A/N: Wrapping up this fanfic quickly didn't quite work out, mostly because I lost interest in this story and couldn't figure out how to fix all of the holes that reared their ugly head over the years. This is the closest I can get to a satisfactory ending. Enjoy.


~~~~Alternative Point of View:~~~~
~~~Falkner~~~

It was way too early. Even the earliest-rising of the Gym Trainers weren't up yet, and it was still dark. Janine, the Pidgeot, and the rest of the Pokémon were still asleep. I decided not to bother anyone. We all needed our rest for our battle against Katrina at ten today.

I need some rest too, I thought wryly, but after a lot of tossing and turning, I decided that there was no way I was going back to sleep. So I stretched, got out of bed, and got dressed. I decided that I might as well eat something, check the mail, and go for a walk. I might be able to watch the sunrise as I did.

Less than an hour later, my belly was full. I was walking out of the gym to check the mailbox when I noticed a Skarmory, its steel feathers reflecting the dawn light. It was standing in front of the doors to Violet Gym and holding a plain white envelope in its beak.

"Oh, hello," I said to the bird with a smile. "Is that for me?"

The Skarmory dipped its head, and I took the envelope from it. The Steel-type then turned around and flew away.

I examined the envelope and my heart raced in apprehension.

To: Falkner
From: Katrina

Uh oh, I thought as I opened the envelope. Inside was a handwritten letter.

Dear Falkner,

It is with a heavy heart that I give up on my search for a Pidgeot with an Adamant Nature. This may come as a surprise to you, given how much I wanted one. However, very recently I have obtained data from my research that I cannot ignore. This data suggests that Pidgeot as a species possess a mysterious and extremely powerful Forme known as Mega Evolution. I have come to a point where I can no longer ignore the existence of Mega Pidgeot, nor its optimal Nature: Timid. Though more research is needed to solidify this choice, I am very certain that Adamant is no longer the best, most powerful Nature for my Pidgeot.

Therefore, it is with great regret that I inform you that I have taken my leave from Violet City. My Skarmory should catch up to me once it delivers this letter to you. The rest of my Pokémon - Jolteon, Charizard, Gyarados, Golbat, and Fearow - are with me. Please do not ask where I am, or attempt to contact me. I will be preparing, as usual, to become the most powerful Flying-type Trainer in the world. One day, when I have a fully trained Mega Pidgeot with a Timid Nature, I will come back to Violet City to battle you, to determine once and for all who between us is more powerful. But today is not that day.

What you do now is entirely up to you, but as I said before, please do not attempt to contact me. I understand that you had concerns about the way I treated Pokémon. You think I am wrong to treat my Pokémon as tools for power. If only I had the luxury to treat my battle-raised Pokémon as friends… don't you see? In my quest for power, there is no room for friendship. What happened with Pidgeot proves this. One could form a bond with a certain Pokémon, only for a discovery of a stronger Pokémon to render that bond worthless. I aspire to be the strongest Flying-type Trainer, and so I only use the strongest Pokémon. It is as simple as that.

I can assure you that we will meet again. It is inevitable, given our conflicting philosophies and our status as family. And Falkner, I would like to take this chance to say that despite my quest for power, I can't be prouder to call you my little brother.

With everlasting love,
Katrina

I read the letter over once more, then one more time. I barely noticed the sun coming out and warming the land with its golden rays. This was all very strange. My sister Katrina, Nature Hunter K, who had spent the past several months relentlessly antagonizing me and trying to capture a Pidgeot that wasn't hers, was now giving up on capturing that Pidgeot and telling me that she loves me? It was very bizarre.

I continued to mull over the letter as I returned to Violet Gym and headed to the indoor forest to check on my Pidgeot and its friend. Thunder and Lightning would have to know what happened; there was no hiding from them that the great showdown between me and my sister, scheduled for today, was not going to happen, and the Adamant Pidgeot was apparently safe from Nature Hunter K's desires.

How in the world did things turn around so fast? I thought as I entered the elevator. Is that what Pokémon truly are to Katrina? Tools for power, to be exchanged for more powerful ones as soon as they become available? I realized with sadness that there was no convincing my sister otherwise… unless she came back. I supposed we would wait and see if Katrina showed up today, but if she didn't, we would need to have a conversation about things going forward. About Thunder's plans for the future, and what my own Pidgeot wanted. If Thunder truly wanted to continue her search for Ash Ketchum, and Lightning truly wanted to accompany her, I would not stand in the way.

~~~~Alternative Point of View:~~~~
~~~End~~~

"Where were you?" Janine asked Falkner as he stumbled into the indoor forest looking like he'd seen a ghost. Janine, Lightning, and I had risen only to find that Falkner was nowhere to be found.

"Checking the mail," Falkner said weakly, holding up a handwritten letter. "You all are absolutely not going to believe this."

"What is it?" Janine said softly as I exchanged a glance with Lightning, fearing the worst.

"It's a letter from my sister, delivered to me personally by her Skarmory," Falkner said, shifting the papers in his hands. "It's… here, I'll read it out loud to all of you. And I can read it out loud again after I'm done because you're going to want to hear it again."

I listened with full attention as Falkner read the letter. By the time he was done, we were all wearing expressions of sheer disbelief. Nature Hunter K was going to leave me alone? Katrina was proud of Falkner? What?

"No way," Janine said a few moments after Falkner finished reading the letter aloud. "Let me see. I'll read it aloud again so the Pokémon can hear too."

Falkner wordlessly handed the letter over to Janine, and as she took her turn in reading it aloud, Lightning and I exchanged nervous glances. This definitely changed things. I was safe from Nature Hunter K. I would be left alone, undisturbed, to do whatever I wanted. And Falkner had plenty of time to prepare for the confrontation with his sister.

"What do you think?" Falkner asked wearily as Janine finished reading.

"What do I think?" Janine said, handing the letter back to Falkner. "What do you think, Falkner? I think that, and what the two Pidgeot think, matters more."

"I…" Falkner rubbed his temples. "I have to be ready for Katrina's return," he said finally. "I don't know if or when that will happen, but one day she's going to want to battle me, six Pokémon on six, to determine which one of us is stronger. She isn't going to hold back." Falkner clenched a fist and took a deep breath in anger. "I'm screwed, guys! I'm a Gym Leader. At times, my job is to hold back so that I'm a fair and worthy challenge for others. I don't have six Pokémon that can beat Katrina, not when she's willing to do anything in the entire world for her ultimate team."

"Maybe you don't have to beat Katrina in a Pokémon battle to settle your score," Janine said thoughtfully. "Katrina wants to be stronger than you. She could truly be stronger than you one day. We wouldn't have a problem with that if she played by the rules like truly respected Trainers such as Champion Lance. The problem is - our problem with her is - she's ruthless. She thinks it's okay to be conniving and cruel to others, and to treat her Pokémon as tools, in order to be powerful. We need her to change her ways, that's our true battle."

"It will be very hard to find her right now," Falkner said. "But if she challenges me, I need to make my case to her. I won't be able to do that with just a Pokémon battle, because she may win and see her victory as proof that she is going in the right direction. I'll have to do all I can to convince her that she can't go on being cruel and ruthless to everyone."

"This is a lot to take in," Janine said gently, taking Falkner's hand in hers. "I'm happy to help however I can."

"Thank you," Falkner said, squeezing Janine's hand gently. He let go and turned to me and Lightning, who until this point were listening with rapt attention.

"Thunder? Lightning?" he said. "What do you want to do now?"

What did I want to do now? I wasn't too sure.

"Thunder, I want to be there for Falkner," Lightning said softly, looking at me. "He is my Trainer, we've been through so much together, and I don't want him to face Katrina without me. But I care about you, too. You're safe from Nature Hunter K, and you can do what you want without fear. Tell me what you want to do and I'll do my best to help you."

"I… I want to do what I can to help you and Falkner win over Katrina," I said slowly. "But that won't happen for a while. In the meantime…" I took a deep breath. "I don't think it makes sense for me to continue searching for Ash Ketchum. It seems that he has moved on. But I also want to give him a chance to keep his promise to me."

"What will you do, Thunder?" Lightning asked.

"If Ash ever decides that he wants to see me again, it wouldn't be fair of me to not be where he left me. So I'd like to go back to Viridian Forest. That way, if Ash wants to come back for me, he can. Rest assured, though, this doesn't mean I won't be seeing you again, Lightning."

"You want to stay in Viridian Forest to wait for Ash, but I want to stay in Violet City with Falkner," Lightning said, confused. "That means we won't be seeing each other anymore, unless Falkner and I fly in from time to time."

"But you two can fly in from time to time, right?" I asked Lightning hopefully. "That way, I'll stay in Viridian Forest, but I'll still be seeing you. We could still spend a lot of time together, and I could still help you with Katrina or whatever you have going on. I think we could do it, Lightning. True love and friendship can stand the test of time and space."

Lightning buried his beak into my plume feathers and trilled happily. "I know we have what it takes," he murmured. "Falkner met me in Viridian Forest. We do go there from time to time. We'll see each other regularly and our bond will remain strong."

"Of course," I said, leaning my forehead against Lightning's. "Come on. Let's all go to Viridian Forest - you, me, Falkner, and Janine. I want to introduce you to the flock."

"Now?" Lightning said with a small laugh. "None of us have had anything to eat yet this morning. How about some breakfast first?"


"The weather's nice," I said as I flew with Lightning, carrying Janine on my back as he carried Falkner. "If only I had known about this route when I first came here from Viridian Forest. I would have avoided the snow."

"We learned of this route from Walker, Falkner's father," Lightning explained. "You have to fly south of Mt. Silver and the Indigo Plateau."

"That should have been obvious," I chuckled. "Oh well, lesson learned for future reference."

"It's been a long time since we last came to Viridian Forest," Falkner said, patting Lightning's side. "Are you all excited?"

"Yes!" Janine, Lightning, and I crowed.

We had all decided to do some training in Viridian Forest before having a picnic. Then Janine would fly back to Fuchsia City and Falkner would fly with Lightning back to Violet City. And I would stay in Viridian Forest, where I hatched, where I met Ash Ketchum, and where, hopefully in the near future, my trainer would reunite with me.

Ooooo Ohhhh Aaaaa…

"Articuno!" Falkner exclaimed in hushed excitement.

"Where?" Janine asked, but I had already pinpointed where the legendary bird was flying in the distance. I felt warm as I looked all around me, at Falkner and Lightning, at Janine, and at Articuno, which was disappearing into the infinite horizon.

"Thank you," I whispered happily, expressing my gratitude. I finally know where I really belong.

THE END


A/N: When I eventually cross-post this, I'll go back and fix all the formatting issues while leaving the original text intact for posterity. It will be a while before I cross-post this story, however, because I have a lot more fanfic to cross-post before it. Thanks everyone for your support over the years!