[GCEA Event: 20 years later] A second chance.

[Brettles]

20 years in the future.
Assistant mayor Davis rushed into the Rinshin mayoral office.

"Sir we need to discuss your guest list for the official ceremony. I have complaints from the mayors of 6 major cities. This will be a political nightmare! We need to ..." He cut off at a gesture from the Mayor.

Brettles looked up from behind the mayoral desk. "Jacob is invited. Anyone who doesn't like that is free to send their apologies and attend some other celebration."

"But sir", continued Davis, "having a convicted war criminal attend will offend a lot of people."

"This is a Rinshin Celebration!" Brettles replied calmly but firmly. "In Rinshin, Jacob is honoured as one of the saviors. Any other business?"

"Your wife left a message. Seems like John is in some sort of trouble at school again."

Brettles sighed, probably another fight. He would have to talk to John's 'Uncle Jacob' about the stories he told when he visited.

"Thanks, Davis. I had better get home before Laura and John kill each other. Fantastic work on the preparations. I will trust you to make it a success. Merrilin!"

*Bamf* The Alakazam materialised beside Brettles.

"We need to get home and deal with John before Laura kills him." Brettles told the Alakazam.

*I am afraid she is already in the yard training her Steelix. She has made quite a mess of the lawn.* Merrilin's tone indicated his annoyance at someone damaging the lawn that he kept so pristine. Who knew that gardening would turn out to be the salve to Merrilin's pains.

Brettles winced. When Laura went into Steelix training mode she was already angry and looking for a fight. "Well let's get there before she turns her attention onto the roses."

With a look of horror, Merrilin placed a hand on Brettles. *Bamf*

He stood on the broken grassy lawn of his large house. His wife was looking like an angry storm cloud and ordering Steelix to do another dig attack. The lawn was a mess. Brettles looked at Merrilin. The Alakazam had already adopted a calming meditation, trying to block out the damage to his precious lawn.

"Laura, nice to..." Brettles began before being cut off.
"Your Son!" Laura growled, spinning and pointing at Brettles. "Got into another fist fight at school today. Where does he get the idea that violence is the answer?" Laura's Steelix violently erupted from the ground, echoing Laura's anger.

"I am sure I have no idea." Brettles tried to keep amusement out of his voice, but after all these years Laura could sense it and glared at him.

"It's that 'Uncle Jacob'. Every time he comes around, John bugs him for more fighting stories. He is a bad influence!"

Brettles smiled. "You know Jacob is good for John, and John is good for Jacob. Do you know what the fight was about. "

"That horrible thug Simon Phillips said something about Jacob being a war criminal and John punched him and knocked him down." Laura explained.

"Wow! That Phillips kid is twice John's size. I can't believe John can take him, that is really..." Brettles saw the warning look in Laura's eyes, "... not something that we should encourage. Come on let's go talk to him. Merrilin we are going now."

*Thank you. I'll see about fixing this mess.* Shovels, rakes and hoes started floating through the air.

Brettles smiled knowing that by the end of the day Merrilin would have the yard smoothed over and covered with grass again.

Inside Brettles found and Laura went upstairs to John's room.

Brettles' eight year old son looked defiantly at his parents. "I am glad I punched him, and I would do it again. I am not sorry and you can't make me say I am!" he yelled.

Laura drew in a deep breath to yell back, but Brettles stalled her by placing a hand on her arm.

"You are not sorry at all?" Brettles asked quietly and calmly.

John deflated a little. He had been preparing for a shouting match with mum. He and mum were good at shouting at each other. Dad was going to talk to him calmly however. That meant that he was in trouble. "He said horrible things about Uncle Jacob. I had to defend his honour!"

"So this boy said some words, and you threw some fists. Does that sound even to you?" Brettles asked.

"I don't need to be even. The other kids know that I am strong enough to defend myself now." John said.

"What the other children saw was that you couldn't defend yourself against the other child with words. You showed them that you are afraid of words and have to rely on fists. You did not come out of the fight even. You lost!"

John frowned. "I did not lose. I walked away without a scratch. He has a black eye."

"He will heal and people will remember that he hurt you words, while you had to rely on your fists. He is seen as cunning and clever, while you are seen as a thug. I am proud of you for sticking up for Uncle Jacob, but next time I want you to use your words. And not the words you learnt from Uncle Jacob! Those words are not appropriate!"

John stared sullenly at the floor.

"I want you to stay in your room and think about what you have done. And no Pokemon!"

"Aw but dad!"

"No Pokemon! That means you Night Fang, some out from under there."

The brightly coloured Golden Mightyena crept out from under John's bed. John and Night Fang had been inseparable since the boy's birth 8 years ago. As one of Brettles' Light type Pokemon, Night Fang was a good protection from possible retribution by the Shadow cultists.

"Mightyena! Might!" whined Night Fang.

"I know, but he needs to be disciplined! You can wait outside his room until he is allowed out!"

Night Fang moved outside John's room and sat in the doorway.

"Set your timer John. One hour." With that he and Laura left the room and shut the door.

Brettles reached down to pat Night Fang. "Keep a close eye on him, Night Fang!"

Night Fang nodded and lay down with his head on his paws.

Laura looked frustrated. "That boy needs to start his Pokemon journey early. He has too much energy!" she said.
"You know league rules." Brettles replied. "Not until he is at least ten. But I agree a little bit of training would be good for him. Besides we made Sam wait until she was 15."

"Samantha is more timid than John. She needed the extra time. I would have made her wait longer of you hadn't agreed to send Char with her. Even now I am worried about her."

"Don't worry! Char won't let anything happen to her. Now lets go down and get dinner ready. We are expecting guests tonight."

Down in the kitchen Brettles and Laura prepared to receive company. Eventually John came downstairs with Night Fang and helped with the food preparation.

"Mum, dad, I'm sorry I hit that kid. I'll try talking next time." John said.

"That's my boy." Brettles said. "Now lets get this food ready. Uncle Jacob and Aunty Clea will be here soon.

John beamed. "All my classmates are jealous that I get to have dinner with the Champion. Do you think Clea will tell the story of how Noble defeated the old champion all by himself again?" he asked excitedly.

"From past experience. I don't think we will be able to stop her." Laura said.

From outside a loud Pokemon cry could be heard. "LATIOS"

"Uncle Jacob!" yelled John as he ran out to the front door.

Brettles and Laura went with him.

Jacob stood flanked by his too usual companions. John charged at Jacob and gave him a huge hug. "Uncle Jacob! I got into a fight with a big kid and I knocked him down!"

"Did you remember to turn your body like I taught you and hit fast?" Jacob asked.

"Yes! It worked, he was bigger than me but he still fell down ... Oh!" he remembered that mum and dad were listening.

Jacob looked up to see Brettles and Laura staring at him. He grinned, "Nice to see you are strong enough to stand up for yourself, John. Perhaps your mum and dad would prefer you not to hit people though. I dare say you father would prefer you to use your words! That's what he always tried to make me do too!"

"But not *your* words, Uncle Jacob." John said with a grin. "Dad says your words are not appropriate!"

"How are you doing Jacob?" Brettles asked.

"Well I haven't blindly attacked anyone in a rage for a while. So all up I am doing rather well, thanks to my friends here." Jacob indicated the twins standing to either side of him.

"It is an honour to meet you again, Tio and Tia." Brettles said bowing formally.

The twins bowed in return but said nothing. They rarely spoke to anyone besides Jacob.

"YES IT IS GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN JACOB!" said a booming ominous voice. A large man in a large black coat, black sunglasses and a black fedora walked out of the house.

Jacob tensed for a moment, but then relaxed. "Nice to see you also Ox. I trust that living in Rinshin is up to your standards." he said, with an edge to his voice.

"BRETTLES HAS ASKED ME TO WORK WITH THE ORPHANAGE. THE CHILDREN KEEP ME GROUNDED! IT IS PLEASANT!"
After a tense moment between Jacob and Ox, the man in black excused himself to head back to the orphanage.
"Are you boys starting without me?" called a new voice.

"Aunty Clea!" cried John as he ran to give her a hug.

"You have grown so big John!" Clea exclaimed. "I want you to meet a new friend of mine. This is Celeste!"

Spoiler:

A warp in time and space.
The continuing journeys of Brettles, Brettles and Brettles ... and now Brettles, through time.
A young lady with large baby blue eyes, and green hair with tips looked at the group. "Hello new friends. I have come with a request." Celeste fixed her eyes on Brettles. "You! Oh I know you! You have caused echoes up and down the timestream. I need you to come with me and make some more!"

"What are you talking about?" Brettles asked taking a step forward. He stepped out of himself. He felt himself leave himself behind and looked back to see himself frozen in place, along with Laura, Jacob and Clea.

"What is going on?" Brettles asked. Everyone and everything was frozen in place.

"Yes what are you doing, Celeste?" asked Tio, who along with Tia was not frozen.

"This is rather unorthodox, Celeste." said Tia.

"I have need of one who is attuned to the timeways." said Celeste. "This one may not know it, but he is adept at stepping between the moments."

"I have no idea what you are talking about, Celeste." Brettles said. "What do you need?"

"THIS IS ABOUT KYA, DONNY AND RAY! ISN'T IT CELESTE?" boomed Ox who had returned when everything froze.

"I can save them. I can stop what they did. But I need an anchor to that time. That is where this one comes in. With his help I can find the moments where purification can alter the course of Sinnoh. Imagine a world where Kya, Donny and Ray were not controlled by the shadow cult. Imagine the countless lives we could save."

"THIS ONE IS CLAIMED CELESTE. HE IS NEEDED HERE!" Ox stated firmly.

"You may keep him. I only need this moment out of time. It is this one's choice. So Brettles. Are you willing to give me one moment of your time to save thousands and free three powerful friends from bondage to the shadow."

"If a moment is all you need. Then you may have a moment." Brettles said. "Where are we going?"

"The question is not where, but when. I will need help to draw a hole in space-time. He must be sent. Will you lend me your power? For Kya, Donny and Ray?"

The twins, Tia and Tio nodded. They and Celeste turned to Ox, who frowned but nodded.

Ox held up his hand and shot out a greenish energy into Celeste. Tia and Tio did the same and shot out beams of red and blue.

Power shot around Brettles surrounding him and Celeste in a cocoon of intense power. Celeste melted away and reformed into the tiny form of Celebi. Through the cocoon of power, Brettles saw Latios, Latias and Deoxys shooting power into them.

There was ripping sound and Brettles found himself being pulled through a tear in reality by a powerful robotic hand. He found himself in a strangely comfortable pocket-space in the middle of nowhere. Three strangely familiar men looked at him. A mightyena jumped on him and licked him.

"Night Fang? What happened to your light typing? What is happening?"

A young man possibly not out his teens, with an impressive robotic arm spoke first. "I guess this means you two have to stop calling me, 'new guy'."

An older man dressed in a scruffy brown coat looked at him. "Welcome to the team, young-un. You here for something special?"

An ancient man with long flowing white hair and beard held out a hand to help Brettles to his feet. He was surprisingly strong and spry for such an ancient figure. "Welcome to the time-stream Brettles. Let me introduce myself. I am Brettles, this", he pointed at the old man, "is Brettles and the young man with the robot arm is Brettles. It will take some time to make sense and I sense you are here for a purpose."

With a popping sound Celeste appeared in the pocket-space. "Welcome back, Celeste", Young Brettles said. "It has been too long since you have been here. You are as beautiful as always." Old Brettles and Ancient Brettles shook their heads in embarrassment as young Brettles tried once more to flirt with this legendary Avatar.

"Always nice to see you too, young Brettles!" Celeste said. "Perhaps some of your manners could rub off on your older selves." Old Brettles and Ancient Brettles both laughed out loud at the suggestion.

"We are too old for those sort of manners, Celeste." Old Brettles joked.

Brettles was confused by everything going. "Everybody stop. What is going on? Where are we? What are we doing?"
Ancient Brettles rested his hand on Brettles shoulder. "We are nowhere, we are everywhere we are needed. Each of us is a moment out of time. You are here because your timeline needs to be tweaked. According to my records you are from timeline XTJ-27a. Now that we know where you are from we can cross-reference major events with the prime timeline see what you may be here to fix."

Young Brettles stood by a machine and inserted his robotic arm into a slot. "I am getting the timeline data now and ... No that can't be, Kya..."

Old Brettles and Ancient Brettles shook their heads in pity. "That happened after your moment young Brettles. Kya, Kyogre, Groudon and Rayquazza infected and controlled by the shadow clan. We thought there was no way to change that." Old Brettles said sadly. He looked at Celeste. "Is there hope."

Celeste smiled. "There is always hope. This version of you may help me find the moment to make the difference. If he is willing to help."

Young Brettles, Old Brettles and Ancient Brettles turned to look at Brettles. "What can I do?" Brettles asked.
Young Brettles pulled a strange orb out of his machine. "Hold this! Concentrate on your past. The orb will show the places where we are needed. The with the lovely Celeste's help we will see how to prevent this atrocity and save Kya from this corruption."

"We will save Groudon and Rayquazza too!" said old Brettles. "Young Brettles did not have a good experience with Groudon, but Groudon too is worth saving. So what are you waiting for? Take the orb."

Brettles took the orb and instantly a portal opened. Brettles looked through and saw a battle on mountainside. A giant Dusknoir was attacking a group of trainers on a hilltop. They were struggling and putting all their strength into the battle.

"Not yet!" Celeste said, looking on the scene. "I can sense something coming. But not yet. Let us watch this time.
Soon we shall intervene."

The air blurred for a moment and Brettles got dizzy.

"Are you alright dear?" asked Laura.

"Yes, I'm good, just a wave of dizziness. Come let's eat this is a week for celebrations. 20 years. I still can't believe we survived that. We all made sacrifices." He nodded to Jacob who quietly nodded back. "But we made it."
"I take it Lucian won't be joining us?" he asked.

Clea shook her head. "No, he's gotten worse. Won't go anywhere without Shadow. Claims people are trying to control his thoughts. Doesn't trust anyone. He relies on that Greninja too much. He won't come anywhere near you Alakazam after that incident at the tournament."

Brettles tried to feel bad, but still felt a sense of pride that Merrilin had learned Thunder and Zen-Headbutt and combined them into a thunderous fighting move that was doubly super-effective against his enemy, the 'Bad Frog'.
Clea continued, "Joseph sent a new masterpiece to commemorate the occasion, but is too busy training new artists in Kanto."

Then let us eat tonight and tomorrow we start the formal celebrations.

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

Brettles stood up in front of the crowds gathered in the Rinshin city square. He saw young children and youths who had never known a land under threat of shadow. He saw Orphans who had grown up through his orphanage and become great young men and women. Gym leader and city leaders had come to celebrate the anniversary.

"20 years ago today, we faced this region's greatest threat. A great evil held sway and threatened to overwhelm every man woman and child. Shadow cultists corrupted the very essences of Land, Sea and Sky and and set them to destroy us. We stood as one. We faced Sinnoh's darkest hour and we stood firm. Our losses were many. But the victory was ours. Today we honour the dead and celebrate those who had the courage to stand and fight..."

He continued the speech, inflecting the right tones and varying the pitch and tone. He was good at this inspiring the troops. He could do it without thinking. He still felt bad about Kya, Groudon and Rayquazza, but they had needed be stopped. There had been no other way. He hoped that eventually there would be a new Kyogre, Groudon and Rayquazza. If only something could have been done.

[Kentucky Fried Torchic]

I still do not entirely understand what GCeA is, and so I am unsure if commenting is allowed, but this was an utter delight to read. I do not know these characters, but the way you wrote them made each trait and reference not only feel like a welcome discovery, but also imparted a strange sense of nostalgia and coming home for people amd places, events and Pokemon, that I had never seen, heard of, or experienced any sort of knowledge of fifteen minutes ago. So again, thank you for writing this and, selfish as it may sound, granting me the boon of reading it.

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

This was a joy to read. You have a great style and sense of humour. :) Even with my limited knowledge of the Emerald characters, it was easy to follow and interesting! I guess legends turning into humans is a thing in GCEA haha. I had seen a bit of stuff about Kya but I didn't know the other legends were involved too. Nice work! :D