A few months had passed by, and the group of trainers with the professors and the splices were back in Pallet Town, helping each other recover from all the crazy events that had taken place. All of the injuries the party sustained had healed, and training to learn how to control their shadow states had resumed.

This evening, Takuya was looking over his power seal tattoo in a mirror back at Ash's house. It went over his entire left arm all the way up to his shoulder, and even went over parts of his chest around the scar that Reaper had left. He was fascinated by the design, which he also admired.

Reaper walked into the room. "Looking over the tattoo, or are you doing poses in the mirror again?"

Takuya glanced at Reaper in the mirror. "A bit of both. I know it serves an important purpose, but I also like the way it looks… It's stylish, edgy…" Takuya flexed his arm, observing more details of the tattoo.

"I agree. Plus, it really looks good on you." Reaper suddenly covered his mouth after the words left his mouth. "I… I didn't think about what I was saying, I-"

Takuya turned to face Reaper, surprised. "You… You really feel that way about me?"

Reaper paused. "I… I'm not- I mean…" Reaper turned his head to the floor, a blush on his face. "...Yeah. Yeah, I do."

Takuya took Reaper into his arms, gently raising his head so they were looking at each other in the eyes. Takuya was smiling, joy etched on his face.

"I… I never thought I would find anyone…" Takuya said.
Reaper returned the grin. "Neither did I… Especially after everything I did…"

Takuya gave Reaper a nuzzle. "You don't have to worry about that anymore…"

With that, Takuya drew Reaper into his arms, both embracing one another…

Reaper held Takuya close as he let out a sigh. "I don't want to lose you again, Takuya… I just don't. I couldn't take it a second time."

Takuya rubbed one of his hands across Reaper's forehead gently. "Neither could I."

# # # # # #

Avery, Sparta, Kasi, and Venin were downstairs, helping Brock, Mrs. Ketchum and Mrs. Sapphire prepare dinner. Tonight's meal consisted of deep-fried tofu, covered in a sweet and sour sauce with steamed vegetables and rice, as well as a salad of leafy greens with Italian dressing, and a no-bake strawberry cheesecake for dessert. Venin was helping Kasi to set the table, while Sparta was helping Avery clean up the cooking utensils.

Sparta turned to Avery. "Kinda reminds me of the chores we did back home at the Orange Islands."

"Yeah." Avery agreed. "I remember the first day me and Dad moved to Shamouti… It was right after mom died…" Avery set the plate he was washing into the dish strainer, so it could dry, taking a pause as Delia walked over.

"Your mother died when you were little?" She asked with a gentle voice.

"Yeah." Avery said, doing his best to hold back his tears. "She died when I was ten years old, from a terminal illness. Before she died, we all lived happily in Cianwood City, near the Whirl Islands. My father, Abraham, was a student of the Gym Leader there, Chuck when he was a younger man. After Abraham graduated, we had our own dojo. My dad started training me in the techniques he learned while mixing in his own. Our martial arts dojo was named the Thunder Fist school. I find that kind of ironic, considering the Pokemon I was spliced with bears the said element my father's dojo was named after." Avery chuckled at first, then started to sob. "Though after she died, my father changed… He became very bitter, and depressed since Mom was gone. I tried hard to make dad happy again at first, but I eventually gave up on the prospect. Especially after we moved to Shamouti Island. Dad restarted up the Thunder Fist dojo there, but he began to train me and the other students a lot harder. He became more harsh, more abrasive, more obsessed with everyone being in tip-top condition. Both in physical shape, and in technique mastery. He only kept getting worse with time... He'd go extra hard on me, since I was next in line for the Dojo when he died. He became fixated on it all, fixated on making me ready to take over… He did not care about anything else. Not even about my life, or the choices I wanted to make. It became too much for me to bear. I just couldn't deal with it anymore… So I took Sparta, who was only a Machoke at the time, and set off on the road. We sneaked off the island on a passing ferry late at night, hiding in the cargo hold after bribing the ferry captain. I've never looked back since, mainly due to some things dad said during the last week I was there."

Kathy Sapphire gathered the courage to ask. "...What kind of things did he say?"

Avery set down the dishcloth and pulled the plug in the sink, draining the dish water as tears fell from his eyes. "He said that no matter what, I would not be able to control my own fate. That it was my duty and destiny to take up the Thunder Fist dojo. That I did not have a choice in any of it… When I was young, before mom got sick, I wanted to be a traveling Pokemon martial artist and trainer. I wanted to travel the world, learn and see new combat techniques from other martial artists. I wanted not just to better the school, but myself as well. Dad didn't see it that way, he just viewed it as a fruitless waste of time. I can't even count how many times that we would endlessly argue over that… He also said some things about Mom that stabbed me in the heart, even sometimes going so far as to say that it was my fault that she died… That I wasn't strong enough… The last argument the day before me and Sparta departed Shamouti left a particularly bad mark on my view of him. That's why I chose to leave… Not just to have control over my own life, but also to hopefully show him how bad he screwed up. It hurt to leave, since I had to leave behind a lot of good friends on Shamouti Island… But I knew if I had stayed there, I would end up eventually snapping and hurting someone, namely him. I didn't want that."

Unbeknownst to Avery, Kasi and Venin had finished setting the table and walked right in as Avery was telling his story. After Avery finished, Kasi gave him a hug from behind, wrapping her arms around him protectively.

"I know it hurts to remember, but if this counts for anything… I feel you made the right choice, Avery." Kasi said. "Maybe someday in the future, both of you can meet again and reconcile. But for now, just remember that you made the right choice."

Avery wrapped his arms around Kasi after that, returning the embrace as he quietly wept over the memories.

After this quiet breakdown, Kasi patted Avery on the back, and they both went into the dining room with everyone else.

"Venin, Sparta could you both be a couple of dears and let Tyler, Ash, Dante, Trisha, Mary, Harrison, Takuya, and Reaper know that Dinner's ready and to wash up, please?" Kathy asked.

"You got it. I'll go round them up right now." They both said. Venin went off to the sliding glass door to the yard to get Ash, Tyler, and Dante while also passing the word on to Harrison and Mary in the living room. Sparta meanwhile, started to ascend the staircase to go upstairs to one of the guest rooms to let Takuya and Reaper know.