Hello again everyone! Welcome to the final chapter. I'd like to give a big thanks to everyone who's read and/or reviewed this story, with a special thanks to What Lies Beyond for collaborating with me on this. I'll be posting to this story once the first draft of my novel is finished, so just follow this if you are interested.

There's nothing left to say now, so for one last time, on with the story!

My grandfather looked at me, and I saw pride in his eyes. "Follow me, please." He said. "We have much to talk about, and little time to do so." He began walking to one of the side passages, favoring his left leg.

I glanced at Alejandra, then followed after him. "I should start telling my story now, I suppose, so listen carefully, I only have time to say everything once. I used to lead a normal life. I married your grandmother, may she rest in peace, and had the most beautiful daughter in the world. My life was average, but fulfilling." He said, with a sigh.

He cleared his throat before continuing. "I can't recall exactly when it happened. One day I was myself, the next I was in the body of a squirtle. I don't truly know the reason why, but my guess is it was somethings idea of a joke. I spent three years just wandering. I didn't even know what region I was in, and back then a human transforming into a pokemon was unheard of as compared to now. I was among the first in recent decades, maybe even a century or two. Still, I never gave up hope. After those years Arceus found me. He restored my human form, but cursed me to wander for the rest of my days. Since then I've done nothing but travel. Oh, how it grinds down the soul to have nowhere to call home."

In the pause the only sound was our footsteps on stone. The tunnel sloped downwards, further into the earth.

"We followed your old pocket watch to get here. I've been wondering how exactly it works." I said, when it became clear he wasn't going to continue.

My grandfather scoffed. "That old thing? Dialga owed me a favor. If sees forward in time and points to where something important will happen. It's a curse to even hold it."

"What do you mean? It seems nothing but useful." Alejandra asked.

My grandfather glanced back at her. "So you're the girl my grandson fell for. Thank you for staying by his side. As for your question, I'll explain in due time."

"Why did you never go home?" I asked.

He didn't look back at me but I got the sense that he was sad. "I did, once. Do you not remember I visited you?"

"Vaguely." I said. "I can't have been more than five or six."

He nodded. "That was the first time I mustered up the courage to face your mother after being gone for so long. Your grandmother, my wife, had died. I couldn't stand knowing that she died thinking I had abandoned her. I thought maybe distancing myself for good would ease the pain." He brought a hand to his eyes. Wiping away tears, I realized.

The tunnel opened up into another cavern. This one was lit by luminous crystals that cast multicolored light all around. They jutted from the walls, floor, and ceiling such that moving around was like traversing a maze. "Ah, we've arrived." My grandfather said. "In forty five years of travel I never found a more beautiful place than this. I don't know where the light comes from, but that only adds to the wonder."

He took a seat on the ground, resting his back on one of the crystals. Alejandra and I sat opposite him, and she took hold of my hand.

"Have you heard of a man called AZ?" My grandfather asked, suddenly.

I nodded. "We crossed paths with him, briefly."

My grandfather gave a slight nod. "But do you know his story?"

"No." I said, with a shake of my head.

"AZ was once a great king. He sacrificed many for the sake of one, only for the one to reject him for the atrocities he committed in its name. Now he eternally wanders the world in search of the one who left him. AZ is a lot like the three of us. Like him, we must wander, unable to be bound to one place. Yet, you should envy his state of being. We know we must wander, and therefore so do so without a purpose of our own. In there lies the first of my dying wishes. Find a way to break the curse of wandering. I don't want you to have to live the life I did." He said.

"But Arceus itself cursed us, how could that ever be broken?" Alejandra asked, wide eyed.

My grandfather glanced up at the ceiling. "Arceus does not act with omnipotence. It wields great power, but nothing is completely infallible. Only it can break the curse, so you must help it. Find a problem it wants solved, and solve it. Now follow me once more, there is something else I must show you."

We followed him into another side passage, delving deeper and deeper into the earth. As we walked I felt the temperature rising ever so slightly, little by little. The tunnel opened up once again, this time into a cave flooded with murky water.

"This place has been flooded for hundreds of years." My grandfather said. "There's no source of water to keep it sustained, but it has remained stagnant for longer than living memory. It is unmoving, unchanging. The complete opposite of us. This brings me to my second dying wish. Whether or not you break the curse, find stability. Find a constant, something you can return to when you are weary."

"I think we've already found that." Alejandra said.

My grandfather looked up at her. "How so?"

"We have each other. I plan to never leave his side, that's about as constant as it gets." She said.

He chuckled. "Maybe you're right. Don't dissapoint me, then."

A thought occurred to me. "You said you were getting ready to die, what do you mean by that?" I asked.

He gave me a sad look, and sighed. "Tobias, I have lived a long time. I've seen all I could of what the world has to offer, and what it does no longer interests me. The lowest tunnels of this system are near collapse, and will do so in about an hour. There will be my tomb."

I didn't say anything in response, just trying to process this.

"There's nothing in the world that you like enough to stick around?" Alejandra asked.

"I've been a hollow shell ever since I learned my wife died." He said, quietly. "I went out in search of the greatest natural wonders, and felt nothing as I looked upon them. I saw the greatest of man's machinations, and still no emotion came to me. There's nothing left for me here."

Once more we followed him through the caves, this time to a dead end. "Ah, here's the spot." My grandfather said. "Here is where I will die. Now, hand me that watch."

I complied, drawing the watch from my pocket and handing it to him. In his hand it spun around in a slow circle. "Ah, to hold such a foul thing once more. Knowing where one's destination is takes meaning from the journey, and our existence is all about meaning. If you were to hold onto this you would come to resent it as I have."

He placed it on the ground, kneeling beside it. Swiftly he grabbed a small chunk of stone from the ground, smashing it down on the watch. There was a feeling of my ears popping. In the instant the rock connected, it was as if I was seeing an infinite number of realities through the same set of eyes. I saw myself back home, alone. I saw myself at a restaurant somewhere, staring at a girl that was not Alejandra. I saw myself running on all fours through the woods from some unknown predator. I saw myself as I was, staring at the shattered face of the compass, set into a watch. So many flicked by, miniscule differences jumping out at me.

Reality snapped back into focus.

"That was…" Alejandra said. "Strange."

My grandfather nodded. "It showed all possible versions of the present when it's power was released. Don't dwell on it too much, the choices you have made shaped where you are now, and there's no way to change that. My final dying wish is thus. Don't let yourself be guided by destiny or fate. Make your own choices, for better or for worse." There was a rumbling from above us somewhere.

"Go now." my grandfather said, glancing upwards.

I picked up the broken watch. The miniscule seconds hand tried to tick forward, but jumped back to the same spot. "It was nice to see you again." I said, putting it back into my pocket.

He smiled, closing his eyes. "It was good to see you too. Now go, only minutes remain."

Alejandra took my hand, and we ran from that place, a loud rumbling crash echoing through the cave.

Epilogue

I walked out of the jewelry store, bag in hand. Alejandra leaned against the outside wall, looking bored. "I don't know why you wanted to get the watch fixed." She said.

"It's all I have left to remember him by." I said, simply.

She rolled her eyes. "Well, good thing your mom gave you money for that otherwise we would have to forage for the next month. Let's get going."

"Alright." I said, heart pounding. I slipped the ring into my hand when she turned away.

I caught up to her, and she grasped my hand as she always did. She stopped short, letting go of my hand, the ring in her palm. Her eyes shone as she glanced back at me. "You don't even have to ask." She said, pulling me into a hug tight. "I'll be with you forever either way."