Chapter 293: More Than Time Cannot Be Returned
BGM: Eutopia (Single loop until the end of the next chapter)
Lorelei was very sad.
The day she left, she wailed loudly. A grown woman in her thirties, crying like a little girl who couldn't control her tear ducts.
She knew Will was right, and she knew she couldn't persuade him.
But she was still heartbroken.
Occasionally, in moments of impulsiveness, she would even say things like, "I won't get married!"
But she was an adult.
The price of growing up is having to compromise with life.
Besides, she chose to get married herself.
Lorelei couldn't be like when she was little, going back on her word whenever she got angry.
Life passes like a white horse galloping past a crevice.
Whether it's Will or Lorelei.
People lying in bed late at night, finally getting a moment of respite to read novels on their phones.
People sitting at desks during the day, operating computers, listening to audiobooks on their phones.
Everyone is no longer the high-spirited youth of the past.
Will couldn't let Lorelei mess around anymore.
Lorelei also knew she couldn't do that anymore.
The 33-year-old Lorelei wouldn't stand on the Indigo Plateau like when she was 16, proudly claiming to be the best in the world.
More than just time cannot be returned.
Will left the team.
That day.
He personally escorted the ship, sending Lorelei to Sootopolis City.
Along the way.
Lorelei held onto Will's arm, never letting go.
Just like in the past twenty-something years, Lorelei had to hold a little Piplup wherever she went.
Finally.
Will watched Wallace take the weeping Lorelei away.
And he rode the waves alone back to Four Island.
One year later.
Lorelei's father fell seriously ill while sailing. Treatment on the Kanto mainland failed, and he stayed there in the end.
A man who had drifted on the sea for half his life.
In the end, he didn't rest in the familiar ocean, nor did he return to his warm hometown.
Instead, he died obscurely in a foreign land, breathing his last breath alone in a hospital.
At that time.
Lorelei was about to give birth.
Will and Lorelei's mother didn't tell her about this.
Lorelei's mother had trouble walking and couldn't travel far.
So Will went to the Kanto mainland alone, brought Lorelei's father back, and let his soul return to his homeland.
Not long after.
Lorelei's child was born.
A little girl with red hair, looking very energetic.
Lorelei's mother said...
She looked a lot like Lorelei when she was little.
Later.
Lorelei brought the child back every now and then.
She dumped her daughter on Will to babysit while she kept her mother company.
Suddenly losing her father without knowing it was a huge blow to Lorelei.
She was terrified.
That one day.
She would suddenly be told of her mother's passing.
Or...
Will's passing.
Another five years passed.
Huge tremors came from the Sinnoh region; even Lorelei in Hoenn could feel them.
Although Will was guarding the home.
She returned to Four Island immediately.
Fortunately.
The tremors only lasted a few seconds before disappearing, having no impact on Four Island.
That year, Lorelei was 39.
She sat next to Will, talking about many things regarding her new family.
How her husband's work was, how her child's studies were, what happened at the neighbor's house...
Will listened quietly, not interjecting a single word.
In the blink of an eye.
Another ten years passed.
Lorelei's seventy-year-old mother had a stroke and fell into a vegetative state.
One night, three years after Will started taking care of her...
Lorelei's mother opened her eyes, looked at the little penguin lying by the bed, and softly called out, "Piplup, thank you for your hard work all these years," reaching out to stroke his head.
When Will woke up the next day.
He only saw his hand held tightly in Lorelei's mother's arms. And Lorelei's mother... had quietly stopped breathing.
From that day on.
In this once incredibly warm little family.
Only Will remained.
He sat alone on the coast of Four Island for a long, long time.
Until the next day.
He cleaned the house, locked the door, put on a backpack, and walked toward the distance.
Will didn't go to find Lorelei.
Lorelei had a new family now.
In that family, besides Lorelei, he wasn't familiar with anyone.
Going there, he would be a guest.
So he didn't want to go.
He didn't even tell Lorelei about his departure, nor where he was going.
Maybe...
Will was also a little angry in his heart.
Angry that during Lorelei's mother's final days, Lorelei didn't come back to spend more time with her.
When leaving Four Island.
He turned back to look at this small island one last time.
Now.
There was no one here waiting for him to return.
Heading north all the way.
In League Year 220, Will arrived in Alamos Town in the Sinnoh region.
The world's largest musical instrument, and also the venue for the Alamos Contest—the Space-Time Towers—was located in the center of this city.
The movie The Rise of Darkrai (Dialga vs. Palkia vs. Darkrai) took place here.
The reason Will came here...
Was because he learned news from the Tree of Beginning.
Lucario.
Had died over ten years ago.
Died in that space-time battle in Alamos Town.
That year.
The tremors Will felt were the shockwaves of the battle between Dialga and Palkia.
In this world, Ash didn't arrive in Alamos Town when the Space-Time gods started fighting.
Without the protagonist's involvement.
It was a catastrophe for Alamos Town.
If no one carried the burden...
Alamos Town would have disappeared from the world.
To save everyone and every Pokémon there, Lucario, together with Darkrai, fought the Space-Time gods.
His disciple Riley and another Lucario took on the role originally played by Ash, Dawn, and their group.
In the end.
The clash of Roar of Time and Spacial Rend created a space-time turbulence strong enough to swallow the entire town.
To save everyone, to save his disciple...
Lucario used all his Aura to seal the space-time turbulence, dying from Aura exhaustion.
Now.
Over ten years had passed.
Alamos Town had recovered.
Statues of Lucario and Darkrai were everywhere in the city; the Aura Guardian and the Pitch-Black Pokémon had become objects of faith in Alamos Town.
Will walked blankly through the bustling town.
Having lived so many lives.
He felt somewhat lost, not knowing where to go.
Family members passed away one by one.
Will thought Lucario would at least accompany him longer.
But life is unpredictable.
He didn't wait until the day he could see Lucario again.
Will looked up at the tall Space-Time Towers in the center of the city. He approached step by step, climbing the spiral stairs upward.
He could feel it.
Lucario's footsteps on these stairs over ten years ago.
Firm and resolute.
Arriving at the top of the Space-Time Towers.
Blue sky and warm breezes surrounded Will.
Under the sunlight.
A blue flower bud on the spire of the Space-Time Towers shone brightly.
"Time Flower..."
Will tapped his foot lightly, floating his body next to the flower bud.
He reached out, gently touching the bud with his Aura Power.
The next moment.
The bud bloomed into a brilliant blue flower, and the scene Will saw changed abruptly.
The sky was dim, Alamos Town shattered.
The song named "Oracion" echoed quietly in his ears.
Dialga and Palkia watched quietly from the distant sky.
But Will didn't have them in his eyes.
He quietly looked at Lucario lying on the ground, withered and exhausted, a flash of sadness in his eyes.
"Master Will, I'm sorry, I can't go back."
"But I don't regret it, because I know if it were you here, you would do the same."
"Don't be sad. I won't die; I'm just going back to Sir Aaron's side."
"Though there is one thing that has always puzzled me..."
Lucario raised an arm to cover his eyes, gritting his teeth, asking with a hint of unwillingness:
"Did I become a qualified Aura Guardian?"
The illusion vanished.
When Sir Aaron sealed him over a thousand years ago...
He was just an Aura Apprentice, never granted the title of Aura Guardian.
"Aura Apprentice" had always been a point Lucario cared about deeply.
Will stood still, raising a hand casually.
The sky gradually darkened, dark clouds gathering over the top of the Space-Time Towers.
A gentle drizzle fell unhurriedly.
Patting Will's face, sobering him up a bit.
"You are already an Aura Guardian worthy of respect."
A smile appeared on Will's face. He raised a hand and placed it gently on his chest.
"Aura is with me... and with you."
Protagonists can't cry.
Fortunately.
The sky often rains at the right time.
At times like this.
Whether it's tears or water flowing down Will's face doesn't matter anymore.
At this moment.
A figure appeared out of thin air in the sky behind Will.
It was the guardian of Alamos Town, Darkrai.
He looked at Will's back, bowed deeply in silence, then vanished again.
Will stood there.
Until someone discovered his presence.
He silently put on his backpack and turned to leave.
This time.
He really didn't know where to go.
Will wandered the world, searching for traces Meowscarada might have left behind.
Many people said...
They had seen an Empoleon standing alone, staring at the sky, dazing for hours.
Like some elderly people, looking at the sun until the very end of their lives.
Seeming to wonder.
When will this life finally find release?
In the blink of an eye.
Thirty-five years passed.
Will circled the world following his old route.
Finally, he returned to this small Four Island.
He didn't want to set foot here.
But his body couldn't help it.
Four Island was like an island forgotten by time.
From the first time he came here, to now, more than half a century had passed.
But this small town remained the same.
The market still had the shouting of uncles and aunts.
The beach still had the laughter of children chasing and playing.
Just that...
Batch after batch of people had changed.
Walking on the familiar streets, strolling toward the small house called home in the past.
When he reached the door.
Will froze for a long time.
He sensed a very familiar Aura inside the house.
"Lorelei...?"
Will murmured, his tired eyes opening slightly.
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