Final Farewells
John finished off his last opponent with a blow to the cranium. The young Magma operative sank to his knees with a groan, and then collapsed into the dusty mountain soil.
Marcus, fighting nearby, disengaged to allow his Nidoking, Rex, to dispatch the savage young woman he fought. His right arm hung limply at his side, damaged in the fighting. “Is that all of them?” John’s future son-in-law called.
“I think so,” John replied. He surveyed the mountain. The rebel fighters had managed to push most of the Magma and Aqua troops back, forcing some to flee all the way to Lilycove. Most of the rest had taken refuge on the upper floors of the mausoleum, or were massing around the shrine at the summit, hoping that the rebels would leave it alone.
Already, John had ordered a sizable piece of their force back down the mountain to wait at the water’s edge. Soon, all the rebels would be in retreat, back to reclaim Fortree City.
A red and yellow streak leapt from the rocks to John’s left. “Vic! Victini! Tini! Tini!”
“Athena?” Marcus gasped. “What are you doing here? Where’s Cole?”
The small pokemon madly gesticulated up the mountain. “Is he in trouble?” Athena nodded furiously. “Where are his other pokemon?”
Athena said a long string of words before realizing that the humans couldn’t understand her like Cole could. John knelt down, ignoring his protesting muscles. “Are they getting the others to help?” Athena nodded. “Then take us to Cole.”
Athena bounded up the slope, using psychic energy to leap much higher than her physiology would allow. John, Marcus, and their pokemon ran behind her as fast as their tired bodies would allow.
They were soon joined by Cole’s companion, Magnus. The old man seemed to show no sign of fatigue, easily keeping pace with the racing Scathatch. They reached an odd pile of boulders at the same time as Sin, Lisana and the Seven, who were led by Thor and Maeve, respectively.
“Where’s Cole?” Sin asked.
Maeve pointed to the boulders. “You mean…?” Nick gasped. The Weavile nodded. “How long has he been under there? Since we left?”
Maeve glanced up at the setting moon, and scratched out a few letters in the dirt. T-W-O H-O-U-R-S. Seithios balled his fists. “There might still be hope! Rhyperior, Garchomp, Excadrill! Start moving those boulders!”
All of the other trainers likewise gave the order. Even in their exhausted states, they tried to shift the rocks in any way they could. Cole’s pokemon, while overall not having much physical strength, pushed against boulders with sheer body mass and willpower. After watching for a handful of minutes, John cried out.
“This isn’t fast enough!” He raced to his Machamp’s side and began to try and haul boulders away himself with his nearly inhuman strength. Despite being old and tired, he made a valiant effort, and inspired all the others to try likewise.
They cleared the giant pile of stones until their knuckles bled, and their arms ached from the endeavor. After an eternity of struggle, they cleared away enough boulders to reveal Charizard and Masamune buried up to their midriffs in a pit of sand.
“Where’s Cole?” Julia murmured.
“That can wait!” Kim replied. “We have to get them out of there!”
Seithios’s ground types waded into the sand and drew Charizard and Masamune out. Both were unconscious, and barely alive. Charizard had major skin lacerations from the boulders falling, while Masamune seemed to have more intentional wounds. Lexa, Colette and Cole’s other pokemon immediately surrounded them, trying to offer medical attention.
Maybe it was John’s eyesight failing him, but he thought he glimpsed Nick’s eyes flashing gold. “Look there!” the young man cried, and pointed to a point in the middle of the sand pit. On inspection, John could faintly make out a hand and a very pale outline of a face.
Once again, Garchomp waded out into the sand, and drew out the Firebrand. He was barely breathing, and his pulse was faint. The dragon deposited him lightly in John’s arms. The muscular man knelt, and cradled Cole’s head in his hands.
(A/N: Remember how several chapters ago I linked to a Les Mis song mid chapter because it would help with the flow? I'm doing it again, because the following song song is very powerful, and must be done justice)
“Arceus on high, hear my prayer.” Tears formed in his eyes as he looked down on Cole’s broken body. “In my need, you have always been there.” He brushed Cole’s long, dark hair from his eyes. “He is young, he was afraid. Let him rest, heaven blessed.”
John raised his eyes to the heavens and cried out. “Bring him home, bring him home!” He bent over Cole’s body again, his voice breaking. “Bring… him… home.”
Clasping Cole’s limp hand in his, John went on. “He’s like the son I might have known… if You had granted me a son. The sons must die, one by one! How soon they fly, on and on! And I am old… and will be gone…”
Slowly, Cole’s friends gathered closer, drawn in by John’s seemingly magical song. Oblivious to this, John continued in his hymn. “Bring him peace, bring him joy. He was young… he was only a boy. You can take, You can give.”
Again, John looked up at the stars. “Let him be! Let him live! Bring him home, bring him home…” Tears fell from John’s face, leaving tracks in the dirt and grime. They fell onto Cole’s peaceful, pale visage, and pooled there. “Bring… him… home…”
Cole gasped a shaky, rasping breath. Everyone drew closer, awaiting the Firebrand’s revival. However, the breath died off, and his pulse faded away to nothing.
***
Cole didn’t feel pain anymore. He wasn’t tired, his muscles didn’t ache. He was drifting through an endless darkness that was strangely comforting. He was warm, and safe. If this was death, then he couldn’t really say he minded too much.
“Who can say… if I’ve been changed… for the better?”
Cole did not say that. It came from nowhere, it came from everywhere. The voice continued. “I’m limited. Look at me. I’m limited.”
The words were heart wrenchingly familiar, but he could not place them. “Now it’s up to you…” the voice murmured. “For both of us. Now it’s up to you.”
Cole tried to call out, to demand this strange presence reveal itself. But he found he could not speak. The Presence seemed to draw nearer. “Who can say… if I’ve been changed for the better? I do believe I have been changed for the better.”
A glowing figure appeared before Cole, seeming to take the shape of a human. “Who can say if I’ve been changed for the better? But because I knew you… I have been changed… for… good.”
Suddenly, all the pieces fell into place. Cole forced one sound, one letter from his throat. “N.” That song… those were N’s last words, as he lay dying in Cole’s arms at the climax of the Omega War.
The figure before Cole flashed brightly, and revealed the green-haired youth. He hadn’t aged a day, but there was a significant change. N’s eyes, once haunted by the atrocities he had seen, and the damage he had caused, were clear. They were the eyes of an innocent child. His mouth was turned up in a warm smile.
N beckoned to Cole, and began to drift away, into a giant circle of bright light somewhere in the distance. Cole found he could move his legs, and sprinted after his deceased friend.
Everyone said that you saw a light when you died, and if you went towards the light, that was it. The end. You were in the afterlife, or maybe reincarnated, or just gone, a part of the infinite cosmos. It didn’t matter. N was leading him to it, so Cole would follow. He would leave his broken mortal shell behind, and pass on to the next existence.
He entered the light, and saw N vanish. “You have work to do,” the young man whispered. “We’ll meet again someday. But not now. You still have work to do.”
***
All Cole could feel was pain, everywhere. Not an inch of his body wasn’t screaming in mortal agony. A drop fell onto his face, and Cole felt a warm weight on his right hand.
“J-John?” he rasped, trying to take in the hazy figure above him.
“Cole? Cole!” John embraced him, gently but firmly. “You were dead! But my prayers… they were answered!”
Cole glanced around at all his friends. Magnus helped him to his feet. “It’s time to move on Cole. The Gate is not far from here.”
“Was… was I really dead? Did we win?”
Marcus nodded, then winced as his hand sent a twinge of pain up through his body. “To the second question, yes. We held them off, and pushed them up to the top of the mountain. To the first… yeah. You were dead.”
Sin placed a hand on Cole’s shoulder. “You stopped breathing for ten minutes. Your pulse was gone.”
Cole placed a hand over his heart, and felt the steady beat of the organ. The fact that he had died lay heavily upon him. It was only by the intercession of a higher power that he was here now. Or maybe it was N’s intercession, and Arceus had nothing to do with it.
Then, he noticed Charizard and Masamune. Ignoring the pain in his legs, he ran to their side. “Masamune… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have let you do this…” He looked beseechingly at Lexa. “Will he live?”
The young woman shrugged. “It’s touch and go, at the moment. I can’t make any guarantees. He’ll need specialized care. If you get through the Gate, and come out somewhere near a pokemon center, then probably. But he’ll bear the scars for a long time, and he might never get back to full strength again, not without proper rehabilitation.”
“What about Charizard?”
Colette rubbed the dragon’s side. “He sustained some major cuts, but if you take steps to stave off infection, Charizard will live with minimal damage. His chance of survival is much higher than Masamune’s.”
“Can I return them to their pokeballs? Are they stable enough?”
Lexa nodded. “Just be careful with Masamune.”
With two flashes of red light, the large pokemon vanished. Maeve took Cole’s hand in her claw, being very gentle. “We need to go.”
Cole scratched her behind her crest. “I know. All right. Let’s move on, Magnus.”
The old man led the entire group two hundred yards up the mountain. On a ledge, there was a large, obsidian Gate set into the mountainside. From the way all of his friends looked past it, Cole was certain only he, Magnus, and their pokemon could see it.
“Marcus, Lexa, Colette, come with me. We can get treatment for your arm, Marcus, while Lexa and Colette get medical supplies. And give me any injured pokemon, I’ll take those too.” He looked around. “Julia, you need to get that cut looked at, it’s deep. Winona, that burn might fester. And Lucian, your left leg isn’t looking good…”
“They can’t come with you,” Magnus said flatly.
“What?” Cole cried. “But they need help!”
“The Gates are one way, they could not return. And they have not been recognized as worthy. No, only you and I can pass through the Gates.”
Nick and Anna hugged Cole. “Don’t worry about us,” the young woman whispered. “We’ll be all right. We can handle this. We’ll win.”
“But… this isn’t fair!” Cole murmured. “I can’t just leave you all here! Magnus, I’m staying!”
“No, you’re not,” John said firmly. “We need you to get out. Send aid. That’s the best you can do. Besides, Masamune needs medical care we simply cannot provide, even with the Fortree Pokemon Center. You’re a powerful figure in the world, Cole. If anyone can bring help, it’s you.”
“I won’t leave you like this!” Cole moaned. He sounded like a petulant child, but he didn’t care.
Julia began to sing softly, her hands running through Orrin’s fur. “Do you hear the people sing, lost in the valley of the night? It is a music of a people who are climbing to the light.”
Cole recognized the tune from one of their work songs, but the words were different. Marcus and Colette joined her. “All you wretched of the earth, there is a flame that never dies. Even the darkest nights will end and the sun will rise.”
John and Winona added their voices. “We will live again in freedom in the Gardens of Origin. We will put away the sword. The chain will be broken the righteous will have their reward!”
“Will you join in our crusade?” Sin sang.
“Who will be strong and stand with me?” Lisana echoed.
In unison, the members of Cole’s work group and the Seven all broke into song. Tears ran down Cole’s face, the salt stinging the still-fresh wounds. “Do you hear the people sing? Say do you hear the distant drum? It is the future that they bring when tomorrow comes!”
The song started again, this time with more power and energy. Cole wiped the tears away with the back of his hand. On his shoulder, Athena heaved with silent sobs. Maeve used her claw to hide her own sorrow.
“I hear them,” Cole whispered. “I hear the world in song.”
The Gate opened with a flash of light, and Mount Pyre vanished.
***
Cole fell to the ground. The late evening sun warmed the back of his neck. With his right hand, he felt the soft blades of grass that he lay upon. He heard Scathatch, Thor and Maeve rising next to him. The soft songs of Pidgey resounded sleepily in the trees.
Cole pushed himself to his feet, feeling every bone, ever fiber of his being ache. Slowly, he took in his surroundings. This familiar hill. That familiar pond. The houses in the distance. The dirt lane that sliced through the grass. He knew this place.
He staggered down the road, searching for the one place he knew he had to go. The Gates and whatever mysterious force governed them had brought him here for a reason.
After walking for ten minutes, and nearly collapsing with exhaustion, he slumped against a door. He rapped his knuckles against the wood, painted a deep scarlet.
He knew someone would open it, and he would be welcome. Because this was Pallet Town. He was home. Finally, finally, home.
The door slid open, and Cole fell into the arms of a woman several years older than him. “Lisa… I’m back.”
This is the last Les Mis tie-in for... a while. I have a few more numbers I'd like to include.
The songs this chapter were Bring Him Home, and the reprise of Do You Hear the People Sing? in the Finale.
Either way, this trip to Hoenn is over. A new arc starts next chapter.