Chapter 34: Peace at Last

-Rio's POV-

"I WILL RETURN TO SPACIAL RIFT. I FORESEE NO REASON TO EVER RETURN HERE. FAREWELL."

Palkia enveloped himself in a gold sphere of light and zoomed away. Cresselia turned to us and said, "Well, that is that. Shall we also go back?"

I smiled, still nursing my hurt side, "Yeah. That sounds good. How about it Meowth?" I was worried that he was sad about James going, but my worries were unfounded.

He grinned and said, "Heck, yeah! I still owe Drowzee dat drink, after all." He took out an Escape Orb and the three of us were warped to the entrance. Cresselia levitated us again and flew us back to Treasure Town. When we arrived at the town square, everyone welcomed us back. It felt nice.

That night, we had a huge party with our recruits at Spinda Café. It put all the other celebrations we ever had to shame. A ton of the Pokémon from Treasure Town, the guild and other exploration teams also came, filling the café to the brim. While I moderated the pace of my drinking this time, I still had a lot of fun. Everyone was congratulating us and saying that they knew we could do it. As Meowth promised, Drowzee was invited as well, and they talked about random things, appearing to have let their past issues be water under the bridge.

I saw Cathy in a conversation with Rose, Sunflora and Lopunny from Team Charm as well as Mawile from Team Frontier. Whatever they were talking about seemed to have them laughing.

Siltram was in a drinking contest (the drink being Spinda's special "Hopes and Dreams Juice") with Penny, Loudred and Floatzel from Team Aqua Jet. Hogan was having an arm-wrestling match with Machoke from Team Frontier with Dash and Breloom from Machoke's team cheering them on. Two lines were formed near the table, with opponents paired up, including Savage, Croagunk and Medicham from Team Charm. It must be a tournament of some sort.

Vlad was having a conversation with Mel. Even though she couldn't speak, he seemed to have no trouble discerning what she was saying. Damus seemed to be in the middle of an intellectual debate with Levi and Gardevoir from Team Charm. They talked back and forth, seeming to be absorbed in their thought-provoking dialogue, despite the noise.

Deciding that I had done enough observing, I finished my drink and got up, deciding to participate in the arm-wrestling tournament. After joining the crowd, I wound up being paired with Croagunk as my opponent.

-The Next Day-

On our way to Spinda Café, Meowth seemed to be unable to suppress a huge grin. I guess that he's still excited about our deed saving the world. Coupled with him letting go of his secret, I guess that he's just really optimistic about the future.

As we walked down the stairs to Spinda Café, our recruits were waiting for us as usual. Penny and Siltram both had their heads on the table. When Meowth started speaking, Siltram said, "Boss...?"

"Yeah, Siltram?"

"Never let me drink Spinda's special blend ever again… It feels like my head's got a band of Ludicolo in it."

Penny, the winner of last night's drinking contest, weakly muttered, "Wuss… That's why you lost."

"Like you're taking this any better. How does the glory of victory feel?"

"…Painful."

At length, I said, "Maaaaybe you two should take the day off. You two look like you can barely move, much less fight."

Siltram waved weakly, "'Kay, thanks."

A new voice called out to us, "Oi, are you Team Righteous?"

We turned and a Graveler had a letter in his hand, Meowth nodded and said, "Yeah, what is it?"

The Graveler handed us the letter, "Someone asked me to give you this challenge letter. You won't believe who's calling you out." He turned around and left, waving back at us.

I looked at the letter in my hands and opened it. Meowth leaned over and read it also. Meowth's eyes widened as I read it aloud, "'I'm Jirachi. I'd love to have a battle with the famous Team Righteous~'"

Meowth shook his head, "It's gotta be a trick. Why would a legendary call us out?"

Dash raised an eyebrow, "Meowth, have you seen the team's victory list recently? We've dealt with tons of legendaries already, even if we met them while looking for something else."

Meowth turned and said, "Yeah, but Jirachi's a rare one, even for legendary Pokémon! It's gotta be a crank call."

Levi appeared thoughtful and his eyes glazed over, the look he got when he was going through what he's read. He then said, "Where is the location?"

I looked at the bottom and said, "Star Cave. It even gives detailed instructions on how to get there." Then I noticed something at the bottom. "Oh, it also says that only one Pokémon from our team is allowed to go."

Levi nodded, "If it's a trick, it's a very, very good one. The location of Star Cave has been a closely guarded secret for many centuries. Only its name was ever known. Personally, I think it's because Pokémon would flock from all over to get a chance for a wish from Jirachi."

"So who's going?" Hogan asked.

Meowth thought about it, "If it's really Jirachi, then he's a Steel/Psychic-type. Damus, I tink you're da best for da job. Your attacks won't do as much on 'im as a regular Psychic-type, but ya should be immune ta most of his attacks."

Damus nodded, "Very well. Consider it done."

"Why does Damus get to go?!" Savage yelled.

"Calm down," I said, "we have another older one that's more suited to you and Hogan; from a gang of Dark-type Pokémon. Dash, Rose, you'll probably be needed in case they have Flying or Psychic-types."

Hogan cheered, "All right! We'll straighten them out!"

Rose said, "This enthusiasm wouldn't have anything to do with you losing to Medicham last night, would it?"

He faltered and then looked down at the table, saying, "I didn't think she'd have so much strength in those skinny arms…"

I waved a hand, "There's no shame in losing to her." We both lost to her, and Medicham was the winner of the arm-wrestling tournament last night. I shrugged, "Team Charm has been an exploration team for far longer than we have. Medicham was probably just stronger than us."

Meowth said, "Back on topic, Vlad, we need you ta recon dis place, Giant Volcano."

I sensed a surge of fear and looked up. It seemed to be coming from Mel. Vlad just nodded and took the envelope. I raised an eyebrow, Mel was afraid? Well I guess that a place like Giant Volcano would be dangerous for her.

"Levi, we need ya for an escort mission through Midnight Forest. Sumpin' 'bout a 'Secret Slab'." Levi nodded at Meowth in response.

I looked through the short amount of letters, not finding anything really good for Mel or me. "Mel, we don't really have a good mission for you right now, so I guess today's a training day for you. I think that I'll train today too, and keep an eye out for any new missions that I can find."

Mel nodded and Meowth said, "Guess dat leaves me and Cathy wit' dis outlaw notice ta get back an item from a Pidgeot. Alright, ya all got your missions, so let's move out!"

Everybody left and I started making my way to the dojo. Meowth still had the Treasure Bag from the last time, so I left to the bluff to get one of the extra bags before heading in to train at the Final Maze.

-Vlad's POV-

I should've expected as much. I thought getting a head start through the ceiling would've given me an opportunity to slink away, but I suppose it was wishful thinking. Perhaps if I hadn't stopped at Kangaskhan Storage for the Escape Orb then I would have, but it would've been foolish to leave without one.

Mel stood at the exit of town with her arms crossed. In retrospect, I probably could've just left directly from Sharpedo Bluff. Perhaps I wanted to be found? But when I saw her face, I knew that she wasn't mad.

"You're worried." It wasn't a question.

Her expression softened and I said, "I'm not going to freeze up from being in a place full of Fire-types. Besides, I can't exactly disobey an order from our leaders, can I?"

Mel raised her eyebrows at me with a skeptical look.

"Oh, stop it with that! I can follow orders when I feel like it. Besides, the point of my work is not being found by my enemies. I'll be fine. Besides I already searched Dark Crater last nigh-"

I was stopped cold by the look that Mel gave me. Now she's angry.

"Er… Well, time to head out!" I phased into the floor and fled back through the town, choosing to fly directly over the sea.

-Damus' POV-

I strolled through the cave, not even paying attention to any Pokémon along the way. My first encounter had been an Anorith, and once the initial surprise wore off, I got ready to battle. It managed to get the first strike with a Scratch attack. The move was enough to give me pause, since I didn't feel any pain from the attack. Even though the Pokémon at the bottom of this cave is legendary, I couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed.

The Anorith foolishly took my pause for fear and moved in to attack again. Sighing, I swat it aside with my front leg, instantly knocking it out. No sense wasting energy on moves. After that, the rest of the Pokémon gave me a wide berth. (AN: Lv. 64 vs. Lv. 3)

Walking down some more stairs, I thought to myself, I guess "secret cave" doesn't always mean powerful enemies. I did, however, notice that this place had an unusually large amount of Oran Berries to pick up. Deigning to pick some up for restocking our storage, I had the remaining space of my bag filled with extra Oran Berries.

I passed into the deeper portion of the cave through a massive hole in a chamber wall. It looked like somebody had smashed the entrance in. The new area had the walls lined with crystals. It reminded me of my old home back at Crystal Cave. I briefly allowed myself to enjoy the nostalgic feeling before moving on.

After a while, I reached the bottom of the cave. Once there, I found a yellow and gray Pokémon with a star-shaped headpiece and what appeared to be a closed third eye on his stomach. That must be Jirachi.

He smiled and said, "Oh, you must be from Team Righteous! Thanks for coming! Now, let's battle!"

I crouched and got ready to act as he flew forward. The top point of his headpiece glowed, and I leapt forward.

"Sucker Punch!" Hitting Jirachi in the stomach with my front leg, I jumped back as he held his stomach. He looked up and pouted, "That wasn't very nice! Meanie! Swift!"

Knowing that I couldn't dodge and having gotten some damage in, I decided to take the attack in order to gauge his strength. The stars hit me and I felt stinging pains, but overall, it wasn't that much damage.

After his attack ended, Jirachi held his stomach where I punched him earlier, one eye closed in a wince.

Somehow, I don't think this will take much longer.

Then Jirachi clasped his hands together, muttering a small chant. My eyes widened, recognizing the move that Rose used. That's Wish! I'd better-

Before I could even finish the thought, light shone on Jirachi and he smiled. Damn! Jirachi is the Pokémon that grants wishes; he must be able to use Wish to heal right away!(AN: That's not really how it works, I just made it up. But it makes sense to me.)

Getting caught up in my thoughts cost me. Jirachi fired another Swift at me. With the new information I had, I couldn't afford to take too much damage in a long fight. Thinking fast, I used Detect and saw where all of the stars were going to hit. Timing the vision I was seeing with the real time happening, I dodged all of the stars and then again when they looped around, repeating until they dissipated.

I looked at Jirachi more seriously. If he can heal damage off instantly, then I need to finish him with one hit. I'll need more power.

Concentrating, I used Swords Dance and my claws turned purple, growing longer and sharper, before the purple faded. Taking another Swift attack, I narrowed my eyes as I took a good look at Jirachi.

He seemed to really feel it when I used Sucker Punch on his stomach earlier… That third eye… Could that be a weak point?(AN: Super Luck = Scanning for weak points)It's as good a chance as any; I refuse to be knocked out because my opponent waited me out!

I charged forward as Jirachi fired another Swift attack. Charging straight through it, I ignored the slight fatigue I was feeling and leapt forward. My claws glowed blue, then became indigo as the Night Slash was amplified by the Swords Dance.

I slashed across Jirachi's stomach and landed on the ground behind him. Looking back, I saw Jirachi fall to the ground. As he lay still, I grew slightly worried. Oh no, did I overdo it?!

"Ow… You gave me an owie…"

I let out a sigh of relief, before dropping back into my stance.

"No more fighting. So sleepy…" The yellow pieces of what appeared to be cloth sprouting out of his back wrapped around his body, making him look like a swaddled infant. He started floating up and disappearing.

"Yaaawwn… I'll see Rio and Meowth at the guild later about their reward. So sleepy…"

I watched as he disappeared completely. What a strange Pokémon… How did he know about Meowth and Rio…? Maybe he was just well-informed. After all, he did know the team's name already.

My badge glimmered and I used it to warp me back to Treasure Town.

-Levi's POV-

"Astonish!" I groaned as my client used another ineffectual attack, managing to do nothing but annoy the Scyther I was fighting. I quickly used the period where it was distracted to finish it off with Wing Attack.

"Please… just let me handle the enemies."

The Girafarig looked at me, "I can fight too!"

You couldn't take down a Weedle, much less any of the Pokémon in this forest. You've already used up one of the Reviver Seeds I brought for an emergency, and you were fighting a Ledyba! I swallowed the words traveling through my head and calmly replied, "You're the only one who knows what to do with the item when we find it. For that purpose, you need to stay safe."

He frowned, but didn't argue.

Continuing through Midnight Forest, we eventually reached the floor where the Secret Slab was supposed to be, according to Girafarig. As we searched around, Girafarig called out, "There! That Nuzleaf has it!"

I turned and saw a Nuzleaf running with something tucked under his arm. I took flight and sped towards it. Turning around, the Nuzleaf saw me and then started trying to run faster, but I caught up to him and started pecking the back of his head while chasing after him.

"Ow! Ow! Quit it!" He tried throwing a Pound attack at me, but I dodged it by flying a little higher and then hit him over the head with Wing Attack, knocking him out. The slab fell out of his hands and I took the opportunity to get a good look at it. It looked ancient. Maybe it's a map of some sort to treasure. Freak would be interested in this kind of thing. Wonder how he's doing back on Team Renegade?

Girafarig finally caught up and looked at the slab on the ground. "So it does exist…" he stated in awe. I picked it up and offered it to him. He shook his head, "Oh, no, I don't want to keep it. I just wanted to see it. Why don't you keep it? You're from an exploration team; I think you'll find more use out of it than I would."

I looked at the slab. To be honest I didn't find anything remotely intriguing about it. Perhaps I can research its purpose… If I don't find anything, it'll at least make a nice paperweight.

I nodded to Girafarig and thanked him, before my badge warped us both out of here.

-Meowth's POV-

"Hold up, what?!"

Jirachi (yeah, the Jirachi) tilted his head and said, "I said I would like to join your team. Your reputation is well-earned, and it sounds like it would be fun!" He said the last part with a beaming smile.

Rio stood awkwardly next to me. He looked unsure of what to do. On one hand, having a legendary would be pretty awesome for getting missions done. On the other, we already have a solid team for tackling all kinds of different enemies. We really don't need anybody else. Besides…

"But don'tcha have, ya know, duties as da wish granting Pokémon? Ain't dat why ya always stayed at Star Cave?"

Jirachi giggled, "I don't need to be in that cave to hear wishes; I'm perfectly capable of hearing them from anywhere. Sometimes it just takes a little more time. Star Cave was just my favorite place to take a nap."

Rio looked at me, "Well…?"

I shrugged, "I guess… if there's no issue wit' dat… Sure, why not?"

Jirachi threw his hands in the air, "Yay!" He floated over to Chimecho's desk and everyone on the Mission Floor was staring at him. Can't say I blame them. A living legend is right there in front of them. Bidoof actually walked up to Jirachi and they started a conversation while Chimecho worked on registering Jirachi. He talked with Jirachi as easy as two people would talk about the weather.

Rio finally said, "Well… that happened."

"Yeah."

It'll be awfully weird working together with a legendary Pokémon, even if he is a pint-sized one.

-The Next Day-

"Hey! You two!" We heard the shout right after we climbed the stairs out of our home. Turning to where it came from, we saw Chatot flying over as fast as he could. He landed on the ground and was breathing heavily.

Rio said, "What is it Chatot? Why are you in such a rush?"

Chatot tried talking between breaths, "Huff-huff… The beach… At the beach…"

I stepped forward, "What is it, Chatot?"

Chatot took a deep breath and shouted, "Manaphy! Manaphy came back!"

It took about half a second for that to sink in before I said the only natural thing I could say in this situation.

"Say WHAT?!"

Rio stepped forward, "You mean the Manaphy that we looked after?!"

Chatot nodded, "Yes! Hurry! To the beach!"

I dropped to all fours and started running. Rio caught up and Chatot flew overhead. We got to the beach in a little under two minutes. Manaphy was floating by the waves, staring at the ocean. I stood back up and walked closer as Manaphy turned towards us.

I smiled, "Manaphy… It's good ta see ya again, kid."

Manaphy started to cry, "Meowth… Rio…"

No matter how hard I tried to hold it back, I started crying too. I heard Rio sniffle and we all gathered up in a group hug. Rio said, "It's really you…"

Manaphy nodded, "Yup! I grew big in the sea! It's all… It's all because of you, Rio and Meowth!"

I said, "You remembered us…"

Manaphy nodded again, "Of course! I didn't forget you! Not once… Not ever… I missed you!" We all hugged for a while after, not talking, just enjoying being together.

Eventually, Manaphy asked to see the bluff. We took him there, and he looked around, "Wow… I remember this place. I hatched here didn't I?"

Rio nodded, "Yes, you're right. This is where we came to know each other. I'm surprised you still remember that."

Manaphy said, "We Manaphy have the ability to remember where we've hatched. So I've been told. After we grow up in the sea, we go beack to where we hatched by instinct. Mr. Walrein taught me that. This is where I was hatched… That's why I felt the urge to come back here."

Chatot spoke up, "Well then… Now that you've returned, what will you do now, Manaphy?"

Turning to Chatot, he said, "I was told that I have to decide that on my own." Turning back to us, he seemed a little nervous, "Well, um… So, uh… I thought really hard about this and other things… I'd like to return the favor, Meowth and Rio… Don't you travel and explore all over the world? I really wish I could help you when you go out on your adventures… So, um… Uh… May I please be a member of Team Righteous…?"

At our pause, he said, "D-don't worry! I'm grown up! I won't get sick like before…"

That eased my worries, but I couldn't find the right words.

Manaphy shifted nervously, "…You don't… want me?"

I shook my head frantically, "No, dat's not it! Of course we want ya on da team! Of course we want ya ta stay wit' us!" I started crying again, "We just… we never thought we'd see ya again, and now dis. It's… a lot ta take in." I turned to Rio and said, "Manaphy's welcome on da team, right Rio?"

Rio nodded, smiling, "Of course!"

Manaphy grinned, "Really? Really, I can? Yay! I did it!" He did a little dance, "I'll do my best to make you two proud! If you need me, please say so! I'll do my best! I'll go sign up at the guild!" He flew up the stairs, and Chatot left soon after.

I looked out the mouth of the bluff and said, "Ya know, Rio, I've never been much of an optimist. But now, it seems like everything really is going to work out for da best." I turned and smiled, "We got our whole lives ahead o' us, so let's take it on one day at a time!"

I am posting this on the anniversary of when I posted the first chapter of A New Life. But even so, the story's not quite over yet. Epilogue coming soon! Right after I find time with my midterms coming up.

See you all then! :)

-AJ203