Chapter Sixteen

Before doing anything else, I requested to move Clay to a more peaceful area. We very well couldn't leave his body there in the middle of the PCC, and I wanted to make sure he was taken care of properly. He deserved peace as much as anybody else here in the headquarters, and I needed to ensure that he got it.

We buried him in the earth beneath the tiled floors of the Science Labs. Since he was the one with the dream to go into space, the one who wasn't all bad, he deserved to go in the place he actually wanted to create. There would always be this tiny reminder of him here, and even once we abandoned this place, he'd be left behind.

I was useless, of course, in helping with the task of moving him. My broken hands prevented me from carrying anything or digging up the tiles, and my broken femur prevented me from standing. But once Clay was taken care of, I was next. And I made sure it worked out that way. I didn't want to be more of a concern than Clay.

Henry, his fatherly nature sort of taking over, bandaged my hands in makeshift casts, promising me that once we got out of the underground, he would walk me to the nearest hospital and make me real casts with the materials there. As for my leg, that was more difficult. But he did the best he could wrapping it in spite of my discomfort.

There were no crutches down in the headquarters, either, so I managed with a random plank that I used like a crutch. It was annoying—and painful—and I was tired after walking the short distance to the Science Labs to make sure everything was figured out for Clay. There just wasn't really anything I could do about it.

Once everything was figured out and my broken bones were temporarily mended, my job began. I knew exactly how to revitalize all of the Pokémon within us, but I didn't know how to make it work. I had never been a scientist, and I only knew of this method of revitalization through stories. But I would make it work.

I began heading back to the PCC, using my makeshift crutch to carefully avoid putting weight on my leg. But I couldn't hold onto the crutch because of my broken hands, so I had to lean on it and push it with my arm instead. It took forever to get anywhere, and it hurt so badly that I almost felt like walking on my broken leg would be easier.

Opening the door to the Science Labs was even harder. The heavy door separating the hallway and the room was nearly impossible to open without hands and one leg, but I pushed on it with all my might. I would have to open it to get to the PCC. I wobbled dangerously as I pushed on it with my body, but before I fell, an arm caught me, steadying me and holding me.

"Hey." Silver touched my face lightly, his fingers brushing my cheek. "You don't need to do everything on your own, you know. Especially in this condition." I just sighed, and he held my arm tighter. "Just tell me where you want to go, and I'll bring you there. I'll make sure you get there unharmed."

I couldn't help but believe this comment was a double entendre, a literal meaning and a figurative one behind his words. But I just watched him, seeing his red eyes—so normal after being so angry—search mine. Everything seemed so right again. But there was still work to do. I wasn't going to forget about that.

"The PCC," I told him. "Take me to the PCC, please."

We vanished from the doorway of the Science Labs and reappeared in the PCC beside the computer controlling the main machine. I smiled, glancing at the keys of the computer before looking back at Silver. He was right; I definitely couldn't do this alone, especially when I had no knowledge of how to reverse the computer.

I gestured to the keyboard, unable to point with my broken fingers. "Can you log into this computer?" Silver nodded, typing something into the computer and hitting the return key. The screen flashed before loading into another screen. The data on all the Pokémon came up automatically, and I sighed.

"There's no way to get the exact same Pokémon out." I stared at the humming machine, trying to think of a way to make this work. It was impossible to reverse the procedure done on us. I knew that. But if there was a way to extract just a piece of the Pokémon from the human, then there had to be a chance. "Do you know about resurrection?"

Silver furrowed his eyebrows, crossing his arms at me. "Resurrection? Like with ancient Pokémon? Aerodactyl and Omanyte, Pokémon like that?"

"Exactly." If I could put my hands on my hips and appear smug, I would. But smiling smugly was the next best thing. "You know how they resurrect those Pokémon? They find the DNA from old fossils and stuff. Using whatever technology they use, they can bring those Pokémon back to life—kind of. It's not the exact Pokémon, but it's the same type."

Silver uncrossed his arms, realization lighting up his face. "Oh!"

"Right." I assumed he had figured it out. "So, since we have taken on the abilities of these Pokémon… we must have taken some of their DNA. There's no other way that's possible. Our DNA fused with the DNA of the Pokémon, giving us superhuman powers that a normal person wouldn't have while not altering our bodies. The fusion is key."

Someone clicked their tongue behind us, and I wobbled around to look at Allison. She had a hand to her chin, looking as though she was seriously contemplating something. "Hmm, you have an interesting idea there," she finally said, and she shook her head. "But if they are fused together, there's no way you can resurrect the Pokémon."

"Allison! Where's Lindsey?" Silver took a step closer to Allison, and I narrowed my eyes. I didn't know what the hell Allison did to Lindsey, but she had said that she was better at revenge than I was. Somehow, I didn't see that as a particularly good sign for Lindsey. But after all the people the evil woman had killed, maybe she deserved a dose of revenge aimed her way.

"She's not dead, if that's what you think." Allison put her arms back down by her sides, her eyes forming slits. "She's not good enough for that, and I'm not a killer like she is. We can't stoop down to her level. So, I just did what she did to you: I put her in the dungeon. And when we all get out of here, she can go to jail and stay in a real cell. But she doesn't deserve an escape. She deserves to think about what she's done."

I nodded, secretly thankful that Allison hadn't killed Lindsey. Because she was right: Allison wasn't a killer like Lindsey, and Lindsey wasn't good enough to deserve that escape. Spending time by herself and always remembering what she did sounded like the best idea to me. Because how many ways were there to make a person pay?

"Enough about that; she's taken care of, and that's all that matters." Allison crossed her arms, staring at me. "Tell me… how do you plan on bringing these Pokémon back? Your resurrection plan isn't going to work."

I furrowed my eyebrows, trying to think of something. Allison was a scientist—she could certainly help me out. I just didn't know how to work a resurrection machine or whatever it was that did the job. She could figure that out for me, especially as an engineer. If she couldn't figure it out, then I would have to.

"Okay. Think of a homogenous mixture like salt water. You can't just… pull the salt out of the water, and you can't filter it out." I sighed, trying to figure out how to work this out in my head. "So, the only way to get the salt out of the water is to boil it. Boil the water out, and you're left with salt every time. Just because it's a homogeneous mixture doesn't mean you can't separate the salt and the water."

Allison didn't look convinced. "So, you're saying we need to boil away our DNA?"

I shook my head, holding up one of my wrapped up hands. "I'm not saying that. But I am saying that because our DNA is fused together—kind of like a homogeneous mixture, it can't be separated through simple physical means—we can still separate it. I mean, with me, it will be really difficult… but if we can separate our DNA from the Pokémon's DNA, then we can use the DNA to resurrect the Pokémon. Otherwise it wouldn't work."

Silver looked mildly impressed, and Allison smiled, nodding.

"Yes… I see. Open your mouth." Allison reached into her pocket and pulled out a cotton swab, and I wondered how long she had been carrying that around with her. It seemed highly convenient, but I supposed those were the ways of a scientist. "Lyra, open your mouth. I'm going to try your plan, but I need some DNA."

I did as she said, and she stuck her cotton swab into my mouth, swirling it around for awhile before pulling it out and looking at the slimy stick. She walked over to the machine where the Poké Balls usually went and set the cotton swab down on a little Petri dish, loading it onto the conveyor belt and tapping the machine.

"It's not going to get the abilities out of us," I told Silver as Allison scrambled around the giant machine. "We have to live with those forever. Unfortunately, in order to extract all of the abilities from us, that would require separation for every strand of DNA we have. It would be impossible to do that. But… at least we can bring back what was lost."

Silver nodded, and we both turned to watch Allison. She finally walked back over to us, looking at the computer and typing something on the keyboard. She muttered something in another language, banging the rotting desk that the computer was on and sighing. But then, the screen flashed, and Allison whispered something else in the same foreign language.

"Ja!" she exclaimed, tapping the keyboard. "Okay, Lyra. I can set up this machine so that it can separate DNA. It's going to be tricky, but… I think I can do it. The Pokémon Conversion Unit is built to take abilities of a Pokémon and convert it into an obtainable energy, yes? This obtainable energy is just a charge of DNA—if the machine can convert this energy, it should be able to revert it. And once we do that, the process… well, it's not reversed, but… well, let's just try it. You have so many Pokémon abilities within you. The chances of this working—if it works on you, it will work on anyone."

Allison hurried away once again, grabbing an empty Poké Ball from the basket next to the machine and setting it in the spot where I had been to receive the abilities. She nodded to herself, and I could see her take a huge breath before jumping up onto the conveyor belt and leaning inside the machine.

Silver grabbed my shoulder as I reached forward, jerking my leg terribly, and I smiled back at him through gritted teeth. "Sorry. She makes me nervous going in there like that. We should at least shut this computer down so nothing bad happens… but…"

"Now you know how I feel every time you do something reckless," Silver muttered, and I had to strain to hear him. "Just ten times worse."

I stared at him, wanting to just forget about my broken hands and reach out and touch him. But before I could do anything, Allison screamed, and I jumped, dropping my crutch and stepping painfully on my broken leg. Silver grabbed my stick, handing it back to me before running over to the machine.

Allison came back out of the machine, jumping down off the conveyor belt with a grin on her face. "It was a mess in there. I got shocked," she explained, and I sighed in relief. "But I think I finished. I just had to reconnect a few wires and reset the download cord. We can test it now. If it doesn't work… no one gets hurt. It'll be fine."

Silver and Allison walked back over to the computer, and Allison pressed some more buttons on the keyboard. There was a load banging noise, and the conveyor belt with my Petri dish began to move. I held my breath, hoping that this worked. I didn't have any ideas otherwise. It had to work.

There was a flash, and the computer made a ding! noise. Silver walked over to the Poké Ball and took it, bouncing it from hand to hand as he walked over to us. He held it towards me, and I smiled, moving my bandaged hand in front of him. I wished I could be the one to send the Pokémon out, but it wasn't really an option.

"Can I request something?" Allison asked, and I nodded at her, grateful that she knew how to work all of this stuff. I owed her one. "Can we go to the surface? I haven't seen it in such a long time, and if this worked, the Pokémon will get to… live free. And even if it doesn't, at least we can go to the surface and see what has become of our world. I know you can't get up there too easily, but… I'll get everyone to help you."

I smiled, watching as her eyes lit up. "Yeah. That sounds like a great idea."

So, we all went. Every single person who had been a member of Team Xana walked up to the surface together, with the exception of Lindsey. It was punishment enough for her to miss the sight that everyone got to see together, to hear the excitement as we headed out. It was our world, not hers.

Allison took the Poké Ball, carrying carefully up the stairs like it was a fragile thing that could be broken easily. Silver and Will carried me up the stairs, one arm wrapped around each of their necks, and Henry stood behind us to make sure we didn't fall down the stairs.

The murmurs of excitement made me excited, though I had been outside more recently than any of the others. There was just something wonderful about beginning again with everyone—something wonderful about being with Silver again after years of missing him. Even though we had lost so many, there was nothing like taking it all back.

Professor Elm's lab was still pitch black, the windows bordered with dust and wooden planks. I could barely see the tears in Silver's eyes as he glanced around, and I knew he didn't want me to see—but I did. I squeezed my arm against his neck, and he looked at me, a smile on his lips that was so unfamiliar to me.

"Okay," Allison muttered, reaching the door. She pushed on it with a sigh, opening the door and letting the white light of the sun illuminate the room. A few people gasped, but me… I just laughed, loving the feel of the warm sun as we stepped outside.

A few people ran free, heading out into New Bark Town as liberated souls. Others stood and basked in the sun, staring at the blue sky like something impossible and unreachable. Somehow, I figured they were okay with keeping it like that. Unreachable didn't mean forgotten. It just meant that it was something to be admired from afar.

I glanced around the town, looking to the left to see if I could find my house. There was a mess on the ground, a broken, pathetic heap of wood and plaster. And farther than that, Ethan's house, torn down just like mine. I frowned, shaking my head, but I wasn't brought down by this. It just meant a complete rebirth.

"Lyra?" Will smiled at me, and I nodded at him. "Do you mind if I go? Will you be okay?"

I pulled my arm away from him, laughing quietly. "Oh! Yeah, absolutely. You can go! Don't be kept here because of me."

Silver took over as my sole means of balance, and I smiled apologetically at him. Once we brought all the Pokémon back, I could find a hospital and get some real crutches to hold me up. The only problems were my hands, but casts could fix that for me.

"Ready?" Allison asked, holding the Poké Ball out. I swallowed, nodding.

She threw the Poké Ball up in the air, and I closed my eyes, hoping that something would come out of it. There was a loud popping noise, and I opened my eyes back up to see a Noctowl spread its wings as it escaped from the Poké Ball. It flapped them, flying higher and higher into the sky, and tears filled my eyes.

"It's my Noctowl…" I muttered, and Silver reached over and wiped a tear from my cheek.

Allison walked forward, watching my Noctowl fly in the sky, her eyes wide. She held her arms out, spinning around and laughing. "We did it! Lyra, you figured it out!"

I looked at Silver for a moment, turning carefully on my good leg and burying my face in his chest out of pure happiness. Everything that needed to be figured out had been… everything that had been such a mess before…we could fix it all. Sure, we were still mutant humans with strange abilities… but we could work with that. We didn't need to be confined by that anymore.

Silver touched my chin gently, pulling my face up towards him, and we just stared at each other for a moment. Noctowl flew directly above us, and I glanced up, watching as it swooped down towards the ground. As it flew out of sight, I looked back at Silver; I had a feeling he never looked away from me.

"Is it all right for me to say, 'I love you'?" I asked him, my voice quivering nervously.

"Well, I guess so," he replied before kissing me, picking me up off the ground so I didn't have to worry about my leg. I laughed, wrapping my arms around his neck again and kissing him back, everything so totally perfect for once.

He set me back down on the ground, and I hopped on my one leg with a smile. The Noctowl landed beside us, staring up at me expectantly. Before I knew what to do, Allison held the Poké Ball out to Silver, smiling at the two of us.

"I think this Noctowl belongs to Lyra. Now, come on… we have lots more Pokémon to bring back! We have to go catch everybody that just ran off." Allison rubbed the back of her neck, laughing quietly. "Didn't think about that." I giggled along with her, and Silver ruffled my hair.

"We have time," I replied, glancing around the town again as Noctowl pecked at my feet. "Let them be free for a little while longer. They haven't known it in a long time."

Allison stepped out towards the town again, folding her arms across her chest. "Yes, you're right. Let them know it now."

Author's Note: So, that's the end! Strange that Allison got the last word, but… I kind of like the way she summarized what everyone was feeling. I dunno. It seems to me like a weird line to end it on, but… I totally like it. Which is really weird because I don't usually like what I write, LOL!

I had a wonderful time writing this fanfiction, and I hope you all had a good time reading it. ("Good" might be the wrong word considering how angsty this fanfic was, but… oh well.)

Symbolism, symbolism! Did any of you notice some? And the theme? Did anyone catch that? Feel free to share ideas! :)

Thank you for reading, everyone! Onto "Play Mates and Dream Dates"!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.