In the early afternoon, hours after his match, Louis sat outside the academy's office, with a pen in hand and a clipboard in the other, with a sheet of paper gripped onto it. The words printed and awaiting a signature sat in a pile, as Louis held the pen in deep thought.

'Are you sure you want to do this?' he asked himself.

The words 'Tournament Forfeiture' stared back, almost taunting him. He pondered the question for what felt like an eternity. Then, an answer came into view.

"I'm sure," he said.

Louis carefully scribbled down his signature onto the paper, completing the form. He detached the sheet from the clipboard, stood up and walked into the office.

Moments later, Louis met up with the rest of his friends outside of the Pokémon gym. All the members were pleased with the results of their battles. Soon, Louis worked up the courage to confess his departure from the tournament.

"Hold on. Let me get this straight," began Roy. "You...forfeited your spot in the tournament?"

Louis nodded while saying, "I did."

Taki, who was in the middle of eating a rice ball, paused mid-chew. The group's teams of Pokémon stared dumbfounded at the young adult.

"But why?" asked Taki.

"Yeah, you practically had a clean sweep in your match," stated Cinderace.

The young adult took a deep breath before responding to his friends.

"Well, originally, I never even considered giving up my spot," he said. "But when Azul came to me last night and apologised, and when we found him at the sakura tree, I began to realise that winning the match wasn't the most important thing to focus on."

This came as news to Roy.

– "...it...it wasn't?"

"No," answered Louis. "I was more happy at the fact that the whole team was back together, even for just one time. Winning or losing the match wasn't my main priority."

These words hit his friends like a bullet train. The revelation striking each of them with disbelief.

The crunching of grass and fallen leaves emitted from nearby. The party turned to the source to see Coach approaching.

"You guys did well in there," he complimented.

"Thanks," replied Roy.

The coach shifted his focus to Louis.

"In fact, I don't think I've seen many trainers win a match with all of their Pokémon still able to battle," he said. "I don't know what to expect when the tournament begins in the future."

"Actually...Coach...I'm not gonna be in the tournament," replied Louis.

Coach became confused by the young adult's revelation.

– "Why not?"

"I forfeited my spot," revealed Louis.

Goosebumps ran the Coach's arms at the information. The young adult went on to explain all of the details he had previously revealed to his other friends. Once Louis had finished, Coach was still a little surprised.

"But...what were you trying to prove by giving up your spot?" he questioned.

What felt a bolt of static electricity, zapped Louis to his core. He hadn't considered his exact reason for giving up his spot. After a brief moment, the young adult had his answer.

"There was nothing to prove," he said. "It just needed to be done."

Then, Coach departed from the area, complimenting the party for their efforts earlier in the day. Roy's Inteleon turned his head from side-to-side, looking around the area, believing that something was missing.

"Back on the topic of Azul, where exactly is he?" the lizard Pokémon inquired.

"He's probably with Zack and Suzuki right now," guessed Louis.

On the other side of the Pokémon Gym's outdoor area, Azul leaned onto a nearby tree as Suzuki and Zack approached the ninja-frog.

Then, Suzuki cleared his throat.

"Greninja-" he stopped, noticing his mistake.

"-I mean...Azul."

The staff member took a deep breath, carefully planning his next words.

"Listen..." he began. "I was paying close attention during your match earlier today. ...not the battle royale in case you're wondering."

Zack chortled.

"I noticed that when you were out battling with Louis by your side, you seemed...happy," continued Suzuki. "In fact, it was the happiest I had ever seen you since you came back."

The Greninja's eyelids raised up a small fraction. He hadn't realised how negative he had been since returning to Poké Island.

"Louis and his Pokémon mean a lot to you, don't they?" questioned Zack.

The brushing of grass and the crackling of leaves blown across the concrete path helped Azul in his careful thoughts. Realising that another one of his reasons for returning was to see Louis and the others again, the Pokémon returned his attention to the two humans.

"Nin-ja," he said, nodding.

Both Zack and Suzuki turned to one another.

"You sure you wanna do this?" whispered Suzuki.

Zack nodded and said, "Yeah, I am."

The pair smiled and returned their focus to Azul.

"If that's the case...then who are we to stop a Pokémon from being happy?" said Suzuki.

The Greninja was taken aback by Suzuki's statement. It seemed to reflect a certain someone.

"If you want to go back and be with Louis and the others, you have our permission," offered Suzuki, with a large grin.

"Gre-ninja?" said Azul.

Suzuki nodded.

Unbeknownst to the two humans, underneath his tongue-scarf, a gigantic smile ran across the Greninja's face. Thankful for his former trainer and friends' blessing, Azul placed a closed fist and open palm together and bowed to the two humans. Then, it ran in the direction he believed Louis and the others were located while Zack and Suzuki smiled as they watched.

Back with Louis and the others, the sound of a burst of smoke rang to their ears. They turned to witness the mysterious cloud dissipating. The party became confused at the sudden combustion.

Soon after, the young adult felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Huh?" he said.

Louis spun around. But there was nobody there. He felt another tap on his shoulder and spun around again.

"Who keeps doing that?" he blurted, getting a little annoyed.

Roy, Taki, and the groups of Pokémon did what they could to make sure they would not crack-up in laughter.

"Look up," a voice said.

Both Louis and Taki raised their heads to look above at the tree they sat under. Even though he had no idea what was said, when he saw both of his friends look upward, Roy followed suit. Hanging upside-down on a tree branch, with his feet gripping tightly to the wooden bark, was Azul.

"Sup," the Greninja said.

Braixen giggled.

Azul released his fleet's grip on the branch and landed perfectly on the ground. Then, he sat alongside his friends. Just like old times.

"So, you still gonna be hanging with Zack and his crew?" questioned Incineroar.

"Not anymore," answered Azul.

"Huh?" the party, minus Roy, exclaimed.

"...oh, I mean...huh?!" followed Roy.

"I...am officially...back on Team Venus," the Greninja revealed.

There was a brief moment of silence that followed. Soon, the party cheered for the return of their friend, happy that Team Venus was back together again. Hopefully, for good.

Azul saw fatigue upon the frames of his friends.

"You guys look kinda tired," he said.

"We are," replied Lucario.

The gears of planning and consideration cranked up in Azul's subconscious until a dinging sound rang from within.

"...then, maybe we could take a break from Pokémon battles," he suggested.

Wide-eyed stared were met from Louis and his team of Pokémon.

– "What?"

"I...never expected you to say that," responded Marowak..

"Y'know, I think it's actually a good thing you said that now," said Louis.

"It is?" replied Azul. "Why?"

– "Because being able to be alongside one another again made me realise that being in the tournament wasn't my main priority. So...I gave up my spot."

Azul's eyes widened.

"You did?!" he exclaimed.

– "Yep."

Seconds passed after Louis confessed to Azul. The Greninja simply shrugged, understanding Louis' point of view. Louis, however, took the words Azul mentioned about having a break into consideration as he contemplated his next moves..

Well...that was not what I expected from Louis or Azul. But, at least now they'll have a lot of catching up to do.

Anyway, 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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Thanks again. See you next time

P.S. The next chapter will be the last one for the story, so be prepared.

Ok, bye.