Chapter Thirty

"Starting with me," said another voice. Shiloh spun, to find Lane making her way over. She was back to being human, with a shaymin riding her shoulder. She looked almost exactly like Shiloh had first seen her, in that underground facility. Would they have spared themselves all this heartache if she just turned away then, and tracked the mew down another time?

"Seriously, Reshiram would've killed me. Don't know what his deal was, but it must be old. Maybe he remembers when there was a whole planet full of Firstborn. Pretty sure he wanted to roast me alive, so thanks for the save. Just, uh—don't forget that name. Legendary Pokémon have long memories. We won, but he will not be happy if he ever runs into us again."

Fantastic. More burdens to the path that Shiloh had chosen for herself. That didn't make her want to change her mind, but she should still remember it. The Pokémon involved wouldn't let her forget. "Don't make me regret helping you. I still want an apology for when you cheated in our first battle. Attacking me before you beat my Pokémon, that's against tournament rules."

Lane giggled. The sound seemed out of place on the body she'd chosen—but perfectly in character for the mischievous cat underneath. "You know what, fine. I've already thought of how I can make it up to you. We'll go for Pokémon champion together. You'll get into the record books, all over TV—a nice little bookend on everything you wanted. How's that?"

Would Lane really give her all that? She hadn't exactly agreed to join her Pokémon team, but what did that even mean anymore now that she was one herself? No matter the illusion she used, the league would figure things out eventually. She couldn't be surrounded by powerful Pokémon without eventually giving away the truth. But for one last battle, she could make it work.

Shiloh yawned, stretching out in the air, and briefly closing her eyes. "Hey, um… I know you're all powerful legendary Pokémon and all. But I still need to sleep? Do you think we could go somewhere… warmer? And I'd like to see my friends again."

Lane caught her out of the air, holding her against her chest with both arms. That should've been embarrassing, but the feeling never came. Shiloh was too tired for human sensibilities about personal space to mean anything. "I think after today you've graduated from the Nursery. And it's a smoking crater anyway, so… time for Kindergarten. Your friends should be transferred there by now, anyway. They'll be waiting when you wake up."

Mewtwo gestured at the air ahead of them, summoning a portal far easier than Lane ever had. She nodded to him, then stepped through. Shiloh fell asleep soon after.

Shiloh wasn't sure how long she slept after that. Not long enough for her exhaustion. She might've stayed that way for days, curled up in a small, warm space. But someone started poking her, until the waking world crossed so dramatically into the sleeping that she sat suddenly upright.

She was in a Pokémon bed—a round, padded affair tucked into a wall-cubby several times larger than the one she'd used last time. She felt bigger somehow despite the difference. Maybe all her battling had made her physically larger as her strength grew.

"Why am I awake? Can't I get a full night's sleep after saving the whole planet?"

Her eyes darted to the offending Pokémon—a shaymin. She retreated as soon as Shiloh sat up, bounding backward towards the soft ramp. "Sorry!" she squeaked. "It's… like three in the afternoon. I was gonna wait, but you slept so long!"

Did she know that voice? It was so young, younger than any of the shaymin she'd met so far. Granted that wasn't a long list. Shiloh shook herself out, taking in her surroundings. She was in a bedroom, a little like the one in the Nursery. She couldn't see past the ramp, but there were probably other tiny rooms around her, belonging to other Pokémon.

"I'm… sorry." She sat up, running her stupid bird hands through the fur on her face. Whatever part of her should be embarrassed by her nudity was finally silent at last. They were all Pokémon here; it wasn't like the others wore more than she did. "Should I know you? You live here in the… Kindergarten? I think that's what Lane called this place."

"I guess so!" She bounded back into the room, overflowing with energy. "Aspen says there's no more Nursery anymore, so I'll get to live here!" She stopped nearby, then suddenly deflated, looking down. "I didn't mean to wake you up. I just wanted to thank you, and I wasn't sure if you would be flying off before I got another chance."

The ramp flexed, and another figure appeared outside her little room. Aspen poked his head inside, towering over them both. Thanks to a flower, he was bigger than Shiloh again. 

His familiar scent gave Shiloh pause. If he was back… "Thank me for what?" she asked, sitting up. "Sorry, I don't think I caught your name. I'm Shiloh. Used to be a… Pokémon master."

The shaymin squeaked, spinning back around. "But you said—"

"That's her real name." Aspen strode confidently inside, nudging the smaller shaymin with a foreleg. "She was called Holly when you saw her last, but that was just to sneak in. Her real name is Shiloh."

"I… snuck into a mansion to find my friend," she said. "And I think… there was someone who sounded like you." Her eyes widened. "Wait a minute—June? Aspen, did you do this?"

He grinned proudly. "My dad talked about it a few times, since that's how he joined. I just needed to remember exactly what kind of nectar he talked about… the hard part was helping her hold it down long enough to work. She was sicker than anyone I've ever seen."

"And now I'm better!" June exclaimed, scurrying over to her. She embraced Shiloh with far less hesitation than Lane had the night before. "You brought Aspen, and she cured me! Without her, I think… I wouldn’t be around anymore. I was getting so tired. But I'm not tired anymore! I can stand up again, run again… even fly, like the Shaymin do!"

Shiloh patted her gently on the back. Her ears folded backward; voice distant. "I don't deserve credit for helping you, June. But I'm thrilled you're feeling better. Have you talked to Briar yet? He really didn't want to leave you behind. Keeping you company was important to him."

June let go, giggling. "My shaymin was pretending all along. He told me that—but I smelled it first. I must not have paid attention very much when he was around before, it was so obvious. But Aspen's real! She says she'll teach me everything, even take me to meet a whole pack next time they migrate! Can you imagine, hundreds and hundreds of shaymin all flying together! I need to learn how so I can fly with them when they get here!"

"You'll be a natural," Shiloh said. "When you have some practice, let me know. We can race." She floated up into the air, meeting Aspen's eyes. "Where's Briar?"

He ignored the question, placing one protective paw on June's back. "You sure about what you just said, Shiloh? Don't be making promises you can't keep. I know… the danger is over now. You could go back to your life if you wanted."

She didn't look away. "I might try to do something to tell my fans where I went—and I really have to find my old Pokémon team, make sure nobody's left to rot on a PC somewhere. But I'm not changing back. When June learns how to fly, we can race. Just make sure she knows, she's racing a victini. Victory's in the name."

Aspen grinned. "Fight one dragon, and you think you're invincible, huh?"

"A little. I think I just have a little more practice." She floated over to the shaymin, nudging up against him. "Glad you made it. And welcome to the Kindergarten, June! Ask me if you need any help with Pokémon stuff. Before I got here, I was the best trainer alive." 

She flew off, past the ramp and the other little rooms. There were only nine of them in here, taking spots against the mostly-square wall. Several had curtains drawn, but shapes moving inside. Shiloh didn't disturb them for now, though she was curious about who might be there. But that wasn't who she wanted to meet.

The Kindergarten was a very different place from the Nursery she'd left behind. Instead of excavated stone, these walls were rough wood, like a large cabin. That image was confirmed when she floated past a window, and saw the forest outside. Pine trees, mountains, and views stretching off into infinity. What region was this?

At least the cabin was warm.

A set of whirring rotors joined her in the air. Shiloh didn't turn around, but she didn't have to. "Rotom, you're here too?"

"Our hosts have provided me with an editing bay. It may take a few weeks to finish editing. I will let you know when the documentary is complete."

She looked back, where a different drone than last time hovered nearby. This one was made entirely of metal except for the blade, with a little infinity sign on the side. "They gave you a new body too?"

"There was some risk of a low-energy tracking device in the last drone. Even if I kept it suppressed, it might've switched back on when I took over control of another device. Don't worry, none of my footage was lost."

Shiloh giggled. Yes, that was obviously what mattered to her. "You'll have to let me know when it's finished. Don't release anything until we've all seen it. Some of your, uh—some of your subjects might have other ideas about how they want to be portrayed. I'm… not sure it's a good idea to show the world so much about legendaries right now. We'll have to ask Lane about it."

She swallowed, turning away from the drone. With Rotom controlling it, it had a pair of eyes, though they didn't exactly move like the real thing.

"Thank you for sticking with me, Rotom. I know my priorities as a trainer were never… about making my Pokémon feel welcome and included. You stayed anyway. I'll never forget that."

The Pokémon didn't answer for a long time. "I will get back to work on the documentary. Whatever you do, don't remove my directing credit. This is my debut!"

For a few seconds, Shiloh just floated there by the window, listening to the retreating sound of plastic engines. Then she caught a familiar scent, and flew off to find Briar. They had a lot to catch up on—and a lifetime of new plans to make.

Shiloh didn't know where life as a Pokémon would take her now, but she hoped her friends would come along for the ride.

A few months later…

Shiloh arrived at the World Coronation Series Finals a little differently than she expected. She was still wearing orange, still at the center of attention through the press tour and the procession. All those flashing lights and eager fans were a refreshing step into her past, with everything she'd always missed.

But they weren't saying her name anymore. It was Lane they praised, a dark-horse trainer who'd swept her way across the regions with a team of myths and legends. At the center of that team was a Pokémon that most of science considered entirely mythical—Victini.

Technically, it was still Shiloh's own team doing most of the fighting. Flygon, Tyranitar, and the rest had all trained as hard as she did for this moment, maybe harder. But never in her wildest dreams had Shiloh imagined she would be the one on the battlefield, or cheering them on from the sidelines.

Elisa insisted on taking one of the spots, claiming that he deserved to be recorded on the roster, since he'd helped capture Shiloh too. That only meant two incredible Pokémon were destined for a place in the history-books. Three, if people knew their trainer was a mew. If anyone recognized that Shiloh’s old behind-the-scenes team were reprising their role filming and managing things for the new contender, nobody noticed that either.

It might’ve felt exactly like old times, except the old Shiloh didn’t get to talk strategy so directly with her pokemon after each match.

Then came the moment of their final match against the only other serious contender for World Champion, a trainer from Pallet Town in Kanto. Lane's whole team stood in front of the camera, with Shiloh in her arms. She'd spent most of the time there, since having so many humans around still made her nervous. She would get used to it eventually, but in the meantime she couldn't blend in nearly as well as the mew could.

Lane relied on telepathy to get most of her answers about strategy and tactics, supplied silently by Shiloh. Until the final question in her interview, when the reporter turned the camera on the Victini. 

"I know you raised some eyebrows with the name you gave the first position on your team," the reporter said. "Do you think it might've been in poor taste to use the name of a dead trainer? Couldn't you name it something else?"

Lane stroked two fingers down Shiloh's ears, grinning back at the camera. "I've never mentioned where I caught her. I don't want to disturb any specific ecosystems, or encourage trainers to venture to dangerous places to find Pokémon that probably won't be there. But Shiloh here—I caught her in Orre. Everyone knows how much he modeled his career on Victini's legendary spirit of victory. She chose the name herself, without any suggestion from me."

"Chose it herself?" the reporter asked, narrowing her eyes. "What do you mean by that?"

Lane smiled innocently back. "I know Champion Shiloh would rather be doing this interview right now. But since they can't—I can't think of a more fitting tribute than a victini named after them becoming the first world champion. Can you?"

The reporter laughed, pulling back the microphone. "I guess not."