Wow, at the end at last! Thanks everyone for reading along with me. It won't be long now until Cara heads off to Unova. I hope you'll join me for that journey!

Leaving Worlds Behind

In the few days that followed, every Pokémon, whether recovering or walking through Charm Town, was smiling and moved with a bounce in their step. The atmosphere of joy, relief, and triumph, was intoxicating. It was impossible not to share the thrill of our victory.

It was also impossible to forget the battle/ My mind would wander back to the mountains, to the scenes following Mewthree's defeat.

Pokémon, both allies, and those Pokémon freed from Mewthree's power, hugged, shook hands, and high-fived each other. I found myself hugging Link, Phantom, Arcanine, Mew, Tyranitar, and dozens of other Pokémon that I don't even remember anymore. I found Mewtwo, who was looking fairly uncomfortable, surrounded as he was by a crowd of admirers. I managed to rescue him just before he passed out from fatigue. And who could blame him?

I checked my bag repeatedly, making sure the spirits of Latios and Latias were safe. And my eyes flicked repeatedly back to the place where Mewthree, Latios, and Latias had disappeared.

We had won. And I couldn't be happier… except…

There was nothing I could do about Mewthree anymore. It was too late. Maybe if he hadn't been so dangerous, and we'd had more time we could have helped him.

Still… couldn't I have done something else? I had to keep reminding myself in the following days that we did all we could. Three Pokémon had died, but Naratay was safe. And I was able to explain to several of the Pokémon why Mewthree had turned out the way he did. It wasn't his fault that he turned out the way he did. It was those that created him that drove him down the path to his destruction. And so the hatred of him subsided ever so slightly.

But deeper down there was another worry. Everything was over now. Which meant that all of us would be going home soon. And I was so ready to go home. I missed everyone so much. But what about Link? Would he hold up okay? I had so many friends here now. I would miss them all. I would miss all of Charm Town. The way Pokémon lived together, ran shops, cooked food, and went on rescue missions. It was so different from anything on my world.

"Cara, tell us more about the battle," Pontya suggested. Ponyta, Butterfree, and Masquerain had stayed behind in Charm Town during the battle. Those who had stayed in town were eager to hear every detail of the battle. Although this particular trio had asked us more times than was really necessary.

"What do you want to know about?" Link asked. He was more agreeable to repeating stories than I was.

I flexed my wings as he talked. It had been three days since the fight and most of the Pokémon were recovering nicely. My wings killed me the first couple days, from being so over-used during the battle. They felt better now though. And my other cuts and burns were healing nicely.

Link had a large bandage over his head from a nasty scrape he got there, as well as any number of smaller bumps and bruises.

Almost every Pokémon had several bandages, including all of my friends. The bug Pokémon had been kept busy spinning new bandages constantly. Every Pokémon that was able helped to care for the injured.

Link was explaining once more about the cave collapsing. I nudged him. He looked up and I pointed over towards Lucario and Lopunny. Lucario had hurt his leg very badly. He was trying to walk now, but had to lean heavily on Lopunny.

Link and I grinned at each other.

"Are they engaged, or something?" Ponyta asked.

"They should be," Butterfree giggled.

I noticed Tyranitar gesturing to us and I tugged Link's tail. "We're being summoned," I said. "See you guys."

Butterfree, Masquerain, and Ponyta went off somewhere, hopefully to make themselves useful. Link and I went to see Tyranitar.

Tyranitar had taken to wearing the gauntlets from Manectric's machine. They were one of the few parts that had survived, along with the helmet. The power source for the machine – the Spirit Mist, the soul of Latios and Latias's mother - had been salvaged too. The two Spirit Mists and the Soul Dew now rested together in a safe corner of Lucario's office.

"What's up?" Link asked.

"Mewtwo wanted to get up. I thought you should come."

I nodded. Mewtwo was in far worse shape than most of the Pokémon in Charm Town. Not that that was surprising, considering what he'd been through. He was kept inside the clinic along with a few others, where there was less noise and activity. Though the Pokémon still found ways to include them in the celebrations.

"How are you feeling?" I asked as Link and I walked into the room where Mewtwo was sitting.

Mewtwo smiled wryly. "Not much different than the other two times you asked me today."

I laughed.

"Chansey said I should wait for you before I tried to walk," Mewtwo explained. "Since you're big enough to support me, I guess? But I really should be getting up. Now that all of the others are on the mend, we should be heading home soon."

"Already?" Link blurted. He continued a little quieter. "But it's only been three days. Don't you want to wait until everyone's completely healed?"

Mewtwo looked at Link, and then looked up at me. I dropped my gaze to the floor. I wanted to go home so much. But Charm Town was such a great place. As much as I wanted to leave, I wanted to stay.

"Well," Mewtwo continued, "It's not exactly my decision. I contacted Palkia earlier today, and he's going to come pick us up. He's already spent a lot of time helping us look for you, Cara. We don't really have any right to ask him to wait around for us longer. He has other duties to attend to."

"Oh," Link and I said in unison.

"We agreed that he'd come and get us tomorrow morning," Mewtwo continued. "Trust me, I'd like to wait a little longer as well. I'm still not feeling my best."

"I believe it," I agreed. "I wonder if I'll get a chance to go flying again. My wings are still bothering me though."

"That's right," Link muttered. "You won't have your wings anymore when you return to the human world."

I nodded. "I can still fly with my Pokémon. But there's something different about flying with your own two wings, you know?"

"So I suppose you should spend today settling everything you need to." He smiled and continued, "by the way, I telepathically contacted Avalon after I talked to Palkia. Twilight knows we're coming home. He says he's going to have a welcoming party ready for us."

I laughed. "That will be fun. It will be good to see him. I know he was terrified when I disappeared the way I did."

"He rather was," Mewtwo agreed. "But now everyone knows that you're okay and we're all on our way home."

I held out my arm. "Here. I'll help you stand."

…

Link accompanied me the rest of the day as I visited all of our friends and bid them farewell. Lucario, Lopunny, Tyranitar, Jolteon, Infernape, Manectric, Weavile and her team, Arcanine and her other tenants.

Butterfree and Masquerain fairly burst into tears when I told them. Ponyta cocked her head. "But why? This place is so much better."

Everyone else was thrilled for me, that I had my memories back and was finally able to return to my world and my friends. Most of them agreed to accompany us the next morning, to bid us farewell.

Lopunny organized a small celebration at dinner, for all of us that came from my world.

It was a lot of fun.

But still. Throughout all of my journeys, I'd made a lot of friends and exchanged a lot of phone numbers. I was still, more or less, in contact with all the people I got to know in Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh. But these guys… I'd never see them again after tomorrow. And there wouldn't really be any way to contact them. It was such a strange, lonely feeling. I knew that they wouldn't forget us. But honestly, most of them probably wouldn't really miss me deeply. Except for one of them.

Link seemed happy. He was smiling during the entire celebration. He'd also made a lot of friends since I'd arrived. Maybe he could join Jolteon's team? They were the only other Rescue Team we got to know.

The night dropped down on us like the curtain at the end of a play. Where had that last day gone?

As everyone went off to bed, Link and I went out to the field for one last flight.

…

The next morning, Link and I woke up and accompanied the legendary Pokémon to the outskirts of Charm Town – the big field where we'd done some of our training.

Weavile, Drapion, and Mightyena were walking in front of us, and they froze when they saw the massive form standing near the edge of the field.

Palkia. He must have arrived some time during the night.

My friends from home gathered near him. Unsurprisingly, some of the Charm Town Pokémon were nervous at Palkia's presences. But Jolteon and Infernape greeted him and they spoke like old acquaintances. I heard Palkia growling about how angry he was at the dimensional rift Mewthree tried to create. Too bad he hadn't made it in time to join the battle.

Mewtwo leaned on Phantom and Deoxys. He was wearing his cloak once more, but Phantom was wearing Mewtwo's hat (and looking incredibly goofy). Raikou, Suicune, and Entei stood behind them. Mew and the two Celebi perched on each of their necks.

I stopped and stood there, looking out over everyone. "It's hard to believe," I said quietly. Link looked up at me. "I've gone on so many journeys. As I traveled, I was away from home for months. But going home this time feels different. I guess because I left in such a bad way. I left everyone behind, and they were all worried about me."

Link grinned. "Well, it's all over now."

I laughed. "I wonder if they'll ever believe that I turned into a Pokémon. I'll definitely have some great stories to tell them!"

"Definitely," Link agreed. He really looked happy that I was finally on my way home.

Mewtwo? I called silently.

Hmm?

Can't we take Link with us?

Pause. We have no right to take him out of the world he was born in.

I guess you're right.

I'm sure he'll be fine.

Yeah. He's tough.

I went around to all of my friends, bidding them a final farewell.

"Tyranitar, thanks for training us. We never would have gotten very far without your help."

"Thanks for giving me a place to stay, Arcanine. Your cooking was always amazing. The best thing after coming home from a day's battling."

"Jolteon, I'm glad I got to meet you. Since we shared similar fates, talking to you helped keep my spirits up."

"Lopunny, you talked sense into me as I was losing hope. Thank you so much."

"It was my pleasure," Lopunny said, resting a paw on Lucario's shoulder.

"Lucario, thanks for trusting me, even when I was the most suspicious person in all of Charm Town. You're a great leader for this place. Everyone in Charm Town is lucky to have someone so strong and together to look after them. Take care of them for me. And take care of the Soul Dew and Spirit Mist."

"Will do," Lucario said, nodding. "Everyone is safe with us. And thank all of you again for lending your support. I don't know how things would have turned out if you all weren't here. You especially, Mewtwo."

Mewtwo nodded and smiled.

And then I finally knelt in front of Link. "Link, thank you for everything. If it weren't for you… I would have been lost in every way possible. You picked me up and gave me a place to stay and a friend to rely on." I tapped my aviator's cap that I still wore. "And with this, I know I'll never forget."

Link nodded and rubbed a paw across his eyes. I did the same.

"And thanks, Cara," he said, his voice shaking as his resolve cracked. "Not just for helping protect our world. But thanks for being my friend too. Because you came here, I was able to open up and meet so many new Pokémon. I know I'm better for it. By a lot."

He dropped his head and took a deep breath.

I stood up. "Thanks, Link." I turned towards everyone from Charm Town and waved to them, grinning. "Thanks everyone! Take care!"

Everyone called out farewells and thanks as I backed towards Mewtwo, Palkia, and the rest or my friends from home.

"BYYYyyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" I continued to wave my arm over my head, beaming.

I felt Mewtwo's psychic powers surround me. They lifted me off of the ground, along with Suicune, Raikou, Entei, and the others.

Link looked up again, smiling despite the tears in his eyes.

"We're ready," Mewtwo called to Palkia.

Palkia threw back his head and let out a deafening bellow. The air above us rippled, and then opened up, revealing a portal of black and fuchsia sky above us. Palkia rose up through the portal and Mewtwo prepared to lift all of us through as well.

I looked out over the Pokémon one last time as I felt myself start to rise.

"Cara!" I looked down to see Link sprinting up towards us. He gathered himself and then leapt towards me. I reached out automatically, catching him.

And then Charm Town was gone and we were surrounded by the strange swirling sky of another dimension.

And I was still hugging Link.

"Link," Mew scolded softly, shaking her head. But she was grinning.

I laughed.

Mewtwo glanced over at us and gave a wry smile, shaking his head.

"I don't know what got into me," Link said, giving a nervous laugh. "Guess I really want to see another world. Even if you have a ton of other Pokémon you love and look after, I still want to come."

"And I'm sure you'll love it," I promised. "And now I get to introduce you to all of my other friends!"

Then I noticed that Palkia wasn't the onlny giant accompanying us. A giant blue Pokémon glided alongside us - Dialga. He'd come to see us off as well.

We spiraled up through the strange endless dimension. And then I caught sight of something floating in the distance. Something large and white, watching us.

I gasped. Arceus.

Palkia noticed where I was looking. "When Mewthree opened the dimensional rift, the three of us felt it." He gestured to Dialga and Arceus. "Arceus and Dialga came to make sure that everything was resolved properly. We're almost back to your world."

The air in front of us parted again, and I saw green. Grass.

"Thank you, Palkia," I called. Even as I spoke, I felt a strange prickling sensation all over my body. My head, neck, shoulders and legs felt oddly melty, and they seemed to be changing.

Palkia laughed, and this time I heard him telepathically since my ears were no longer that of a Pokémon. Try not to get sucked through any more of my portals, right?

"I'll try! And it was nice meeting you, Dialga."

Dialga looked at me and nodded.

"Tell Arceus I say hello and thank you."

Mewtwo glided up beside me and handed me his cloak. His eyes were fixed somewhere beyond my shoulder.

That was when I realized that the only thing I was wearing was my aviator's cap. Burning red, I snatched the cloak and pushed Link up onto my shoulder. I quickly wrapped the cloak over myself. Embarrassed as I was, at least I'd gotten the cloak on before we were back in the human world.

Mew laughed and I shot her a withering glance.

Mewtwo lowered all of us through the portal and I felt my bare feet touch the grass of Avalon.

With a rush of air, the portal above us closed and Palkia and Dialga disappeared.

And in front of us were Pokémon. Dozens of them. I stared out over them, amazed. Mewtwo, Ponyta, Gyarados, Ninetales, Absol, Typhlosion, Pikachu, Charizard, Swampert, Luxray, Lucario, and so many others.

And in front of all of them was Ben and Hari.

Link stared at everyone, his mouth hanging open.

Ben started to come towards me and I took a step towards him on legs that suddenly felt too long. My foot caught on Mewtwo's cloak and I pitched forwards. Since my arms were stuck beneath the fabric, I had no way to catch myself. I crashed into Ben and the two of us landed in the grass. Link sat up, bewildered, and huddled against my side as everyone closed in.

Hari bounded up beside us, grinning broadly. Twilight threw his arms around my neck. Polaris nudged my shoulder. The huge head of a Gyarados loomed up behind Hari. I turned every which way, petting and hugging every Pokémon I could reach.

After all the trials and triumphs of an adventure, returning home is the sweetest part of victory.