At the center of the forest, the Lake of Life lay still and dark under the night sky.
Latias floated on the surface of the water, eyes fixed on Celebi, who drifted just below it — immersed in the lake, slowly, quietly recovering.
Wild Pokémon had gathered along the shore in ones and twos. They didn't make much noise. They just watched, and waited, in the way that wild Pokémon sometimes did when something important was happening nearby.
Latias glanced up at the sound of Metagross's approach and watched Steven land at the water's edge. She looked back at Celebi once more, then flew to the shore.
Steven stood for a moment, tilting his head back. Above him, the leaves of the ancient trees glimmered faintly with a soft green glow.
"She'd recover faster in daylight," he said, half to himself.
Celebi was Grass and Psychic-type — and Grass-types drew real strength from sunlight. Synthesis would do far more for her once the sun came up.
"How is she?" he asked, as Latias came to rest beside him.
"No serious injuries. Severe stamina depletion, but she is recovering." Latias's voice came directly into his mind — clear, composed, and slightly cool. "Thank you for your assistance tonight. If you have questions, I'll answer what I can."
Steven sat down on the grass and leaned back against Metagross.
He looked up at the moon for a moment.
"What kind of person is my mother?"
Latias went quiet.
She had expected him to ask who the white-haired girl was, or why she had sought him out, or what the Aura inside him meant. She had not expected his first question to be that one.
After a moment, she answered.
"Our Master is gentle. Kind. And stronger-willed than almost anyone I have known." Her voice was measured, but there was something beneath it — something that had the weight of a long time behind it. "She endures things that most people could not understand, and she rarely loses her temper, and rarely argues. Because of who she is, she has helped a great many people over the years. That is why we stay with her. All of us."
"Is Celebi hers as well?" Steven asked.
"Yes. Not only Celebi and me — but also Mew, Victini, and Darkrai."
Steven absorbed that quietly.
A Trainer of Illusions, his father had called her. Now he understood why.
Every one of them except Latias was a Mythical Pokémon.
"Then where is she now?"
Latias hesitated — longer than she had for the previous questions. When she finally answered, she shook her head slowly.
"I don't know. It is not something we are able to know, or to involve ourselves in."
Steven looked at her. At the helplessness behind her eyes, and the sadness underneath that.
Something even they can't reach.
He turned the thought over carefully.
Were there Pokémon at that level — the ones whose names were spoken like titles, like something older than the League, older than records — who could place themselves between a person and the people who loved them?
If so, that was a problem of a very different order.
"Is she alive?"
Latias's expression shifted — a flicker of something sharp and almost offended.
"Of course she is." Her voice came out firmer than the rest had been. "Our connection with our Master has not broken. She is alive. She is well."
Steven let out a breath.
There was still something to work toward.
He thought about what his father had told him — that he wasn't ready yet. That his growth wasn't enough. He had never fully understood what that meant until now.
"Do you know where she is, specifically?"
"Perhaps in the past," Latias said. "Perhaps in the present. Perhaps in the future."
Steven paused.
Then his mind caught up with what she had said, and the answer arranged itself.
"Now, only Lucario is with her," Latias added.
"Lucario?" Steven glanced down at his own Lucario, who was sitting nearby with its eyes closed. Then he looked back at Latias. "You mentioned five Pokémon before — you, Celebi, Mew, Victini, and Darkrai. Lucario is the sixth."
"She took only Lucario with her," Latias said. "The rest of us were not permitted to follow."
Steven didn't ask why. There was a reason for it — there had to be — and he suspected asking wouldn't give him an answer he could do anything with yet.
"It has been almost sixteen years." Latias's voice was quieter now. "And Master still has not come back to us."
A moment of stillness fell over the lake.
"The white-haired girl," Steven said. "She said she existed because of my mother's obsession."
"Before Master disappeared, her last words were that she wanted to see her son again. That she wanted to be there — to watch him grow up." Latias paused. "So we tried to give that wish a form. The girl inside you is what came of it. It was not entirely successful. But it was what we could do."
"We chose not to interfere in your life beyond that. It was for your growth."
She glanced at Steven, and something dry and faintly exasperated entered her expression.
"Though I will say — you are remarkably ordinary. You haven't inherited any of Master's abilities at all. Fortunately, you have some talent; otherwise I might genuinely wonder."
Steven met her gaze without comment.
It was a strange experience, being looked down on by a Legendary Pokémon. He supposed he could add it to the list.
He thought about it properly — his mother had still been present for a short time after he was born, according to what Latias was saying. But nobody remembered clearly what happened in their first year or two of life. And his own earliest clear memories were overlaid with something else entirely.
"Don't rush it," Latias said, as if she had heard the direction his thoughts were going. "Even if you found her now, it would not help. The right time will come when it is ready to come."
"One more question."
"I will not tell you about Master's history."
"That's not what I was going to ask." Steven shook his head. "I want to know her name. My mother's name."
Latias looked at him.
There was a pause — and then something shifted in her expression. Not exasperation this time. Something closer to surprise.
"Your father never told you even that?"
"No."
Latias was quiet for a moment.
"Her name is Ling."
"Ling." Steven said it softly.
He hadn't known what to expect. Something simpler than he had imagined. But it was real, and it was his, and it was enough for now.
He looked up at the sky again.
"Metagross."
A low sound, attentive.
"I know. Champion is not the end — not even close. We keep going."
Steven's gaze moved across the stars.
"Let it come in its own time, then..."
Latias turned back toward the lake and settled on the water's surface to keep watch over Celebi.
The Poké Balls on Steven's belt clicked open, one after another, without prompting.
His Pokémon appeared around him — Aggron, Skarmory, Lucario, Scizor, Empoleon, and Metagross nearby.
"Agg!"
"Ska~"
"Lucario!"
"Sci."
"Empo!"
"Metagross!"
Steven looked around at them for a moment.
"Thank you. All of you. Tonight."
A quiet, satisfied expression settled on his face.
"Then — new goal, everyone. Let's—"
"Empoleon."
Empoleon raised one fin, cutting him off with surprising firmness.
Then it turned and tapped one of the Poké Balls still on Steven's belt.
Bang—
"Twist!"
Honedge shot out of the Poké Ball and immediately added its voice to the group, hovering in an excited circle.
The little one still hadn't quite worked out how to release itself from the Poké Ball on its own.
Steven let out a small, fond laugh.
"Then — everyone, let's keep working hard together."
He looked around quickly. Several of the Pokémon were clearly on the verge of shouting.
"Quietly, though. Let's not disturb the Pokémon by the lake."
Several mouths closed at speed.
"We'll find somewhere a bit further away, eat properly, and then get to work."
A round of nods.
Steven started to turn toward Latias to say something, but her Telepathy reached him before he could open his mouth.
Go. I'll stay with Celebi.
He gave a small nod and led his team a little further from the lake.
As they walked, Steven fell into step beside Skarmory, who had stopped to look up at the moon with a quiet expression.
He reached out and ran a hand along Skarmory's wing.
"When this is done," he said, "I'll take you back to see your mother."
"Yo." Skarmory nodded, slowly.
It had missed her.
And now — it was finally strong enough to go back.