Hey Everybody! June 10, July 31, same thing, right? Turns out the Bar Exam is a bit more difficult than I anticipated, so unfortunately I had no free time these last ten weeks as I prepared for it. Thankfully, though, I finished it this last Wednesday and am officially on sabbatical for the next six months as I await results and chart out my next big adventure.

My wife has been adamant that I use this time to rest and recuperate. However, she surprised me a few days ago with one demand. She said the one thing I had to do in these six months is "finish your Pokémon story." She's not much of a Pokémon fan, but we share an email address, and she's read many of your reviews and PMs as a result. She told me that I have the most patient, long-suffering fans of all time, and I owed it to you guys to get this story complete. I, of course, agreed with her.

So plan on chapters coming out with much more regularity. I'm going to try for every week, but my brain is pretty deeply fried, so you may see them come out two weeks at a time. They'll be published at this time – midnight, Sunday morning east coast time – regardless of which week, so check in around that time for the next update.

This chapter is dedicated to super-fan poka! Thank you for your reviews and insights!

Without further ado, read and REVIEW PLEASE.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or any of its affiliated companies including, but not limited to, 4Kids, The Pokémon Company, Game Freaks, or Cartoon Network. The characters written within this story are solely based upon the fictional characters created by these companies, and the story is not meant to, nor will it, receive any monetary funding.

Characters' Ages:

Ash: 18

Misty: 19

Pikachu awoke to the sound of Ash's voice.

"C'mon buddy. It's getting late." He put out his arm and the mouse Pokémon climbed up. The sun that had still been visible when he'd fallen asleep was gone, and the courtyard was deserted.

"We may as well go to the graveyard now. I still can't get a hold of Misty, so I don't think we'll be welcome back at the hotel just yet."

"Pi."

Ash held up a small, velvet box before the flickering light of a streetlamp. "Hopefully this will make everything better, though."

"Pika?"

"I'll explain later. Let's go."

They took a leisurely pace back through town, to the other side where the chapel waited. As they approached, Ash was relieved to see he was right – the press had given up and finally gone home.

"Oh, no." He tried pulling the gate back several times, to no avail. "How could I not think of that? Now the others can't get in, either!"

"Pikachu." He tugged on Ash's collar toward the church.

"Yeah, maybe." He walked up the steps and removed his ballcap. To his excitement, the ornately-carved wooden door gave when he pulled.

He poked his head in. "Hello?"

The chapel's design took a new ambiance at night. The bright, colorful windows that appeared during sunlit hours were now replaced by voids that seemed to mirror the blackest night. Candles flickered against the cold stone walls atop brass holders.

Up front, the statue of Arceus appeared to Ash almost angry as the fires' reflections burned inside its golden form.

"Pika."

"Yeah. Let's go."

The sound of creaking wood stopped him dead in his tracks. He was suddenly aware of a dark shape taking form up front.

"Pi…" A bristling surge of static brushed his cheek as Pikachu narrowed his eyes.

"Is-is it a ghost Pokémon?" Cautiously, the two made their way forward. He could hear his pulse.

The shape came into clearer view; almost as if a dark mist was being lifted from it.

"A Gengar! Thunderbolt!"

"Chu!" The crack of electricity roared through the silent cathedral and over the pews. After a moment, Pikachu relented in his attack, and the two waited for its counter.

As the smoke cleared, though, a Light Screen came into view.

Ash's eyes went wide. "Red?"

"…"

"What are you doing here?"

"…"

Fear was replaced by indignation.

"You know, people were wondering why you didn't show up today. I was wondering the same thing."

"…"

"You and Lance knew each other for thirty years. How could you not come to his funeral?"

"…"

"Dammit, say something!" He took a step forward. "You've made an enemy of almost everyone. No one thinks you care about what happens anymore. You know that?"

"Good."

"Good? How is it a good thing that no one trusts you anymore? How is it good that people think you're a cold, heartless jerk who doesn't care about anything but battling?"

"…"

He clenched his fists, but then relaxed them. His voice grew soft. "Master, I'm sorry for my disrespect. I know you're not heartless. I know you care. But the thing is, even though I know it, no one else does."

"That's good. I don't want people I care about to be hurt."

"You said that on Mount Silver, but it's over, remember? Giovanni's gone. So is Team Rocket. You said they threatened your family, but there's no one left to threaten them anymore."

"We said that last time. I lost my wife."

"I know, but this time's different. It really is. Who else could take over? There's no one left in the family."

Red shook his head and looked down. Ash sighed.

"So you're here to pay your respects?"

"…"

"So are we." He pulled out Kingdra's ultra ball. "Lance left his main team to us. The champions, I mean, and Chris."

Silence.

"You know, something's been bothering me for months now, but there was no one I could talk to about it. Now that Lance is gone I might never get the answer. Last time I asked you this, you told me to ask him, but now that that can't happen, I want to ask you again."

"…"

"Why didn't Lance tell me about my dad? He recruited my dad to work for the G-Men, but he never mentioned that in all the time I knew him. When I was working with them to stop Paul or save Misty. There's no way he didn't realize who I was, was there?"

"I don't like to talk too much."

"No kidding."

"I don't like to talk too much, because when you give too much information, you risk saying something you shouldn't."

"He was my father. I didn't know him too well, but I deserved to know what he did." Ash looked down. "How he died."

He was surprised by a hand on his shoulder. He looked up. "Think about it."

"I can't think of any reason he'd hide that."

"None?"

"No."

"Your mom?"

This gave Ash pause. "I don't understand why that would matter. Yeah, she knew, but she obviously hadn't told me."

"She didn't tell you. So why would he?"

"Because I had the right to know."

"Did he have the right to tell? He wasn't your mother."

"I-huh." He smirked in defeat. "Guess I never thought of it like that."

"…"

"Truth is, I'm not that affected by losing my dad. It makes me sad to think about, but I don't have a lot of memories of him, so it doesn't really feel like I lost him. Hard to lose what you never had, you know?"

Red nodded, withdrawing his hand. It was now that Ash realized how tired he looked. His eyes, uncovered by his usual red and white ballcap, were bloodshot and outlined by dark circles. His jacket and jeans were torn, and his running shoes were caked with mud and melting ice.

"You really need to go home."

"…"

"We had this talk last time we met. It's safe. We're all safe. You did your job. Don't you want to see your family again?"

"…"

"On Mount Silver, you said something that I've been thinking about a lot. You mentioned that we do what we do so others can be safe. We 'fend off the darkness.'"

"…"

"I really liked that when I first heard it. It sounded dark and cool, and it felt appropriate after everything I'd just been through. But, I've had the last seven months to heal. Not only that, but I've also had a lot of time to think. And I'm starting to think that you're kind of wrong."

"…"

"I mean, you're right, in a way. It's our job to make the tough choices. To fight the tough fights. But it's not just our jobs. If we stand alone, we'll never win. Look at you; you stayed on that mountain for over a decade waiting for a chance to take down Team Rocket, but you never would have had one if we hadn't gotten involved."

"…"

"I'm not saying I'm not grateful. I'm also not saying I disagree with what you did to Giovanni. It's still hard for me to accept that killing him was the right thing to do, but, well, I dunno. I can't think of any other way you could've kept Kanto and Johto safe. But what I'm saying is that it took all of us to make that happen. Me, Misty, the champions." Here, he paused, and looked to the Arceus statue. "Lance. It took all of us to make that happen."

"…"

"So maybe me and you aren't on a ledge, fending off the darkness alone. Maybe we're fighting it with our friends and family. And if we do it that way, then maybe we have a real shot."

To his utter shock, Ash swore he could see a small smile tug at the corner of Red's mouth.

"Maybe."

They sat down on the front pew, Arceus looking down on them.

"Did you use the master ball?"

Ash pulled it out, enlarging it as he did so. "Yeah. Wanna see?"

Red smirked. "You seem confident."

"I am. Don't get me wrong, I don't think it'll be easy. But I'm ready."

"Where?"

"You know, originally I wanted it to be at the Indigo Plateau, where my first Pokémon League challenge ended. I wanted to relive the past, but do it right this time." He chuckled and looked up. "But, I dunno, I guess that doesn't work for me anymore. I don't wanna live in the past. I don't wanna make this all about me, because it's not. I'm the Sinnoh Champion. This job is what has allowed me to chase my dreams of becoming the Master. Our match will bring a ton of money wherever it's held between ticket sales, merchandise, TV ads, tourism, and all that other stuff. I need to look out for my region. So let's do it there, in the Champion's Stadium – in my stadium."

Red nodded. "It's good you're taking care of them."

"It took me a long time to realize it wasn't all about me. I don't think it hit me till I started working to get the gym leaders repair money."

"Better late than never."

"Well, that actually brings up something else I wanted to talk about with you."

"…"

"If I do win, would you be willing to take back your champion title?"

"…"

"I'm not saying it's a guaranteed thing, but the truth is with Lance gone, one of us will have to handle this."

"Who do you think should lead Johto?"

"Chris. What do you think?"

Red nodded.

"You think it's a good move?"

"Let's wait and see who wins. I win, I'll choose. You do the same. Loser has to become the Kanto Champion."

"Wait, really?"

"You've done good work for Sinnoh. Kanto is our home. I want someone I can trust watching over it."

"Same here."

Now a real smile appeared behind the five o'clock shadow.

"So why are you here?"

Red nodded to the graveyard. "You?"

"No one told Lance's other Pokémon what happened. We figured it would be easier to take them to the gravesite and let them figure it out than explain it."

He stood up. "Come on." The two walked through the side door to the church's cemetery. The mound of fresh dirt made Lance's plot easy to distinguish even in the pale moonlight.

Ash opened the ultra ball once more. "Kingdra, this is where your master went. Dragonite is here, too."

The water and dragon type floated over to the grave and began sniffing the air. Kingdra leaned over the site and smelled the dirt carefully, then gave Red a cautious side glance. The Master stood with his arms crossed, his expression unreadable.

"I'm-I'm sorry, Kingdra. They're gone."

"Pika-pi-pikachu."

Silence, then a high sob. All at once, the dragon was whining pitifully through his narrow snout. His floating ceased as he laid onto the mound above his master, nuzzling his head slowly into the dirt.

Tears began forming in Ash's eyes once again.

"I'm so sorry."

"So am I."

"Pika."

The three came closer, and laid their hands on Kingdra as he sobbed for the loss of his master and best friend. His wails screeched into the night, begging for an impossible comfort.

Author's Notes: Red makes a reappearance! I hope you enjoyed his brief chat with Ash, because it'll be the last one they have until they meet for their big battle. I don't have much to say down here, so please tell me what you thought in a REVIEW PLEASE.