Chapter 5: Final Goodbye

When they arrived at the funeral home, the family went inside. There was going to be two hours of viewing before the actual funeral. It was harder than they had expected for them to see Aurora lying in a coffin.

"Momma. I miss you already. I wish you would come back to us. I can't believe you're really gone." Evelyn cried as she placed her hand on her mother's chest.

"This is really hitting Evey hard because she was really close to Mom." Bobby explained quietly to Tracey, who was standing beside him.

"Let me go and try to calm her down." Tracey said.

When Tracey approached her, Evelyn completely broke down and collapsed into tears in the arms of her oldest brother.

"Shh. It's okay, Evey. I promise that everything will be okay. I know it's going to take a while to heal but things will eventually get easier." Tracey said reassuringly. He loved his brother and sister very much and it broke his heart to see Evelyn so upset.

"Here. Drink this cup of water. It'll help you calm down a little." Carla whispered, handing Evelyn a cup of water as Tracey gave her a kind smile.

"Thank you, Carla. I do feel better." Evelyn said.

"Hey. Think of it this way. You're going to go out on a Pokemon journey on your birthday next month, right."

"Yeah, and so is Bobby. We're both old enough."

"Well, when you're in those rough battles trying to earn Orange League badges you'll have a guardian angel helping you win because Mom will always be with you. Ash never had that to help him along." Tracey explained.

"I guess I never thought of it that way." Evelyn said as she gave her brother a hug.

For the next hour the family was greeted with condolences from their friends and tried to come to terms with the tremendous loss that was looking them in the face.

The funeral was a very nice one and the eulogy that Ray gave for his wife was very beautiful. He talked about how Aurora had been a wonderful companion and a loving mother. Then the minister performed a service and it was then time to drive to the cemetery for the burial.

After the burial the family returned to the house and were immediately greeted with a warning growl from Buddy, who was taking his job of guard Pokemon very seriously.

"It's us, Buddy. You did a very good job. Thanks." Tracey said as he knelt down to pat Buddy's head and was greeted by a wet kiss on his face.

"Are you guys going to stay here again tonight?" Ray asked as he approached Tracey a few minutes later.

"No. We're going to go ahead and get back, Dad. We really need to."

"Yeah. We have a lot of work to do when we get back. Right now Professor Oak is taking care of everything by himself." Carla explained.

"I need to get back to work too. It'll help me get all of this out of my mind. We have a flight back to Viridian in a few hours." Tracey added as Carla gave him a sad glance.

"Okay. I understand."

* * * * *

An hour later, Tracey and Carla had their things together and were getting ready to leave to catch the ferry to take them back to Valencia Island. Tracey had managed to get Buddy to go into a Pokeball since Pokemon weren't allowed on the ferry. Soon they were ready to leave and head back to Pallet Town.

"Hey, Tracey. Do you have a minute so I can ask you something?" Evelyn asked.

"I'll always have time for my baby sister. What did you want to ask me?" Tracey smiled.

"Well, earlier at the funeral you told me about having a guardian angel in Momma when I battle and you said that your friend Ash didn't have that when he was battling. You didn't by any chance mean the Orange League champion Ash Ketchum did you?"

"Yeah. Why? And how do you know about Ash?" Tracey was a little taken aback by this.

"I read about him and his impressive victory in all the papers and magazines when he became the champion. He's the trainer that I want to be like when I start my journey." Evelyn said.

"Me too!" Bobby cut in. He had just come in the room with his father and had heard the end of the conversation.

"Well, I'll have to tell Ash that he has two aspiring Pokemon masters that look up to him and want to be like him. He'll probably be really flattered by that." Tracey laughed at the enthusiasm of his brother and sister.

Then Tracey remembered that he and Carla had a ferry to catch and he realized that it was time to say goodbye to his family.

"Bye, Dad. Make sure to keep these two out of trouble until they start their own journeys. I promise I'll keep in touch a lot more."

"I'll keep them out of trouble. I hope we can keep in touch because I don't want to lose anymore precious time." Ray said as he hugged his son. Then Tracey reached out and wrapped Evelyn and Bobby in a big hug.

"You two remember to always do your best in your training, no matter how hopeless things may seem. Also remember that when you come through Pallet Town on your journeys, you're both always welcome to stop in and visit me. I'd really like it if you would."

"We will."

"Okay. We really need to go now or we'll miss our boat." Tracey said.

"It was nice to meet all of you. I wish it had been under better circumstances though." Carla said quietly.

"It was very nice to meet you too, Carla." Ray smiled warmly at his son's girlfriend.

"Well, bye everybody." Tracey said as he and Carla walked away toward the dock.

* * * * *

After a five minute walk, Tracey and Carla arrived at the dock and were just in time to catch the ferry for Valencia Island. Once they were on the ferry, Tracey flopped wearily into a chair and Carla sat beside him.

"I'm so glad we made it." Tracey sighed.

"Me too. What time does our flight take off for Viridian?" Carla asked.

"We take off at 4:15 and it's only 2:45 now. It doesn't take all that long to get back to Valencia Island so we have plenty of time. We'll be back in Pallet by about 10:00 tomorrow morning the way I figure it."

"Good. It'll be good to get back."

"Yeah, I know. I need to do some work to take my mind off of everything that's happened in the past few days." Tracey said.

"I'm so sorry about everything that you've been through. I just wish I could help take away some of your pain." Carla whispered.

"You are. Just by being here for me." Tracey said as he pulled Carla into his arms and held her close.

* * * * *

Fifteen minutes later, the ferry docked on Valencia Island and Tracey and Carla hailed a taxi to take them to the airport. Once they had arrived at the airport, the couple checked their bags and went to find their gate.

Once they had gotten to the gate they were fifteen minutes from boarding so the couple decided to sit down and take a breather while they waited.

"Honey, are you sure you're all right?" Carla asked as she noticed Tracey sitting with his head in his hands.

"I'm fine. I was just thinking about all the things that are going to need to be done once we get back tomorrow. I can think of at least five things I need to take care of off the top of my head."

"You really shouldn't worry about it. Professor Oak has probably taken care of most everything anyway. He understands as well as I do that this whole thing is very hard on you. I know that you need time to heal because you've suffered a very big loss."

"I know. I wish that I could put this whole horrible thing out of my mind and forget it ever happened but I can't. I keep hearing my mother's voice in my head." Tracey sighed.

Just then the plane began boarding and Tracey and Carla were soon settled into their seats. They were going to be flying through the night and arriving back in Viridian City the next morning.

"You know. I still can't believe that this has happened. Even when I left home all those years ago I always took for granted that my family would always be there if I ever needed them and it was always like a sense of security for me. Now that my mom's gone it's like that security died with her."

"I understand. But you don't ever have to worry about losing me. I'm here for you now and I'll always be here for you. Right now though I think you should try and relax a little. I know you've got to be tired." Carla whispered.

"I am a little beat. I think I will try to at least relax. Thank you for coming with me and helping me through the toughest part of this. I don't think I could have held it together for my family if you hadn't been there." Tracey said.

"There is no way I could have stayed behind when I knew that you would need me. I love you too much to do that."

"And I love you. I always will."

Then Tracey leaned his head on Carla's shoulder. He tried to allow himself to relax but when he did, he began to feel extremely tired. Tracey wanted to try and keep himself awake if at all possible so he decided to seek a little bit of distraction. He reached down and pulled a Pokeball out of his bag, which alerted Carla's attention.

"What are you doing?" Carla asked.

"Oh. I was just going to let Buddy out of his Pokeball. There's no rule against a Pokemon being on a plane so I thought I'd let him have a little fresh air." Tracey explained as he dropped the Pokeball on the floor. "Come on out, Buddy."

In a flash of red light, Buddy appeared on the floor in front of Tracey's feet and jumped into his lap.

"Growlithe." (Hi.) Buddy said happily.

"Hey there, Buddy. I thought you might like a chance to get some air and get out of that Pokeball for a while."

"Growl growlithe. Growl growl growlithe." (I do. This feels better.)

"Good. I'm glad."

Just then a flight attendant came and asked if they would like something for dinner. She smiled when she noticed Buddy sitting on Tracey's lap, wagging his tail cheerfully.

"Would you like me to bring something for this little guy, too?" The attendant asked as soon as Tracey and Carla had ordered their dinner.

"Sure. That would be great if you don't mind." Tracey smiled.

"Okay. I'll be back."

A few minutes later the flight attendant returned with their dinner and a bowl of Pokemon food for Buddy. The little Growlithe wagged his tail in appreciation and ate the food hungrily as Tracey and Carla watched in amusement as they ate their own dinner. Once they were done, Tracey started playing with Buddy while Carla got lost in a book. An hour later it was time for an in-flight movie to be shown.

"Great. A movie is a perfect thing to occupy my mind. Hopefully it can keep me awake too. I don't think I can handle those nightmares again." Tracey whispered, causing Buddy to cuddle closer to him.

"Did you say something, sweetheart?" Carla asked with concern in her voice.

"No. I was just talking to myself. I didn't mean to disturb your concentration." Tracey apologized as an attendant came and gave them headphones to watch the movie.

"Maybe watching a movie will help you keep your mind off of your loss for just a little while. I think that might be good for you right now." Carla said.

"Yeah. That's what I was thinking. I hope it might help keep me awake too."

"Honey, you really need to try and get some rest. You aren't going to be helpful to Professor Oak when we get back if you exhaust yourself."

"I know but I don't think I can handle anymore of the nightmares I've been having right now. I'll get some rest once we get back to Pallet tomorrow." Tracey said sadly as he rested his head on Carla's shoulder. "I can't believe I've lost so much in such a short amount of time."

"It's just like you told your sister. It will take a while to heal but things are going to be all right. You always have me to lean on."

"You don't know what it means to me to hear that right now even though it's something I know already."

"Well it's the honest truth. I will always be there for you."

Just then the movie started and Tracey and Carla put their headphones on as Buddy curled up in Tracey's lap. The movie was an action film and this was much to Tracey's relief as it easily kept his attention engaged for the next three hours.

When the movie ended, Tracey took his headphones off and looked around. He noticed Carla asleep next to him and Buddy sleeping in his lap and smiled. Then he reached over and carefully took Carla's headphones off before returning them to the flight attendant. Tracey looked at his watch and, realizing that it was only 3:00 in the morning and they would be in the air for another five hours, sighed to himself as he reached into his backpack and pulled out his sketchpad and pencil that he always carried with him. After pondering for a moment on what he should draw, Tracey picked up his pencil and began to draw a sketch of his sleeping Growlithe. Two hours later Tracey had finished his sketch along with a couple of others and he began looking over his work. Then Tracey turned to stare out the window at the stars. As he became lost in his own thoughts, he wondered how his life was ever going to be the same again. He was, in fact, so deep in thought that he didn't even hear Carla wake up an hour and a half later.

"Good morning." Carla yawned.

"Huh? Oh, hey." Tracey replied, distracted.

"What's the matter? You seemed a world away just now."

"I'm sorry. I was just thinking about some things."

"Okay. Have you slept at all?" Carla asked.

"No. I am extremely tired, so much so that I'm bordering on exhaustion. The thing is that I'm almost afraid to let myself sleep because of these vivid nightmares that I've been having."

"I wish there was something I could do to help you through this. I'm going to be here for you but that can only do so much. If only there were a way I could help."

"It's not your fault that I'm going through this. If anything it's my own fault for not keeping in touch with my family all these years. If I had then I would have known that my mom was sick and I could have spent some time with her." Tracey whispered sadly.

Carla didn't respond to this. Instead she took Tracey in her arms and held him close to her, hoping that she could somehow find a way to comfort him and help him come to terms with all that he had been through. The couple stayed like this until the plane began its final decent and touched down in Viridian City.