Chapter 0780: Endless Zeros! Awaiting the Day We Meet Again!(Two-in-One)

Xerosic was taken into custody, and the remnants of Team Flare were finally wiped out.

Lumiose City, Handsome Detective Agency.

A rugged, disheveled middle-aged man in a brown trench coat held up his phone and said in a low voice:

“So, Team Flare’s plot has finally unraveled.”

The voice on the other end replied, “In summary, Detective Handsome, your next assignment is to travel to the Alola Region and investigate the phenomenon of Ultra Wormholes and Ultra Beasts.”

“The organization is assigning you to work under Supervisor Anabel and Mr. Natsume,” the voice explained. “Officially, Mr. Natsume is the Director of the International Police Ultra Beast Countermeasures HQ… Although we don’t have the authority to mobilize Mr. Natsume, you’ll need to consult with him personally for his input.”

Handsome scratched his stubbled chin, an odd expression crossing his face. “Understood.”

Natsume, Anabel… They’d both joined the job later than he had, yet had become his immediate bosses. Even his old colleague Nanu had become an Island Kahuna in Alola. Life really was unpredictable.

“I’ll make my way to Alola as soon as possible.”

Handsome hung up, glancing out at the sunlight through the window, deep in thought.

“Uncle Handsome…” came a timid voice behind him.

Handsome turned and saw Emma, holding a tea tray, looking at him with conflicted eyes.

“You’re leaving?” she asked.

“Yes, I’ve just received my next assignment,” Handsome answered.

“In that case, Espurr and I will go too!” Emma said loudly.

Handsome shook his head firmly. “Emma, you’ll stay in Lumiose City. I’m appointing you as the second Director of the Detective Agency.”

“But… that’s a little sudden…” Emma’s gaze dropped.

“With the E-Battle Suit and Espurr here, Emma, you’ll keep working hard—for both of us.” Handsome smiled. “You and Espurr are my most trusted assistants, so this is an important job I’m leaving you with. Got it?”

Emma’s eyes brightened slowly. She nodded. “Yes!”

……

Lumiose City, Rainbow Café.

Meowstic, Alcremie, Indeedee, Steenee, and Delibird all stood in a neat row, reluctant to say goodbye.

Though they’d only worked with the shopkeeper for a few months, a true bond had taken root.

Hardworking Delibird; teaming up with Steenee to win the “Best Juice Award”; the shopkeeper coaching Alcremie in the art of cooking; Indeedee letting everyone sneak a break when the shopkeeper was out…

No scorching battlefields here—their lives were shaped by the details of gentle, everyday moments.

“Why are you all looking at me like that?” Natsume teased. “It’s not like I won’t be back. I’m even planning to open a branch café in Alola.”

“Delibird…” Delibird’s eyes flickered. It slowly set down its bag and produced a sparkling ice sculpture.

The ice sculpture’s features were a little vague, but anyone could tell it resembled Natsume-sensei.

Natsume accepted it in shock, watching as Delibird bowed solemnly once again. “Delibird…”

This was crafted from the Never-Melt Ice you gave me.

Not sure what to say, but thank you, shopkeeper~

Natsume’s gaze flickered, and he nodded sincerely.

That settles it—Rocket Delivery needs to give Delibird a raise!

In the café gardens stood a thriving Budget Model Tree of Beginning, ringed by stumps of Revival Herb. Nearby, there was a swing—Sylveon's favorite spot.

Next to the swing, Tyranitar’s regular sand pit lay. Beside it was a small tunnel, a secret path to the “Kingdom of Diamonds.”

Natsume closed his eyes for a moment—the “reverse side” of the café world was dotted with spatial coordinates, each marked for Celebi, Hoopa, Marshadow… That little crew would often pop into the café for a bite, but now they’d have to go hungry for a while.

Of course, they could always find Natsume-sensei through Gengar.

Natsume too, thanks to the Power of One, could invite these little cuties as guests to his home.

The greatest harvest from the journey through Kalos wasn’t the title of Battle Legend—but meeting this crew of delightful little troublemakers.

How about some little rascals to brighten up your day?

Natsume looked around.

“Latias~” Latias darted overhead, sunlight glinting off glassy feathers, curving into a smile before vanishing into the air.

Victini lounged on his head, munching on macarons, eyes scrunched up in happiness: “Victini~”

“Meloetta~”

Meloetta sat on a treetop, legs dangling and gently humming the melody of “Oración.”

Darkrai had asked Meloetta to sing—it was his favorite song.

Under the shade, Darkrai reclined against the tree, lower half sunken in darkness, meditating peacefully, white mist swirling around him.

As a Nightmare Pokémon he never struggled with nightmares—until he started following Natsume, and started having them all the time.

Today’s nightmare was the chaos of the City of Wastes: Natsume’s black-and-gold cape flashing in the sunlight, eyes determined as he shouted at the looming super demon god:

“I Choose You! Darkrai!”

Darkrai jolted awake, sweating, glancing around before letting out a sigh of relief.

With the super demon god defeated, surely he could take it easy now.

Surely there wouldn’t be more Legendary Pokémon from outer space to fight now that the earth’s own had all been dealt with…

Natsume gazed down at a handful of minimized Poké Balls.

Right now, only Gengar, in his normal state, possessed Battle Legend-level strength.

The journey to Alola would be dedicated to raising the rest of the team’s level.

After all, Leon, Red, Blue—all of them grew at an astounding speed.

In the original story, it wouldn’t be long before, facing Eternatus, Leon’s ordinary Charizard already had Battle Legend-level power.

Back then, his Super Gigantamax Charizard didn’t even fear Blue Oak’s Mega Charizard Y.

If he wanted to enter the World Tournament in half a year and fulfill his promise to Gengar, he couldn’t afford to slack off.

“Come on out, everyone!”

Natsume gave a sweep of his hand. Red flashes filled the air as Pokémon surrounded him, their voices rising in a chorus.

“Gengar~ヾ(≧▽≦*)o” Gengar greeted him with a wide grin, promptly giving Natsume a massive lick.

“Sylveon! o(｀^´)o” Sylveon lifted its head proudly, stealing a glance up at Meloetta in the treetop, grinding its teeth in secret.

“Blastoise…ヾ(■_■)” Blastoise hunched over, yanking up a Revival Herb by the Tree of Beginning. Time to leave—no sense letting good garnish go to waste.

“Arcanine! (｀0´)” Arcanine howled with head held high, then dashed across the gardens, sending up clouds of dust.

“Togepi doo-ee! ヾ(′▽`〃)” Togepi scampered over to Alcremie and the others for a round of goodbyes.

“Sirfetch’d!( -'`-)” Sirfetch’d clutched his leek and shield, head in the clouds as ever.

“Tyranitar… (￣～￣)” Tyranitar tore into a family-sized bag of chips, which proved to be stuffed with pink diamonds. Steven would be jealous.

“Beep… Let me take a picture, Rotom!” Rotom Pokédex fluttered its mechanical arms.

Natsume: “Delibird, join in… Wait, what’s that ring?”

Suddenly, the gardens flashed with light as Hoopa stuck its head through a ring, covering the camera with a silly face.

“Lue~~ Scared you, didn’t I!”

“Beep… System Overload, Rotom! Σ(っ °Д °;)っ” Rotom shuddered in panic.

Hoopa just chuckled, tossing three rings into the air as it shouted,

“Hoopa, fetch!”

From the rings floated weightless Celebi, catlike pink Mew, and the silent Marshadow.

“Mew~~” Mew twirled its tail, did a loop, then covered its mouth and giggled.

Marshadow stood in the darkness, little flames flickering in his eyes: “Marshadow…”

“Celebi…” Celebi zipped around the gardens, sprinkling the air with bright green light.

“We’re really doing a group photo now,” Natsume sighed, “alright, everyone line up…”

Yet just as everything was finally ready, a strange lullaby began drifting down from the rafters.

“Boo boo-loo-boo, boo-li, boo-boo-li, boo~”

Natsume slipped up—he’d forgotten to wear his earplugs, and even Meloetta was fighting off drowsiness, eyelids drooping.

The song grew more tender, the lullaby like moonlight cascading over a little boat adrift in the sea.

Natsume collapsed, letting out a huge yawn: “Yawwwn~”

Everyone there—Battle Legends, even Legendary Pokémon—drifted helplessly into sleep!

Jigglypuff finished her set, opened her eyes expectantly—then froze.

“Boo-li!! (`~′)”

Jigglypuff puffed up with anger, tore off the microphone top—

And out came a marker!

……

Lumiose City Airport, departure lounge.

A golden-haired beauty in a regal black coat with a black fur collar stood, arms folded, chin propped on her hand, grey eyes lost in thought.

“Sorry… I’m late.”

The black-haired young man stretched, waving a hand, shuffling over beside Cynthia and suppressing a yawn.

“Overslept?” Cynthia asked.

“No… but it took a while to wipe off Jigglypuff’s doodles.”

Natsume recounted the tale of how Jigglypuff, mad at not being included in the group picture, promptly “annihilated” the café, then covered everything in graffiti.

Cynthia chuckled. “Never thought it, but compared to Hoopa, Jigglypuff is the bigger ‘disaster.’”

“Togepi’s luck, Jigglypuff’s song, Mudkip’s blank stare, what goes on inside Slowpoke’s head… There are unsolved mysteries in this world.” Natsume mused.

Both wore matching black coats, chatting as they headed for the boarding gate. At the far end of the moving walkway, a young man waved frantically, shouting:

“Natsume-sensei! Champion Cynthia!”

“Ash?” Cynthia looked mildly surprised.

“Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie are here too,” Natsume noticed behind him.

The group gathered. Cynthia smiled, “Heading home to Pallet Town, Ash?”

“Yeah!” Ash nodded, “I want to take Greninja and see everyone from the gardens!”

“They should let Greninja take on Infernape,” Natsume said excitedly, “I think the monkey’s got the edge.”

“Huh?” Ash said, baffled.

Cynthia shot Natsume-sensei an exasperated look, then asked Serena, “What about you?”

“I… think…” Serena answered shyly, “I’ll head to Hoenn, enter Pokémon Contests, and aim to become a Coordinator.”

“That makes sense—Kanto and Alola aren’t big on Coordinator culture,” Cynthia nodded.

Though Natsume was reluctant, he understood Serena’s resolve.

She was strong-willed—a girl who wanted to stand as an equal with Ash, not as a member of his audience.

It was an incredibly tough choice for her, but that’s why she was the short-haired Serena—no longer the weepy child being carried down the mountain.

“Good luck, Serena.” Natsume smiled. “If you ever get stuck, you can always ask me or Wallace for advice.”

Though his basics weren’t as solid as Wallace’s, thanks to Meloetta’s “Art Pulse,” his expression and stage presence were just as good—maybe even better.

“Thanks!” Serena grinned.

“What about Bonnie and Clemont?” Natsume asked.

“I’ll stay in Lumiose City and become a great Gym Leader!” Clemont declared, adjusting his glasses.

“And me! I’ll be a Trainer just like Natsume-sensei and Champion Cynthia!” Bonnie chimed in.

Natsume and Cynthia exchanged a glance. Cynthia smiled gently, “You really can do it, Bonnie.”

Natsume thought, Starter Pokémon Zygarde… That’s an even crazier setup than most fanfics.

Just imagine—a Bug Catcher steps up for a battle!

“Go, Weedle!”

“Go, Zygarde 100% Form!”

He imagined a Bug Catcher craning his neck up to look at Zygarde in Gundam form and shivered.

Ash’s flight departed in the afternoon; Serena’s was about to depart.

With a little time before their flight, Natsume and Cynthia stood by the huge sunlit window, watching the brilliant white planes on the tarmac.

From behind came Clemont’s send-off:

“Have a strong Tailwind, Serena!”

“Remember to stay happy!” Bonnie shouted with cupped hands.

The Champions turned to see Serena on the slowly descending escalator, waving goodbye.

Ash looked a little spaced out, then broke into a smile and waved back, “Goodbye, have a safe journey!”

Serena turned away, turquoise eyes glimmering as she swept her short hair behind her ear and shouted,

“Ash, can I ask you one last favor?”

Ash blinked in surprise, then nodded, “Sure.”

Serena’s face lit up with a sweet smile.

In a heartbeat, she jogged back up the down escalator, stopped in front of Ash, reached up on tiptoe, and planted a brief, gentle kiss on his lips.

“!?!!”

Clemont’s face went bright red, steam pouring from his head. Bonnie turned crimson, hands over her eyes—peeking between her fingers.

Serena clasped her hands behind her back, blushing deeply as she tucked her hair, and let the escalator carry her away as she called over her shoulder,

“Thank you~ Goodbye!”

Ash froze, eyes flickering, until he finally waved back and shouted,

“Goodbye, Serena! Goodbye!!”

Clemont and Bonnie waved too, Pikachu calling out as well,

“Pikachu~~”

The two Champions exchanged a look, then turned away.

Cynthia rested a hand on her waist, golden hair shading her face as she said quietly,

“That’s a truly beautiful feeling.”

“Cynthia.”

Natsume’s tone was serious, “Can I ask you for one last thing?”

“Not a chance.”

She shot him another exasperated look and stalked off toward the boarding gate, one hand on her hip. But then she paused, turned, and gazed at him—a stunning, serene smile curling her lips as she hurried back up.

Natsume felt the touch of a cool kiss—like the leap of a Milotic, or a wishing star streaking through Jirachi’s sky.

Casually, Cynthia slipped her arm through his and walked beside him toward the departure gate.

“When two lives meet…”

Natsume suddenly declared aloud: “It always gives rise to something new.”

Cynthia’s grey eyes flickered, her lips tipping up in a faint smile.

Natsume’s expression sobered, his gaze deep and intent:

“Trainers and Pokémon—they’re like irrational numbers, passing through infinite digits to return again to endless zero…”

Natsume smiled.

“And in those endless zeros, there will always be the day we meet again.”

He flung out a Poké Ball; red light flashed.

Amid wild Sylveon and Togepi squeals, Natsume shouted:

“So—let’s begin our journey in Alola, everyone!!”

“Gengar~! （`▽`)”