Side Story 03/05 - Parents
I had been in this realm for two weeks, just trying to settle in and get used to an eternity here. We had just freed Latias and brought her back here with her friends and family rather than eternally tormented for the things she was framed for. And yet there was one thing I forgot about until Aqua came to me and brought it up.
"You have never met my parents before, have you?" She asked me as we sat together on the couch in our new home. I shook my head.
"Never. I was going to ask about them at some point, but walking to the legendary Pokemon trying to free Latias for many days, settling into this realm, I haven't really gotten the best chance to ask."
"Yeah, things have been pretty busy for that. So since you had been pretty busy lately, I did speak to my parents, and the good news is that they are coming here."
"Oh? When are they coming over?"
"Later today. Last time I saw them was about a week ago. I told them all about you and they would just love to meet you." She smiled, holding my paw with hers.
"Great, can't wait to meet them." I was told by Aqua that her parents were Oshawott's when they were still alive. Pokemon that haven't evolved after they have died can choose to evolve to the next stage if they wish. They can choose to go back a stage if they wish. I thought they would've evolved to the next stage or final after arriving in this realm, but they didn't, they were still Oshawott's. I was nervous on meeting Aqua's parents, nervous about how they would ask me or talk to me about how I looked after Aqua during her final years of her life, that I didn't do good enough, and I should've been there for her more or something.
Aqua and I sat together on the grass out in the yard with Aqua's parents sat in front of us. After a short welcoming by Aqua to her parents, we sat outside to take in the fresh summer air rather than be inside. Aqua's parents preferred to be on the outside, still experiencing some horror of their time spent in that laboratory without seeing the outside for a long time.
"So, how are things lately?" Asked Aqua's mother, the first to start things off. Aqua's parents didn't have a name and were just called by their species name.
"They're all right. They told me when I got here that the afterlife would be a bit hard to get used to, to settle in. But with my friends here they helped me out a lot to fit in." Aqua smiled, holding my paw.
"That's nice. The first month can be rough, but as long as you got something to do to keep yourself occupied then you should be fine." Aqua's mother and father looked at me now, and she said. "And is this who I think it is?"
Aqua nodded. "This is Zack, he's my mate."
"Hello Zack, it's great to finally meet you after all this time." Her mother said greeting me with a gentle smile, but my nervousness remained.
"It's great to finally meet you."
"So, how did you two meet?" Her father asked. "Castelia City, was it?"
"Yeah, we met in Castelia City. I lost all of my memory from a previous battle and ended up on the shores of the city, and Aqua found me washed up and injured." I turned to Aqua and smiled. "We were then taken in… more like captured by Purrloin's gang believing we were their enemy trespassing on their territory. We were with them for some time, leaving after things had gotten worse for us there. I had recovered some of my memory, it was my home town. We travelled through the region together, and after some time we started a relationship and had two children."
"Yes, Light and Kairi. We have met them already. They really are the cutest of grandchildren."
"I wish you could've seen them when they were still young." Aqua sighed and then suddenly gasped. "Oh wait! We do have one or two photos of them when they were still young. How could I have forgotten about that? Ah, I'll have to show you soon after I look for them."
"You lived with Aqua in another realm?" Asked Aqua's father. "Why where you and Aqua in another realm? I don't quite get it."
"Arceus wanted me to do a task for it after it promised it would protect our friends and Aqua in the battle against Shiny Latias and Team Annihilation Reborn. This task was to watch over a being known as Infinite to make sure it would never rise to power again. The only way to enter this realm was through a portal, we could never to return to our world after walking through it. Aqua knew she could never return, but she chose to stay with me until her death. This realm was Infinite's, Arceus had set up a home for us to live in while we stayed there watching over him until he finally died."
"Why did it have to be you?" Asked Aqua's mother.
"Arceus was searching for someone to do this task. I had experience on fighting Infinite; I knew what he was capable of, and I could live for a long time. So I was best suited for the task. Arceus promised it would assist us in battle if I agreed to the task. I was worried for my friends, so I accepted the task knowing I would end up in that dimension until my end of days."
"I see. You chose a life of loneliness so you could protect those you love."
"He wasn't alone for… well not for at least fifty percent of his life." Aqua said with a small laugh.
"Well, that's nice to hear." Aqua's mother smiled as she stood up and walked up to me and extended her paw out for me to shake it. "When Aqua first mentioned you when she first came here, I wanted to meet you. Our daughter speaks highly of you, the wonderful life she has had while with you."
"We thank you for looking after her, giving her a life she might not have had if she had stayed in the city." Aqua's father stood up and walked over to me, he also extended his paw out for me to shake it. "We're happy you were there for her. Before we died, we were worried about her. But we can see she had a good life with you."
I shook their paws and smiled back before randomly we were all pulled into a hug by Aqua as she sneaked behind her parents and wrapped her arms around them and pulled us all in for a hug.
Speaking with Aqua's parents wasn't all that bad. I thought I would might stumble or make some mistake while talking to them, probably upset them or something. I was happy that I met them. We spent most of the time talking about life within this realm, how we could occupy ourselves with the countless of activities and things to do, reconnect with our loved ones. Hearing this made me think about my own parents. I thought about them, it had been a long time since I last saw them.
"So, gonna tell me where it is we are going?" Aqua asked as we walked down the street holding my paw with hers.
"Hmm, well all right. An hour before your parents left, I went back inside and called my parents asking them to meet us at the museum."
She gasped. "Oh, so that's why you were in the house for a while. I thought you were preparing us some food or drink for us. They did ask for a drink, you know!"
I winced remembering that I did tell them I would get them something, but when I came back I forgot, and her parents left ten minutes later. "Yeah, i'm sorry about that."
"Hmm~~" Aqua groaned. "Okay Zack, I'll forgive you this once, okay? Try not to forget about them again, they are really nice Pokemon. But meeting your parents does sound nice. How are they?"
"They sounded good over the phone. I haven't seen them in a while. But I did tell them about you. They're excited to meet you."
"You do know they can't understand me. I can't speak their language yet since I haven't decided to do so like other Pokemon have. But I can understand them. So you're going to have to do all the translating." She smiled.
"A translator, huh?"
"Yep, so you're going to have to tell them everything that I say. And I mean everything, mister!" She said as she began playfully poking me with her finger. "Or you'll be getting poked a whole lot more than this."
"You know I can prevent you from doing that with my Psychic."
She scoffed. "Yeah, I'd like to see you try. I know how long it takes for you to use Psychic, and I know how to prevent you from using." Instead of poking me she proceeded to tickle me a little. "See? Works every time!"
I rolled my eyes and continued down the street. I didn't want Aqua to do that in public, let alone in front of my parents. "Just do my best at this translation thing and Aqua won't poke me to death." I thought to myself as we were almost at the museum. Hoping things would go smoothly while seeing my parents.
The museum in this realm contained relics and artifacts from the other realm from the earliest of settlements to now from many regions throughout the world. The museum was impressive when I first saw the things they had in there; plates, clothing, furniture used in the early settlements, how Pokemon lived with humans, and the history I never knew about of events the history books never mentioned.
I would've liked to have seen more of the museum than just the lobby and the small café they had there, but today me and Aqua were going to meet my parents for the first time since I last saw them almost a hundred and eighty year's ago.
Waiting outside the café of the museum, we waited and watched the entrance of the museum for my parents to enter and we would catch up on so much lost time. We never set a time to show up that day, 'just come to the museum today and wait outside the café' was what we planned. And not even ten minutes after arriving in the museum and waiting outside the café did I see two people I recognized from old photos. Richard my dad had black shot hair and a moustache; he wore a beige sweater and tan pants and brown shoes. My mom Megumi, she had long shoulder length black hair, she was wearing a red dress and shiny black shoes. They saw me; they walked towards us not sure if I was their son. But when they approached, they immediately knew who I was.
We got to talking, about my life after their deaths, how I lived and what I got up to, how I turned from human to a white Dewott with black sclera and red irises and maroon red pupils, and who Aqua was. I told them as much as I could, how I became a member of The Savior's for the Unova region, did all I could to help out, how my parents are now grandparents, or great-great-grandparents. I told them about Aqua, sitting there right next to me with a big grin on her face as I told them how we met, travelled together and fell in love. She did ask them things, like if I ever was a sleep talker when I was younger or something, wanted to know all of the juicy info about me, embarrassing stories, things I might have done or said that was funny, anything to tease me with later that day.
I asked them if they remembered the Tri-Contest, asked them about the watches we won after coming third place, I asked them if they remembered the third person who helped them. They remembered the Tri-Contest, about the watches they won after coming third place, but the third person who helped them was blurry to them. They were confused and didn't know how my older self had travelled back in time. It would seem everything that I had told them kind of lead to even more questions.
I told them about everything that had happened to me after they had died. Well I gave them the shorter version otherwise we would've been stuck in that café for another two weeks. I didn't mention about how dangerous my life had been, how I was being hunted by an army of controlled soldiers for five years under control by a murderous Latias. I just told them the things I wanted to tell them; Latias, Aqua, our children, my friends, how my life despite its hardships, well I lived a good life.
They told me all about their lives before their deaths; my dad was a doctor, and he met my mom who was once a police officer after treating her wounds after a robbery at a bank. Love at first sight as they had called it, spent a few years together before tying the knot and settled down to start a family.
I had learnt that I had cousins, uncles and aunts I hadn't met yet, grandparents and other family members they wanted me, Ren and Alison to meet. A family get together would be planned soon.
The time had come for us to leave the café and the museum since it was almost about to close. My mom and dad going one way, and me and Aqua going the other back home. "They were nice." Aqua stretched as we walked back home. "What we should have done was get my parents and your parents together. Then again, thinking if we did do that then you would've translated me, my mom and dad to your parents throughout the entire day."
"Yeah, it was a good thing we didn't all get together for that. I would've been exhausted going back and forth." I sighed. "I'll bring Espeon along if we want someone else to help us with the translation. Either that or you can ask to learn to speak the language of humans."
"Hmm… maybe." She sighed as she rested her head on my shoulder, and I wrapped my arm around hers.
The next time we would see each other would be the next day. My sister Alison would be there with them and we would really catch up. Aqua and I would take our children to meet their grandparents and aunt. Espeon would sometimes tag along to help out with what Aqua or her parents say or our children. Catching up on lost time would take a while, but in this realm we had all the time we could ever want.
The of Side Story 03/05
Trivia:
This side story is the first side story I came up with when planning 05 as part of the main story somehow. But this ended up as one of the five side stories instead.