This autumn felt, in Dragonite's perception, like the longest one since Ria had gradually grown old.
Under its care—costing whatever it took, just as Ria had once done—the three Dratini evolved into Dragonair. Led by the little pink one that Dragonite had first taken in (the shiny Dragonair), they too gained the ability to protect themselves. This allowed Dragonite to focus more peacefully on caring for Ria, whose movements were gradually becoming inconvenient.
With the rapid development of the era, the post office where Dragonite worked gradually declined and could only consolidate its business, surviving on "express delivery" services. In truth, this didn't change much for Dragonite. Whether as an ace mail carrier or an ace delivery person, it remained an irreplaceable presence at the post office. Its ability to deliver packages to most regions on the planet within a single day even gradually became the post office's signature feature.
For Dragonite, which had not aged with time but had instead grown stronger, accomplishing such feats had become increasingly effortless. Yet it gradually lost the motivation to keep working. Dragonite wasn't sure whether it was because working without Ria's company had lost its appeal, or because of the extremely complicated feeling that had suddenly arisen after one air delivery to the Hoenn region. It had excitedly returned home carrying Hoenn's specialty Kettle Flame Senbei, only to be told by the neighbors that Ria had accidentally fallen. Thankfully they had noticed and promptly sent her to the hospital, where she was now resting.
Although the post office tried repeatedly to persuade it to stay, Dragonite still chose to resign and devote itself fully to accompanying Ria.
After leaving the hospital, Ria's physical condition became far worse than before. Dragonite mostly stayed by her side, only occasionally going to Casseroya Lake. It was also this autumn that the Paldea region finally established its own Pokémon League.
Dragonite clearly remembered how the wrinkled, kind-faced Ria pointed at the TV screen at a still-young and somewhat green woman named Geeta and said she believed Geeta would lead Paldea to become better and more prosperous. She sincerely hoped for that day to come.
Later, just as Ria had wished, after the Paldea Pokémon League was founded, the benefits she had never dared to dream of in her youth gradually became reality step by step.
Dragonite still remembered. Whenever Ria sat in her rocking chair by the window, gazing at the figures of boys and girls in their teens hurrying past outside, her eyes would always linger on the brand-new Poké Balls in their hands, and the corners of her mouth would curve into a satisfied smile. It was as if her long-ago wish had finally been fulfilled by these children in her stead.
Several years passed. Under Dragonite's meticulous care, Ria's health improved considerably. Unlike the previous few years when she could barely stand the wind, she was now able to sit in a wheelchair on clear days and be pushed around outside by Dragonite for a stroll.
There was also good news: during a routine visit to Casseroya Lake to reunite with the Dragonair sisters, Dragonite met eyes with a Dragon-type Pokémon passing through on migration, and together they produced a Pokémon Egg.
In Dragonite's view, this encounter was like a "dewdrop romance" in the human world—together for a brief time, leaving behind the next generation as proof of life's continuation, and then parting ways. After much hesitation, Dragonite felt that caring for Ria had already consumed most of its energy, so it chose to entrust its child—that Pokémon Egg—to the trusted Dragonair sisters rather than bringing it home.
Perhaps the new life inside the Egg was a bit shy or slow to warm up. Over these years it did not hatch immediately but remained in its egg state. It seemed to be accumulating strength, or perhaps waiting for the right opportunity to break out of its shell.
This situation was clearly beyond the experience of the Dragonair and Dragonite, who were incubating an egg for the first time. However, judging by the instincts engraved in their genes, although rare, the situation was not actually a big problem. For instance, among the Dragonair sisters, the pink Dragonair vaguely remembered staying inside its Egg longer than the other two before finally hatching.
For other Pokémon, a slow-hatching Egg might be fatal, since the nutrients inside were limited. If it didn't leave the Egg before they ran out, it could result in a dead egg. But for Dragonite's species these things were no issue. The Dragon-type Pokémon that had paired with Dragonite was also the leader of a migratory group. With both parents being powerful, the Egg naturally contained far more nutrients than an ordinary one. Moreover, Dratini were Pokémon that could grow on sunken scraps, so taking a bit longer inside the Egg really wasn't a big deal.
The Dragonair and Dragonite simply gathered often around the Egg, nurturing it with their own aura and energy. Although the child stayed inside the Egg for a long time, when it was born it would gain a faster growth rate that surpassed its own species.
Another autumn arrived—in this season of harvest accompanied by withering yellow.
After visiting the Dragonair sisters and its own child as usual, Dragonite carefully gathered flowers from beside Casseroya Lake and returned to the home that carried so many of its memories.
But this time, it saw Ria, who had been bedridden for so long, standing up and preparing lunch just like the ones in its memories.
No matter how much it understood the human world, a Pokémon was still fundamentally a pure-hearted creature. Even though its subconscious was frantically sounding alarms, Dragonite still wishfully believed that under its care Ria's illness had been cured and her body had recovered.
Only later did Dragonite learn that Ria had never been sick from the beginning. The fall a few years ago had only weakened her constitution somewhat. Under Dragonite's care, Ria's physical condition had actually been quite healthy. What could not be defied was simply time.
That night, Dragonite once again squeezed into the same bed with Ria, just as it had when they first met and it was still a Dragonair. Dragonite carefully curled its body so its weight wouldn't burden Ria, supporting her as she lay on her side in its arms with its softest underbelly—just like decades ago, when the clingy Dragonair had coiled around the helpless yet indulgent girl.
Perhaps at the moment when that time arrived, everyone would have a faint premonition in their hearts. Ria stayed awake all night, hugging Dragonite's plump and soft underbelly, chattering about many things and reminiscing about every little moment of their journey together. She also said that since Dragonite had enjoyed today's lunch and dinner so much, tomorrow she would try her best to prepare a lavish lunch and dinner for it as well.
Gradually, perhaps tired, Ria closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep. Dragonite stayed by her side until the sun was high in the sky. After confirming that Ria's breathing was steady and she was simply sleeping soundly, Dragonite carefully left the bed without waking her.
Today it had something to handle—a request from someone at the old post office who had always taken good care of it and Ria. Dragonite found it hard to refuse. It needed to deliver a letter to a corner of the Paldea region. With Dragonite's flying speed, it could be done in less than an hour, so it accepted the task.
The light breeze stirred up by Dragonite's wings as it flew off with the letter rustled the flowers arranged in the vase by the window and blew down the last withered yellow leaf from the old tree in the yard.
But when Dragonite finished delivering the letter and excitedly returned to the familiar house, what awaited it was not a table of steaming hot food. In front of the small home belonging to Dragonite and Ria, neighbors had gathered. Among them, the child who had always been close to Ria hugged the landing Dragonite, crying and saying things that Dragonite could barely make out.
Dragonite struggled to extract some information from the child. Not long after it had left, the child had excitedly rushed over with his Naranja Academy admission notice, wanting to share the good news with Grandma Ria, who had always been so kind to him. But he found her sleeping very soundly and unresponsive even to knocking. The child had simply thought Ria was a bit sleepier than usual and didn't pay it much mind.
It was only after he went home and told his elders, and a concerned neighbor came over to check again, that they noticed something was wrong. When they climbed through the window into the house, they found her with a faint, gentle smile on her lips, having sunk into a long, deep sleep.
Dragonite didn't remember the subsequent events very clearly. It only knew that it seemed to have participated in the funeral organized by the town's neighbors like a puppet on strings, staring blankly as the wooden box containing the person dearest to its heart was buried in the earth, a stone tombstone erected, and the flowers it had picked yesterday from the flower field beside Casseroya Lake rested quietly against the tombstone.
All the facts it had deliberately avoided assaulted its defenses. Amid the neighbors' cries of alarm, Dragonite flew away from the funeral site like a falling star, plunging into Casseroya Lake, only to be brought back to the lake island by the Dragonair that had sensed its presence.
Dragonite lived in a daze at Casseroya Lake for some time. Because it rarely spoke to the Dragonair about its own affairs, they didn't understand what was wrong with it. Gradually, Dragonite recovered and calmly told the Dragonair that it would be away for a while. To the Dragonair, Dragonite often did this, so they didn't find it strange. After entrusting them with the care of the Pokémon Egg, the Dragonair saw Dragonite off.
But from that day on, Dragonite never returned to Casseroya Lake again.
Dragonite did not believe what the neighbors had told it. It believed that Ria had simply hidden the fact that she was going on a journey, just like the countless times they had dreamed together—of traveling across Paldea and even other regions. Ria must be waiting somewhere in the world for it to find her.
Thinking this way, Dragonite began a solitary journey. Until one day—when even it no longer knew how much time had passed—it encountered a humanoid Pokémon emanating a powerful aura.
The other party stared at it for a long time before slowly speaking in a cold voice: "You're about to break."
Dragonite didn't understand what the other meant. Thinking only that Ria should still be waiting for it somewhere, it turned to leave. Perhaps a trace of pity stirred within the humanoid Pokémon. It bound Dragonite with powerful psychic power and spoke in a tone like a notification:
"Anyway, you'll break down like this. Why not become my messenger and work for me? In return, I will let you live within an illusion that may be salvation for you."
The moment the other party's words fell, a light appeared once more in Dragonite's world. Gazing at the figure of that girl who had appeared beside it. She was holding the bouquet of flowers it had gathered, smiling as beautifully as when it had first woken up on the sickbed and seen the girl.
Watching this scene, the humanoid Pokémon fell silent for a few seconds before letting out a cold snort.
"From beginning to end, relationships between beings with mismatched lifespans only add to the sorrow. …If no bond had been formed from the start, there would have been no hurt at all."
The memory ended here. Dragonite Leader's recollections also stopped at that autumn.
With Calyrex's help, Lucas transmitted the memories of Dragonite Leader that he had once obtained from Mewtwo to Tapu Fini, who had returned from the South Paldea Sea. From what he knew, the small town where Dragonite Leader and Ria had once lived was now abandoned, and the people who had lived there had long since moved away to unknown places. Although when he, Dragonite, and the Dratini had gone to check, the tombstone was still well preserved, albeit overgrown with weeds.
After consideration, however, they did not take Dragonite Leader there directly. Instead, they waited for an opportunity, trying first to resolve Dragonite Leader's heart knot and obsession through Tapu Fini's mist or Celebi's time-travel abilities.
From Dragonite Leader's memories, Lucas guessed that its greatest regret was probably not having properly bid farewell to Ria and choosing self-deception from the very beginning. It hadn't even accompanied Ria through the final moments of her life that autumn. With so many regrets that could not be mended, and Dragonite Leader unwilling to accept the reality that Ria had passed away, its mind had begun to falter. It had left the Paldea region alone and wandered the world searching for "footprints that did not exist."
"Lei-fin…"
After reviewing all the memories, Tapu Fini's expression grew somewhat complicated. Indeed, as the guardian deity who controlled the wondrous power of mist, it had witnessed countless partings between life and death. There had once been countless people unable to bear the separation of life and death who had prayed for its power, wishing to see the departed one more time.
Among such people, Tapu Fini had often not granted their wishes freely. It had once been a guardian deity that disliked humans, resenting how the nature of Poni Island had been developed. No matter how touching the story, it would set trials according to its mood and watch coldly as those people struggled. Only when the mood struck would it unfold the mist.
But after experiencing many things, Tapu Fini had changed a great deal. Now it felt a strong resonance with such warm yet sorrowful stories.
Tapu Fini's gaze fell on Dragonite Leader, which—under the influence of Calyrex's power—had regained a moment of clarity and was looking at it with hopeful eyes. Tapu Fini closed its eyes.
Since it possessed this power, it must fear and respect it. It would not open that mist again except in special circumstances. But Dragonite Leader and Ria's story had moved it.
No bond allowed? No!
It possessed the power to mend this regret! Just as if refuting the words Mewtwo had spoken in the memory, Tapu Fini unfolded its rich, pure white mist.