Chapter 39 – A Story to Tell

The Field of Flowers

The last thing I had seen alive was the face of my daughter watching over me before I had died. My body bad become numb, my mind was gone, and everything was gone. Then not too long after I felt feeling within my body again, I was lying down on something soft. It was like awakening from a dreamless sleep was what I would say it was like arriving there; one second I was in one place and the next I was there.

I opened my eyes to see a blue sky above… I realized I was looking up at a sky with both of my eyes this time. I reached up and held my paw in front of my left eye, I could see again from that eye.

Sitting up, I looked down at my body to find I wasn't covered in so many scars anymore, they were all gone. It had taken me a while before I realized sitting next to me was Aqua as she looked before we left our world to live in that dimension for the rest of our lives.

"Zack, can you hear me?" She asked, placing her paw on my shoulder. I was speechless, confused as to where I was, but I nodded. Aqua smiled. "It usually takes a while to get used to this. Sometimes it takes days, but it looks like you are going to be alright."

"A-Aqua… i-I thought y-you were…"

"I am, and so are you. This is where we go when we die." I looked around to see I was sitting in what appeared to be an endless field of flowers with no one else or building in sight. "This is where everyone shows up after they die, in a field of flowers. Those closest to them come here to greet them, guide them back where the others are waiting for them."

"The others?" I had asked, unsure at first what she meant by that. Ity had taken me some time for my mind to reawaken realizing it was my friends and family waiting for me. Aqua helped me up and held my paw.

"My parents were the ones I saw after waking up here, they guided me where the others are waiting." Aqua then started to tear up and pulled me in for a hug. "Oh Zack, I missed you so much."

"I missed you too, Aqua." Hugged her back. "It was hard being in that dimension for so many years by myself. It's finally over…"

Then Aqua pulled away and looked me in the eyes. "No, it isn't." But before I could ask what it was she meant by that, she held my paw and guided me to the others.

I didn't know how best to describe it, but walking through the field of flowers, the scenery suddenly changed, buildings materialized around us, houses and tall trees and then Pokemon and People appeared, most I didn't recognize, but when the street was clear of the flowers I saw people a Pokemon materialize in front of us, those I knew well.

My friends Sakura, Isaac, Lisa, Brent, Espeon, Dewott, Gardevoir, Totodile, Bayleef and my son and daughter Light and Kairi had run up to me and hugged and cheered to see me again.

"Zack, oh it's been so long!" Sakura chuckled as she hugged me.

"Zack, hey man! Long time no see!" smiled Isaac.

"Hey man! Happy to have you back!" Brent cheered as he ruffled up my fur on top of my head.

"It's so good to see you again!" Lisa smiled as she wrapped her arms around me.

"Guys, hey!"

Espeon smiled and walked up to me and nuzzled me. "Welcome to the afterlife, Zackary. The others are waiting elsewhere for the moment, but first is the other matter we need to resolve."

I pulled away and asked. "What do you mean?"

Espeon looked at Aqua and asked her. "Aqua, didn't you tell him?"

She shook her head. "Sorry, but he should hear this from all of us."

Unsure what they meant by this, I asked. "What do you mean? Tell me what?"

Brent scratched the back of his neck and sighed. "We didn't know it at first, but after arriving in this place after we depart the land of the living, searching for our friends, family who might've ended up in this place. But there was one we couldn't find, no matter where we searched in this realm."

"We couldn't Latias in this realm. We searched, talked to those who knew her best, Pokemon, family members like your adoptive parents, Zack. But we couldn't find her. And so we turned to the ones who control this realm." Lisa said, looking up at the others. "This realm is controlled by legendary Pokemon. It is them who decide if we truly deserve eternal peace here. They are the ones who control this realm."

"So we together had asked to speak with them, wanting to know where Latias was." Gardevoir spoke up, holding one of her dictionaries. "We asked them and they told us that Latias was in the other realm, a realm where the evil reside."

"W-what? Why is Latias there?" I asked, standing up in shock.

"They believe Shiny Latias never actually controlled her or anyone, that she just convinced those whoever looks into her eyes to be controlled by her." Espeon looked away angrily. "Those idiots have kept her locked up in that evil realm, punished for something she didn't do!"

"They wanted those who knew her best to convince them Latias is innocent." Dewott said as he stepped forward to be beside Espeon. "We have fought and tried to convince them many times to listen to those who are here, but they would only listen unless everyone they needed was present."

"But Latias would never hurt anyone."

"That's what we have been telling them for many years now." Gardevoir sighed. "But they will only listen to us once those who knew her well were all here in this realm."

"Only those who knew her the longest can come to the hearing. They want us to tell them all about Latias and you, Zackary."

"Huh? Why me?"

"They wish to know more about you before they allow you to stay here with us. They said everyone who comes here is judged based on the things they have done in life." Espeon said. "Checking to see if you have ever killed, done something evil in your life or if you have done something good by… I don't know, save people or be just a god person for the majority of your life."

Hearing this, I stood up and asked. "Okay then, where can we find the legendries we have to speak to?"

"Over there, that is where they can be found most of the time." Gardevoir pointed at a large golden tower of some kind in the distance near mountains I could see. "We can go anytime you want, but I recommend we wait a little and prepare ourselves for the hearing."

As much as I wanted to go to that tower and speak with the legendries with the others, Gardevior was right I needed to prepare for this; it may be our only chance at saving Latias, I had to think about what I was going to tell them about Latias.

After some time to think of what I would tell them, I had told the others that I was ready. And so all of us walked to the tower where the legendries wait for our arrival to start the hearing.

The Tower - The Great Hall

Finding the legendaries inside of the tower wasn't all that difficult or that long. The tower had two areas inside; the entrance hall, a large room with tapestries of legendary Pokemon were hung from the walls from different regions, some I recognized, and some I didn't. We had waited for the legendries to call us inside, not a long wait, but when they did we entered what was perhaps the largest room I had ever been in. A thirty foot stained glass window of what appeared to be Arceus was one of the first things we had seen upon entering the great hall; the other was five large Pokemon standing at the far end of the great hall.

One of the legendries used a move that cast light towards a large circle engraved into the marble floor for us to stand within to begin the hearing. When we did, I managed to make out what the legendries looked like, but I didn't recognize a single one out of the five and neither any of my friends knew what the legendries were or their names. In this realm they were simply called 'The Five Legendries'.

Perhaps they were legendary Pokemon from different regions yet to be discovered, perhaps five legendary Pokemon without names. The legendary Pokemon who control this realm had called us here to hear us fighting to bring Latias back with us. All five legendries looked down at us and spoke without opening their mouths, using telepathy of sorts to communicate with us.

"We welcome you to the grand hall of this realm granting you all the chance to free a Pokemon from the other realm, a realm where the evil and vile shall stay for eternity. A Pokemon, a Latias was placed within the realm before all of you arrived. She was known to the people and Pokemon of the region of Unova as vile and cruel, harming and killing those who are simply there. And upon her death she was judged and sent to the other realm. But all of you have come to the great hall to speak with us, to rethink this past judgement and free her."

These legendary Pokemon, or whatever they are had called us in the great hall to convince them to let Latias go, still believing Latias to be truly evil and the ability Shiny Latias had wasn't real. Espeon had called them stupid and doubted them for being all knowing and this was a waste of everyone's time. Latias would never harm anyone; she was a kind and loving Pokemon. But the legendary Pokemon still wanted to know. Know if Latias and I truly belonged there in the after world.

They claimed that they couldn't watch every little thing that happens in the world. The life you have lived can either end up there in the after world or in a darker place. Latias was controlled by Shiny Latias to kill civilians after spreading the message to everyone within the region that she was the ruler of Team Annihilation Reborn, and so she ended up there. The legendary Pokemon weren't sure if Shiny Latias really did have an ability to control whoever looked into her eyes, that those who did thought she could. Those of us who knew her best protested against this and fought to bring her where she belonged; with us.

The legendary Pokemon of the world waited for the majority of those who knew her well to show up here, waiting for me to help explain the story. The legendary Pokemon also wanted to judge me because of my ability that kills Pokemon I defeat in battle absorbing their strength, and also my other ability, that berserk-like ability only active when I become enraged. I had killed Pokemon and people because of that.

The legendries spoke. "You shall begin with your story. Tell us about Latias and Shiny Latias. Take your time; we have all the time in the world to hear everything. Leave nothing out."

They had been waiting for this long for all of us to be there to tell them the story, to tell them how Latias is innocent and deserves to be there with the rest of us. They had wanted to know the full story, from beginning, middle and end.

I stepped forward and looked up at the legendary Pokemon, not knowing where to begin with the story, how to convince them to let Latias go and return to us. She deserved to be there with us, and sometime later with Midnight again. I thought of the best place to start, I started at the beginning when I was fourteen years old about to start my career as a member of The Savior's.

We told them of our adventures together, the challenges we faced, the things that had happened to us. One by one we told them of our times together, how we first met, our adventures, and the losses we suffered.

The first thing we talked about; me, Sakura, Isaac, and our Pokemon talked about our travels together while fighting Team Annihilation. That was when we first encountered Shiny Latias. Back then she didn't have her control ability, if she did then things would definitely change by a lot, possibly with our deaths since we were trying to find them and put a stop to them.

Espeon told them how she met Lisa, Brent and I, travelling throughout time to fight a strong foe named Infinite trying to absorb all life to feed off of it to live forever.

I told them about the Doom serum, how Team Annihilation had created the Doom project should Juro the leader of Team Annihilation should ever die. They would inject humans with the Doom serum turning them into Pokemon, Pokemon with alternative looks than the original, with moves the original could never learn, a lifespan of two hundred years. I told them that my ability, two of them were dangerous should I fight Pokemon or people.

Aqua and I told them how the two of us met in Castelia City, joined a dangerous gang controlled by Purrloin, travelled the region together trying to reach Nuvema Town all the while trying to remember who I was after I had lost my memory of who I was and who mattered to me.

Then the five year search for Latias and my friends began after I returned home with all of my memory returning to me. Shiny Latias had kidnapped Yuri, Henry, Reiko and Latias, taking them somewhere within the Unova region within an underground base, just as a new team had emerged; Team Annihilation Reborn lead by Shiny Latias.

For five years I had searched the region only coming up empty in my search. Devon, a member of The Savior's had contacted me about information about an underground base with a prisoner said to be my sister Yuri. And not too long after that we saved Yuri, Henry, and Reiko thanks to my friends joining with me; Espeon, Lisa and Brent.

Then I told them about the final battle I had against Shiny Latias, how I fought to defeat her and save Latias so she could return home with us and be reunited with our daughter Midnight, but she didn't as she was killed by Shiny Latias. The people and some Pokemon of the region had believed Latias to be responsible for the murders and evil things Team Annihilation Reborn did, not knowing it was really Shiny Latias, her sister.

I told them how I after defeating Shiny Latias had to stay in a dimension looking after the fragment of Infinite which remained in the world after his defeat. Aqua and I spent our lives within that dimension until; our deaths.

Yeah sure, we told them stories about our lives, the things we had done, trying to explain what we had been through. We even told them about things that didn't involve Shiny Latias, about Team Annihilation Reborn, but about our experiences in life.

We wanted to tell them as much as we could. Hoping it would help Latias be free and back with us. Sure there were many errors in the story we told them, rushing in certain places, pacing all over the place probably, things I'm sure they either liked to hear and things they hated. Maybe as the story progressed they wanted us to stop because we couldn't tell it well. I wanted to think that we did our best to tell them our story, our lives and Latias' so she can finally be with us again.

The legendary Pokemon thanked me for watching over Infinite to make sure he would never return, understanding how hard it was for me being alone for as long as I was in that dimension. A task by Arceus meant it knew I could be trusted, that I was the right one for the task to watch over a powerful being if at full power. So that was me free and able to stay with my friends and family within the after world for eternity.

"What about Latias!?" Espeon raised her voice at the legendary Pokemon towering above us all. "You heard all you needed to know about Latias and that she was misplaced in such a terrible place! Release her… please, she doesn't deserve this… *sniff*"

The Pokemon looked at each other and back at us in a moment of silence. "We have heard your story and have reached a verdict." Boomed the voice of one of the five legendary Pokemon. "The Dewott by the name of Zack Raines; please step forward." As soon as the echo of the voice of legendary faded, I stepped closer to the legendaries. "You have done well in your life, as long and as hard as it had been. We have heard the life you have lived, we have heard about Latias from friends and family who knew her best, and for that we apologize to you for doing all of this, by sending her to that realm of evil. And now after hearing your story, we return her back to you where she belongs." Behind me, I heard the others scream with excitement as their echoes carried across the grand hall.

Then between us and the legendary Pokemon slowly materialized another Pokemon; Latias, lying on the ground. There were no cuts or bruises anywhere on her body; she appeared just like she did before she was kidnapped.

I kneeled beside her and placed my paw on her shoulder. She slowly opened her eyes and looked at me. "Zack?" her eyes widened as tears began to form. I pulled her in to hug her, smiling to see her again.

"Welcome back, Latias."

"W-where are we?" She asked, looking around confused at her new surroundings.

"You, me, and our friends back there died at some point in our lives. This is the afterlife."

"The… afterlife?" She tilted her head. "Did you die after the battle with my sister?"

I shook my head. "Yes. And so did our friends, but not for many years after." Latias looked back at the others standing behind us. She looked at each one of them, sighing with relief when she saw Midnight was not there.

"Is Midnight still alive?"

"She is. I saw her before I came here. She's alright."

Latias then looked at the legendries still standing there. She turned her heard up to look at them, and asked. "W-who are they?"

"Legendary Pokemon that watch over the after world. They brought you back here after they… misplaced you elsewhere."

"Yeah, we told those legendary Pokemon the whole story starting from 01 Annihilation to the finale 05 Eternity within a week about you and Zackary… Man, I am tired…" Espeon walked up to Latias happy to see her friend again. "But it is great to see you again!"

"You too. But I don't understand, why did you tell them about me?"

"We had to free you from another place you were being kept in. we wanted you back with us where you belong." Latias didn't understand yet, she was still confused about it all. But right now she reunited with her friends again, happy to see them after so many years.

I looked back to find that the legendries where gone, but their voice entered my head and spoke to me. "Again, we must apologize to you for the misplacement of Latias in a place she didn't deserve to be in. We have also decided to allow you to stay in this realm with your friends and family. The life you have lived has been a hard one. Now you can finally be at peace."

Latias if asked about what the other place was like, she could never remember it. The last thing she remembered was being up on the rooftop before she died. The legendary Pokemon erased all memory of her time spent there since that place really isn't one would want to remember any of it.

And now that Latias was back with us, the thing we could do now was finally rest, it was all over now. And together all of us left that place to settle into our new home.

To be continued...

Trivia:

The original reason for the story called 'Eternity' was that all members of the Team Doom Eight had eternal life. Once Zack reached the age of two hundred he could return home and be with his family, living forever while telling the story to his descendants.