Luther had so many questions. How had Mawile recognized him after all these years? Was it his scent, or something else? He wanted to know where the three of them had been hiding, and how they had survived these past twenty years.
But Mawile just kept crying, her sobs thick with years of hurt and longing.
Darkrai had already released Wigglytuff and Amaura. The moment they saw Mawile crying, both of them rushed over, threw themselves against Luther, and burst into tears as well.
Without a word, Mira and Candice quietly backed away, leaving Luther alone with them.
Only after Mawile's sobs began to quiet down did Luther gently stroke her cheeks, asking the question that had been weighing on him most. Mawile sniffled, her nose twitching as she caught his scent again, then reached out and gently patted his face.
"My scent... and my face?" Luther asked in surprise, touching his cheek.
Mawile shook her head and pointed straight at his eyes.
To remember someone's scent for twenty years... and to recognize a child who had grown into an adult just from his eyes, it was an incredible feat.
Luther found it hard to believe.
He'd always thought people saying 'You have your mother's eyes' or 'You look just like your father' was nothing more than polite small talk relatives made when they ran out of things to say.
But when Wigglytuff and Amaura nodded in agreement, he had no choice but to believe it. The three Pokémon were entirely certain. They had recognized him instantly.
---
Darkrai's psychic power suddenly conveyed a series of hazy memories, giving Luther fleeting glimpses of what the three Pokémon had gone through over the past twenty years.
After Luther vanished, they had searched along Sinnoh's entire coastline for any trace of him. They had befriended wild Pokémon around Mt. Coronet. At one point, they had even fought off a family of Golem just to secure a resting place inside an abandoned mine.
Eventually, Amaura's health began to fail. Left with no choice, they returned her to her Poké Ball and hurried north toward the colder climate.
Wigglytuff stayed behind in the snowy mountains to care for Amaura, while Mawile searched alone, treating Snowpoint City as the center of an ever-expanding search grid. She desperately looked everywhere for any news of Luther.
When she finally realized it was hopeless, she and Wigglytuff started taking turns resting inside their Poké Balls to conserve stamina and food while the other stayed outside to keep lookout.
That was why Mawile had been alone when they first arrived.
---
The three Pokémon clung tightly to Luther, refusing to let go, as if afraid he would vanish again if they loosened their grip for even a second. His eyes began to sting.
He suddenly thought of Musharna. Musharna had spent twenty years waiting faithfully inside the old house, holding onto the belief that her trainers would one day return. Mawile, Wigglytuff, and Amaura had spent those same twenty years doing the exact opposite.
They had searched endlessly.
Limiting their search to the Snowpoint area meant finding Luther was next to impossible.
Yet every time Mawile recovered enough strength, she stubbornly set out again, trying to find him among millions of people.
It was a hopeless task. Even knowing members of the Hodgepodge Organization might still be watching, even with the constant danger... they had never stopped looking.
---
Without warning, Amaura pulled away from Luther and sprinted off at astonishing speed. Still holding Mawile and Wigglytuff, Luther couldn't react fast enough to stop her. He started to give chase, but Mawile grabbed his sleeve, signaling for him to wait.
A few minutes later, Amaura came running back. She was panting heavily, steam rising from her cold skin, carrying a metal box caked in ice and snow.
Mawile stepped forward. Using the massive jaws on the back of her head, she used 'Crunch' to gently crush the thick layer of ice, then snapped the rusted lock with a single strike.
She carefully handed the dented metal box to Luther. His hands trembled. He already knew what was inside.
Slowly, he opened the lid. Inside was a vacuum-sealed bag, and resting quietly within it was a diary.
Twenty years had passed, and time had changed everything else, yet the diary looked almost exactly as it had the day it was sealed away.
Luther carefully opened the airtight bag and lifted out the notebook with trembling hands. Taking a deep breath, surrounded by the Pokémon who had waited for him all these years, he opened it.
As he did, a loose sheet of paper slipped from between the pages. Looking closer, he realized it hadn't originally been part of the diary at all—someone had deliberately tucked it inside.
It was a letter, written in two distinct handwritings. It was remarkably short:
"How you choose to deal with this diary is entirely up to you."
"Luther, your mother loves you."
"Luther, your father loves you."
"We're sorry we couldn't be there to watch you grow up."
Tears spilled uncontrollably down Luther's face. These were the most heartfelt words parents could ever leave for their child, crossing twenty years of time to finally reach him.
On the last page of the diary, his parents had written down their final wishes. If the diary never found its way to Luther, Mawile and the others were instructed to destroy it.
It wasn't that they were reluctant to share their research; they simply felt they lacked the knowledge and academic standing to judge its true value, or the impact it might have on the world.
But if the diary ever reached Luther in an era capable of handling its contents responsibly, he could use it to gain the attention and backing of the Pokémon League.
Everything they had done had been for Luther's future.
---
With tear-filled eyes, Luther said goodbye to Candice before bringing Mawile, Wigglytuff, and Amaura back to his parents' old home in Sun Heart City.
Warm afternoon sunlight streamed into the house, which had stood empty for more than twenty years. Overgrown ivy clung wildly to the exterior walls. Amaura seemed annoyed by the sight and abruptly tore it down, yanking at the vines with surprising force as if venting years of frustration.
Much of the interior had been destroyed during the Hodgepodge Organization's break-in years ago, leaving very little intact.
But Mai had arrived long before the rest of them. She had cleared away the dust and broken debris, carefully returning the furniture and surviving belongings to their proper places after the police investigation had left everything scattered.
Thanks to her, the house Luther and Mira stepped into felt clean, orderly, and alive once more.
Mawile and Wigglytuff wandered from room to room, looking for traces of the past. But the memories tied to this home had vanished along with the belongings that used to fill it.
Wigglytuff gently ran a hand over the slightly musty sofa, quietly drifting into old memories, while Mawile stood silently nearby, staring at the family photograph Oleander had given Luther.
Holding Mai's hand, Luther walked through every room. It almost felt as though he could still see faint echoes of his parents lingering there… their laughter, their tears, their arguments, their smiles. Every ordinary moment that had once made this place a home.
When they returned to the living room, Luther looked down at the family photo in one hand and pressed the diary against his chest. Smiling softly, he spoke into the quiet house.
"I'm doing well now. I have a life of my own, and I even became the champion of the Lily of the Valley Conference. I probably won't need the diary you left behind. I'll destroy it in front of Cynthia and the others. Some things... are better off disappearing from this world."
"I only came back today so Mawile and the others could see this place one last time. The neighborhood administrator told me the area is going to be redeveloped soon, so this house probably won't be here much longer."
Luther tightened his grip around Mai's hand.
"Thank you. I'm truly happy now. And... I love you too."
(End of Chapter)
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