To rest

When they let go of each other, there was still some uneasiness. Simon was confused, rightly so. He still remembered his breakdown when he returned to life. The one thing Simon deserved at the very least, was information.

“Are you okay?”

“I think so…” The Squirtle had already calmed down, even if his trembling continued. “B-but what about you?! What happened?! You died and… and…”

Mark pulled him closer before he had the chance to get nervous again. It seemed to do the trick, thankfully. “Look, let me explain, okay? I regained all my memories, and there are things I think you should know.”

That got Simon’s curiosity. He looked at Mark with a concerned expression, one that he really didn’t want to see. “So the truth is, we’ve known each other for a while, long before either of us turned into a Pokémon.”

“Wait, what do you mean?”

“I mean that we were best friends back when we were humans.” His lack of shift in expression was a clear indicator that Simon wanted him to keep going. “When you got transported into this world, you vanished in front of me. Remember how Dialga said that nobody brought me here? Turns out that was right, I spent the following years making a portal by myself. I got here on purpose, with the goal of getting you back.”

Simon stayed silent for a moment, taking all the information in. “You… you did all of this to save me…? I don’t know what to say…”

“You don’t have to say anything. My life was pretty much ruined the moment you disappeared. I had to do something.”

“Ruined? Why? Didn’t you have other friends?”

“What are friends even worth if they all turn against you? Everyone I knew thought I was the one responsible for you being missing. I had no one left, not even my parents wanted me around.”

Simon laid down on the bed with Mark, resting his head on the other’s lap. “I didn’t know I caused you so much grief… I’m so sorry, Mark…”

“Don’t be. We didn’t choose any of this, we were just dragged into it against our will.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I’ll talk about it when Rachel comes here, there’s… a lot to this story.”

With a nod, Simon relaxed a bit. He was also trying to keep calm and focus on enjoying the moment they had together, just like Mark. “I’m very glad to see you alive, by the way… I know it sounds obvious that eventually you’d wake up but, with everything that has happened, I didn’t know if I could even trust what made logical sense.” He turned to look at Mark in the eyes. “When you… I guess, died… I didn’t know what to do. At that point, I just wanted revenge. I didn’t care if I died too, I just… I couldn’t accept it.”

“I know, I saw it all. Or rather, part of me did.” He sighed. “I’m sorry, I know I’m not making any sense, I swear I’ll explain everything.”

“I know you will, I’m just happy to be here with you.”

The conversation ended there. With the sunrise happening, it didn’t take long until other guild members appeared. The other members of Team Acolyte, Charlie, Randall with the others in his team, Luka and Nikki, Graff and Ott… Everybody seemed happy to see Mark awake and well. Though as much as he wanted to put their doubts to rest, he repeated the same thing over and over, ‘I’ll explain everything soon.’. It seemed to be enough for everyone, at least.

Eventually, a certain Excadrill surprised Mark by jumping to him. The hug was very one-sided due to the size difference, but he enjoyed it anyways.

“Don’t you dare pull something like that again, you hear me? I was so scared we’d have to start again.” Her breathing was deep, she was trying to keep it together. “You have some explaining to do.”

“I know… I guess now it’s as good of a time as ever now that the two of you are here. I don’t mind repeating it all over to the guild.” He sighed. It wasn’t easy to recall all the events that transpired, but they deserved to know. “I guess I’ll start from the beginning, back when me and Simon were best friends.”

During the next twenty minutes, Mark explained everything. The reactions of the other two were just as he expected them to be. Confused, shocked, but with a hint of sadness that never went away. They decided to save their questions until the end, thankfully. When he was done, though, he felt a bittersweet feeling. The same feelings as before, actually. The happiness of being finished with it, and the regret of having had to go through it to begin with.

“So that voice you talked about… It was another part of you all along?” Rachel asked, to which Mark could only weakly nod. “That… to think that all of this was planned from the beginning…”

“Not only that, but… You say there’s someone above us? Like, a real god?”

“Trust me, Simon. I wouldn’t believe it either if I didn’t have proof in the form of that energy… I came back to life, and it was all thanks to them watching over us.”

“What are we going to do with them, then?”

“Nothing. Their purpose here is done. The cycles are over, and I don’t have a way to contact them anymore. They already helped us enough, from now on it’s up to us.”

Rachel sighed and leaned against the wall with her arms crossed. “Emmeline… Only reason I know of her is because of Gren sometimes talking about her in other iterations.”

“Wait, there’s something I still don’t get.” Simon said. “Why did Dialga try to kill me if they were in on it?”

“Because they knew Arceus was watching. I was the one who brought the cycles, so what was important is that I survived. They probably tried to get you out of the way in the hope that that was enough for them to not get killed. Of course, judging by how fast they turned against Arceus, I still think they did it out of desperation, and that they still wanted you to live.”

“I… I guess that makes sense…” He wasn’t entirely convinced, but there was nothing he could do by now. “So the first step into all of this nightmare… was actually when I got brought here. That… Hm…”

“What’s on your mind?” Mark asked. It was clear to see when Simon was deep in his thoughts, and the ones he was having were probably not enjoyable.

“Nothing, it’s just… I kinda wish I never met Rose, then… If I had known it would end like this, I would’ve tried to avoid her just so I could have protected her…”

“Do you really think she would’ve liked that?” Rachel chimed in. “You know more than anyone how much she cares about everyone else. If you avoided her, she would have been the one chasing you instead. I can tell you she’d be proud of you for fighting so much, and she’d be glad to have died if that meant you survived.”

“I talked with Verm before you woke up and there’s something he told me that applies to this situation. Bad things happen to good people sometimes, that’s just how it is. Did Rose deserve to die? No, of course not. But it happened, and there’s nothing we can do to change that except accept it and keep moving forward.”

Simon smirked, his sadness fading for just a second. “You’ve really grown a lot, you know? That’s something I would expect me to say to you, not the other way around.”

Mark smiled back. “Guess I had a pretty good influence then.” He chuckled, lightly punching the other on the shoulder.

The silence that came after was somewhat calming, but there was one in the team of three that was a bit distraught.

“Ok, I do have something to say. I didn’t know when would be the best time, but I guess this will work.” Rachel said. “These two weeks, I’ve done a lot of self-reflection. And I’ve come to the conclusion that I uh… I need to leave.”

The other two looked at her, waiting for her to keep going. “With so many cycles, I’ve been doing the same thing over and over. Go from my hometown to the guild, sometimes not even making it here. And now that the whole thing is over, I wanna do something new. I want to, you know, see the world, explore. For you, it might have been little time together. But for me, I’ve been doing this for years. I have a whole future in front of me for once, and I want to use it.”

Neither Mark nor Simon knew what to say. It was sudden, that’s for sure, but she was right. “When… when do you plan to leave?” Mark asked.

“I’m not sure yet.” She slumped down on one of the beds nearby. “But I do know that I want to see new things. I need a change of pace now that I’m not bound to iteration shenanigans.”

“Rachel.” Simon said, getting closer to her. “I completely support your decision, but I’d really appreciate it if you stayed until Rose’s funeral, whenever that happens. She doesn’t know you, or at least the one in this iteration doesn’t, but if she did, I think she’d want you to assist.”

Rachel smiled. “I can do that. And thank you both for making the cycle that mattered so unforgettable. It was my first time working alongside you and I’m really glad that’s the case.”

“You’re welcome to come back to visit us anytime, Rachel. I’m happy to have met you too.” Mark said.

She was trying not to tear up at that, judging by how her eyes closed with force. She shook her head and tried to change topics. “Why are we talking like I’m leaving right now? We still have some time.” She got off the bed with a jump. “Now, c’mon, I’m hungry and we still need to explain things to the guild.”

Mark was surprised at the sudden change, but he knew what she was doing. He’d done it before too, after all. So in the end, he smiled and obliged.

Of course, he didn’t forget about that weird letter under his pillow.