Ash's Story (Part 6: Unova)

Chapter 98: Leftover Answers

Pinwheel Forest should have felt peaceful after Twist Mountain.

The trees rose thick around the path, and Bug Manor waited with its old wooden walls, leaf shadows, and quiet corners where travelers could rest without feeling watched by stadium lights or castle stones. After Marshal's battle, I needed that. My body remembered every hit my partners had taken, and my mind kept moving toward the Champion match with Iris before I could stop it.

Alice noticed before anyone else. She guided me toward the manor porch and sat beside me without saying I looked tired.

Golly checked the windows and doors because of course she did. Eve set out snacks with the seriousness of a field researcher preparing a controlled recovery environment. Iris wandered nearby, pretending she was only stretching. Cilan looked relieved to be somewhere with a kitchen again. Reisa hummed quietly, testing the forest's echo.

Pikachu sat on my lap and leaned against my arm.

Pikachu's meaning came softly. "Rest is also a path. Do not skip it because the next battle is loud."

"I know," I whispered. "I am trying."

A shadow moved behind one of the pillars, and a tall figure stepped out with a sudden sweep of his cloak, trying very hard to look like a ghost from the trees.

I blinked as recognition hit before fear could. "Gorm? Is that you?"

The old Sage froze, then lowered his arms with a tired dignity that did not completely hide the failed scare. "It is nice to see you again, Ash. I mean, Lord N."

Golly's eyes narrowed instantly at the title.

I raised one hand. "Ash is fine."

Gorm bowed his head. "I learned of my old ally's recklessness, and I had come here to admonish him. But the matter has already been resolved, and this place made me think. What did we believe in that made us try to steal the Dragon Skull?"

The words changed the air around the porch.

Gorm looked toward the trees instead of at me. "A man who has committed a mistake and does not correct it is committing another mistake. Do you understand what this means? Avoiding all mistakes is impossible, but not fixing mistakes you have made is truly foolish."

Reisa looked between us. "What does he mean by that?"

"I should explain," I said. "Gorm tried to steal the Nacrene Museum's Dragon Skull before. Burgh and Hilbert worked together to stop him."

Iris folded her arms. "So he really was part of that."

Gorm accepted the words without defending himself. "That being said, this does not really concern you now. Well then, Trainers, may you and your Pokémon be well."

He turned to leave, but paused when Zoroark appeared from my shadow.

Zoroark's meaning came low and guarded. "Old robes do not erase old hands."

Gorm did not hear the meaning, but he seemed to feel the judgment. He bowed once more and disappeared between the trees.

For a while, no one spoke. The forest filled the silence with leaf movement and tiny Bug-type cries from deeper paths. Gorm had not asked for forgiveness, and I was glad he had not. Forgiveness was not something someone could demand from a place he once tried to use.

Cilan watched the empty path. "Still, he is different compared to Dawn."

Alice's expression stayed complicated. "Yeah. If it was not for Ghetsis, he might have chosen another path. Or maybe not. He was the one who decided to follow Ghetsis, after all."