A/N: Warning: Being an epilogue, this chapter is short and sweet. Hope you guys aren't disappointed...with some of the reviews I've been getting, it feels like the pressure's on! Thank you so much, though!
And with this, I have successfully completed NaNoWriMo. More on that below.
~*Q*~
Three Months Later
Sepal stood at the gate of the Vaniville Starter Center.
Being back was weird.
Professor Sycamore had kept him busy over the past few months - traveling, Pokemon research, and trying to figure out exactly what the heck was up with Sepal's Mega Evolution. As the professor put it, he was baffled by how all their knowledge was still eclipsed by what they didn't yet know.
Honestly, Sepal didn't really mind if his Mega Evolution stayed a secret for a while. He liked traveling around just for the sake of it (and Sycamore had a Charizard, so they could skip all the less fun parts like Route 17). Now that he had official Champion status, there were even some new areas to explore that he had never seen.
But now he had taken leave, so to speak. And the first thing he did was visit his old home, the VSC.
Sepal walked around the red-brick building. That was the same as he remembered, at least, but the posters advertising "Do you want to be a future Champion? Apply for a Pokemon today!" had been taken down. As he walked, he made sure to wave through the windows at the receptionist.
The pastures behind the main building were different, though, or at least the fence was. The fireproof chain-link wall was gone. In its place, a simple two-rail wooden fence with big slots in it. It was still coated with fireproof material, but that seemed like more of a safety precaution than anything. Heck, there was even a gate in it now, with locks accessible from both sides.
"Hey!" The starter Pokemon inside saw him and ran to the gate. He saw some of his old acquaintances, Pokemon that had been there before he and Tochi had made their escape, and felt dizzy. He had forgotten how big he had grown, and how small a Bulbasaur was.
"Hi guys," he said, lying down outside the fence.
Everyone was talking at once. "Sepal, we heard! You guys were so cool! I'm gonna on a journey of my own!"
Sepal didn't talk much, just listened to them prattle on and answered the occasional question. He hoped that the fact that leaving wasn't so taboo would encourage them not to run away for the heck of it. All they had to do was ask a human, and they would get their own Pokeball and a little bag with food and money, as well as a scarf signifying that they were not wild Pokemon. A Froakie even let Sepal know that some of the local wild Pokemon were getting in on the act, most notably a Fletchling that had come all the way from Santalune Forest.
"I have to go," Sepal said finally. "I have a meeting later today."
Everyone groaned and complained, but Sepal just waved and turned to go. With luck, he'd have more time to visit whenever he needed.
"Oh, wait!" a Treecko blurted. "Sepal. Will you show us how you Mega Evolve?"
"Yes!" Everyone enthusiastically agreed.
"I dunno…" Sepal said slowly. "Mega Evolution is kind of serious. And it's really hard to pull off."
"Aww…" The starters were disappointed.
Sepal kept hesitating. Then his face split into a grin. "What the hey, I'll do it anyways!"
~*Q*~
"This turns on the screen, and this turns it off," Nurse Joy said, pointing to the buttons on the PC. "You're all set up, so just turn it off when you're done, okay?"
"Will do!" Bub said. "Thanks."
"No problem." Nurse Joy went back behind the counter. The Lumiose Pokemon Center was having a busy day.
Bub hung around the PC for a few minutes, fiddling with the Pokemon-to-human translator hooked up by her mouth. It was itchy.
An old man appeared on the screen. Bub lit up. "Professor Rowan!"
The Professor coughed. "Bub. I believe you've made it safely to Kalos?"
"Yup." Bub nodded. "I'm in Lumiose. Sepal should be flying in with the professor, and then we'll walk to Centrico Plaza together."
"Good, good. Come back to Sinnoh soon."
"I know, Professor. It's only a couple days."
"Hm. You know, Bub, when you get back to Twinleaf - how do you feel about being a teacher?"
"Me?" Bub asked, surprised.
"Yes. The starters at the new center here are young and quite restless. They'd do well to have someone to look up to."
"I don't know," Bub said nervously. "I don't feel like I'm done exploring Sinnoh yet..and I'm not sure that I'd make a good role model."
"You'd do a fine job, Bub. Think on it, if you will."
"Okay..."
"I'll see in three days."
Bub waved as Professor Rowan abruptly turned his screen off.
A teacher...She had been traveling Sinnoh for two months before Professor Rowan invited her to Twinleaf. She worked as a consultant between the people and Pokemon for a while, as they worked on building a second Starter Center - one that had the Pokemon's needs in mind right from the beginning. She had to admit it was kind of a fun job. But did that mean she'd have to settle down in Twinleaf rather than continue her journey?
Someone knocked on the window. Bub grinned as she saw Sepal waving at her with his vine.
"Good to see you again!" she squealed as soon as she was outside. "Ready to go?"
"Definitely."
~*Q*~
Tochi was hanging around Prism Tower when Sepal tackled him to the ground in a hug.
"Tochi!"
"Sepal! Bub!" He wiggled around until the Venusaur let him up for air. "So happy to see you. Bub, how's Sinnoh?"
"Cold."
"Sounds awful," Sepal quipped.
"No, it's - oh, you know what I mean. But if you guys thought Mamoswine Road was bad, there's this other route that I'd love to show you!"
"How's training, Tochi?" Sepal asked, deftly avoiding the invitation to a route he probably did not want to know about.
Tochi leaned back against Prism Tower. "Well, I keep asking Malva when she'll let me join in on an actual challenge, but she just keeps saying 'eventually.' So for now I'm stuck sparring with Torkoal."
"Are you okay with that?" Bub asked.
Tochi's eyes sparkled. "Are you kidding? I'm having so much fun! Sepal, how 'bout you?"
"Work's pretty cool. We discovered a couple of Mega Stones from Unova a few weeks ago," Sepal remembered. "There's one for Audino and one fo-"
"Hey, it's them!" a random Trainer said. "Those Champions!"
"Still getting recognized?" Bub said as a small crowd started to form.
"Yep," Tochi said.
"At least you don't leave the Pokemon League much," Sepal sighed. "People know me no matter where the Professor and I go..."
"Do something cool, you guys!" a little girl - was that Clemont's sister? - urged.
"Welllll…I haven't had a real battle in a while," Tochi said thoughtfully. "Unfortunately, I don't have an opponent."
Sepal glanced at Bub. "Free-for-all three-way battle, ally against Tochi?"
"Come on!" Tochi complained.
"I mean, you are being personally trained by the Elite 4."
"At least disallow Mega Evolution."
"Fine, fine."
"I'm fine with Mega Evolutions," Bub put in.
"That's because you're immune to Sludge Bomb."
Someone overheard Bub - she had forgotten to take her fancy new translator out. "Woah, wait, are you guys gonna battle?!" The crowd started to grow as the humans cheered excitedly, and passengers stopped to see the commotion. Bub was pretty sure she heard some bets being made.
"All right!" Tochi pulled his wand out and twirled it dramatically. "I hope you're ready for battle, guys."
"Actually," Sepal remarked, as Bub started giggling, "I think it's already started."
"Huh?"
"You've already been Leech Seeded."
~*Q*~
A/N: And that's a wrap!
So first things first, I'd like to tell you guys that I'm dedicating this story to my grandpa, Papa Bob, who died on November 19th, 2015. He was a journalist and an author all throughout his life (though I doubt he wrote fanfiction). He even has several books published.
The final stats for The Vaniville Voyage Adventures are: twenty-eight chapters, two hundred and five Google Docs pages, and seventy-seven thousand, one hundred and seventy words, not including author's notes. That's far over my initial goal, 50,000 words, and I can't believe I finished VVaV in time at all! So my very first NaNoWriMo has turned out a resounding success, if I can say so myself.
Thank you, readers and reviewers who stuck with me throughout the month. Seriously, I can't express my gratitude enough! Without you I would have procrastinated the whole month away. You're all awesome!
Finally, yes, there are some regrets that I have over being on such a time crunch towards the end of the month. They range from minor (not having a random wild Pokemon beg to join the starters' team) to slightly more major (not adding Bub before Ramos to give her more time for character development). I won't list all of them here, though, and in the end I won't go back and edit my story. It's finished, it's my testament to a month well spent, and I'd like to preserve it the way it is.
See you all in the next story!
~*Akirys*~
~*Q*~
An Arceus floated in a swirling, starry void.
"WHY HAVE YOU COME HERE?" it boomed. "ARE YOU PRESUMPTUOUS ENOUGH TO COMMAND A FAVOR OF LORD ARCEUS ITSELF?"
"Funny you should mention," Campbell said, twirling his tail in his paws. "Would you happen to know Judgement?"
~*Q*~