Ugh…ow…

I squint against the sunlight. I'm on my back, and the form of Hoopa hovers over me, grinning.

"You know, a warning wouldn't go amiss…" I mutter as they giggle. I shield my eyes from the sun with my hand and—

My hand. My human hand. We're…we couldn't be…could we?

Could we be…home?

I push myself up and look around. I regard myself—this time I appear to be clothed. Thank goodness, when Giratina brought us back before, I landed in the lab totally naked. Not that I had the presence of mind to care that much, but still. The others are lying around me in various states of awareness. Hoopa swoops in front of me, presenting the prison bottle and speaking.

"I…can't understand you as a human. But I'll take good care of it. I promise." They nod, expression serious. "Thank you…for everything…" I say with a shaky smile. Am I truly thankful to them? They've put us through so much…risked our lives and sanity countless times. And yet…through them, we have the chance to see Delcatty again. We have the chance to explore her world, while still getting to return to our own. So despite it all…

Yes. I guess am grateful to them.

As if on queue, they wink, then disappear through a hoop, probably hurrying back to the Exploration Center.

Looking around, I see the others are slowly getting up. A moment later something rams into my side, knocking the air from my lungs.

"Mommyyyyy!" Elliot cries, no longer an impidimp. "Mommy we were lost and gone and the pokemons were talking and you were gone I MISSED you!" He's gasping his words out between sobs. "I missed you! I'm so glad you're safe!" I say, hugging him tightly. Even though we were never apart…him not realizing who we were was agony.

"MAMA!" He screeches a moment later as Stephanie sits beside us. I pass him over as she blows a raspberry on his stomach. "And where have you been my little troublemaker?" He kicks his legs and giggles joyously. I kiss Stephanie's cheek, "hey, long time no see, finally got that fur out of your ears?" I grin. "Pfft, you're one to talk. You've gotta get used to having hair that obeys gravity again!" She smirks. Point taken. I kiss her again as she laughs.

We slowly stand and help the others up. Rotom is zipping around my head already, no doubt mourning the lack of a Pokédex—and her human speech. I must say, so am I. I asked them all if they were feeling ok, and was surprised for a split second when I couldn't understand their replies.

It took time to adjust to that before too.

Once everyone appears situated, I look at the yard. The remnants of our picnic are as we left them—the table is set, the checkered tablecloth half blown off, dishes covered in dirt, sandwiches lying mouldering on the ground. It really puts into perspective how we were just…snatched away out of nowhere.

I feel a twinge of anger at Delcatty. I know she meant well, that she missed us…but we had lives too. I'd never have passed up the chance to see her again, but to be taken without warning? To learn that she was the culprit, and that she was too scared to admit to what she'd done?

I hold the anger for a moment, feeling it's heat and all the rough edges, then let it go. I truly believe she regrets what she did, and the best we can do now is grow and move forward.

We make our way inside to deal with…everything. How long have we been away? It's not been horribly long, but long enough that we'll have been missed, I'm sure.

It takes some time, but we eventually deal with it. It turns out the fallout in our absence wasn't as bad as expected—I had a few angry texts asking about where on earth I've been and reminding me I have a report due, while Stephanie's biggest thing was a couple of missed calls from her mom. "Heh, the joys of being your own boss, am I right? No one after my blood," she said, sticking her tongue out at me while I returned the gesture. We pretty much got away with it by saying Elliot had been unwell, and apologizing profusely for being away and unresponsive. And it's not entirely untrue—our boy did have a sudden nasty case of transformation.

It's just so…odd being back, again. And knowing we can actually return, whenever we please. Odd…but exciting. For starters, I'm thrilled we won't just have to rely on Rotom's translations any longer—we can actually talk to our pokemon 1-on-1 whenever we're there. Although I'm sure Rotom will be bummed by the loss of her tactical advantage; she certainly had a way of twisting their words. Nevertheless, she's already got a new Pokédex on the way (even though she's here, the house feels empty without her—and by extension everyone else's—chatter).

We settle back into life as normal (with me on overdrive—that paper was due in a couple of days after we returned, I barely got any sleep!), until about a week later the grinning face of Hoopa materialized in front of Stephanie and I while we were cuddling on the couch.

No respect for privacy, I see.

They're in a frenzy, smiling and animatedly telling us…something. "Hey buddy, we can't understand you like this, remember?" I say, trying to calm them down. They nod, then before I know it, I'm falling through a hoop, Stephanie holding me tightly and shrieking in my ear.

"Ough…Hoopa?" I say, rubbing my head. I notice it's with a gray paw—I guess it really isn't possible to be here as a human. Dr. Laurel would be disappointed to learn that—his plans eventually hinged on showing the pokemon here a real, live, untransformed human.

"The one and only! Welcome back, you're just in time for my welcome-to-the-Exploration-Center-extravaganza!" They grin. "Hope you're still workshopping the name," Serperior says behind me. Looking around, I see everyone's here, even Elliot, running around us in circles. "Hi eevees! I found mommy and mama! We were home but now we're here!" "Yeah? That's great buddy!" Stephanie says. I guess if we can come and go…one day he'll eventually learn the truth. But I think that's something for when he's older.

"Hello all, how are you feeling? Welcome back," Delcatty smiles. "To be honest, the transport could be better! Hoopa's hoops are terrible!" Rotom says, grinning despite her complaints. "Oh wow Rotom you…certainly look…uhm…like that." Delcatty says, eyeing up her Pokédex form. "You like it? It's a new model, not that second hand junk like last time!" She says, showing off. "She wouldn't rest until Gwen got her a new one, you know," Dragalge says, "and we didn't hear the end of it until it finally arrived. So much impatience in such a little thing." "Oh! How dare you?" Rotom scoffs in mock offense, "I don't expect you to understand the cosmic need a being such as myself has for a device like this!" "More like the cosmic need to tell Stephanie and Gwen every dumb thought that pops into your head," Seviper smirks. Rotom goes to Delcatty, eyes wide, "you see? The abuse I must put up with daily? Truly, these heathens don't understand." "Well I think it looks fabulous, you must show me what it does later!" Delcatty replies excitedly.

"We're just doing the finishing touches, but the party itself is to start in an hour or so, we thought you guys might want to…recover from the trip a little first," Delcatty says. "By the way? How is everything back home?" We take turns telling her about getting back to life as usual and how we're adjusting. I ask what they've been up to here, and she tells us how they held an assembly soon after we left to introduce Hoopa to the Center, while also revealing some major truths about Aegislash.

"Yeah, some of the teams weren't super happy to hear their Center's beloved first Master was a cheat and a fraud," Hoopa says, shrugging, "but it's better than being ignorant! And I was able to show them myself what a lousy, cheating, no-good—" "easy…" Delcatty says, touching their shoulder. She tells me Hoopa is the newest official member of Team Starburst, and, after their welcoming ceremony, will be able to go on their first official exploration.

"Well, congratulations Hoopa! Wow, what an achievement!" I say. And I really am happy for them…despite the legends and the…personal experience, it's clear they're not a bad pokemon, maybe just…lonely. And hurt. Those things could drive anyone to not be their best self. "Thank you thank you. Yes, I know it's all incredibly impressive," they say, bowing grandly, "but save the congrats for the party itself! Where everyone else can hear them!"

With that, the pair take their leave, Delcatty informing us that she'll be back just before the festivities start to collect us. Until then, we get to have some time alone to recover from the trip.

But I can't wait for it to start. Not necessarily because of my own anticipation, but because Elliot realizes there's a party about to happen, and he can't stop singing and dancing about it. It's cute, really, but by the first half hour it's doing my head in.

"Rotom, do you think you could…emtertain him? You've got some educational apps for kids, right?" I suggest discreetly. "Gwendolyn, I am not a toy! This is a delicate piece of hardware that—" "That's great circuit brain, but if this boy doesn't stop in the next 20 seconds, I might not be able to control my Flame Charge." Stephanie says. "Ah, hearing you loud and clear!" Rotom replies while drifting over to Elliot, opening some kind of app that makes learning to read a game. By the grace of Arceus, it's distracting him.

"Heh, worth every penny," I laugh while Stephanie nods in agreement.

We wait for Delcatty and make small talk. "It feels rather strange, being here, despite not being…an actual exploration team," Dragalge starts. I hadn't thought of it much, but I guess they're right; this is a whole community centered around exploration. I was in the team briefly myself, but honestly? Most of my time was as an outlaw—and even that was a while ago.

"Aren't we like…members of team Starburst by proxy or something?" Seviper says, "like, through Gwen?" "I'm not even sure if I'm a member anymore," I laugh weakly, feeling just a little sad about what could have been. I wouldn't trade my life for anything—not in a million years—but a small part of me always wonders what would've happened if we really were stuck here last time and I built a new life.

"I'm sure you were always a member in Delcatty's book," Serperior says, "and I suppose that means we should be too. Especially if the position offers any perks," he grins. "The perk is that Delcatty can make fun of you whenever she wants," I laugh while he swats at me.

"Being in an exploration team though…it does sound kind of exciting…right?" Seviper chimes in. "Is it something you'd wanna do?" Stephanie asks. "I mean…I don't know…how much battling would it involve?" "I did a little battling…but mostly dodging to be honest." I say, remembering my lackluster move pool and battling abilities. I think I'm better suited as a trainer to pokemon who are…you know, actual full-time pokemon.

"I think I might like to try…someday, if she'd have me…" Seviper eventually says. I wonder if the others feel the same way? I know with Stephanie and I being busy it's…hard, sometimes, to give them all attention, especially when Elliot demands so much. "You know…if you are interested in exploring…I'm sure Delcatty could arrange something…and to be honest, it would be kind of cool to go on a mission that doesn't involve arresting one of you guys," I laugh.

In any case, it seems like we'll have to put a pin in the conversation for now; Delcatty arrives to collect us. "You all ready to go? Everyone done their makeup?" She grins. "Hah! Speak for yourself, have you seen the dark circles under your eyes?" Serperior teases. Although he's right…she looks excited to have us here, but also exhausted. "Well excuuuse me. We can't all lounge around all day photosynthesizing! Some of us have very important jobs to do!"

It's so nice just to…be here. To be able to relax in this world for once. I take a deep breath, and let the peace of the whole thing wash over me.