A/N: I know this is 2 updates in 1 day, but I already had this planned out, so writing it was a bit easier than writing the others, since they didn't have such tight plans (and this is half the length of a normal chapter). But this marks the end of this fic! I hope it was fun to read — and now this is done, I can work on other things :)
+ Tepilogue? Tepiglogue?
(TEPIG) EPILOGUE.
"Brock!" Ash yells, sprinting down the dock. Brock's arms open to make room for him and he launches himself into the empty space, clinging like a young slakoth would to its mother. "I missed you! How long can you stay?"
"I missed you too, big guy," Brock laughs, ruffling Ash's hair. "I'm off for three weeks, so I'm not going anywhere for a while."
Ash's smile makes the late afternoon skies seem like broad daylight again. "Good," he says giddily, "'cause there's lots I wanna show you! And I'm gonna be challenging Castelia Gym soon, so I want you to be there for me."
"I wouldn't dream of missing it," Brock says genuinely.
"I hope not, 'cause I really want you to see my new team in action! Man, they've got such fire in 'em. They're more pumped up than I am, sometimes! They really wanna do well."
The two begin the walk back up the dock towards Cilan and Iris, who hover side by side, expressions reserved but inquisitive.
"So," Ash begins conversationally, tugging at the hem of Brock's shirt, "didja bring 'em?"
"I sure did!" Brock stops for a moment to fumble with his bag, reaching into the side pocket and pulling two inactive poké balls out. Ash grabs for them eagerly, pulling them close to him. "What did you want them for?" he asks, though he has a nagging feeling that he already knows.
Ash just smiles beatifically, shrugging his shoulders. "You'll see," he says cryptically. "Just wait!"
Later, they sit on a hill overlooking Castelia City, watching the sun sink ever closer to the horizon. Brock's hands are occupied with cooking; Cilan, ever the little helper, hovers nearby, eager to add his own spin on an otherwise simple dish; Iris is elsewhere, impermanent and flitting from spot to spot, darting in and out of Brock's peripheral vision; and Ash is watching the ocean, eyes bright, Tepig nestled in his lap.
"Hey, Tepig," he says over the sea breeze. Brock's eyes dart to him questioningly. "There are some pokémon I really want you to meet."
Oh. Brock smiles to himself and returns to his pot, watching Cilan throw some herb he can't place the name of into his stew.
"For flavour," Cilan insists. "It really adds a little spice, you know?"
Brock just shrugs and keeps on stirring.
Ash is standing now, two poké balls in hand. He presses the central buttons, causing them to unfurl to full size, then flicks the catch, releasing the pokémon inside in a burst of red light.
The larger of the two pokémon unfurls his wings, spewing a searing column of flames into the sky. The smaller beats his chest with fisted hands, yellow eyes burning like his fiery crown.
"Hey, Charizard, Infernape!" Ash calls. "There's no battle, cool it! I want you to say hi to Tepig–"
But when he looks down, Tepig is gone. He spins in a circle, searching the full expanse of the hill, and finds nothing.
"Tepig?" he asks, soft and perplexed. No answer. "Tepig!" he says, louder, and a timid oink draws his attention to a crop of shrubs a few metres away.
"Hey," he says, crouching, "Charizard and Infernape won't hurt ya. They're my friends, see?" As if to prove a point, Charizard licks a long stripe across Ash's face and hair, strangely mellow. Infernape widens his eyes, dropping low and nonthreatening.
"Y'know, Charizard and Infernape were abandoned by their trainers too," Ash continues. Tepig's snout pokes through the leaves, but he doesn't come out. "Yeah! Charizard's trainer even left him out in the rain, and Infernape's released him right in front of me! 'Course, they were only babies back then, just a lil' charmander and chimchar, just like you're only a tepig right now! But I knew they were gonna be strong, and boy was I right!"
Charizard snorts, puffing out his chest, and Ash scratches his scaly cheek affectionately.
"Yeah, you're really strong," he cooes, turning back to Tepig, whose eyes were now visible under the bushes. "I wanted you to meet them 'cause they're just like you, y'know? Super loyal, super brave, super kind pokémon who got dealt a real bad hand at first! But they picked me, and I picked them, so it's all okay now. I wanted you to meet 'em so you knew that just 'cause one lousy trainer thinks you're weak, it doesn't mean you can't prove him wrong. I took Charizard to fight all sorts of strong pokémon in all sorts of leagues, and Infernape even beat his old trainer in the Sinnoh league!"
Infernape chirps, pressing his hand into Ash's shoulder gently, fingers curling over the scar there, over bite marks left by his own teeth. Charizard drapes a wing over them both, watching Tepig curiously as he tentatively inches his way out of the shrubbery.
"You don't gotta be afraid of them," Ash urges. "They're with me, and you trust me, right? I've got you. I've always got you. We're gonna get stronger together — and if we reach the top, then that's just a bonus. I know you still miss your old trainer — Charizard did too, at first. And I know you're probably still afraid that I'm gonna realise you're weak and leave you too, just like your old trainer did, 'specially since I already have these two super strong fire types."
He takes a deep breath. Brock watches, fascinated, and it all clicks, all makes sense.
"But I'm not like your old trainer, and I'm not gonna leave you, just like I never left these guys. You can always count on me."
Tepig hurtles out of the bushes, up into the air and then into free fall, and Ash is there to catch him.
/
He stays out with Charizard and Infernape all night.
(Later, he takes on Castelia Gym alone and wins, though by the skin of his teeth, and he can hardly stand by the end. Ash is still there to catch him when he falls, and he finally realises he has a home.)
A/N: Reviews/comments are always appreciated! I try to take all constructive criticism into account so I can improve any future writing I do. :)