Hours later, the Ho-Ken temple's doors flew open. Four sets of bruised, tired feet crossed its threshold as the temple's familiar sandalwood scent formed a calming aroma. Louis, Taki and Totodile were relieved to be back, while Miguel faced a wave of awakened memories.
Scizor walked past the quartet of individuals.
"Chief," it called. "They're back."
A booming laugh echoed from the back of the temple.
"Of course they are," replied Chief Tanaka.
Miguel froze, the voice stopping him on the spot.
Chief Tanaka walked over to the group with a proud smile upon his face. He quickly embraced Louis, Taki and Totodile in a tight hug. They all laughed.
"Thank you all," praised Chief Tanaka. "I couldn't be any happier."
Miguel looked on in both amazement and awe.
"Chief Tanaka…?" blurted Miguel.
The Chief looked up from the embrace and stared at the speaking man, recognition slowly began to piece together in his mind.
"...is that really you?" asked Miguel.
"You know my name?" replied Chief Tanaka.
Miguel's face shifted into a beaming smile.
"Of course," he said. "It's me, Miguel!"
The old man squinted his eyes at Miguel.
"...Miguel?" he said.
The man nodded in reply. Eventually, the Chief approached the man who bore a resemblance to Louis. Chief Tanaka took a quick glance at the child before speaking.
"I knew the boy had something to do with the tribe!" he cheered.
Moments of grateful silence filled the temple. Then, the Chief and Miguel both locked in a tight, overdue hug.
"Miguel," said the elder. "By your face, I can sense some gaps have been filled in that memory of yours?"
"Yep. Thanks to my son," replied Miguel, proud of his boy.
The two individuals shared a few words before tightly hugging one another again. Louis grinned.
"It's so good to be home," said Totodile.
Taki spotted the movement out of the corner of her eyes. A pair of wings fluttered excitedly near a corner of the ancient temple.
"Hey Totodile," said Taki. "Look who it is!"
Taki pointed in the direction of the movement. Totodile looked over and saw that it was one of its good friends.
"Butterfree!" it cheered.
"Welcome back, Totodile," replied Butterfree.
Totodile bounced and hopped around the Butterfree, occasionally pointing to her head bow, as she demonstrated events from the journey. They both laughed a few times during the retelling.
"Are they friends?" asked Louis.
"Yep," answered Taki.
"It doesn't say much, but that Butterfree spends most of its time with Totodile," she added.
Louis, intrigued by this new information, smiled.
She doesn't say much.
– Those words awoke a hidden idea within Louis.
"Hey Taki," said the boy, with a grin fully formed.
"Can we heat some water? For tea?" he suggested.
"Oh...um, sure," responded Taki.
Soon, the girl returned with a heated pot of water and several clay cups.
The boy approached his father, deep in conversation with the Chief, and waited for a pause in their cheerful banter.
"Excuse me, Dad?" inquired Louis. "Do you want some tea?"
"Sure!" his father exclaimed. "I love tea!"
"What type is it?" he added.
"Uh…" the boy paused. "...I don't know."
"It's Jasmine," answered Chief Tanaka.
"Great, thanks," said Miguel.
Louis motioned for the group to sit. As Taki poured hot water through jasmine-filled tea strainers, Louis carefully retrieved an item from his pack.
The Ho-Oh's long feather almost glowed in the temple's fire-light, a bright, luminous plume, and the boy placed it near the cups, as the chief watched on in approval.
Louis used the feather to stir the tea around for each individual. A questioning look crossed Miguel's face.
"Uh, Louis?" he asked. "What exactly are you doing?"
"Just stirring the tea," answered Louis. "I know it's strange using the feather."
Chief Tanaka stifled a laugh.
As the group lifted their cups and prepared to sip the green drink, the Chief spoke.
"To friends and family...and those that couldn't be here."
The words shot through Louis like a bullet.
Venusaur.
"Y-...yeah," he muttered, solemnly.
To Louis' surprise, the taste was much different to the last time he had the tea.
"Ah. That is good," said Taki. She sat in silence before momentarily falling backwards, unconscious.
Miguel was about to react to Taki's impromptu nap, when he too fell, hunched, into a deep sleep.
And yet, as Louis finished his serving of the liquid, he remained awake and alert.
"Taki!" shrieked Totodile. It dashed over to the slumbering Taki, worried for her well-being.
"What happened?" it questioned.
"Don't worry," reassured Louis. "She'll be fine."
The chief stood, and soon brought pillows to the sleepers.
"You've done well, boy," he said.
"Thanks," replied Louis.
"By the way, why didn't the feather work on me?" he questioned.
"You already had the abilities from within," answered Tanaka.
"The unconsciousness only occurs with individuals who have yet to possess these rare features."
"When will they wake up?" inquired the boy, as he stared at the concerned Totodile.
"It's usually a full sun-pass," answered the Chief.
For a time, silence found the temple again, before the chief sat near the sleepers.
"You are tired, too..." said the Chief. "..and though you think your journey is complete, your path has only just begun."
More silence as the words hung in the temple's arches, and Louis' thought.
'That's right,' he said, internally. 'We've been away for days, met loads of different Pokémon, and even made new friends along the way.'
"You'll go home, and you'll live peacefully," said the elder. "But I don't think the world has heard the last of Louis Serrano."
Taki stirred in her sleep.
Behind them, an elderly woman with tied-up grey hair, wearing a green yukata, approached the boy.
'Wait a minute," thought Louis. 'I think I recognise that lady.'
It was the same lady that Louis saw when he first came to the temple, who appeared to be very sad at the time.
The lady pulled Louis in a tight hug.
"Thank you...thank you," said the lady.
Louis blinked twice.
"...I'm sorry, for what?" he questioned.
"Bringing my son back home," answered the lady.
The revelation struck the boy. This was the woman walking with Miguel when he fell.
"It's been a long time. I never thought I would see him again," she continued, approaching the sleeping man.
Louis' heart rapidly sped.
"You're my grandmother?!" he exclaimed, shattering the silence of the temple, before apologising for his ill-chosen volume, grinning sheepishly.
Taki rolled and began mumbling in her sleep, stirring from her slumber. Miguel followed suit.
The woman looked toward Louis.
"What did you say?" she asked, before noting a familiar similarity in the boy's smile.
She regarded the child with kind eyes.
"We can talk when he wakes up," said the grandmother.
Taki yawned and moaned uncomfortably as her eyes finally opened. She sat up and rubbed her forehead.
"Ugh, what a dream," she mumbled.
"Are you ok?" a voice questioned.
Taki looked toward Louis, but he was metres away, already occupied. She glanced down as a small, blue Pokémon with large teeth, tugged at her arm.
"You feeling alright, Taki?" asked Totodile.
Taki's eyes widened.
No longer a series of 'Toto-dile' sounds, the Pokémon's speech formed a series of very real words, words that Taki now understood.
The girl smiled at the Pokémon.
"Never better," she answered.
A shuffling of footsteps approached the group.
"Awake so soon?" said Chief Tanaka, surprised at the temple's motion.
Miguel groaned and shifted to his side, before kicking his own leg and sitting upright.
He yawned and stretched his arms outright.
"I haven't slept like that since...forever," said Miguel.
The man felt something tapping his shoulder. He looked to his left and saw both Louis and the lady.
"Hello son," said the lady, with tears in her eyes.
A face lost in over thirty-years of memory addressed Miguel.
She smiled and threw open her arms, sweeping her family up in a loving grip. A tangible relief invaded the temple at the reunion.
Taki and Totodile approached the scene.
"Hey, Louis' dad is awake," Totodile spoke.
Louis, Miguel, and the grandmother looked to the duo walking toward them.
"Mind if we join in?" asked Totodile.
Taki giggled. Miguel looked at the Totodile with a mixture of shock and surprise.
"Did...did that Totodile just talk?" he asked.
"You can thank the tea for that," Louis and the grandmother said in unison.
For the night, the group ate, talked, and rested. Taki and Louis relayed the journey's events to the Chief. The discussion passed into the late hours, occasionally punctuated with laughter and tears. Eventually, the sun rose on the temple once more.
They woke together and ate together. As Louis was describing Tracey's art, Miguel spoke.
"Louis…" he said, hoisting a shoulder bag. "...it's time."
"Time for what?" asked Louis.
"Time to go home."
Wow, the journey has almost ended. What a wild ride.
Thanks for reading. Is there something you enjoyed? Can you guess what happens next? Or...what do you hope to see in future chapters? If so, go ahead and leave a review explaining any of these reasons. (Please don't leave hurtful reviews)
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PS: I will be editing a majority of the previous chapters over time, so expect a few changes to the past lot of chapters.
OK, bye