Epilogue
"And that's the whole story ma'am", I tell the nurse at the Slateport Pokémon center as I watch her fiddle with the trainers card I handed her earlier. I hold the ball of the Nidoqueen close to my chest not having handed it to her yet just instinctively feeling the need to. I opted to do this task alone while Carissa and the other Pokémon relieve some stress of today’s scare at local market. I wish I could say that was the only reason I sent them away by themselves but really... there was another. Nidoqueen, the one who tried to kill me became who she was in the end because of my mistake and while I feel I have made progress in forgiving myself since returning home... there is just one last thing I need to do before I leave. I can't take back the pain I caused Nidoqueen any longer but perhaps I can try to atone for my sins by helping this Nidoqueen get back to where she belonged. I’m hoping that once I do this here and now I’ll regain all the confidence I had lost in the Park. The nurse holds out her hand and I hand her the ball, she examines it quickly and places it on a med tray and leaves the machine to scan away. An officer of the region stands behind me taking notes; he flips a page loudly and eyes me a few times probably taking my description down since I asked to be left anonymous on the report. I believed there was no such thing as a male policeman, I mean all the officers I’ve ever seen have been Jennys but whoever this guy was… He looked more like a Butch. Confident and huge he didn’t even have a Pokéball on his belt.

"Most trainers would have kept such a strong Pokémon for themselves; it’s getting rarer these days to find ones with such strong moral fibre." The nurse tells me reassuringly as she hands the card to the officer who slips it apathetically under a paperclip holding the photo which was once attached. Feeling anxious now and wishing for this whole process to be done now that Nidoqueen was safe I fidget in place. The officer looks to me rolling his eyes without saying a word and instead looks to the nurse nodding his head. It was at this point I realized I was finally free to go leading me to promptly scoop up my pack. "Don't worry..." The nurse tells me in a silky soft tone, "We'll do everything in our power to return Nidoqueen to her trainer."

“Thank you nurse, if you do find Nidoqueen’s trainer please send me word of it to my gadget.” I tell her offering her a bow before slipping out the door. Walking out towards the market and inhaling the sea air deeply I find myself feeling a whole lot better then I had in weeks, as I reach the fork between the market and pier I’m left wondering whether I should find Brendan or reunite with my Pokémon. Knowing that Brendan is probably standing in a long last minute lineup it only takes me a second decide. I walk down towards the market with a bounce in my step whistling a tune only to be cut off by a faint sound of glass breaking followed by loud shouting. “What is it this time….” I grumble dragging my palm over my face knowing somehow he’d end up involved.
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Around now you are probably wondering why you aren't hearing the next part of the story from my mate’s perspective. If you don't like it, well tough! Satoshi isn't the only one who can break through the forth wall. I walk with my teammates through the Slateport market, Pichu and Eevee bounce happily to either side of me. "Where is Vaporeon?" Eevee asks while pawing at my side, "He was here just a second ago." I stop in place and look around the various tent shops, I spot Vaporeon and Growlithe browsing various Pokémon accessories and blush brightly trying not to read into something probably not there as I notice them handle a collar or two. 

"Vaporeon is over there Eevee with Growlithe..." I tell him while I trail off slightly crushing naughty images in my head. I know the second I point out where Vaporeon is Eevee'll instantly run over to him and I pray my instincts are right about what he was doing. Watching Eevee bounce happily over to Vaporeon I hold my breath and squint my eyes only relaxing when I see Vaporeon lean down and give his brother a lick between the ears then nudging his head towards me gesturing myself and Pichu over. Relaxed now and feeling somewhat guilty for letting my imagination run wild I wonder why he wants us to come over. I join the three over by the tent with Pichu in tow just as Vaporeon lifts a paw towards the attendant who hands him a smooth black collar with a gold plate on the front which he promptly presses to his neck having found ‘the one’.

"Carissa mind giving me a paw?" Vaporeon asks gesturing to the dangling side of the collar with his paw, "I'd do it myself if my arms weren't so stubby. Just be careful not to damage it... without Satoshi here to pay that would probably be bad." I nod my head feeling somewhat confused as I walk around him, I prop myself up with one paw on his back while using my other paw and maw to pull the strap through the buckle until it locks together in place. Walking around him now and sitting next to Growlithe we both examine the band around his neck with him asking, "How does it look?"

"Degrading." Blastoise butts in as he wanders up to us from behind. I hate to admit it but I was startled by his booming voice having spun around with my scruff fur standing on end. "Satoshi goes out of his way to make sure we don't feel like common house pets and now you want to wear a collar? I’m not going to bother asking why but I need to point out my doubts about allowing you do that to yourself especially considering its been weeks since we’ve been inside our balls. The boy scrutinizes every decision he makes concerning us, his methods have clearly changed."

"It’s not for him... it’s for us." Growlithe says plainly while giving Vaporeon a smile, "Vaporeon noticed that Master... I mean Satoshi's father wore a golden band around his finger. When I explained to him what it was and what it signified he wondered if it was possible to find something like that for us. A simple symbol of our feelings towards each other..."

"And a promise not to try and abandon you again." Vaporeon interrupts giving his cheek a nuzzle with his ear fins pinned back. Eevee looks on and tilts his head, he was told the same story by Satoshi as we all were but I still worry he’s having trouble imagining his brother could feel that way for a Pokémon who wasn't a girl. “I’m… We are confident that to Satoshi the significance will be clear.”

"Well I think it looks cool!" Pichu blurts out reaching up from under Vaporeon's neck to tap at the plate, "Though not as cool as that spiked on over there or the glow in the dark one over there, and look! That one has a little Pichu stitched on..." I cut Pichu off by wrapping a paw over his mouth, his small ones batting at my pads which nearly cover a third of his body. Pichu has been a little… off since we left the farm. Not just misbehaving but being outright belligerent to the point I question what he’s trying to accomplish. The others haven’t picked it up yet but Pichu was about to pick a fight and pass it off as a tantrum. I’ve known my son long enough to know when he’s acting like a child and when he’s acting like a child towards a purpose.
"Sorry for my son’s outburst Vaporeon, Growlithe. I think it looks wonderful, it almost matches Growlithe’s own… minus the spikes." I tell him with a slight chuckle and wide smile feeling the same warmth in my chest that I did the day my mate threw away my ball. The feeling intensifies as I watch the two share a tender lick and feel euphoric for the time I was their age wishing I could do it all over again with my own love knowing what I know now.

"Excuse me..." The tent attendant says walking over and kneeling down next to Vaporeon, "I hope you don't mind that I've been prying... or rather doing more than simply watching my merchandise but I have a question for you which is nagging me something terrible." The old man sits down slowly and leans in close to whisper into Vaporeon’s ear and once he leaned back Vaporeon seemed to blush brightly while nodding his head slowly affirming whatever was asked. "The Collars yours free of charge, I couldn't accept money for something that means so much to you... and to you." he finishes reaching over to Growlithe giving his head fur a slight ruffle. Growlithe grins and blushes himself feeling embarrassed, the old man not saying it in words but obviously telling him that they were both lucky to have each other.

"Can I have one too?!" Pichu shouts out getting free from my paw. I can't help but grumble as I pick him up by the scruff and carry him off before he can embarrass me further. Blastoise, Eevee, and the happy couple stay behind receiving treats from the attendant in discrete celebration. I smirk remembering after so long why I always loved coming to this market and that is because we Pokémon are treated with respect, unlike the stores in Kanto. "Mom! Put me down!" Pichu whines kicking and swinging from my grasp, he crosses his arms and pouts as he turns his back from me only to go wide eyed finding something else to catch his interest. "What is that?!" He shouts excitedly running up to the electronics tent and bouncing at the base of large glass display rack. On the rack was a flat black tablet with a larger flat white tablet sitting next to it, both displaying gameplay videos from various games on the Robot and Berry operating systems. "I want to try! I want to try!" he shouts banging up against shelf making it wobble precariously.

"Pichu stop that at once before you..." I start only to watch in horror as the large white tablet drops to the ground with a glass shattering smash. My heart stops and Pichu looks to me already teary eyed knowing he was in big trouble. While I would give him a good scolding about his behavior today my bigger concern was with the attendant who looked down at us furiously already reaching for a broom. I somehow felt in my gut that cleaning up the mess wasn`t foremost on his mind. "Great." I mutter to myself already taking a position between the attendant and Pichu, I won`t growl at him for being rightly mad but I won`t let him strike my son.