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Something about climbing back into that familiar cockpit felt a little bittersweet, but seeing the console light up with the familiar sights and sounds of the launch protocol made Eddie's heart soar. His pride and joy was safe, and less worse for wear than he had expected, and now they could get on home in one piece, [break][break]

“Atta boy,” he hummed to himself as he flicked familiar switches with practiced ease, “Let's try an' make the return trip a little less bumpy, yeah?” [break][break]

Thrusters engaged; a warning light or two dinged, but it was nothing that couldn't wait until they got back to base. With a wave and one final, broad grin, Eddie bid the Traveler farewell, beaming at them through the glass paneling that surrounded the Starrunner's cockpit, and in a furious blast of light, he was hurtling back into the stratosphere, ready to make his way home. [break][break]

As excited as he had been to get his ship back up and running, Eddie suddenly realized that it was still too soon to celebrate. There was still a matter of the ion storms, the very force of the cosmos that had landed him on this planet in the first place. New fear took hold of him as he climbed higher and higher into the sky, until he noticed something fluttering on his craft's wing, [break][break]

“What the – ?” [break][break]

More of those petals, clinging to the black and blue metal of the craft. They were too light to impede his departure from the planet, but as Eddie climbed, higher and higher, soaring through the thinnest reaches of this world's atmosphere, he suddenly realized there were far more of these petals he had initially anticipated. [break][break]

Eddie whipped his head around to see them whirling all around the craft, a tornado of sun-bright yellow, a vortex of nature that was rapidly closing in on him. Well, shit, this couldn't be good, could it? They were liable to clog the thrusters, bog down the engine, Eddie assumed, by the time they fully cocooned his ship, [break][break]

“How the hell do we shake 'em?” [break][break]

But before he could consider any such evasive maneuvers, his ship lurched with a morbid familiarity. Oh God, the storms, how could he have forgotten? And he was flying blind, too, sensors unable to pick up a damn thing from the interference, his vision obscured by the petals themselves. His ship lurched again, and Eddie's panic grew. [break][break]

He mentally prepared himself for another crash-landing, steeled himself for when he would inevitably be rocked around the cockpit like he was part of a game of human pinball, but strangely, neither of those things ever came to pass. The lurch of the ship abated, and the whole universe seemed to grow quiet, oddly enough, and when Eddie looked up again, the yellow petals that had come to tightly embrace him and his craft had begun to peel off. Like a tree in autumn shedding its leaves, Eddie watched with some confusion as a few fluttered away into the darkness of space, and a few more, and a few more. [break][break]

He was stupefied by the sight of it, of these petals now coming off in great waves, but he found himself even more confused by what awaited him beyond that curtain of gold. It was... [break][break]

Nothing. Which was to say, he now saw a tranquil little patch of the cosmos; no storms, no raging clouds of ion, no new planet he had crash-landed upon. Eddie had somehow made it to the other side. [break][break]

He whooped for joy, until a familiar voice came crackling over the comms. Oh shit, he had probably lost all connection to headquarters after making it out to this part of the galaxy, hadn't he? And now he had some explaining to do, because the Explorer had been sent on this journey to find someone, and here he was, set to return empty-handed. [break][break]

Now, Eddie didn't consider himself a particularly good liar; he was a straightforward guy, and lying just had a way of unnecessarily complicating things. But he wasn't about to give up the poor Traveler when they had finally gotten that little bit of peace they had been so desperately searching for. The Commander's voice rang out over the comms again, and Eddie knew what he had to do, [break][break]

“I read ya loud and clear, boss-man,” the Explorer replied, “But I got some bad news.” [break][break]

Eddie's eyes drifted to the Starrunner's wing, visible through the glass exterior of the cockpit, and he smiled when he saw one last familiar trace of yellow, [break][break]

“I found the Traveler's ship, but it was in a bad way. Think it got banged up somethin' awful by the ion storms.” [break][break]

Which, technically, wasn't a lie, [break][break]

“And no sign'a the Traveler, either. I... I don't think they made it.” [break][break]

And as far as Eddie was concerned, that technically wasn't a lie, either. The Traveler had transcended the role that had been arbitrarily assigned to them. They were no longer a Traveler of the cosmos, bound by duty. They were something new; they were free, [break][break]

“So I'm headin' on back,” Eddie continued, “An' in my opinion, we prob'ly oughta steer clear of this neck a' the woods. 'Bout lost my ship, too, an' if we keep sendin' Travelers and Explorers out ta these parts, we're more likely ta lose more folks than anythin' else.” [break][break]

Not that his opinion counted for much. If it did, Eddie would have been the Commander himself, not just some Explorer. Still, it was worth mentioning, if only to put that little bug in HQ's ear to steer clear of this place. Eddie smiled a little to himself before he moved to flick off the comms, [break][break]

“Raging Bull, over an' out.”

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Hideo Kino [break]

"Well done on finding your way through this ordeal."

Eduarso's exit from the dream was just as abrupt as it had started, sitting just as he'd been as he started, once more within the Gym room. The Dream Mist the two Musharna had let out was being filtered away by a Galarian Weezing, reality becoming clear once more. A small *thump* could be heard as Hideo closed the book.

"Did you enjoy your Journey Amongst The Stars?" he asked, the smile on his face. "You did a good job. You were able to face many trials in your path to finding the Traveler - and after finding them, you let them live the life that they truly wanted instead of forcing them to return to a role they didn't want."

Hideo lifted his book up, a Beheeyem psychically lifting it up and placing it aside. A shiny Corviknight sat by his side, the boy placing a hand on its metallic feathers.

"Now then: do you have any questions about your journey? Was there anything you would've done differently if given the chance?"

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Waking up was just as jarring as going under had been. Eddie started briefly at the sound of the Gym Leader's voice before he realized where exactly he was, [break][break]

“Holy shi– uh, I mean – ” [break][break]

He paused a moment to collect his thoughts, blinking rapidly and rubbing his eyes, [break][break]

“That, uh, was cool as hell,” Eddie finally managed with a disbelieving chuckle, “You got that whole dream-simulation thing down to a science, kid.” [break][break]

The man turned to look around at all of the Pokemon bustling about the place, all working like clockwork now that the story had ended. When Eddie's eyes settled on the Corviknight sitting next to the gym leader's side, the man felt his chest flood with warmth, [break][break]

“And I'd say I'm pretty happy with my choices. No regrets from me; not a one.” [break][break]

Especially none as far as the Traveler was concerned.

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Hideo Kino [break]

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Ah shit, that was a good point. Who would have thought that blindly rushing head-on into danger wasn't the smartest play? It was something to consider not just for the purposes of the simulation, but for his own team building and more, Eddie supposed. [break][break]

But before he could verbally acknowledge this, the Ordeal Badge was presented to him, and the man's eyes widened with excitement and awe, [break][break]

“Huh. Yanno what?” [break][break]

He reached out and gently accepted the heart-shaped emblem. Eddie grinned wide at the sight of the badge nestled in the palm of his hand, [break][break]

“I think I learned a lot. Thanks; fer this – ” And Eddie held up the badge, admiring the way its surface glinted in the light, [break][break]

“And fer, well, all'a this.” [break][break]

And despite that fact that Hideo wouldn't be able to see the gesture, Eddie swept his other hand out to gesture across the room and the Pokemon within it, [break][break]

“I'm never gonna forget this. Thanks, Hideo. Fer everythin'.”

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Hideo Kino [break]