Most graveyards, for both Pokémon and humans, were located in Lavender Town. The city was forlorn and enigmatic; it was the most comfortable place for people to visit the deceased. However, my uncle wasn't in Lavender Town.

Located in a hidden patch of land south to Viridian Forest, there was a fenced-off area with a few graves that included my parents. The area was typically kept for people 'born from the forest' and was only known to those familiar with the environment. Oliver, uncle's colleague and childhood friend, had taken the executive decision to have him buried in this area. It wouldn't have been right to delay the burial any longer, so the day that I had returned to K-Z was the same day Uncle Wilton returned to the earth.

It had been two days since then.

Yesterday, Red had forced me to get my wound checked out again for clearance. After the nurse had confirmed I was fine, the four of us had taken a leave of absence, intending to visit my uncle's grave together.

I'd been kneeling beside his grave for so long that my feet had become numb and even ChuChu, who was sitting beside me, was beginning to squirm restlessly.

Even though I'd processed the catapult of events, it still didn't feel real to me. Uncle, ChuChu and I had stuck to such a simple lifestyle for the last eighteen years, I thought it would be forever. Looking back, the last few shambolic months had torn my past self apart. Countless emotions were pestering my mind. The relief of the closed case was streaked with anxiety about my future at K-Z, the bitterness from uncle's murder was eased with closure from his burial, and the panic of facing Red had ended with a new relationship. It was a lot to juggle.

It felt unreal yet at the same time, I didn't have any regrets. Life wasn't ever going to be the same, but I knew I'd grown through these experiences. My powers had developed, as had my confidence in myself and those around me.

"Are you done philosophising about your life Yellow?"

I flinched as my Pikachu put a paw on my lap, then smiled and nodded my head.

"Yeah, sorry for the wait."

I stood up and stretched my arms, then stared back at the tombstone for a few seconds before murmuring, "Goodbye, for now, uncle."

"We'll visit soon, that's a promise." ChuChu waved her tail, then joined me as I began walking towards my friends, who were waiting for me a little distance away.

When I reached the others, Red was quick to wrap an arm around my shoulder and pull me closer to him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah..." I paused for a second, then shook my head. "Actually, if I'm honest, no."

"Wanna talk about it?" Blue nudged her head towards the stairs that led out of the graveyard.

"Is it bad that there's this horrible feeling inside me? I can't get rid of all the hatred I have for Rose." I sighed as we sat down, then looked across at the three for their opinions.

"Honestly, it would be worse if you didn't feel angry." Green muttered.

"He's right, it's not something that's going to vanish. It isn't a great feeling, but I think over time it will become more of a memory and less of a wound." Red's voice vibrated against my ear as I leaned against him.

"I'll take your word for it, thanks." I smiled gratefully.

"I can't believe this," Blue suddenly raised her voice and glared at the two of us, "Green and I are meant to be the power couple in the DAPP."

I met her vibrant eyes and grinned, "Sorry?"

"I thought Silver and Gold made quite a pair." Green murmured, provoking Blue to pinch his arm.

"No way, I think Crystal is a better match for Gold." I shook my head in disagreement, "It's a classic case of opposites attracting."

"Besides," Red lifted his head to glare at Green, "Crystal can keep Gold away from Yellow, Silver wouldn't care."

I rolled my eyes at his jealousy, "How about Yellow keeps Gold away from Yellow?"

"You've lost me," Blue stood up and stretched her arms, "but my brother is too good for any girl."

"Where should we go now? We should make the most of our day off." Red joined Blue as he stood up, then gave me his hand and pulled me upwards.

"How about Viridian Forest?" I looked up at them hopefully, "It's been too long."

"Let's go then." Green was the first to start walking in the direction, and I was quick to follow in his steps.

I smiled to myself as we walked down the steps together, the fresh air wafting around us with the slightest chill.

"I can't believe you're still here." Green murmured, staring at me with a rare grin.

"Me too." I nodded my head and looked up at him curiously.

"You used to seem like a kid, especially on that day you walked out to a briefing in Poliwag pyjamas." We stopped at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for Blue and Red to catch up.

"Hey," I blushed in embarrassment, then poked a finger at him, "you guys are the ones who never kept me in the loop."

"And we'll always regret that," Red's voice became louder as he spoke from behind me, "but we'll make up for it in all our future cases."

"Yeah." I nodded and smiled, hiding the guiltiness that stung me at his words.

The truth was, I didn't know if K-Z was for me.

I'd been restless with the thoughts, but K-Z had never been part of my plan. Since I'd been young, I had always wanted to contribute to society with a career that helped both Pokémon and humans. Before I got to the DAPP, I'd been thinking about applying for voluntary work at a children's camp in another region; it would have been a perfect experience for a future in teaching.

But that was in the past, and now, surrounded by three people who wanted the best for me, I didn't know if I deserved to stay in K-Z. I hadn't had the rigorous training they had, or the necessary qualifications and my work in the department could be mistaken as a fluke.

I blinked away my thoughts as we entered the forest, and smiled as the dim green surrounded us. It was easy to manoeuvre through the obscure paths, and I felt proud that this place was still engraved in my memory. The jade-coloured bark of the trees lit up the forest, like a hidden treasure I no longer had to keep to myself. Everything in my life was different but here, in Viridian Forest, nothing had changed.

"No offence, but your room doesn't do this place justice." Blue bit down a laugh as she looked at Red, who was eyeing all the lush trees in wonder.

His head snapped back at the brunette in offence, "We painted her room perfectly."

"Come on," I giggled, then dropped down to sit on my familiar patch of grass, "as much as I love my walls, this is so much better."

My face lit up even more as I watched the others all sit down, I'd always had this spot, but it was my first time sharing it with anyone other than ChuChu. Speaking of the Pikachu, I noticed she had run off to a distance to reunite with the large family of her species.

"She's right, my granddad always praises this place for being the soul of nature." Green nudged away a Weedle, then lay down and watched a Butterfree fly.

"Exactly." It felt like I was being replenished as I closed my eyes and leaned back, falling into the soft blades of grass.

"Fine." Red chuckled from beside me, then scooted closer to place his head against my shoulder.

"Well if you're all going to sleep in this place, what am I gonna do?" Blue grumbled, then dropped to my other side, staring up at the sky.

"I'm not going to sleep." I poked her arm and smiled.

"I can't look at you, Yellow." She sighed dramatically and turned away from me, "Every time I turn to my cute little friend, that stupid Red has himself all over you."

"You just have to overreact about everything." Green called out, "you should be like this Weedle, pesky woman."

"Get used to it, Blue," Red pulled me to his chest, and I burnt in embarrassment as I felt the warmth from his body, "you won't be able to look at Yellow for the rest of our time at K-Z."

I bit my lip and sighed, "Actually, you guys? I don't know if I'm going to stay at K-Z."

There was silence for a second, then everyone simultaneously sat up, eyeing me for a better explanation.

"I don't know if working at K-Z is for me. I don't exactly have the same set of skills as you guys, and this case could've just been a one-off. I'm not even sure if working in the DAPP is what I want in my future." I stopped speaking and cautiously looked back at them, feeling slightly intimidated by their serious concern.

"Look," Green elbowed Red to be quiet, "You won't know if the S case was a one-off unless you continue to work on other cases, you need more experience before you can decide to drop it."

"That's true, I feel like I'm still stuck in the middle of the decision." I swayed gently in thought, "But have I earnt my place at K-Z?"

"Duh," Blue lightly slapped my head, "If you got through us and an S case, you've made it."

"And I'm sure that Lance is going to force you to take the same exams we did, you're probably going to have to study part-time."

That sounds more realistic.

Red, who had been staring at me silently, now spoke up. "Besides, you're not taking into consideration your own skills. Your communication with Pokémon could be priceless in future cases, you work well with Green when it comes to analysing the database, and you were the only one to figure out the sequence for the murders."

He glared at me, crimson eyes blazing into mine, "You fundamentally concluded Rose was Vespiquen. If you stopped your work at K-Z now, you'd be denying the region of your skills."

I bit my lip at his words, then nodded my head as their voice of reason eased my once confused mind. "I'd be denying myself too."

"I don't want to point out the obvious, but c'mon," Blue wrapped her arms around me tightly as I squirmed, "if you left K-Z, you'd be living all alone with just ChuChu."

"And I wouldn't see you enough," Red added, joining the hug like an Ursaring.

"Plus, you do bake some great cookies." Green met my eyes and then gestured to our group hug in disapproval, "But I'm not getting in that."

I grinned and freed a hand, then reached through the hug and grabbed Green's reluctant hand. "If I'm here to stay, you better get in!"

Unfortunately, my attempts at incorporating the nonchalant giant failed when ChuChu reappeared and tried to leap onto my head. We all toppled back down onto the grass, startling some observing Pikachu.

"You know," Blue suddenly burst into a suspicious laugh, "we could do with another holiday."

"I'm in, the last one was a complete failure," Red groaned, "But let's go somewhere further out."

"Can we go to Johto? I really want to see the Lake of Rage." I hugged ChuChu in my arms in excitement and looked up at Red hopefully.

"Well, how could I say no to that?" He smiled and threaded his fingers through mine.

"Wait a sec, Lance is calling me." Green held his hand up to make us quiet, then put the phone on speaker.

Blue cheekily moved to speak first, "Hi Lance, we're planning a well-earned holiday to Johto, are you in?"

He was silent and merely coughed in response. Blue took this as a sign to continue speaking, "I want to check out Ecruteak City again, Green can join in the dance theatre. We'll let Yellow and Red do their own thing in the Lake of Rage."

I bit down a laugh as Green looked especially horrified at being dragged to the theatre, and elbowed his girlfriend.

"It's funny that you four have thought about Johto locations even though you're going to be stuck in Kanto. Get back to the briefing room, I have two cases that need answers immediately."

Lance's words smothered our anticipation as they continued to ring in my ears, but then I pushed my body up and stretched my arms.

Looking down at my three colleagues, who were visibly tired already, I grinned and reached out my hand.

"Let's go home."

~end

A/N
And that's a wrap everyone! Thank you for reading all the way to the end. I initially planned to finish with the previous chapter, but I think the group dynamics were more core to the story than the romance.

Just a few notices:

✿ First, a huge thankyou to sapphitedreams who made this stunning banner for me, I'll be using it a little in the future too ;)

✿ I'm going to be writing four extra chapters that are unrelated to the plot, one for each of the characters. These won't be updated at a fixed time as there are some other projects I have to start on, but nonetheless, I hope you'll enjoy them.

✿ I'll also be updating the Prologue so there are more details about Yellow's parents. This will come before the extra chapters, so keep an eye out if you're interested.

✿Lastly, thank you so much for reading this story, I started it during a rough time and it's been a lovely journey.

Goodbye! ◕ ˬ ◕