Jeice Kingston's Bistro in Titanio City was cleared of all potential customers who weren't Pokémon League contenders or officials as the celebration of the Final Four made it's way there. Almost three hundred people, from the ArcNet team covering the event to the loved ones of those who remained were invited for food, wine and a celebration of the historic achievements of Leon, Annette, Michael and Christopher in making it past the deeply intensifying competition and being deemed the four most powerful trainers in existence.
Leon was giving the ArcNet team an interview, where Chris could overhear how cordial and respectful he was of his three remaining opponents. Though he knew Leon would prefer to face Michael sooner rather than later, Chris was touched that Leon also had nice things to say about both himself and Annette. His little brother Hop seemed disappointed that Leon wasn't boasting about making it into the Title Match yet, seeming to think it was a foregone conclusion.
Annette sat at a table surrounded by her friends, her eyes still glistening with excitement for actually being this far into the Tournament. Chris knew she had struggled to beat the Champion of Alola previously with her ailing health, but she had turned things around quickly and not only conquered Kalos's former Champion in Diantha, but then Lance in subsequent matches. As far as he was concerned, Annette was someone he had to keep an eye on for the remainder of the Tournament, as if he wasn't careful, he could be bounced out by her quickly. While she kept the warm and bright smile on her face, her two closest friends in her boyfriend Matt and her childhood best friend in Jeremy flanked her sides praising her with compliments for her victories. Holly, Dawn, Lucas joined in the festivities. Even Addison had been corralled out of her own studies and solace to join in. When the two locked eyes, she tried to give Chris some positive cheer, but Chris could tell she was still nursing her broken heart over Ryan. He nodded to her sadly and pressed onwards.
Michael was enjoying time with his family. With Annie and Jon unable to make it due to the impending birth of their child, Michael sat at a table with only his wife and children for company, though Chris could tell his cousin was perfectly content to be with just them. Julia was also looking like her own baby or babies would be coming soon, resting on a larger chair than many others and occasionally wincing in pain as she clutched the wild children inside her. His nephew, Little Michael, was simply playing with the stuffed Eevee his mother had given to him as his most favorite toy. Chris made his way over to the boy and tussled his hair, prompting the boy to give him a sweet smile before resuming his playtime.
"I think you'll be a great father one day, Chris" Julia remarked happily.
"I hope so, Jules" Chris replied, a bit of nervous energy oozing from his words. Though he and Piper had been trying since getting back together months earlier, they'd not had the same luck Michael and his wife had been able to enjoy. But time was on their side. Piper was young and beautiful, and Chris could not be more in love if he tried. It would come soon enough.
Michael himself was busy trying to keep his remaining two children corralled. James was simple enough, sitting contently on his father's lap rattling a pair of plastic keys in his hand and teething on them simultaneously. But Chris's precious little Hurricane of a niece was proving to be just as wild as her reputation. Arya was running all around the restaurant, constantly needing to be plucked back and brought to her father for a mild scolding before she would butter her father up long enough to run off again. On this most recent occasion, Chris caught his niece and ticked her ribs, prompting her to cry out in laughter.
"Stay with your dad, Miss Trouble!" Chris teased.
"UNKIE KISS STOP!" she cried out before Chris gently lowered her into the seat next to her brother and father. Chris pushed her chair into the table and to prevent Arya from escaping again, he stood at the chair and allowed his friend to focus on his son and heir to the throne one day.
"Stay at the table, Arya" her father urged. "There are too many people for you to run around today."
"ARRY WANT TO PLAY!" the princess demanded.
"Mind your father" Julia told her daughter. "Stay at the table, Arya."
Defeated with both of her parents against her, Arya folded herself into a huff and pouted. "Yes, Mama." Michael put his free arm on Arya's chair to keep her from moving and nodded to Chris, allowing him to return to his own table.
His table was filled with his own friends and loved ones enjoying themselves. Mark, Lizzie, Greta, Justin, Giselle and his stepsisters were all engaged in conversation over how they expected the remainder of the tournament to go. While Giselle was keeping strategically quiet, it was clear to him that the others were all in camps of their own. Mark, Lizzie, Greta and Justin all seemed to be expecting one of Leon or Michael to prevail in the end, Katrina and Renee were fully behind him and his own quest. He walked over to both of them and wrapped his arms around each of them.
"Why was I blessed with such wonderful sisters?"
"Luck of the draw, I guess" Renee laughed.
"I think the better question would be why we got a wonderful brother like you" Katrina replied coyly. "Just imagine it. Renee the Gym Leader of Titanio City, me winning another Best Actress award and you being the Pokémon League Champion. We'll be there at some point!"
Chris glanced behind him to see something he was truly nervous about: Piper and Marley deep in conversation with each other approaching their table. When Marley saw his nervous expression, she laughed quietly to herself. Piper, however, had no problem laughing at her husband being on edge. "What's so funny, you two?"
"I was just telling your wife about all the things you used to do for me when we were dating a few years back" Marley winked. "Singing songs, giving flowers, I had you wrapped around my little finger."
"How come you never do those things for me?" Piper demanded, only teasingly though.
"You never ask" he replied.
"You never offer."
"I would call them more desperation tactics than anything" Marley replied jokingly. "He knew our relationship was going to end depending on how I did in the Pokémon League Finals that year. If I won, I'd be moving on. If he did, I'd still be moving on." She patted Chris playfully on the cheek. "Besides, it worked out for the best that we didn't end up together, Chris. Your wife was basically tailor made for you."
As Piper wrapped her arms around him and planted a kiss on his cheek, Chris chuckled contently to himself. "If that's how you feel, Marley." As he led both his wife and old flame back to his table, he glanced up to the center of the room, where a Pokémon League Official, in this case his Uncle Doug, wheeled out a cart containing four glasses containing liquid. Three of the four seemed to be filled with wine and the fourth, for Annette's sake, was filled with Wisher's Delight. Piper squeezed his hand as Doug Kingston picked up a microphone to properly address those present. Once he'd begun to check the mic, everyone silenced themselves and made it back to their tables.
"On behalf of the Arcana Pokémon League" Doug spoke to all present, "and to the Royal Family and everyone who's come to participate, I'd like to welcome each and every one of you to the Master Cup Semi-Finals. Four of the strongest trainers I've ever seen remain in the tournament that many of us were bounced from weeks ago. But come this round's end, those four will become two. I'd like to allow all four of them to give a bit of a speech to those who will be rooting for them, starting with the King. Michael, would you come up?"
Michael handed James over to his mother and rose to make his own speech, taking the microphone from his Uncle. "Thank you, Uncle. And thank you all for coming tonight and for these last few weeks as part of the Master Cup Tournament. When we first announced this tournament, I was skeptical to join in, honestly. As many of you know, I've been looking forward to a retirement with my family of my beloved wife and soon to be five children." He allowed for those to clap about the incoming birth of his twins before continuing. "But I saw in the eyes of my friends and family competing the same fire I've always wanted to see: that of endless competition and camaraderie. I know now, without a shadow of a doubt, that the Pokémon Leagues all around the world will be in good hands for years to come, even after this Master Cup ends."
"Which is why, at the suggestions of many here, I am open to having this be an event we participate in every four years or so. To promote open competition, cooperation and friendship throughout all of the various Pokémon Leagues in the world, from Orre to Alola. To see the very best the world has to offer gather in one of our regions and compete in the name of all that the Master Cup has done for us here in Arcana. And, after deliberating it with the Champions of the World, we've come to the conclusion that the Master Cup will again be held in four years, this time being hosted by Leon's Region of Galar. I'm sure Motostoke will be pumped to host a tournament of this caliber."
Leon raised a glass to it. "You know it, Mike!"
"To the remaining competitors" Michael concluded, "I wish you luck. I can't say which of you three I'd prefer to face, but I know that whichever one of you I do get matched up with will give the people of the world a match worth remembering." He then handed the mic back to his uncle and sat back down, plucking his son from his mother and allowing James to become less fidgety in his father's arms.
"Would Leon like to make a statement?' Doug inquired.
"I would" Leon grinned as he rose to his feet. While Hop made some unnecessarily loud cheers in his name, Leon walked over to Doug and took the microphone from him. "To all of the people who've gathered here, I'd like to thank you all. Not only for your commitment to the Pokémon Leagues around the world, but also to reinforcing the friendships we've come to share over the years. I'd also like to personally thank the King and Queen for hosting this event after all they've endured for the sake of the rest of the world. But, as it is a competition, I hope everyone is aware that I intend on making it all the way to the top. And I know my remaining opponents, be they Michael, Miss Fiveroux or Chris would also agree with that assessment. As the old saying goes, 'I want to be the very best, like no one ever was.' And I intend on showing them all just how much our training and skills in Galar have paid off." He then gave Doug the mic back and sat back down.
"Annette?" Doug asked.
Annette whispered something to Matthew and Jeremy, who both hoisted the nervous girl out of her chair and pulled her into the center of the bistro to take the mic from Doug. Annette seemed to be babbling until Matthew gave her a kiss on the cheek to alleviate her and earn a few coos from the audience. Now calmed by her boyfriend's gesture, Annette cleared her throat and began her own short speech.
"I'd just like to say I'm honored to be in the running with some of my childhood heroes" she remarked giddily. "And I'd like to say it's going to be an honor to battle any of them whenever the time comes. I'd like to thank my big brother Garret for always being my emotional support, to my best friends in the world for standing by me and for my Matty for being half the reason I even got back here from Mirage Island." She waved to him before concluding. "Lastly, I'd like to thank the true reason I made it home at all and the reason we're all here: my friend Addison. The White Mage and the hero who destroyed Mewtwo!"
"To Addison!" a voice rang out.
"TO ADDISON!" the group shouted in unison.
Chris glanced back at Addison, who looked completely lost. Holly approached her, but she simply patted her hand and excused herself from the proceedings, walking out of the restaurant's main floor to be on her own.
"Chris?" his Uncle Doug called to him. "Anything you'd like to say?"
Chris sighed as he saw Addison round the bend and he rose to say his own piece. "I'd just like to add on to what Annette was saying. Not only about how proud I am to have participated in a tournament of so many strong contenders, but to be up here battling with the strongest of them all. No matter how things end up, I feel like we're all going to be in a celebratory mood. But I'd also like to propose a toast. Annette toasted those who helped her get here and I feel I should do the same. But mine will be for those who aren't here to enjoy the celebrations. To my Uncles, James Junior and Byron, who fought valiantly and bravely in the Battle of the Crag Hill. To my sister, Cameron, without whom I wouldn't be half the Pokémon Trainer I've become. To my grandparents, for always giving me the love and adoration I could ask for. To Professor Maria, without whom I definitely would never have made it this far. And lastly, to the one person who I most certainly would never be here without: my mother, Jane Kingston. Without any of them, I wouldn't be where I am right now. And I just hope all of them are proud of me." He then took a step back, glancing over towards the back area of the restaurant. His father and Shannon were in a very animated conversation with each other, but upon realizing he saw it, brought it into the kitchen and his father's office.
"Yes, yes" Doug clapped. "Hail to the Victorious dead. I'd just like to kick my own two cents into the matter and say that all of those people my nephew mentioned, would be proud of him. Especially Jane. The most doting and loving mother to children I've ever seen, even to her nephew." As Michael chuckled at that, Doug cleared his throat. "But in order to see how far my nephews, Miss Fiveroux or Leon will progress, we need to determine which of them will match up in the Tournament." He pointed towards the cart beside him and the four glasses of wine and Wisher's Delight respectively.
"What's that?" someone asked.
"At the bottom of these chalices" he explained, "has been engraved a number. This number will be the seed with which the trainer will progress through the remainder of the Tournament. We took the advice of the Judges and scored you all based on all three of your previous rounds scores and ranked you as such with your performances as if you all had tied. In doing so, you all will be able to see which of your fellow Finalists you will be facing in the Final Round. Would the four Champions please step forward and take up their chalice?"
At those words, Leon, Annette and Michael all rose once more and took their own respective glass. Annette mumbled something about not being able to drink wine and Chris playfully patted her on the shoulder. The four toasted one another and drank their glasses.
Annette finished her Wisher's Delight first. "Mmmm. Rawst Berry Blast! My favorite flavor!"
"I wish this was Rawst Berry" Leon replied, finishing second. "This is some powerful wine."
"Handpicked berries from the local Berri Family Farm in Alchemiburg" Doug laughed. "Though these seem to be a bit more bitter than usual."
Chris and Michael both finished at the same time. Curiously, Chris looked down at his glass and saw his own number etched into his glass. "Hmm. Three?"
"I got Four" Annette chimed in.
"One" Leon grinned.
As Michael took his time to inspect his own, he looked inside and nodded. "Two."
"Then the Seeding for the Remainder of the Tournament has been determined" Doug proclaimed. "The First Seed is Leon, the second is Michael, the third Christopher and the fourth is Miss Annette."
"How will the matchups play out?" Leon inquired. "One plays two and three plays four?"
"Hate to be the one who bursts your bubble, Leon, but this will be the standard Tournament fair. The First Seed will battle the Fourth Seed and the Second will face off against the Third."
Chris's face immediately went white. You've GOT to be kidding me?! He had been hoping against hope to match up against Annette or Leon. To show the world that the Kingstons were still the dominant force in the world of Pokémon Battling. But with the way the tournament was now aligned, he was going to have to face the most domineering hurdle he'd ever faced. The one trainer he'd battled dozens of times and never overcome. He dared a glance over to Michael, who simply stood looking at the glass, as if contemplating the same thing he was. How could it be the two of us?!
Leon flung his cape behind him and bowed respectfully to Annette. "Well, Miss Fiveroux, looks like it will be you and I in the Semi-Finals."
Annette beamed. "Wow, me and Leon. I've been looking forward to a match like this!"
Finally mustering the courage to approach him, Chris stood in front of Michael. "Then that means it's you and me, Mike."
Michael nodded. "So it would be." The complete lack of emotion in Michael's voice was unnerving to say the least. He could not tell if Michael was delighted, infuriated, curious or petrified for it to be the two of them matching up. He only showed the same cold and calculating glance he always showed when in battle. The one look that Chris was unable to match. The look that had spelled doom to so many challengers and opponents.
Why is it the two of us? he asked himself again.
"The Final Matchups for the Master Cup are set to take place tomorrow, weather permitting" Doug explained. "The first matchup will be Leon and Annette Fiveroux. And the second will be Michael and Christopher."
Piper looked horrified. "NOT THE TWO OF THEM?!"
Mark folded his arms. "Should have guessed this would be the matchup."
"Those two?!" Lizzie gasped.
"Wow, Mike and Chris" Matthew remarked.
"This is absolutely nuts!" Tommy Queensbury cried out.
"You guys know there are two matchups, right?" Jeremy worried. "Annette and Leon is also crazy!"
Julia winced in pain but couldn't help but smile at the thought of the two of them matching up in the Tournament. "Well, well. Just like the good old days."
Michael lowered the glass onto the table. "So be it. Guess it's time for us to being prepping our teams." He patted Leon on the back and Annette on her shoulder before locking eyes with Christopher. Finally, he cracked the smile he'd always admired before grabbing his arm. "May the best man win, Chris."
Chris gulped. "Ye-yeah. The best man!" As both shook hands, Michael walked off in the same direction that Addison had gone off in a few moments earlier. Chris watched him until he was past his line of sight before everyone resumed their celebrations. But Chris could not get the thought of what now loomed for him in the upcoming round. Of freaking course it had to be Michael. The one guy I've never beaten. The one guy that's loomed over me since we were kids.
While everyone flowed around him and congratulated him, wished him luck or dreaded what lied in front of him, Chris could not get his mind focused. Part of him longed to check on Addison, another to focus on his match like Michael did. But another part was petrified that his dream of being a Champion would be quashed yet again. And another part was deeply curious as to what his father and stepmother had been arguing about. Realizing he needed some sort of answer, he thanked everyone surrounding him and made for the back of the kitchen to find his father or Shannon. Piper stopped him at the entrance to the kitchen.
"Chris?" she worried. "Are you okay?"
"I'll be fine, Pipe" he assured her. "I just need to find my Dad about something."
"Are you sure?" she begged. "Remember, you can talk to me about anything."
He smiled and put his hand to her warm cheek. "I know. But this isn't something you can help me with, I'm afraid. I'll be back." He kissed his wife once more and left her there as he pursued his father. He found their conversation taking place in his father's office. He could hear little, but knew for sure there was tension in the air. He pressed his head up against the door.
"...been told years ago!" Shannon snapped. "I warned you, Jeice! I warned you!"
"And why do we have to change things now?" he demanded. "Things are finally-"
"You failed to tell either of them when you had the chance!" she fired back. "Now you don't have the chance to tell your daughter. But your son has every right to know!"
"NO!" Jeice roared. "This will destroy us!"
"It wouldn't have it you had told them before!"
"Even Jane didn't want them to know!'
"Because she was protecting them from it! The same way she was protecting her nephew from our mistake years ago! She protected them, but I'm sure would have told them the truth when they were older!"
"I'm not having this conversation anymore, Shannon! What's done is done! And my son does not need to know-"
Unable to contain himself anymore, Chris knocked on the door. "Dad? Is everything alright in there?"
There was a long moment of silence on the other side of the door. Finally, the door opened and Shannon emerged. She looked pale and sad, but firmly shut the door behind her to prevent Jeice from interfering. She eyed her stepson with utter dread. "Chris. Sweetie. We need to talk."
"Is everything okay?"
Shannon shook her head. "No. No it's not."
"What's going on?"
She gestured for Chris to follow her out into the alleyway behind the restaurant. "Come with me. I need to tell you something. Something your father and I should have told you a long time ago."
Chris's eyes were wild. "What? What do you mean?"
She simply gestured again and walked towards the side door. "Please, Chris. I can't bear for you not knowing anymore." As she slipped through the door, Chris sighed to himself. If things weren't hard on him before, now they were about to get even harder, no matter the outcome of this conversation with the only maternal figure he had left in his life.
{}
Despite doing everything she could to feel optimistic about her friend's success and the remainder of the Master Cup, Addison was unable to find much merriment in the evening. She hadn't even wanted to go, but was compelled to by her father, who reminded her that she had obligations to her friends that extended beyond her devotion to bringing Ryan home. And while she did all she could to feel happy for Annette, Chris and Michael, she could no longer bear to show the fake smile she'd shown everyone since losing Ryan.
For the most part, besides the few friends who would help her in her studies about the strange door she'd found, she was often alone. Her parents were off on their own for the most part, trying to add to their small yet loving family. Lucas was putting the finishing touches on his paper that he was sure would allow him to become a Pokémon Professor in Sinnoh, the youngest there had ever been. Holly was buckling down in her drive to become the next Queen of Arcana and unseat Piper. Tommy, Jeremy, Annette, Matthew and Dawn were off training for the Master Cup or competing in it. She saw less and less of those who mattered the most to her and only had the companionship of her Pokémon to alleviate complete loneliness. Which was better than facing her nightmares alone.
The battle with Mewtwo had scarred her. Both physically, as she had a brush with death in that clash with the mighty Pokémon, as well as mentally. Even as things finally repaired themselves and she saw her friends evolve and move on from where she had last recalled them being, here she was, as if nothing had changed for her since triumphing over her greatest adversary. Her dreams were haunted by the same dream, where Ryan was just within reach of her only to dissolve into dust, fade into darkness or simple walk away. She was horrified to sleep, to eat or to do anything that kept her from keeping her promise to the boy she loved with all of her heart. To bring him home to his family, even if it was broken by all they had lost facing the forces of evil. Every day she lived without him was one she chalked up as a loss of their future together.
She looked up to the one star in the sky that the lights of Titanio City did not block out and sighed. "Maybe it was a fool's hope to think I could get to him again. The way back to Mirage Island is gone. Ryan...Achilles...all of his Pokémon...even Avery...all of them are gone."
"Gone, but not forgotten" a familiar voice spoke behind her.
She didn't have to look, though this was the first time in ages she could recall being in his presence. "Maybe not to you and me, but to everyone else..."
"People cope in their own ways" Michael told her gently. "Not everyone can cling to hope as bravely as you've been. Some accept that things aren't ever going to be as they were. Some are just doing the best to make the most of their situation. But I don't think anyone else has forgotten him. Life unfortunately needs to go on. Even in times like these, when the thing we may want the most is within reach, only for it to be snatched away." He made it to her side. "Your love for him is strong, Addy. Stronger than any love I've ever seen anyone have for another person. But it can't be everything to you. People still need you. Your family needs you. Your friends need you. Your Pokémon need you."
"I did my part" she responded softly. "Mewtwo's gone, Dad and the others were freed and the world is back to normal. What else do I have to do to get my own happy ending?'
"By understanding that the ending you want and the ending you'll see aren't always the same" the King responded. Addison saw him look up to the same heavens she did. "Long ago, all I wanted was to be the Champion. The kind of hero everyone loved my Grandfather as. Knowing what it cost me to get to that point, I don't think I would have pursued that path as vigorously as I did if given a chance to change things. I lost everything that I held dear to me. My identity, my best friends and the only mother I've ever known. I was in a world where I didn't have an idea of what the next day would bring. I wasn't hopeful about the world's future until I saw what you and the boys were becoming. You all adventured, sacrificed, fought and suffered through so much to get to where you are now. But it isn't unfair to say that you didn't want these things to happen. We all have our own predestined paths to walk. Some of them are much rockier than others."
Addison lowered her head. His words did make sense to her, but they weren't what she wanted to hear. She was tired of the compromising she and the others had to do to get what they wanted. Why couldn't everyone get their endings like in the stories she grew up reading? Why did all the people she know have to lose everything? To suffer? To hurt?
"I don't think I ever apologized" she admitted.
"For what?"
Addison squeezed her eyes shut. "For saying what I did. For...for thinking you were trying to make me out to be like Ryan...for saying..for saying...ERGH! I'm sorry for it all!"
Michael sighed and patted her shoulder. "You don't need to apologize, Addy."
"Yes I do" Addison snapped, tears blinding her sight. "Because you are like my Dad! You've always been there for me! And I do love you!" She thrust herself into his chest and hugged him. "I'm so, so sorry." She would not stop shaking for several minutes while her hero and idol held her there. "I'm so sorry."
"You have no reason to be" he said to her. "You were taking part in something that I still can't fully comprehend. I wanted to take that pain away from you, Addy. To show you that you didn't need to be afraid. To protect you. But I wasn't able to." He sighed again. "There are limitations to me, after all."
"I should have listened to you!" she cried. "I should have stopped you from taking on the Fury for me! I should-"
"Addy, everything happens for a reason. You endured what you did to get you to this point. Same with me, same with Ryan, same with so many others. Everyone who fell in battle. Everyone who we lost along the way. They helped you to make the world a much brighter place. Had you not lashed out, do you honestly think what happened could have been averted?"
"Well..."
"The world doesn't operate linearly" he said sadly. "You can never know how the machinations of one will impact the other. You couldn't have stopped Olivia from falling any more than I could have saved my father. It's an important lesson to learn in life, Addy. Perhaps the hardest. We're only human. We can only be as good or as bad as we can be." He finally managed to detach her from his torso and put his hands on her shoulders, her eyes finally peering up to stare into his. "Addy, one day I won't be here. And I need the people I love to be able to carry on in my place. I need to know that my children will be looked after, my Pokémon cared for...Julia kept safe."
"You're not going anywhere for a long time" she assured the both of them, though the back of her head was showing a different picture.
"You never know what the next day brings" he said sadly. "Which is why I want you to understand the world a bit better before I'm gone." He steered her body towards the balcony. Addison's eyes floated towards where Michael pointed, the same star they had both glimpsed but a moment earlier. "Far beyond the reaches of space, beyond the darkest corner of the galaxy, lies a realm of eternal peace and bliss. Though many will only ever see after they pass, some lucky few get to witness it's glory in life. I have, Addison. And from its depths, I know that even in the darkest moments of sorrow and doubt, I'm never alone. I have my grandfather, my father, Cameron, Olivia and the woman I called my mother all looking down on me. And I'm not alone in this, Addy."
"Really?"
He shook his head. "They live in all of us, Addy. They watch over everything we see, take part in every experience, shine from every star, they even appear in your own reflection. Every soul in this world that helped touch you or you've touched, even those whom you never met. They all exist to shepherd us from one life to the next." He patted her shoulders. "So whenever you feel alone, just remember that they are always there to show you to the light. And so will I. And so will he."
"He?"
"He will never be forgotten, Addy" he told her proudly. "One day, you will see him again. Just don't lose sight of those who are there with you now." With one more affectionate pat, he turned and walked away.
Addison could only watch as the King once more returned to the party he was supposed to be enjoying. But he had chosen to come out to comfort her. Once again, Michael had come through when she needed him. She would always have Ryan with her. As she would all that came before him and those who would come after.
But even as these thoughts of joy circulated within her dreary mind, Addison could not help but wonder what this meant for the future. And why did her mind now show her shadows of the future?
So whenever you feel alone, just remember that they are always there to show you to the light. And so will I.
{}
As Michael returned into the restaurant, he realized he has just missed something big. He glanced around and saw tense, nervous glances all around the floor. Striding further inside to know what was going on, he looked for someone to try and fill him in. But no one even seemed to notice him immediately. He made it back to his table and saw even his own children nervously looking around, as unsure of what was happening as he was.
He put his hand on Julia's shoulder. "What happened?"
Julia put her hand on top of his. "I don't know. Piper just ran back there to try and settle things."
"Settle what?"
"Seems like there was a big fight going on in the kitchen."
"Between who? And why would Piper get involved?" His face darkened, as if he already knew the answer. "Oh Arceus above, what happened now?!"
"Unkie Kiss okay?" Arya asked.
"Of course he is" Julia assured their daughter. "He's just a bit upset, that's all."
"Let me go and sort this out" Michael told his wife. He made a glance over to his cousins, Billy and Daniel. "Make sure the Queen and our children get home safe." Both nodded immediately and rushed over to corral the children while Billy and Amanda both helped the weak and heavily pregnant Julia out of her chair. Michael rushed through the curious crowds before nearly being struck by a flying frying pan that crashed into the wall just by the entrance. Piper was standing in between Jeice and Chris, both red-faced and exhausted from what was most certainly a physical altercation. Shannon was behind Jeice, her face white with both shock and fear. Piper had both of her arms wrapped around Chris, doing her best to restrain him.
"Please!" she begged. "Calm down!"
"CALM DOWN?!" Chris roared, flailing angrily as his wife desperately tried to keep him from continuing his rampage. "YOU EXPECT ME TO STAY CALM?!"
"If you would just listen-" Jeice muttered, wiping some grime and a bit of blood off his cheek as he spoke.
"YOU DON'T GET TO TALK!" Chris snarled in a tone Michael almost never heard him speak in.
"What is going on here?!" Michael demanded.
Chris flashed a look in his direction and then back down at his father. "Go on, Dad! Tell him! Tell him what I just found out!"
Shannon looked horrified. "Chris, this is only going to-"
"TELL HIM!"
Jeice pushed himself back up to his feet, clearly dazed and shaken by a blow he'd received from his own son. "I don't owe any explanation to either of you. It didn't impact you. It had nothing to do with you boys or Cameron. Finding out now is only going to cause more trouble for the rest of the family and all of Arcana now thanks to the scene you made!"
"I MADE THIS?! NO! I DIDN'T MAKE ANYTHING! THIS WAS ALL YOU!"
Jeice wiped some of the blood off of his face with an old rag supplied to him by Shannon. "You're being childish, Chris. What happened those years ago had nothing to do with you. Just accept that it happened and move on."
Piper put her hands on Chris's chest. "Please! We don't need this to boil over! It was nothing!"
"What happened?!" Michael demanded again. "It clearly is more than that if you two came to blows over it."
Chris looked down at Piper as if he didn't recognize her. "How could you even say that? She was my mother, Piper! You don't know what she meant to me!"
"What about Jane?!" Michael asked.
"Chris, I didn't mean-"
Shannon finally mustered her courage and grabbed her husband, pushing him away from the escalating situation and moving him towards his office where they had argued earlier. When she returned, she knew that the dark secret had to be revealed at some point. "Listen, Michael. There's something you have to know about-"
Piper desperately clung to her husband and Chris thrashed forward. "HE CHEATED ON MOM!"
Michael was astonished. "What? He cheated on-"
"I only told you because you deserve to know the truth" Shannon explained. "Jeice wanted to hide it as long as possible."
Chris was apoplectic. "ALL TO SAVE HIS WORTHLESS ASS!"
"To preserve your family" Piper pleaded. "To prevent more darkness from engulfing the family. Chris, do you know how much-"
"Did she know?!" Michael asked Shannon.
"Who?"
"JANE!" Michael growled with almost as much authority as Chris did.
Shannon stepped back. "Ye-yes. She agreed that Jeice shouldn't tell you all until you were older." She made a desperate gesture towards Piper. "Your wife is right, Chris. Your mother didn't want you to suffer anymore than you already had."
"THAT'S A LIE!" Chris bellowed.
"You'd all just lost Michael because of the Syndicate's scheming" Jeice's affair partner explained shamefully. "When Jane found out about us, she knew better than to implode the entire family over this. She and Jeice agreed to a separation, which is why your father spent all of his time here in Titanio City while Jane raised you two in Parlor Town. She had already lost one of her children, Chris. Were you willing to make the family implode over all of this?!"
"How many more lies have you all hidden from us?" Chris hissed, finally managing to get Piper to stop clinging to him.
"Sweetie, please" Piper begged.
"You expect me to just move on?!"
"No, I-"
"AND JUST PRETEND MY MOTHER DESERVED IT?!"
Piper was in tears. "No! Never! Chris, please!"
"Your father made a choice" Shannon explained. "One that would have destroyed the Kingstons more than-"
"Then maybe they did deserve to be destroyed!" Chris angrily looked from Shannon to his wife and then over to locking eyes with Michael. "Why are we trying to preserve a family that's constantly built its reputation on lies and deceit? You turned your backs on Michael. Twice! You broke our trust and tried to appease a monster like Claude! You let Matthew get warped and deceived by the Syndicate! All of this just to preserve the idea of family! No Kingston has any inkling of what family is! Not if they were going to let this slide like it was nothing!"
"Haven't people suffered enough?!"
Chris took a step forward. "Cameron loved my father! If she knew the truth about this-"
"She would have destroyed the entire family" Shannon answered for him. "We need peace, Christopher! Too many have suffered since the death of James. Stop worrying about the past and think about the future! I'm not asking you this as your stepmother, Chris. I'm doing so as someone who regrets her role in destroying the trust between a father and his son!"
Chris, fighting back tears, made one final desperate look to Michael. "Please tell me you're on my side! Please tell me there's something we can do for our Mom!"
Michael folded his arms and sighed, doing his best to control his temper. "Actions need to have consequences." He looked over to Shannon. "Those were the words Jeice told me when he condemned me for being accused of destroying that lab. When he bought those Syndicate lies. When he let a boy who might as well have been his son be banished from the only place he'd ever known to be home. All while he was knowingly betraying the trust of my Aun...no. Betraying the trust of my mother. Of our entire family." He looked past the counters where food was prepared as if trying to see what his uncle was doing in the office. "How does he have the gall to keep saying that 'family matters' if he was willing to torpedo it all for his own gratification?"
"I had my own role to play" Shannon added. "It's not his fault entirely."
"Do Kat and Renee know?" Chris asked.
"None of you kids knew" Shannon responded. "It was Jane's idea to protect you all from it."
"Perhaps it was" the King commented, "but it doesn't excuse him for his actions. He betrayed our family and there need to be consequences for his mistake."
"Michael..." Piper wept.
Michael looked to Shannon sternly. "The Pokémon League has been struggling financially. As much as I would like to say otherwise, it's not the truth. We're going to be shutting down the Gym in Cauldro City due to Jon's injury, though the Faire Grounds will remain in place as they are. And after lengthy consideration, we have also decided to shut down the Gym in Trickton."
Shannon lowered her head. "Do what must be done."
"You're both going to go into a splendid retirement" Michael informed her. "My Uncle is going to sell the bistro to his Sous Chef, who will run it as he sees fit. And you both will be allowed to enjoy comfort after your years of lengthy service to the Family...but not in Arcana."
Shannon gasped. Piper was stunned. "Michael, don't do this!"
Trickton's former Gym Leader shed a tear. "So you're going to-"
The King continued. "You have the funds to buy yourselves a nice place on the Kalosian Coast or in Unova to spend time with Katrina and Carson while they're filming. Nothing will be done about Renee and Katrina. They have no role in what transpired. They are still our family. And are welcome to remain here as long as they wish."
"Will we be allowed to return?" Shannon asked.
"That would depend on the penance my Uncle has paid" Michael replied coldly. "He spent most of their lives lying to his own children. To someone who was just as much a son to his wife as his biological son was. And he has to face his punishment." He gestured for Piper and Chris to follow him back out into the restaurant to allow Shannon to grieve. "When the Tournament is over, I will be calling a special session of the Royal Council to make my decrees official. Until then, that's all I have to say on the matter." He then exited as a distressed Shannon broke down and Chris and Piper followed.
Piper rushed in front of him and blocked his way. "There has to be another way, Michael!"
"There isn't" Michael answered sadly.
"Would Jane want you seeking revenge?"
"This isn't revenge" Chris told her, much calmer than he had been before. "This is justice for our Mom!"
"They will have every opportunity to return to Arcana" Michael replied to Piper. "No one can endure what they put me through. But my decision on the matter stands." Piper seemed eager to argue more but gave up and stormed off to be alone. Michael sighed as he turned his full attention to Chris. "She'll settle down after a while. But I have to ask about you."
"I don't need to settle down" Chris grumbled. "I need to focus on the matchups tomorrow."
Michael nodded. "Good call. We've got to be ready for anything tomorrow."
Chris began to walk away, but stopped himself in the middle of the now emptying bistro. "Michael. Don't hold back on me, tomorrow. If I'm not ready for this, I want you to crush me. And if I am, I want you to make me earn it." He spun around and stared at his best friend more seriously than Michael could remember him doing so. "Michael! Promise me!"
Michael nodded. "I will. Nothing held back."
With that, Chris stalked angrily out of the restaurant. Michael shook his head in sorrow. Another tragedy for the Kingston Family that could have been easily avoided, only exacerbated by his own uncle. He would have lamented more of what had been lost had Piper not suddenly reemerged onto the scene, having seemingly mustered the courage to continue arguing on their behalf.
"Jeice is still his father, Michael!" Piper insisted. "Do you really want to-"
"My Uncle made his own mistakes" Michael responded bluntly. "And he has to answer for them."
"I don't think Jane would have approved of this, though" she sighed. "Michael, I don't want to see you two in anymore pain over this."
"You don't need to worry about me" he assured her. "I'd be concerned about your husband."
Piper looked out as Chris exited the restaurant. "I'll give him some space. His mother will always be a soft spot for him, I guess."
"For everyone who knew her" Michael admitted, his thoughts hovering around the woman who had been his guardian angel in his darkest moments, wondering to himself if Piper was right and Jane was sorrowful for what had become of the family she'd been forced to leave behind.