This chapter was updated/revised on May 7, 2020.
Part 6
Weeks turned into months, and Lily and I become closer and closer to one another. I also became close with her group, and it broke my heart when the leader of the group, Annastasia, was forced to part with us. Neither Lily nor I completely understood why she had to leave, but we knew it was important and out of our control.
That event dampened everyone's experience.
Michio left the group without a real goodbye. He must have had no reason to stay now that Annastasia was gone. I remember feeling his heartache sync with my own pain.
Soon after Soledad left to travel with a different group that was doing something other than Pokémon battles.
Then Jay left us, not psychically, but emotionally. Lily dubbed him 'Jaybird', due to his newly aggressive and morose behavior. Instead of being the bright, cheerful, funny, and extroverted ten-year-old I had come to love, he became rude, standoffish, and argumentative. He no longer talked to me or Lily, which made us both feel lonely, inadequate, and offended.
What bothered me the most was that I could do nothing to help. Annastasia was gone and I was powerless to assist her. I couldn't stop Michio from leaving. I couldn't return Jay's spirit or make Soledad change her passion. People make their own choices and sometimes those choices are hard—and often they don't align with what our family, friends, and acquaintances desire.
I also knew I couldn't help anyone with their battles or even help comfort the people who were hurting since they hardly knew me at all.
On a brighter note, I progressed in my speech lessons, at this point knowing over one-hundred words in both Japanese and English. I was nowhere near as articulate as Lily or her family members, but Lily reminded me almost daily that it took her and most people she knows years before they could master even simple conversation.
One day after a particularly uneventful day, Lily and I sat eating Pokéblock inside one of the tents at our most recent campsite.
"Her birthday is coming up", Lily told me. "November 3rd."
"Annastasia's birthday?" I asked.
Lily talked about Annastasia a lot now.
"Yeah," she said sadly.
Lily hadn't given me many details about Annastasia's disappearance. All I knew was that it was imperitive to find her and that it became increasingly more critical to find her as time passed.
"Maybe she will be back in time. The third of November isn't for a few more weeks," I said, trying to sound positive.
"It's possible," Lily sighed. She looked at me with glimmering eyes. "I'm sorry, Maya. It just…she was never supposed to disappear. She was supposed to go to the Toka region, do what she needed to do, and return to the base every night. She was supposed to call us at least once a week and tell us she was okay. Michio and Soledad and Jay weren't supposed to abandon us, Jocelyn wasn't supposed to start acting like a thirteen-year-old instead of the seven-year-old she truly is, and my entire family wasn't supposed to be terrified for this human I've been with my entire life."
I wasn't sure what to say. Lily had told me how she and Annastasia were born around the same time and were raised in the same house by their four parents and their Aunt Rumika. She told me how she and Annastasia were opposites on some things and perfectly alike on others.
I haven't felt a sisterly bond since Meowstic had left my life, and that was a long time ago.
"I wish I could do something other than complain to you," said Lily. "Life is just so unfair."
"You are so strong and no matter what, you can get through this," I replied. "Maybe we should tell Jay's parents about his recent behavior. He is only acting like this because he is upset. He will probably be happier if he was with his parents. And Jocelyn should be allowed to grow up if she wants to. That is her way to cope. Michio and Soledad left because they believed it was what was best for them. I left behind a lot of people in my life and they left behind me. But whether I was better or worse off for it is impossible to know. Life is hard, and family sometimes disappears, I but you have other people here who want to love you."
"Thanks, Maya. This helps."
I could tell she had more to say, so I encouraged her to keep talking.
"Annastasia is one of those few people I thought would never, ever leave me," Lily confessed. "She was the last person I thought would go."
XO
A few weeks later, not long after Annastasia's eighteenth birthday, we got a call from the older members of her family.
It was confusing. They told us they found her but they couldn't get to her. It seemed they weren't sharing everything with us, probably because it involved a lot of details that wouldn't make sense unless we were involved from the beginning. It at least brought us hope that she was alive and that her Team Rocket family was on their way to rescue her.
Not long after that, they did get to her, but she needed immediate hospitalization. We visited once, and only once, because as far as anyone could tell, Annastasia was permanently unconscious. No berry, potion, or herb could awaken her.
The doctors said that all they could do was monitor her and wait.
We were reunited as a group, as Michio and Soledad seemed eager to join us in Pallet Town following the news. Everyone was just about finished their journeys anyway, but I think it was more than just that. I think everyone was yearning to stay close to the ones they loved most; Annastasia and Scarlett's experience demonstrated that no one could manipulate fate in their favor.
Scarlett's fate was worse than Annastasia's.
Scarlett died while she was out on the rescue mission, shocking and devastating most of our group.
This was the first time I ever grieved someone around my age. It didn't seem right—she was young, strong, intelligent, experienced, and full of zest. It seemed there was nothing she couldn't conquer.
But by leaving her life behind, she gave a guileless quintessence to the Tree of Beginnings, which meant that because of her, the life essence of every present and future being on planet Earth was spared.
XO
Things were pretty grim until three days before Christmas…
We were napping on the sofa of their home in Pallet Town.
"Alright, you two!" Jessie yelled at Lily and me. "Just because you are Pokémon, doesn't mean you get to sit around all day. Help us decorate."
Jessie placed a box of Christmas decorations in front of us. I never saw anything like them: red, green, silver, and gold ribbons, candy canes, chocolate Santas, Stantler figures pulling a red sleigh. I loved it all.
"Those are for the mantle," Logan said as we opened a box full of garland.
Someone I never met before crouched between Lily and Logan. She seemed younger than Lily's aunt but was too old to be a teenager.
"I'll help you out," she said, lifting the box. "I'm Bonnie, the way."
A Dedenne climbed up her back and sat on her shoulder. I had a brief flashback to my childhood.
"I've seen you before," I said.
I was momentarily surprised at how articulate I was, as this was the first time I spoke English to anyone other than Lily.
"You did it," said Lily proudly. She looked at Bonnie. "Maya is still learning how to communicate with humans."
After they congratulated me, Lily and Bonnie asked what I meant by my statement.
I reflected on my past. I was sitting with my mom, hiding. Two trainers were battling with a Dedenne and a Munchlax. That must have been many years ago, but I had lost track. I knew it could have been fifteen, sixteen, or even twenty or more years ago, something like that. I wondered if it had it really been that long since I witnessed my first Pokémon battle.
"It sounds like it was me and Max battling," she said. "He has a Munchlax that is now a Snorlax, and we always battled. And I spent a lot of time in Kanto around the time you described."
"Wow," I said. "How do you know Lily?"
"I'm one of the Morgan's many, many, frenemies."
"Frenemies?"
"Like rivals."
"Oh."
"You have an excellent memory, being able to remember something from that long ago."
"Thank you."
Bonnie, Dedenne, her older brother Clemont, a woman named Serena, and several other Pokémon helped us decorate. Amber and Jay trimmed the tree, and for the first time in a while, they were laughing together.
Hours later, James asked if anyone wanted to go to the hospital to visit Annastasia. As usual, all her siblings, her Pokémon, and Michio opted to go. I decided to tag along with Lily with the rest of her family as I had done in the past.
Annastasia's room was decorated for Christmas. Jocelyn explained how she, Benny, and Michio decorated the room so that when Annastasia woke up she would immediately know what time it was and get excited for the holiday.
"She doesn't look any different," Logan sighed as he sat down next to her pillow. He poked her face.
"Stop it," his mother scolded, swatting his paw.
"I just wanted to see if she would react."
"She can't feel anything, dipshit," said Lily.
"Are you sure?" I asked.
"It's...possible," James said uneasily.
"Huh?" said Lily and Logan.
"I did some reading about her condition...it's possible that Anna-chan can hear us but is unable to relax."
"That's freaky," said Lily.
"That's scary," said Logan.
"That's really, really scary," said Jocelyn. "Poor Onēsan!"
"Flaa," her Flaafy wept.
"I didn't mean to make it sound scary," James said quietly, squeezing her hand.
"I bet she has a lot to say," said Jay. As usual, he was watching her with this reverence. "Since she always likes to tell us her stories...I just..."
"I think it's most important to remember that she isn't in pain anymore and that she still cares about all of us."
I've sometimes imagined that my parents were deceased. When I had these thoughts, I'd think 'at least they aren't in pain anymore', or that 'they must have loved me', and those mantras always helped. This situation was different because in that bed was a girl who could spring into vibrancy at any time. It was a mystery to all of if she ever would.
We spent a while hanging out. Jessie and James confessed that one of the main reasons they were there was because they were tired of all the guests asking about their daughter. Their annual Christmas party was set to have around 500 guests, and the five people that I had met were just the first arrivals. Luckily the Morgans owned a hotel. Also, the decorating was taking longer than usual, since they had been too busy to start early as they had done in the past. Also Jessie's pregnancy was now obvious, and Lily and I both suspected that it would be any day now before her twins were born. Maybe even before Christmas.
Early the next day, Lily and I were sleeping together in front of the fireplace when Jay shook us both awake.
"Why are waking us up now?" Lily asked groggily. "It's not even eight-thirty."
"Mom and Dad said that Annastasia woke up!" the ten-year-old exclaimed. "We gotta go now!"
Lily sprung to her feet. "Like really awake? Like she can talk?"
"Yeah!
We made our way to the hospital with Jay, his siblings, and their Pokémon. When I first saw Annastasia, I was relieved to see her talking and smiling with her parents. Lily was overjoyed. I let them talk alone for a while before I went in.
I walked through the halls as I waited.
"You look like a healthy Pokémon, what are you doing here?" a man asked me.
"Ummm…" I stumbled, unsure how to word my response.
He petted me and smiled. "This is a Pokémon hospital, we usually don't have well patients."
"I'm here to visit," I said. "But if this is a hospital for Pokémon, then why is Annastasia being treated here?"
"Annastasia-sama needed emergency care and this place was more convenient than a human hospital." He stood. "What's your name?"
"I'm Maya. I'm with Lily. I'm still learning how to talk like this..."
I wondered if my accent was as obvious to him as it was to me.
"I know Lily," he said with a smile. "You speech skills are amazing. Is there anything you need?"
"No," I replied, bowing my head. "Arigatou Gozaimasu."
He smiled and bowed back. "If you change your mind, every staff member here is here to help."
"I thank you truly."
Moments after we parted, a Pokémon called out to me.
"Maya? Is that you?" a voice asked from behind me. I turned around and found Meowstic, my old friend.
"Meowstic!" I exclaimed. "What are you do…doing here?"
"I work here."
We embraced briefly and then let go to look at each other's faces. Then we exchanged stories.
I learned that Meowstic's first trainer left her at the Oak lab for storage after she in his main team for eight years. Two years ago he traded her to a Pokémon nurse and now she lives in the hospital and helps to take care of sick and injured Pokémon.
I told Meowstic about everything that had happened to me over the years and how I ended up there, including my relationship with Lily and how I was learning to speak like a human.
"You are so different from when I last saw you, but I can tell you have that same wonderful heart," Meowstic said when I finished my story. "I'm so sorry about your friend Annastasia."
"Thank you for saying that," I replied.
Meowstic and I talk for a while more, and then she was called to assist a nurse.
"I wish we had more time to talk," Meowstic sighed.
"Do you want to stay with us?" I asked. "You won't have to work ever again, and no one will mind giving you free meals."
Meowstic sighed deeply. "The thing is…I love it here. This is my calling. I feel like this is where I was always meant to be. Why don't you stay here with me? You and Lily can get jobs too."
I looked back at Lily. From behind the glass, I could see her showing Annastasia her latest pair of earrings.
"Lily is very close with her family," I said. "She is different from you and I. She needs to be close with them, at least for now. And I need to be close to her. And those people…even though most of them are human…I feel like I truly belong in their family."
"I'm just happy that I got to see you again and that you're doing so well. I was so scared for you for so long. I knew you'd survive but I was afraid you'd be miserable. I—"
"—Mimi, we need your help!" a nurse called. "Stat!"
"I should go…Mimi is my nickname by the way. My latest trainer gave it to me."
I giggled. "Okay, bye, Mimi. I will see you again soon. I know it."
Meowstic dashed down the hallway. I inched closer to the window and watched Annastasia's family interact with the girl they thought they might've lost forever.
"We should go home," Lily said as she emerged from the patient room.
"Don't you want to talk to her more, or is she coming with us?" I asked.
"She might have to stay overnight, and regardless, she's exhausted. One of the nurse's said that her body needs to heal a lot more before she is back to her active, zany self. But, if we are lucky, she'll be able to come back tonight. All she has to do is pass a few tests."
"That's great."
We returned and dove right into what the children and other Pokémon called 'The Holiday Spirit'. We added more decorations, listened to holiday-themed music, and ate cookies.
When Annastasia finally did get back, she looked and sounded the same, but we could all tell that something was different. Her composure was different. Her face matured despite keeping its youth. The flames were still in her eyes, but they were smaller.
That same day the twins were born, one girl and one boy, Rose and Silver.
It seemed like enough for one year had happened on what was supposed to literally be the shortest day of the year.
XO
In March, the kids battled at the Indigo Plateau.
We met who seemed to be a long-lost relative of the Morgans, a boy named Jezz, and we all became determined to figure out who he was. Uncovering his past became an adventure that led us from Kanto to Alola and beyond.
Before that though, that April we all went to the Cherryblossom Festival together, which I have never been to before. I watched Lily compete in Pokeringer and saw Rose's new Plusle show off some impressive battle skills with Annastasia as her unofficial trainer. After the festival our group split up again, with most of us heading to Alola. Lily and I were excited to visit this region, as I had heard there are many Pokémon there that could not be found anywhere else on the planet.
I became more involved in Lily's family drama than I ever expected to be, especially when it came to Annastasia, Michio, and a newly formed trio, but I found that I was happy this way.
After years of searching, I had finally found my home. I knew it was only going to get more interesting from here.
AN: Reviews are encouraged so if you can write one, please do:)
