***************

Four days later a quite diverse party met atop a hill just north of Sankton City. Behind and below them the city lay sleeping as the sun began to peak over the horizon in the west, to their left. A ten-year-old boy in a red and white Official Pokemon League hat stood between a redheaded girl and a tall boy in a green vest. A yellow electric mouse waited patiently at his feet for them to be on their way.

Across from the four stood a girl with one eye a warm brown and the other turquoise blue. The sun on her brown hair made the hidden strands of blonde and auburn glint like gold and rubies. On one of her shoulders sat a green lizard-like creature with Golbat-like wings and a small horn between its nostrils. On the other a similar creature—though smaller and sky blue—clutched the strap of her backpack with tiny talons in an attempt to hang on. A surreptitious emerald tail snaked around behind her back and steadied the young one. At the girl’s feet a black-striped, orange pup stood proudly. Something resembling miniature saddlebags were buckled under and across its chest, and a pink and yellow head poked out of each to look around at the scenery in interest.

"Well," the girl with the mismatched eyes sighed in a tone content with life, though tinged with remorse. "I guess this is where we split up, huh guys?"

No less enjoying the separation, her four friends nodded. "Have you decided where you’re heading, Aurora?" the boy in the cap asked.

"We’re heading south, back through Sankton and through the woods to tell the wild Pokemon that the city knows the truth about the ghosts." She suddenly grinned and shrugged at the same time. "Then we’ll go wherever the wind takes us. Stopping in towns and cities, spreading the truth about the dragons like my family use to." Her eyes unfocused as she looked far away, into the future. "Maybe the Sangos won’t be the only humans that want to help the dragons. Maybe we’ll find more Pokemon that want to apply for the position of Protector of Dragons and Their Dragonfriends. And maybe there are other dragons out there still alive, hidden and unknown to the world and each other. Whatever we find, we can really make a difference." She came back to herself abruptly. "Anyway, we’re not alone any longer, and I plan on keeping it that way. And the more people who know about us, the harder it will be for the likes of Team Rocket and the dragonslayers to pull anything. But what about you, Ash?"

He grinned. "We’re heading for the next city that has a Pokemon Gym, and we’re going to get a Gym badge! Right, Pikachu?"

"Pika!"

"I should have guessed," laughed Aurora. She sobered just a quickly. "So . . . this is goodbye then."

Misty came forward to clasp her hand, wanting to hug her but also not wanting to disturb the two dragons. "Be careful out there, Aurora. There’s a lot more than a single forest and a city to worry about."

"You too, Misty. Try to keep Ash from getting such a big head."

"Hey!"

Brock was next, and he shook her hand earnestly. "Don’t be afraid to stop at a Pokemon Center if anything comes up you can’t handle. They’re there to help you out. You have three infants to think about now."

She smiled. "That’s the very first thing on my mind, Brock. You really do care. And you make a great breeder. Thank you."

Ash was last. "You were the one, Ash," she told him earnestly. "You were the one who started all of this. And I thank you for it. I’m so lucky to be able to call you my friend."

The black-haired boy looked at the ground and blushed. "Gee, Aurora, you were the one who let us pass through the woods. You could have turned us back." He looked up to stare her in the eye. "I bet you’ll do great out there. With you working on it, the dragons will be accepted in no time." Her face broke into a smile of gratitude.

"Farewell, Pikachu!" Stormweaver fluttered a wing at the Pokemon from his perch as the quartet prepared themselves to set out. "Thank you for the lesson. I’ll practice that Thundershock."

"Pika pikachu!"

Aurora’s gaze took in all four of them. "Thank you all. I have no doubt that without your intervention I never would have had the courage to leave my forest. Now I know what I need to do, and I will do it. I hope your futures are as bright as mine looks today. Goodbye, my friends. Maybe we’ll meet again."

Calling their last good-byes over their shoulders, her four friends started north once again, down the other side of the hill. Aurora stood on the hilltop and waved until they were out of sight, her mind recalling the memories of the last four days.

There had been no way to keep the existence of four live, supposedly mythological creatures secret for very long. Before noon of the day she had awoken in the Pokemon Center, the building had been packed with curious people. Everyone from history scholars, to Pokemon trainers, to the merely intrigued wanted to know the tale behind the girl and her four miraculous beasts. Rumors had spread like wildfire. People had come from all edges of the city and beyond, hoping for a glimpse of the amazing creature that had wiped the floor with the Sankton Gym leader’s Pokemon. (They were rumors, after all. And not many liked Arin very much.)

Aurora had found herself telling her story again and again to more and more people, until she wanted to scream every time someone asked, "Can I hear it from the beginning, please?"

It had gotten so bad that the local police force had to be called in to keep the peace. Between Nurse Joy and a blue-haired woman who had introduced herself as Officer Jenny, they had managed to instill some semblance of order.

And everyone had wanted to see the newborns. Growlithe had stood over them day and night, refusing to leave its position and chasing people away with a snarl or bark when the infants were frightened or tired. But once Brock and Nurse Joy had learned the pup hadn’t moved in over fifteen hours, much less eaten or slept, they had installed Pikachu to guard in its place and ordered it to take a break. After that the two Pokemon had traded shifts. Aurora and Stormweaver would have liked to be with them more, but there wasn’t a moment to spare. Every second had been filled with answering questions, allowing oneself to be examined, or flopping down into a dead sleep when one got the chance. Aurora had never liked a bed so much as during those four days.

When the town learned she was well enough to be on her way and was planning to leave, things had been thrown into an uproar. Brock, Ash and Misty quickly decided they were getting on their way too, having been questioned and bothered just as much as the girl and her dragons. But the people of Sankton wouldn’t let them leave without a festive farewell. Some kids even wanted to join her, but she and their own families talked them out of it, explaining politely that the three infants would be very upset traveling with humans they didn’t know. However, nothing could be done to talk the folks out of the gifts they insisted the "brave young girl who risked life and limb to save creatures that time forgot" (quote from the Sankton newspaper front page) so rightly deserved.

The saddlebags made especially for Growlithe were one of these. A small pouch of money hanging at her waist was another, and her faithful beige backpack now held provisions and a sleeping-roll instead of grass and dragon eggs. She had begged off the others. (Including someone’s real diamond necklace—what would she have done with that?) Aurora had been shocked at the way the town had adopted her and the dragons. For so long she had been afraid people would treat the dragons as the Merlacs did, but that wasn’t the case with the people of Sankton at all! Escaping before dawn had been the only way to have a private farewell with her friends.

Aurora sighed, a noise that sounded as final as the last gust of cool wind before the heat of summer hit, as the distant black specks of the four figures totally disappeared. She looked at each of her companions in turn. Stormweaver, with his lime green eyes gazing across her shoulders at his brother with love. Growlithe, radiating a proud honor stronger than words.

Then her gaze went to each of the little ones. The blue with his bright golden eyes, the pink with twin orbs as azure as her brother’s scales, and the yellow with eyes of the softest violet. They had opened just yesterday—one of the prime reasons in her decision to leave, assured that they wouldn’t be quite as helpless as they traveled—and already the babies were taking in every sight as enthusiastically as they could.

"Well Dawnjewel, Stardancer, Sunsong, I guess this is it. Everyone ready to go?"

To her delight the infants chirruped as if they understood. Growlithe barked his assent, and Stormweaver grinned. "Let’s hurry," he insisted, "before those people down there wake up."

"Amen to that!" Laughing, happy, and surrounded by friends and content with her vision of the future, Aurora turned and began making her way back down the hill, toward the quite city of Sankton.