Epilogue: Final Recollections

                Kevin was once again down in the caverns of the Whirlpool Islands. Not much has changed since I was last here, he thought. Except now I'm actually having Pokémon come to me, and I can get past his traps without triggering them.

                The meeting had lasted for a full day, which confused him. He was neither hungry nor tired when he left. Some of it was regarding with the portals that Kevin had dealt with, or who the next Chosen One would be. However, many answers were received in it, such as Warles's relationship with Celebi. In addition, Kevin was now free to come and go among legends, whether it was for 'legend' business or trying to get himself more acquainted with them.

                We should still be careful, Duo-Cevan remarked. If we catch Lugia at a bad time…

                Yeah, I'm aware of that, Kevin reassured. Regardless, he was the one who summoned me this time, so I have a fairly good chance of not getting Aeroblast in the face when I enter.

                Kevin stepped into the large cavern, approaching Lugia with some caution. "You summoned me, Lugia?" Kevin asked.

                Indeed, Lugia said, nodding. I must apologize, both for the Gathering and for using Aeroblast on you yesterday.

                 "Well, I can understand yesterday," Kevin replied, shrugging. "But I don't quite get what you mean when you said about the Gathering."

                Ash had said that we were to give you a formal greeting, Lugia explained. I gave a greeting, but not as if you were a Legend. My strength over your type has clouded my mind of your potential, and now I finally see that you are the stronger, as you have disabled the threat in my home.

                 "Well, just remember," Kevin reminded, "that you were the one who actually sent me on that mission to destroy them. Perhaps you said nothing directly, but granting me the Essence was probably your biggest step of trust to me." Kevin then shrugged. "Of course, that still doesn't mean that we are like buddy-buddy now. To you, it's more like master-servant, with me the servant, that is."

                At least your humor is still in the right place, Lugia remarked. Some who would gain a higher position lose it and only think they have it.

                 "Yeah, I know, Lugia," Kevin sighed, recalling Arguelles. "I know too well…"

*                              *                              *

                Once Kevin got home, he began writing in a journal:

                 "Lugia has summoned me for the first time since the Gathering. After my huge promotion, he is actually giving me some respect, though albeit not very much. In addition to that, with the help of my 'Lesser,' we've been able to successfully stop 4 portals, including one in Hidden Valley.

                 "For once, life is beginning to make sense. Now I know how Warles got his info… had Celebi not been on his side, he never would've gotten my number. As far as my standing as the Lost Trainer, I think my popularity is finally starting to ebb. Lance still has visitors, but they're all wanting to battle. At least I know how he feels. He probably wants to quit, too. If it were possible, I would allow him to join our band, but…

                 "As far as Ash is concerned, his 'child' side seems to be long gone. Why, even he seems to be lost somewhere. I think Celebi took him and Warles to the future, but there's no way to confirm that. Maybe Misty knows where he is. As far as I can tell with her, she's in love with someone. I wonder what love is like? Was that why Jelza wouldn't come back? Speaking of Jelza, Naria is fitting in fine. Apparently, looks can be deceiving, and she looks almost exactly like the Jelza Caharsi I knew. Thanks to my extended training, she took over for my missing student and now fits in perfectly. I'm going to take extra care to make sure a portal doesn't appear in that house again. Hmm, maybe this is what Jelza was talking about.

                 "We are all learning our special abilities well. Blade, Cerberus, and the others seem to train and learn a lot faster when in my forest, Although Laguna seems to love hiding from us. I've had to have Cerberus find him twice already just to get him to do a single task. As far as my Pokémon are concerned, they've all adjusted to us hybrids. All of them, except for Burnstryke, who seems to care more about a bath in ice water than to be a Fire Pokémon.

                 "All in all, life just seems to be a constant mission. Pokémon seems to live on, the portals keep coming, and we just stop them in their tracks. We've taken our promise like we've taken a motto:

                 "We are the first… and we will be the last."