annie. "Maria is wonderful."
"You are so kind," Maria said with a bow.
"You do so much for this place. I couldn't do it without you." Annie turned to me, Amber, and Logan. "Maria takes care of the sick and injured Pokémon that come here to seek help. After Nanny and Pop-pop died, I asked her to take their place as the Chief Pokémon Caretaker. She is a certified Pokémon Nurse Nanny hired years ago and a family friend. She was a mentor to June several months last year. She is an excellent asset too because we don't have any doctors on site."
"Other than my mother," I heard Michio whisper to Annie.
"Yes, but she is for humans. We need someone for the Pokémon," she whispered back.
"You must be one busy lady," Logan said to Maria.
"I get help," Maria replied. "And I suppose I am busy, but I enjoy the work and Annastasia has been paying me well."
"A, you hiring?" Amber asked.
"Turn fifteen and I'll consider giving you a role," Annie retorted.
XO
Settling into a house is more complicated and takes more time than I realized.
As I studied architecture, with its high walls and elegant framing, I wondered how long it would take for me to call this place home. My mind was still processing all the changes and trauma I had gone through. I was up for many nights in a row thinking about what was ahead.
And now I'm here.
"I've been coming here since I was a baby, but living here…wow, you are lucky," Amber said as we helped ourselves to some fresh tea.
"I suppose," I replied.
"I mean, not 'lucky', but…uh…"
"I understand."
I understand that Amber struggles to find words that match the feelings in her heart.
"You can sleep over anytime," Annastasia told Amber. "Your mother even suggested leaving some personal items here to make things easier. Jay will do that too."
Amber tapped me on the shoulder and whispered 'squish'. That familiar pleasant, warm, effervescent feeling filled my chest and belly as we laughed together.
"Do you want help setting up your room?" Annie asked. "I have plenty of time."
"Amber and I can do it," I responded. "Jay said he will be here soon and he will want to help as well."
"If you change your mind, call me, text me, email me, beep me…whatever suits you."
Amber and I got to work putting my clothes and miscellaneous belongings into my wardrobe and dressers.
"You are so lucky," Amber gushed for what seemed like the hundredth time.
"I know," I responded. "I am very excited for my new life to begin."
We worked and talked, and when we were almost done, we decided to take a break. I went to get us some water, and when I came back, she was once again lying on my bed and trying to figure out the Rubik's cube. I decided to organize my books, journals, and folders since that was a job I didn't want or need help with.
After fifteen minutes, she got frustrated again with the cube and threw it down.
"Do you want assistance?" I asked as I picked it off the carpet. "I can teach you the algorithm to solve it."
Amber stared at me and blinked. That was the look she usually gave me right before she said something like:
"Are you kidding me? I don't even know what an 'algorgram' is!"
"Algorithm," I corrected.
"That proves it."
I explained the algorithm and showed her how to solve the cube, but she was bored. I felt like I was showing off, so I stopped. Then Jay came into the room. He was struggling to hold a large package behind his back. His face was flushed, but I am quite sure it wasn't because the package was heavy. He blushed a lot.
Amber rolled her eyes. "Jezz, Jay has something special he wants to give you."
Amber helped Jay hand me the package, which was neatly wrapped in leftover Christmas paper.
"Sorry, it's all my parents had in the house," Jay nervously mumbled.
"Jay, I haven't gotten you a present," I told him. "I am sorry. Am I forgetting a holiday?"
"No, you didn't forget anything. I just wanted to give this to you, since you like it so much, and I don't really need it."
I heard Amber whispering something to Jay while I looked over the wrapping paper. I knew what it was as soon as I started opening it.
"Your guitar," I stated. "But Jay, you said this is your most prized possession."
I didn't understand at all. I worried that this was Jay's way of telling me and Amber that he was giving up on music.
"I know, but when you played this guitar, you were really good, and your favorite part about it was all the stickers I had stuck on it over the years. My dad got it for me from an old friend, and he said that hand-me-down items have more soul. If you get a new guitar for yourself, it wouldn't be the same. But you don't have to take it if you don't want it," Jay explained.
Amber leaned in to whisper in my ear. "Take it Jezz, he will be really sad about it if you don't."
I nodded. "Jay, I very much appreciate this, but I what will you use if I take your guitar?"
"I can find one secondhand. But I think your first guitar should come from a friend," he explained.
I didn't quite understand his logic, but I knew by now that while I was good at school and sports, Jay was good at music and friendship. I also knew I should always value the opinion of someone with more experience than myself.
"Thank you. I will take care of it well," I promised.
"Good, I was afraid you'd refuse to take it," Jay responded.
"Did you see Maria?" Amber asked.
"Yeah. She asked if all your plans worked out. Jezz, did they?"
"They did," I responded. "I was cited in several journal articles as a Jamie Doe. Mary was kind enough to announce my death date, which is good because it means that no one will be looking for me."
"Congratulations on officially killing your former self," said Amber.
"Thank you."
"But…okay, so…like, don't you want to take credit for all that work though? You spent your entire childhood working on that," said Jay.
"That is true, but also, I have much more to do and…maybe someday I will tell people that I wrote it. I have ways I can prove it too. What matters most is that it is out, changing bad into good, and personally, it showed me that there is no point in being afraid or ashamed of anything that happened in my life."
"I think it is incredible that you have your entire life written down in a book. You should publish it one day."
"I would totally read it," said Amber.
"You would?"
Jay was skeptical for sure.
"You had some weird stuff to talk about," said Amber. "I kinda think it would be…cool, ya know?"
"Awe," Jay replied.
"Shut up—you were thinking the same I bet."
"Yeah, I admit it. Jezz, you really should publish it. Think about future kids who will have obstacles similar to the ones you've had. You can totally be a hero."
I knew Jay wanted to say 'problems' instead of 'obstacles' because I heard him start to pronounce the 'p' but also because that is how many people saw my life; it was a collection of problems. Amber and Jay understood that there was much more to it than just that.
And he thinks my bravery to confront the world with this is heroic. I never thought of it that way.
Logan came into my room. "Whoa, this is big. This must be the biggest bedroom in the whole hou—I mean 'The Grange'. I never saw this one before."
"Annie told me it was one of the biggest rooms," I replied. "It's bigger than at least two of the apartments I've lived in."
"Whoa. So, one of the other house-watchers cooked us some food. He said he wanted to see you all again, whatever that means."
"Good, I am hungry," said Amber as she stood up. "I need breakfast."
We spent breakfast explaining to everyone how we had met Maria and 'Tomo' in the past. She told us that Mary was still alive and that she was responsible for making sure my writings got to where I needed to go. She also made sure that my foster homes wouldn't come looking for me, including the one where the 'Porygon Incident' occurred. The Pokémon decided to get to know one another, and it wasn't long until Peruva and Logan both found their perfect match, they just didn't know it yet.
"Jezz, are you up for a hike later?" Annie asked me as we finished up our meal.
Bleu, Peruva, and Lil-G seemed to be excited about this, so I answered 'yes' immediately.
"Am I allowed to come, A?" Amber questioned. "I know you weren't banking on me coming up and disturbing you, but I figured I might as well ask."
"You aren't that disturbing", Annastasia playfully answered. "Not as bad as Jocelyn can be."
"Very true," Amber giggled.
"Pikachu pi" Pip agreed.
Jay and I exchanged confused expressions as the three of them giggled. I sometimes forgot that Annie and Amber had their own precious friendship, outside of Amber's relationship with Jay. There was probably a shared memory between them that neither Jay nor myself understood.
"You will like it up there," Jay told me. "Amb, I think you and I should go back to Pallet tonight. The three of us are always together. We should let Jezz spend some time with his new 'parents' and 'brother'."
Amber looked to Annie.
"You can come with us if you want, it is up to you," Annie replied.
"Jay and I can go back home, but some other time maybe we could come along," said Amber.
"That sounds great to me," she responded.
"Me too," said Jay.
I was not quite sure what was happening, but that was fine with me for now. They gave me a formal tour, which was more extensive than the one they gave me when I first came to Silverville. Logan, Amber, Jay, the workers and some of the Pokémon had a lot to add, facts about The Grange that I didn't know before. We didn't have many neighbors, but Annastasia assured me that would change.
"I have some tenants that are going to live here with us," Annie announced as we finished up the grand tour. "There are also some guest cottages out in the woods that Bleu, Lil-G, and I discovered a few years ago. I am going to fill them with people. People who need a place to live in."
"For Free?" Amber questioned.
"The cottages will a 'pay if you can' sort of deal. Rita found me a bunch of people that need a place to stay for a while."
"What exactly are you talking about?" Jay asked.
"Rita and the other volunteers and workers at Spectrum have some people who came to there as teens and are now nineteen, twenty, and twenty-one, but they don't have jobs yet, or their jobs don't pay enough for them to buy a house. They can't stay there after age 21, so they are going to come here. There is about a dozen cottages total, and they can hold four to six people in each one. We also have a few neighbors; they are just very spread apart and their homes aren't as big as this one. And we are going to hire more people. About a hundred."
Michio smirked. "Yeah, because we aren't going to do work that we can pay others to do for us."
"And because we plan on doing a lot of stuff around here, and we are going to need a lot of help. But don't worry, the house itself will be as quiet or as full as you want. Most of the workers here are going to commute with the three Alakazam I gave to Team Rocket several years ago, so they will not be actually living in the house with us, with the exception of Thomas, Maria, and her assistant Laila. The rooms on the third floor in this house are going to have additional guests if we run out of space in the cottages. But it's soundproof, and the third floor like a second house. You can go up and meet everyone, but we are still going to have a lot of privacy. A few people are scheduled to move up there next week since the cottages are already filled."
I was surprised at how many people I would eventually get to meet. People like me. It was an exciting surprise. Later that night she showed me the special spot, and the Volbeat and Illumise that had come with us to Alola in the beginning came and joined us. Annastasia said that they liked to stay at the house sometimes.
The house became very busy over the next few weeks. We celebrated birthdays, got new tenants almost every day it seemed, and we had had large group dinners every week on Thursday night. Sandshrew stopped being so annoying, though it still argued with Michio a lot. I got sick every few weeks or so, but it wasn't a big deal because I had Keaka. Annie got sick almost every time I got sick, and sometimes we'd stay together in the same room when that happened. Months later, I missed Amber at the Poke Olympic Grand Championship, and she got the Grand Title, but Jay filmed the entire thing for me.
Some things became routine. June came every Thursday before dinner to take flute lessons, and every Saturday to help Maria and her assistant Laila nurse the Pokémon. Soledad, Jay, Amber, and sometimes a few others came over on Saturday and Sunday to Pokémon battle, play sports, or watch movies in the indoor theater in the basement. They usually stayed over Saturday night, and sometimes we had sleepovers during the week too. Logan and I became close, and he helped Xatu and I settle disputes, the same way he and his mother used to do at the Oak Terrarium. The year I started school, he came with me and became the first Pokémon to ever go to college.
I got accepted into many different schools, but I didn't go until several years after I started staying at The Grange. The academy was a good fit for me, because most of the people there were in a similar situation as me at some point, even though we were all different ages and I was the youngest. Jay, Amber, Takeshi, Soledad, and Cassandra joined us, along with new friends that we have met over the years, though I started a few years before they did.
Since most of the people I went to school with had an accent very similar or that same as mine, it didn't lose it, ever. Even once I was an adult.
Though my life had changed for the better, I still had the urge to write in the journal. Originally, it was intended to document my life after my first guardian had died. I wanted someone to know I existed. I taught myself how to write for this reason.
Now I do it because I want to—and no one can ever stop me.
AN: One last thing:
I decided to do another song list for this fic. Like last time, these were songs I listened to while I wrote this and because I am a cheesy person and I couldn't help myself
1. Shake it Out- Florence and the Machine
2. Roots Before Branches- Room for Two
3. One Day- Nick Howard
4. Beam Me Up – Pink
5. 93 Million Miles – Jason Mraz
6. Close to You – Corrine May (Glee cover also amazing)
7. Paradise- Coldplay
8. Hold You Up- Shane Harper
9. Your Song- Elton John(original) Ellie Goulding (very good cover)
10. Photograph- Ed Sheeran
11. Safe Place to Land- Christian Burghardt
12. Hold Each Other- Great Big World
13. Don't – Ed Sheeran
14. Candles- Hey Monday
15. Stressed Out- Twenty-One Pilots
16. Wake Me Up- Ed Sheeran
17. Runaway– Ed Sheeran
18. Every time- Britney Spears
19. Unpretty- TLC
20. Everybody's Changing – Keane
21. Immortals – Fall Out Boy
22. Carry On- F.U.N.
23. It's Who You Are- A.J. Michalka
24. My Wish- Rascal Flatts
25. Stand by You- Sarah Platten
And because of Bri:
26. My Shot – Lin-Manuel Miranda
27. Nonstop - Leslie Odom Jr.
28. Hurricane - Lin-Manuel Miranda
Ø I can sorta see it:)
peace