The jet sliced through a bank of pink-gold clouds and dipped toward the sprawling valley below. Kina pressed her face to the window like a kid seeing snow for the first time, watching the massive estate complex grow larger — the galleries, the terraces, the training gardens, the fossil-wing… all of it bathed in late-afternoon light.
Cyrus leaned back, eyes half-closed, Blue Ditto snoring softly like a goo puddle on his chest. For a second, it felt almost normal.
Almost.
Because from the overhead storage bin, a soft, airy voice whispered:
"Don't worry, don't worry—Hoopa won't bother! Hoopa will be like—" a small golden ring spun in the air like a coin flip, "—not even here!"
Kina didn't even jump anymore. She just shot the ring a look like an irritated older sister.
"Uh-huh," she muttered. "Because that's been your specialty so far."
The ring giggled once, sweet and haunting, then zipped upward and vanished through a shimmer. The pressure in the cabin lightened — Hoopa was gone… or pretending to be.
Cyrus exhaled and scrubbed his face.
"At least it didn't steal the snacks again."
Ditto burbled in agreement, rolling off his chest like a sleepy water balloon.
The jet touched down with a soft thump.
Arrival at the King Estate
The car ride from the airstrip to the estate gates was short — but walking through those gates always added ten extra pounds of responsibility to Cyrus's shoulders. The place looked less like a home and more like a museum crossed with a research campus: sleek stone walkways, ancient artifacts displayed in climate-controlled cases, and Pokémon habitats integrated into the landscaping so perfectly it felt like a national park.
As Cyrus and Kina stepped out, the front doors swung open.
Joseph Von King — tall, broad-shouldered, comfy-looking sweater, beard that always made him seem like he smelled faintly of cedar — strode forward with a half-laugh, half-relieved breath.
"Cyrus!" he said, pulling his son into a rib-crusher of a hug. "You're safe. And in one piece. Mostly."
"It was a mountain, Dad. Not a war zone."
"After the holo-call you made yesterday?" Joseph arched a brow. "It sounded like a war zone."
Behind him, Dr. Maren Rei-King followed with a composed, analytical air — short hair swept to one side, glasses perched at the tip of her nose, lab coat still on despite clearly being off-shift for at least an hour. Her eyes immediately flicked over Cyrus like she was scanning for damage he forgot to mention.
Kina straightened up a bit — Dr. King had that effect on people.
"Welcome home," Maren said warmly before stepping in to hug Cyrus, then Kina with equally earnest affection. "We're glad you both made it back safely."
Kina smiled, cheeks dusting pink. "It's good to be here, Dr. King."
She nodded, then turned sharp scientist-mode on:
"And Hoopa? You're certain it followed you all the way down the mountain?"
Cyrus rubbed the back of his neck. "It's… definitely around. It showed up on the jet."
Joseph groaned. "Great. A mythical prank gremlin with a portal obsession lurking in my house. Wonderful."
"Dad…"
"What? It is."
Dr. King tapped her clipboard. "We'll discuss boundaries later. Mythicals often attach themselves to catalysts — events, people, energies. You two seem to have been all three."
"But," she added, and her voice softened, "what you did for that Titan Goodra was remarkable. The way it reacted to the binding solution tells us the surrounding region should begin stabilizing within the week."
Kina grinned, hands on hips. "Told you our calculations were solid."
"Mmh," Maren hummed with something like pride. "They were."
Joseph looked between all of them and clapped his hands together.
"Well then! You're home, you're not covered in slime, and the world hasn't collapsed. Let's get you two inside, fed, and properly debriefed before something else explodes."
Cyrus and Kina exchanged tired, relieved smiles — normalcy, even a sliver of it, felt good.
They stepped over the threshold.
A ring — small, gold, faintly glowing — flickered into existence behind them for half a heartbeat.
It whispered, delighted:
"Home looks fun…"
Then it vanished.