Chapter 37:

-"I AM SO SO SORRY!" The professor and her assistant gave deep bows to the recently rescued Tentacool and his rat friend, who was currently panting heavily on a pillow next to Jessie's small fish tank and getting scritches from her partner. She earned it.

'I'd be a lot more mad at this one if we hadn't accidentally figured out how to cure and contain that criminal, Ex-Wartortle.'

'At risk of getting yet another flashback, the assistant arrived just in time to save us from certain headaches. And more serious health problems. It turns out, running the teleport program and then interrupting it with electricity so many times sent "phantom pokemon", basically data versions of the target without any actual mass, to the destination where he was trying to teleport to... which was anywhere but here. This caused the Ninetails curse to be split between them and the actual guy attempting to do the teleporting.'

'Basically we have a slightly immortal dude with weird fluffy ears sitting in a jail cell and a bunch of slightly cursed holograms floating around random pokecenters around the region. It's a big mess, but seeing as Prof. Holly technically cured this guy of his transformation issue, she's getting off with a warning and community service. The Ranger Corp isn't normally so lenient on scammers. She may even lose her professor credentials if she doesn't turn up any real research real soon.'

-"So you managed to accidentally cure this guy? That was a lucky break. Let this be a lesson to you about wrongfully- OW!" The nurse tending to ranger boy's broken arm gives him a stern look.

-"Er, sorry. I'll be careful not to fight any giant pokemon without help next time... Ahem, so Jessie."

"I'm not turning back."

-"What?! But why? You worked so hard and you have such a bright future ahead of you! After all that's happened, why would you want to remain a Tentacool?"

"My reasons are my reasons."

-"Jessie... Okay, if you're really sure, then I'll respect your decision. I think you've earned that much leniency after what happened these past few weeks. And for... today."

-"I AM SO SO SORRY!"

-"Yeah yeah."

The assistant, pressing the fake professor's head to the floor even harder, speaks up.

-"Truly, I cannot begin to apologize. I knew that Professor Holly was fudging the data to keep her research grants coming, but this was inexcusable. Furthermore, according to what data we do have on transformations... we may not actually be able to turn Mr. Jessie back into a human after all."

*all silent*

"Eh?"

-"W-why not?"

The assistant continues.

-"You see, we have plenty of data regarding people who become pokemon through various means. Curses. Illusions. Godly intervention. But among all of those methods, we only have a single reported case of a human who was transformed by the mysterious Unown. Their power has baffled even our best scientists for as long as we have known of their existence. To tell you the truth, he may never turn back."

-"Oh. That's... a little disappointing. Jessie, I'm sorry. You deserve at least the opportunity to- ! Jessie please don't look so smug, I'm trying to be serious here!"

"What? Was I grinning? I didn't notice." He noticed, grinningly.

*sigh* -"Yeah, okay. So you got your wish to stay a pokemon. As far as we rangers are concerned, this case is closed. You're free to come and go as you wish and will be treated as a protected pokemon. In other words, as long as the person has a valid trainer's license and a non-tampered with pokeball, you cannot be captured. Same as any other trainer pokemon."

"YAHOO! Guess I don't need these things then!" Jessie roughly tosses a belt with pokeballs at Riley.

-"Wh- the pokeballs? You don't want them? Even as a Tentacool, it's possible for you to be a trainer. You would have special permissions to-"

"No no, let me interrupt you there. I appreciate it. Truly! For the longest time I wanted nothing more than to be a pokemon trainer. If I were still a human, I'd probably be out there now, catching pokemon and having a great time. But well, it's just not that simple now."

-"How so?"

"I saw what it's like. What it's like to be on the other side." Jessie looks deeply into Riley's eyes.

"Have you ever seen a pokemon who's afraid of you on an instinctive level?"

*shock* -"N-no I-" But Jessie holds up a tentacle and continues.

"A pokemon who knows you mean to do well by them. Who knows you want to help them. But something deep inside, inside they know, for certain, that you could take them away from their home and loved ones with a flick of the wrist... I saw that in the eyes of my best friend. I saw it in the eyes of pokemon who I've fought and bled for. I've seen it, just briefly, in the eyes of nurse Chansey who is the kindest, most hardworking person I have ever met, pokemon or no. And she works with trainers for a living!"

"How could I ever live with myself if I saw that look in my daughter's eyes? Riley, I REFUSE to use another pokeball for as long as I live!"

-"...Okay."

"Okay?"

-"Okay. If you feel that strongly about it, there's no need for me to press you to continue holding onto those. Let's just put this accident behind us and leave it at that."

"Cool... So what is happening with ol fuzzy ears?"

-"Just a lot of moaning about how he doesn't have the magic tail of semi-immortality, despite the fact that we're pretty sure he's gonna live longer than the average human due to his remaining Wartortle genetics."

"Shame... You gonna tell him?"

-"Eh, we can always let him figure it out himself in a hundred years or so."

"Nice. Well, you have fun with that! I've got a little lady waiting on me back home!"

-"Yeah, I have a little lady right here of my own to take care of." Pichu yawns, leaning into the ear scratches.

"I'll leave you to it then. Oh right! There is one last thing you can do for me."

-"Sure, anything. What's up?"

"So there's this kid. I figure he hasn't come home yet because he's out there on an adventure. But if you ever meet the guy, can you tell him... TO STOP TRYING TO FRICKING CATCH ME! By Ho-oh's tail feathers, the kid has not stopped trying to catch me since day one!"

-"O-okay?"

"And yeah, tell me if he's doing alright when you come back."

-"Pft, yeah, alright. I'll get right on that. You little tsundere jellyfish."

*already scooting away in his shiny new, red wagon/fish tank* "Heard that!"

And so, the day ends much the way it began, quietly. In start contrast to this morning however, there's a shift in the moods of the pokemon. Birds sing a little louder, fish leap from the surf a little higher, and a group of Rocket grunts plot their escape a little more eagerly... Not that they'll succeed, but they're a little more eager about it!

With everyone taking a well earned rest Jessie carts his young daughter around in his wagon, looking forward to all the chaotic joys that come with parenthood.