Author's Note/Replies:
Jason Wu: he indeed has ghost types.
Blackdragon: Zorua will try to avoid encountering Minato for a while, but N not so much.
3697014: You will get most of the answers this chapter. Ryoji was reborn with parents this time so I imagine he became even more human. Even if his family is apart of team plasma.
lazy lord: don't worry, N is beyond humbled and will be far more open to listening to others now.
Valkoor123113: The plot thickens...
Wordlessly, Minato embraced them all in a tight hug, catching everyone by surprise. He was back, he was truly back. Gardening with Aigis, taking walks with Ken and Koromaru, assisting Mitsuru. For the entire day, not a thing was out of place and being reborn into another world felt like a distant dream. When afternoon turned to dusk, Minato re-entered the dorms with Akihiko and Junpei, each carrying several grocery bags.
"Do you want any help cooking tonight?" Akihiko placed the groceries on the kitchen table.
"Sure, if you could help dice up the chicken for me, I'll be handling the stove." Minato turned and grabbed an assortment of spices from the cupboard in an expert fashion, carefully choosing each ingredient. When he started his lessons, he would throw in whatever looked right. But now he understood the fine art of less is better. Each item was in the same place he remembered. Shinji had a habit of ordering materials in a strict manner so the bluenette followed in a similar footstep.
"Yo, I ain't just gonna let the two of you hog all the spotlight. I can make a mean curry chicken too!" Junepi said, showing how much he's matured these past few months.
"Really Junpei? I didn't know you could cook." Akihiko was surprised.
"I don't play cooking games for nothing, senpai. Besides, what would I look like if I just bought stuff home and left all the hard work to you guys?"
Minato smiled, he must be trying to learn new skills so he could become better after the Chidori incident. Junpei was the type to always order take out so it was rare to see him join the kitchen squad. It was just like before, a moment in time just like he remembered.
"All you'll do is burn the chicken, Stupei." Yukari peered from the doorway, lured by the fragrant spices.
"Says Yupid, who makes the driest chicken ever." Junpei opened the fridge to prove a point, much to Yukari's chagrin.
"Ugh, why do I have to be Yupid?"
"Because if I'm Stupei, then you're Yupid." The two sophomores continued their semi friendly banter from across the kitchen, flinging half baked insults at each other. Finally, Akihiko leveled out the playing field by telling both of them to stop.
"Quiet down you two. Dinner is almost ready. Both of you go set the table while Minato and I finish this." He issued commands like a strict father disciplining two spoiled brats. Both Yukari and Junpei gulped, grabbing chip sticks and plates from the cabinet. Once they both disappeared, this just left Akihiko and Minato alone in the kitchen.
Minato poured the last of the curry onto a plate in awkward silence, then Akihiko sighed.
"You'd think I'd be over this by now…"
"Shinji did treat the kitchen as his sacred space." Minato said, carefully returning everything. Each item sat in the exact place before his friend left this world, like a frozen snap shot before his demise.
"Yea. I try not to dwell on it for too long, but sometimes I just…let it slip." Akihiko promised himself he would apologize to the sophomores later. He didn't mean to come off as grumpy.
Minato nodded, understanding the man's grief. "I miss his lectures on buying cheap ramen. Never knew he was so health conscious." Applying some white rice to each plate, the bluenette found the work peaceful. The sweet aroma of the curry swirled, escaping the gloomy space.
"He was a complete health nut just like me. While I focused more on fitness, Shinji always insisted on eating healthy." The senior laughed bitterly, leaning on the counter "He was how I discovered those protein shakes."
"I can imagine. I'm thankful I learned to cook properly. At least by winter time I was able to reach his level."
"Winter?" Akihiko turned in confusion.
Minato saw his friend's bewilderment bloom because it was currently Fall. That was when he knew he had messed up, shaking his head.
"Ummm, I've been a bit tired lately Senpai. School has been exhausting lately." The bluenette said, chuckling nervously.
"Oh, then you should rest up tonight. I wouldn't want you to face an execution from Mitsuru." Akihiko shivered at the thought. Bad grades were a strong taboo among the members of SEES and he had experienced first hand the consequences.
"Thanks, now let's serve these plates while they're still hot.
When the plates were brought to the table, everyone took in the fragrance. Setting the plates down, Minato was reminded of the nostalgia of this moment. Like a clock on repeat, rewinding the same second over and over, he could recall sitting down with his friends after a long day. Koromaru cheerfully barked, running around the dinner table being chased by Ken and Fuuka. Aigis observed the scene with Mitsuru while Junpei and Yukari resumed their banter.
"That was certainly a magnificent dish, you all have outdone yourselves," Mitsuru finished her plate with the grace of a noble, setting down her chopsticks.
"I'm impressed. This is way more flavorful than even your last batch." Yukari was surprised at how quickly their field leader had improved his cooking scales.
"Were you practicing more often?" Fuuka said. It was leaps and bounds better than she could remember, like Minato had much more time to iron out his skills.
"Bark! Bark!" Koromaru voiced similar thoughts from his home made dog food. Something about it just felt different, tastier.
"Aw man, how am I supposed to compete with this? You really outdone yourself." Junpei wolfed down the last of the rice, already on his third serving, "It's like you mastered this dish on hard mode hundreds of times already."
"Junpei has a point. You only started recently didn't you?" Ken noted.
"I believe this is what we call a sudden stroke of genius." Aigis said, her analysis determined the ratios of spices and other ingredients to be rather unusual compared to Minato's previous work. The difference was night and day.
Minato nodded, "Thank you everyone. I'm so glad I could cook for you guys again." Even now he felt the warmth of their presence, each and every one of them alive in this fairytale. His cheeks warm as tears began to stream down his face once more.
"Hey, hey are you ok man? Did we say something weird?" Junpei stood up from the table.
"Minato, are you feeling alright?" Fuuka comforted him, her placing a soft hand on his shoulder.
Shaking his head, the Messiah struggled to keep his composure, choking up "No, I'm fine. I'm just…I'm just so glad you're all here again."
Akihiko sat in silence, the dish in front of him tasting like a carbon copy of Shinji's recipe, if not surpassing it.
The clock on the wall ticked, bathing the dorm in tranquil silence. Each minute transient in its passing, fleeting in the wind. Achieving inner peace, the Messiah savored this moment locked in time. When dinner had wrapped it up, it was unusually late as the clock struck midnight in a familiar alarm.
Minato perked up, tense, waiting for the inevitable to hit. Soon the world would be engulfed in that terrifying dark abyss once more, where his friends would have to put their lives in danger for the sake of the world. Soon, things would return to the dark hour where shadows roamed. However that ghastly green hue never descended upon the world. The dinner table retained its pleasant shade of white while the night outside marched on as if nothing had disturbed its tranquil presence.
"Uh Minato, what are you looking around for?" Ken voiced, seeing the bluenette confusingly shift around in his seat.
"What do you mean…?"
"Arisato, is there something you wish to discuss?" Mitsuru appeared unconcerned, still in her seat.
"The dark hour…why hasn't it…" Minato whispered, alarmed. His friends were still here, SEES was still together and it was still Fall. Watching the clock tick uninterrupted, the Messiah paled.
"Arisato," Mitsuru snapped out of his downward spiral.
"Yes, Mitsuru?"
"Could you possibly be alarmed by the lack of shadows around this hour?" She spoke serious, ice cold as an empress upon her throne. Mitsuru addressed him with stern words.
He nodded wordlessly, he thought he was back. He wished he was back, shaking his head, his grief overtaking him.
Mitsuru softened, standing up as did the rest of SEES. "Minato Arisato, as of this moment we all have a serious announcement to make."
Deep down he knew this was a dream, but it was so intoxicating.
"Truly, we wished you had a pleasant time here." The red empress approached him and the scene suddenly shifted to a wide stage, a graduation ceremony, "But there is no need for you to remain in this place with us any longer." She produced a high school diploma, handing it to him on the stage as everyone clapped, showering them in confetti. "You graduated long ago, did you not?"
"We took down all the big shadows, and saved the world, remember?" Yukari said, appearing with a bouquet of flowers.
"You rescued me from Tartarus, thank you." Fuuka smiled.
"You helped me find closure," Ken followed.
"Bark! Bark!" Koromaru circled around him.
"You showed me the true meaning of what it means to be alive." Aigis hugged him.
"Yea! And we climbed all the way up to that blasted tower and faced Nyx!" Junpei shouted, giving him a big thumbs up, Chidori by his side. "Thanks for giving us the courage to keep on going man!"
Minato clutched onto the diploma in his hand, turning to face the wider stage. Hundreds if not thousands of faces he's met or seen watched him from below. The old monk smoking a cigar, the elderly couple from the book store waved, and the little girl from the playground jumped up and down cheering for him. Yuko, Kenji, and everyone else were present. He was surrounded by not only his friends but by thousands of souls he had saved, all here to attend a graduation ceremony he had missed while alive. Never to walk across the stage while his friends marched ahead, against the relentless flow of time. On the day he breathed his last, he had no regrets about his life, however it stung to know he wouldn't have been there for the grand celebration.
"And don't you ever screw up that dish, you hear me?"
The Messiah's eyes widened, spotting a familiar pea coat walking through the crowd. Shinji emerged with Akihiko.
"Shinji…?"
"I hear you've met good people where you landed. Take care of'em. Now go"
"Show them our old training regime." Akihiko smirked.
"Alas, we cannot delay you any further, Arisato."
Mitsuru pushed Minato forward, the joyous scene in front of him fading away. The happy people were all cheering him on.
"Take care!"
"Congratulations!"
"I hope you have fun in your new world!"
"N-no! Everyone, I-!"
They didn't even leave time for him to give a graduation speech. Instead, they sent him off with satisfied smiles on their faces, each one fully at peace. Diploma still in hand, he struggled to go back, but try as he might, the world around him would crumble. Such was the nature of a fleeting dream.
"It's alright Minato, we will always have you in our hearts till the end of time…" Aigis said, sending him off into the sea.
Dropping down into the abyssal darkness, Minato cried, but no one would be there to console him. Sailing through the depths he fell and fell infinitely until he couldn't cry anymore. Then, in that void he noticed a light. Shining like a beacon inside the sea, giving off a warm glow that drew him to its ethereal presence. Running through that dark expanse he sought after that familiar blue light, catching up to it in the flowing waves, eventually reaching the door before charging inside.
Blue velvet lined the room just as he remembered with an equally blue table in the center. Seated in the chair was none other than the women he loved in life.
"Elizabeth!" He shouted, bolting inside as she appeared just as shocked, embracing him.
"Minato..?" She forgot all her etiquette in that moment, responding with her own hug, the syllables of his name rolling off her tongue smooth as butter. He was gone for such a long time and now he was here once more, visiting her in the Velvet room.
"I'm so thankful to see you again, I really am!" in that moment he didn't know what to say, nor did he want to, because he didn't want this to be another dream he had to leave behind.
Elizabeth studied the bluenette, carefully listening to his tale. She was intrigued by his story of being reborn in another world, of the friends he made and the dream he just had, finally his journey to the Velvet room. However, after speaking he looked at her with sorrowful eyes and the attendant instantly knew what they meant.
"I assure you, Minato. This is indeed the one and only Velvet room. Between dreams and reality, mind and matter, perhaps this is how you were able to find us once more." Elizabeth comforted him. Although the elevator had stopped, frozen in time, it was still indeed the real Velvet room.
"Then does that mean I was wondering through not my own mind but another plane of existence?"
Elizabeth shook her head, "Unfortunately I cannot be certain, because this place has been shrouded in endless darkness for ages now. However, I can assure you that our meeting here is also not by mere coincidence."
Inspecting the diploma in his hand, Minato wondered why if this piece of paper had been a part of his dream, then why hasn't it disappeared. Was it all real after all? Then, he saw Elizebeth hand him something. "Is th…my evoker?"
She nodded, "In another time, in another place, your friends entrusted these items to me for safekeeping." All his old SEES gear materialized in front of him. From his old weapons, to even his keepsakes from his friends. It was like they purposely sent him off to the Velvet room to receive these items.
"But why…? Why when all this is over?" He felt the familiar grip of his evoker, the nostalgic urge to summon willed up inside of his soul. His personas called out to him.
"Because there is a situation I must inform of, Minato." Elizabeth suddenly became stern, returning to her old training. "As I have mentioned before, you finding your way back to the Velvet room is no mere coincidence. In fact, there is an malevolent force lurking in your new home."
"Danger? How so?" Minato gripped the hand of the evoker tight.
Elizabeth shook her head, "This I cannot ascertain. Due to unfortunate circumstances, the Velvet room has lost its ability to monitor the outside realms. Yet, from your presence alone I can feel a fleeting distortion from the world you arrived from. A foreign power that does not belong."
"Just when I thought I found peace…" Minato sighed, leaning back into his old seat. But this would also mean White and the others were in serious danger if what Elizabeth spoke was true. He frowned, knowing what he had to do next. "I presume my reincarnation wasn't just a fluke either then."
"Perhaps not. But on behalf of all of the Velvet room, we are glad to receive you once more, dear guest." She looked to the empty table where Igor once occupied, now empty. "I'm afraid not everyone will be able to welcome you."
The ancient elevator, which had reached its final destination long ago, sat motionless. Minato understood what his attendant meant. Igor was not here anymore, leaving Elizebth alone to occupy this sacred space. What caused the keeper of the room to vanish, the women did not elaborate, only holding a somber look in her eyes, enough to make Minato understand.
"Igor was like a father to me…" The Messiah reminisced, bitter sweet. He bore witness to his attainment of the Universe arcana, sending Minato off as he made his final decision in life.
"Master was proud of you, Minato. We all were." Elizabeth embraced him once more, she leaned against his shoulder for support.
Minato snuggled up against her, wrapping an arm around her. "I have no regerts, Liz. I really don't. If I were to do it again, I would." Determination swelled up in his heart, gazing up at the dark roof of the elevator, he made his choice then and there. He didn't know what mysterious force had tainted his new world, but he was ready to throw himself into the fire to save his friends again. The Messiah vowed he would vanquish the evil that once again sunk its claws into his happiness.
It was then he felt a jolt and a shake, hearing the old rusted gears of the elevator roaring back to life as his willpower rose. Slowly but surely the Velvet room ascended upwards once more into the unknown, shooting to the top just as he once climbed the shadowy tower.
"My, what wondrous resolve! Enough to ignite the mechanisms of this place once more!" Elizabeth sprung up, joyous at the sudden motion.
"Looks like even the room itself has acknowledged my promise." Minato stood up.
"Indeed. Well then, it's time I return to my old duties and assist you in your new chapter of life." Materializing a compendium, she bowed. "Once again Minato, welcome to the Velvet room. This place is between dreams and reality, mind and matter. My name is Elizebeth and I will be serving as your attendant here for the duration of your stay."
Waking up in a hospital bed, Minato noticed the warm pulsing energy of a Velvet key in his pocket. Shifting in bed, he felt something under the covers, retrieving the same high school diploma from before. The parting gift from his friends. Smiling to himself, he got out of bed.
"Minato…?" Cheren cracked the door ajar, before swinging it wide open. "You're awake!"
"What? He's awake? Since when?" White dashed over, almost throwing Cheren over.
"Minato! We're so glad you're ok! Do you feel anything weird?" Bianca hurried over with Fennel.
Puzzled, Minato shook his head, fine. In fact, he was more than fine.
"You were out for almost four days! We had to rush you to the hospital." Fennel said, worried.
"Deino, dee!"
"Wooobat!"
His pokemon dog piled him, jumping all over from sheer joy. Deino bit tightly onto its trainer, Woobat nestling against his cheek. "Ok, ok, you guys I'm back. Simmer down." After calming down everyone in the room, Fennel spoke up, stern.
"But before you leave, we have to give you a serious exam, youngman. I'm sorry for what happened to you, especially after I asked for your assistance to collect dream mist." Professor Fennel surveyed his physical condition, along with the help of a few doctors. After being cleared, he was allowed to be discharged.
"Once again, I hope the experience wasn't too extreme. Depending on the type of dream mist you inhaled, it could induce all types of dreams to nightmares." Fennel explained. Thankfully, White described the color of the mist he encountered as a bright shade of pink, suggesting the Munna that blasted him ate some very pleasant dreams at night.
"No problem, I had a pleasant time in dreamland." The bluenette mused absent mindedly. But was that a dream at all? Or was it something more.
Fennel adjusted his glasses, "I'm glad the experience was at least pleasant." She sighed, dark circles under her eyes. She had left her assistant to run her lab alone while she monitored the bluenette in the hospital. Juniper and Minato's mother were both on her back these past few days, it was an exhausting ordeal. This was the first time in the recorded history of dream mist research that someone went into a coma from inhaling the substance.
"But before we leave, professor, I want to ask you something." Minato said.
"Anything I can answer, youngman." Fennel sat down.
Minato looked to White and then to the rest of his friends, "Before I collapsed, we encountered a gang of Team Plasma members abusing pokemon in the Dream Yard. What happened to them after I was out?"
Cutting right to the chase, White answered instead. "We turned them into the police, Mina. But we haven't heard anything back from them at all."
"You'd think a news story would have broken by now." Cheren added. "Team Plasma is known for their charity work and kindness towards Pokemon, so I don't understand what the authorities are doing at the moment."
"Could it be that they're still being interrogated? What they did was so horrible, those poor Munna…" Bianca sulked.
"I haven't heard anything back from them either, but I can speak to a journalist friend of mine and find out more. It could be a rowdy group pretending to be Plasma too." Fennel offered, "It's the least I can do for you all and earn justice for the Munna. Bad people like that don't deserve to roam free to abuse Pokemon."
"Sounds good. I was worried they might have gotten away while I was out."
To summarize his current circumstances, Minato refreshed his memories, running through all the information he had received from Elizebath and his present state in the world. Taking a night stroll into the forest alone, he reached inside for the velvet key. Its familiar presence assured him, however no door materialized in his field of vision. Just as he and his attendant suspected, this current world was cut off from the Velvet room. Due whatever cosmic barrier was at work, it had been a truly lucky break for him to even reach Elizabeth at all, but he was assured she was currently working on a solution to break through, by brute force if she had to.
Next up on his checklist, he tried to materialize his inventory. Just as the diploma had been carried to this world, all of his belongings from his previous life were now stored in the sea of his soul. Summoning Lucifer's blade, giving it a few swings before exchanging it for his SEES gear. Everything had been exactly how he left it. Looks like his friends took special care of his stuff after his death. Running through all the items stored, he was surprised to find a stack of gold bars stashed among them, along with his old combat uniform. Guess the Kirijos really wanted him to be well equipped even on the monetary side. While yen would be useless in this new world, gold had a sneaky way of retaining its value throughout all of human history regardless of the society, serving as a stable investment. Well done Mitsuru, calculating for the impossible once more. It made the Messiah wonder what his old friend was thinking when she off loaded all these items to Elizabeth. Maybe she knew he would go through another ordeal and did all she could to help him survive.
Finally, he closed his eyes, searching through the sea of his soul for all his personas. Combing through his catalog, at first everything appeared to be in order yet the further he dug, the deeper the cracks began to appear. When he arrived in this peaceful world he only stuck to using a few of his favorites but now that he had a promise to fulfill, he found himself revisiting the deeper parts of himself. Diving into the depths, he saw missing pockets of his soul, empty voids of space unoccupied like something was missing. Concerned, he reviewed his findings, noting he had mysteriously lost parts of himself along with Messiah and a few other personas.
"How strange…"
He thought to himself. Why did it take him this long to notice the void in his soul? Another side effect of this exploration was his realization that he had become weaker overall compared to his old self. But this was likely more so due to not being in combat for so long.
"I really need to go back to the basics." Minato said, swinging his blade at the empty air. Dancing with his sword gracefully in the night, he went through the once routine training he had undergone back home. Summoning Kali to attack him, he deflected each of her blades in rapid session, working on his counter for the rest of the night.
White turned on her laptop's monitor, entering a video call. Her brother waved to the group as they all sat in a quiet cafe in Nacrene city. The aroma of freshly brewed coffee mixed with the peaceful atmosphere early in the morning.
"Hi, everyone! It's been a while, I heard some crazy stuff happened these past few days. Mind filling me in?" Black waved, once again in his school dorm. "Mom said Juniper was freaking out too."
"Yea…about that." White didn't know how to explain the chaos. Minato cut her off, giving a blunt answer.
"I tripped on dream mist for a world record and we arrested a few people claiming to be members of team Plasma."
Black choked on his bubble tea, "Hac! B-bro! How was the trip? Was it at least worth the knockout?" He coughed.
Minato smirked, "Of course, I'd call it therapeutic even." The boys had a bad habit of egging each other on. Cheren could tell Black was now fully invested. Suddenly, the bluenette felt someone whack him over the head.
"Bad Mina! Stop encouraging my brother to do stupid things!" White pouted, "Besides, we were actually worried about you too. It's not funny!"
"Ow White. You hit like a truck."
"Hahahhaha, I'm glad you're taking my place for that one," Black was almost in tears from laughter. "It's ok sis, you can't get dream mist where I am. The school would kill us if we brought anything remotely fun."
"Grrrrr, you're lucky you're on the side of that screen right now or I would have whacked you over the head too!"
"That's right, I'm in another place right now. Little sis can't touch me." Her older brother taunted, "Oh yea, thanks for the birthday gift by the way." He whipped out a small Castelia cone keychain. "Roommate said it was the exclusive edition, is that true?" The tiny ice cream cone was colored blue instead of the usual vanilla.
"Ugh, I just so happen to pick it up at some novelty store on my way to Nacrene. Shoo! Shoo! leave my screen. Let me talk to your cute roommate instead, dumbass."
"Aww, Blake isn't here right now. Too bad."
"What's up, White." Blake appeared like a spector, just as Black was about to say more. The boy pulled up a chair in a calm and cool air, similar to Minato's. Having frizzy brown hair that was even wilder than Blacks, wearing a red visor in contrast to his roommate's trainer hat.
"Where did you come from?!"
Black jumped, Blake gave him a deadpan glare. "You need to work on your stealth skills."
"Blake, we're not playing paintball right now."
In that moment, Minato noticed Blake give Black the side eye like he was conveying something deeply unsatisfying but snapped back to normal conversation with White. The way he naturally flowed right back was extremely well versed, similar to how Mitsuru would conduct herself. Someone deeply knowledgeable in ways of human interaction.
Another key thing to note was how after brief moments of random chit chat, the topic flowed back to Team Plasma. White laid out the events with Blake listening intently. By the time they were finished, it was mid afternoon and White headed out for the local Gym.
"Anyone coming with me to get their second badge? I know it's in a museum this time." White got up from her seat.
"Umm, me and Oshawott planned to explore the city more. They have such an amazing art scene here." Bianca said as her two pokemon were both mesmerized by the rich culture on display. Audino gazed at a painting of a powerful looking Salamence sailing through the sky, while Oshawott played with a piece of arts and craft. Nacrene city is known as the art capital of Unova, where aspiring artists gathered to make a name for themselves.
"You go on ahead, White. I plan to get in on some more training in the nearby forest." Cheren left.
"What about you Mina? I'm sure they'll be a line for the Gym challenge later." White checked the time. The afternoon was a popular time for trainers to gather and battle.
Minato opened his mouth, but stopped when he spotted a raven haired boy in the crowd. Freezing up, he saw him stroll into the cafe.
"No. I'll meet you guys at the Gym later…"
Ryoji waved at Minato, taking a seat after the others had left. Minato blinked, unsure if he was seeing an illusion. Thanatos was still with him so how was this possible? Regardless of his bewilderment, his look alike greeted him with a pleasant smile.
"Long time no see, old friend."
Author's Note:
The first half of chapter 5 came outta nowhere even for me as I wrote this blind but it worked out beautifully in the end. Elizabeth mentioned how the Pokemon world ain't as peaceful as everyone thinks it is rn and you guys will see why later on.
This chapter was going to be even longer but I decided to cut the Ryoji meeting for next time as it'll extend this by too much.
To anyone reading who know who Blake is, you are not far off. Take a guess.