The six were seated around an outdoor cafe table in Lumiose, which miraculously had a spot where Gaston could sit down and still participate with the group. On his left, Alexandre joined him in sitting on the ground, assisting with transitioning the giant’s soup bowl of espresso between his hand and the table. To Gaston’s right, Lucielle and Ginette were practically sitting on top of one another, engaged in all the cutesy public displays of affection that came so naturally to young couples. Dragonite and Chad, opting to act as civilized individuals, limited their contact to simply intertwined tails beneath their chairs.
“What do you mean, what now?” Chad questioned, lowering his chocolate parfait to reveal a whip cream mustache.
“I mean, we beat all the gyms, completed the conference, you saved the world– twice, if we’re counting– and even Keanu’s left.” Ginette listed off, using both of her hands to count. “This feels like the natural end of the story, unless there’s some secret boss somewhere.”
“Sounds like someone’s been watching too much television now that the season’s over,” Lucielle teased, nuzzling against her special girl.
“Yea, I think this is it. No secret boss, no hidden level; just the end of a journey.” Chad admitted, leaning back as the metal chair groaned under his weight. The six sat in a serene peace, simply living in the moment.
“In that case,” Lucielle began, drawing the group’s attention. “I’ve been invited to return to Korrina’s gym, to join her personal team.” She announced, to the applause of the four who were not in the loop. “Ginette is coming with me, as a secret ringer against any psychics who try something funny.” Another round of clapping from the same four, as the two blue pokemon brimmed with excitement.
“That’s great, we’re so happy for you!” Dragonite encouraged, as the two re-engaged their handsy activities.
“Gaston and I have been offered a new challenge, a divine task if you will.” Alexandre explained as the table’s focus shifted to the two royals. “The locals weren’t too happy to learn one of their founding royals was a pokemon, so we won’t be sticking around.”
“We have been granted the opportunity to found a new country, by and for pokemon, to the west of Unova. We have been informed the land is mostly uninhabited, or will be before our arrival.” Gaston added, his voice booming down from above.
“Oh, you’re going to Orre, huh?” Dragonite chipped in, the two seeming confused at the question. “Orre is the region on the west coast of Unova’s landmass. Almost no pokemon there, and very few humans. Bit of a shit-hole compared to everywhere else.”
“What do you mean by ‘divine task’?” Chad pushed as Alexandre grumbled about ‘details’.
“We’ll be working under the guidance of Lord Giratina–” Alexandre began to clarify before being interrupted by an excited Dragonite.
“Giratina?! Ruler of the Distortion World? The Antimatter Pokemon? One of the original three creations of Arceus? THAT Giratina?!” The gold dragon was practically vibrating where they stood, the metal of the table edge warping in their grip. Alexandre nervously nodded, triggering Dragonite to cough, sit back down, and motion for them to continue.
“As he was saying, we’ll be working with Lord Giratina. The Narrator negotiated something called a ‘work-release program’ that permits them to leave the distortion world for the express purpose of building this new region. So long as they abide by the terms, they will be free to explore the world with us.” Gaston explained as a nearby glass window shimmered briefly.
“Do you have a corrections officer appointed?” Dragonite asked innocently, earning a stink-eye from Chad.
“Don’t you already have a charity case with Eternatus?” He grumbled, pointing at the purple pokeball strapped to Dragonite’s wrist.
“But Chaaad, it’s the ghost snake; he’s a good boy underneath it all. I can fix them both, I swear!”
“According to you, every legendary or myth is a ‘good boy’ or ‘good girl’. You can’t adopt them all.” Dragonite grumbled about ‘Mr No Fun Allowed’, dropping the issue.
“Unless you come visit, you may likely never see us again. But, just know that we’re doing something important, and you’ll always be welcome.” Alexandre stated as his somber mood hid beneath a smile. There was a tap-tap on the glass beside them, as a shadow with piercing red eyes waited for their attention before fading away.
“That’s our cue; we need to get someplace less crowded, don’t want to scare people.” Gaston grunted, as he stood up to tower over the other five. The afternoon sun glinted off the giant sword strapped to his back, positioned for an easy over-the-shoulder draw.
“As if some ghost could scare people more than a giant pokemon walking around with their country’s most famous sword of legend.” Ginette jested, earning a poke to the belly from Lucielle. The four waved farewell as the rhino and dino walked away with their heads held high.
“I suppose that’s our cue to leave as well; it’s a long trek to Shalour City after all.” Lucielle mentioned with a sad smile, as the four of them shared a sequence of goodbye hugs, promising to stay in touch via Korrina’s number before adding it to Chad’s contacts list.
Watching Lucielle and Ginette walk off hand in hand, Chad instinctively reached for Dragonite’s, finding comfort in the firm grip. “Narrator, Lady, Author-sama, are you all still here?”
{Yes, dear.} /
“What really happens after the story ends?” Chad asked, squeezing his partner’s hand for support.
{No more world crises, I expect; at least unless another Storyteller uses this world for a Story involving one.}
And even then, you’d need to be in the specific location for it to affect you.
“How much longer will you stick around..?”
{Just until the end of this scene, sweetie.}
“Author-sama?”
Don’t worry, I’m not leaving just yet, but I’ll be sure to give a proper goodbye.
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Chad, continuing to firmly grasp Dragonite’s hand, sat back down at their table as a waitress took away their four companion’s empty drinks. “Something on your mind?” Dragonite sweetly inquired, their full attention on the anxious orange dragon.
“I just worry that, once this ends, so do we. A bit of existentialism, you know?” Chad took another sip of his chocolate and sugar dessert. “And I’m not ready for it to end just yet.”
“Well, how about I take your mind off that for an hour or so?” Dragonite offered, pulling him in close enough for their noses to touch.
“I–” Chad’s brain short-circuited. “I don’t think I ever asked; to quote a famous professor: ‘Are you a boy or girl?’”
Dragonite, angling their snout for a deep kiss, silenced the jokester, sucking the humor right off his tongue. “Does it matter?”
“No, I guess not.”
Somewhere on the western coast of Almia, a week or two in the past…
Atop a cliff overlooking the beach, a post-modern mansion made of stone and glass looked out over the ocean. Behind it, a winding switch-back path carved down the cliffside to the beach below, where two pokemon enjoyed the late-afternoon sunshine as the warmth steadily crept towards the horizon. The rhythmic crashing of the waves against the sand provides a peaceful white noise source to mask out the high-energy party music from the house above.
One of the pokemon is a skinny orange dragon, lacking a pair of wings but sporting a pair of whiskers that float in the air. Their semi-humanoid skeletal structure combined with a lack of muscle definition pairs with a flaming tail tip to imply a psychic and fire type. They rest peacefully, floating above the sand with an expression of pure bliss.
Beside them, an off-white and purple pokemon of similar stature with more feline features and an odd second connection from their spine to the back of their head, floats above the sands. Likewise, they seem to be peacefully resting and enjoying the natural quiet of the beach. “You were right,” he thought, using telepathy to compensate for a lack of vocal chords while projecting a soothing masculine voice.
“Right about..?” The orange one teased, cracking an eye open to look at their companion.
“Everything. My creators, their purpose for me, what I would have done… How do you know me so well?” He asked, rotating to his side to view the dragon with two open purple eyes.
“Call it a vision of the future, if you need to. What’s more important is that it never came to be.”
“But it can still happen; there is nothing preventing me from misguidedly seeking world conquest.” He corrected his companion, the statement imploring the fire type to rotate and face him fully.
“Nothing but yourself. I won’t stop you, not that I even could,” he admitted with a knowing smile. “But, would you rather challenge the world in search of power and conquest, or stay here with me in relative peace sipping Mai Tais and whatever other indulgences suit our fancy?”
The purple pokemon, while lacking in the ability to physically speak, curled a small smile with its mouth, telekinetically lifting the sweating half-empty fruit cocktail from a nearby table, taking a long sip from a straw. “If a single child with a Pikachu would thwart my attempts at world conquest, it would be foolish to abandon this paradise.”
The orange pokemon, hefting their own glass with a physical hand, reaches across for a toast as the two glasses clink, before settling back to enjoy their found paradise. At least until a frown crosses his muzzle. “Don’t get up, I’ll handle it.”
Floating up from the sands, he gently ascends to meet the incoming intruder, who similarly slows their approach until both are within a reasonable conversation range but physically distant just in case. “My name is Ranger Colette; I have come to investigate reports of powerful wild pokemon in the area.” She declared from atop her Noivern.
“Oh, hello again, Colette, Naeva.” He greeted with a wave, duplicating the greeting via a rough telepathy. The ranger seemed shocked, as her dragon pokemon grinned with delight.
“Looks like the little guy’s all grown up,” he complimented, slowly approaching for a better look.
“Uh, hi– Oh, right! Route twenty two! I guess the reports were slightly off; did you and your trainer move here with your team?” She straightened up, delighted for a familiar face.
“Something like that. Is this about those trespassers I sent packing?” He suggested with a smug grin, as Naeva barked out a laugh.
“Possibly. I’ll mark this area as a private residence when we return; that should give you justification if anyone tries to capture your team members.” The ranger leaned over slightly, eyeing the strobing loud house party going on below. “Just how many people are at that party anyway? The cliff hardly seems stable enough to support everything…”
“We used some rock, ground, and steel pokemon to reinforce the cliff. Not even a hyper beam will destroy it now.” The fire type bragged with pride. “But, as an olive branch, are there any signs we can put up to deter trainers from crossing into our property?”
“Yes, you should be able to find the correct signs in any nearby town, or on the Ranger Association website. I do hope we can cut down or eliminate those reports in the future, uh…”
“Chad.”
“Right, thank you for your cooperation, Chad, and have a good evening.” She offered, as the ranger and her Noivern flew off towards civilization. Chad could feel the stress leaving his body as he floated back down towards the sand, returning to his spot beside his drinking partner and enjoying the moment.
At least until someone shouts “CHAD!” from atop the cliff.
Rolling his eyes hard enough to tilt his head back, Chad spots a rather physically-gifted orange pokemon leap from the top, free-falling towards the sand. Grumbling with a wave of his three-clawed hand, a magenta puffy cloud appears below the base jumper, catching them at the base of the cliff.
“Chad!” He shouts, clambering off the cloud to cross the sands where the two beach-goers sit up to listen. “You gotta see it, Chad’s on TV fighting the Champion!” He bounces with excitement, his extreme musculature covered in a variety of doodles, streamers, and some kind of rainbow foam.
“You mean Vanilla Chad?” The orange psychic clarifies, not interested in meeting the other’s energy level.
“Yea!”
“You know it’s recording right? We can watch it any time.”
“I mean, yes, but don’t you want to root for him while it’s live? The whole ‘power of friendship’ deal?”
The purple pokemon broadcast his rendition of a laugh to accompany the physical gesture. “Chad, we can lie on the beach and relax tomorrow, and the day after, and every day after that. For tonight, why not support someone else in their push to achieve something great?” He suggested, floating his drink and himself in an upright standing position before gently ascending along the cliffside towards the house.
“I still can’t believe you snagged Mewtwo.” The muscle-bound himbo mentioned, smiling with appreciation.
“And I can’t believe you assembled a damn harem–” / “Polycule.” / –Harem! Using me for a transportation network!”
“Hey now, we’ve been over this. It’s only a harem if everyone is only interested in one person. They love each other, too.”
“Chad, if you disappeared tomorrow, I bet all of them would be gone by the next day.” The psychic scolded, grabbing his drink and slowly lifting the two of them up the cliff.
“And I bet if you and Mewtwo were willing to let us into your hearts, you’d be happy to share in the love with us.” The himbo countered with a dumb grin.
“I still refuse to believe or acknowledge we were the same person only a few months ago; those muscles truly have melted your brain.”
“And yours; I’ve caught you lookin’ plenty of times.”
The two continued to bicker and banter as they headed inside, where dozens of pokemon were watching the international live broadcast of the Kalos Pokemon League Lumiose Conference.
With joyous music belting from the orchestral pit, one by one, the members of the cast stepped forward to take a bow, as the massive ensemble group went first to solid applause. The numerous performers split to the sides, allowing the featured roles to step forward in groups to their own appreciation. After a solid minute of applause for the cavalcade of featured faces, the leading roles made their own unique entrances. Some with a skip and a hop, or a little dance and jig. Others with a serious march, or an acrobatic flip to the delight of the audience.
Until it was his turn, and with an adjustment of his tie, The Narrator strode to the center of the stage, clasping hands with the orange dragon as both took a deep bow before rising up to wave at everyone. He cleared his throat before thumbing the microphone on.
“Thank you, everyone, for donating your time to watch and enjoy our production. The cast has been hard at work to make this a reality, the crew have done a phenomenal job with the monumental challenge they were presented, and it all came together for this show.” A pause for more cheers and clapping, before it settled down again.
“Once again, we thank you for supporting the performing arts, and we hope to see you at our next production in the future!” He announced, tabbing the mic back off as everyone on stage took a simultaneous bow. In the same order, all of the ensemble members swept off stage, the music picking back up to play them off. Then, likely in fun or pre-designated groups, the featured players took their leave of the stage.
And finally, each of the leading roles waved one final goodbye before vanishing behind the curtains, until only the orange dragon, the gold dragon, the Narrator, and the Lady remained. As planned, the two dragons joined hands, waving before walking off the stage together as a couple.
Leaving only the Narrator and the Lady, sharing a spotlight as he dipped her for a deep kiss in the spotlight, igniting one final round of whistles and cheers before lifting her up as the two waved one last goodbye, stepping back and allowing the silk curtains to close with the finale of the music.
Watching the sun set, Dragonite and Chad sat on the edge atop Prism Tower as the city’s nightlife begins to stir and light up. “You know, our birthday is coming up soon,” Dragonite commented, “we should celebrate our third birthday.”
“We were born on the same day? I guess that makes sense given everything, but how are you certain?” He responded, leaning against them.
“Eh, call it an educated guess. Not like the two of them are around to confirm anyway,” they admitted, tilting their head to rest on his shoulder.
“Well, in that case, I should make us something. What’s your favorite flavor of cake?”
“Yours.” Dragonite responded instantly.
“Huh, didn’t take you for a chocolate fan.” Chad mused, as the skies shifted from orange to purple and deep blue.
“Chocolate’s nice too.” With the sun fully gone, purple and blue gave way to black, as the starry night sky came out to mirror the dancing lights below. “I know it’s only been a few months, but… I love you, and I want you to know that.”
“I love you, too.”
Goodbye, Chad. Enjoy your second chance at life!
Mouthing a ‘thank you’, he placed his head atop his partner’s, as the two finally found what they had always wanted.
Who was your favorite character?