Chapter 48 - 48 - It's Now Over

The next morning, as the sun was rising over the mountainous horizon, as if it was a lot early, everyone in their hiding places woke up from their hard sleep and come out, only to be surprised and stunned that the storm was now gone and over. The weather is now sunny and rarely cloudy, showing the clear sky. According to the morning weather news, the storm now reduced into a smaller size and dissipated west of the region, ending the stormy terror that inflicted the population so much.

Outside, everyone, after hearing the announcement for safe returning to their homes, grabbed their belongings, went to the streets, seeing the extent of the damages the storm had caused. There were broken tree branches, debris, and pieces of materials scattered around in the streets and on trees, vehicles, buildings, and stands. Everything is really messy, with the extent of damages extending as far as the mountains and some communities there. But luckily, the traffic lights and signs had managed to survive the storm without any damages, showing their resistance to high winds and heavy rains.

And as the power maintenance team work up to restore the city's power supply, most of the residents and tourists went back to their homes and hotels, along with their Pokémon. Most immediately clean up the mess after arriving, while others went straight to their businesses and other places of recreation to do some clean up and reopen to continue doing business. For the Cruz family, they went to their house, which is bȧrėly got damaged despite the strong winds and heavy rains. Upon arriving there, they opened the gate and move aside the heavy sacks to free up space. Rosario grabbed a bamboo broom and start cleaning up the debris. The rest opened the door of the house and once inside, they checked if everything got damaged by the storm. Luckily, nothing got damaged now malfunctioned, even the TV, stove, the cabinets, and other appliances are not damaged.

"Phew! Good thing everything didn't got wet," Rico commented in relief.

"Yeah, thanks to the strong structure of this house," Lucas added. Rico went upstairs and unlocked the doors there to see any possible damages. Again, there were rarely any damages in any given room, just small patched of wetted curtains, blankets, beds, and tables. Their belongings there had been covered with bedsheets and bath and hand towels, protecting them from the destructive forces of the storm. Rico and his team then sighed in relief, and proceeds to do some clean up. The Starlys cage are on the coffee table, safe and sound. While this happens, everyone and their Pokémon are in full cooperation to clean up the mess and rebuild what is destroyed, and also to redecorate the city with Christmas decorations, including the largest Christmas tree in the city park. Dirt and debris are now being swept away in a few hours' time. Big buildings, including of Pokémon activities, are now under cleaning operation and rebuilding process. Kolen and his family and students are rebuilding their beautiful gardens and compound, with extra seedlings of the common and rare plants. Campillo and his family are helping the townspeople cleaning the streets and alleyways, restoring their former glory. To make it more unique, students and staff of various educational institutions started helping the city people in their rebuild and clean up operations, speeding the process even more. All of this makes the culture of Philas much more unique and different from other regions.

Later by midday, as everyone else and their Pokémon are having a hearty and bountiful lunch, Rico and his parents and professor are in discussion concerning about the Starlys' new home. It only ended when Campillo suggested that his backyard of his lab will be a new home for the Pokémon, which the rest agreed with no hesitation nor contempt.

So, by 2:15 p.m., after some short arrangements, Rico moved the Starlys into their new home: the wide and forestry backyard of Campillo's lab. All of Campillo's aides, his family, Rico and his team and family, and Jacob, now all clean, are there to watch the happening in expectation. And as Rico opened the cage door, the Starlys flew free to the trees and settled on tree branches in so much joy and happiness.

"Oh, man, they're so happy," Juan commented in joy. His Pokémon, an Oshawott and a Vulpix, then responded with happiness.

"Well, it was a good idea that you allow them to settle here," one of Campillo's aides commented in liking it.

"Yes," Campillo replied back, "I had a lot of space in my backyard for them to settle anywhere." Some of Campillo's Pokémon who already settled there came to the Starlys and greeted them with a welcome. The Starlys then responded back with greeting. Those who watch it are in emotion, as if to say "Aww...." Later, others exit the place, except Rico, his team and parents, Campillo, and Jacob. Then, as its friends play with each other, a Starly looked at Rico, thinking how he saved it and its friends from the storm yesterday. Then, driven by a dėsɨrė to be on Rico's team, Starly flew down towards Rico and responded to him with a request of being in his team. Surprised by its offer, Rico asked back, "Wait, you want to be in my team?" Starly then happily nodded to say yes. Noticing this, Campillo encouraged Rico, "I think you should let it join your team. It'll be a great Pokémon for you." Motivated by Campillo's words, Rico get a spare Poké Ball from his Pokébelt and said to Starly, "So Starly, do you want to my Pokémon?" Starly then responded with happy acceptance and tapped on the Poké Ball, causing it to go into the Poké Ball, and now waiting to be intact in it. Then, a few seconds later, it successfully intact in its Poké Ball. Having received his fourth Pokémon and first Flying-type Pokémon, Rico raised his Poké Ball up to the air and shouted in victory, "Yes! I just caught a Starly!" His team then joined him in happy rejoicing. After that joyous moment, Rico said to Starly in its Poké Ball, "Don't worry, I'll take care of you. I promise you I will." He then put it back in his Pokébelt, turned around towards his parents and professor and thanked them for the encouragement.

"You're welcome, Titus," Campillo happily responded back.

"Yes, but you must be serious about taking care of it," Lucas reminded him again like last time.

"Yeah, yeah, dad, I get it now," Rico got it in agreement with him. "I promised." Everyone then became happy in happiness as the sun sets towards the west in beautiful scenery.

After some snack time, Rico and Jacob went to the coast guard station in the beach to return the equipment the guards lended to them. Though they had the helmets, the guards let the two youngsters keep the goggles for themselves. Confused and puzzled, Rico and Jacob asked back, "Why?"

"Because of your act of bravery," one coast guard replied brightly, "you might have these as a memory of this passed disaster."

"Don't worry, you two," another added brightly, "we had like a lot of them in our supply, and we rarely replace them." Calming down and made sense of this, the two youngsters responded, "Oh, that makes sense. Well, thanks again for your help to us, and for letting us keep those goggles. We really appreciate it."

"You're welcome, you two," they said back. "We're glad to help." Rico and Jacob then turned around and walked away together in happy ending.

Later by 5:45 p.m., as the sun sets beautifully towards the horizon, Rico and Jacob are at the airport entrance. Jacob is going to depart for Tahod, his home region. It turns out that prior to the storm's coming, Jacob was at a beach hotel, taking a nice vacation; when suddenly, a storm caused all the flights to and from Kawayan City to be cancelled, leaving the Pokémon warrior Trainer stuck at the city. But now, with the storm had passed, all flights resumed, giving Jacob an opportunity to leave the city. And as Jacob is about to enter to the check-in halls, Rico said to him, "Hey, you! What's your name?" Hearing him, Jacob stopped walking, turned around towards him halfway, and responded with style, "I'm Jacob Kalyan, the Pokémon warrior Trainer of the Tahod region. What's yours?"

"I'm Rico Cruz," Rico brightly responded back, "of Kawayan City."

"Nice to meet you, Rico," Jacob replied back." "And you're welcome on helping you out with the Starlys. I am grateful for my cooperation." Rico then smiled in happiness. This follows with a short silence for a while. And then, a flight announcement was heard, alerting Jacob and said to Rico breaking the silence, "Oh, no, I gotta go now. I'll see you again next time." He then turned around and resumed going into the check-in halls as Rico watched him from the outside.

Later at night, as the moon rises over the horizon and the lights of the city illuminates across the night, Rico was looking at the clear night sky in his room window gazing at the stars. His Pokémon are with him, watching him gaze.

"Wow, such a beautiful night would relax me," Rico thought in lovely commentary. "Another sign that the storm is now gone." The big Christmas tree can be seen a few kilometers away thanks to its height, surpassing any building that would attempt to block its view. What a lovely night it was!