It's finally done

They were in shock.

Ash and Misty were holding each other in their arms tightly, the warm of each other's skin the only thing keeping them aware of their surrounding.

May's hands were still flaming, held out as if ready to give another blow. Drew didn't quite yet seem to realise the ends of his hair were being singed.

Dawn was crying insistently while Paul did an awkward job of darting about her shoulders, trying to comfort her.

"If only I was more talented, I could've saved them," Dawn wept.

Paul didn't know what to do.

Thee was a heavy sense of loss in the air.

Two of their comrades were really dead this time. Brutally murdered by the same person.

"Oh no! We're too late!"

Muscles tensed, weary bodies becoming ready to fight.

However, when they turned, Officer Jenny was the face they saw.

A police officer! Someone they could trust.

They collapsed, thoroughly exhausted from their farce and emotionally drained.

Officer Jenny looked to them. "You poor children. Let me take you to the centre and fix you up."

"What about Jaiden and Mina?" Dawn asked.

Jenny looked to the lifeless bodies. "I'll make sure they get a proper burial, but for now I'll take them somewhere safe until you're ready."

The group was quite grateful for a friendly face and they piled into the Police car, squishing together into the seats only made for 4.

The drive was silent, save from the sobbing from dawn and the occasional sniffle from May. Misty was in the front alone due to her broken leg and though her face showed she was being strong, she was ready to be alone and mourn over the friends she'd grown close to over the few days.

Jenny stopped at the Pokémon centre and walked in to talk to the Nurse Joy there.

The teens got out. Paul stayed by Dawn, his softer side making him gently care for her and try to keep her whimpering to a minimum.

Ash quickly went to help Misty. The weight of death pressed upon him, but he was loyal to Misty as well and was determined to show her.

Drew, otherwise lost for words and feeling terrible himself, stuck close to May. May herself felt quite in shock, like it wasn't sinking in yet. Although Drew felt terrible, the way he treated Mina like a criminal when it was her all along.

It would take a while to recover from this.

Jenny came back, two room keys, one for the boys and one for the girls.

Paul took them, the only one able to contain the intense emotions after years of repressing them.

"I'm sure you kids want to know all about what happened. I'll swing by and tell you about it," Jenny said.

Paul gave a nod and led Dawn away so he could get her to sleep.

Drew and May followed in a daze.

Ash took Misty to the hospital to get her leg reset and then got her to bed and managed to barely make it to his own.

And once they were all in bed, they fell asleep, as if sleeping could remove the horrible experience.

The next morning having slept off a full night's rest, the events from the day before were sinking in.

May was now quite distraught and they all decided to spend the day in one room together. None of them wanted to be alone.

The minutes ticked into hours of nervous anticipation.

It seemed forever until Officer Jenny gave a gentle knock on the door.

Paul let Dawn go from his embrace to open the door. He tensed when another woman with peach hair swept in gracefully.

She was followed by a man with bright purple hair and an obnoxious green outfit.

"I'm sure you're wondering why we're here too," The peach woman said, "Well, we're the ones who can explain."

"Oh hon! We got some cuties in here," The purple haired man… Squealed.

He walked right over boldly and tapped a finger on May's nose, causing Drew to growl at him.

After everything, Drew wanted no one else to touch his May without his permission.

"Oh, Sugar cookie here has a guard dog. Oh lighten up. Come here puppers. Grassy~ I'm not going to hurt your precious," The man said.

"Harley, enough," The peach haired woman said sternly, "We're here for business."

"Who are you?" Misty asked, finding her voice when Ash reached to squeeze her hand.

"That is Harley," The peach woman answered, pointing to the man who had ignored her warning and was picking a fight with the grassy haired teen, "And I am Solidad. We're GAM agents, or GAMAs."

The group tensed. Another organisation after them?

Solidad laughed though, a chiming light hearted laugh. "No no, we're not after your lives. We were supposed to help you."

"Huh?" Dawn asked.

"I'm sure by now your memories are starting to return," Solidad said.

"Oh, that was my idea!" Harley piped.

Solidad frowned and Harley seemed to cower under the gaze.

"What was his idea?" May asked.

"It was his idea to remove your memories," Solidad said, rubbing her forehead as if trying to explain it exhausted her, "We repressed them to rehabiliate you girls."

Now that was a shock.

However Solidad continued.

"The GAMA's objective is to take down illegal activity and promote peace," Solidad continued, "So when we heard IOTA was making weapons, we had to stop them. IOTA, for your information is that place where you were held before you were kidnapped. They are an illegal trade of scientists who seem to try to be replicating Pokémon powers in humans. It's a very inhumane process. So Harley suggested to repress those memories before we tried to rehabilitate you."

"What does all this mean?" May asked.

"We're been watching you," Solidad said simply, "Really we've been trying to protect you. Maybe we'd made a mistake. We kidnapped you when you were young, but they forgot to take the boys."

"We wiped your memories," Harley said cheerfully, "So we could put you in new homes to grow up."

"But the other places found out about you and tried to use you as weapons, or try to kill you," Solidad said, "You disappeared off the radar so we had to relocate you. I guess we were too late. We made mistakes and for that, we apologise."

Solidad bowed down humbly. After a while she hit Harley. He gave a groan and the tall man awkwardly bowed his head before raising himself up.

As Solidad explained, things became clear to the group. The real reason they couldn't remember was because they'd been cleared of their memories to remove the horrible experiences.

May was put into a family with a strong father and a kind mother. And soon later she ha a baby brother too and grew up believing they were her parents. The father and mother treated May as their own and loved her as much as their real child. May grew in a normal family environment as such, with a loving, but busy father, a kind and caring mother, and an annoying (May's words) little brother. But though they were lovely, May wanted to explore and left as soon as she could.

Dawn was given to a young couple, who seemed to not be able to have children themselves. Soon after, the father was killed in a terrible accident and the mother took it upon herself to raise the young child herself. Dawn was raised a happy child. She did wonder why she didn't have a father like many of the other children, but her mother was very good to her and soon she went to follow her mother's footsteps, leaving the home.

Misty was given to a group of sisters who had thought the red haired child was just the "most, like, gorgeous child ever!" Unfortunately, they didn't know how to raise a child, but they tried their best. Misty grew up, feeling sour towards the sisters that she could never seem to click with, for she was so much different to them. And the sisters did not know how to deal with her and the tension grew until Misty wandered outside their protective safety.

And Mina was given to a family that was already full, but still insisted they had room for her. Tragically though, her neighbour was in an identity crisis and used to eliminate Mina, so her family was sacrificed in a fire intended to kill Mina. Her memories were erased again and after that she was thought to be brain dead due to a lack of response. She ran away and was found by a Vulpix which saved her life.

As for the boys, they were all left at Iota, the organisation meant to create weapons which were the girls. The organisation was abandoned as such, but the boys were kept in the prison it was because they knew too much about the girls and it would be bad if information leaked.

"I apologise," Solidad repeated to the several teens once again, who were in a state of shock currently, "We should've handled it differently, but we were young and inexperienced. Allow us to rectify it."

"Ohh, we could wipe their memories again!" Harley suggested.

"Don't you touch my head again you freak!" May shrieked at him.

"We won't erase your memories," Solidad said, "We can however, rehabilitate you boys to homes now if you desire."

The boys looked to each other and then the girls.

Then Ash cleared his throat to speak. "I'd just like to be free now."

The other boys nodded agreement.

"As you wish," Solidad said with a smile, "Keep in touch if you need us."

"Tata my gingercookies!" Harley called as he left.

"I never want to see that man again," Drew said.

And for the first time, May agreed with him. (Which in actuality caused Drew to almost faint but he brushed it off with a hair flick and insulted her.)

The funeral for the two friends they'd all lost was a devastating one. The bodies were laid into matching caskets and a massive hole was dug.

Not much could be said about Mina, which seemed to make it all the more sad that she'd passed, trying to save someone she'd barely known.

And Jaiden, who had been a leader for the boys when they escaped had plenty of words to be said. Fresh stinging memories made tears flow from eyes and even Paul, who'd done his best to compress emotions, shed a few tears.

Together they were lowered to the ground, a smaller casket laid next to the larger one as if they were leaning into each other, just like best friends should.

And then the dirt was shovelled on and they were given their last glance. They were left now, wondering what they should do.

It was only Ash who voiced this. "What happens now?"

It was met with a vast expanse of silence, each thinking individually of what they should do.

"I think I'd better apologise to my… sisters," Misty said quietly.

"Do you want me to come?" Ash asked quickly, not missing out on the chance to know Misty again.

Misty gave a grateful smile. "I would like that."

Now they had their plans set, they looked to the others.

Dawn and May looked to each other.

"We'd better catch up on the contest or we won't be able to enter the Grand Festival," Dawn said.

May nodded in agreement.

Drew paused and then smirked. "If it's a contest for beauty, I think I'm the perfect candidate." He flicked his hair and as if on cue, May's cheeks heated with anger.

"Drew you arrogant… Grasshead! Just you wait!" She exclaimed, throwing her fists out.

He may have once been her best friend (Something May would not get over) but that didn't excuse him from her anger when he deserved it (or so she thought).

"Paul, will you come do contests too?" Dawn asked.

Paul glanced to her and then away. "Contests aren't my sort of thing with all that extra glitter and fluffy stuff. It's a waste."

Dawn puffed her cheeks in protest.

"I might train some Pokémon and do something actually worth it," Paul said.

"Well, that's fine with me," Dawn exclaimed, "Don't come near!"

"I won't!" Paul replied, even though he knew he probably would.

He would keep an eye on her from a distance. That was what he'd do. He'd earn the place in her life again, since she'd moved on from him. Then he'd be able to say without a guilty conscious that he belonged by her side.

The six turned away from the site where the cool grey stones marked the resting place of two best friends.

The blue of the freshly planted forget me nots stained colour into the rather bland brown of the dirt.

Meanwhile in a place far beyond, a place they called paradise, a short blonde haired girl and her blue eyed partner were running to each other, together finally.

Me: Final chapter! It's done! The title sums up my feelings entirely

Paul: YOU TURNED ME INTO A SAP!

Me: Hey! You were the LEAST sappy.

Ash: Hey Misty! We get to go on a journey! We should've included that. It sounds more fun.

Misty: *Blush... Uh... Well Yes...

Me: Where did Drew and May go? And Dawn?

May: Oh, I'm here. We just took care of business.

Me: What? O.o

Dawn: Oh, Drew had pent up arrogance. We locked him in the cupboard.

Me: O.o Oh my gosh. Poor Drew. I'll let him out later.

Well Merry Christmas everyone! I was going to write a Christmas oneshot, but I've been so exhausted getting everything else done in time for Christmas that I didn't have it in me to think of another clever take on the mistletoe thing. So no Christmas oneshot this yeah guys, sorry. Just the long ending for this story that's well overdue. HURRAY!