Pokemon Ultimate Evolution: Through The Middle, Epilogue 1: Everyone and No One

Less than 4 days after the Labyrinth around the park collapsed, cleanup crews were already removing the last of the debris. The final loads of were piled into several large trucks and were driven down the road and out of the city to be disposed of. I sat atop of the roof of Devon's apartment complex, watching them work. Not once had I stopped thinking about what had went down there… The Kirlia, Zenith, Magenta, and me… I did find out that the crews didn't discover the girl's body, which means she either died before they started and her body had already faded away, or she survived somehow… A pair of hands on my back tore me away from my thoughts.

"What's the matter?" A small voice asked. "Something make you sad?"

I sighed. "A lot happened the other day, Jason…" I turned around and hoisted him onto my shoulders.

"Lavender told me all about it…" Jason said. "I don't really remember Sato that much, but I know she wouldn't do so many bad things. And she 'specially wouldn't want to hurt us."

"Yeah, I know…" I shook my head. "Did you… See Magenta by any chance?"

"Mauvy and her went back to the hospital today. Magenta's wound was too serious for a Pokemon Center." Jason answered. "When they got back, she had a huge bandage on, but the she took it off once she got to her room. She says she's fine. Her neck actually looks like nothing's there!"

"That's good I guess…" 

"Why don't you go see her?" Jason asked. "I think she'd like that. That dummy Faze is too scared so he's moving away. I should set him on fire. He didn't even give her a chance…"

"Don't concern yourself with him. She deserves better for the kind of person she is." The sun was setting soon. "I'm heading over there, wanna come?"

"No, I wanna play with Violet." Jason flipped off of my back and  surprisingly stuck the landing. "Ryan, look! I've been practicing!"

"Awesome job, Jay!" I managed to laugh for the first time in a while. I stood up and rustled Jason's hair. "Go inside. I'll see you in a bit."

----

Magenta stared at her reflection in the mirror, examining the wound on her neck. The skin was pale and laced with a light pink hue. She rubbed at it slowly, feeling the small bite marks.

"Invisible." She whispered. She sat down on her bed and sighed. "I wish he would-"

A soft knock on her door interrupted her.

"Hey, can I come in, hon?" Violet asked.

"Yeah, it's open…"

Violet slowly pushed the door ajar. "You alright?"

"Of course, I am." Magenta answered. "Just sitting here, pondering my thoughts."

Violet sat down next to her and rested her head on her shoulder. "What's with you?" Magenta asked.

"Same as you… Just thinking." Violet answered. "I'm proud of you."

"Why?"

"You're so brave. Most girls wouldn't be so… Calm about what you've been through." Violet explained. "No to mention that you got dumped after it all."

"I'm brave, huh? And you're not?" Magenta groaned. "You did just as well in that situation, better even. Why am I getting all the praise?"

"You deserve it. We all do. None of us have ever been in such a place before. Lavender told me how determined you were to help, even in the face of death…" Violet sighed. "If that's not worth praise, then what is?"

"It's just weird. I feel like I failed…" Magenta hiccuped. "Nothing I did helped at all!" Her eyes welled up.

"Oh, Magenta…" Violet wrapped her arms around her. "You did help. You helped Ryan come back to us, didn't you?"

"And now he'll never want me around again!" Magenta pulled Violet's hands away, covering her face with her own.

"You're mistaken, honey." Violet smoothed her hair soothingly. "He's just scared; it's not that he's pushing you away."

"He's never afraid, never…" He sobbed. "He hates me, I know it."

"Don't be silly!" Violet tried hard to mask her frustration. "He loves you! Can't you see? He's just afraid of hurting you again. Think about it."

Magenta dropped her eyes from her face, her palms slick with tears and her eyes puffy. "I am thinking. I've done nothing but think!" Magenta shrugged Violet off of her shoulders. She rolled into the middle of her bed and curled up. "Let me sit here and think some more will you? I appreciate you being here, but I just need some time to myself."

Violet stood up and smiled at her. "You're such a cutie when you're thinking." She stared at her for a moment, admiring the way her short bangs fell to the side slightly obscuring one of her thin eyebrows.

"Screw it!" Violet leapt onto Magenta and planted a short kiss onto her. "You're irresistible." Magenta blinked, staring back at Violet with eyes wide. The knob on the bedroom door turned and opened. Mauve stood in the doorway.

"Vi, leave her alone for one day, will you? Jeez!" She groaned. Violet silently obeyed and slipped past her mother. "I swear, something is wrong with her…"

"Yeah, her last name is Colourless." Magenta said, dryly.

"Oh hush. There's someone at the door for you." Mauve motioned for her to get up.

"Who is it?" Magenta sat up and stretched.

"Come see, honey!" Mauve smiled jovially, humming as she disappeared form the doorway.

----

Magenta poked her head through the front door before stepping out. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. I snuck up behind her and placed my hands on her shoulders. I felt her jump as she turned around.

"Hey." I smiled.

Magenta gasped and pulled me into a tight hug. I returned her embrace, the smell of Pecha berries coming off of the top of her head. "Ryan! Are you okay?" She didn't bother lifting her head. She pressed her head against my chest feeling letting loose a quiet moan as she felt the warmth I gave off.

"I'm fine." I said, taking one of her hands. "Come on, let's go."

"Go where?" She asked.

"Just… somewhere. There's a lot that wee need to talk about." I shut the front door and lead her to the side walk."

"I guess there's a big Donphan in the room, isn't there?" Magenta linked arms with me and sighed.

"Well, I think that we should introduce that Donphan, don't you think?" I smirked. "We can do that when we get there…"

----

Wind blew threw the stubby trees around us, coming to a halt every now and then, as quickly as it had started. Magenta and I lied down at the edge of a sparkling lake. For a moment the air became still again, and not a sound could be heard. We could still see some buildings over the tree line; we weren't far from the city.

"So… Where do we start?" Magenta asked.

"I bet you're wondering what happened to me…" I ran my fingers along the pink area on her neck. She squirmed from the tickling. "How is it?"

"It wasn't really bad to begin with… Definitely not worth all of the bellyaching the nurses did." She answered. "Lavender used the leaves in the park to help stop the bleeding and then I got it bandaged up in the hospital. I took if off right after I got home though, and Lav's been tending to it."

"That's good to hear." I smiled.

"So, tell me…" Magenta rested herself into the grass and looked up at me.

I sighed. "I don't really know, Magenta. I've thought about it a thousand times over and… The only conclusion I've come to is-"

"Rage?" Magetna interrupted. "Monstrous, blinding, rage?"

"Yeah…"

"It makes sense." Magenta said. "That girl was imitating the love of your life, tarnishing her appearance and reputation. I'd be angry too. You've got a a lot of power and you don't quite know how to control it yet. How could you?"

"You're awfully calm about this…" I was more than confused.

"What, were expecting something else?" Magenta rose and sat on her legs. "Were you expecting me to blame you? Well, I don't. If anything, I blame myself."

"Why?" I asked. "You did nothing to deserve any of that! Everything that happened was because of that girl!"

"I helped her, Ryan. I helped her clear her head, and with that she got stronger. She even overpowered you once, didn't she? Without my advice, none of that would've happened. You could've taken her easily." Magenta blinked as tears filled her eyes. "All I wanted… To do was… help! She was just a little girl, she couldn't have been older than seven!"

I pulled her into an embrace, not wanting to let go. "No good deed goes unpunished…" I whispered. "I would've tried to help her to if I wasn't so blinded by anger. I'm sorry…"

"For… what?" She hiccuped.

"For being so selfish… For not considering your safety before my revenge."

For a while we just sat there. Magenta wiped her tears away and I just looked over her shoulder at the calm water. Finally she broke the silence. I felt her suck in a deep breath.

"What happened to her?" She asked. "Did you kill her?"

"I- I don't know… Most likely." I answered. "I didn't stick around after Zenith showed up, but nothing was found after the park was cleaned up."

"Zenith?" She looked up at me. "So that's who was manipulating her… I hope I never have to meet him. From everything you've told me about him… He sounds disgusting."

"Yeah…"

"Do you think she'll come back? Not the girl, but, the real Sato."

"Sato's not going to come back to Rustboro for a very long time." I answered, sternly. I looked down at her and sighed. "Sorry…"

"No, I shouldn't have asked." Magenta shook her head. "Why do you think that?"

"I don't know, really… I just feel like she has nothing left here…"

"She has you." Magenta thought.

I looked up at the sky; it was glowing with an orange hue. "We've been out for a while haven't we?" I said. "You want to go back now?"

"Yeah… Wanna go back now?" I released her and stood up.

"I hope she's okay…"

"Huh?"

Magenta stood up and stretched. "The girl. I said I hope she's okay. I know you did what made you happy…" She paused. "But if she was able to walk away from it, it'll be better for us all. No child should have to endure that much manipulation and then suffer for it."

"Right…" I nodded. "Come on. I should get you home."

"Actually, can we go to the hospital?" She said.

"How come?"

"I heard about Miss Davis and Donna. I want to se how they're doing." Magenta explained. "Can we?"

"Of course." I smiled. "Hurry, we wanna catch them before they go to sleep for the night."

----

The blinding light bouncing off of the solid white walls blinded the girl as her eyes flew open. She blinked and allowed them to adjust. Her entire body was numb. "What happened… How did I get here?" She turned her head side to side, trying to assess her surroundings. She snapped her head in the direction of the door, staring in fear as it opened slowly.

"Hi there!" Said a small woman dressed in a pink and white dress. "You've been sleeping for a while now."

The girl didn't respond. She traced the woman's steps as she walked over to her bed. "You don't have to be scared, hon. You're safe now. How do you feel?"

"I…" The girl tried moving her fingers. "I can't feel a thing. I-Is that bad?"

"No, no, that's as expected. The medicine you needed is a special kind. It's made from the saliva of a Haunter. Weird, right? Thankfully after being altered, it doesn't make you shake forever." The doctor sat down on the bed and crossed her legs. She was unusually jovial, as if her crush had just asked her for her hand in marriage.

"It's not as good as our other meds, but you were rejecting everything else, violently. I hate to say it, but we almost killed you."

"I didn't feel any of that." The girl responded, faintly. "I thought I was dead…" She turned her head away from the woman and sobbed. "My daddy, he left me to die…"

"You were found somewhere near the northern exit, near the park where all that weird stuff happened. I guess you wandered there without realizing it. "The lady frowned as she looked at the helpless figure of the girl. "So sad…" She thought. "I'll leave you to rest. Is that okay?"

The girl closed her eyes and slowly nodded. The doctor fastened a small metal wrist band onto he girl's arm. "If you need anything, press the red button on your wrist band. Someone will be here as soon as possible."

----

We arrived at the hospital at dusk; the building glowed before us. We checked in and found Tracey and Donna's room. "Let's hope they're still awake." I whispered, before opening their door.

Donna was the first to look over; Tracey kept her eyes shut. Both of them were covered in bandages in seemingly random areas around their bodies.

"Look who finally showed up, ugh…" Donna moaned in pain. "Way to be a pal…"

"Sorry, a lot of stuff came up…" Magenta smiled. "How are you holding' up Donna?"

"Hmm… I feel like shit, I look like shit… I'm alright, you?" Donna rolled her eyes, and then winced from doing so. "I can't wait to get out of here. That tricking little ho is gonna get what she deserves."

"Already done, dummy." I chuckled.

"Dammit, Sparky…" Donna sighed. "Always gotta be the hero around here… Jerk."

I walked over to Tracey's bed. She shot her warm smile up at me and opened her hazel eyes. "Hey, you." She said with a drowsy voice. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah, it is." I answered, smoothing her bangs away from her eyes. "Zenith fled again. I don't think he'll come back."

"Oh, great." Tracey answered. "What about Sato- I mean, that girl? What happened to her?"

"She's… Gone." Magenta said. "She either escaped or…"

"Oh… Well, at least you two are alright." Tracey glanced at Magenta's neck. "Oh my. Honey, what happened to you? It looks like you got burned."

"No, not burned." Magenta looked at me out of the corner of her eye. "It's not important. It's healing really fast."

"Good to hear." Tracey looked at me and then smiled again. "Hey, Magenta, why don't you go see the little girl that was brought in earlier. She's the only kid in here, and I bet she could use a friend."

"Sure!" Magenta lit up. "I'll go ask around and see where she is." Magenta swiftly left the room.

"She's awfully excited." Donna said.

"Well you know her, always wanting to help someone if she can." I answered.

"Ryan." Tracey's voice was stern. "You killed her, didn't you?"

"I don't know, Trace, really." I shook my head. "I didn't stick around to watch her fade away."

"Ryan…" Tracey's expression was pained. "And what about Magenta's neck?"

"Trace, something happened to me…"

"And?"

"She got… Caught in the crossfire." I said. "It doesn't matter! She's fine, Zenith is gone, and his little pawn is nowhere too be found."

"Quit beating your breast will you, Ry?" Tracey said.

"Yeah, man, stop being a bitch." Donna laughed and then exploded into a coughing fit.

"Ry, listen." Tracey slowly reached up and gently touched my arm. "If you felt that doing what you did was necessary… Then so be it. The past is so for a reason."

"Right… Let me leave you two alone. Get some more rest."

"Well, what else are we gonna do? We've got needles in our arms and necks for a reason." Tracey closes her eyes and smiled. "See ya, Ry."

"Yeah you too."

----

Magenta found her way to the child's room upstairs. She peaked inside and closed the door after tip-toeing in. The child looked over and gasped when she saw her. Magenta was surprised to see she was a Kirlia. "What're you doing here?" The child said.

"I'm not a doctor, sweetie." Magenta answered. "I heard that you were all alone here and I just wanted to be here for a child in need. How are you feeling?"

"I can't feel anything right now, because of the medicine they had to give me." The girl answered. "How are you feeling, Magenta?"

Magenta's attention was snatched. "You know me?" She asked. "Have we met before?"

"Of course we have…" The girl sighed. "But then again… I guess you did think I was a monster, didn't you?"