unidentified fucking Thing

“Nia!” Tobias lunges forward just in time to keep Nia from collapsing. The riolu is complete deadweight, and nearly takes him down with her.

Samir quickly helps Tobias hold her weight, and the three of them sink to the ground. Tobias pulls Nia into his lap even as her head lolls back and panic sparks in his chest.

“Nia!” Junie echoes, fluttering down to perch next to the riolu’s face. “W-What’s wrong with her? Is she okay?”

“She’s breathing,” Tobias says, trying to stay calm.

He reaches for her pulse. Her heartbeat is fast and fluttery, but seems to be slowing down to something more natural. He quickly scans her body for a serious injury, but doesn’t see any unexpected blood or twisted bones.

“Let me,” Soren says quietly, kneeling down in front of them.

To Tobias’ relief, the lucario doesn’t try to take Nia away from him. Instead, he simply holds a paw over her chest as dark blue aura shines around him, lifting the long appendages framing his face.

As they wait with bated breath, Tobias glances up at the sound of metallic wingbeats. Bo lands beside them, casting a look over everyone before settling on Nia.

The skarmory abandoned the fight with Yveltal, so he must be confident that the god is down for the count. Tobias looks behind the steel type, just long enough to spot both Yveltal and Giratina lying unconscious, their gigantic forms sprawled across a third of the battlefield like fallen trees amidst a field of flowers. Purple embers of light float off the two of them from what must’ve been the final attack.

“She is alive,” Soren says, grabbing Tobias’ attention again.

“I know she’s alive,” Tobias snaps, fear making him sharp. “But is she okay?”

Tobias doesn’t like how long Soren hesitates, a furrow to his brow like he isn’t sure how to answer.

“She is…stable.”

“But?” Junie presses.

“But there is something…odd, about her aura,” Soren admits, his eyes still trained on Nia. “It could just be the aftermath of so much power filtering through her body, but her soul is…dormant.”

“So she’s just sleeping?” Junie asks, her ruffled feathers starting to flatten with relief.

“No, aura is still active when one sleeps. This is…something different.”

Tobias holds Nia a little tighter. “Well, what do we do?”

“For now, she doesn’t appear to be in immediate danger, so just let her rest and recover,” Soren says. “Her aura may awaken in its own time.”

Tobias doesn’t like such an uncertain, nebulous answer, but if it’s an aura thing and even Soren doesn’t recognize it, then he’s not sure what else they can do.

“She’s unharmed otherwise?” a tired voice asks. Tobias turns to see Fidel limping his way over.

“No worse off than the rest of us,” Soren confirms. He looks past the zoroark, down the altar, and narrows his eyes at Yveltal’s still form.

“He’s unconscious,” Fidel says, sounding wholly confident in the fact. “I recognized the last move Giratina used to take him down. Destiny bond isn’t letting either of them up for at least a day.”

A collective sigh of relief moves through the group.

“Good,” Soren says. “I’m hoping Yveltal will simply fall back into dormancy to heal, but if he doesn’t then we’ll need that time to figure out a backup plan for sealing him away.”

Tobias shudders as Samir and Junie shift closer. His eyes drift past the bodies of the two titans below, and out to the battlefield beyond, where injured ‘mon—Seekers and outlaws alike—are slowly regrouping. They’re checking on one another, picking around the bodies splayed out across the stone and half-submerged in water. Hopefully most of the downed Pokemon are only knocked out, and nothing worse.

The Pokemon frozen into stone by Yveltal’s life-stealing attack dot the landscape like a macabre garden of statues. Like a graveyard. Can something like that be reversed, or are all of those Pokemon already gone, their lives used to strengthen Yveltal's fury?

Is that why Will went to the trouble of bringing them here in the first place?

A quiet, choked cry snags Tobias’ attention. He looks over, then bares his teeth with a hiss.

Will has woken up from Fidel’s quick knock-out. The yamask is pushing himself up from the stone, staring at the mended sky with wide, disbelieving eyes that shine with tears. His mouth gapes as if to speak, before falling closed again. Tobias can see him shaking from here.

“Y-You…what did you do?”

“Stopped your insane plan,” Tobias growls.

“No…no…” Will slowly shakes his head, and then sobs, tears rolling down his cheeks. “No! This can’t—I worked for years on this. The gate was open, I-I was so close to getting back to them, a-and I…”

“Ironic, that one human saved this world when another tried so hard to destroy it,” Soren murmurs.

Will’s shaking fingers curl into the stone beneath him. He slowly lowers, until he can press his forehead to ground, a wail tearing from his lungs and echoing around the quiet area.

Tobias can hear the pain in it. It sounds like how Tobias felt when he lost his family. Like Nia, remembering her death. He hates that something like pity jabs him in the chest.

But Will also tried to end everything in this world. Millions of lives. And Tobias recalls with vivid clarity how easily Will went for a killing blow with that psyshock attack when they first arrived on the altar. If Fidel hadn’t intervened, then Nia might’ve been—

No. The pity in Tobias’ chest shrivels up as quickly as it grew. He just can’t find it in himself to feel sympathetic, no matter how miserable the yamask looks right now. Nia would probably feel bad for Will if she was awake, but Tobias isn’t as understanding as his partner.

“Oh, quit that noise,” a familiar voice says, sharp.

A moment later, a shadow claw attack grabs Will, squeezing him tight enough to make his wailing cut off with a garbled cry. On the other end of the attack is Rosalind. She crests the stairs at a leisurely pace, her dark eyes piercing into Will with predatory intent.

Looks like the haterene isn’t feeling any love for her old “friend,” either.

“I should rip you to shreds for trying to backstab me like you did,” Rosalind says. She tilts her head with amusement as the yamask scrabbles weakly at her grip, trying to gasp for air.

“Rosalind, stop,” Fidel says, quietly.

Rosalind squeezes harder.

The zoroark leaps between the two, using his own shadow claw attack to sever the connection and standing defensively in front of Will. Behind him, Will falls limply onto the rocks, gasping for air between wracking sobs.

“Oh? I thought you abandoned your precious Will, Fidel. You just can’t seem to be loyal to anyone, can you?”

Fidel shuts his eyes for a long moment, clearly gathering himself, but he doesn’t back down. “I could no longer support what he was doing, Rosalind. That doesn’t mean I’m going to just stand aside and watch you kill him.”

Rosalind gives a bitter laugh. “Oh, please. He had no qualms about killing you. You or your son.”

“I’m aware,” Fidel says, sounding so, so tired. “That does not change my decision.”

There’s a long, tense moment of quiet. Tobias fears Fidel and Rosalind are about to duke it out, right here and now.

“Spitfire! Is everyone all right?”

Everyone turns at the sound of Azami’s voice. Val is carrying the tsareena on her back, and a moment later, Tobias realizes why, noting the white scarf—probably lent from another ‘mon—wrapped around Azami’s thigh. She must’ve gotten a nasty injury during the battle.

Azami’s clearly relieved once she catches sight of Tobias and Samir and Junie, but her expression tightens with concern once she spots Nia. Val lets Azami off her back, but still supports the tsareena as the two of them hobble closer.

“Nia is unharmed,” Soren says, then amends, “mostly unharmed. Hopefully only in need of rest.”

Some of the tension leaves Val’s shoulders, and Azami breathes a sigh of relief. The tsareena’s eyes skim over everyone else, lingering on Fidel and Rosalind’s tense faceoff. Her brow creases.

“August isn’t up here yet?”

Tobias swallows hard against a fresh lump of grief in his throat, blinking back tears. Samir hangs their head, as if ashamed. Junie hides her face in Nia’s neck.

“He’s gone,” Tobias finally rasps.

Azami’s reaction is quieter than Tobias expects, her eyes closing in a pained expression as she clings harder to Val without a word. The medicham bows her head, as if in prayer.

Maybe the two of them expected this on some level. They both worked closely with August as this was all going down, when he was already so heavily injured.

Rosalind hums, some of the fury in her voice gone as she says, “Unfortunate.”

Somehow, Tobias thinks she’s being genuine. As if in their short time together, and despite being on opposite sides of the law, Rosalind had grown to respect the rillaboom on some level.

Of course, the tension returns immediately the moment Fidel shifts. The zoroark cautiously backs up, keeping Rosalind in sight as he steps over Will. Fidel hesitates as he looks down at the yamask, who is still sobbing quietly into the stone underfoot. Then, the zoroark leans down to scoop him up. Will’s fingers curl into Fidel’s fur as he cries into the zoroark’s chest.

“It’s cute that you think you can protect him,” Rosalind says. “It’s idiotic that you even want to.”

“He should be punished for his crimes,” Fidel says. “But…I considered him a friend, once. I can’t condemn him to whatever cruel things you have in mind.”

“Our Seekers can take him to Ghatha to be tried and imprisoned,” Azami says, surprising Tobias. The tsareena is looking out over the battlefield with weary eyes. “Once backup arrives from the other guilds, we’ll be sending more Pokemon there than just Will.”

“Oh, I’ll be sure that he gets to Ghatha’s highest-security prison,” Rosalind says, all sugarcoated poison. “Just give me a day or two so we can work out our personal grievances first.”

Tobias exchanges an uneasy look with Junie and Samir. World-ender or not, and no matter how much he hates Will, even Tobias isn’t sure he’s comfortable inflicting a furious, vengeful Rosalind on anyone, at least without supervision. He wants the yamask locked up for life so he never has to see him again, not necessarily tortured.

“Afraid I have to play by the books on this one,” Azami says, her tone light.

“Oh, but I insist!” Rosalind chirps, psychic energy coating her claws in a very obvious threat.

Val tenses up.

“Everyone in the guild thanks you for your help today, Rosalind. But we can handle the transport of the outlaws,” Azami reiterates. She meets Rosalind’s gaze calmly, looking almost amused by the haterene’s attempt at intimidation. “I’m not letting such a serious threat out of the guild’s sight, for one. Especially considering that the higher-ups will want to see to the one personally responsible for this mess. But I’m also not signing off on pain for the sake of pain, no matter who it is. That’s just bad Seeker etiquette.”

Rosalind is frighteningly silent in response. Tobias sees Val’s fingers curl tighter around Azami’s side, as if even the stoic medicham is unsure about her partner’s bold play.

Tobias always assumed Azami laughed off his aggressive attitude and fire type attacks during training because she simply didn’t see him as a threat. And while that was probably true, especially when he was younger, he’s now wondering if this is just how Azami always is. If she always tackles danger with playful humor and a steadfast refusal to bow.

Rosalind eases out of her aggressive stance, flicking her claws to dissipate the energy there.

Tobias can finally breathe again.

“Fine,” Rosalind says, watching Azami with an interested gleam in her eye. “I’ll shelve this for now. Seems August may have a worthy successor after all.”

Azami blinks, some of her calm bravado vanishing to make way for surprise. “Oh, I’m not August’s second.”

That would be Verene—though last Tobias heard, the lurantis was in rough shape herself.

“I’m aware,” Rosalind says, turning to shuffle to the edge of the altar. “Give it some thought. I know capability when I see it.”

The haterene looks expectantly at the far tree line, where a familiar shape is leaving the forest and scampering towards the altar as fast as it can. It’s a brown-and-cream color, fuzzy and low to the ground.

Rosalind makes a quiet, amused noise and flicks her hand. A moment later, Zag teleports to her in a flash of light. The zigzagoon runs forward a moment longer before skidding to a stop, panting.  He looks up at Rosalind with bright, eager eyes.

“Yes—huff—Lady—huff—Rosalind?”

Rosalind smiles down at the zigzagoon, and if Tobias didn’t know any better, he’d think she was genuinely happy to see him. “We’re heading out before the other Seekers arrive to ruin the atmosphere. Be a dear and scout ahead, would you?”

“Of course, Lady Rosalind!” Zag says, his tail wagging so fast it blurs. Rosalind snaps her fingers, and the zigzagoon warps away.

Then Rosalind looks over at Nia. Tobias holds the riolu closer, curling around her protectively.

“Tell your partner that I owe her my thanks, would you?”

And then, echoing silently in Tobias’ head, Rosalind adds, And consider Team Scarlet’s debt cleared.

Tobias stares at her, surprised. The haterene smirks in return, turning away and wiggling her fingers over her shoulder as she leaves.

“Ta-ta, everyone. It was a pleasure working with you. Except you, dearest Will. May every god in this world strike you down, ifI don’t get to you first.”

Tobias glances at Will, curled up small and motionless against Fidel’s chest. He has no idea if the yamask even heard her, but Will surely knows that Rosalind will have no mercy on him if she gets the chance to enact revenge. Prison would likely be a relief, in comparison.

They all watch as Rosalind makes her way down the altar and towards the trees herself. Slowly, the outlaws who came with her, donning their bloodied white scarves, shuffle after her, weaving through Seekers and statues alike. Rosalind must’ve sent out an announcement to them via telepathy.

“What about the outlaws who are too injured to walk?” Junie asks. “O-Or the ones who…”

“Doubt she cares,” Tobias mumbles. “The Seekers will take care of them either way.”

Tobias can tell that exhaustion is hitting him as the adrenaline finally wears off. The fatigue and injuries from the day crash over him like a wave, and suddenly it’s like he hardly has the strength to keep himself upright. His eyes grow heavier with each blink.

Samir nudges Tobias, giving him a concerned look.

“‘M fine,” Tobias grunts, scrubbing a hand over his face. “Just tired.”

“You’re tellin’ me,” Azami says, her tone almost at its usual levity, if she didn’t also sound drained on every possible level. She looks over Team Scarlet with soft eyes now that Rosalind has gone. “We should get you all home to rest and have the medical ‘mon look you over. Arceus knows you’ve done more than enough today.”

“What about you?” Tobias asks with a frown.

“The upper-level Seekers will handle this,” Val answers, quiet. “More help is on the way. You focus on taking Nia to the guild.”

Tobias can’t tell if the medicham is that worried about Nia, or if she’s just trying to get them safely home and out of the way. Probably both.

Frankly, Tobias doesn’t have enough energy to argue. Tobias, Samir, and Junie aren’t leaving Nia’s side anyways, so they might as well go home and check in with Maggie before passing out.

Maggie.

A fresh knot of emotion tangles in Tobias’ chest as he thinks about his mom. He suddenly wants to see her so badly. He wants her here, to comfort him and hold him and keep him safe after such a terrifying, exhausting day.

But Tobias dreads the news he’ll have to deliver when he sees her. That August is gone, and that Maggie lost her best friend just as she’d feared.

Those emotions join the whirlpool of other anxieties circling his mind. He’s worried about Nia, and how Maggie will handle the news, and the fact that Yveltal could still wake up in a rage again, or that something could’ve happened to the guild during the worst of the break. Not to mention the sheer sorrow over all the deaths that happened today.

Tobias floats amid his thoughts like driftwood in a storm, only really keeping tabs on Nia in his arms, Samir at his side, and Junie on Nia’s shoulder. Making sure they stay close and safe.

Azami, Val and Soren start the cleanup and return effort, gathering healers to look for the most injured ‘mon on the battlefield with Bo’s help. After a few minutes, Clara and Seiji and some of the other humans cluster nearby, murmuring to one another. Fidel stays close too, holding Will too gently for a prisoner. Luckily, the yamask is either unconscious or may as well be, so Tobias doesn’t worry about him trying to escape.

Tobias barely notices when the first wave of reinforcements arrive, a neighboring guild’s second in command coming to the altar to talk with the others as his Seekers scatter amongst the battlefield to help. The orbeetle keeps glancing out at the two unconscious gods, as if he can’t believe his eyes.

Tobias nods off as they talk, right there in the bright morning sunlight.

He only jerks awake when someone—a clefable—gently shakes him and the others to teleport them home. Tobias manages to make it to his feet, but he nearly buckles under Nia’s deadweight, even with Samir helping to prop them both up.

It’s the humans who come to their aid. A flaaffy takes one of Nia’s arms over their shoulders and Seiji uses his psychic powers to lighten their load. Tobias thinks he mutters out a thank you, but he’s too exhausted to know for sure.

Everything is a blur as they’re teleported away in small groups by the clefable, first to a halfway point, and then by another set of psychics waiting there, until they’re suddenly back at the guild in a flash of light and a surge of dizziness.

Tobias hardly remembers their group making it up to the medical floor, past unfamiliar ‘mon and hurried voices. He’s only focused on putting one foot in front of the other as he heads to his old room.

He only comes back to himself when he sees Maggie.

The meganium is clearly worn ragged. Her antennae and flower petals are drooping, and there are heavy shadows under her golden eyes. Still, she sounds calm and collected as she directs ‘mon where to go and who to check on next. She turns, halfway through shouting another order before her eyes lock onto Tobias’ face.

Tobias smiles, shaky. “Hi, Mom. We’re back.”

For a moment, Maggie stares at them like ghosts, her gaze flicking from one face to the next over and over before settling on Nia’s limp form with a fearful expression.

Tobias tries to sound reassuring as he says, “Soren said she should be fine. It’s, uh, aura stuff.”

He really, really doesn’t want to think about Soren being wrong.

Some of the fear on Maggie’s face drains away, but a well of other emotions bubble up in its stead.

She sobs, then runs forward to meet them, uncaring that they’re in the middle of the hallway. Tobias doesn’t care either, tripping forward into her embrace and rubbing his face against the soft, cool petals around her neck. Tears spill from his eyes as he takes a shaking breath of her floral scent.

He was so scared, but he’s safe here. They all are.

Tobias doesn’t know how long they’re engulfed in Maggie’s trembling hug, her face rubbing over them and her vines cradling them close. Probably not long, considering Maggie is the one who reluctantly pushes them away to look at the unconscious riolu in her hold, brushing a vine first over Nia’s chest to feel her breathing before checking her pulse.

“Let’s get her lying down,” Maggie murmurs, her voice a wreck as she turns towards her quarters.

Tobias stumbles after her, the others a silent, steadying presence at his side as Junie flutters to rest on his shoulder.

Nia is placed gently in Maggie’s own nest, the meganium using her vines to fluff up the straw and make sure she’s comfortable.

Tobias doesn’t know why his stupid mouth says what it says next, without any preamble. Why he blurts, “Mom, August didn’t…he didn’t—"

He can’t finish the sentence as his throat closes up. Maggie freezes.

“I’m sorry,” Tobias rasps, swallowing against fresh tears.

Maggie turns back to him, a heart-wrenching grief in every line of her face as fresh tears roll down her cheeks. But she doesn’t seem surprised, like she knew this news was coming.

“I was right there,” Tobias continues, “but I couldn’t—I didn’t—"

Maggie steps forward, using her vines to sweep Tobias, Samir, and Junie into another tight hug. Tobias can feel the meganium’s chest hitching with quiet, withheld sobs.

It takes her a long, long moment before she manages to choke out, “I’m so glad you’re safe.”

Tobias has no words to respond to that. He simply lets himself cry as he takes another shuddering breath of Maggie’s scent, and imagines for a moment that everything will be okay.

———————————————————————

The world’s aura pulses with fresh life. It’s weak, but growing stronger by the day now that its grievous injury has been healed. Now that it can finally recover on its own.

This aura isn’t sentient, not like the lives it cradles and supports. It is a living network, but one without conscious thought.

And yet, this aura recognizes something amongst the energy it has been given. Something unusual scattered throughout its veins. Ashes adrift on its waterways, not pure energy but pieces of a living, breathing soul that do not belong here in this unthinking current.

It is the soul of she who healed the world. She poured her very being into this web of aura—too much of herself, even. And now she has split, and has become a part of its network, unthinking and unaware.

The world’s aura does not understand obligation, or repayment. It does not think.

But it does feel.

It feels the way those glimmers of a soul gravitate towards one another in passing. It feels the way the soul drifts towards its vessel, trying in vain to return.

And so the world calls out to those who will listen.

———————————————————————

“I’m back,” Tobias says, stretching out his arms as he enters their room.

On Team Scarlet’s bed, Nia is still fast asleep, and Tobias’ heart twists with disappointment even if he should really be used to the sight by now.

Samir is loafed comfortably atop the blankets at Nia’s side, reading the book they’ve been steadily making their way through. The skiddo greets Tobias with a flick of the ear as he approaches, probably finding a good place to stop.

Tobias leans against the bed while they do, his head tilted sideways to read easier as he skims through the words himself. Looks like Samir is reading ahead; they’re at least a good 50 pages further than Tobias and Nia currently are.

Samir reaches the end of the page and looks at Tobias, tilting their head with a whistle of, Okay?

“Yeah, I’m fine. Beat up a training dummy for a while, talked to Maggie, got some food. I’ll take over here.”

Samir, as always, seems reluctant to leave. As if taking turns watching over Nia so they don’t get stir-crazy is a personal failing.

“Go! Get some air,” Tobias says, shooing them from the bed. “It’s not like you’ll be missing much here.”

Samir rolls their eyes, but dutifully rises from the bed and stretches. They hop to the floor with a quiet clunk of hooves against wood.

Training? Samir whistles.

“Sure,” Tobias says with a shrug. “Whatever you’re feeling. Heck, go to the flight floor and see if you can spot Junie learning how to do a barrel roll from the local flying types. I’m sure you’ll be able to hear her.”

Samir huffs a laugh, but finally heads to the door, whistling over their shoulder, Food?

“Nah, I’m good right now. We can get some when you come back.”

Samir whistle-clicks an affirmative before trotting out of the room and nudging the door shut behind them.

Tobias sighs once they’re gone, crawling up the bed to take Samir’s spot next to a tucked-in Nia. He grabs the book Samir left behind, flipping backwards in the story to where Tobias had left Nia’s silly furret bookmark the day before, about 3/4 of the way through the book. They’ve made a lot of progress, considering Tobias usually only gets through a chapter or two before succumbing to sleep himself.

He wishes they hadn’t made so much progress, but it’s been two weeks since they stopped Will and Yveltal at the gate, and Nia hasn’t woken up yet.

Tobias had practically dragged Soren to Nia’s bedside once everything settled down, desperate to know if she was all right, but even on a second look the lucario had simply sighed and restated what he’d said before: that Nia’s aura was sleeping, in a sense, and that she hopefully just needed more rest after so much strain was put on her body.

Tobias repeats Soren’s words to himself for the thousandth time, but his patience has long since worn thin and become a quiet, aching sort of fear. Because what if Nia never wakes up? What if she just sleeps in this coma-like state forever?

There’s a quiet knock at the door, interrupting his spiraling.

“Tobias?”

Visitors. Not an uncommon thing over the past two weeks, but not always something Tobias is in the mood to deal with. Even if he does get along with most of them now, and he really shouldn’t be left alone with his thoughts for too long.

“Yeah! Come in.”

The door eases open, revealing a luxray and gardevoir in the hallway and catching Tobias off-guard. It’s been a few days since they evolved, so he should really be used to the change by now.

“Hey,” Xander says, padding closer.

The luxray’s voice is an octave lower in his new form, but it’s his height that really annoys Tobias. He’s easily twice as big as a luxio now, and he practically towers over Team Scarlet.

Xander settles against the edge of the bed and rests his head on the blankets, glowing golden eyes watching Nia’s face. Avery drifts closer behind him, just as graceful as their father as they sit on the foot of the bed.

“Felix wanted to come, too,” Avery says quietly. “But his shell’s giving him some aches today.”

Tobias looks up sharply.

“He’s fine,” the gardevoir soothes, lifting a hand. “Fen thinks the evolution helped his injury, actually, but it’s just taking a while to heal fully.”

Tobias breathes again. He and Felix aren’t all that close, but sometimes in Tobias’ nightmares he still hears the crack of the water type’s shell between Sulien’s jaws. He usually isn’t fast enough to stop what comes next.

“Kry’s keeping him company. Or tormenting him, who knows.” Xander’s voice softens as he asks, “No changes here?”

“No,” Tobias sighs, looking down at his partner’s peaceful face. “No worse, but no better, either. I know they’re busy getting Yveltal sealed away and repairing the village, but I keep hoping Soren will come back down from Silenfroar to check on her aura. I want him to see if there are any changes since he last looked her over.”

“Mm. Didn’t Azami send a team up to the mountains the other day to help with construction? That should speed thing up, at least.”

Tobias nods. “Yeah. Azami and Verene got it all worked out with some of the upper-level Seekers who were already on the mend last week.”

That still feels weird to say. The thought of August no longer leading the Lexym Guild drives a familiar stab of pain through Tobias’ chest.

But it fills Tobias with a strange sense of pride, too, seeing the tsareena who helped teach him how to fight step up as a—in her words—“Temporary guildmaster until a better replacement can be found.” Verene only recently got back on her feet enough to help with her usual duties, but from what Tobias has seen, they seem to make a good team. Verene almost seems more comfortable with the idea of Azami leading the guild and the lurantis remaining as the second in command, rather than the other way around.

Maybe it’s Rosalind’s words swaying him, but Tobias could see the two of them staying in their roles permanently. He’d never realized before how similar Azami was to the guildmaster before her. Playful, warm and welcoming, patient and helpful. She’d simply never been shoved into a role that required her to step up until Verene was out of commission and August needed an emergency second in command.

“I’m glad the guild is finally well enough to help everyone else get back on their feet,” Avery says.

Tobias nods. “Is everything still on the upswing outside?”

“It is!” Avery says, perking up. “Father and I have been keeping a close eye on the reports coming in. The mystery dungeons are taking longer to fade, but natural disasters in particular are petering off at an incredible rate.”

“They think some of that is thanks to the legendaries finally waking up,” Xander adds. He reaches out with a giant black paw to brush a piece of fuzz off Nia’s cheek, barely touching her fur in the process. “Their presence helps stabilize everything, apparently.”

“I know mesprit and victini were spotted the other day,” Tobias says. “Anyone new?”

“Yes!” Avery leans forward in their excitement. “Celebi was spotted in a forest yesterday. And rumor has it that—”

Tobias doesn’t mean to start tuning the gardevoir out, but sometimes when they get excited like this they remind him painfully of Nia, despite the now drastic size difference. Just something about the earnest excitement and the sparkling red eyes makes Tobias’ throat tighten.

He misses his partner.

Maybe Xander understands that, or maybe he just wants to get back to Felix as soon as he can, because he eventually interrupts Avery’s rambling with a loving bunt of his head into their side. Avery cuts themself off with a quiet apology and a soft smile, and it isn’t long until the two of them prepare to head out.

Before they go, Xander rubs his cheek against Nia’s, purring loud enough for Tobias to feel it through the pillows. Avery follows up with a gentle squeeze of Nia’s paw, their thumb skimming once over her blue fur.

It feels too quiet when they leave.

“You have a lot of ‘mon missing you, y’know,” Tobias murmurs, scooting closer. “So you’d better hurry back.”

Tobias opens the book again, finding their spot before he starts to read aloud.

—————————————————————

She isn’t sure where she is. Or what she is, for that matter.

She can’t really think in her current state, and as such can’t really have a coherent thought at all. But she can still feel sensation, even if that feeling is spread thin across an entire world’s worth of reach.

She feels…restless. Unmoored. Like something is pulling at every loose atom of her being.

Until, eventually, she starts to feel pieces of herself…gather. They coalesce and click together, guided by gentle, shepherding hands. Slowly, over what could be minutes or years, awareness returns to her.

She’s…not meant to be here. Not floating within this great tapestry. It cradles her and welcomes her, but something keeps her from melting into its power entirely.

She belongs somewhere else.

—————————————————————

Tobias, Samir, and Junie are sprawled out on their room’s plush rug and playing a game of what Junie calls “checkers” when they’re interrupted by an extra loud visitor. Or two.

Their room’s door flies open without any warning, startling Samir and making them smack their piece off the board entirely. Junie snickers at the skiddo’s huff of annoyance.

“Introduciiing!” Andyn announces as she marches in. The deerling moves to flank one side of the door.

“The amaziiing!” Ezra stumbles through the door next, still getting used to balancing with only one arm. He steps to the other side of the doorway, lifting his arm in a flourish. “The new and improved…”

Simultaneously, the two of them yell, “Jaz!”

There’s a long moment of silence as the stufful is nowhere to be seen.

Tobias rolls his eyes and goes back to the game, doing a double-take and sputtering when he realizes that something on the board was definitely moved while he was distracted by the dummy duo over there. And not in his favor.

Both Samir and Junie refuse to meet his eye, suddenly looking oh so innocent.

“You’re cheating!” Tobias hisses. “Both of you!”

“Whatever do you mean, Toby?” Junie asks, batting her eyelashes obnoxiously. Samir, infuriatingly enough, copies her. “I’m not even playing this round!”

Nia has to wake up soon so Junie leaves. These two must be separated before the rookidee corrupts Samir completely.

The hushed arguing at the doorway stops as Andyn loudly clears her throat, getting their attention again.

“Okay, now presenting…the new and improved Jaz!” the deerling cries with a sweep of her foreleg.

Another lingering silence, before there’s finally a scuff of movement in the hall, and then—

A giant bewear shuffles into view, almost too large to fit through the doorway. She looks incredibly embarrassed. Ezra and Andyn beam and present their partner like proud parents.

Tobias blinks. Okay, that is actually pretty cool.

“You evolved?!” Junie gasps, abandoning their game as the bewear ducks to enter the room.

“Yeah,” Jaz says, clearly feeling shy. She gives her two much smaller teammates a playful glare. “And I really wish these two would stop being so dramatic about it.”

Andyn looks personally offended. “You’re the first one on our team to evolve—and maybe the first stufful to evolve in like ten years! You really think we aren’t gonna hype that up? Uh-uh. No way.”

“Anne’s got a point on this one,” Ezra says with a shrug of his good shoulder. “C’mon, Jaz, you know this is super cool, right?”

The bewear sighs, and then sits on the floor. She still looms over everyone else in the room. “…Yeah. I know it’s cool. I just feel a little awkward being so much bigger than everyone now.”

“Hey, give me a bit of time and I’ll be right behind you,” Andyn says, butting her head into Jaz’s fluffy side. “And once Ez is strong enough to go to Silenfroar and get his new fighting techniques figured out with the Matriarch, we’ll get him evolved too!”

Jaz hums, but Tobias sees the way her shoulders relax.

“You’re so tall!” Junie says excitedly, hopping around atop Jaz’s head. “And your fur is so soft!”

“Congrats,” Tobias adds, trying to make sure at least one of them responds like a normal ‘mon. Samir nods at his side.

As Jaz murmurs a shy thank you, Ezra looks curiously at Tobias and Samir. “Speaking of, aren’t you two ready to evolve? You’ve gotta be strong enough by now.”

Tobias shrugs. He looks back at their game of wobbly, hand-drawn boxes and different colored rocks and tries to remember what the board looked like before Junie’s interference. He knows she moved something.

“Samir’s just about there, we think. And I could evolve any time, but I’m waiting for Nia to wake up.”

A heavy quiet falls over the room as Tobias reaches up to fiddle with the everstone necklace under his scarf.

He sees Andyn wilt out of the corner of his eye. “Oh. I was kind of hoping she’d wake up at such an exciting announcement. Like, maybe she’d sense that Jaz’s aura changed.”

“Is she still doing the same?” Ezra asks.

“As far as we can tell,” Tobias says, giving up on figuring it out and just taking his next turn. “She’s not any worse physically, at least.”

“That’s good!”

Team Evergreen stays for a while after that, the conversation quickly picking back up again.

But Tobias doesn’t stop fiddling with the dimpled gray stone resting over his heart. As soon as word spread about the first evolution, only a week after the break was closed, Tobias told Samir about his decision to not evolve until Nia woke up. He just didn’t want to do it without Nia here to see it. What if she woke up and didn’t even recognize him?

No, Tobias will wait for her to come back. No matter how long that takes.

———————————————————————

As soon as she has the awareness to recognize that she isn’t where she wants to be, she can’t help wanting to leave.

The flowing network of the world is peaceful, an embrace that tugs her along with all the gentleness of a parent with their child. She drifts instinctively along its current, skimming the boundaries of the world and the structures within it. Dancing along the veins of a leaf and riding the waves of the sea, brushing by the aura of the creatures it holds.

Some part of her loves it. Loves its freedom and its beauty.

The rest of her only continues to pull away. Continues trying to gather herself and her thoughts, though they spiral from her grip each and every time until she sinks once more into pure sensation.

———————————————————————

A heavy thunk from the mail slot in the wall gets everyone’s attention.

Samir, curled up in the weak winter sunlight under the window, looks up from their whistle-speech book. Junie tilts her head from her place on the windowsill above them. Tobias, who had been picking at his guitar next to Nia, sets his instrument aside to slide off the bed and cross the room so he can check it out.

“What is it?” Junie asks.

“Probably more fan mail,” Tobias jokes, pulling a bundle of letters from their mailbox.

Junie leaves the windowsill to perch on Tobias’ shoulder. “Who from?”

“Looks like the usual.” One letter from Hazel and Beck, one from Granite and Takeo... “Oh, here, this one’s from Bo.”

“Yes!” Junie grabs the offered letter and drags it over to Samir on the floor. The skiddo watches with amusement as she rips into the paper viciously with her little beak and talons.

Three weeks after sealing the dimensional break, the influx of visitors who come to the guild to visit Nia has finally slowed. Everyone is eventually drawn back to their own busy lives as the world settles into something peaceful.

But in their stead, there have been letters. Mostly casual conversation and check-ins, along with rumors and updates from around the world.

Once Tobias settles on the floor with his back against the bed, positioned between Nia’s sleeping form and Junie and Samir across the room, he reads through the first letter in his hands.

“Hazel and Beck’s grandsons evolved into their pikachu forms,” Tobias relays, snorting when he reads the next line. “Apparently Hazel’s pretty worried about how much more trouble they can cause now.”

“Ah, boys after my own heart,” Junie sighs.

Beck is also feeling very similarly about a recently-evolved Delia, who is enjoying her newfound feraligatr stature more than he’d like. Tobias grins at the mental image of the brash ship captain having to learn to control her newfound strength.

“It looks like the currents around Afon and the Lilycap River are finally back to normal, too,” Tobias adds. He looks at Junie. “How’s Bo?”

“Good,” Junie says, smiling as she reads through her own letter a second time. “The wind’s finally calmed down enough that he thinks I can join him on his mail route! After, um. After Nia wakes up.”

There’s a pause as everyone glances up at Nia, still sleeping peacefully in bed. A familiar, heavy emotion—not quite grief, or fear, or longing, but something with a bit of each—fills Tobias’ chest.

“Cool.” Tobias clears his throat and flips to the next letter, quickly skimming it for more news. “Takeo says the quakes have finally stopped for good in Fort Asra, and the roads are picking up again since Pokemon feel safe enough to travel, even with the mystery dungeons lingering.”

No one comments, even if Tobias knows they’re listening, so he just continues to read through and pick out interesting tidbits from each.

“Rora’s finally back on her paws. Her mom told her the two of them could come down to the guild to visit in a few weeks, as long as her burns cooperate.” Tobias’ smile fades as he reads the next words. “They want to join us for the winter festival.”

Another silence falls, despite the good news. Tobias hates it. He hates that every happy update, every bit of future planning, has this weight to it, like they’re all carefully stepping around the fact that Nia might not be awake for the winter festival. She might not ever—

No. She will.

Tobias swallows hard and keeps reading through letters, his throat closing up a bit more with each one. Over and over again, they end with well-wishes for Tobias and the rest of the team and especially for Nia, hoping she wakes up soon.

There’s a letter from Fliss, whose wing has finally healed up enough for her to resume her flight ‘mon duties. Another from Fidel and Asher, who are currently traveling together after escorting Will to Ghatha’s prison. A letter from Clara and Seiji and the humans who have returned to Will’s settlement to try a second go without the yamask’s influence.

So many Pokemon out there, wishing Nia a fast recovery. That has to mean something, right?

Tobias takes a deep breath and stands, gathering the letters as he goes over to their desk. He lines them up in a stack against the wall to respond to later. Afterwards, he’ll tuck them away in the drawer next to the others, for Nia to read when she wakes up.

She will wake up. She has to.

Maggie and Fen make frequent visits to their quarters, checking on Nia’s health and making sure to shift her so she doesn’t get bedsores, and according to them she’s in perfect physical health. The riolu is entirely healed up from their fight with Sulien and her time in Will’s prison.

But that isn’t the issue. The issue is her aura.

Soren finally visited Nia again the other day, alongside Azami and Val. Tobias can’t logically blame the lucario for being so absent, considering the destruction left up in Silenfroar, but he also can’t help feeling a bit desperate every time Soren does visit, asking a bit too urgently for him to check on Nia’s aura again.

Every time, the result is the same. A look of frustrated confusion on Soren’s face, and a reluctant explanation that her aura is stable, but still…dormant. Like what makes Nia who she is is still…sleeping, for lack of a better word.

And they have no idea how to wake her up.

Soren tries communicating with Nia’s aura, tries prodding her into awareness, but each time, the lucario only looks more lost. It’s clear that he’s never seen something like this, and neither he nor his pack know how to fix it.

So they wait, and they hope. That’s about all they can do.

———————————————————————

“There you are!” a voice says, drawing her from the gentle current of the world’s aura. She finally feels anchored enough to half-understand the words being spoken to her.

“This should do it,” another voice says, pleased. “We may not be able to send her home, but we can at least give her a second chance in our own realm. Mew, would you do the honors?”

“Happily,” the first voice says, its chipper tone softening.

She feels something inside of her pulling, pushing, connecting, and then—

She is herself again. Nia.

Well, most of herself, at least.

Enough of herself to “see” the world again. Enough to start a coherent thought, even if she still isn’t back inside her body.

In front of her, a delicate pink cat Pokemon floats, her tail flicking excitedly. “There you are. You’ve been pretty hard to track down, you know. We had to get help from Arceus themself to find those last few fragments of your soul.”

Nia can’t answer. She can barely keep up with the conversation being lobbed at her after who knows how long drifting on pure sensation.

“You’re crowding her,” a familiar voice rumbles.

Giratina?

Sure enough, the ghost type is floating nearby, his serpentine form relaxed for once. He’s flanked by two smaller Pokemon, who look like sleek matching birds, one white and red and the other white and blue.

“He’s right,” the red bird says as she drifts closer. She has a kind face. “Give her a moment to get her bearings before we send her back.”

Mew gives Nia some space, but then circles her soul as if to view her from all angles.

“You know,” Mew says thoughtfully, “I remember making this soul’s body. I remember how excited I was that it was something different. I hoped so desperately that any change might help our world survive.”

“Yes,” Giratina says dryly, “and I remember you recklessly using the last of your energy to give lost souls physical form.”

“And apparently I was right to do so!” Mew laughs. She looks fondly at Nia. “It seemed strange to me, though, once you told me about her. Strange that such a gentle soul would manifest as a riolu.”

“It should’ve been the form that fit her best, right?” the red bird asks.

“Yes. But at the time, all I’d been told was how gentle she was. How caring.” Mew floats closer, her blue eyes sparkling with mirth. “It makes more sense when I remember how fierce love can be.”

Nia feels herself sink, something pulling her downwards. Her awareness and her thoughts drift again, even as something inside of her finally shivers and settles. And then—

Nia comes back to herself slowly, brushing by the surface of wakefulness before retreating. She does so a second time, and then a third, until she finally breaches the surface.

There’s warm light against her closed eyes. Nia scrunches up her face, squinting. Where is she? It’s so bright.

Bright, but quiet and warm and soft, too. Peaceful.

Slowly, her eyes focus enough to see that she’s…in their room at the guild. There’s a cool winter breeze in the air, but the sunlight pouring in from the window and the soft blankets tucked around Nia keep her cozy and warm. She’s in their bed.

Her eyes wander, finding a familiar blur of orange at her side. Something in her heart melts when she sees Tobias there, curled atop the covers and fast asleep. He’s holding her hand.

She gives his palm a gentle squeeze, surprised for a moment by how weak her fingers feel. Stiff, almost. Like she hasn’t properly used them in a while.

How long has she been out? Last she remembered, they were at the dimensional gate, and she used her aura to…

It comes rushing back to her in a flood of memory. Not only the battle and using the world’s aura to fix the break, but faint glimpses of something else, too, that feel too real to be a dream. A sense of drifting, and then—Mew. Mew, and Giratina, and those two other Pokemon.

Where had she been?

Tentatively, Nia reaches for her aura, wincing when the action causes a twinge of pain. She supposes taking in so much energy to filter through her own body like that would leave a nasty scrape behind.

Otherwise, Nia’s aura seems fine. The familiar turquoise hue responds immediately to her call, stable and strong. Her aura is quickly drawn to Tobias’ own, brushing against it like a caress. His energy reaches out to hers, even in rest.

“Nia…” Tobias mumbles, his brow pinching.

Nia smiles. She gives his hand another squeeze, twining around his aura with her own like a happy cat weaving through its owner’s legs.

She doesn’t mean to wake him, but Tobias’ eyes flutter open a moment later, focusing blearily on her face with something like confusion.

“Hey, sleepyhead,” Nia whispers, her voice rough with disuse. “So we saved the world, huh?”

Tobias’ eyes fly open as he pushes himself up, staring at Nia in disbelief.

Nia stares back, not expecting that reaction. Nor for the way his face slowly falls, his lip trembling as his eyes water.

“Tobias?” Nia tries to push herself up on trembling arms. “What’s wrong?”

“You’re awake,” he whispers.

Nia finally manages to sit up, even if it leaves her winded. “Yeah, I-I’m awake. How long was I out?”

Tobias’ expression crumbles entirely, and he dives into her arms, nearly knocking both of them over again. Nia makes a startled sound, but hugs him back immediately, concerned by how hard he’s shaking.

“H-Hey, it’s okay,” she tries, rubbing a hand up and down his back. “It’s okay. What’s wrong?”

“We weren’t sure you’d wake up,” Tobias says, his voice strangled. “You were asleep for weeks, a-and I…I missed you so much.”

Something tender strikes Nia right in the heart, and she feels her own eyes water in return. Weeks? Oh, no wonder he’s so upset. She’d be a wreck too if their roles were reversed.

“I’m sorry,” she murmurs. “But I’m back now, okay?”

Tobias’ chest jumps against her own with quiet sobs, but he doesn’t answer. Gently, painstakingly, Nia pries him far enough away so that he can see her face.

“I’m right here,” Nia says with a smile, “and I’m not going anywhere, okay?”

Tobias gives a wet laugh and nods. Then he opens his eyes again, even as tears roll down his cheeks. His gaze flicks over her features again and again, like he doesn’t want to stop looking at her for a second.

Nia is familiar with the surge of affection in her chest. She’s familiar with the love she holds for the sweet boy in front of her, but she’s not familiar with what happens next.

She notices the light first, reflecting off Tobias’ face and gleaming in his eyes. He takes a sharp breath, leaning back, and Nia jerks away too, alarmed as she looks down at herself. Her body is shining a bright white, almost too blinding to see.

“T-Tobias?!”

“You’re okay!” Tobias soothes, holding onto her tighter. “Y-You’re all right, I’ve got you.”

Nia latches onto that reassurance as her body does something strange. A warmth pours through her arms and legs like a fever, racing under her skin, and then she seems to…grow. As if taking a deep breath and never stopping. As if stretching her limbs and never reaching her limit. It feels like unfolding after being stuck somewhere cramped for hours on end. Not painful, but unlike anything she’s ever experienced.

And then, it stops.

The light fades, and Nia can see again. She’s surprised that she suddenly has to look down to see Tobias’ face in front of her, the charmander staring up at her with something like awe.

“You evolved,” Tobias breathes.

“W-What?!”

Nia blinks, shock rolling over her as she looks down at her body. The black fur of her chest has lightened to a cream color, and a dull spike now sits along her sternum. Her paws are now black, almost patterned like gloves, with a matching spike on the back of each wrist. But more noticeably, it feels like everything around her has suddenly shrunk. Tobias is the size of a stuffed animal, and Nia’s limbs almost feel too big for her body, like she just had the world’s weirdest growth spurt, all at once.

“We can evolve now?!” Nia asks. “That means I’m…a lucario?”

“You are,” Tobias says, still looking up at her like she’s something amazing.

It makes Nia blush. She has to hide her face in her hands. “Don’t look at me like that!”

She can hear the laugh in Tobias’ voice when he asks, “Like what?”

“I dunno, like…" Nia pulls her hands away from her burning face and forces herself to look at him. “Like I put the stars in the sky or something.”

Tobias’ gaze softens. “I mean, you did save the world.”

“Not alone. I had a pretty good team on my side.”

Tobias takes Nia’s hand again, and she’s immediately distracted from the sweet gesture by the strange size difference. Oh wow, his fingers are so small now!

Tobias glares at her delighted expression. “Don’t—”

“Oh my God, you’re tiny!”

Tobias barks a laugh, leaning back. “Fine, I was gonna let you have your moment, but not after that.”

Tobias uses his free hand to reach under his scarf, unhooking something and letting it fall. A necklace? He gently tosses it aside.

Immediately, a familiar blinding light fills the room.

Nia squints, trying in vain to watch as Tobias shines like the sun. She feels his hand grow, his fingers and claws lengthening as his silhouette shifts, until—

It fades, and there he is. He’s bigger and taller, his skin is a deeper red, and there’s a spine atop the back of his head. Two fangs peek out from his upper lip.

But he has the same bright blue eyes.

“Whoa. Okay, weird,” Tobias murmurs, looking down at his hands in wonder. His voice is a notch deeper, too.

Nia pushes down another wave of emotion, grinning at Tobias through teary eyes. “You’re still shorter than me.”

Tobias gives her a playful look. “Oh, you’re gonna regret starting this game.”

And then, he glows again, and Nia’s eyes widen.

Right, charmander have two evolutions, don’t they? And Tobias has apparently trained enough for both.

The change is more drastic this time. Tobias nearly doubles in size, wings unfolding from his back as the silhouette of his head and neck lengthens and streamlines. Nia keeps holding his hand, breathless as she watches the process unfold.

When the light finally fades, Tobias towers above her. His body is definitely bigger, but it’s the large wings draped over the sides of the bed and his slender neck and head that stand out to Nia the most. His new form is a graceful shape that’s clearly built for the sky.

Familiar blue eyes blink down at her, and then look curiously at his arms and body. His heavy tail swings around behind him, the flame at its end larger than ever, and the weight of the movement makes the wood beneath them creak.

They’re gonna need a much bigger bed, since Nia’s partner is apparently an honest to God dragon now.

Nia bursts into laughter.

Tobias looks down at her with offense, a flush reddening his cheeks. The familiar expression is painfully endearing.

“W-What?!” Oh, his voice is definitely deeper now. Fascinating.

“Nothing! Nothing, you look wonderful, I promise. I just—maybe we should get off the bed before we break poor Hazel’s handiwork.”

Tobias’ embarrassment fades as he snorts. He shuffles to the floor and nearly overbalances due to the different weight distribution and foreign proportions. His wings flail, and one nearly decks Nia in the face.

“Careful!” Nia laughs, dodging. “Maybe evolving twice in a row to prove a point wasn’t the best idea.”

“Oh, shut it,” Tobias mumbles. “If you weren’t on bed rest, I’d like to see you try walking around in a brand-new body.”

Nia takes him up on the unintended challenge, despite his protests. She waves him away as she swings her long legs over the side of the bed, surprised when her feet easily touch the floor.

Then, she pushes herself up, and immediately topples back into the bed with a yelp.

Tobias grins, watching her with dancing eyes. “Graceful as ever.”

“Oh, hush,” she laughs. “At least you decided to evolve. I didn’t even mean to do this!”

Tobias averts his eyes, clearing his throat. “What, uh, what were you thinking about? When you evolved.”

Nia blinks at him, and then blushes again when she remembers how riolu evolve in the first place: an affection bond.

“You,” Nia says, quiet and honest. “I was thinking about you.”

Tobias looks surprised by her bluntness, his face flooding red.

Nia gives him a soft smile as she sits up. “I love you a lot, Tobias. You know that, right?”

Tobias looks away, but he smiles shyly as he settles on the floor. His long neck dips so he can nudge Nia’s forehead with his own. “…Yeah. I love you too.”

Nia beams, before her eyes catch on the lower part of Tobias’ neck. Long divots cut through the skin there, stretched and faded but unmistakably scars.

Oh.

“Your scarf,” Nia says, looking over to find the familiar slip of red in the blankets. His scarf must’ve fallen off when he evolved, too small to fit his larger form.

Tobias’ hand goes to his neck, clearly panicked, before he visibly swallows and takes a breath. Slowly, he lets his hand fall again, revealing the marks once more.

“It’s…it’s all right. You can look.”

Nia’s breath catches. She slowly looks back at the scars. There are only a few and they’re shallow, but they curve around the sides of his neck in long, thin slices. They’ve stretched with his evolution, following his skin as it grew.

Nia reaches up to touch, then hesitates. “Are these from..?”

“Sulien,” Tobias confirms. “I didn’t like the other kids staring at them when I was younger.”

Nia carefully traces the scars with her fingertips, keeping an eye on Tobias for any discomfort. While he seems a bit nervous, nothing seems to hurt or tickle.

“Can you feel this?”

“No. They’re usually numb unless the weather’s bad, like up in Silenfroar,” Tobias murmurs. Nia can feel the vibration of his voice. “Not sure if that’ll be better or worse after evolution.”

Nia doesn’t respond, eyeing the scars and mentally adding his usual scarf to the look. “I don’t know if a regular scarf will cover them anymore.”

Tobias’ breath stops for a moment, then starts again. “That’s okay. That’s…I can handle that.”

Nia looks at him for a moment. Then she straightens up and lifts her face like a flower finding the sun. She’s pleased when Tobias understands what she’s asking for and lowers his head to press their foreheads together.

“Why did you wait to evolve anyways?” Nia asks.

“I didn’t want you to wake up and not recognize me,” Tobias mumbles.

Nia smiles, intertwining their hands as her aura does the same to his own. “You are incredibly sweet.”

Tobias grumbles a wordless answer in response, clearly flustered, and Nia laughs.

Then, she realizes the room is awful quiet.

Nia pulls back, looking around. “Where are Junie and Samir?”

“We’ve been taking shifts,” Tobias explains. “They’re both somewhere around the guild. I can go find them if you want.”

Nia shakes her head, closing her eyes. She probably shouldn’t push herself right now, when her aura still feels a bit…sore, for lack of a better word.

But…

Nia reaches out, finding those same aura pathways that she’s so intimately familiar with now, and letting her soul seek out those she loves.

She brushes against their souls, one by one, giving them an affectionate tap, a playful beckoning nudge, a whisper to come find her. She doesn’t linger for the rush of surprise hope joy that follows, instead landing back inside her body with a grounding breath.

“Pushing yourself already?” Tobias asks dryly.

Nia shrugs. “I want to see everyone.”

And see everyone she does.

Junie and Samir are the first to come barging in, both of them stopping in their tracks with slack jaws when they see that not only is Nia awake, but that both she and Tobias have evolved in their absence, suddenly three times their previous sizes.

“You’re a freakin’ dragon?!” Junie screeches. But then she seems to register that Nia is actually awake, and her eyes glitter with tears. “O-Okay, take a raincheck on that.”

Junie rockets into Nia’s arms. Nia laughs as she catches the bird, who is now so tiny in her hands. She cups the trembling ball of feathers against her heart.

Samir trots forward a bit slower, but Nia can see the way their eyes shine with tears, too. She opens her arm in invitation, and the skiddo barely hesitates before leaping onto the bed and joining the hug. Nia only has to give Tobias a look before he rolls his eyes and leans over to join too, a giant wing blanketing them all in warmth.

Shortly after, Team Shellshock arrives. Then Team Evergreen. Then Maggie and Fen, and even Val and Azami.

As more and more Pokemon barge into the room with cries of Nia’s name and increasingly humorous surprise over their evolved forms, Nia finds herself smiling so hard it hurts. The room is packed with voices, their collective aura bright with joy and affection.

Nia knows this feeling won’t be permanent. She knows there will be hard days ahead, days where she’ll feel the full loss of her human family again. Days where she’ll mourn her human life and everything she left behind.