Epilogue-Goodbyes
The whole beach was silent as the group looked out over the small waves. None of them had said it, but they all knew that today was the day that Ash and the others must go back. Damon and Vincent would continue their journey to the valley alone.
Reluctantly Vincent sent out Kadabra and spoke to it softly. Kadabra nodded at whatever he said and looked questionably at Ash and his friends. Vincent smiled sadly and looked at the group.
"Well" he said quietly. "Who wants to go first?"
"We will" Ash hesitated and then stepped forward, followed by Brock and Misty. They looked at their friend, not sure what to say. Finally Misty gave a sob and threw herself on him. Vincent held her tightly and looked over her shoulder at Brock and Ash.
"Ash" he began slowly. "I'm pleased to have met you, all of you. I know that you will go far in the pokemon league and I hope that I'll be there to see it. Brock, thank you for defending me the first day we met. Misty, you keep Ash in line, okay?"
"Okay" Misty agreed, gently kissing his cheek. She pulled away and knelt down by Sol-leks. "Goodbye Sol-leks" she said sadly. "Look after Vincent, okay? Don't let him get into any trouble"
"Wolfang, Wolfang" the pokemon agreed, giving her hand a lick. Misty smiled and stood up. Then the group turned to Damon. Damon gave them a half smile and held out his hand to Brock.
"Thank you" he said softly. "Thank you for being Vincent's friends. And thank you for helping us out. I owe you one big time. Take care okay? All of you"
"Damon" Ash said quietly. "I know Brock has already spoken to you but now Misty and I have something to say" He paused and cleared his throat before continuing. "We didn't think much of you at first I admit, but we're glad we got the chance to know the real you. Now we can see why Vincent thinks so highly of you. Please look after Vincent for us and…"
"We're sorry about Lana" Misty cut in. "We really are. Even if it upsets you we want you to know that"
"Thank you Misty. Thank you Ash" Damon replied. "I give you my word that no one will ever hurt Vincent again while I'm here. You taught me a lot in your own ways. Hopefully one day we will meet again"
"In better circumstances I hope" Brock said with a small laugh. "I'll miss both of you, but maybe we'll see you at the pokemon league"
"You can count on it" Vincent agreed. "Now close your eyes and hold hands. Ash make sure you keep hold of Pikachu"
They did as he commanded. When he was sure they were ready, he put his hand on Kadabra's head and together they cast teleport. "Goodbye my friends" he whispered as he watched them disappear. "I'll be seeing you again, I'm sure"
"Jessie, James, are you ready to go?" Damon asked, knowing that Vincent wanted to say goodbye to Gary in private. "I'll teleport you back, but I'm not totally sure where you'll end up"
"It won't be any worse then the other places we've landed in before," James said with a small grin. Then, taking Jessie's hand, he turned to Vincent. "Thank you" he said. "This adventure has made Jessie and I realise that as long as we have each other and Meowth, we don't need anyone else. We're leaving Team Rocket, your friendship with Sol-leks has taught us that pokemon aren't just tools to make people more powerful"
"James is right" Jessie agreed. "I don't know what we'll do now, but if there's anything we can ever do for you, you come and find us"
"That's right" Meowth agreed with a sniff. "Meowth is your friend for life"
"Thanks guys" Vincent kissed Jessie on the cheek and shook James' hand. "I'm glad that I had a chance to know you. Stay out of trouble, you don't need that"
"He's right" Damon said slowly, accepting a kiss from Jessie. "You don't need Team Rocket to be strong. You have good hearts and that's the key to being strong. Take care of yourselves"
"You can count on it" Jessie said with a smile. "Take care of Vincent. He's a good kid Damon"
"Don't I know it" Damon agreed. "Hold hands guys and hold on to Meowth. I'll try not to teleport you into the ocean or something"
"Goodbye guys" Team Rocket called as they disappeared. "Looks like we're blasting off again"
"Those guys are a riot" Vincent smirked as he called back Kadabra. Damon shot him a questioning look and Vincent shrugged. "I can teleport Gary alone" he told his older brother. "Don't worry so much"
"Fine, fine," Damon agreed. "Sol-leks, do you want to take a little walk?"
"Wolfang, Wolfang" the pokemon agreed. He ran over to Gary and licked his hand. "Wolfang" he said again, glancing at Vincent. Seeing his master nod, he obediently trotted over to Damon. Damon looked at Gary and shrugged.
"I just want to say" he began. "That I wish you luck at the league and thank you for being such a good friend to Vincent. When our paths cross again, you will always find a friend in us. When you fight at Indigo Plateau, we'll be there to see it"
"Thanks Damon. I'll see you around"
"Yeah, I'll see you around Gary. Take care of yourself"
"Bye Damon" Gary called as Damon and Sol-leks disappeared into the woods, leaving Vincent and Gary alone. The two guys looked at each other for a moment or two, both unsure of what to say. Finally Vincent broke the silence.
"Gary" he said slowly, unfastening the silver chain around his neck. "I want you to have this. It was…it was a present from my mother"
"Vince…I couldn't"
"Please take it. Gary, we need some time apart to grow up. I need to get to know my brother and find my father. You still have your dream of becoming a pokemon master. We need to follow those dreams. But I swear to you that one day I'll come back for you. And until then take my chain to remember me by. So you don't forget me"
"I could never forget you" Gary said firmly, but he still took the chain. "But in that case I want you to have my necklace. So you don't forget me"
"Fair enough" Vincent's voice shook slightly as he accepted the necklace. A moment of silence followed as they both put on their new jewellery. Then slowly Vincent pulled the younger boy into his arms and gently kissed him. Gary wrapped himself around Vincent and returned the kiss. When they separated a moment later, they realised that they were both crying. Sobbing openly, they clung together and kissed for the final time.
"It's time to go" Vincent said finally. "I love you Gary Oak. Don't you dare forget me"
"I love you too. Don't you go forgetting me"
"It's not possible. Please take care of yourself Gary"
"I will" Gary wiped his face with his hand and stood ready. "I'll love you forever"
"Me too" Vincent called as Gary disappeared. "Forever"
Two or three minutes later, Damon and Sol-leks came back from their walk. Vincent had stopped crying and was staring across the ocean. He turned when Damon approached him and stood by his side.
"I'm sorry" Damon said slowly. "But it had to be done. He was too young…"
"I know. One day I'll go back and find him. Maybe his feelings will still be the same"
"Maybe" Damon slipped an arm around his brother's shoulders. "The pain will get easier in time. Believe me, I know"
"Thanks Damon"
"No problem"
Without another word, the two brothers and Sol-leks turned away from the beach knowing that together there would be many more adventures to have together.
Author Notes: Well that turned out quite twisted I must admit. When I started it I had no idea how it was going to turn out, so I was kind of surprised that it came out so well. I'm very pleased with it and I'm now in the process of writing a sequel. Thank you to all you wonderful people for reading this and hopefully reviewing, it's the reviews that made me want to finish this. And thanks to billee36 for reading this while I was writing it and pointing out areas where I could improve. Please read some of my other work if you have a chance and check out my sequel.
Silver15
