Gibeon and Lucius have one final conversation in Rakua before Pagogo sends them on their ways to their next lives.

Written after ep 88, probably not canon at all. Contains one-sided LuciGibe (Gibeon having romantic feelings for Lucius)

Gibeon fell to his knees in despair.

He'd been betrayed by everyone. Left behind by everyone. Lucius, Rystal, his daughter -- and now, Zygarde.

*Bonds? Bonds don't matter. Even if you form strong bonds with someone, they'll eventually leave you. Throw you away.*

What had he been fighting for for the past one hundred years? WHO had he been fighting for?

Himself? Others?

...The Rakurium itself? The same Rakurium that had given him the hope to keep going. The same Rakurium that had now vanished from right beneath his feet.

Gibeon was alone again. There was no chance the Explorers employees would stay after such a disgraceful show. He knew they were disgusted with him. Understandable, since, after all, he was disgusted with himself.

He heard footsteps. Without looking up, Gibeon knew who they belonged to. He couldn't lift his head. He was too ashamed.

Why was *he* approaching? To mock him? To call him a fool?

"Gibe--"
"Kill me."

Gibeon's voice was hoarse from talking more than he'd talked in a long time. He wasn't used to shouting, either. The last time he'd gotten so mad had been... one hundred years ago, in that exact same spot.

There was nothing left for him. He had nothing. He *was* nothing.

"That's what you want, isn't it? You want me dead. You've wanted me dead for the past hundred years. Go on. Kill me. Do it. It's what you and those children have been fighting for."

He knew he was rambling, but he didn't care. It was all over.

And if he was going to die, he wanted Lucius to be the one to do it.

"...Lucius?" Gibeon wheezed, realising he was running out of breath. "Why... aren't you saying anything? That's... That's you. I know it's you."

Lucius still didn't speak, which angered Gibeon further. The least Lucius could do was say something. ANYTHING. Gibeon didn't care if Lucius insulted him. He just wanted to hear Lucius's voice one last time.

Gibeon heard the shuffle of clothes. Lucius felt closer to him, somehow.

"Gibeon. Look at me."
"...I have no right to look at you," Gibeon said bitterly. "Just... get it over with."
"Let me see your face."
"..."
"Come on, Gibeon."

Gibeon had no idea what kind of expression Lucius would be wearing. He had no idea what to expect when he slowly and shamefully, raised his head.

Lucius was crouched down and was at eye-level with him. He held Terapagos in his arms.

"Why on earth would you want to see this pathetic face of mine?" Gibeon asked. He wanted to cry. He wanted to scream.

Lucius could never understand his despair.

"Because... you're my friend," Lucius replied.

There was no anger in his voice. No malice. If anything, he sounded sad. And yet... he was smiling.

Smiling at the man who had tried to destroy the future of his descendant. The man who had tried to destroy the world.

"...Some friend I am," Gibeon huffed. "You should hate me."
"I don't hate you, Gibeon," Lucius said gently. "I... I could never hate you."
"..."

Gibeon hid his face again. He didn't deserve to be treated with any amount of kindness. Not from Lucius.

"I wanted to apologise again," Lucius continued. "Not just for our falling out, but... you've suffered because of me. I was mostly unconscious for these past one hundred years, only sometimes receiving information from Zygarde, but... you've been awake the entire time. And... you've been hurting the entire time, haven't you? It's my fault. I'm sorry, Gibeon."
"Ah..."

Gibeon covered his face in his hands, unable to stop himself from crying. He couldn't even remember the last time he cried. He'd forgotten how warm tears were.

"Lucius, I... I..."

Gibeon couldn't talk. He began to shake as his tears continued to flow. He knew he was being ridiculous and pathetic. He shouldn't be crying. He had no right to cry.

All of a sudden, Gibeon gasped as Lucius pulled him upright and he fell forward into Lucius's chest. Lucius then wrapped his arms around Gibeon's torso.

'*Did he set Terapagos down?*' Gibeon wondered, unable to say anything.

He couldn't remember the last time someone had embraced him.

"It's okay," Lucius murmured into Gibeon's ear. "You... You don't have to suffer anymore. You're not alone anymore. I'm here... Pagogo's here. I can't speak for Pagogo, but, well... I still care about you, Gibeon. You're still my best friend."
"L-Luci... Lucius..." Gibeon choked. "I'm... I..."
"I can't even begin to imagine what you've been through. What things you've felt... Seeing things via Zygarde isn't the same as experiencing them. So... I know it must've been worse than what I saw." Lucius spoke softly and gently. "And yet... you fought hard this entire time. Because you genuinely care about people and Pokemon -- about this world we live in. You never really wanted to destroy this place, did you? You wanted to protect it. But the Rakurium can't do that for you. I'm sure even you've realised that, haven't you, Gibeon?"
"Ah... AHHH... AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

Gibeon finally allowed himself to scream. His scream consisted of one hundred years of agony, pain, regret, loss, anger, disappointment, failures, hatred, and, above all else, loneliness.

Gibeon's scream echoed through the now-destroyed paradise of Rakua. It rang across the once peaceful lands that he had ruined with his own selfish desires.

"Lucius...! Lucius...! I... I'm a fool! I... I didn't... I never... I didn't want... This isn't..."

*This isn't what I wanted. This isn't what I wished for. This isn't the future I envisioned with you.*

"I know," Lucius said softly. "I know it isn't. Nobody... Nobody wanted things to turn out this way."

Gibeon sobbed into Lucius's chest, no longer caring about how unsightly he seemed. He cried and cried until he had no tears left to shed.

And even then, he kept himself buried against his friend's warm body.

He'd forgotten how warm human beings were supposed to be.

"I think... it's time for us to go," Lucius said. "With the Rakurium no longer being here, there's nothing left to sustain us."
"...That's not what I meant when I asked you to kill me," Gibeon sniffed.
Lucius chuckled. "I could never kill you," he said. "But... don't you think it's fitting for us to end this adventure here, in Rakua? Well... what's left of it, at least..."
"What about the others?" Gibeon asked.
"They've all left, I think," Lucius replied. "It's just us here now."
"What about Terapagos?" Gibeon realised he still wasn't sure what happened to the Pokemon.
"Pagogo's there. It's waiting for us. And once we've left, it'll go back to Liko."
"Hm..."

Gibeon wanted to stay in Lucius's arms forever. He knew that, no matter where they ended up next, he wouldn't be able to have Lucius hold him like he was. Because Lucius belonged to Rystal.

"Hey, Gibeon?"
"What?"
"I'm sure that, in our next lives, we'll be able to go adventuring again. You, me, and Rystal. All three of us. And I'm sure we'll find something even more incredible than Rakua, too!"

Reluctantly, Gibeon gazed up at Lucius.

Lucius was grinning. It was that stupid charismatic grin of his that Gibeon had always been jealous of. The grin that had tamed the Six Heroes, and had charmed not only Rystal, but Gibeon himself, too.

"Are you... really still willing to see the world with me?" Gibeon asked, not wanting to believe Lucius's words.
"Of course!" Lucius's grin grew wider, somehow. "No matter what world it is. So... let's go. Let's set off on our next adventure. Rystal's been waiting for us for far too long!"
"...Will you... find me?" Gibeon felt like crying again.
"That's the plan!"

Gibeon buried his face in Lucius's chest once more. Not because he was crying, but because he was smiling.

"Next time, I'll be stronger than you," Gibeon mumbled. "And I'll... I'll be the one to--"

Gibeon cut himself off as he realised what he was about to say. There was no way he would ever tell Lucius how he truly felt. That was a secret he was taking to the grave.

"The one to what?" Lucius asked.
"Nothing," Gibeon muttered. "Just... I want us to adventure together again... So..."
"Aw, c'mon! That's not fair!" Lucius whined. "Tell me!"
Gibeon sighed, pleased that Lucius couldn't see how much he was blushing.

"Terapagos... No, Pagogo. You've got a job to do, don't you?"
"Pago!"

A gentle breeze sprung up around them. Terapagos must have begun the process of absorbing the final trace amounts of Rakurium from both Gibeon and Lucius.

"Gibeon... Thank you," Lucius said. "You're a really important friend to me. I've always treasured you. I'm so happy we... finally reached an understanding..."

Gibeon could feel Lucius's voice growing weaker. His warmth was fading. Gibeon himself felt odd, as though he wasn't entirely there anymore.

One last time, Gibeon looked up at his best friend. Lucius was still grinning. He wasn't scared of whatever came next. And Gibeon's own fears were starting to dissipate.

But before they disappeared... Before Lucius was taken from him once again...

Gibeon had to tell him. What if they never saw each other again? What if there wasn't a 'next life'?

It was a secret he would take to his grave. But this *was* his grave. It was *their* grave. Therefore... Surely... Surely it'd be okay...

"Lucius, I lo--"

The two men vanished into nothing.

The only thing that remained in Rakua was Pagogo, now almost completely out of energy. As it collapsed, it was caught in the arms of a young girl. The descendant of the soul it had just cleansed.

"Good work, Pagogo," Liko murmured as she took out Pagogo's Poke Ball. "You can rest now."

Pagogo returned to its Poke Ball without a sound.

"He really... thought nobody else was here..." Dot commented, looked at the place where Lucius and Gibeon had been. "I guess his mind was already going..."
"That's rude!" Roy remarked. "But... They looked so happy. Um. I think they were happy..." He trailed off, unsure.
"They were," Liko nodded. "No, they *are*. Wherever they are now... they'll still be happy."
"Yeah, hopefully," Dot said. "By the way, what was Gibeon trying to say at the end?" she added.
"I dunno," Roy replied. "'I look forward to travelling with you again?'"
"Maybe," Dot shrugged. "Who knows. I don't speak Old Man."
"I don't think any of us do," Liko laughed. "We should head back. The others are all waiting for us."
"Right!" Roy and Dot said together.

As they turned to leave, Liko couldn't help but feel like she was the only one who picked up on what Gibeon said. The words were faint, but she could've sworn she heard them. Not that she'd tell the others. They wouldn't believe her, anyway.

But she knew. She'd heard what Gibeon had been trying to say.

*Lucius, I love you!*

For some reason, Liko had the suspicion that Gibeon wasn't referring to Lucius as a friend with those words. But she wasn't entirely sure why she felt that way...

'*I hope all three of you find happiness in your next lives,*' Liko prayed. '*And... thank you for allowing me to find my own happiness in my current life...*'