(2400 words)
Chapter 24
Truth


The team walks south through a forest. "It's been quiet today," Compass says. "I would've expected a rescue team attack by now, especially with how close we're getting to Pokemon Square."

"Yeah, it's pretty weird. Nothing but wild pokemon. Like that bird circling overhead."

"Bird? Uh oh, could that be a hunter?" Compass looks up, and spots the bird through the gaps in the leaves.

"Nah, don't worry. Even if they spotted us through the tree cover, there's no way they could recognize us from that distance, in the shade."

Compass squints at the figure high in the air. The shape, the colors, it's too familiar. And the flashes from their claw, it's the morse code used by... "That's... That's Road!"

"Road?" Alice remembers the name from somewhere-

Compass grabs Alice's hand and dashes through the forest, away from the bird! They run through bushes and around trees, until they dive through a wall of brush!

... And end up in a clearing, staring down Star the Ampharos and Beacon the Typhlosion. The team turn around to run, but Road the Fletchinder swoops down to block their path. The team gets ready to fight...

"Compass," Star says, "stand down. We're not going to hurt you."

"But you're going to hurt Thorn! Why can't you just trust me? They're innocent!"

"They're not. You've seen what they've done."

"That's... They were terrified! You can't blame them for losing control!"

Road speaks up. "Compass, I get it. If I were in your place, I'd fight to the death for Star and Beacon... no matter how much the evidence was against them. But you have to understand how it looks from our perspective."

"No... Mom! You believe me, right?!"

... Beacon refuses to meet their gaze. "Stand down, Cyndaquil. We are authorized to use force if you stand in our way."

"Mom..? P-please, it doesn't have to be this way! Send a team to Mt. Freeze, talk to Ninetales, you don't have to do this-"

"I will do what is necessary to protect people."

"And THIS is necessary?"

"For the sake of the world, Alice must be eliminated-"

"SAY IT!!"

Team Lighthouse is surprised into silence. "... Say what?" Star asks.

"Say what you mean! Stop hiding from it! Thorn wasn't 'lost', we chased them away! There wasn't a 'search', there was a hunt! And we weren't trying to 'restore the world's balance', or 'end this', or 'catch' or 'get rid of' or 'eliminate' them! You know what you mean, so say it!"

"Compass, calm down-"

"Say you're going to kill them!"

... Beacon clenches her fist, and a flame ignites on her back as she stares at the ground. "I will do what must be done."

Star and Road follow their leader's example, and prepare for battle. Team Rose does the same, Alice readying their club and flames igniting from Compass's back-

"STOP!!" Everyone turns to the edge of the clearing, where they are shocked as Gengar stumbles out of the brush, panting for breath. "It's... It's me! I'm the human from the legend. I'm the one... who killed Gardevoir..."

The clearing goes silent. No one can quite believe their ears. "Could you... repeat that, Gengar?" Beacon asks.

"It's. Me. I climbed Mt. Freeze, I grabbed Ninetale's tail, I... abandoned my partner. I'm the one who upset the world's balance."

"You... You understand what this means, don't you?"

"I do."

"H-hey, hold on!" Medicham says, as she and Ekans enter the clearing. "He might have done some bad things, but you have to treat him with respect!"

"Yeah!" Ekans says. "You better make it painless and dignified, or else!"

"Of course," Beacon says, "I just... can't believe..."

"Hey, so, I didn't want to interrupt," Alice says, "but would now be a good time to mention that the human from the legend has nothing to do with the world's balance?"

"... WHAT?!" says literally everyone.

"You little goddamn- Couldn't you have mentioned that earlier?!" Gengar says.

"Well, no one would've believed me anyway."

"I would've, why didn't you tell me?" Compass says.

"It wouldn't have made a difference. And it made for a better reveal when I told you the story, right?"

"Thorn..." Compass sighs. "But Gengar, didn't you hear the reports of us finding a way to restore the balance?"

"Well yeah, but I just assumed it involved finding out about me."

"You never considered that this could be fixed without someone dying?"

"No? That tends to be how it works. Jumping in front of curses, throwing virgins into volcanoes..."

"That one's a myth actually."

"What's a virgin?" Alice asks.

The adults rush to answer. "A drink with no alcohol," Star says.

"An archaic term for a young maiden," Beacon says.

"You, apparently," Road says.

"I'll tell you when we get home," Compass says. "Oh my gosh, home! We get to go home! Mom, I get to come home!" Compass jumps and bounces around the clearing, flapping their arms in unrestrained glee and crying tears of joy! "I missed you so much!"

Beacon joins Compass in crying. "I missed you too, Compass. More than words could ever describe. Come on, let's go home and bake pies together until we're stuffed like snorlax."



With everything settled, the three teams begin the walk back to Pokemon Square. Everyone is silent, feeling extremely awkward after everything. Except for Compass, who tells Beacon all about Team Rose's adventures in the wilderness, and everything they've learned. "... and so it turns out we need to talk to Xatu again to learn more!"

"I... I see..." Beacon says, still processing everything.

"... Mom? Why... Why didn't you trust me?"

"Compass, of course I trust you. I didn't believe for a moment that you were lying. I just couldn't trust Alice."

"But I know Alice better than anyone! If I say they're telling the truth, then..."

"I know. But as Road said, you must understand how it looked to us."

"But... why wouldn't you at least send a team to Mt. Freeze?"

"I did. After I received the report, I sent a capable team of fire-types to Mt. Freeze to investigate."

"Wha- Why didn't you say so earlier?!"

"I couldn't bear to get any hopes up, yours or mine. The plan was to capture Alice, then wait for the team to return. If they came back with bad news, I had to be prepared. Prepared to... Alice, I'm so sorry! What I did, what I commanded others to do, was heartless and cruel. To think, I was prepared to... to kill a child-"

"Teenager," Alice corrects.

"A child, just because of some legend! I wanted to protect people, and yet I... I'm so sorry, if there is anything I can do to make it up to you, please, tell me."

"... Was it a mistake? What you did?"

"What? Of course it was! Branding an innocent child as a-"

"What if I wasn't innocent? What if your team came back and said 'yup, you gotta kill Alice to save the world'? What then?"

"I... I don't want to think about that..."

"Then your apology means nothing."

"Thorn, please, I'm just trying to make peace-"

"Only my friends can call me Thorn."

The rest of the walk is silent, until the group finally reaches Pokemon Square. They're greeted by Road at the gate, who had flown ahead. "Hey, I just finished explaining the situation."

"So everyone knows I'm innocent?" Alice asks.

"Yup. No one's gonna attack you."

"Huh? Oh, I could handle any of them with one arm tied behind my back, I'm not worried about getting attacked. I just wanted to know if I can properly greet my adoring fans~"

"Alice?" Compass says. "What are you..."

Alice walks into town, looking around at the rescue teams that had gathered for Road's announcement. They spot plenty of familiar faces, wearing casts and bandages. Alice's casual stroll draws attention; the chattering slows and gazes turn, until Alice stands in the center of town, everyone silent.

Alice smiles. "Hi everyone! Gosh, it's great to see you all again!" Alice looks around at all the gathered hunters. "Team Bridge! Hey there!" Team Bridge flinches as Alice addresses them. "Chase anyone up any mountains lately? Oh, and Team Justice! Been practicing your ambushes? Team Arrow, hey! I'm surprised you didn't come after me for the 4th time. Say, where's Team Clockwork? I have a new idea for a deathtrap they could make."

"They're resting at their base because you stabbed both their legs!" A small voice says.

Alice turns to find a caterpie glaring up at them. "Oh hey, you're that caterpie I saved. Oh gosh, stabbed in the leg? That sounds terrible! At least they didn't get stabbed in the face. By an arrow. From a deathtrap."

"Don't act like you're the victim! You've hurt so many people! I looked up to you, I thought you were a hero, but you're just a jerk! Pikachu still has nightmares from when you tried to take their life!" Pikachu, sitting at a table some distance away, turns away and hides their face.

"Ah, nightmares about someone trying to kill you. No idea what that feels like. And yeah, I did try to kill them." Alice walks toward Pikachu's table, making Pikachu tremble with fear. "Tried to murder them, and watch the life fade from their eyes. And, remind me, what did I use to almost-kill them?"

Caterpie tilts his head. "I don't see how that matters."

"... Oh, I see..." Alice steps right next to Pikachu. "You never told them, did you~? You never told them about-"

"Hey, back off!" Pikachu's partner Skitty says. "I don't know what you're talking about, but leave them alone!"

"Alright, fine, I'll tell everyone the story myself. What I used to almost-kill Pikachu was... a poisoned orange." A look of shock crosses Skitty's face. "That's right, poison. It was gonna be slow and painful, I'd probably watch them writhe on the ground and cough up blood. Real brutal stuff. But isn't that odd? How would a criminal on the run like me get a poisoned orange? Well it's simple: Pikachu gave it to me. As a peace offering."

Several gasps are heard in the square.

"Hey! I saw that look of disgust Riolu! Don't you act like you're any better than them! None of you are! You all wanted me dead! You assholes all tried to kill me! But do you know what I did? What I did when I had Pikachu on the ground, helpless, when I had every opportunity to do it? Pikachu! What did I do when I had you right where I wanted you?!" Alice steps forward, and Pikachu falls backward out of their chair, cowering on the ground.

"I STOPPED!!" Alice shouts. "... I looked into their eyes, and I decided, no, I don't want this person to die. I don't want this blood on my hands. I don't want to do this... How many of you stopped?! None! The wounds you carry are proof that you wouldn't stop until you physically couldn't fight anymore! So if any of you are expecting an apology after the hell you put me through, then you can shove your head so far up your own ass that you can see inside your stomach!"

Alice stomps off toward Team Rose's base, leaving Beacon to talk to the gathered crowd.



Alice and Compass are at their base, eating pie. Compass had spent an hour at home, baking and talking with their mom, but they didn't want to leave Alice alone. "Hey, um, Alice? Are you okay?"

"Uh, yeah, I'm pretty good I guess. I got plenty of sleep last night, and this pie is great. Looks like you're still great at baking-"

"Thorn. Are you okay?"

"... To be honest, I felt better this morning. Now I'm here, surrounded by people I've hurt, and we all just have to pretend everything's okay between us."

"Heh. You never were one to pretend to accept things."

"And on that note, how are you feeling? Does this all feel like a big, welcoming hug?"

"Actually, I just talked with my mom about the whole hug thing. But... kinda, yeah. It's nice to finally not have to choose a side, but everything's just so awkward. All the pain and misunderstanding, it's... Well, it's kinda like when I teamed back up with you. But things will get better, just like it did with us. It might not be the same as before, but it'll be okay."

"Awfully optimistic of you."

"Just eat your pie, you party pooper, we've got a big day tomorrow; we need to be ready to meet Xatu."



Later that evening, as Alice is taking a walk, someone calls out to them. "Hey, uh... Hey Alice?" Alice turns to see Team Arrow a few meters away. Avalanche the Oshawott wears a cast on their arm, and Torch the Charmander walks with a crutch, helped along by Avalanche.

"Oh hey. What do you want?"

"Well, uh... We..." Avalanche trails off.

"We came to apologize," Torch says.

"... Come again?"

"What happened to you was... What we did to you was terrible. I can't imagine how terrifying that must have been for you, being chased out of town, hunted like that..."

"And being innocent the whole time," Avalanche says. "We understand how angry you must have been, how unfair it all was. We get why you turned violent. We're sorry for causing so much fear and suffering for you."

"... Was it a mistake?" Alice asks. "Was it the wrong choice, knowing what you knew then?"

"Well that's... We... I mean, not really?"

"Ava!" Torch scolds.

"What? The world was ending, and we thought that we could save it! Heck, the evidence was so convincing even Alice thought they were guilty! What should we have done, just let the world end?"

"Of course not, but... there had to have been some better way, right? There had to be..."

Alice smiles. "Awfully optimistic of you... I'm sorry too. I took things way past self-defense, and you didn't deserve that."

Team Arrow is dumbfounded. "I thought you said you wouldn't apologize," Torch says.

"I said not to expect an apology. You weren't expecting it, were you? Anyway, feel free to drop by our base; I know you talked with Compass earlier, but I'm sure they'd love to see you more. Plus, we've got extra pie."

... Avalanche smiles. "You're really weird. And you're just as cool as Compass said, Thorn."

"Only my friends can call me Thorn." Alice walks back to base. After a moment's hesitation, Team Arrow follows.




Okay so for the longest time I had no idea what to do with Sky Tower and Rayquaza, and now I still have no idea, so I'm just gonna skip it and have it be done off-screen. Just a heads up.

If you enjoyed the story, please comment! I love hearing responses to my writing! What was your favorite part?