…Okay, so it took a little more than a year to finish the next chapter. Being that this was the conclusion of a major arc, I wanted to wrap everything up, the best that I can. Hope you guys didn't mind the wait and enjoy this (rather-lengthy) chapter!

Justin was tossed onto the living room couch. "Alright, start talking!" Regina shouted. "Who are you really?!"

"That's right!" agreed Paul. "And what do you have to do with my dad?!"

"Now look," replied Justin. "If everyone would just calm down..."

"Calm down?!" joined Dawn. Dawn angrily pointed to the Haunter floating in the room. "You hypnotized us with that...Haunter of yours! And you put us through that crazy dream!"

"Where did you even get that Haunter anyway?" asked Paul. "You told us you didn't carry any Pokémon!"

"Alright, everybody just calm down for a moment," Reggie said, putting his hands up. "Now I know you guys are mad at him for putting us to sleep and making us go through that battle...but I think we should relax and let Justin say what he has to say."

Reluctantly, the other three calmly backed away from Justin. "Thank you for that, Reggie," he said. He then sat upright and fixed his glasses. "Now," he began, firmly. "I understand everyone's frustration and confusion regarding what I just did to you all here tonight"

He looked up at Paul, Reggie, and Regina standing over him. "The fact is," he began, "I was so curious about this family and I wanted to know every last detail. Regina and Reggie were easy enough to talk to and I managed to get some answers from them. Paul, on the other hand, was a bit more...stubborn. So...I knew that I had to take some drastic measures."

Justin looked over to Haunter. "Paul, do you remember when I lost my keys and I went back to the forest to look for them?" he asked. "Well, the truth was I didn't actually lose my keys. I just needed to get away and think about how else I could get you to talk."

Haunter hovered over Justin's shoulder. "I then happened upon an old house hidden behind some trees…"

"The Old Chateau?" Regina said. She then shivered. "I never did like that place. It's so creepy and...old."

"That may be, but it was there where I met this Haunter."

The Haunter then hovered over to Dawn. He extended his disembodied hand towards her, offering her a handshake. Dawn was hesitant, especially after what Haunter had done to her. "Not to worry, Dawn," said Justin, "he is definitely a bit mischievous, but he's friendly."

Dawn eyed Haunter carefully. He had a sincere smile on his face. Dawn cautiously reached out to shake Haunter's hand. "It's nice to meet you, Haunter-"

She was interrupted when Haunted suddenly snatched his hand away and scared her with a Scary Face. Haunter laughed as Dawn yelped. She then tried to swipe at him, but her hand only phased through him. "I did say he was mischievous," reminded Justin.

"Stupid Haunter," she pouted.

"In any case," continued Justin, "I figured with its psychic abilities, it could help me greatly. And it was then that I came up with the plan of putting you three to sleep and having you act out a scenario in a dream. Admittedly, it was thought up rather hastily and I think I may have overdone a few things here and there."

"Oh, you think?" Regina asked, annoyed.

"I was the only one who was in on it," Reggie said. "After the rest of you were put to sleep, he explained his plan to me. It sounded really far-fetched and I wasn't totally sold on it at first, but I decided to go along with it when he told me that it was for Paul's sake."

Paul then grabbed Reggie's collar, much to Dawn and Regina's horror. "You were in on it and didn't tell me?!" he asked, furiously.

Paul suddenly shifted focus onto Justin. "So when you promised me that you wouldn't bring him up again, you were lying to me?" Paul asked, angrily.

Justin shrugged his shoulders. "I just really wanted to get to the bottom of this situation between you, your father, and the family," explained Justin.

"Why?!" Paul asked, angrily.

"Because I needed to know. I'll admit, it was my first time ever experimenting with hypnosis. Most of the time I usually just talk to people and I manage to resolve their issues that way."

"Experimenting?" asked Regina. "Talking to people? Resolving issues? What kind of a traveling musician are you?"

Justin cleared his throat. "Well...about that…" he answered. "I'm not...actually a musician."

Regina sighed. "Of course you're not."

"It's just one lie after another," added Paul.

"I've never been anywhere near an instrument," continued Justin. "I'm surprised you didn't take note of that when you ransacked my house the other day."

Regina suddenly turned to Paul. "Wait a minute, you did what?!" she asked, surprised.

"No, the truth is I'm actually a psychologist," said Justin. "I graduated with my degree a couple years ago. And since then, I have been traveling the world and helping people that I come across with their problems. For as long as I've been traveling through the Sinnoh region, I would have never imagine ever coming across Paul's family. I didn't even know he had a family."

"What do you mean?" replied Paul. "Well, of course I had a family."

"I didn't mean you, Paul," said Justin. "I meant your father, Paul."

Paul raised his eyebrow. "Wait...what do you mean?" he asked. "Did you...I mean, do you know my dad?"

"Indeed I do," replied Justin. "I know a lot more about him than I let on."

"What? How?" Paul asked.

Justin took a deep breath. He looked at Paul dead in the eye. "Because...your father...is my brother."

Dawn and Regina gasped. After that, everything grew silent. Both Paul and Reggie looked at each other, dumbfounded at what they just heard. "W-what? N-no," Paul said, stammering. "No, no, no! I don't believe you. After everything that's happened, I don't believe for one second that you're my dad's brother."

Justin took out his wallet and presented a small folded-up photo. "Here," he said, "this is an old photo of us when we were children. Hopefully this will convince you that I'm telling the truth about me and your father."

Paul snatched the photo out of his hands. Regina, Reggie, and Dawn huddled around him trying to get a look at the picture.

The photo was of two young boys and an older man. The two boys were identical to each other, looking very similar aside from the color of their hair. One of the boys had short black hair, the other one purple. The older man stood tall above them and had shoulder length black hair. In the background was a city with a gentle fog in the foreground. The picture appeared to have been taken on a hill overlooking the big city.

"I've never seen that city before," said Dawn.

"It's a place called Aspertia City," answered Justin.

"Oh, good fake name," accused Paul.

"No, no! It's true!" pleaded Justin. "It's an actual city! It's just very far away from the Sinnoh region."

"Uh-huh," Paul said, dismissively.

"I don't know, maybe he is telling the truth," said Dawn. "I mean, the two boys in the picture do look an awful lot like your father and Justin."

"Well considering that so far everything he's told us has been a lie, you'll have to forgive me if I'm a little skeptical," replied Paul.

"Listen Paul, I'm sorry that I've been very deceptive with you and your family, but you have to believe me. That really is your father and I."

Paul continued looking at the photo. "I believe him," spoke Regina. Paul looked at her, surprised by her response. "Mom, are you serious?" Paul asked.

"I recognize that face anywhere," Regina said, pointing out the little boy with the purple hair. "That's your father's face, alright."

"You can't be serious? That's your explanation?"

"I know, I know," said Regina, "but I think he really is telling us the truth this time."

"Plus, that would explain why he looks so much like him," added Reggie.

Paul was outnumbered three-to-one. Paul threw the photo onto the coffee table and walked away from everyone. "So do you believe me now?" Justin asked, cautiously.

Paul took a deep breath. "This whole time you were here," he answered, "I was actually talking to my uncle, one that I never knew I had. Why didn't you say something to us before?"

"Because...truth be told, I wasn't too sure if you truly were my brother's family," replied Justin. "When Regina and I ran into each other the other day and she first accused me of being Paul Sr., I thought she was crazy. And then you two accused me of being him as well. When I saw that Paul and Reggie looked awfully familiar to my brother, that's when the thought came across my mind that maybe there was more to these people then I'm seeing. And when Regina mentioned to me that her Paul had a twin brother who he wanted to invite to their wedding, any doubt I had was gone."

Paul paced around the room, still unsure of what Justin was saying. "I understand that this is a lot of information to take in," sympathized Justin. "That's how I felt when I found out about you three."

For a moment, Paul looked up to the ceiling. He then turned back to Justin. "Alright then, so we have an explanation about the Haunter...and why you were so interested in our family...and who you really are...and the dream battle," Paul said, pointing up his fingers as he rattled off the list of questions he had. "Now let me ask you, what was the point of the whole dream battle?"

"As I said before, I wanted to know more about this family, especially the relationship between you and my brother," explained Justin. "And after talking to Reggie about some of the issues he had with you growing up as a child, I thought that trapping you in a literal battleground against your own brother would help the two of you work out some feelings that you had towards one another."

"Then how come you got mom and Dawn involved?" Paul asked.

"I felt that putting them in dangerous situation would not only help break down some of the barriers you were putting up for yourself, but also observe the relationship between you, your mother, and your girlfriend, and how that would affect your mood during a battle."

Justin cleared his throat. "But as much I would love to put my take on it," he said, "I'd rather hear what you thought about it."

"Do we really have to go through this?" groaned Paul.

"I'm just curious about what the effects the battle had on you," explained Justin. "After all, there were some heavy truths revealed during that battle, namely what you and your brother said to each other. For example..."

Justin looked to Paul and Reggie. "During the battle," he said, "Reggie blamed you for your father leaving."

"Reggie said he was in on it the whole time," mentioned Paul.

"That may be, but some of the things he said to you were actual thoughts that he had at one point. So how did it feel to know that at one point, your brother blamed you for everything going wrong with your father?"

"What does it matter?" asked Paul. "The whole thing was a lie."

"But did you believe it to be a lie during your battle?" replied Justin.

Paul took a deep breath. "Okay fine, truth be told," he began. "I didn't think that Reggie ever blamed me for dad leaving us like that, so it was shocking to hear it come from his mouth."

"I see," said Justin. "However, you then turned it around and said it was Reggie's fault that your father left."

Paul began to stammer. "Well yeah, b-but it was the heat of the moment," said Paul. "What was I supposed to do? Say nothing and let him talk down to me like that?"

"It's okay Paul," said Reggie. "I understand. And I know you didn't mean any of the things you said. But I have to say, it was interesting to hear what your responses were to everything I said."

"Well, you're quite forgiving," said Justin. "Especially since during the battle he brought up that you lost in something called the Battle Pyramid. And he continued calling you weak."

"He says that, but I was the one who won the battle," replied Reggie.

"Watch it," warned Paul, as he clenched his fist.

"Okay, take it easy, Paul! I'm only joking here," said Reggie. "All kidding aside, it's not the first time Paul has berated me because I quit being a Pokémon Trainer. Although it was the first time he was that blunt about it. But like he said, it was the heat of the moment. And with all the taunting I was doing, he had to say something back."

Reggie then turned to Paul. "I'm sure he didn't really mean anything he said," he said. "Right, Paul?"

"Not unless you believe that I'm responsible for dad leaving us," replied Paul.

"No, of course not."

"Well, okay then."

Paul and Reggie then smiled at each other. "So...that's it?" Justin asked. "Everything is fine between you two?"

"Yep," said Reggie.

"Uh-huh," confirmed Paul.

"Despite all the things you said to each other?" asked Justin.

Justin then shrugged his shoulders. "Well in that case," he said. "Let's talk about your mother."

"Me?" Regina asked, bemused.

"Paul, we're you surprised that your mother was willing to sacrifice her life for Dawn's?"

"Actually I was," Paul said. "I knew she liked Dawn, but I didn't know she was willing to let herself die for her sake."

Paul then turned to his mother. "Unless...she only said that in the heat of the moment," he said.

"Oh no," said Regina. "It took me a while to realize this, but Dawn has had a great impact on you. You've been much kinder to your brother, you're treating your Pokémon better, and you've been more open to me then you have in the past few years. So in that battle, when it was going to be either me or Dawn who was going to die, I'd prefer it if she lived over me...because I knew she would make you happy."

Dawn was touched to hear Regina say this about her. "But mom...you make me happy too," Paul said. "You're my mother. I can't choose between you and Dawn."

"Which is why I did it so you didn't have to," Regina said. Regina then turned to Dawn. "Now I don't expect to ever be in another life-or-death situation like that again, but if it came to that again, just know that I would happily sacrifice myself for you Dawn, if it would have made my son happy."

Dawn smiled. "It feels weird to hear that from, I guess I can say, my mother-in-law," she said. "But I'm flattered."

Justin leaned back, intrigued by everything being said in front of him.

"And Reggie, how did you feel about your mother turning on you during the battle?" Justin asked.

"I wasn't totally surprised that mom turned on me during the battle," Reggie said. "Everyone of us hates us. I would have been surprised if she hadn't disowned me. Why, she nearly disowned Paul when he joined dad."

Reggie gulped when he realized what he just said. "What was that?" Justin asked.

"Uh...I said, mom would have nearly disown Paul if he joined dad," Reggie said, hoping that Justin wouldn't notice his slip of the tongue.

"Now Justin let me ask you this," Paul said frantically, hoping to change the subject.

"Yes?" Justin asked.

"Even after all the times I told you that I didn't want to talk about dad, why are you so persistent on getting me and the whole family to talk about him?"

"Because, you're the only ones who could tell me what happened to him," answered Justin.

Justin shut his eyes. "I remember when I first met Regina," he began, "She mentioned something about my brother being in prison."

Regina thought back to that day. "Oh, right! I did mention that, didn't it?"

"And throughout the past few days and the dream battle, I heard it mentioned a couple of times. So, is it true that my brother is currently incarcerated?"

The entire family nervously looked at each other. "Well...there's no point in keeping it a secret anymore," said Paul.

Regina then turned to Justin. "I'm sorry Justin," she said. "But it's true. My husband...your brother...is currently locked up in a maximum security prison."

"Maximum security?!" asked Justin, shocked. "Oh no. I knew that my brother might have gotten himself into some trouble, but...what on Earth did he do to warrant such a thing?"

Before anyone could answer, Paul quickly spoke up. "Hold on! I think we told him enough!"

"Paul, come on," argued Reggie. "He deserves to know. So what if Justin embarrassed you a bit? It was all a dream and it was just between us. Get over it!"

"I'm just saying how can we keep telling him these things when he himself been holding out on us," said Paul.

"What do you mean?" Dawn asked, confused.

"I mean, he made us talk about our past with dad. So...maybe it's time he repaid the favor and tell us a little bit about his past."

Paul then turned to his family. "I mean, don't you want to know what dad was like as a kid?" he asked. Both Reggie and Regina began pondering. They suddenly became curious about Paul Sr.'s childhood.

But Justin was hesitant. "H-Hold on, now!" he said. "I-I-I don't really like talking about our childhood."

"Excuse me?! You don't like talking about something?!" Paul asked. "Yeah, tough break there."

"Trust me," replied Justin, "It's a rather sad story."

"So was my story about him leaving me," said Regina.

"And him calling me effeminate little girl," added Reggie.

"And him calling me a failure as a son," finished Paul.

"Well, yes but…"

"No buts! Start talking," ordered Paul.

Justin looked at the three and they looked right back, with a mix of curiosity, anticipation, and a bit of impatience. "You know, they have a point," Dawn said, suddenly. "They told you a lot of things that they wouldn't have told anybody else. I mean, even they didn't tell me everything. I still don't know what was going with any of them. And I can guess that it's probably not easy talking about your childhood. But after putting us through that dream battle and dropping these bombshells on us, I think you own it to tell them everything about you and Paul's dad."

"I'm going to have to agree," added Regina. "Besides, I really want to know what my husband was like as a child and what drove him to become the man he is now."

Justin thought about it and feared that telling his story would bring up awful memories of his youth. Justin closed his eyes and pressed his fingertips together. He really didn't want to think back to his childhood, but he knew that they had a point. "I see I'm outnumbered," Justin said.

"If you tell us about dad's childhood, we'll tell you about everything else," proposed Reggie. "Right, guys?"

"Right!" agreed Regina.

"Sure," said Paul.

Justin looked at the three of them, still unsure about what to say next. "Come on Justin," pleaded Paul. "It couldn't have been as bad as our childhoods."

"Wanna bet?" replied Justin. "Alright, I'll tell you guys everything."

Justin then grabbed his photo from the table and looked at it. "First off, this picture of ours was us on a good day. The truth is your father, your grandfather and I didn't really get along too well."

"Oh!" gasped Dawn. "And what about your mother?"

"Passed away...during childbirth," said Justin.

"Oh dear," said Regina. "That must have been awful."

"It was worse for Paul (Sr.). She died after he was born, which meant he got most of the blame from our father for killing her."

"Your father blamed your mother's death on him?" Regina asked, horrified.

"We both got blamed for her death, but Paul especially," said Justin. "It didn't help that Paul seemed to go out of his way to upset him."

Justin could remember how almost every day Paul and his dad would constantly yell and argue with each other. "Whether it was him not picking up plate or him failing a test at the Pokémon Trainers' School, those two were always fighting about something."

"You only got a 64?!"

"Yeah, what's the big deal? It's better than what I got last time! Last time I only got a 23, remember? So, I'm getting better. Right?"

"Getting better is not perfect. Do you think your mother would have approved of you getting a 64?"

"I...I don't know."

Suddenly, Paul had his test thrown back at his face. His father retreated back into his room, leaving him alone with his brother. He only looked down at his test score with a glum look on his face. Justin then put his hand on Paul's shoulder. "Hey," he said. "I think it's great that you're improving. Who knows? You might get a perfect score on the next exam."

Paul's face turned sour and he snapped his shoulder away from his brother. "Shut up," he said, angrily. Justin was hurt by Paul's rejection. Paul walked back up to their room, crumbling the test up in his hands and throwing it onto the floor. Justin quickly ran up to him. "Wait!" he shouted.

"What?! What do you want?!" Paul asked, angrily.

"Look, dad is only doing this because he just wants us to realize our full potential. I know he can seem mean at times, but I think this is just his way of encouraging us to succeed."

Paul only scoffed at his brother. "Is that what you tell yourself?" he asked, scornfully. "I guess it's easy to say that when you're the favorite."

"Paul, come on! You know he doesn't play favorites."

"Oh give me a break! You know he does. He treats me worse than he treats you."

"W-well, I'm sure if you do well next time, things will get better between you and him."

"Whatever you say...favorite."

"They were always going at it, back-and-forth with each other," said Justin. "No matter what I told my brother, he refused to improve himself to impress our father. And it only got worse as we got older."

"Worse?" Dawn asked. "Oh no. You mean like...they would hit each other?"

Justin slowly nodded his head. "It went from arguing to fist-fighting," he said, mournfully. "But no matter what happened, my brother always got it worst."

Paul gulped. "Are you making this up?" he asked. Justin's head snapped back up as he looked Paul in the eyes. "What? No!" he answered.

"Paul, why would he make this up?" Reggie asked, angrily.

"I...I don't know. I mean, how-"

"Paul, I assure you what I am saying is one hundred percent true," Justin said.

"I...I just don't believe that our grandfather could have been that bad," explained Paul. "It's just too convenient for dad, don't you think?"

"It seems that way," said Justin. "And I'm certainly not trying to excuse his attitude towards you, but it's the truth. Your grandfather was an even bigger bastard than your father was."

Justin leaned forward in a way that his hair covered his eyes. "I always stood out of their way, hoping to avoid confrontation. But then there was that one afternoon…"

Justin took his glasses off and set them on the table in front of him. He rubbed his eyes and breathed through his nose. "We had failed our final exams at the Pokémon Trainer School, the one that determined whether we were ready for our Trainer's license and for our first Pokémon journey. Your grandfather was furious at the two of us. My brother lashed back at him."

"You think you can talk back to me after all the things you did to our family?!"

"Dad, please! Stop hurting him!" pleaded Justin.

"Not now, Justin!"

"Look! He's bleeding! That's enough!"

"Do you want me to smack you too?!"

It was then that Justin quickly backed away from his father. He had his brother in his hands. Paul had puffed-up cheeks and bruises under his right eye. "I'm trying to teach your brother a lesson about respect. Do you need to be taught a lesson too?"

Justin was hesitant to answer. He was deadly afraid of what would happen. "Well?!"

"N-No," Justin said, meekly. "I-I'm...I'm sorry."

"Go to your room until I'm done with your brother."

Justin quickly did as he was told. He kept his eyes forward, not looking at his brother. He couldn't see the crushed look on his brother's face. Justin closed the door behind him, sat down beside his bed, and buried his head into his knees, covering his ears to block out the noise.

Eventually, everything calmed down. Justin uncovered his ears and was puzzled to hear that everything was quiet. There was no sound of any beatings or yelling. He then heard faint footsteps. He grew worried as the sound echoed louder and louder. The door then cracked open. Justin was relieved when he saw that it was only his brother. Paul shut the door behind him. His hair covered his face, making it difficult for Justin to get a look at his face. Paul slowly walked past his brother. He kept his sight forward, refusing to acknowledge his brother.

Justin quickly got up and ran over to his brother. "Hey Paul, are you okay?" he asked, worriedly. Paul said nothing. He kept his back to him. Justin reached out and grabbed him by his shoulder. "Paul, listen...I…"

Justin was then cut off when Paul suddenly turned around and head-butted him square in the face! Justin fell back and grabbed his face. Paul only watched as his brother crawled on the floor, clutching his nose. "You're a coward, you know that?!" he snapped. "Dad was beating me up and all you did was cry like a baby!"

"What did you expect me to do?!" argued Justin, as he got back to his feet. "He would have beat me up too if I tried to fight back."

"So you have me take all the punishment?! You failed the exam too! So how come you got off scot-free?!"

Before Justin could reply back, Paul took a swing at him and punched him in the cheek, knocking him back down to the floor. Justin quickly shot back up and grabbed his brother by his collar. He reached back, ready to strike back at his brother. But then he looked at his brother's face and saw fear in his brother's eyes. He had never saw that look in his brother before, not even when he was facing their father. Horrified by his own demeanor, Justin let go of his brother and quickly stepped back away from him. "Paul, I'm sorry!" he said, frantically.

"You were going to hit me?" Paul asked.

"No, wait! Paul! I didn't mean…"

Paul punched his brother again. But this time, before Justin could get up, he quickly shoved him into their closet and slammed the door shut. Justin jumped at the doorknob, but couldn't turn it! He was locked in! "Paul! Paul, please listen to me! I'm sorry!" he shouted, as he knocked on the door. "Let me out!"

But no matter how hard Justin knocked on the door, nobody came to his rescue. He kept knocking on the door a few more times before giving up. He slumped against the door, faintly knocking on it. "Paul please," he said. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry…"

At that moment, everyone could hear soft sobbing coming from Justin. "I'm sorry," he muttered. "I'm sorry. I told myself I wasn't going to cry, but…"

Haunter, now shedding tears as well, patted Justin on the shoulder. Regina got up from her seat and wrapped her arms around Justin. "It's okay Justin," she said, calmly. "It's okay. It sounds like you have been through a lot."

Justin lowered his hands, so that everyone could see his face. He quickly wiped his eyes clean of any tears. "I'm sorry everybody," he said, softly.

"No, no, it's okay," Reggie said, reassuring him.

"We know it's hard for you to talk about this," added Dawn.

"Even before meeting you all, all I've done is cause you problems," confessed Justin. "It was that one pivotal moment that I should have done something to help my brother...and I didn't! Maybe he wouldn't have turned out the way he did...and maybe he would have been a better father to you."

"Oh, shut up!" snapped Paul.

"Paul!" scolded Regina.

"No, listen to me! It's not Justin's fault!"

Everybody was surprised to hear Paul defend Justin, when it was only a few moments ago that he was at his throat. "Justin, look. It wasn't your fault that dad turned out to be a monster, just like how it wasn't my fault, or Reggie's fault, or mom's fault. If there was anything that I think any of us got from you visiting us, it's that nothing that happened between us and dad was our fault. It was just our dad being...well...being a prick."

Paul then turned to his family. "Right?" he asked them.

"Oh! Why...yes, yes of course!" stuttered Regina. "I mean, after all, he seemed like a normal person when we first met."

"And he was a good dad for a while too," added Reggie.

"That's right," said Dawn. "I mean, it's horrible what grandpa did to him, and sure, maybe things got bad between you and dad, but that was still no excuse for what he did to us. That was clearly his own doing and had nothing to do with you, Justin."

Everybody was pleased to see Paul trying to reassure Justin. Justin was relieved to hear Paul not blame him for what happened to him. "I appreciate that, Paul," he said. "But nevertheless, your father was right. I should have done something to help him back then. If only I had intervened, maybe he wouldn't have ran away from home."

"He ran away from home?" Reggie asked.

"He did," said Justin. "I fell asleep while I was in the closet. When I woke up, I found out that the door had been left unlocked. It was late at night and my brother was nowhere to be seen. Just like that, he was gone. Him locking me in the closet was the last time I ever saw him."

"Really?!" Dawn asked. "You mean you haven't seen your brother since you were ten?!"

"Nope, I haven't seen him since then," confirmed Justin. "I tried telling father that he was gone, but he didn't care. He never bothered to go look for him and forbade me from doing so. For him, it was one less problem to deal with."

"So, that's it then?" Paul asked. "Dad disappeared and you and grandpa just went on with your lives?"

"Well...not exactly," answered Justin. "I failed to help my brother in his time of need. But when he went missing and father refused to go look for him, I felt I had to do something!"

"What did you do?" asked Regina. "Did you call the police?"

"I snuck out, went to my neighbor's house and told her what happened. I told them everything, about how abusive our father was, how badly he beat my brother, and how my brother was missing. She called the police and then they arrived at my house and arrested my father."

"Well, it's a good thing you did that!" said Dawn. "After what he did, he deserved to get arrested!"

"I agree, what a horrible man!" said Regina.

"So with your dad, who did you live with?" asked Regina.

"I didn't have any grandparents or aunts or uncles to turn to, so my neighbors offered to take me in."

"Were they a nice family?" asked Paul.

"Nice? They practically spoiled me!" answered Justin. "They never had children before, and they really wanted me to feel welcome and safe."

Justin then showed a small smile. "It's interesting that Paul would say it wasn't my fault," he said, "because that's what they said to me too."

Justin thought back to the first day he moved in with them.

A tall man with short, black hair set up a sheet and pillow on the couch in the living room. "Here you are," he said to the small, 10-year-old Justin. "Sorry we don't have a spare bed for you right now. But I'll tell you what, first thing tomorrow we'll run out and buy you a bed."

"And then we'll get you set up with your own room!" said his wife.

"Okay," Justin said, softly. He only stared at the floor with a sullen look on his face.

The man looked to his wife with concern on his face. His wife kneeled down beside Justin. "Justin," she said, kindly. "Everything's okay. I know you've been through a lot. But you're safe now, and we promise we'll make things better for you."

The sound of heavy breathing broke the silence between the three. The two of them hugged Justin tightly as he suddenly broke out in tears. "Sh-sh-sh, it's okay," she whispered. "It's okay."

"No it's not!" cried Justin. "It's not okay! It's my fault that dad is in jail and my brother is gone!"

"No, no, no!" said the man. "None of this is your fault. A kid your age should never have to deal with any of this."

"He's right," said his wife. "Don't blame yourself for everything that happened in your family. It's not your fault."

"And don't worry about your brother. When they find him, we'll bring him here and we'll settle things between you two."

But Justin wasn't too sure. The man and his wife stood by his sight until he calmed down and was able to fall asleep.

"And yet after all these years, the police weren't able to find my brother. I still haven't heard anything about him."

"Really?!" Paul asked. "They haven't told you anything at all?"

"No," repeated Justin. "They certainly didn't tell me that he was apprehended."

It was then that Paul, Reggie, and Regina looked at each other nervously. "Paul...I think Justin has told us enough," said Reggie.

"Yeah, I think so too," agreed Paul. "Plus, with him not knowing where dad has been since they last saw each other, he deserves to know."

"You'll tell me how my brother ended up in prison?" asked Justin.

"That was the deal," said Paul. "But trust us, you will be stunned to hear what dad did."

"I figured if he wasn't dead, he was probably in jail," said Justin. "But I am curious about what he did to end up there. After all, Regina didn't call the police on him when he left her."

"Well, it's a little bit more complicated than that," said Dawn.

And so, Paul and his family took turns talking about what took place on the Sunmoon Islands. They told them about Paul (Sr.'s) involvement with Team Galactic, how he had planned to enslave all the Pokémon in the world, how he captured them, how he wanted to steal the elemental stones, and how Paul was able to outsmart him (A/N: For a refresher, read the original "DP Love" and read the "Seaside Galaxy" chapters). As they told the story, Justin sat in his seat completely stunned at hearing about the atrocities his brother had committed and had planned to commit. "So...there you have it," finished Reggie.

"My god," sighed Justin, "Team Galactic...I knew he would get himself into trouble, but Team Galactic of all things!"

"That's right," said Reggie.

"He was arrested and placed inside a maximum security prison," answered Regina. "But even we aren't told where that is."

Justin let out a heavy sigh as he ran his fingers through his hair. He still had trouble believing everything he had been told. "I see," he said." He then got up from his chair and began walking to the door. "Justin?" Regina asked, confused.

Justin then turned back to the others and bowed down. "Thank you," he said. "Thank you all for finally telling me what had become of my brother. I'll admit, it's a lot of information to take in."

"You're not the only one," replied Regina. "And we want to thank you too for telling us a little bit about yourself and your childhood. I know it wasn't easy."

"Yes well," replied Justin, stretching his arms out. "Anyway, I think I caused enough problems for today. And since it's getting late, I think I'll call it a night."

"Will you be okay?" Regina asked, worriedly.

"Yes, I think I'll manage after a good night's sleep," replied Justin.

"What about Haunter?" asked Paul.

"He'll stay with me for now. Don't worry. I promise that Haunter won't scare you in your sleep. I'll make sure he doesn't."

Justin then cracked the door open. "Well...good night everyone," he said. "Thank you again. And I'm sorry that I caused so much drama for everyone." And with that, Justin left. Everyone listened as they heard Justin walk down the hall to his condo and closing the door behind him. "Do you really think he'll be okay?" Dawn asked, worriedly. "I mean, after all he heard…"

"He'll be fine," said Paul.

Regina then let out a yawn. "I think we should all call it a night too," she said.

"I agree," said Reggie, as he got up and stretched his back out.

Everyone then got up from their seats and headed towards their rooms. Growlithe and Mightyena followed Regina into her room and Dawn walked into the bathroom to change her clothes. "Oh man, what a night," groaned Paul.

"I know, hearing all that from Justin," said Reggie.

"Not just that, but I went from having a date with Dawn at the festival to getting dragged into some weird dream battle against you to having Justin confess that he's our uncle…"

"Oh yeah! You and Dawn went to the festival earlier! How was it?"

"It was fine," sighed Paul, "I'll tell you more about it in the morning. Right now, I'm exhausted."

"Oh. Alright then," said Reggie. Paul walked into his room and was about to close the door before Reggie spoke up. "Hey Paul," he said.

"What is it?" Paul asked, sounding a little annoyed.

"You know those things I said during our dream battle?" asked Reggie.

"We already talked about it earlier. I know you don't mean any of it."

Paul looked away from his brother, his face shrouded in darkness. But Reggie could see a faint smile, even in faint lighting. "Clearly you're a better actor than I gave you credit for," said Paul.

"So...everything is still good between us?" asked Reggie.

"Yeah, everything is good," replied Paul.

Reggie grinned happily. "Alright then," he said. "Good night, little brother." Reggie then headed towards his room. Paul then closed the door behind him.

After Paul changed into his sleeping clothes, he threw himself onto the bed. His whole body was sore and he felt his head throbbing. Lying in bed, he stared up at the ceiling. "I wonder how many other kids have to deal with the same crap I put up with," he thought. Paul then lifted up a photo up in front of his face. It was the picture he and Dawn took in front of the Palkia and Dialga statues while they were at the festival. Their faces were covered in face paint, Dawn looking like a Beautifly and Paul a Duskull.

Just then, there was a faint knocking at the door. The door then cracked open. "Paul?" whispered a voice. "Are you awake?"

"Dawn?" asked Paul.

Dawn carefully crept into Paul's room. She wore her pink pajamas and her hair down. "I didn't wake you, did I?" she asked.

"No," answered Paul, "I was just looking at this picture we took at the festival."

Paul then showed Dawn the picture. Dawn smiled. "Oh, I remember!" she said. "You were so cute with your face painted like that. I'm surprised that you even did it in the first place."

"You dragged me into it," replied Paul. "Although, I guess it wasn't so bad."

Paul smiled as he thought back to the two riding the roller coaster together and him winning a prize for Dawn at the ring toss game. "That festival was a lot of fun, wasn't it?" he asked.

"It wasn't bad for it being our first date," said Dawn. "Guess you are pretty handy with girls, after all."

Paul blushed as he scratched the back of his neck nervously. "So what do you have planned for us next?" Dawn asked, playfully.

"Right now, I plan on leaving tomorrow early in the morning," answered Paul.

"Oh really?" Dawn asked, sadly. "Because...I thought we would be staying longer."

"Not really," explained Paul. "I only planned to stay for one night just to say hi to my mom. Then Reggie showed up...and then Justin showed up…"

Paul then sighed. He then turned towards Dawn. "Listen...Dawn," Paul said.

"Yes?"

"I...I'm really sorry about dragging you into my family drama," Paul said, solemnly.

"Oh no, it's okay!" replied Dawn, frantically.

"No...it's not okay," replied Paul. "I mean first there was the ordeal back at the Sunmoon Islands. And then there was that dream battle…"

"Paul, really. It's okay. I don't mind!"

"Well, I do. Every time you fell from the top of the cliff…"

"It was all just a dream. Trust me, I feel fine! No whiplash or anything!"

Paul fell backwards into his pillow. "I just hated the fact that when your life was on the life, I ended up losing."

"Don't beat yourself over it. It wasn't your fault. I'm sure if you were using your own Pokémon and not mine or your mother's, you could have easily beaten Reggie."

"Well of course I would have. But I just don't like losing. And...I didn't like how after losing, I just...started crying."

As much as he didn't want to, he thought back to the aftermath of the battle against Reggie, where after losing he broke down, crying. "I was so pathetic!" he said, angrily.

"No, you weren't pathetic," Dawn said.

"Oh come on, Dawn. It was awful and so melodramatic...the way you and me were crying and spouting stupid, corny lines to each other."

"Stupid? Corny? So, what? You didn't mean anything you said to me? Because I meant everything I said to you."

"I didn't mean it like that," replied Paul. "All I'm saying is I just wish that…"

Paul's voice trailed when he was suddenly distracted by something. He looked at the door suspiciously. "What are you look-"

Paul quickly shushed Dawn. He watched the door carefully. He noticed the door move very slightly. Paul rolled his eyes. "Seriously mom?" Paul said.

"I was just going to wish you good-night," said Regina, her voice surprising Dawn. "And then I saw Dawn sneaking into your room…"

"Mom, we're just talking," Paul said. "And that's all we are doing."

"Alright then," said Regina. "But for what it's worth, I thought your final words to Dawn were very moving."

"Okay, good night mom!" Paul said, frantically.

Paul and Dawn then heard her footsteps as she walked to her bedroom. Dawn then got up off the bed. "Well, I guess I should go to bed too," she said, sounding annoyed.

As she made her way to the door, Paul quickly stopped her. "Dawn, wait! Look, I'm sorry, okay?" he said. "I didn't mean to call the things you said stupid and corny. And...I'm glad that you convinced me to talk to Justin. I do mean the things I said to you in that dream. I'm glad I got to spend more time with you because...being with you...makes me feel happy, happier than I have felt in a long time."

Dawn went from being angry with Paul to smiling. "Well...I'm glad I was able to do that for you," she said. "And believe me when I say that you're not weak. So what if you cried? That doesn't mean you're weak. Because you're not."

"Yeah...I guess…" Paul said, somewhat doubtfully.

"And besides," continued Dawn, "it was all just a dream and half the Pokémon weren't even yours! So don't let that count against you!"

Dawn then walked up to Paul and put her hand on his knees. "There's no need to worry, okay? Just get some sleep and you'll feel better in the morning."

"If you say so," said Paul. "You know you're pretty optimistic, considering that your life could have ended about two hours ago."

"Well...yeah, but again, it was just a dream. So...everything's fine."

Dawn turned away from Paul and made her way to the door. "Alright, I'll see you in the morning," Dawn said, cheerfully. "Good night!"

"Yeah...good night," replied Paul. Once Dawn left the room, he turned off the lamp by his bed and looked up to the ceiling. He thought about the battle one last time before throwing the covers over his head.

In the guest room, Dawn sat in her bed looking worriedly at Prinplup's Poké Ball. Despite what she had told Paul just a few moments ago, she couldn't help but think back to when Paul was using her Pokémon to battle Reggie. Prinplup put up quite a fight. Prinplup even managed to take Electabuzz down.

Dawn then clutched her ribs. Despite the whole battle being a dream, she could still feel a sharp pain in her abdomen. She didn't know if it was all in her mind or if there was something else happening.

She then shook her head. She then placed Prinplup's Poké Ball in her bag. "Just go to sleep Dawn," she murmured to herself. "Everything will be better in the morning." Dawn turned the light off and then went quietly to sleep.

The next morning, after a quick breakfast, Paul and Dawn gathered their stuff and were ready to head out towards Snowpoint City. Paul got his bike ready and everybody met up downstairs in front of the Eterna Condominiums. "Do you really have to go so soon?" Regina asked.

"I hope this wasn't because of...you-know," said Reggie.

"No, don't worry," said Paul. "It wasn't because of Justin."

"I didn't plan on staying very long to begin with. I only wanted to stop by and say hi to mom."

"And I'm happy that you did," said Regina. "And you too, Reggie. It's always nice to see my two favorite boys!" Regina then turned to Dawn. "Especially when one of my boys decides to bring his girlfriend home!"

Reggie laughed as both Dawn and Paul blushed. "Now remember to treat her kindly Paul," Regina told Paul. "Don't ever yell at her! And remember to always pay for her meals!"

"Okay mom," groaned Paul.

"And be sure to keep your hands to yourse-"

"Okay, that will do!" Paul said, clearing his throat.

Regina then reached down and gave her son a hug, showing restraint as to not crush her son. "Good luck with your future gym battles," she told him.

"Thanks mom," said Paul. "And be sure to take care of yourself, okay?"

"I will," she said.

"And let me know if Justin tries anything funny to you," warned Paul.

"Oh Paul, I'm sure it'll be okay," said Dawn.

"With that guy, I don't know," said Paul.

Regina then reached over and gave Dawn a hug. "Goodbye Dawn," she said. "Take good care of my son."

"Don't worry, I will," replied Dawn.

"And good luck to you in all your contests," added Regina.

"Thanks Regina!" smiled Dawn.

Paul then looked over to his older brother. "Guess this is goodbye for us too, huh?" Reggie asked.

"Yep," Paul said, smiling at him. Paul then remembered all the Pokémon he caught a few days ago. "You're going back to Veilstone City, right?" He reached into his pocket and handed several Poké Balls to Reggie. "Here," he said. Reggie was surprised to see so many Poké Balls in Paul's hands. "Wow! You really did go on quite a catching spree," he said.

"Take good care of them," said Paul.

"I always do!" replied Reggie.

Paul closed his eyes. "Yeah I know," he said. "I don't think I ever thanked you for it either."

"Oh, you don't have to," said Reggie. "I'd do anything for you, little brother."

It was then that Dawn thought of something. "Hey, wait a minute," she said. "Reggie, if you're here, who is watching the Pokémon back at your house?"

"I have a friend who's watching them for me," explained Reggie. "I told her I was going to be gone for a few days, so she agreed to do it."

"She?" asked Regina.

Reggie then released his Staraptor and hopped onto its back. "I'll see you guys later!" he said. "And hey, if you're ever in Veilstone City, pop by for a visit!"

"Sure! And maybe you and I can have a real Pokémon battle...with your Pokémon this time!" Paul said.

Reggie laughed. "Don't worry, Paul. Next time, I'll beat you with my own Pokémon."

"Alright then," Paul said, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, and mom! Tell Justin I'm sorry I couldn't say goodbye to him! Hopefully, I'll be able to talk to him again soon."

And with that, Staraptor flapped its wings and he and Reggie flew off into the sky. "Be careful!" Regina shouted, worriedly. Before they knew it, Reggie and Staraptor had disappeared into the clouds.

Paul and Dawn then mounted his bike. "You be careful too, dear!" Regina warned Paul.

"Tell Dawn that," Paul said. "She was the one who wrecked my last bike."

"What?!" Regina asked.

"I did not!" protested Dawn.

With one last goodbye, Paul began to pedal away with Dawn riding on the backseat. "Goodbye!" called out Regina, waving at them until they were out of her sight.

After a half-hour of pedaling, Dawn and Paul were finally out of Eterna City and were biking alongside the forest in Route 211. The grassy terrain was slowly giving way to the rough and rugged earth. Off in the far-off distance, they could see Mt. Coronet peeking over the horizon. "It's too bad we didn't get a chance to say goodbye to Justin," said Dawn.

"It is weird that he would leave his place so early in the morning," said Paul.

"I wonder where he went off to?" asked Dawn, curiously.

"Beats me." replied Paul.

"I hope he's okay. I mean, after all the stuff we told him last night, I'm worried he might do something drastic."

"No he won't. He's a psychologist. Those guys have to be strong-minded, right?"

"I guess, but still…"

After Paul climbed a small rocky hill, he suddenly stopped the bike. "Huh?" Dawn asked, confused. "Why did we stop?"

"You gotta be kidding," said Paul.

"What? What is it?" Dawn asked.

Dawn then looked up and saw a tall, black-haired man looking over the cliff side towards the Eterna City skyline. The two of them recognized him instantly. "Wait a minute...is that Justin?" Dawn asked.

"Of course it is," groaned Paul. "I sorta expected he would show up when I least expect him."

Dawn then began waving at him. "Hey Justin!" she shouted, much to Paul's dismay.

Justin turned around and saw Dawn waving at him. He was quite surprised to see them here. He waved back at her. "Hello there!" he shouted. He then began to make his way over to where they were parked.

Dawn got off the bike. Paul, however, was a little more hesitant. "Come on Paul," she pleaded. "We should at least say goodbye to him." Reluctantly, Paul stepped off the bike and slowly walked over Justin. "Hey Justin," said Dawn. "I didn't expect to see you her-"

Dawn was interrupted when Haunter suddenly appeared in front of her and scared her with a Scary Face. Dawn shrieked and she fell backwards. Fortunately, Paul was quick to catch her. Haunter's face then returned to normal, and he pointed and laughed at Dawn. "Why you little-!" Dawn shouted, angrily. She then lunged at Haunter, but Justin quickly grabbed restrained her. "I see you still have that Haunter," sneered Dawn.

"Sorry, I guess he just loves to pull pranks," Justin said.

"So you're going to keep him around longer?" asked Paul.

"I think I will," replied Justin. "I want to explore hypnosis a little bit more, see how else I can apply it to psychotherapy. Who knows? It might catch on here in Sinnoh."

"I think that would be great!" Dawn said, cheerfully. "Let's just hope the psychologists in Sinnoh use a less...mischievous Pokémon." She then glared at Haunter, who only eyed the ground sheepishly.

"Just make sure you don't blindside people and trick them into a Pokémon battle to the death," said Paul.

"Relax," reassured Justin. "I promise I won't do that again. Not to you or anyone else."

Justin then took another look out towards Eterna City. "My, my! Would you look at that view," he said, calmly. Paul and Dawn stood alongside Justin and took in the breathtaking view of the city. "Wow!" Dawn said, excitedly.

"It's amazing, isn't it?" Justin asked. "This is one of my favorite places to take an early-morning hike. I can only imagine what it looks like at night."

The view reminded Paul of when he and Dawn reached the top of Cycling Road. They saw Oreburgh City and Jubilife City light up before them as the sun was setting. Much like that moment, Paul grabbed Dawn's hand and the two looked on in awe. Justin smiled as the two shared their romantic moment. "So anyway, where are you two headed?" Justin asked.

"We're on the way to Snowpoint City," answered Paul. "There's where the next Pokémon gym is located."

"I see," replied Justin. "And...you were going to leave without saying goodbye to me?"

"We were going to say goodbye," confessed Paul, "but you weren't home when we were ready to leave."

"Reggie wanted to say goodbye too," mentioned Dawn.

"Oh right. My apologies," Justin said. "If I had known you would leave so soon, I would have stayed home. However, after last night, I thought it would be good for me to wake up early and take a hike to clear my mind."

"So how are you holding up?" asked Dawn.

Justin let out a sigh. "Well on the one hand, part of me is still trying to accept the fact that my brother nearly took over the world," he said. "And yet another part of me is relieved to know he's still alive. After my mother and father's passing, I wasn't so sure if I had any blood relatives left."

Paul and Dawn then looked at each other, then looked back at Justin. "Wait...your father passed too?" she asked.

"I'm sorry to say he has," answered Justin. "He took his own life while I was studying psychology."

"Are you serious?!" Dawn asked, horrified.

"I didn't know until after I had graduated. Considering I haven't seen him since he was arrested when I was kid, I only wish I had the chance to try to patch things up on him."

Justin then looked up to the clouds. Thinking about the day when he heard the news of his father's suicide put him in a depressive funk. Paul scratched the back of his neck nervously while Dawn felt a chill down her spine. "Man, you have some really awful luck," he said.

Dawn swiftly punched him in his shoulder. "Ow! What was that for?" he asked.

"It's alright Dawn," Justin said. "He's not wrong. I envy you, Paul. Your father might not have turned out so great, but you have a caring mother, a kind brother, and a supportive girlfriend. Don't take them for granted. Cherish them, Paul!"

"Yeah...I will," Paul said, happily.

It was then that Paul had an idea. He reached into his pocket and took out his wallet. "Here Justin," he said. "I want to give you something."

"Oh?" Justin asked.

Paul then handed Justin a business card. "Business cards?" Justin asked. "When did you become so professional?"

"Actually it belongs to Looker," said Paul.

"Who?" Justin asked, confused.

"Looker," repeated Paul. "He's a police officer with Interpol. He helped me capture dad and put him in a maximum-security prison. I was thinking...if you wanted to see dad, maybe you could call him with that number, let him know you're his brother, and he'll put you through."

Justin looked over the business card. "You can keep that card, by the way," mentioned Paul. "I don't think I'll ever call him for anything."

"Junior officer of Interpol?" asked Justin.

"Yeah...that's just some stupid thing he made up for me," Paul replied, somewhat embarrassed. "But listen, if you're going to talk to dad, do it for your sake and not mine. And not Reggie or mom's sake either. Okay? We don't want anything else to do with him."

Justin read the card carefully, then shook his head. "Okay," he said. "Well...thank you, Paul. I'll definitely hold on to this." He then put the card in his pocket.

Paul then grabbed his bike. "Anyway, we should probably get going," Paul said.

"Right," said Justin. "I don't want to hold you up any longer than I already have."

"Come on Dawn," Paul said.

The two of them remounted the bike and we're ready to take off once again. "Bye Justin!" Dawn said, waving at him.

"Goodbye Dawn!" Justin said, waving back at her. "And goodbye Paul! Thank you again for the card!"

Paul only gave Justin a nod before pedaling away. Likewise, Justin and Haunter began to make their way back to Eterna City. As Paul was riding down the dirt road, Dawn wrapped his arms around him. "That was a nice thing you did for Justin," said Dawn.

"That card was only taking up space," explained Paul. "Besides, I figured Justin can put it to better use than I could."

"Oh," Dawn said. "Well, it's nice that you did that for him. Do you think he'll talk some sense into your dad?"

"I don't know," replied Paul. "And honestly, I really don't care. Now...I don't want to talk about him anymore from this point on."

Paul turned his head towards Dawn. "You got that?" he asked.

"Yeah, I heard you," said Dawn. "And don't worry. I'm sure everybody else feels the same way."

LATER THAT AFTERNOON...

Back in Eterna City, Regina had taken Growlithe and Mightyena to a nearby park. Growlithe was frolicking around, throwing around a stuffed doll. Regina sat down on a nearby bench with Mightyena sleeping next to her.

Regina sighed as she looked up at the clouds. "It's amazing what can happen in the past few days," she said to herself. "I love my boys, but lately it seems like whenever we get together, something crazy always happens."

She then looked down at the sleeping Mightyena. She smiled as she quietly pet him. "Then again, I suppose that keeps my life interesting."

Regina then remembered the dream battle between Paul and Reggie. Paul was down to using Mightyena as his last Pokémon, and he really pushed Mightyena to the limit. By the end of the battle, Mightyena was badly burned, beaten, and charred. She could still remember seeing Mightyena lying in the sand, too hurt to move his body.

To Mightyena's surprise, Regina reached down and hugged his head tightly. "Oh Mightyena," she said. "I know it was just a dream, but it pained me to see you bruised up after that battle. I promise that I'll never let that happen to you again."

Mightyena didn't really know what had gotten into Regina or what she was talking about. Nevertheless, he looked up and began licking her cheek. Regina giggled. "Stop it, boy!" she laughed. "I love you too!"

Suddenly, Growlithe hopped up onto Regina's lap. "Oh! And mommy loves you too Growly!" she said, hugging him. Growly replied by licking her face too.

Regina then got up from her seat. "Okay, that's enough playtime for today!" she said to her Pokémon. "Let's go home!"

And so Regina began walking towards her home with her two Pokémon walking happily beside her.

When they arrived at the Condominium, Growlithe and Mightyena quickly took off and ran up the stairs. "Hey you two! I told you to slow down!" scolded Regina, as she ran to keep up with them.

As she was running up the second flight of stairs, Regina suddenly bumped into another person. The impact nearly caused her to fall back down the stairs (fortunately, she grabbed the railing before she landed). Regina looked up...and saw a tall man with shoulder-length black hair with a Haunter floating beside him. "Oh! Justin!" she said.

"Haha, talk about déjà vu," laughed Justin.

"Sorry about that...again," said Regina.

"It's quite alright," replied Justin. Justin then lifted Regina back onto her feet. Mightyena and Growlithe then started growling at Haunter. Then, they began chasing him down and around the hallway. "Hey, stop it you two!" scolded Regina. The two Pokémon immediately ceased their chase.

Regina then turned to Justin. "Hey, where did you go this morning?" Regina asked. "You missed my sons leaving."

"I know, I'm sorry," said Justin. "I was out on an early-morning hike on Route 211. I happened to run into Paul though."

"You did?"

"Yep. I was able to say goodbye to him and Dawn before they left. Pity I didn't see Reggie though."

"Yeah, he flew away on his Staraptor back to Veilstone City. He wanted me to tell you that he's sorry he couldn't bye to you in person."

"Oh well," said Justin. "I'm sure we'll see each other again eventually."

Then, Regina, Justin, and their Pokémon walked up to the floor where their condos were located. "So Justin, after what happened these past few days," said Regina, "what are you going to do now?"

"That's a good question," answered Justin. Justin then reached into his pocket and took out the business card Paul gave him. "Well, Paul did give me the number to this person named Looker."

"He did?" Regina asked.

"He said this person could help me get in contact with my brother."

Regina then looked over the card. "Oh, Looker! I remember him!" Regina said. "You're going to ask him if you can visit your brother?"

"I...I don't know," replied Justin.

"What do you mean?" Regina asked. "You haven't seen him in a long time! Oh, but then after last time…"

"That's the thing," Justin said. "I want to see him again after all these years and try to make things up with him, but I'm scared to think of how he would react to seeing me again."

Regina watched as Justin contemplated his dilemma. "I think I want to practice my psychology techniques a little more before I confront him," said Regina.

"That's a great idea!" Regina said. "Perhaps you should give Looker a call. If he'll allow it, maybe you can step up a time and date. Then you can get yourself ready before then."

"You know, maybe I should do that," said Justin. "At the very least, I can tell Looker to keep a watch on him, make sure he doesn't do anything drastic."

"Anything drastic?" Regina asked. "Like...break out of prison or something?"

Justin scratched the back of his neck. "Well no, more like...commit s-suicide," confessed Justin.

Regina was taken back by his reply. "Commit suicide?! Him?!" she asked, flustered.

"It's what my father ended up doing," Justin said.

"Oh!" gasped Regina.

Justin then quickly cleared his throat. "But...that's nothing for you to worry about!" he said, frantically. He then signaled for Haunter to come back to him. "Anyway, I should go make that call to Looker, right?"

Before he could take off, Regina stopped him. "Wait!" she called out.

"Regina, please," he said. "I think I said enough on the matter."

"Well, I was just going to ask...are you hungry?" she grinned.

"There it is, Staraptor!" Reggie said, as the skyline of Veilstone City came into view. "Take us down slowly."

Staraptor nodded it's head and began to descent towards the outskirts of the city, where Reggie lived. As they approached Reggie's house, Staraptor gently fluttered his wings for a smoother landing. "Thanks Staraptor!" Reggie said, as he hopped off his back. He then started walking to his house. "Come on! I'll give you a treat." Staraptor did as he was told and followed closely behind Reggie.

Just as they were about to walk into the backyard, they were nearly hit by a glowing blue energy ball! Fortunately, the energy ball missed them by a foot, but the impact completely startled both Staraptor and Reggie and partially destroyed a piece of the white picket fence. "What the heck?!" Reggie asked. Both he and his Staraptor charged into the field to see what was going on.

There, surrounded by different kinds of Pokémon, was a pink-haired woman in a blue top and white pants doing a spin-kick to deflect an Aura Sphere from a Lucario. She went on deflecting Lucario's attacks with her feet and even with her hands, completely unaware that Reggie had returned. "Alright Lucario, now give it your all!" she shouted.

Lucario did as he was told and he pulled his arms back, creating the largest Aura Sphere he could muster. "Now bring it!" Lucario then shot the Aura Sphere forward.

"Maylene!" shouted Reggie.

"Huh?" Maylene said.

Suddenly, Maylene was hit in the face with Aura Sphere! Reggie and Lucario gasped as Maylene landed face-first into the ground. "Maylene!" Reggie shouted, worriedly. He and Lucario then rushed over to Maylene's aid. Despite getting hit by a powerful Aura Sphere, Maylene merely shook her head and brushed herself off. "Maylene, are you okay?" asked Reggie.

"Oh, I'm fine!" she said, cheerfully.

"How can you be fine?" replied Reggie. "Lucario just hit you in the face with a massive Aura Sphere!"

"Then I guess Lucario didn't give it his all," berated Maylene.

Lucario simply brushed off Maylene's criticism. Reggie helped her up onto her feet. "I see that you decided to do some training while I was gone," said Reggie. He looked around and saw a lot of deep holes, no doubt created by Lucario and his attacks. "Looks like it was some intense training."

"Yeah...sorry about the yard," said Maylene. "We'll help you fix it!"

"We?" Lucario asked.

"No, no. It's alright," replied Justin.

"So anyway, how was your trip to Eterna City?" asked Maylene.

"Fine," said Reggie.

"How is your mother?"

"She's doing good," Reggie said. "Oh get this! My brother Paul was there too!"

"Oh? He was?" Maylene asked, somewhat nervously. "And...h-how's he been?"

"Good," said Reggie. "Hey, get this! My brother actually has a girlfriend now!"

Maylene's eyes popped. "Seriously?" she asked. "Your brother? Who would date a guy like him?"

"You'll never guess," replied Reggie.

"No, I wouldn't. No offense, but he doesn't really seem like the "boyfriend" type to me."

"Well apparently he is to Dawn."

It took a moment for Maylene to remember Dawn. "What?! Dawn?! She's dating Paul?!" she asked, absolutely stunned by the revelation.

"Yeah, I didn't believe it either," said Reggie. "But it's true. He told me when we met in Eterna City."

Maylene, still bemused by the news, placed her palm on her forehead. "Paul and Dawn...boyfriend-and-girlfriend," she muttered.

"That's right," Reggie said. "And to tell you the truth, it's really done a lot of good things for Paul."

"Oh yeah? How?" asked Maylene.

"I'm not sure you would believe it, but my brother has gotten much nicer," explained Reggie. "He's not as rude as he used to be. He's even opened up a little bit."

Maylene raised an eyebrow (as did Lucario). "Are you sure this is the same Paul I know?" Maylene asked.

"I'd figured you wouldn't believe it," said Reggie.

"I'll believe it when I see him again."

Reggie laughed. "Um say, I want to thank you for looking after the house," he said.

"Oh, it was no problem!" replied Maylene.

"Well, I mean, you are a gym leader."

"Don't worry about it. Things have been hectic at the gym, so I thought I would use this time to unwind and clear my mind."

"And...put holes in my backyard?" joked Reggie.

"Yeah...that too."

"Hey, how about I make you a quick meal? You know, as a thank you for taking care of my house."

Reggie then made his way into his house. Maylene then remembered something and frantically followed him. "Um, wait! Hold on!" she said. Reggie then went into his kitchen and opened up his refrigerator...only to find that it had been completely emptied. The sight of his vacant fridge confused him. "That's weird," said Reggie. "Last time I checked, my fridge was completely stocked with food."

He then heard a small belch. He looked up and saw Maylene covering her mouth. He raised an eyebrow at her, causing her to blush and laugh nervously. Lucario shook his head, disapprovingly.

"Really? You think it's Maylene watching Reggie's house?" asked Dawn. "How do you figure?"

"Well I heard him say she," explained Paul. "And I don't think he knows too many women in Veilstone City, so…"

"Huh...and how do you feel about that?" Dawn asked.
"Feel about what?"

"You know...her being at Reggie's house…"

"It's Reggie's house. If he wants her to watch over it, then that's his business."

"But isn't that where your Pokémon are."

"And?"

Dawn wasn't sure if Paul remembered how he treated Maylene when he challenged her to a gym battle. But she decided to drop it for now.

The two continued on their way down Route 211, heading towards Snowpoint City. While Dawn quietly enjoyed the ride on the back of the bike, Paul was in deep thought, namely about his Pokémon. There was something that he thought about doing with them, something he thought about doing for a few weeks now. "Hey Dawn," he said.

"Yeah?" replied Dawn.

"You want to take a quick lunch break?" he asked.

"Oh sure!"

So Dawn and Paul found a spot for them to stop and rest. They got off the bike and began to set things up for lunch. "You must have worked up an appetite, pedaling all the way out here," Dawn said.

She noticed that Paul didn't reply. She looked over and saw him eyeing his Poké Balls. "Paul...are you alright?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said. "This is just something I've been wanting to do for some time...ever since the whole thing happened in the Sunmoon Islands."

Paul then threw all of his Poké Balls into the air. "Alright, everybody come out!" Paul shouted. The Poké Balls opened up and all of Paul's Pokémon appeared before him: his Torterra, Luxray, Mothim, Drapion, Ursaring, and Magmortar. They were confused as to why they were being summoned. Dawn, herself, was puzzled by what Paul was going to do.

Paul put his arms up, grabbing their attention. "Alright, quiet down!" he ordered. "Now, we're taking a little lunch break. But before we do, I have a few things to say to you all." His Pokémon listened with intrigue.

Paul took a deep breath. "So...every since I got back from the Sunmoon Islands, I've been thinking about how I treat my Pokémon...I mean, you guys. And while I don't like to admit this too much, the fact is...I've been treating you guys rather poorly."

Paul's Pokémon and Dawn were quite surprised to hear him admit this to them. "Looking back on how I used to be before," he continued. "It kinda sickens me how I used to act, especially since I was doing it for the wrong reasons. I let a certain someone get the best of me and because of them I let it affect the way I raise my Pokémon."

Paul then pumped his fist. "But that's going to change from here on now!" he said, proudly. "Starting now, I promise I'm going to be a better person and a better trainer! While I still want you guys to be strong and will continue to push you to that limit, I promise I'll be better. I'll...give more praises, better Pokémon food, catch some other Pokémon and train them too, give you guys more breaks, and maybe even...I don't know...play a game...or something."

The Pokémon nodded their heads excitedly. Dawn was amazed to see Paul address his Pokémon this way. "So, what do you guys say?" asked Paul. The Pokémon all replied with enthusiastic cheers. Dawn walked up behind Paul. "Paul, that was beautiful," she said, hugging him. "I'm so proud of you for doing that for your Pokémon." Paul felt as if he was a new person.

Suddenly, Torterra appeared right in front of him. Torterra then nudged Paul with his head, causing Dawn to back away. "Um...okay Torterra," Paul said, as he bashfully petted his Pokémon on the head. Then, Luxray appeared on the other side and nudged Paul with his head. "Alright guys, we don't really need to hug," Paul said. Nevertheless, Paul petted him as well.

Then Mothim, the newest addition to Paul's team, suddenly landed on top of his head. Paul swatted him again. "Okay Mothim, I don't like you sitting on my head!" he scolded. Paul was then caught off-guard when Ursaring grabbed him from behind and lifted him off his feet, hugging him tightly. "Ursaring, stop!" he begged. "You're almost as bad as my mother."

Dawn laughed at Paul's Pokémon suddenly showing their affections for him. "Group hug!" she shouted, spreading her arms out.

"No! No group hug!" shouted Paul.

But it was too late. While Ursaring was hugging him, Magmortar and Drapion joined them, Mothim flew back onto Paul's head, and Torterra and Luxray tackled them all to the ground. Dawn couldn't help but laugh as Paul struggled to escape his Pokémon's grip.

THE END….

A/N: Truth be told, I am SO glad to be done with this story arc. I'm sure many people are too, since now I can go back to just writing simple one-shot fluffs (you know, what I originally planned to do for this fic). I actually had this one idea for a fluff that I started a few years ago, so I'm happy to finally get back to work on it and upload it here!

This chapter had quite a few revisions and rewrites. Interesting fact, the end where Paul was talking to his Pokémon I originally planned to put in the first story at the end of "Seaside Galaxy." If I ever had time to rewrite the first story, I'd probably put it there. But I needed a nice, happy ending for this arc, so that worked out well.

Before anyone asks, Justin is/will not be dating Regina. It just doesn't feel right for Justin to marry/date his brother's wife. As for Maylene and Reggie...well...maybe we'll save that for a another chapter.

Thank you for being patient with me! It's been a bit of a rough few years, but it looks like I'm finally pulling through! I like to say that the next chapter won't take so long…but yeah…don't hold me to that. But don't worry! I won't abandon this story!

Next time: Now that everything with Paul's family is behind him (again), he and Dawn can move forward focusing on their journey as well as each other! What's in store for our two lovebirds as they travel across the Sinnoh region?