Chapter 3

Searching and Promising

One night at the Expedition Society headquarters, several days after Blaze's disappearance, Leon stared at the night sky from his team's sleeping room. He couldn't bare to look at his lost pal's empty straw bed, as he was lost in thought.

Maybe Blaze isn't totally gone yet. Maybe his spirit is still out there...somewhere in the world. If only...there was a way.

Leon went back onto his bed to try and get some sleep.

The next day, the sun shone brightly on Lively Town. It had indeed been some time now since Dark Matter was properly defeated. The peace in the pokémon world continues to be unbroken, as Leon himself remains here, continuing to work as a member of the Expedition Society. The thing that mattered was he was still a pokémon, but he still missed his long lost little brother Blaze greatly. It absolutely devastated Leon that he had him back one moment, and then the next moment, he suddenly vanished. Doing his best to forget about this heartbreaking scenario, the piplup went on exploration jobs to build the reputation of the new Team Poképals further.

After the day was done, Leon was visited by Ampharos, the chief of the Expedition Society, on the harbor of Lively Town. The chief himself noticed that the former human boy was still depressed on losing Blaze so suddenly, so he suggested that Leon go to the Sand Dune of Spirits on the Sand Continent tomorrow to look for Xatu, a pokémon who could see both the past and the future. With a determined resolve, Leon rested up for tonight, then tomorrow he made his way to the Sand Continent using the Lapras Travel Liner service to get to the Sand Dune of Spirits.

When he arrived at the end of Sand Dune's accompanying dungeon, Leon found Xatu and asked him if he saw anything like Mew in the past. He did, and instructed the piplup to find the reborn mythical pokémon in the Mystery Jungle located in the Grass Continent.

Leon did what he was told, and went to the jungle to the far east of the world. He indeed found Mew, who had a similar personality to that of Blaze during his time with Leon in the early Expedition Society days. Leon, hoping that Mew would eventually lead to Blaze, took the mythical pokémon on various explorations for the next few days.

Later on one day, Leon was surprised that he suddenly awoke back at the hill with the big tree near Serene Village on the Water Continent. He did not have Mew beside him, and had to quickly make his way back to Lively Town as soon as possible. Just as he was about to leave the village, he suddenly remembered that Mew had fallen ill, and was determined more than ever to get back to the Expedition Society HQ.

Leon eventually arrived back at the Society, where he discovered that Mew was not in his team's room either. A series of memories suddenly entered the piplup's mind, one where Xatu investigated and insisted that there was still a fragment of Dark Matter left within Mew, and another memory in which Leon wanted to take Mew to the hill with the big tree so that he could try to cure the mythical pokémon himself. Suddenly, one more memory appeared in which Mew disappeared beside Leon, then the piplup got hit from behind and lost his consciousness. Those series of memories is what makes him believe that he suddenly ended up on the hill near Serene Village.

When he was done remembering all of those events, Leon explained to Ampharos and Mawile that he was attacked by an unknown pokémon back at the village, then they handed him a note saying that the writer of the letter claimed to be a "protector of peace". They wrote down that Mew was going to be destroyed in the Purifying Cave so that Dark Matter could be completely erased. Alarmed by this possibility, and feeling unsure if it was the solution, Leon went over to the cave, along with two teammates, to save Mew from his impending destruction.

When he arrived at the end of Purifying Cave's dungeon, Leon thanked his two teammates for getting him to this point, and dismissed them before he went into the deepest part of the cave. He went into a darkened room where he discovered that Mew was floating unconsciously. He tried to approach him, but a voice suddenly rang out.

"Stop! Stay back, Leon! Don't you touch that there Mew!"

I...I know that voice! But it can't be… the piplup thought. It can't be him…

A blinding light flashed within the area for a few seconds, then when it cleared, Nuzleaf appeared. His unique accent and way of speech made it easy for Leon to identify. Not only was Nuzleaf here, but he had three beheeyem beside him.

"It's you, Nuzleaf!" a shocked Leon said out loud. "A-and you brought your beheeyem as well! That must mean...the ones who attacked me and kidnapped Mew...was all of you?!"

"Yes...it was us!" Nuzleaf answered with a look of regret on his face. "I'm mighty sorry about that, Leon! I know I've caused you no end of trouble...and the truth is that I didn't want to have to do this. But...we've gotta wipe out that Dark Matter once and for all!"

"We can't take it anymore!" a tearful beheeyem insisted. "We caused so much hurt to good pokémon!"

"We can't go through that kinda thing again!" Nuzleaf spoke once more.

"I...can understand that," replied Leon sadly. "I wouldn't want anything like that to ever happen again, either. But...that doesn't mean-"

Suddenly, light blue orbs emitted from Mew, alarming the piplup!

"M-Mew!"

He tried to get close to him, but Nuzleaf and the beheeyem stopped him from doing so.

"I'm sorry, Leon," the wily pokémon said, "but it's gotta end! You just have to accept this!"

The orbs around Mew increased in size and frequency.

Mew is starting to disappear… Leon thought. Just like I did when Blaze and I saved the world once from its impending paralysis on our way back from Temporal Tower, and just like Blaze himself back at the hill with the big tree…

The piplup's mind thought back to the time where he was surrounded by yellow orbs while a tearful Blaze urged him not to go away, and to recently where the chimchar floated to the sky on the hill near Serene Village so that Mew would be reborn. Once those painful memories ended, Leon found himself back in the present, looking at the possibly endangered mythical pokémon.

Is this really...for the best?

The orbs grew even larger around Mew, as Leon's mind raced once more, thinking of the memories that he had with him this time…

Do I have to accept this? Is this truly for the best?

Leon then thought back to the time where both he and Blaze disappeared in separate instances once more, before he closed his eyes and shouted the following out loud, while tears streamed down his face…

"No! This isn't what I want! I want us to stay together! If Dark Matter comes back, I'll beat it again! I just can't say goodbye...ever again!"

He opened his eyes, and gasped as he discovered that his Harmony Scarf around his neck glowed brightly, and then it removed itself from its captivity, while the light around Mew glowed as well. Both of those lights floated towards each other, and they collided, forming a shape of a familiar pokémon to Leon.

Could that be…?

The combined lights flashed, creating a blinding light within the area itself for a few moments. When it cleared, the darkness clearing, revealing light to the area. It was blue on the ground, with greenish-blue walls surrounding the room. More importantly, Blaze was on the ground in front of everybody. He was unconscious lying on his back, but his stomach moved up and down, indicating that he was indeed brought back to life. Leon, for the first time in a while, had a smile on his beak as he stared in amazement.

"Blaze!" he shouted.

"What in tarnation?!" Nuzleaf exclaimed, as he and the beheeyem dropped to the ground in disbelief.

Leon, meanwhile, took a step forward to Blaze, when Mew's voice rang out.

"Leon..."

The mythical pokémon himself finally woke up, as he turned to face both Blaze and Leon. He spoke to the piplup.

"So that's Blaze… When I was sleeping, I could feel your desperate wish, Leon."

"My...wish?"

"That's right," a voice said from behind Leon.

He turned around to see that Mawile, Ampharos, and Xatu were behind him.

"It's you, guys?!" Leon asked.

"I'm sorry, Leon," Ampharos began. "All of this was done...just to lead you here."

"To lead...me?"

"I saw it," Xatu spoke next. "I saw Blaze sealed within Mew. I saw Mew's collapse...and I knew that it was not because of any hidden fragment of Dark Matter...it was because Blaze still remained."

"If only the barrier could be broken," Ampharos said, "Blaze could return to this world. However, Leon, it would be up to the strength of your own feelings in the end. That, is what Xatu felt, and that is when Nuzleaf and the beheeyem came to talk with us."

Leon turned to Nuzleaf and his accompanying beheeyem.

"Nuzleaf and the others did this for me?"

"Yes," answered Ampharos. "They wanted to make up for what they had done to you, Leon. They had been searching all this time for a way to repay you. So when they heard from Xatu that there might be a way for Blaze to return to this world...they volunteered on their own to play this unsavory role."

"They tricked me into coming along with 'em, promising it'd be fun," Mew inserted, as Nuzleaf and the beheeyem turned to him. "That's how I ended up here. But you know what? I'm glad I did!" He laughed and had a big smile. "Sorry about beating on you all when I first realized it was a trap!"

Nuzleaf had a smile of embarrassment as he replied.

"Yeah...that was a situation, indeed. You whupped us good, kid. But that don't matter."

He, along with the beheeyem, Mew, and Leon, turned back to the other pokémon.

"Xatu, it really did work, right?" questioned Nuzleaf with a serious look.

"Is Blaze really-" one beheeyem began.

"You do not need to worry any further," answered Xatu. "Blaze is back. I imagine consciousness will soon return to him shortly."

"I-is that so?" Nuzleaf replied. He now had tears threatening to pour from his eyes, along with the beheeyem, as he turned to them.

"Well, ain't that somethin' y'all?! We finally went and did what's right! I'm finally feelin' mighty fine, now!"

He and the beheeyem cried joyfully as they ran up to each other for a group hug. Leon, feeling touched by this, also had tears in his eyes as he sniffed but still smiled.

"L-Leon…?" Blaze weakly said, recognizing the piplup's voice.

He turned down to his revived best friend, who was now barely awake, but smiled.

"Blaze!"

"Looks like...we meet once again. It's all because everyone, including you, helped us. Thanks, guys...and more importantly, thank you, Leon. Thank you so, so much for bringing me back."

The piplup now had tears streaming down his face as he went down onto the chimchar to give him the long awaited hug he waited so long for.

"Blaaaaze! I m-missed you! Don't you ever l-leave me again!"

Leon started to cry uncontrollably onto Blaze's shoulder. All of those emotions that were kept within the piplup for so many days...regret, sadness, pain, relief, happiness, and everything in between, came pouring out of him at long last. Feeling all of those emotions as well, Blaze also cried as both he and Leon curled each other in a sobbing heap.

"I don't want you to leave me again either, Leon!"

They were reminded of all of the times when there was heartbreak involved between the both of them...from the time when Leon vanished in front of Blaze after saving the world once, when Leon left the team due to Blaze's accidental selfish mistake, and when Blaze himself had to leave Leon behind just so Mew would be reborn. All of those instances left one or the other utterly heartbroken.

But now, at long last, they had each other once again. Each had promised not to leave one another ever again. Once their crying had eventually died down, Leon and Blaze both got up, understandably shaken by their most emotional reunion yet, but they managed to smile. Both of them and the other pokémon made their way out of Purifying Cave, as Leon's quest to bring back Blaze was finally accomplished.

When they left the cave, Mew departed from the group to go back home to the Mystery Jungle. However, he would continue to remain both a friend and ally, promising to help out Team Poképals whenever they were in need. Nuzleaf also finally returned back to his home at Serene Village, accepted back by the pokémon of the village itself. The beheeyem even lived there with him from now on.

Night had arrived when Team Poképals and the Expedition Society members got back to Lively Town. Just about everyone went to bed in the headquarters, exhausted by today's successful mission. Leon and Blaze, however, remained awake as they sat on their straw beds and had a conversation with each other while the light in their room was off.

"Leon, I'm very sorry once again for putting you through such a difficult time for several years once I made that unforgivable slip-up back at the Grass Continent," Blaze began with a sad look on his face. "I'm not sure if I can ever forgive myself, though..."

"Hey, Blaze," Leon replied with a smile, "it's all right. I forgive you all the way, so let's not dwell on it too long. Both of us individually were ready to disappear for a while just so we could save the world, so that makes us even. I put you through so many months of pain once I was gone, and you did the same thing, though it only lasted around a month or two."

"I guess that's true." Blaze managed a smile. "We are even when it comes to the whole disappearing act, huh?"

"Yup...but let's promise each other that it'll never happen to either of us again...okay?"

"Yeah, Leon. After all we've been through, we'd never want to go through that incredibly sad stuff once more in our lifetime."

The two pals held out one of their hands to each other so they could shake on this crucial promise. Once it was done, they spoke again.

"I notice that we don't have those Harmony Scarves anymore," Leon said.

"Yeah," Blaze replied, as he begun to get sad again, "and neither for our old items that we usually wear. You once wore a Joy Ribbon, and I once wore a Defense Scarf. We also don't have our old friends near us, since they're way back at the Grass Continent probably looking after Wigglytuff's Guild now..."

"Listen, Blaze...I know it's heartbreaking that we don't have those great things anymore...but the one important thing that we still have...is our friendship. No matter how far apart we were after your mistake, we knew deep in our hearts that the sacred bond between us brothers, friends, and pals, will never be broken."

"You're right, Leon," Blaze replied with a smile, feeling reassured. "I know it's a little strange that you were once a former human, and that you consider a pokémon like me to be a brother...but it doesn't matter in the end. We're the closest thing to family that we can be right now. Sure, I have Carracosta adopting me as my pops now, and you have Nuzleaf as an adoptive father of your own...but our bond as loving brothers is what keeps us going for a very, very long time."

"I'm very glad to hear that you're on the same page as me, Blaze. Thanks."

"You're welcome, big bro."

Leon and Blaze stood up and gave each other a nice, warm hug. This is what they wanted to do, since they felt a little cold from all of the tears that they shed back at the Purifying Cave. They spoke once more while they continued to hug each other.

"Why don't we combine our beds so we can snuggle with each other tonight?" suggested Leon. "It's basically a way of telling ourselves that we're never letting go again."

"That's a great idea, pal," responded Blaze. "In fact, we'll sleep like this from now on."

"I couldn't agree more."

Leon and Blaze separated from their embrace and then they combined their beds as promised. The two straw beds became one large bed for both the piplup and the chimchar to sleep on, having all the extra room to move on it as well. They got on the bed, and snuggled close to each other as they lay down, closed their eyes, and wore wide smiles on their faces.

"Good night, little bro." said Leon.

"Night, big bro." replied Blaze.

They managed to fall asleep, wondering what exciting adventures they would face together for tomorrow and so on.

The two forever brothers have finally managed to put Blaze's mistake from many years ago behind them, as their great friendship had fully rekindled.

When two spirits meet and go through so much together...they must be drawn back together. They surely met again.