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EPILOGUE________________

“Happy birthday Senchi!” I put the cake in my hands on the table in front of my daughter. “How does it feel to be thirteen?”
“I've finally become a teenager!” Senchi smiled the biggest of grins. “Soon, I'll be driving!”
A shiver went down my spine, but I didn't show it. “Let's take this one year at a time, Senchi.”
“Where's dad?”
“He's at work, but we'll see him soon, I promise. Now blow out your candles before wax gets all over it!”
Senchi blew out the thirteen candles on the cake. I cut the cake after taking the candles out and served a piece each for Senchi and me and two other pieces for Kinichi and Ken and put them and the cake in the fridge. We enjoyed our ice cream cake, reminiscing about the past thirteen years that went by so fast.
Today was February 26th , Senchi's thirteenth birthday. I was now 35. It's been twenty years since Ken, Kinichi and I ended up in the pokemon world and met Chimchar. Since then, we all graduated high school and college and had our own lives, but we got together every now and then. Ken and I were married (how cliché) and Kinichi was still a single, but she was loving it. Since we returned to the human world twenty years earlier, Dialga and Palkia were able to make a portal back and forth between the human and pokemon world, so we could still see Monferno and explore together, helping keep the pokemon world safe. After we married, Ken took being an exploration member as his career of choice, much to his parents' disbelief.
I should probably explain what's been going on. When we returned to the human world, it was only a few minutes after we taken into the pokemon world. We never did find out who of what forced me and Ken into the portal in the first place and Kinich claimed to not have seen it (?) and ran in without knowing. When we saw our parents, which I had to wait a week for, since my mom and older brother were on vacation. When I did see them, though, my mom noticed that I seemed different. She measured me and sized me up and realized that I was taller, looked a little older, and had a different look in my eye, like I was seeing the world through different eyes than I was the previous week. My older brother didn't notice or care, but my mom wanted to know why I looked so different. After hesitating, I told her about the trip to the pokemon world, how I was there for months, almost a year, in their time. I told her about our adventures together, how much we had been through. I figured she wouldn't believe me and I wasn't going to show her the portal to prove it, either. That had to stay mine, Ken's, and Kinichi's secret.
Mom seemed to understand, though. She didn't seem shocked, maybe a small OMG moment, but that was it, and seemed to believe what I had to say. She sat down and told me about when she was about my age, how she went exploring with her friends once, who, of all people, were Ken's mom and Kinich's dad, and ended up in that same pokemon world. She told of how she and her friends were mocked and ridiculed for a while, until they saved the world from utter destruction by defeating Rayquaza and setting the two titan pokemon Groudon and Kyogre at ease. My eyes had opened wide with surprise. That story that Dialga told us was about our parents! We were then allowed to go to the pokemon world anytime we needed to and didn't have to keep it a secret from them. After Ken and I graduated from college about ten years later, we decided to get married and had a kid two years after that. Thirteen years after that, a total of twenty-five, Senchi turned thirteen and led us to this day.
When we finished our cake, I told her to wash up and that we were going out to see dad. We were out the door in ten minutes and she was dressed in tan khakis and blue T-shirt barely visible under a white jacket. Her shoulder-length black hair was freshly brushed and she was wearing clean tennis shoes. I guided her close to the high school I went to and entered the woods. Senchi kept looking at me funny, asking “Why are we here? I thought we were going to see dad at work.”
“We are.” I told her. “Now listen, where I'm taking you has got to be a secret between me, you, Dad, Auntie Kinichi (Senchi called her that because Kinichi was around all of the time) and Grandma and Grandpa. This is a huge responsibility Dad and I couldn't wait to give to you and I know you will be excited. One thing I have to ask, though, is not to be afraid by what you see. I will be beside you until you decide you can go off on your own. You promise?”
“Yes mom.”
“Good, 'cuz were here.” I showed her the portal to the pokemon world, it's light just as bright and amazing as it was twenty-five years ago. Senchi stood with her mouth open in aw. I pulled her with me until I could feel the portal gently fluttering my shirt. Senchi stood beside me, looking down the portal, which had nothing but black on the inside. “Ready?”
Senchi starred at me, her face a little confused and scared, but it turned into determination and she nodded. “I'm ready. I'm not scared!” I gently pushed her in first and watched her disappear, then I stepped in. I felt the earth below me give way and I began to fall. I starred down and couldn't see Senchi, like I couldn't see Ken that one day. A voice was echoing around me, the same voice that talked to me twenty-five years ago.
“You have returned, it seems. It's been a while.” The stars around me swarmed and covered my body. My body went warm and tingly, a very familiar feeling. As the stars left me, those parts of my body were returning to and Empoleon's body parts. My hands and arms turned to fins, my feet to flippers. My head got that crown thing and my body was different shades of blue. I sighed, the feeling felt so familiar now it felt good. I turned my body so I was falling head-first into the light at the bottom that would lead me to Infinity Forest.

An Eevee was sleeping next to me, it's hair in a weird way on her head. It kind of pulled forward over her eyes, giving her the individuality of not being a normal Eevee. Senchi finally woke up and lazily looked around her. She cocked shrugged her shoulders and lied her head on her paws again. She jolted back up, wide awake, realizing that she no longer had hands. She double-checked her paws, to be sure that they were paws, turned around and found her bushy tail. She lifted her paws and grabbed a hold of her ears. She ran to the creak next to us and confirmed what she believed. She was an Eevee! She walked backwards and bumped into me. Her hair stood up in surprise and she slowly turned her head and saw me, a giant Empoleon that had a pretty scary face. She ran behind a tree, coward, and screamed. I knew this would happen, but it would only last a few minutes. Senchi was always wanting an adventure, I just had to give her time to realize that this was what she always wanted.
“Senchi......Senchi....” I tried getting her attention, but she kept behind the tree, not recognizing my voice. “It's me, Mom. I know I look scary, but it really is. Want proof?” Senchi was paying attention now, but still stayed behind the tree. “It's your birthday today. You turn thirteen today, on February 26th.”
She gasped. How did I know it was her birthday? Then she noticed how I wasn't attacking her and slowly advanced to me. She looked at my eyes and smiled. “That's really you, Mom? You look incredible! So where is this place?” she said looking around.
“This is the pokemon world, where only pokemon exist. So, naturally, to live here, we had to become pokemon. Me, Dad, and Kinichi all came here twenty-five years ago and had the greatest adventures you could ever have in your life.”
“I want to try out my new skills now!” She charged at a tree using headbutt.
“Wait, Senchi! Don't hit that tree.” It was too late. The tree shook and a bunch of angry beedrill came out of the tree, ready to attack whoever woke them up. They poised their stingers and charged at Senchi. I put my fin between them and stopped the beedrill. “Sorry about that. She's my daughter and isn't used to being a pokemon yet. She doesn't know any better yet.”
“Alright Saori, but don't let it happen again!” the beedrill buzzed off, looking for a new tree to sleep in. I turned to Senchi and scolded her for her lack of respect. The bushes interrupted me and Ken and Monferno, who was now and Infernape, came out to greet Senchi's arrival. Infernape has heard from Ken that we had a daughter and planned on introducing her to the pokemon world. Senchi ran to Ken, somehow knowing it was her dad-maybe she figured her being an eevee had to come from somewhere and it wasn't me-and practically glomped him, screaming “Dad! I can't believe I'm here! This is the most exciting thing to happen to me! EVER!”
“I was hopping you would say that, Senchi. I also hope that you will have the best times of your life here, too. This is my exploration team partner Infernape. He is actually the leader of the team and while your here he is your parent. He will take care of you like me and mom do, so listen to him like you listen to us, got it?”
“Of course!” Senchi grinned and headbutted Infernape. “Nice to meet you! I'm Senchi!”
“Nice to meet you too. Can you stand about two feet back? A nice surprise is waiting for you there.”
“What is it?”
“Yeah, what is it?” I asked, suspicious.
“You'll see.” He sent a flamethrower into the air as a signal and in two seconds, Senchi was gone in a flash of wind. I looked up to see a Pidgeotto carrying Senchi through the air by his talons. He tossed Senchi in the air, caught her on her back, and flew towards town. I stood there, mouth gapped, but I couldn't help a laugh. I could tell Senchi was going to have fun here, whether she wanted it or not.
“Pidgey has grown quite a bit.” I said, impressed. “To think he finally joined our exploration team. How's his family doing?”
“Pidgeot's pretty old, close to dying, but the siblings are all grown up and he's the strongest. That's not surprising, considering how much he wanted to be in an exploration team.”
I turned to Infernape. “You'll take care of her, won't you?”
“Of course I will. I'll treat her as if she were my own.”
“Thanks. Its good to know we can depend on you.” Ken said gratefully.
“Where's Kinichi?” Infernape asked. “I assumed she would have joined with you guys.”
“You snooze, you lose.” I said, teasing Kinichi as if she was here. “She'll realize soon enough and be here any time now.” I looked up at the sky, looking for Senchi in vain. It was impossible to look for anything in the sky with the trees in the way. She was going to come home everyday and tell me how her day was in the pokemon world. There were going to be a lot of “bring your child to work” days, that much was for sure. It seemed like our adventure ended yesterday. I remembered holding the new born Senchi in my arms in the hospital, watching her grow, waiting for the moment we could spring this surprise on her.
This was the beginning of a new adventure. She and, inevitably, some of her friends, would solve even greater mysteries and have even greater adventures than me, Ken, Kinichi, Mom, Dad, or anyone has ever had.

THE END OF THE POKEMON MYSTERY DUNGEON FANFICTION BY LAZYNERD.