Several days later, Tracey and Marill stood at the edge of Scyther's still-fresh grave.
"Hey, Scyther," Tracey said softly as he placed a handful of fresh-cut irises on his friend's grave. "Just wanted you to know that I finished working in the garden and thought you might like some of these. After all, you helped me weed them the other day." Marill picked out the largest flower in the bouquet and laid it on the headstone labeled "Scyther".
"Marill misses you too, Scyther," Tracey continued.
"Marill," the little blue Pokémon said in agreement as it ran its paw over the lettering on the stone marking its friend's final resting place.
A fluttering of wings overhead caused the two of them to look up. "Venomoth," said a large, purple-winged Pokémon as it landed next to Marill.
"Oh yeah, Venonat evolved into Venomoth yesterday, Scyther. I wish you could've been there to see it," Tracey said as he patted the bug Pokémon's head. "We were having a battle with Ash and Pikachu when it happened. At first, Ash didn't want to battle after what happened the other day, but now I think he's glad that we did. I'm glad that we did. Right, Venomoth?"
"Venomoth," the Pokémon nodded as Marill climbed onto its back. As Venomoth gave its friend a ride above the cemetery, Tracey heard a scuffling and a soft "pika-pika" behind him.
"Wow, look at Venomoth and Marill," Ash said as he and Pikachu climbed over the fence surrounding the graveyard. "Looks like they're having a great time."
"Yeah, and it wouldn't have happened if it hadn't been for you and Pikachu," Tracey smiled at his friend as Venomoth swooped down and Pikachu traded places with Marill. "Thanks."
The two boys watched the happy Pokémon fly overhead for a minute, then Tracey spoke up. "I hear you're getting ready to continue your journey."
"Yeah. Mom didn't seem too upset about me leaving this time. I think it's because she's spending more time with Professor Oak lately."
"Yeah, they do spend a lot of time together, don't they?"
"I guess. As long as she's too busy fussing over him to ask me about changing my you-know-whats every day, then that's okay with me."
"Do you think she tells Professor Oak that?" Tracey said, stifling a giggle.
"Probably," Ash replied as Venomoth landed and Pikachu came scampering up to his trainer. "Well, we'd better get going - Brock and Misty are waiting. You can come too, Tracey, if you want."
Tracey bent down to pick up Marill. "Thanks, Ash, but my place is here at the lab. Besides, Professor Oak said that Professor Ivy sent him a Gyrados this morning and wanted to know if I'd be interested in helping train it."
"Well, you ought to be good at that after you helped Doctor Quackenpoker with his Magikarp research back in the Orange Islands."
"We'll see," Tracey said as Venomoth took off again and the two boys and their Pokémon headed for the cemetery entrance. "Take care of yourself, Ash."
"You too, Tracey," Ash replied as Pikachu hopped on his shoulder. "See ya' around."
Tracey waved as Ash and Pikachu disappeared out of sight down the hill. "It's hard saying goodbye to a friend, isn't it, Marill?"
"Marill," the Pokemon nodded.
"But sometimes letting someone or something go is for the best, right?"
Marill nodded again.
"Come on, Marill. Let's go see the Professor's new Gyrados. Maybe we'll make a new friend today."
And the two headed back to the lab.
THE END