Chapter 14
A Lonely Island
The abrupt transition from the thin, icy air of Mt. Silver to the pleasant warmth of the Sanctuary was so sudden, it was as though someone had pulled a blanket out of the dryer and chucked it straight at AJ's face. A bizarre experience, to be sure, but a uniquely pleasant one.
The group had decided to forego the behind-the-waterfall route this time, as making the trip with everyone would have been difficult, particularly with Sammy's injured leg. Instead, they'd taken the route that wild pokemon used, and which was presumably also the route that Sammy had been brought into the Sanctuary to begin with. Following Cole's guidance as he'd soared ahead of them atop the Braviary he'd befriended, they looped up and around the last tall spire of Mt. Silver until they found a particularly craggy indent, like a massive pockmark on the mountain face, and flew straight into it.
Just before she thought he was going to crash, he vanished. The space in front of the near-vertical crater was apparently some sort of portal that led into the Sanctuary itself, providing an easy access point for flying pokemon or anything too large to fit into the cave.
Jade and Sammy had flown in next, riding atop Jade's Metagross. Usually, when the trio had to fly somewhere, it was AJ who rode with Jade. However, given the state of Sammy's leg, he couldn't currently ride on his Corviknight, so he and AJ had opted to switch places. She found herself missing the relatively smooth passage that Metagross provided, however, as the way Corviknight bobbed up and down in the air with every beat of its wings was starting to become nauseating.
Thankfully, it wasn't long at all until it was her turn to fly through the portal - an absolutely harrowing experience, having to fly straight at a rock face despite knowing that it was an illusion and she'd be perfectly safe - and a minute later, they were landing on the lush, green grass and dismounting.
The air here was so warm, the sky so blue, the sun so dazzling… A positively surreal sight after the bleak, frostbitten wasteland that was Mt. Silver. It truly was a paradise, secreted away in the center of this harsh wasteland of ice and snow. A wonder of the world, had humans ever found it. Though she knew that if they did, it wouldn't remain a wonder for much longer.
While Jade's Metagross helped Sammy dismount with its psychic powers and Cole bid farewell to his wild Braviary friend, AJ recalled Corviknight and took a moment to pretend to examine the scenery. Internally, a small part of her couldn't help but marvel at the sheer beauty of it all - the flowers and trees dotting the landscape, leaves and blades of grass alike undulating in the pleasant breeze, the gentle river, the rolling hills, the pokemon… But it was hard to let herself fully feel the wonder of it all.
Discreetly, she lifted a hand up to her belt and let her thumb stroke the first ball on her belt. Pichu was in there. He'd rarely spent any time in his pokeball at all on their journeys, so the sensation of him being in there and not up on her shoulder or racing around through the grass, squeaking and laughing and causing a ruckus… It just felt wrong.
Despite being together with her friends on a fantastical adventure in an impossible paradise surrounded by legendary pokemon, she was struggling to fully immerse herself in the wonder of it all. Everything around her just felt gray and lifeless. And it wouldn't be put to rights until Pichu was up and smiling again.
But then, that was why they were here, wasn't it? After they'd returned to the cabin yesterday afternoon, while they were all gathered around the table for dinner - well, all of them except Ash, who had been conveniently absent once again - Sammy had brought up the topic of legendary pokemon with Cole.
That had been great for her, because it meant she could avoid engaging in direct conversation with her grandfather and instead pick at her food in sullen silence. Or at least, she could until Sammy had brought up the topic of which legendary pokemon lived in or had been spotted in the reserve, and whether any of them had the ability to heal.
If his tone had seemed a bit staged, and if he'd been giving strange, rather knowing looks to Cole, AJ had soon forgotten all about them once Cole had confirmed, with a look of mingled surprise and frustration that he hadn't thought of it himself, that such a pokemon had indeed been seen in the Sanctuary a few times. Which meant she didn't have to sit here like a lump feeling useless after all - there might actually be a way to help Pichu.
Maybe. Possibly. After all, the pokemon in question didn't live in the Sanctuary - it had just been known to make the odd appearance from time to time. And while Cole claimed he knew where to go to seek it, he had stressed the fact that he couldn't promise that it would show up - or that it would offer to help even if it did. But honestly, what other choice did she have?
And so, here she was.
Off to meet a god and beg for its mercy.
On any other day, she may have found it funny how this still wasn't the strangest thing that had happened to her on this trip. Only, it had been hard to see the humor in things these days.
As Cole had explained the night before, the legendary pokemon that Sammy had been alluding to, the one who was said to be able to heal, was a deity from Kalos known as Xerneas.
AJ had heard the name before, of course. You couldn't have spent years traveling the world with Sammy Oak without having him talk your ear off about every legendary pokemon under the sun. And while AJ could admit that her knowledge about this particular legend from the other side of the world was a little lacking, Sammy had been more than happy to expound in excessive detail.
Xerneas was said to have been worshiped in olden days as the 'Lord of Life' - one of two beings people had believed governed the natural cycle of life and death, alongside its counterpoint, Yveltal. Xerneas was allegedly responsible for presiding over the creation of new life - of springtime and births, the planting season and things like that. Old holidays that celebrated Xerneas were still held across Kalos, Paldea, Galar and Unova in the spring, full of dancing and feasts and celebration.
To counter this, Yveltal was worshiped at the tail end of fall, as the autumn gave way to winter, as crops withered and people and pokemon alike withdrew to their homes and hovels to endure the harsh, frigid months of stillness and death. Contrary to Xerneas, however, Yveltal wasn't so much worshiped as it was feared, and its holiday was mostly one of solemnity, where offerings were made to appease the 'Lord of Death' and beg for its wrath to pass them by in the night.
The two were intrinsically linked, however, and while the people feared Yveltal, they did not hate it. Death was necessary for the cycle of life to continue, and its importance was well understood in those ancient days. They were two halves of a whole, it was said. The opposite faces of a coin. You couldn't have one without the other. And it was sometimes said that when the faithful came to Xerneas to plead for salvation, Yveltal would on occasion appear in its stead and deliver not the mercy of continued life, but the mercy of a swift, painless death.
Stories, of course. Trumped up legends from a backwards society that hadn't understood enough of science and natural law and instead sought answers in fairytales and myths.
And yet, standing here now in this garden of giants, of myths made real, she couldn't help the small yet insistent tremors that radiated down her legs, trying to root her in place.
What if, when she cried to Xerneas for help, it didn't show? And worse than that… What if, just like in the old stories, Yveltal appeared instead and stole her Pichu away?
An insane thought on any other day. But not this day. Not when they were here. Not when the truth of the world stretched out in front of her across impossible hills of green.
The group set a course across the luscious, verdant fields of the Sanctuary, moving much slower than AJ would have liked due to Sammy limping along, using Jade as a crutch. She'd been annoyed at first when Cole had said they needed to land and walk the rest of the way - flying straight there would have been faster and easier, especially with Sammy's injury - but Cole had seemingly been concerned about possibly causing offense.
"You need to understand, some of these pokemon are old - ancient, even," he'd explained, walking alongside her. "And they're powerful. Extraordinarily so. Askin' them for help is already a bit presumptuous, especially for us humans, so if we want to improve our chances as much as possible, I figure it's best to try and show a little humility. In the olden days, the peoples of Kalos and Paldea and even Galar used to make pilgrimages that could last for weeks, even months, to beg for their aid. I figure the least we could do is walk for a few minutes."
But AJ was antsy. Every second they delayed was another second that Pichu was in pain. Surely no respectable being - especially not one that was said to be a god - would overlook that over something so petty as rudeness.
Yet even with that sense of urgency spurring her onward, AJ found herself plagued with the conflicting desire to turn around and go back to the cabin. After all, nothing could go wrong if she didn't try.
It was a stupid thought. A selfish thought. One that would accomplish nothing but continuing Pichu's suffering, but she couldn't deny any longer, not now that they were actually here, that she was scared. And this fear was a new concept for her. She wasn't one to back down from a challenge just because she could fail - or at least, she didn't used to be. She hadn't been scared when she'd challenged the Elite 4 or the Champion, Lance. A bit nervous, perhaps, but not scared. This fear of failure was foreign and strange, something that had spawned inside of her more recently. Ever since arriving on the mountain. Ever since meeting her father.
As though oblivious to AJ's emotional turmoil, her companions all seemed to be in particularly good moods today.
Sammy especially was in his element, for all that he was being half-carried by Jade. His wide eyes sparkled under the sun like a child on their birthday, eyes bouncing around eagerly, exclaiming at every sight and bemoaning the fact that he didn't have his pokedex on him to take pictures or notes.
His frenetic pointing had caused two small pokemon they'd come across playing in a patch of pansies, pokemon who AJ didn't recognize - a Meloetta and a Shaymin, apparently, according to Cole - to slowly draw back from the group and hide in some nearby bushes.
When a small blue creature floated by overhead and waved - Manaphy? Or maybe Phione? - Sammy had literally shrieked like his favorite pop idol had just showed up on his doorstep. AJ had never seen him this excited before. On any other day, it would have been hilarious.
Cole for his part merely seemed amused, and somewhat embarrassed, at Sammy's over-the-top reactions to what must have seemed to Cole as nothing more than the mundane aspects of his everyday life. Jade, however, was clearly starting to get annoyed at having to keep dragging Sammy forward every time he wanted to stop and gush.
The path to their destination wasn't paved, of course - there were no roads or even dirt paths in the Sanctuary - but it wasn't a difficult journey. The grass was soft and dry, the hills they passed through not too steep, and as they made their way, they gradually began to follow the bank of the river that snaked its way through the evergreen paradise. This soothed AJ's anxiety at least somewhat; water always did, and as they walked along, she found herself watching the river's gentle currents flow, following the path of a lone Goldeen as it danced just below the water's surface.
"So, question," Jade asked, no longer paying Sammy any mind as he pointed at a figure in the distance and argued with himself over whether it was a Suicune or a Virizion, "I get this is like, the Sanctuary where Legendary pokemon come to chill out or whatever. But why are there so many… regular pokemon here?"
She pointed over to the river bank where a Meowth was taking a nap under the shade of a tree. A Squirtle popped its head out of the water for a second to watch them before diving back down, out of sight.
"I don't get how a Meowth could have survived the journey up this icy mountain the whole way here."
"It didn't," Cole said simply. "It came here with Mewtwo. Or rather, I guess it'd be more correct to say Mewtwo brought it here. It, and most of the other non-legendary pokemon you see."
He made a sweeping gesture with his hands, and for the first time, AJ started to really pay attention. There was a Togepi playing in a bed of flowers beside a sleeping Vileplume. A Geodude rolling down a hill. A Dewgong sunbathing on a rock.
She'd noticed the regular pokemon before, of course, but had completely overlooked them in favor of the overall strangeness of the warm, green paradise they'd found - as well as the actual legendary pokemon who hung out here as well. She hadn't even spared a thought for how they'd arrived. Certainly, a Dewgong couldn't have made its way here, even if it had been released in the wild.
"Mewtwo did?" Jade asked, clearly flabbergasted. "But why? Is it holding them hostage, too?"
"No, no," Cole said, chortling good-naturedly. "He rescued them. You'd probably want to ask Ash for the full story - he was there, after all, not me. But it has to do with that story I told you and AJ the other night, the one about Giovanni and his obsession with Mew. From what I hear, he tried to clone Mew from a bit of the blood he got in our last battle and ended up with Mewtwo instead. That same cloning technology went on to clone a bunch of other pokemon, who you see here now living in the Sanctuary to keep them safe from humans. I forget the rest of the details though. I was already here on the mountain when all of that was happening."
"Cloning, huh?" Sammy said, apparently having been brought back to reality at least for the moment. "Most of the regular pokemon seem to be native to the Indigo League. Was Mewtwo made somewhere in Kanto or Johto? When did this happen?"
"Oh… I'd say about… Thirty years ago, give or take? Some of these pokemon are the same ones that Mewtwo brought with him, but most are descendents. They've been able to flourish here peacefully, free of human interference. I can't say I agree with Mewtwo's every opinion, but I can't deny these pokemon have had a great life since coming here."
"Thirty years…" Sammy mused thoughtfully, a pensive frown on his face. "That was right around the time that the lab on Cinnabar burned down, right?"
"I have no idea, lad," Cole said with a shrug, and Jade snorted.
"Everything on Cinnabar burned down after the volcano erupted."
"No, I meant before that. The one Blaine and Dr. Fuji used to work at, where they were researching fossil restoration."
"Blaine and who?"
"You know - famous researcher? Went on to oversee the Lavender Tower? Passed away a few years ago-"
"Sammy, no regular person knows the names of every random researcher on the planet. We're not all a bunch of dorks like you Oaks."
"Dr. Fuji was a household name!" Sammy exclaimed, affronted. "Everyone in the Indigo League knows about him! His research led to so many breakthroughs - fossilized pokemon restoration, artificial pokemon like Porygon - none of that would have been possible without him! He was a genius! A national treasure!"
"Yeah, ok… Nerd."
"Maybe if you'd actually paid attention in school-!"
"Now, now," Cole cut in, vying for a placating tone. "Xerneas isn't a fan of contention, so let's keep the… uh… discussions to a minimum. At least for now, alright?"
That quietened them both down, and not for the first time, AJ found herself silently marveling at Cole's ability to take command of a situation. For someone who'd spent so much of his life alone, he still knew how to get a couple of bratty teens to shut up. Well, mostly - Jade was being quiet, but Sammy had gone back to mumbling under his breath about legendary pokemon.
You could take Sammy out of the lab, but you couldn't take the lab out of Sammy.
They continued on their way for several more minutes, seeing several more pokemon, legendary and otherwise, and following the path of the river until Cole had them start to pull away and head off between the hills again.
AJ felt her frustration begin to mount. Just how far did they have to go? And how big was this place, anyway? The horizon seemed to stretch on forever, but that couldn't be real, right? Entering the Sanctuary felt like stepping out of reality and directly into one of those generic stock-image backgrounds on desktop computers. Did the paradise have edges? Invisible demarcations that delineated the end of the dream and the return to harsh reality? Or was this space truly this expansive? Had Palkia itself done some godly mumbo-jumbo and created a never-ending pocket dimension for his legendary friends to play in?
"We're here," Cole said, and AJ didn't miss the slight note of reverence in his tone.
'Here' apparently meant a relatively small and unremarkable pond nestled in a copse of trees just a few dozen meters from the riverbank. There wasn't much to say about it, really; it didn't look particularly deep, and while the waters were calm, they seemed a bit murky and brown. The occasional lily pad or dead leaf floated listlessly in the stagnant waters. The wind was mellow here, the grass barely moving. No wild pokemon, legendary or otherwise, could be seen. All was quiet.
The main feature of the pond was the small island located in the center, maybe only a few paces in diameter, that held nothing but brown, muddy dirt and a single dead tree. That last actually was notable, as it stood out to AJ as the only dead plant she'd seen since entering the Sanctuary.
The bark was dark and dry, the limbs shriveled and leafless, branches clawing upwards toward the clear, blue sky like the petrified fingers of a person who'd died still begging for salvation in their final moments. It was unsettling, in a way. And it did not set her mind at ease in the slightest.
The group stood still for a time, merely staring at the tree and the pond in total silence as though waiting for something to happen. Nothing did.
Finally, Jade spoke up.
"So… Now what? Is there some sorta ceremony, or…?"
Cole shrugged.
"Dunno. I've never summoned it myself, only seen it show up a time or two. It, or Yveltal. They both seem to like this place."
AJ's muscles seemed to stiffen of their own accord. Her intestines felt like they were slowly filling with cement.
"What do you say, O Samwise Oaktree? What does your nerd brain tell us? We need to, like, construct an altar or something? Play a special song? Make a human sacrifice?"
"Pretty sure the ancient people of Kalos just made food offerings," Sammy replied, adopting his patented 'Oak' tone that let them know he was in researcher mode, "but I doubt that actually matters. The legends say Xerneas first appeared after a great war and healed the wounded pokemon, but it did that of its own accord. Add that to what Cole said about it just showing up sometimes on its own, and I think it's fair to say we probably don't have to do any kind of ritual."
"Maybe it shows up when it senses need," Jade offered. "Try bringing Pichu out."
That sounded like as good an idea as any, but for some reason, AJ hesitated. Her limbs felt stiff and heavy. The fear was rising in her chest again, clawing its way up her throat now. She was scared. Scared to ask and have nothing happen. Scared to ask and have the wrong pokemon show up instead.
Which was absolutely stupid, she knew, as she forced her limbs into action, frustrated with herself and taking slow, robotic steps towards the edge of the pond. She had nothing to lose by asking - not unless Yveltal showed up, and if it did, she'd fight it off. That, or die trying. Which wasn't a comforting thought, but what else could she do? Give in and accept it? But it wasn't until she'd reached the water's edge and stared down toward her murky silhouette reflecting in the water that the true source of her fear seemed to be made apparent.
She wasn't just scared that nothing would happen - or that things would go wrong. What was really getting to her was the potential 'why' behind it.
The stories made it seem like, when people would make the pilgrimage to ask for help, Xerneas and Yvettal would judge the seeker's worth and respond in kind. That there was some sort of test they performed - known only to them, impossible for mortal minds to comprehend - that dictated whether you were saved, spurned, or sacrificed. And while on another day, she may have found that notion laughable, here, right in this moment, as she stood beside the water's edge, it frightened her.
Because she knew what they'd find if they looked into her heart. She'd had that cold reality thrown into her face enough times since arriving on this mountain, she didn't need to hear it again from some faceless deities of life and death. Two terrible monsters had already held that mirror up to her face and shown her she was just as monstrous as they were.
'How could she ever hope to truly be a Pokemon Master if she can't even take care of her partners? If she treats them like pawns in a selfish game, seeking personal glory or whatever this stupid vendetta of hers is about? '
'She is everything I have always said humans are. Selfish and self-destructive, and I will not let her destroy everything we have built.'
How could she, of all people, have the audacity to ask for Xerneas's help? When she was the reason her Pichu and the rest of her partners had been so badly hurt in the first place? What sort of arrogant fool destroyed the things most precious to them and then had the gall, the sheer nerve, to expect someone else to clean up the mess?
If she was Xerneas, she'd turn her away in a heartbeat.
Maybe it would be better, safer, to have someone else ask. To have it be Cole who made the request, who had sacrificed everything, even his own happiness, for the sake of these pokemon. Or Jade, who had the biggest heart of anyone she knew, who still stood beside her even after AJ's selfishness had imprisoned her here alongside her. Or Sammy, who, even when hurt and moments from death, had still been trying to protect his pokemon and that egg.
They were so much better than her. Surely, Xerneas wouldn't turn them away. And if there was even a chance that one of them asking could improve their odds, then the right thing to do - the responsible thing to do - would be to turn around now and ask someone else to take her place.
And yet…
She plucked Pichu's ball off of her belt and stared down at it in silence.
Even though she knew that was right, even though that logic was sound, even though she knew in her heart of hearts that she didn't deserve him - him, or any of her partners who she'd misused and betrayed - the thought of handing him over to someone else made every fiber of her being scream in denial.
Pichu was her partner. Her first pokemon. Her best friend.
And yes, she had been the one who got him hurt. She let him down. She'd failed him.
But even now, as purely selfish as she knew it was… She refused to let him go.
He was her responsibility. And even if it was selfish, and even if the gods, even Arceus himself up on his throne over space and time, looked down on her and denied her, she didn't care. She was going to be the one to make this right. Whatever it took.
So she knelt down on the grass, not far from the edge of the pond, and clicked the button on her pokeball. In a flash of red, Pichu materialized on the ground before her.
His face twisted in discomfort, cheeks flushed, breathing haggard. His little limbs were still swollen from where the bones had broken, and who knew what other internal trauma he still suffered from?
The best they'd been able to do for him over the past couple of days was to let him sleep and force feed him pureed berries and herbs, but that could only do so much. Jade was confident his life wasn't in danger, but even if he'd recover on his own, it could take weeks - possibly months - and without proper medical treatment, she knew his bones would probably set wrong. He'd almost certainly have a limp at the very least. His battling days would be over.
And that wasn't the end of the world, she knew. Pokemon had to retire from the competitive scene all the time due to improperly treated injuries. Even human athletes dealt with as much from time to time. He'd be devastated - as would she - but they'd get over it. He'd always be her best friend. That would never change.
But the knowledge that this was her fault, that she'd done this to him, was almost too much to bear. Having him laying right in front of her was bringing the grief up all over again, and for a moment, she almost forgot why they were even there.
Still kneeling, she leaned forward, palms on either side of her pokemon, and curled her fingers into fists, tearing through the grass, struggling to control her roiling emotions. It didn't help, though. The tears came, and with them, the quaking and the sobs.
Pichu was out now, clearly suffering for anyone who cared to see it. Where was Xerneas? Why hadn't it appeared?
What was she supposed to do? Call out for help? Shout into the heavens? Would Xerneas hear her then? If it could hear that from so far away, then couldn't it hear this? Pichu's strained breathing, his weak squeaks of pain and discomfort?
And if not Xerneas, then who? Did she scream at Arceus, who probably existed and who clearly didn't care? At Mewtwo, for trapping them here and preventing her from getting Pichu to a doctor? At her father, who she still blamed for every bad thing that happened despite knowing deep down that this time, it was on her? Or did she yell at herself? Continue to berate herself, impotently, and hope that if she abased herself enough someone else might show them pity?
But it wasn't to some faceless pokemon god or terrible monster or even her father that she spoke to. As the tears poured down her cheeks, she lowered her head down as close as she could get without touching him, and whispered, voice strangled with tears, "Pichu… I'm s-so… I'm sorry. P-please… Please forgive me…"
Wracked with sobs, overcome with her own grief and despair, AJ didn't notice the subtle shift in the air or the light around them. She didn't hear the gasps or soft exclamations of wonder from her friends, or feel the way the world around them seemed to still.
In fact, it wasn't until she felt the shuffle of movement under her palms that she opened her eyes again, and, blinking through her tears, found herself confused at all of the yellow she was seeing mixed in with the green.
They were buds, she realized after a moment, poking up through the grass. Dandelion buds. The petals closed, newly born, still not fully formed. They hadn't been there before. It was as if they'd all suddenly grown in the last few seconds, watered by her tears. But how…?
She jerked her head up, then fell back on her butt with a shout of alarm.
There, standing directly in front of her at the water's edge, was a pokemon.
It was like a Stantler, only absolutely massive, even taller than she would have been if she were on her feet - and that was before you took the antler into consideration. The fur on its legs and body and tail was the deep bluish-black of the night sky, with some gold on its forelegs like starlight, its limbs sleek and thin, its neck and head a dark cobalt blue. Its face and slender snout spoke of an innate sense of regal wisdom.
And it's antlers - they were huge, each ending in four prongs that seemed to be made of clear, perfect diamond. The light that filtered through them shimmered and glowed, sending waves of rainbow color undulating down their lengths from tip to skull.
AJ couldn't breathe. It was there - it was actually there, right there, in front of her. Xerneas had appeared. Not Yvettal - she hadn't even been snubbed! Actual Xerneas! In the flesh!
She then remembered Pichu who was still trembling on the grass in front of her and she struggled to push herself back to her knees, limbs quaking with almost as many emotions as there were colors glowing in the Lord of Life's horns.
Now wasn't the time to gawk. She wasn't Sammy. She didn't care that this was a legendary pokemon or a veritable god - not now, at least. Not while Pichu needed help.
"P-please," she managed, breathless and tense. What was she supposed to say? What was the 'proper' way to beg for its help? For someone to show them mercy? "Please, I… Pichu, he… Please…"
The words wouldn't come out. She was going to cry again. Stop it! Focus! You can cry later, now isn't the time!
Xerneas stared at her, unmoving, unblinking. Its eyes… they were a shade of blue just a touch darker than its face, and yet… There was something strangely human about them. It felt as if they touched her soul, like they could see deep inside of her, read every thought or feeling she'd ever had.
She flinched and almost looked away. She didn't want it to read her, to see what she'd done, to see every cruel or hateful thought she'd ever had - especially since they'd been so plentiful recently, ever since arriving on the mountain, and nearly all of them had been about her father, who, for all she knew, was probably its friend. She knew she wasn't perfect. She knew she was flawed, but… Pichu shouldn't pay the price for that, right? Don't weigh her sins on some scale like the stories said - she'd pay the price, she'd pay any price, just take his pain away!
"Please…" she said again, and this time, she bowed herself low. "Please help him… Please…"
Silence. No sound met her ears but the placid pounding of her heart and Pichu's struggling breaths. The moment stretched on, tense and hopeful and desperate and scared.
And then, after an agonizing pause, it moved.
It, too, bowed its head low, and for a wild moment, she thought it was bowing back to her. It wasn't until she noticed the tip of its nose gently brushing Pichu, its tall antlers encasing AJ on either side, that she realized what it was doing.
Its horns glowed, the radiant light all but blinding her. The wind rose, a warm gale, swirling up around them. Below, all along the grass, the dandelion buds burst into full bloom, sweeping across the carpet of grass outward from where Xerneas stood in a radiating spiral of wonder and life.
And then it was straightening up, backing away, and there, in front of AJ, her Pichu began to move.
He yawned languorously, stretching his little arms and legs and back as far as he could get them as if waking from a lovely nap. He blinked his eyes open slowly, letting them adjust to the bright morning sunshine, then turned to stare at Xerneas in comical stupefaction.
AJ's hands clasped themselves over her mouth to stifle a sob. He was up! He was moving! He was ok!
Pichu noticed the movement, though, and when his eyes landed on hers, his face broke into a bright smile and within seconds he was up, off the grass, and leaping straight into her arms with a bright, welcoming cheer.
She caught him in midair, pulling him in close, hugging him so tightly she was liable to break his bones again, but she couldn't help it. She was laughing and sobbing all at once, rocking him in her arms, unable to control herself.
He was ok. He was going to be ok.
The surge of relief was so strong, she nearly collapsed back onto the grass. She still felt awful for how she'd used him and the rest of her team, of course, but knowing that Pichu would be ok - that he wouldn't have to suffer for the rest of his life due to her neglect - was so unbelievably liberating. It was like she'd been carrying around a Golem on her back for the past couple of days, and she'd finally set it down.
It didn't matter that they were stuck on this mountain, together with her father and that monster known as Mewtwo. Everything would be ok now. So long as she and Pichu were together, there wasn't anything she couldn't do. And she knew he knew it, too.
She wasn't sure how long she stayed like that, but when she finally remembered where they were and what was going on, she found that Xerneas was no longer standing in front of her.
She looked around, still kneeling on the grass, Pichu excitedly licking her cheek, and finally noticed that Xerneas had made its way over to Sammy. He was testing his broken leg, putting his weight on it and laughing in amazement and delight. He'd been healed, just like Pichu had been. The others stood a little apart, Jade crying, Cole smiling in happiness and relief.
After a moment, Sammy seemed to remember himself.
"Ah, thank you, uh… Xerneas?"
He thought about it for a second, then apparently decided that a bow was appropriate. It was short and choppy and awkward, and he looked a little embarrassed with himself after it was done.
Jade followed suit, albeit more gracefully, but Cole contented himself with a grateful nod. Xerneas nodded back to each in turn before slowly turning around and making its way back to the pond.
As it made to pass her by, however, AJ offered up a quick, heartfelt, "Thank you - for saving him," which made the Xerneas pause unexpectedly.
For a moment, it turned to look at her again. When their eyes met, she felt an… impression settle upon her mind. An understanding of sorts - not words, exactly, but meaning suddenly flowed into her, and she knew that Xerneas was telling her something.
It was never about worth. All things have their seasons, for growth and for decline. Xerneas encouraged growth in its season - and for AJ and Pichu, it was not time for their season to end. When Xerneas chose to heal them, it did so in the hopes that it might encourage that growth. But the rest would be up to them.
It had healed her and her friends - human and pokemon alike - but it had only treated their physical wounds. The wounds that remained in her heart, however - those she would have to see to herself.
Dazed, not certain if that was real or if she'd made it all up, she nodded and watched as Xerneas turned away, heading towards the tree in the center of the pond. Its hooves made no sound as they glided atop the water's surface, every step cleansing the pool and clearing the stagnant water, until at last it reached the withered tree.
Then, just like that, it was gone. No flash of light, no fanfare. It simply vanished, as if it never was.
Pichu sprang out of her arms, just as energetic as ever, and as it raced around the grass, squeaking animatedly, it kicked up waves of dandelion seeds from the flowers that had seemingly completed their growth cycles, replacing the yellows with a field of soft white.
Then Pichu turned and raced somewhere behind AJ, likely off to greet Jade and Sammy and Cole, but AJ remained where she was, kneeling at the pond's edge, watching the dandelion seeds that were caught in the breeze get carried up into the air and away, far out of sight.
Everything in their season, Xerneas had said. And she and Pichu were still in their season of growth.
That meant it wasn't over. Her defeat against her father - as a trainer and as a person - had all but upended her. But she'd wallowed long enough. She'd become Champion of Kanto, but that didn't mean her journey was at its end. She and Pichu still had a whole lot of room to grow, and it was time to stop pitying herself and get back on her feet.
But she remained still for just a moment longer, watching the dandelions dance and letting the gratitude and the warm morning light soak into her bones.
Jade sat alone on the hilltop overlooking Xerneas's pond, a small but contented smile on her face. Overhead, the midmorning sun was well on its way to its peak, and she basked under its glow, letting the warmth of the sunlight match the warmth of the joy she was still feeling in her belly, heating her on both sides.
After spending so much time out on that freezing mountain, she really deserved this.
The group had decided to stay in the Sanctuary for a while longer after witnessing the miracle that had saved Pichu and Sammy. It's not like they had anything else to do, and this was definitely preferable to going back to the cold and the snow.
They'd taken the opportunity to let their pokemon out of their balls, something they hadn't done since that disastrous night of the avalanche, and as Jade sat back, gently stroking one of her sleeping Ninetales' many luxurious tails, she let her eyes take in the scene before her, doing her best to paint the image into her memory banks. She wanted to remember this day forever.
Her Metagross and Gigalith were snoozing on the grass behind her. Sableye was hiding in Metagross's shadow, not a fan of the bright light but not wanting to miss out either. Mawile was rooting through some nearby bushes, softly singing to herself while she snapped up fistfuls of berries, and overhead, her Minior floated by, shields down, sprinkling the air with shimmering stardust.
Down the hill a ways were AJ and Sammy. Sammy's pokemon had all crowded around him after he'd called them out, delighted that their trainer was healthy again. Leafeon had literally tackled him to the ground in her joy. Gallade kept trying to look stiff and austere, but she'd been able to see how emotional he was even from a distance.
It hadn't taken long for him to default back to Oak Mode, however, and he was even now crawling through the grass, Leafeon and Gengar at his side as he spied on a pokemon that was flying by far overhead. Something that almost looked like a Moltres, except that it was black and red instead of red and yellow. The Galarian variant, perhaps?
Sammy's Dragonite was resting in the pond, its lower half in the water, its upper half lying on the bank, sunbathing as it slept. Corviknight was nearby, pecking at the ground, looking for seeds to eat as it occasionally scanned the perimeter as though it were on guard duty.
Sammy's sixth and final pokemon, one Jade hadn't even realized he'd brought with him, was a Sylvally - one of those artificially created pokemon from Alola. It pawed at the grass with its freaky chimera feet looking a bit lost and confused, no singular part of its body looking like it matched with the whole. When and how he'd got his hands on something as rare as that, she had no idea. Oak connections, she assumed.
AJ, for her part, had moved off alone for a bit, and with Pichu busying himself with scampering all around, making up for all of the energy it hadn't been able to burn over the past couple of days, she took the time to call out each of her pokemon, one by one, and hold a quiet conversation with them.
She was much too far away to overhear what was being said - at this distance, AJ herself was no bigger than the last segment of her pinky finger - but she didn't have to. She knew what she was doing just from seeing her body language, the way she bent her head low, the way each of her pokemon tried to comfort her in turn. She was apologizing for everything that had happened in the battle with her father. And it looked like each of her pokemon had forgiven her without question.
In a way, Jade supposed this was a good thing. A trainer needed to be able to hold themselves accountable for their mistakes, especially to their pokemon. If a trainer couldn't admit when they were wrong, it could breed mistrust in their team and weaken their overall dynamic. It was nice to see AJ put away the rage for a moment and concede that, even if the match had been against the man she hated most in the entire world, she'd still pushed her team too far and had hurt them in the process. There was a maturity there. A form of higher-level trainer acumen she'd come to expect from her best friend - at least, where her pokemon were concerned.
At the same time, though, Jade couldn't help but feel like AJ was blaming herself just a bit too much. After all, injuries happened in trainer battles all the time - it was the nature of the game. And sure, usually any responsible trainer had a variety of medicines on their person to provide immediate treatment to either heal the injury or else provide pain relief until they could arrive at a Pokemon Center for more serious treatment. But given the avalanche, that hadn't really been a possibility for them in this case.
Maybe some of those injuries were on her. Calling Pichu out after she'd already lost the fight, and the entire situation with Hydreigon - those were clearly on her. Milotic, Jade lay entirely at Ash's feet - the burn was one thing, but that final pile driver had been completely unnecessary.
But Arcanine, Togekiss, Aegislash - those injuries hadn't been too serious at all and were rather par for the course for a pokemon battle, especially one at the level of Champions. Jade had the feeling that AJ was beating herself up entirely too much. This situation with Ash was warping her vision.
Her friend had staked entirely too much of her identity on being better than her dad. And now that she'd lost to him, she'd seemingly lost much of herself as well.
The soft crunch of footsteps on grass allerted her to his presence, but she kept her eyes on AJ, unconcerned. A moment later, breathing heavily, Cole sat down on the grass beside her, looking a little winded. The hill wasn't that steep, but the man was in his sixties. All of this hiking around can't have been easy for him.
"Beautiful day," he said as a way of greeting.
Jade smiled and nodded but said nothing. It was a beautiful day. A perfect day.
But Cole Ketchum wanted something. She could hear that in his tone from a mile away.
"Glad things worked out," he continued after a moment, scratching at his beard. "I'll admit, I was a bit worried - if Xerneas hadn't shown up, I don't know what we'd've done. But it did, and Pichu and Sammy are both back on their feet. That should ease everyone's minds a bit."
He sighed, and she noticed out of the corner of her eyes that his gaze was also locked on AJ.
"One wound healed," he said softly, almost to himself. "Now onto the next."
He turned to Jade then, a conspiratorial set to his face, and said, "Now lass, I was hopin' you'd do an old man a favor."
She turned to Cole and flashed him a lazy sort of smile.
"Well, I suppose. We do owe you, after all."
As long as it wasn't too onerous. She was comfortable here. She didn't want to move just yet.
"That's a good lass," the older man chuckled amiably. "It might be a bit of a doozy, though. See, I was thinkin'... Well, I s'pose I should just say it. I was thinkin' that now's as good a time as any to try to mend this thing between AJ and her father."
Jade's entire body tensed. She gently pushed Ninetales' tail off of her lap and sat forward, elbows resting on her knees.
"Who says it needs to be fixed?" she asked cautiously.
Cole looked at her askance.
"You can't be tellin' me you enjoy spending everyday livin' with all that tension in the cabin, do you?"
She did not. And considering how they had no idea how long they were going to be stuck here, the prospect of dealing with that for an indefinite amount of time was particularly cloying.
Still though.
"Look," she said, not unkindly, "AJ's attitude towards Ash may seem a bit extreme to you, but I get where she's coming from. She doesn't have to like or get along with him just because he's her father. She didn't need him when she grew up without him, and she doesn't need him now."
The truth, though, is that Jade wasn't sure she really agreed with that. Oh, she knew that what she was saying was true - parents and children don't have to get along just because they happen to be parents and children, and trying to force the issue and ignore the bad blood just for that reason was just asking for more resentment and hate.
But the thing was, she also knew that she was just regurgitating AJ's favorite talking points. She was defending AJ and her decision instinctively because she was her best friend and taking your side is what best friends do. And honestly? After all these years, after seeing how much her father's name had hurt her, she kind of hated Ash Ketchum, too.
But there was a part of Jade that, as a third-party observer to this ridiculous Ketchum family soap opera, could see that AJ's proximity to it was narrowing her field of vision. AJ had always believed that her father had run out on her and her mother, which was the source of most of her resentment. Yet it was clear to Jade now that there was more to this story than they'd known - or thought they'd known. Only AJ was so determined to hang on to her hatred that she was unable, or perhaps simply unwilling, to see it.
Maybe… Maybe Cole was right. Maybe AJ had been wrong about her father for all of these years. Maybe this could be salvaged.
Maybe.
Cole let out a particularly heavy sigh through his rugged mustache.
"You're not wrong, lass," he said. "Truth be told, I'm probably meddling in places I have no right to be. I may be her grandfather, but do I get to play that card just because we're related by blood? I was never there for her like a grandfather should be. I never put in the work. I haven't earned it. But there's a part of me that wants to try and make things better because… Well. Because I know how Ash must be feeling.
"I've been in his shoes. After all, I was once the deadbeat father who disappeared without a trace, only for my child to find out after they'd grown up without me that I was alive and kickin' on some random mountain in the middle of nowhere. And if fate was kind enough to me to give me a chance to get to know my son, to build that relationship with him that we were both denied, well… I suppose I want to try to pay that kindness forward for someone else."
Jade shuffled uncomfortably. He was making sense. And much to her frustration, Jade was wavering. She knew she was supposed to have AJ's back on this one, but the idea of resolving this misunderstanding between them was sounding really sweet. Like a storybook ending. The picture-perfect kind you see in dumb TV dramas. Call her a sap, but she'd always kinda liked those.
"Are you sure that Ash would even want that?" Jade said, deflecting. "Their first meeting wasn't exactly a positive experience, and he's done a pretty good job of running away ever since. He's avoiding her almost as much as she's avoiding him."
Cole stroked his beard thoughtfully. Was that just a thing that all old men did? Some physical tick men developed when they got older? Or maybe having hair on your face was just distracting and made you want to play with it all the time.
"If I had to guess," Cole said, "I bet Ash is probably trying to give AJ space because he knows how she's feeling. He was in her shoes too, once. So even if he wants to get to know her, he probably feels like he can't try to force it since he was the one who disappeared. Plus, that fool battle of theirs has made things rather awkward for everybody."
Well that was the unvarnished truth. Still, what he said made sense, and it painted Ash as being considerate rather than the coward she'd unfairly assumed he was being. She'd really let AJ's attitude color her view of this situation. Maybe she did need to take another step back so she could really see what was going on here.
"You don't have to help, lass," Cole continued heavily. "And I'm sorry for puttin' you on the spot. I guess I just… I'm grateful every day that I got to know my son, in spite of everything. And I guess I… Well. If I had the chance to reconnect with a family member I thought I'd lost forever, I'd do just about anything. But maybe that's just my experience with Ash talking. I shouldn't assume things about other people."
But Jade had stopped listening. She'd gotten caught up on his words, on the idea.
"I'll help," Jade said, almost without realizing she'd spoken.
Cole blinked in surprise, then smiled excitedly.
"You will?"
"Yeah," she said, nodding as she felt her resolution firm. "She's my best friend, after all. I have the right to meddle, even if you maybe don't. And anyway, telling your best friend when they're being stupid is all part of the job."
Cole chuckled, slowly extending his legs so his heavy hiking boots plopped down on the grass in front of them.
"She's lucky to have friends like you two," he said, letting his eyes wander over to his granddaughter affectionately.
"Yeah, we're pretty great," Jade joked, earning another chuckle from Cole. "Though we're pretty lucky too."
Getting AJ and Ash to actually open up to each other was easier said than done, however. It would require that they actually speak to each other first, which was already a pretty big ask when the two couldn't even seem to stand being in the same place for longer than five seconds.
Still, though. If this worked out, then maybe… Maybe AJ could finally set down some of that baggage she'd been lugging around for most of her life.
And so, under the bright sunlight, the two began to scheme.