I'm not sure how long I was out, but I slowly woke up in a thoroughly pleasant-smelling forest. It would've been so calming if not for a certain Torchic screaming something about not going towards light. I groaned and lazily pushed her away with my vine. I told her that she's too loud and some of us would like to sleep in for once.

As I pushed myself up, a teary-eyed Lyra said I really worried her and that I'd better be more mindful of who I almost die around in the future.

...

Ahhh, Lyra. I ruffled her crown with a vine before looking around. Where were we anyway? After fixing her ruffled feathers, Lyra directed my attention towards...towards...

Ho. Ly. Shit.

It was a massive oak tree, the trunk of which looked like countless roots beautifully woven and intersecting. The roots weren't the most beautiful part though, no siree. That honor went to the breathtaking foliage, all varying in colors and arranged to look like a rainbow. Golden tendrils hung from the branches as well, almost shimmering in the sunlight.

The sight wasn't the only amazing part. As the wind swept through the area and made the tendrils bend towards us, a feeling of...of...well, freshness, I guess, overwhelmed all of my senses at once. It almost took my breath away.

That was, without question, the Tree of Life. Lyra agreed with me, saying we've only seen it withered and dying so it's hard to recognize, but this must be how it was supposed to look.

"Pretty spiffy, isn't it? Look at all the different colors!"

Man, I wish we weren't so far away. I wouldn't have minded getting a leaf from the tree to keep as a memento. As a human-turned-Pokemon with a specific affinity for leaves, those beautiful rainbow-assorted leaves really struck a chord in me. Since my leaf is green, it got me thinking about other Chikoritas with different colored leaves. Wouldn't it be super cool to meet...I dunno, maybe an autumn-themed Chikorita with a red leaf? That would be so cool!

Ah...I'm sorry. I'm rambling. I'll bench that idea for now.

As for the Tree of Life itself...it was...it...I remember feeling so so overwhelmingly happy at seeing it in full bloom that a single tear ran down my face. Like a proud parent.

My baby...

Aww...I was so happy to see it shooting out its first airborne seed. Already reproducing asexually :)

...

That wasn't a seed.

A ball of light ejected from the tree and flew right towards us, surprising us both! The ball flashed and transformed into a...strange blue Sawsbuck-like Pokémon with rainbow energy-infused antlers. Kinda like the rainbow energy we saw flowing through the Tree of Life.

Well, funny I thought that because the Pokémon identified themselves as Xerneas, the Tree of Life made incarnate. It spoke in a monotone voice, though...maybe it's cuz I'm a grass-type, but I swear there were hints of emotion dancing on the edge of their words. They said we were in Primeval Forest, meaning the tree was obviously no longer flying towards the sun. They also said that the tree had been revived thanks to our actions.

Lyra asked what happened to Dark Matter, and Xerneas simply said that it was gone.

"The darkness did not fall on this world. It found peace at last. It turned into a gentle light, which faded into nothingness. As a result, this world is no longer being drawn in toward the sun."

So...we did it? We won? It's over?

Xerneas nodded solemnly. "The world has been saved. We thank you, Evergreens."

Lyra and I looked at each other and excitedly shouted the other's name, all starry-eyed and overwhelmed with joy before I cocooned her in my vines and hoisted her in the air. Caught up in the moment, I started swinging her around me in a circle, but Lyra was laughing and having a good time as well. We both kept shouting "We did it!"

"We did it, Irau! We really did it! WE DID IIIIIIT!"

As we were calming down, I pulled Lyra against me in an affectionate hug and her little feet kicked in the air as she snuggled up as close as she could. We...I was still so overwhelmed with emotions. Everything was riding on that confrontation, and...and...and we did it. We went in there with no plan, but we still...against all odds...

Heh. Of course we did it. We're the fucking Evergreens. So long as we're together, nothing can stop us!

Irau and Lyra, together forever in this world!

Fuck you, Dark Matter! We won! Ahaha!

Unfortunately, our tender moment was cut short by someone shouting at us to watch out. I pushed Lyra some feet away and leapt backwards as Jirachi crash landed where we were! Celebi floated down after him and scolded him for not slowing down. What did he think would happen at that speed? As Jirachi pried himself from the dirt, he explained that he just couldn't wait to give us a big hug. His mood improved once his head was free, and he said we were amazing! Celebi chipped in, saying he wasn't sure we'd really be able to do it, but we did! Well done!

Lyra thanked both of them, but...how could they have known?

Xerneas explained that Arceus told everyone, and I'mma be honest...I tuned out. I know, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have, but I did. I missed the entire explanation.

I was thinking about how this whole campaign had been one wild ride! We started this waaaay back when we were getting ready to head out for the Prehistoric Ruins. While they jabbered, I pulled out my journal and read that entry. It was entry #142, which feels like decades ago. So much craziness has happened, it makes my first journal entry seem trivial by comparison!

The whole journey had been so so unbelievably crazy! The stuff of legends, really. We...everything we did, we did by the skin of our teeth. The only easy part was the Nuzleaf fight, and we only did that because everyone agreed to let me do the planning.

And oh Arceus, don't even get me started on the emotional rollercoaster. If it was possible to get emotional whiplash, we definitely experienced it. Speaking of Arceus, this was so serious that we MET Him!

Hoooo...okay, sorry. Rambling. I was thinking about all that stuff while I was zoned out. When I tuned back in, Lyra was standing in a different spot and Jirachi was looking all confused. He asked Lyra why she dodged, and Celebi said it was because he always goes too fast. That's not a hug, that's a body slam.

"But I was...I was just trying to hug Lyra the same way Irau hugged Nuzleaf before when he was a good guy."

!

Ohhhh noooo...why'd he have to bring that up!? WHY'D I HAVE TO TUNE BACK IN!?

My face went completely red, and Lyra snuck a glance over at me before smoothly drawing attention back to herself. Before she could say much, Ampharos...came outta nowhere and accidentally launched Lyra some feet away in his attempt to hug her. He was confused by her sudden disappearance, but then...then he noticed me.

Oh no.

Surely enough he charged at me as well. Dude's too fast! I barely dodged in time!

I only dodged successfully because I anticipated he'd charge at me. I wasn't able to dodge Eris, though! She scooped me up from behind and tossed me into the air, then caught me. At the time I was shouting my lungs out because, as I said, have you ever seen a Chikorita fly? If so, lay off the drugs.

"Haha! You did it, kiddo! You did it! Atta girl! I'm so proud of you! Look at you, you came back! You came back!"

Cheahahaha! Though flying in the air put Butterfrees in my stomach, I couldn't stay mad at her. I was giggling and laughing and wrapping my vines around her all cute like, and...ahh, what a fun time!

We kept our promise, Eris! We came back alive! We didn't have to slap each other's corpse!

Hee-hee! I was still gushing as Eris held me. The others were ragging on Ampharos for clumsily running into Lyra, but I kinda zoned out. I knew Lyra was alright - no need to worry.

I know it's lame that I kept zoning out and missing things. It's just...okay, listen. I didn't think we were gonna survive that fight. Okay? I'mma lay all my cards on the table. I straight up thought we were gonna die. I tried so desperately not to think that way while we faced Dark Matter itself, and I was sincere when I said I was prepared to die fighting it if needs be, but if I'm being honest...I didn't think we were gonna win.

I thought we'd never see Ampharos, Jirachi, Celebi, or even Eris ever again. And being held by Eris...it made it feel real. Like getting run over by almost the entire Society on our first day in Lively Town, it just hit me unexpectedly.

We really had been going at 110% the entire campaign, and the exhaustion was catching up to me. My vision was kinda blurry and it felt like I was gonna drift off. All I could hear were the distant voices of everyone else. I heard Ampharos praise Lyra for her fine job, and Lyra asking for more praise. Then I heard Jirachi say something about giving an inch and some people will take a mile.

...Excuse me?

"Fuck off, Jirachi. Lyra really came through for us at the end there. She's the one who made Dark Matter vanish by accepting it. She deserves as much praise as we can give her."

He rose an eyebrow at me and asked if I remembered that it was only because of him, Celebi, and the flying Pokémon that the Tree of Life was stopped from flying right off the planet.

Of course, nobody forgot that. Our task of defeating Dark Matter wouldn't have been possible without everyone's help, but that doesn't mean you need to take this moment from her. Lyra's not trying to take all the credit, she's simply asking for more praise.

And, quite frankly, she fucking deserves it.

We've both been looked down on since I awoke as a Chikorita, but Lyra moreso than me given her limitations as a Torchic. She deserves recognition, and she truly was the reason we beat Dark Matter. I wasn't saying she deserved more praise because I'm biased and she's my best friend, but because she truly, inarguably deserves all the damn praise. She deserves to feel proud of what we accomplished, and after we were prepared to throw our lives away for the sake of this world and everyone in it fighting the superbeing that turned our fucking God into stone...

Praise the Torchic, Jirachi. Don't be a douchebag.

"No, Jirachi's right, Irau. It was thanks to everyone that this world was saved! That's why everyone's so happy right now! So, just keep pouring it on! We saved the WHOLE WORLD! It's amazing! Do you know how amazing it is!? Do you, Irau? I guess we should be praising you a bit more, too! Huh, Irau?"

Ack!

Arceus, that damn kid turned the whole situation around on me! I was so embarrassed that I buried my face in Eris's shoulder. Celebi said something and everyone laughed. Eris tried not to, but I could feel her shoulder shake and her breath on my back as she comforted me.

I didn't hear much as my embarrassment ebbed. Curse that Lyra and her ability to make me feel love and embarrassment at the same time! (Note to self, ask Kecleon about harmless Blast Seedlings to imbed in an Apple as literally sweet revenge. MAKE SURE THEY'RE SAFE FIRST!)

When I removed my face from Eris's shoulder, Lyra was talking to Dedenne over our Society Gadget. Everyone who'd been turned to stone were back to normal, and Lyra was getting emotional because we couldn't save them from the Void Shadows before. Dedenne told her to not apologize for that because they knew we worked hard after that and that was why we could talk to them now. Everyone's alright. That's all that mattered, right?

...You're a good Pokémon, Dedenne. Thank you.

Dedenne concluded that the scattered Society Members were on their way back home and said she'd meet us there before hanging up. Since the Society members were alright, that meant other petrified Pokémon were normal again, right? Everyone else thought so, and Lyra mentioned everyone in the village...including her pops...

Awww, no...I knew what was coming. I leapt out of Eris's arms and rushed over to hug my sobbing friend. She'd been holding it in this entire time, and even repressed her emotions when Yemer was identified as a spy. Granted I had to hold her back, but afterwards she kept a level head no matter what happened.

Lyra...Lyra's been my rock throughout this whole ordeal. She was always there for me. Now it was my turn to be there for her.

...

Lyra and Irau. Together forever. No matter what.

Ampharos commented on Lyra bottling up her emotions and told her to just take her time. Everyone else were to make their way back home to Lively Town. Jirachi and Celebi agreed, but Eris stayed behind so we weren't alone. Xerneas thanked us once more before returning to the Tree of Life in their light sphere thingy, and...that was that.

I mean, nothing particularly exciting happened afterwards. Eris carried us back to Lively Town after Lyra calmed down. We were welcomed with overwhelming congratulations and thanks. We were reunited with the separated Society members, and...heh...they kinda unintentionally trampled us again as they rushed in to hug us.

Some things never change :3

Ampharos gave us several days off to recover from the Dark Matter confrontation, and I've been writing this long-ass entry on and off ever since we got home.

Heh...I've been trying to jot down every detail because Lyra's known to...embellish sometimes. That's why I admit it when I zone out or do something embarrassing. It's the truth and I want to convey that in my writing because I wanna relive everything when I read back - the good and the bad.

Anyway, I'm gonna enjoy these next few days off and take a break from writing. If something interesting happens, I'll make a note of it at the start of my next entry.

Peace!