Author's Note: This is the third version of this epilogue chapter. The other two were good, I was just indecisive. They're quite different from this one so I'm still posting the other two. Unfortunately, FFN has no series feature so while I am writing a lot more for Masking, it's going to be kind of disorganized. I'm just going to add more chapters and change the titles but I would recommend reading on ao3. There's a link to my ao3 on my bio. The series is titled Fooling The Brain on ao3.

He'd asked them to call him Ziru but that was not who he was. The name was a nod to his past, a short past that hardly defined him but did nonetheless. In his own mind, he was just Zoroark. Names were personal and he was anything but. Being impersonal meant no connections to tie him to the material world, and that meant having the freedom to leave as he pleased.

Allister wouldn't miss the Ghost Train for a couple hours. It wasn't even his to begin with. Zoroark wasn't certain who it belonged to but it wasn't Allister. Arceus maybe, perhaps Giratina. Neither, probably. Zoroark knew it was some sort of higher power, some sort of Legendary Pokémon. Someone who cared about the fates of Ghost-type Pokémon like himself. Giratina nor Arceus were quite like that. Still, he waved to Giratina through the Ghost Train window as he passed through the distortion realm and bowed to his creator as he entered the Hall or Origin. "Almighty Arceus."

"Rise, my child," Arceus told him, voice soft and melodic. Zoroark looked up and took in the sight. The edges of the space were shrouded by clouds, keeping Zoroark from truly seeing the beauty that was Arceus's realm, but he could still see soft golden light trickling in from beyond. It was beautiful, probably. Zoroark didn't think it was for him though. "What brings you here?"

"Warden Ingo," Zoroark told him truthfully. What other reason was there for Zoroark to visit Arceus? The only real interest he had in him was about Ingo. "His ghost is nearly silent."

Arceus hummed. "That is good to hear. I chose my hero well. I trust he will continue to do good. Is that all?"

Zoroark hesitated. "I was… I was wondering when his mission will end. You want him to strengthen the bonds between humans and Pokémon but there is no end to that mission. He's done well though, and he's finally ready to begin living his life. He's back at the Battle Subway, he and Emmet are making plans to build another train, his father's settled into life with Drayden, and he's just doing well overall. But he's still thinking about your mission. He's wondering if he should join Allister on the Ghost Train or use his ability to understand Pokémon to take a job as a translator or a Pokémon connoisseur…"

"That is his choice then. He does not have to pick a new path on my behalf," Arceus told him. Zoroark opened his mouth to argue but Arceus held up a hoof to tell him that he wasn't finished. "You are right in that the Warden's mission has no end. Calling it a mission may not be the best term for it. It is more like a purpose. Warden Ingo's initial mission in Hisui, like young Rei, was to repair the damage created by the rift. Specifically, the distrust it sewed in the hearts of people and Pokémon. The Zoroark's interference changed things though."

Zoroark nodded ever so slightly. He knew this. This is why he became involved.

"Ingo's inability to complete the mission meant it was Rei who had to stabilize the rift. Ingo still showed the people of Hisui the bond they could have via his Wardenship but he wasn't the one who completed the mission. I sent him home regardless because I knew the kind of man Warden Ingo is."

"What do you mean?"

"I chose him because Ingo already was an extraordinary human. There was no real mission for him. No matter what he does, he is an optimal example of what Pokémon and humans could be. That is why his mission has no end. Whether or not I tell him to do it, Ingo will continue helping humans and Pokémon understand each other until the day he dies. Even when he died and became a Pokémon himself, that did not stop him. To him, it merely gave him more options."

Zoroark's ears perked up a bit. "I- I suppose you're right."

"He could've taught the Zoroark population about the ways of humans, or ended the Pearl Clan's fear of wild Zoroark. He could have become an ambassador, or used his newfound abilities to completely change the way your old trainer's dojo functioned. In this timeline, he used it to better understand his Pokémon. He created bonds with them unlike any the world has seen and now he's showing the modern world. I am quite satisfied with how it turned out."

Zoroark nodded along but he had to admit he'd stopped listening. "But you said there were other ways it could've turned out? Can- can I see them?"

Zoroark didn't know what compelled him to ask that but he was relieved to see that Arceus hardly reacted. "Is that how you wish to spend the rest of your days? What is it you would like to do?"

"What?"

"Your tracks ran parallel to Ingo's. If you believe he will be sufficient without you watching over him, you have a choice to make. Your mission was to guide him through the conflict between his two halves, between being a human and a Pokémon. You were the only one able to make sure his ghost didn't splinter."

"Why me though?" Zoroark didn't know what any of that had to do with him. "Because I was the only Zoroark with a trainer in Hisui?"

"Not exactly, though that did help. You yourself know conflict. Your Normal and Ghost-typing brew conflict within you. You feel a connection to the material world, your pack and later your trainer, as well as the supernatural world, the ghost train and the spirits you've met. It creates a desire to live among the other mortals but it also feeds your call to listen to Legendary Pokémon such as myself. Yet, you've found balance. You understand the balance between the realms. You live in the material world but you still find fulfillment by helping other Ghost-types like Ingo and by riding the Ghost Train."

Zoroark never thought he had balance but he supposed Arceus was right. Ingo didn't have balance and Zoroark heard his ghost screaming. Zoroark's ghost didn't scream. It had, once upon a time. When he'd died the first time, when he came back, and all the time between, it'd screamed. Well, not screamed. Ingo's screamed because he was loud. Zoroark's was different. He didn't know how to describe it but it was. There has been unrest in his ghost and now there wasn't.

"What is it you'd like to do?" Arceus repeated and Zoroark stared up at him. "Return to your old pack? Go back to Zisu? Continue your time with Allister and the Ghost Train? Leave behind your physical body and abandon the material world? Or would you like to stay here with me? Become my companion in the Hall Origin and see all the ways all the stories of the world could have been?"

Zoroark had to admit he was interested. Warden Ingo was the most interesting thing he'd seen in his life and afterlife. That created another conflict. On one paw, he was interested to see how things could've gone differently. Watching the latest part of Ingo's story was fascinating and Arceus was telling him he could see different versions of it. On the other paw, he enjoyed the story he'd seen. He wanted to see how it'd end.

"I'm staying," Zoroark told him and he swore he saw Arceus smile. "I want to see how it goes with this Ingo."

"Me too, my child. Me too."

Author's Note: As previously stated, there's more of Masking! It's way better organized on ao3 though so I'd recommend reading it there but I will add it here at some point.