nandosagi

-:-

Approximately one hour after the end of Colonel Nixon's ill-fated revolution, Matt, Nekou, Olivia, Bunny, Althea and General Zerossen stood in the underground shrine of the compound where Althea and Agenta lived. The shrine maiden was back in her robes and once again holding Catherine in her arms.

In front of the group of six was a casket made of waterproofed wood. Zerossen had delivered Agenta's body to her mother, and now she would be laid to rest in the traditional and respectful manner she would have wanted.

"Althea, I'm sorry I couldn't save her…" Matt's voice was listless, reflecting the emptiness he felt while seeing what would be Agenta's eternal place of rest. "I still feel like there could have been something I could have done so it wouldn't end this way."

"Please stop blaming yourself. Agenta wouldn't have wanted it. Also, she didn't fear death at all. She knew what becoming the apprentice maiden of our shrine meant and even when it looked like Nixon would sacrifice her to Zoroark, she never let that make her fearful."

"We didn't know her for long," Bunny added, "but I think she was someone that would have wanted us to take the time we did know her and use it as strength to face forward."

"That's correct," Althea confirmed. "Even though Agenta is no longer alive, we will continue to live on with the future we now have available to us. I will raise Catherine to be someone her sister would have been proud of. Agenta will rest at the bottom of this pool, where she felt so at peace in life."

Zerossen stepped forward, his Spiky-Ear Pichu running up and jumping onto his shoulder. "Matt, Nekou, Olivia, Bunny… I also want to say thank you for everything you've done for us. Without your help, Nixon's rebellion may have succeeded, and the future could have turned out vastly different."

"But, we still don't know how our future ended up happening," Olivia pointed out, "so we don't know what kind of events the original timeline contained."

"Well, we're still here, so that means the events couldn't have been that different," Nekou theorized. "What if Althea and Catherine survived while Agenta died in the original timeline, and some townspeople were originally killed, but the ones who were saved by us changing history do not go on to do anything that vastly changes the timeline? That could be how the temporal plane self-corrects in this instance."

"That makes sense." Matt rubbed his chin in thought as he replied.

Looking to Althea, who read his thoughts and confirmed them with a quick nod, Zerossen decided he had to deliver the inevitable news.

"Everything is over now. Therefore, I think it's time for you all to return to the future."

"How will you do that?" Nekou inquired, furrowing her brow. "And what of Gideon? We never found him."

"I will have Pichu create another Time Ripple, like the one that brought you here, and when Olivia touches it, everyone who came back through the first Time Ripple – including Gideon – will be pulled through the new one and returned to the future."

Matt considered Zerossen's instructions and realized that the general was correct. With his time in the past coming to a close, he turned to Althea one last time. "My life will never be the same after what has happened here."

"And mine will not be either. Even if none of us understand quite how, our future will be different because of the people who visited us from that future to save us. I will raise Catherine with awareness of how our course in history was changed by you four, and I will always hold in my heart until the day I die the selfless efforts you made on our behalf. Thank you."

"Goodbye, and best of luck moving forward, Althea." His business finished, Matt turned to Zerossen. "I think we're all ready now."

After getting confirmation from Nekou, Olivia and Bunny, Zerossen allowed Pichu to return to the floor. "Pichu, please, open the Time Ripple."

Using the unusual power it possessed from time travelling so much, Pichu surrounded itself with a white aura. It then launched a small bolt of electricity, which opened the Time Ripple a few feet away.

"Well then… it's time," Matt wistfully said. "Olivia, do your thing."

"Goodbye, Althea, General Zerossen." Olivia made sure to bid farewell to her newfound friends from the past before stepping forward and raising her hand up. Without an ounce of hesitation she set her hand against the Time Ripple, causing it to glow as the reaction that would send her and her friends back into the future began.

-:-

In the future, Looker had been leading his group around the ruins of Argyros Town all day. Finally, with the help of Anabel's Espeon, they'd located the shrine compound, which was somehow perfectly preserved even after all the years that had passed. Something inside the compound agitated Espeon, and the group followed the Psychic-type's lead all the way to the underground shrine.

"Look at this place!" Trista exclaimed, stunned by the beauty of the stained glass and the still-crystalline pool of water. "This is beautiful!"

"Being that as it is being, my mission still is happening to want me to find Matt Chiaki and his friends. Anabel, what is it that is upsetting your Pokémon that is called Espeon?"

"I can't tell," Anabel glumly responded. "Espeon, what is it?"

"Esp! Espeh!" The Pokémon's shrill voice echoed through the spacious shrine.

"Hmm… Espeon seems to think that there is something unusual here, as in, something that is causing its enhanced senses to react. Do any of you see anything?"

Blaine shook his head. "I don't…"

He was cut off, however, when the Time Ripple opened up nearby, depositing Matt, Nekou, Olivia, Bunny and Gideon back in their rightful time before disappearing. They all looked a bit disoriented from their rather strange trip home, but that didn't matter to Anabel, who charged over and embraced Olivia in hysterical relief.

"Oh, Olivia, you're alright! I'm so… you're okay and I'm so glad!"

"Hi, mom!" There was a hint of sarcasm in Olivia's voice, as if she thought her mother's reaction was exaggerated, but on the whole she seemed happy to be back home.

"Where have you been all this time? We've been looking for you!"

"We had a really neat adventure! Believe it or not, we actually went back in time and got to meet a bunch of interesting people! After that, there was a war and I got to be a hero!"

Picking up on Anabel's reluctance to believe her daughter's outlandish claims, Matt quietly added, "She's telling the truth. All of that actually happened."

Before this discussion could go any further, Nekou butted her head in, peering closely at the egg that was still in Anabel's possession. "Where'd you get that egg?" she asked.

"Oh, this? We found it in a bush while searching for you. If you want, you can have it…"

"If I want? Do you really have to ask? Of course I want it!"

Matt could only chuckle at Nekou's unabashed but harmless selfishness as Anabel handed the egg over to her. However, that moment of humor turned to pure surprise when, as soon as Nekou had the egg in her arms, it started to glow. It was hatching, much to the shock of all present.

A tiny fox Pokémon emerged from the egg once it stopped glowing. She was mostly black in color, but her fur had red patches on her paws, above her eyes, and on the tuft between her pointed ears.

"Zo…?" she said sleepily. She then looked up and saw Nekou's face, at which point she snuggled closer to Nekou and happily spoke, "Zo, zoru."

"Aww! A Zorua, and now she's mine!"

"That Pokémon is called Zorua?" Olivia asked to confirm. "She's completely adorable! You two are a perfect match!"

While Olivia and Nekou fawned over the newborn Zorua, Looker had rushed to the back of the shrine and captured Gideon as he tried to escape quietly. "Getting away, no, you will not be!" the detective loudly declared as he affixed handcuffs to Gideon's wrists. "Under arrest is you! Being as the primary target of targeting in the inspection that is mine, of high value you are being!"

"But why me?" Gideon screamed while flailing in Looker's grip. "Why aren't you…"

Unwilling to listen to Gideon's rambling, Looker struck Gideon in the face with his elbow. This silenced the mad scientist, and Looker started to lead him off.

"So what of the tournament?" Matt asked of Trista and Anabel. "Is it still going to finish?"

"We had to call it off when you guys went missing," Anabel informed him, a hint of sadness still present in her voice. "I hope neither of you mind, Matt, Trista…"

"You already know I don't care." Apparently Anabel had already informed Trista of these facts, so the trainer was already at terms with them. "Why not tell him that it was decided we'd both get the main prize since the battle was called off?"

"What?" This was certainly something Matt did not expect. "Anabel, what does she mean?"

"The end prize was a free entry pass into the Frontier Society's competitions throughout the country," Anabel explained. "Both of you can make good use of such a thing, and it would be too inconvenient to bring everyone back together to reconstruct the tournament for one more battle, so we… I mean, I… I decided that we'd just call it off."

"That makes sense, so… thanks, I guess."

"Hey, Matt…" While Matt had been conversing with Anabel and Trista, Bunny had been searching around nearby, and when she approached him again, she held in her hand an old, dusty scroll. "Look what I found. It was just lying on the floor."

His curiosity piqued, Matt accepted the scroll from Bunny and carefully unrolled it. Its container was made of corroded, old metal, while the message inside was written on parchment that had faded over time. The actual writing, however, was still plainly intact.

Matt started to read the message aloud. "Matt – when you arrive back in your future, this message is intended for you. I am writing this in the year of 1900. As I do not feel I am long yet for this world, I have remembered my life, and the day I encountered you and your allies was the day our lives completely changed. Like I promised I would, I raised Catherine into a fine shrine maiden, and she gave me grandchildren that also grew to be prosperous and just. We have always remembered how you helped make it possible for us to stay in our homeland. Many of our people left over time when the railroad was built, but we have remained to watch over what is rightfully ours. It was because of you and the events you brought that we can continue to live this way, and I wish that Agenta is watching over you from the next world. Always remember what happened that day. Thank you."

"A message from Althea…" Nekou flatly stated, clearly shocked by the scroll.

Rolling up the scroll and storing it in his bag, Matt abruptly turned away from the others. "I need some time to think."

Nekou, Olivia, Bunny, Anabel, Blaine and Trista could only watch as Matt stiffly walked off to leave the shrine. While the latter three could not possibly understand what had him so worked up, Nekou, Olivia and Bunny knew far too well that the message had hit him in a very sensitive spot by reminding him that Althea still had to live the rest of her life.

The awkward silence was broken when a beeping sound reverberated through the shrine. It was Anabel's phone, indicating that it was receiving an incoming call. She fumbled through her pocket, withdrew the purple-colored phone and held it to her ear. Fitted on the phone's back cover was a photograph of Anabel and Olivia from some years earlier.

"Hello…? Oh, is that so… well, I'll let him know. We're on our way back now."

"What was that?" Olivia asked her mother once she hung up the phone.

"Your ride to Whitegold City has arrived back in town. We have to collect Matt and get back."

-:-

It took the group a short time to catch up with Matt, but by the time they did, he was already outside the shrine. Much to their surprise, they found him standing alongside the Golurk that guarded Argyros Town, holding a Poké Ball in his hand.

Two separate pieces of information suddenly clicked inside Nekou's head, pushing a stunning realization onto her. "This Golurk is the same one that assisted Agenta in the past, isn't it?"

"It is," Matt replied without turning around. "Now with the memories of what we did for its master in the past, it has come to join us in our travels."

"What are you talking about?" Bunny appeared confused. She didn't understand what Matt was alluding to when he spoke of their future travels.

"I'm talking about the new group I'm creating that's comprised of the four of us, and the mission it is formed to execute. Operation "Get Eleanor and Agenta's Revenge," or "Operation GEAR" for short… that is the founding mission of my Triad of Revenge."

"Why are you using a word meaning "three" when there are four members?" There were other things about this that Bunny didn't quite get, but that was the first thing she thought to say.

"Obviously because there's no word for four that flows as easily," Nekou coldly suggested. "Besides, why are you even counting me as one of this group of yours? My debts are paid, you said so yourself. There's nothing tying us together anymore."

"You got through to Olivia far more effectively than I have in the five years I've had her. The two of you seem to have become fast friends and I couldn't bear to break you two apart."

Nekou was initially surprised to hear this. "I'm really… that important?"

"Yeah, you're my big sister now!" Olivia cheerfully blurted out, hugging Nekou's leg. She then put on a mischievous face and said slightly more quietly, "Now we both get to boss him around!"

"I like the sound of that…" Nekou returned, her expression changing to match Olivia's.

Matt likely didn't hear what they'd said to each other, and even if he did, he paid it no heed. Taking advantage of this opening, Anabel decided to deliver the news she had gotten.

"Matt, I just received a phone call. The air transport from Everton International to take you to Whitegold City has arrived at the Indigo Plateau."

"I see. Thank you for that, Anabel. I'll go on ahead, so come back as fast as you can." His business in Argyros finished, Matt jumped onto the back of his new Golurk. "Hethna, use Fly. Take me back to the Indigo Plateau."

Grunting in eager-to-please cooperation, Golurk – now nicknamed Hethna – retracted its hands and legs to create its rocket boosters and lifted off into the sky.

-:-

It took the others about an hour to finally get back to the Indigo Plateau from the site of Argyros. They met up with Matt, who was waiting at the entrance into town from the mountain trail. At that point, Nekou had received an urgent phone call and rushed off to deal with it privately behind the town Pokémon Center.

Unlike Anabel's old flip phone, Nekou's was a high-tech, touchscreen-enabled smartphone with phone charms of Sneasel and Duskull hanging off of it. Her conversation itself, meanwhile, was a video call with a young woman wearing a lab coat and rectangular glasses.

"Miss Nekou, you can't leave us! I don't know what I would do without you!"

"You're stronger than you think, Ada. I can do more good for you by continuing to travel with Matt and Olivia."

"But…"

"Just listen to me. We had our day in the sun, but things change. I have to go away for a while, but when I come back, I'll be better than I was before. Have some faith in me."

"You're right. I'm sorry, Miss Nekou."

"Don't worry about it."

"There you are!" Olivia had been looking for Nekou and finally found her in the alley behind the Pokémon Center. "Nekou, Matt wants to leave. He says we're going to be late if we don't leave now."

"Okay!" Quickly turning back to her call, Nekou hastily said, "I have to go now, Ada, but just remember I care about you and everyone else. Do me a favor and make sure Maman gets her medicine according to the instructions I wrote out, okay? Love you!"

After hanging up, Nekou hurried out of the alley to meet Olivia, and then the two of them entered the Pokémon Center and headed past all the trainers and Pokémon seated at the numerous tables to the elevator. They rode up to the third floor, the highest in the building's interior, then took the stairs up to the roof.

On the roof of the Pokémon Center was a helipad. Matt, Bunny, Anabel, Blaine and Trista were all there already, and their transport – a large black helicopter emblazoned with a logo that appeared to be a golden anchor combined with an uppercase 'E' – sat awaiting them.

"Ah, good, everyone's here now," Matt said once he saw Olivia and Nekou arrive. "We can get going."

"Excuse me, Mr. Chiaki," interrupted the escort that had arrived with the helicopter, a brown-haired man in a dark suit that also bore the anchor logo. "Captain Everton informed us that there would only be two passengers."

"Well, he was wrong. This is my student, Olivia Mistbloom, the one you already knew about. The others are my friend Bunny Spruce and my assistant Nekou… um…" Realizing he didn't know Nekou's last name, Matt stumbled in embarrassment.

"Langley," Nekou helpfully revealed. "Nekou Langley."

Before Bunny and Nekou had even been introduced, the man was already on his phone, calling back to the company that had sent him. "Two extras. Bunny Spruce and Nekou Langley. Yes. Yeah, they seem to be important to him. Alright, thank you." Closing his phone, the escort addressed Matt again. "Captain Everton has approved all four of you traveling on this transport, so please board now."

"Thank you. Well, come on, all of you, let's get going."

Matt climbed up the stairway to enter the helicopter, followed by Olivia, then Nekou and finally Bunny. The escort got on last, and after him, the stairway retracted into the helicopter's body and the door slid shut.

"Goodbye!" Trista called out, waving like Anabel and Blaine were. "Enjoy my hometown!"

"Good luck… Olivia, stay safe…"

Reaching the heights it needed over the town of the Indigo Plateau, the helicopter turned to the southeast and flew smoothly through the air as it departed, leaving behind not only the Indigo Plateau but Argyros and its newfound history.

THE END

-Operation GEAR:

The Firestorm Rebellion-

[With the help of her Gothitelle and Espeon, Anabel lovingly tends to a spectacular garden of flowers.]

-Executive Producers-

The Great Butler

Nekusagi

-Head Writer-

The Great Butler

[Blaine and Trista have a battle in the Indigo Plateau park for fun, pitting Blaine's Darmanitan against Trista's Dusknoir.]

-Assistant Writers-

Nekusagi

Bay_Alexison

[Giovanni sits in his office, reading a newspaper article covering Looker's arrest of Gideon.]

-Starring-

Troy Baker … Matt Chiaki

Trina Nishimura … Nekou Langley, Olivia's Minccino

Bridget Hoffman … Olivia Mistbloom

Caitlin Glass … Bunny Spruce

[Althea stands looking over Argyros as time rapidly passes. The town develops while she ages and Catherine grows up.]

Rachael Lillis … Anabel Mistbloom, Nekou's Sneasel

John Swasey … Blaine

Ted Lewis … Giovanni

Megan Hollingshead … Ariana

Vic Mignogna … Proton

Jason Griffith … Looker

Julie Ann Taylor … Yoko

Yuri Lowenthal … Silver

Dan Green … Renzo, Golurk

Lia Sargent … Trista

Liam O'Brien … Gideon Neumann

Kate Higgins … Agenta, Nekou's Gothorita

Veronica Taylor … Althea

Kent Williams … Bjorn Zerossen

Mike Sinterniklaas … Colonel Nixon

David Bowie … Zoroark

Nick McCord … Stadium Announcer

Chiaki Takahashi … Matt's Reuniclus, Nekou's Zorua

Emiri Kato … Sigilyph

[Now free, Moltres flies through clear skies and into the clouds.]

-Also Featuring-

J. Michael Tatum

Crispin Freeman

Laura Bailey

Brina Palencia

Todd Haberkorn

Travis Willingham

-Japanese Cast-

Daisuke Ono … Matt

Ami Koshimizu … Nekou

Miyuki Sawashiro … Olivia, Althea

Misato Fukuen … Bunny

Akiko Kimura … Anabel

Toshiya Ueda … Blaine

Kenta Miyake … Giovanni

Rie Tanaka … Ariana

Show Hayami … Proton

Masaki Terasoma … Looker

Shoko Nakagawa … Yoko

Ken Narita … Silver

Katsuyuki Konishi … Renzo

Akiko Yajima … Trista

Saori Hayami … Agenta

Akira Ishida … Nixon, Stadium Announcer

Yuji Kishi … Kratos

Takayuki Sugo … Bjorn Zerossen

Kozo Mito … Gideon

Hidenobu Kiuchi … Zoroark

[The Everton International helicopter carrying Matt, Nekou, Olivia and Bunny to Whitegold City flies off into the distance.]

"Unity"

Written by: Shio Watanbe

Composed by: Asu

Arranged by: Tomoki Hasegawa

Performed by: Lisa Komine

-:-

General Zerossen always felt that he was out of place in the opulent throne room. Its environment, created from golden bricks, highly expensive tapestries of foreign materials, and a crimson rug running all the way from the entry doors to the throne itself – all of this made the hardened, dusty military man feel uncomfortable.

Of course, nothing made him more uncomfortable than the two people he was currently on one knee before. The man, extremely tall and lithe, wore a black tuxedo that complemented his dark hair perfectly. He was stoic and serious, not letting onto any emotions hidden behind his rectangular glasses.

The woman, however, was even worse. Just from her face, one could tell how brash and judgmental she was, and the stark-white silk gown she was wearing worked with the dozens of feet of golden hair flowing freely from her head to give her the appearance of someone much younger than she actually was. This only made her even more terrifying.

"Is that the end of your report on Nixon's rebellion, Zerossen?" the man questioned, his voice flat.

"Of course, sir. I do apologize if it was hastily prepared."

"You have more to be sorry for than that, Zerossen," snapped the woman on the throne. "It is partially because of your oversight that Nixon was able to do this. Can I actually trust you to deal with the Life Orb now?"

"Please forgive me, your serene reverence Caitlin XVI. Please, have faith in me. I already have devised a plan for my group to work with the Tenganists to secure a safe storage location for the Life Orb." Without moving from his deferring position, Zerossen smiled slightly. "You can count on us. That is what my Guild is for."

[-]