>EPILOGUE
The following days felt like weeks to Alphonse.
He anxiously spent most of the time pacing back and forth in the room where Bethel was being nursed back to health. She hadn't been responsive for days. He would go hours without eating or sleeping. He couldn't bring himself to act.
More anxious than ever, Alphonse sat at the entrance of the medical building located in Arcade. It was an older building, albeit functional.
A moment passed after Alphonse realized someone had been calling for his attention. Turning around to look, he found the callers. Before him stood Bow, Ito, and Larson.
"Hey, mate," Bow opened with. "How's she doing?"
"No change yet," Alphonse solemnly said.
Sadness was shared between the four Pokemon.
"She's full of life. She'll be back on her feet soon," Larson assured.
"Right. She won't be down and out for much longer," Ito reciprocated.
Alphonse gave a hint of a smile, summoning courage to show graciousness to the kind words of his former opponents.
"Thanks, guys. That means a lot."
"Course," Bow replied. "A ripe young flame like her can't go out so easily."
Bow looked up at the ceiling. Before long, he spoke again.
"We pitched in and got this made for her." Bow handed a parcel to Alphonse.
"It's nothing too special, but it should be much better than the one she's got."
"Agreed. That one is top-notch," said Ito.
"She'll do well with it." Larson smiled.
"I really can't thank you guys enough. And again, I'm really sorry for everything that's happened."
"Don't sweat it, mate. Water under a bridge." Bow patted Alphosne on the back.
"We're sorry we can't stay any longer, but we really must get back to touring. Promise you'll keep us posted on her situation, yeah?"
"I promise," Alphonse replied. There was a profound sense of hope in his voice.
The four exchanged goodbyes once more, and Team R.O.T. left the building, and by extension, Arcade. They would never forget the events that played here, nor would any one of their adoring fans.
Meanwhile, Alphonse sat quietly back in the main room of the building. He felt himself reflecting on everything that had happened in these eventful few weeks.
Almost all of the bad memories had slowly begun to turn into good ones, for Alphonse felt he had grown much stronger having lived through them. While there were things that still troubled him, especially the fate of Del and the warnings of the former thief trio, he felt himself in a strange melancholy, something new to him.
He couldn't help but tear up a bit.
He wondered how life would move forward from here on out.
He questioned what lay on the horizon ahead.
He was eager to face whatever new adventures would come his way.
But more than anything, he felt hope.
Hope that Del, Ephie, and Gattz will be okay.
Hope that Team R.O.T and Arcade will continue to prosper in his absence.
Hope the Lazlo will keep on keepin' on.
And hope that Bethel will one day recover from her wounds.
An Audino walked over to him, instructing him to come with her. The two silently walked to the room in which Bethel had been lying asleep for several days, her condition slowly returning from being grave.
In the room, in a chair, sat Lazlo, with a perculiar look across his face.
"'m glad I could catch ya before I headed out, kid."
"Me too, Lazlo. So you're really headed back into the wild blue yonder, huh?" Alphonse asked.
"Yup. Plenty of stories out there, and yours truly has gotta record 'em all." Lazlo chuckled.
A depressing silence filled the room soon afterward. Alphonse looked Bethel up and down, occasionally meeting Lazlo's stare.
"Al... I know this may not be the best time, but I've got somethin' t' ask of ya."
Alphonse's ears perked up, but his sight was still focused on Bethel.
"In fact, I'm not the only one askin' ya this. Our old buddy Del has the same request."
Alphonse turned all his attention to Lazlo now.
"You talked with Del!? He's alive!?"
Lazlo gave a triumphant nod.
"What, you didn't really think some poison would knock that old guy down now, didya?"
"Anyway, we both want the best fer you two. Keep that in mind."
The two shared a smile. Then Lazlo looked over at Bethel.
"She should be wakin' up any second, now."
Alphonse looked puzzled.
"How do you know?" he asked his new, old friend.
As he questioned Lazlo's comment, he carefully put the parcel given to him by Team R.O.T. on the side table next to where Bethel was recovering. There were already a variety of several other "get well soon" gifts there.
Lazlo gave a snap of his fingers, and Bethel began to stir.
"I brought over some rare healin' medicine a few days ago. It's potent stuff. Figured it was only a matter a time after she got some of that in her system."
Alphonse, half listening to the explanation of his friend, was totally fixated on Bethel's change in condition.
"She's gonna pull through, kid."
Alphonse could no longer contain himself.
"Bethel... Lazlo, I..." he sobbed.
"'ll leave you two with this." Lazlo winked, pulling out two envelopes and setting them on the table next to Bethel's bed. "Consider it your next adventure together."
Lazlo flipped into a sly smile.
"And, of course, some healthy payback. For all the commotion y'all caused. You'll find all the more borin' details enclosed below."
"Go to her, kid." Lazlo said, before disappearing out the door, headed for wherever the wind would take him next.
Alphonse glanced over at the two envelopes. But he was still fully fixated on Bethel.
Still not taking his eyes off the Pokemon, he reached into his bag and pulled out a black bandana. He gently fastened it around the awakening Bethel's neck, putting the remaining cloth into a sort of scarf.
"...A...Al?"
Alphonse didn't reply. Instead, he dove right in and hugged Bethel, surrounding her with the warmth of his body.
"Al... it's really you..."
"Bethel... I'm so sorry. For everything. I never want to see you hurt like this again."
"Al... what are you doing?"
Al sheepishly inched back, letting her go.
"I... uh..."
But before Alphonse could reply, she sat up and hugged him right back.
"Thank you," Bethel said sweetly, her new bandana rubbing against Al's cheek.
The two sat in silence, holding each other for at least a minute, content to be in each other's company.
Bethel slowly let Alphonse go.
"I guess you saved my life this time, huh?"
Alphonse nodded, sniffling; his vision was clouded with tears of joy.
Slowly, her sly personality rose back within her.
"Don't expect this little feel-good fest to be anything more than a one-time thing." Alphonse laughed happily, just glad that his new partner was there with him.
As Bethel slowly awoke to her surroundings, she gently felt the bandana around her neck with her two paws.
"This... bandana... it feels so familiar."
"It's, err... part of my cloak. It got a bit roughed up in the fight I had with Lazlo, but they were able to make it into something even better." Alphonse assured.
"You don't have to wear it if you don't want to-"
Bethel interrupted with her purring, as she gently rubbed her paws across the bandana.
"I love it, Al. Thank you."
Alphonse blinked back tears, overjoyed that Bethel had accepted his gesture of kindness.
Next, Bethel looked over at the table.
"What are those?" she asked.
"They're some get-well-soon presents for you. Team R.O.T. made the biggest one. But on top of the pile? Well, those are tickets to our new life," Alphonse replied.
He began to walk over to the desk beside her bed.
"Lazlo had no shortage of connections. After pulling some strings and getting a few moving pieces in order, we've got jobs lined up for the both of us."
"Jobs?" Bethel inquired.
Alphonse gently passed Bethel one of the letters. "See for yourself."
"Now they may not be the most luxurious roles available, and the place may not be 'cutting edge', but it's a clean slate. A chance for both of us to truly start over, on our own terms."
Bethel and Alphonse inspected the letter in sync. Right smack dab in the middle was a rather official-looking seal.
It read;
CLOVER GUILD
>BALLAD OF THE AGES
_END_