The island guardian deity of Poni Island, Tapu Fini, possesses truly miraculous powers. It can condense clear waters that purify all impurities and summon thick mists that intertwine the present world with the afterlife.
Within the mist, those who carry lingering attachments, regrets, or yearn to reunite with a deceased loved one may have the chance to realize their wish—to meet that person once more in this wondrous realm where the living world and the beyond overlap.
People who seek the clear waters. People who seek the footprints of the departed.
Such legends have drawn countless individuals in search of Tapu Fini's traces, sparking numerous conflicts and disputes. In the end, it provoked the guardian deity's wrath. The nature of the dense fog changed, trapping many greedy souls within the mist so they could never return to the present world.
——
When seeking something, an invisible price often accompanies it.
In that world where the present and the beyond intertwine, a single misstep or unresolved obsession will cause one to become lost forever, unable to return to the living world.
After experiencing many things, the current Tapu Fini has come to revere its own power and resolved never to misuse it again.
The mist it generated this time only enveloped the Dragonite leader, Lucas, and Dragonite. Before they vanished from sight, Tapu Fini let out a soft cry.
"Lay-hee." (I will be waiting for your return.)
Having been enveloped by the mist several times before, Lucas and Dragonite were already quite familiar with the process.
In contrast, the Dragonite leader—who had temporarily regained mental clarity under the power of Calyrex—looked around in confusion.
Under the influence of its lingering attachment, the seemingly endless world shrouded in mist suddenly began to change.
The Dragonite leader seemed to realize something. It took a step forward and dashed madly in one direction.
Lucas and Dragonite had no such obsessions, but they knew they had to stay close to the Dragonite leader. Otherwise, even a moment's lapse would cause them to lose track of each other.
The trainer and the dragon hurried after it, yet those mere dozens of steps felt like crossing vast distances through space.
What should have been the open area near Thunder Lake had transformed into a hazy lakeshore enveloped in thick fog.
Ahead lay a lake island covered in a blooming flower field.
Lucas instantly realized that he was no longer in Los Platos—he had appeared at the Casseroya Lake, thousands of miles away!
"…As expected, it has something to do with space. That Tapu Fini connects parallel worlds through this mist as well."
As he reached this conclusion, Lucas and Dragonite stopped in unison and looked forward.
——
Because, in the flower field on that lake island, a figure stood quietly.
It was not an elderly person on the verge of death, nor a middle-aged woman who had given up on her dreams to live an ordinary life. It was the young girl from the Dragonite leader's memories—the one with two braided pigtails, dressed as a mail carrier.
Although he had never seen her in person, Lucas instantly understood that this was the mail carrier named Ria, the one who had formed a deep bond with the Dragonite leader.
"Bo-woo!"
At that moment, the Dragonite leader's voice trembled as it poured all its strength and speed into running toward the figure.
When it truly pulled the still-slender girl into its embrace, nearly ten years of longing and regret poured out as tears. Though its body was far larger than hers, the Dragonite leader cried like a child.
"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry… I couldn't say goodbye to you. I left before you came back…"
"You must have suffered so much…"
Though she appeared as a young girl, her voice was aged yet gentle.
She simply held the Dragonite leader's body, repeatedly voicing her apologies.
Can the deceased truly know what their loved ones experienced and felt after they passed?
From Ria's reaction, Lucas felt he had the answer.
The dense mist blocked every ray of sunlight, yet at this moment, a beam of light pierced the Dragonite leader's once-closed heart.
Its obsession had always been this: regretting that it hadn't spent the final moments with the most important person, regretting that it hadn't said a proper goodbye, regretting its own self-deception.
Sadness? Resentment? Awkwardness?
No, how could such emotions arise? Meeting a deceased person one could never see again was already a miracle. The Dragonite leader clung greedily to the girl's slender figure, unwilling to let go.
Lucas and Dragonite still remembered Tapu Fini's warning. They wondered whether they should intervene in this touching scene.
But Ria seemed to understand the restrictions of this misty world better than they did.
Just like the deceased people and Pokémon from Poni Island that Tapu Fini had once summoned.
After a brief moment of warmth, Ria lifted her face from the Dragonite leader's soft belly and whispered softly, "Time is almost up. Let go of me, Dragonite."
"Bo-woo!"
The Dragonite leader only hugged her tighter, ignoring everything else.
They had finally met—couldn't they stay a little longer? Couldn't she leave with it? If not, it could stay here with Ria!
Sensing the Dragonite leader's childish reluctance, Ria's voice took on a helpless tone.
"Miracles are hard to come by. Being able to cross the present world and the beyond to see you once more and resolve my regrets and the pain I caused you… I am already very satisfied."
"Your future path is still very long. Please don't let me hold you back, okay? Be good~"
Ria's tone was just like when she used to coax Dragonair into taking bitter medicine. Whenever the Dragonite leader looked into her eyes at times like this, it could never bring itself to refuse her.
"Is that your child? It has grown up so healthy. And those Dragonair—they are all waiting for you."
Under the Dragonite leader's surprised expression, Ria spoke with a smile, as if she had long known all its secrets.
After so many years together, she could tell with a single glance whether the Dragonite leader wanted a pat or to roll around just by the way it moved.
Secrets the Dragonite leader had never revealed to anyone were simply things she understood without needing to be told.
Slipping free from the surprised Dragonite leader's embrace, Ria waved to Lucas and Dragonite, who were standing awkwardly nearby.
As the trainer and dragon approached, Ria—with the appearance of a young girl—exuded the warm aura of a kind elder.
"This is Dragonite's child, so you must be this child's trainer?"
Ria looked Lucas and Dragonite up and down, her eyes filled with gentle amusement.
"Bo-woo~"
"Hello, Grandma Ria."
Feeling a bit awkward greeting someone who looked about the same size as Nemona or Poppy, neither Dragonite nor Lucas had time to dwell on it.
He simply thought: So this is what it feels like to talk with the deceased… How marvelous.
"Hello."
Ria took Dragonite's chubby claw in one hand and Lucas's hand in the other.
"Are you a trainer? What has the Paldea region become like now?"
"Yes, though my main responsibility these days is running a farm."
"…Education is now fully universal in Paldea. Anyone who wants to can become a trainer. Schools and the League provide starter Pokémon for free, travel has subsidies, and the Nurse Joys at Pokémon Centers are very kind. Even while working part-time, you can save enough to raise Pokémon."
Lucas introduced the changes in Paldea to Ria as concisely as possible.
From the Dragonite leader's memories, it was clear that although she hadn't fulfilled her childhood dreams, she sincerely hoped the region would become better.
"I see. That's wonderful."
Listening with a bright smile, Ria was genuinely happy for the current state of Paldea.
The surrounding mist seemed to grow a little thinner. A gentle breeze blew past, carrying away petals from the blooming flowers in the field.
This was Tapu Fini reminding them that time was almost up.
"It seems it really is time to say goodbye."
Ria sighed softly. How could she bear to leave again?
But some things had to be decided by her. She could not remain a knot that continued to bind Dragonite's heart.
She turned to the Dragonite leader, whose eyes were red with reluctance, and gently pressed her cheek against its belly.
"It's not that I want you to forget me. I hope you will keep moving forward. Even if you can't see me, I will always be by your side."
"I'm so glad I could say goodbye to you in person this time."
"It was wonderful that Dragonair got to meet you."
Her voice, choked with tears yet infinitely gentle, gradually faded as the mist grew thinner.
Ria's figure began to dissolve into pure points of light, slowly disappearing before the Dragonite leader.
The Dragonite leader stared dazedly into those eyes filled with blessings.
The regret in its heart was filled. The knot that had bound it was personally untied by the person it held dearest.
The time of the Dragonite leader—which had been frozen since the moment Ria passed away—slowly began to flow once more.
Wiping away its tears, the Dragonite leader straightened the hat on its head, adjusted the satchel on its shoulder, and smiled.
"Bo-woo." (I love you the most, Ria.)
…
7:00 AM. Los Platos, People's Road No. 145.
The doorbell of a single-family house rang precisely on time.
Naruto, who had long grown used to a delivery person bringing fresh Moomoo Milk at this hour every day, straightened the tie around his neck and called out "Coming!" before heading to the entrance with practiced ease.
At the same time, his still-groggy, just-woken mind was wondering which delivery "individual" would arrive today.
Yes—at least when counting the delivery staff from that farm, individual was more appropriate.
This was one of the farm's special features. They used Corviknight Pokémon as delivery staff, and mistakes or missed deliveries were almost nonexistent. They were extremely reliable.
It had already been over half a year since Naruto started ordering Moomoo Milk from that farm.
His daughter, who used to get sick often, had become much healthier and had recently begun growing taller at regular intervals, like a sprouting plant.
Since Chairwoman Geeta's bold reforms, the school issues they had worried about had also been resolved.
This way, he and his wife could confidently send their daughter to the Naranja Academy in Mesagoza next year to experience boarding school life.
His work had progressed well during this time too—he had received a promotion and a raise, had more time to spend with his wife and child, and finances were no longer as tight as before.
It seemed that all these positive changes had begun after they started ordering milk from that farm.
Some time ago, the farm had even openly advertised during the Champion Assessment live broadcast, which had caused a huge stir and discussion across the entire Paldea region—even his company boss had mentioned it.
Although the timing wasn't perfect, Naruto still felt a strange sense of pride that his treasured farm had been discovered by the world.
Nowadays in Los Platos, the delivery team of Corviknight and Corvisquire was quite popular.
These Corviknight, each with distinct personalities, could be told apart at a glance.
Especially their leader—the majestic Corviknight with three claw marks on its chest—which had even influenced some children's choice of starter Pokémon.
Besides the Corviknight delivery staff, occasionally a rarer "delivery worker" would appear: a silly yet very popular among kids Dragonite.
But once you remembered the identity of the farm's owner, none of it seemed strange anymore.
Naruto occasionally encountered that Dragonite making deliveries. Once, his daughter Himawari had been awake and even took a photo with it.
The photo was still framed and displayed at home.
Getting milk every morning felt like opening a blind box—you could never get enough of it.
Perhaps this was one of the reasons why Naruto and many other families continued to subscribe faithfully.
All these thoughts did not stop Naruto from quickly opening the door.
What greeted his eyes was an incredibly soft cream-colored belly and a somewhat silly-looking body covered in orange-yellow dragon scales.
"Jackpot today!"
Just as that joyful thought flashed through Naruto's mind, he suddenly noticed something was off.
This Dragonite was taking three bottles of Moomoo Milk and one bottle of Fresh Grass Goat Milk from its somewhat worn satchel and handing them to him. At the same time, its deep, gentle voice sounded.
"Bo-woo~"
When Naruto looked up, he saw that the other party was wearing a red-topped, black-brimmed hat. From the outfit, it clearly looked more like a mail carrier than a simple delivery worker.
Logically, the Dragonite had just dressed up a bit.
But some instinct made Naruto instantly realize that although this was also a Dragonite, it was not the same one that had come before.
——If he had to say why, it was the eyes. They seemed to have experienced a great deal—somewhat weathered, yet still filled with gentleness.
Moreover, the hat, the satchel, and the overall image gave Naruto a faint sense of familiarity.
Behind him came his wife Hinata's puzzled call. The stunned Naruto hurriedly accepted the glass bottles from the tilting-headed Dragonite, thanked it, and watched it fly away before using his foot to hook the door handle shut.
Even after sitting at the dining table with a half-drunk opened bottle of milk in front of him, Naruto was still wondering why the outfit looked so familiar.
Then, in a flash, inspiration struck like a comet hitting Earth.
He put down his chopsticks, ignored his wife's confused expression, and rushed to the storage room to start rummaging.
Soon, he was holding a dusty little box.
Every boy probably has his own "treasure box" from childhood. This small box was the one that carried and sealed Naruto's childhood memories.
Blowing off the dust, Naruto carefully opened the box and searched inside.
Before long, he was holding a slightly yellowed postage stamp.
On it was faintly outlined the image of a cute, silly-looking Dragonite wearing a hat and carrying a satchel.
He remembered that when he was a child, collecting such stamps had been a trend among kids. This particular stamp held a very special place in his childhood memories.
Back then, mailing letters was still popular in Paldea, and the Paldea Post Office had not yet gradually declined.
If one were to name the post office's biggest "star" at the time, it would definitely be a Dragonite mail carrier.
The stamp in Naruto's hand had been a limited free issue featuring that Dragonite's image.
Because the quota was limited, he remembered scavenging all the postcards in the house and sending them off in one go.
Even though he got a beating from his parents when they found out, the young Naruto felt like he had the whole world when he received the stamp personally delivered by that "star" Dragonite mail carrier.
Looking at the stamp, childhood memories resurfaced one after another.
He remembered that the Dragonite mail carrier had been dressed exactly like the one just now.
"Just cosplaying…?"
Naruto was unsure whether it really was that same Dragonite mail carrier.
But later, as the post office began closing due to poor management, the Dragonite disappeared.
He recalled that as an adult, when he passed by the post office—which had changed and now focused on express delivery—he seemed to have seen a "Missing Dragon Notice" posted at the entrance.
He couldn't remember the details clearly. At the time, he had simply hoped that the Dragonite mail carrier, who carried so many of his happy childhood memories, was safe and sound.
Letting out a breath, Naruto carefully placed the stamp back into the small box and murmured to himself.
"If it really is her… then that's wonderful."
…