(Note: This chapter was previously uploaded on 4/11/2020. After a change to Ralts' backstory, this chapter and chapter 20 have been updated and reuploaded. This chapter is pretty similar, but has small changes all over.




Chapter 21
Everyone is Home


Snivy and I finally exit the Violet Void, with the five townspeople and Ralts following behind us. It was night when we went in, but now it looks like the sun is just starting to rise. After we exit, we start to hear a far away voice calling out. As we get closer, we recognize it as Mightyena!

"Jamie! Snivy! Where are you?!"

"Mightyena! Over here!" Snivy calls out, running into the forest towards the voice, with me chasing after them. We enter the forest, and it only takes a few seconds before we spot Mightyena.

"Jamie! Snivy!" Mightyena says. "I'm so glad you're okay! Lilligant and I were so wor...ried..." Mightyena trails off, staring behind us. I turn to see the six pokemon from the dugneon had followed us into the forest. "What... what HAPPENED last night?!" Mightyena asks.

"That's, uh, quite the story," Snivy says. "We'll explain later, let's just get these guys back into town first."

We get moving and meet up with Lilligant, who was also out looking for us, before heading back inside Maceria Town. Mightyena and Lilligant get the guards to let us back in, and the townspeople all thank us and go home, with Ralts staying with us. Mightyena and Lilligant lead us to the mayor's office to report what had happened. The guards there let us in; word of what happened was already spreading through the town.

After a brief delay, we enter the office. It's a big place, though not as big as Elder Torterra's house back in Amari Village. Sitting at the desk is a tall Hariyama. "Welcome," they say, speaking to Mightyena and Lilligant. "I just heard from a messenger that the missing pokemon have returned. I'm told you're here because you know something about that?"

"Yes, we are," Mightyena says. "These two came out from the Violet Void with the missing townspeople. They'll tell you what happened."

"These two are outsiders. How can you be sure we can trust them?"

Mightyena's voice grows defensive. "They put themselves in harm's way to save my child, and expected nothing in return. I guarantee they are trustworthy."

"Hmm... Alright. You two, I don't believe we've been introduced. My name is Hariyama."

"I'm Snivy!" Snivy replies.

"My name's Jamie."

Hariyama raises an eyebrow as I say my name, and I tense up. Luckily, they don't question it. "Alright then. Tell me everything you know about the incident, especially what happened last night, in the Violet Void."

Snivy turns to me, and I go over my script in my head once more before speaking. "Last night, we saw a Croagunk walking towards the cave. When we went to check it out, it seemed like they were sleepwalking, and we woke them up. Then they went back to town. We thought something suspicious was going on in the cave, so we went inside to check it out."

I notice Ralts shuffle uncomfortably by my side. I continue. "After getting pretty deep into the cave, we came across a wild pokemon, a Hypno, surrounded by the townspeople. The townspeople all seemed to be mind controlled. We fought the Hypno and defeated it, and we were able to wake up the townspeople. Then we led them out of the dungeon."

Hariyama considers our story. It's pretty solid; the people Ralts controls don't remember their time under Ralts' control, and since they were all made to sleepwalk into the cave, they never actually saw Ralts. When we had Ralts undo the mind control, we gave them the same story.

"I see," Hariyama says. "And this Hypno; it won't just start controlling people again, will it?"

"Nope," Snivy says. "It was a wild pokemon, and wild pokemon vanish when they're beaten. Wild pokemon as powerful and special as that one are really rare, so you probably won't have another problem like this any time soon, if ever again."

"Good, good. And what about that little one there?" Hariyama says, pointing to Ralts. "They are an outsider, correct? Are they with you?"

"No," I say. "This is Ralts. They are an outsider, but they're not with us. We found them last night in the dungeon, mind controlled along with the townspeople."

"Ah, I see. Are you planning on taking them back to their home?"

"Um, that's a little... complicated. And personal. We were hoping to find a new home for them, with someone who will take care of them."

"I don't think you'll have much luck here; there aren't many in this town looking to raise a child."

"Oh, that's too bad."

"Well then, I believe that wraps up everything; all five missing pokemon are back, and the source of the disappearances is taken care of. I suppose Maceria Town can go back to normal now, thanks to you two. I welcome you to stay in our town as long as you like. Now, is there anything else you wanted to discuss?"

I've got nothing, so I turn to Snivy to see if they have anything to add.

"Nah," Snivy says, "that's all."

"Very well. Farewell, Snivy and Jamie, and good luck finding a home for Ralts."

We say our goodbyes and head back to Mightyena's house. Once we're inside, I decide to bring up the topic of Ralts to Mightyena. "Hey Mightyena?"

"Yes, Jamie?"

"Would you want to take care of Ralts? You're a great parent, so I know they'd be safe with you..."

"Hey hold up," Lilligant chimes in. "I know you said it was 'personal' but what about Ralts' parents? Are they... okay?"

"Well, Ralts' family is... They're not good people. Ralts really shouldn't go back there."

"Oh, I see." Mightyena thinks for a while. "Hmm... Well, it hasn't been too difficult raising Poochyena, aside from the recent incident. What do you think, Lilligant? Would you be willing to help me raise another child?"

"Sheesh," Lilligant replies, "you're gonna have a whole village of these little guys if you keep up like this. Sure, I'll help."

Mightyena turns to me. "We can at least give Ralts a foster home. If it doesn't work out, I'll find them a new home."

"Thanks. If you end up looking for someone to adopt Ralts, check Amari Village; there are plenty of nice people there. Oh, and, um... you'll make sure Poochyena is nice to Ralts, right?"

"Of course. I'll make sure that Ralts has a kind and loving home here."

"Great, thanks," I say.

Ralts tugs at me to get my attention; they look pretty uncomfortable. We talked about this whole plan, including Ralts' adoption, back in the cave, but... "Hey, um... Can I talk to you guys for a sec?"

"Of course." I turn to Mightyena. "Give me a second; Snivy and I need to talk with Ralts."

We head upstairs, leaving Mightyena and Lilligant behind. We enter Mightyena's bedroom, the room I'll be using, and shut the door.

"Are... are you sure these people are nice?" Ralts asks.

"Absolutely!" Snivy says. "Mightyena has a kid, Poochyena, who they take really good care of. A few days ago, Mightyena ran like 100 miles in one night and fought bad guys to get some medicine to save Poochyena's life!"

"And Lilligant is really nice too," I add. "They took care of Poochyena when they were sick, and they slept on the couch so that we could take the bed. They're really kind and generous."

"I... I don't know," Ralts says. "I know you said they're both really nice, but I just... I don't feel like I can trust them."

"That's okay," I say. "You can't really trust someone you've just met. Just try to give them a chance."

"Hey Ralts," Snivy begins, "I know you needed to be strong before, back when your siblings would bully you and no one was willing to help you. But that's over now; you don't need to be strong anymore. Mightyena and Lilligant will take care of you, and love you. You can relax and be happy here!"

Ralts takes a deep breath, and when they exhale, a puff of red flame comes out. "I... I still don't feel safe."

"That's fine. Like Mudkip said, you don't have to trust them right away. Just try living here awhile, and I think you'll really like it!"

"... Alright. I'm ready to go back down now. And, um... thank you both for being so nice to me, even when I was being a jerk."

"No problem!" Snivy says.

We head back downstairs, and Ralts has their first conversation with Mightyena and Lilligant. Ralts is timid, but Mightyena and Lilligant are patient and understanding. After watching for a moment, I tap Snivy on the shoulder.

"Hey, Snivy? There's something I need to tell you. Can we head upstairs?"

Snivy nods, and back upstairs we go. Once we're behind a closed door, I take some time to figure out how to tell Snivy about my Wildfire. It'd be kinda weird to just come out and say it. Maybe I should start with what happened after Snivy got controlled? Or maybe I could-

"Well? What's this all about, Mudkip?"

Okay, that's it! "I'm NOT a Mudkip! I'm a human, and my name is JAMIE!!" As I shout my name, flames fly from my mouth at Snivy, causing them to leap back in shock. After all the times I've had to correct Snivy, it feels nice to finally just lash out at them... But then I realize what I've just done.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry Snivy! I didn't mean to, um... do that..."

Snivy stares at me, eyes wide. "... You have the Wildfire."

"... Yeah. I got it in the fight, when Ralts tried to mind control me..."

"... Um, that's fine! It'll be fine! We'll just have to cure you!" Snivy says, smiling nervously. "So, uh, the Wildfire is linked to desire, right? We just need to, you know, deal with your desire! So, what do you want?"

I sigh. "I want to go home."

Snivy's smile fades. I can't just stop wanting to go home, and dealing with it by getting me home would mean having to find Volomans. We can both tell that this won't be nearly as easy to cure as the others. "Well, uh," Snivy says, "I guess just have to get to Volomans before you backfire, right?"

"Right."

"... So, um, anyways, I was wondering; should we tell Mightyena and Lilligant the truth about Ralts? I mean, their story, their Wildfire, and the fact that they're the real culprit behind the disappearances?"

I sigh. "I don't know, probably. Let's just tell them tomorrow morning; I'm tired."

"Um... It's still the morning, actually."

"Then let's tell them this evening, I don't care! I haven't slept in over 24 hours."

"A-alright, Jamie! You get some sleep, I'll tell the others we're going to bed!" Snivy says, their nervous smile returning. For some reason it doesn't feel as nice as I thought it would to hear them finally call me by name.

"Sure," I reply, climbing into bed. A few seconds later, I hear Snivy shut the door behind them.

Well this is just perfect. I'm in an awful mood, my partner is afraid of me now, I have a timer ticking down until my spontaneous combustion, we have no leads on Volomans, and of course, I'm still a Mudkip...

I wanna go home.




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