How on earth did it take almost two weeks to write a chapter? Beats me, I really struggled with this one.. I had to rewrite a part of it probably five times before I was satisfied with it.

This chapter is long but you know the drill, no pain no gain (meaning if you leave anything unread, you'll risk missing something really important)..

The next chapter will be up in a couple of days :)

R&R, please enjoy! :)

Like she'd predicted, her mother got even worse as the festival came closer. Dawn hadn't even seen her the other day because Johanna was needed at the festival area almost the whole day. Dawn had kept quiet about the incident with the boy and Ursaring and had tried to act as normal as possible when her mother asked her if anything interesting had happened.

The town had become overcrowded a day or two before the festival and Dawn felt she would suffocate on the streets, where trainers battled one another and got to know the small town. Her quiet walking routes weren't quiet anymore as people gathered by the riverside to catch new Pokémon or to swim. Dawn had gladly stayed home to avoid all of them, much to her mother's disappointment. She'd hoped her daughter would have been excited to see old friends or at least try to make new ones, but no; she'd just sat in her room, cleaning her closets to kill time.

"Dawn! You home?" Johanna shouted as she entered their house and rushed to the kitchen to get a quick bite to eat. It was almost 5:00 pm and she should've been at the preparations for the festival. Not that she'd slaked off the whole day; she'd been running across the town the whole day to make sure every pie, ribbon, and schedule was perfect.

Linoone popped his head in the kitchen to see what the commotion was about; Johanna wasn't particularly quiet as she rampaged through the cupboards to find something eatable. She settled for crackers due to her time limit and ran around the house to get her things ready for the festival-preparations.

"Dawn, you up there?" she tried once more to reach her daughter and almost ran over Linoone. At this point she figured out herself that her daughter had to be home.

"I'm in my room mom!" Dawn yelled from her room, not bothering to come downstairs. She knew her mother would've already left before she even got down.

"What's up, something important?" she asked and continued to clean her room, which she'd done for the past few days.

Johanna didn't even stop her running around to answer her daughter.

"Nothing in particular, I just wanted to know if you were still here. I'm just about to leave for the final preparations and won't be back before ten, maybe eleven, so you'll have to cook for yourself if you get hungry! Just take anything you want, I'll eat the buffet foods anyway," she told her whilst shoving her things in a huge bag and making her way for the door at the same time.

"Yeah, I figured that much," Dawn muttered in her room and stared at the huge pile of papers that fit neatly inside one of her desk's cupboards. She couldn't believe how it fit there in the first place; the cupboard had been filled to the max for years.

She heard the front door open and was about to say 'bye' to her mother but it was already too late. The door slammed shut and she could hear her mother run across their yard, her footsteps echoing in the house until she'd gotten too far. Linoone entered her room shortly after Johanna had left and sat by Dawn's side and looked at the pile of papers that were about to tilt over.

Dawn sighed loudly as the papers fell across her floor, mixing with others that she'd decided to keep.

She'd been keeping herself occupied for the past few days so she wouldn't have to go outside and 'get to know the young trainers'; as her mother put it. She'd gone through every inch of her room, whether it was her closet, bookshelf, or her bathroom. She'd cleaned everything from floor to ceiling. Cleaning wasn't something she found enjoyable but it had to do for know. Her mother didn't understand her sudden 'cleaning frenzy' but knew it wouldn't last long.

On that day Dawn had decided to go over her old study desk, which she hadn't used in years. The desk just stood in the far end of her room, acting out as an extra shelf where she tossed old magazines and other things she didn't want to throw out. Her mother had asked her countless times to clear it up, paint it, and make it into her new study desk but she'd never really liked the idea. Now; however, with limited things to do, it had to be done.

And how nostalgic had it been! Dawn felt as if she was still ten, studying to become a beginning trainer at the local school. She'd read every single old book and report that she'd done years ago and couldn't help but laugh her ass off for their poor quality or immature answers. The tests that seemed so hard those days were now a piece of cake and she smiled as she read her 'know-it-all' answers. Dawn didn't have the heart to throw all of them away, especially her drawings of her dream teams.

She traced the colored pictures with her finger and smiled. When had her dream team ever included a Psyduck or Steelix? It was funny how her brother had affected her way of judging Pokémon; Damien had never been really picky when it came to his team but he liked to have relatively fast Pokémon. Dawn could remember how they used to have long, tiring discussions about their dream Pokémon; Damien had often chosen either a fire or electric type and she herself which ever Damien had chosen the last time. Quite pathetic actually.

Dawn started to organize the hundreds of papers covering her floor, she didn't even notice that Linoone had disappeared from her side. Just as she was trying to make sense of a messy drawing, which looked like a combination of a Tangela and Gastly, Linoone huffed loudly and bumped into her arm.

Dawn turned her head to look at the Pokémon, wondering what had gotten into him.

Linoone looked intensively into her eyes and huffed again and taking a few steps backwards but didn't lose eye contact.

"What is it Linoone?" she asked and forgot about everything she was doing. Linoone turned around, trotted to her desk and huffed once more. When the girl still didn't understand what the Pokémon was trying to say, he scratched one of the cupboards while looking straight into her eyes.

Dawn had an odd feeling about the whole thing. Linoone had never acted like this before, so how could she know what he wanted. After a moment she finally decided to investigate the situation and stood up which made the Pokémon stop his scratching at once. She slowly began making her way to his side; by the half opened cupboard.

"What's wrong Linoone? Did you find something nice?" she spoke softly to her friend as she kneeled to his side and opened the cupboard.

What she saw caught her off guard. It was the book she'd lost, the book she'd searched for, the book she'd loved.

The book that had disappeared from her life as soon as she'd got it, which was years ago.

Dawn looked at the familiar brown cover with the silver font, being in shock, she was not able to say a word. All of these years, it had been here?

She remembered all too well the day when it went missing. She'd noticed it the day after Damien's visit and had literally turned the whole house upside down trying to search for it. She'd been miserable when she didn't find it, thinking up crazy ideas to explain how and why it had gone missing in the first place. Her mother on the other hand hadn't been too worried, thinking it was better for the girl not to get too attached to it; she was setting off on an adventure in a couple of days at the time anyway and couldn't carry the huge book with her.

She didn't know what to do. Should she be happy for finally finding the book? Her heart pounded in her chest and a hundred different thoughts raced in her head, all being about the book.

She'd given up hope on finding it. She didn't even want to think about it because it brought back so many agonizing memories of the time she'd gotten it.

Linoone stared at her with his blue eyes, not knowing what to do. He'd smelled the book as soon as the cupboard had been opened, knowing what it meant to Dawn. But there was something else in the scent, something painfully familiar. Finally he decided to wake up the paralyzed girl from her shock by bumping his head on her arm.

Dawn was pulled back from her thoughts and turned her head to face Linoone who was staring intensively into her eyes. With a sigh she turned her eyes to the book and carefully stretched out her hands to pick it up. She sat the book onto her lap and started to trace the letters absentmindedly, just the way she'd used to.

"The Tale of Ampyr and Pyron: mythical, terrifying Pokémon," she whispered and took a moment to calm down from an oncoming hysteria attack. Once she was calm enough, she carefully turned the front cover and stared at the first page.

They were exactly the same as she remembered; the paper was an odd yellowish shade and the pictures had lost almost all of their colors. She took in the familiar smell of the old book and smiled, even surprising herself with her reaction.

"...It's really back," she said quietly and hugged the book gently. Linoone sat down by her side with a curious expression on his face. Dawn smiled at the Pokémon.

"My father gave this book to me when he came to visit a week before... it happened. It tells about very old Pokémon myths and it used to be my favorite book, even though I only had it for a few days. It disappeared a while after Damien came to visit and I tried to look everywhere for it... I was pretty convinced that he'd taken it with him or something because I couldn't find it anywhere... And all this time it had been in my old desk!" she explained to the Pokémon that was sniffing the book she held in her hands.

"I remember one story in particular that fascinated me. I remember how he told me about it a little before he had to leave... I hardly got any sleep that night 'cause I couldn't stop reading it!" she smirked at the memory as she turned the pages, marveling at the beautiful pictures and gorgeous handwriting.

"If you'd like I could read a little of it to you right know," she turned her eyes to Linoone with a smile on her face. The Pokémon hadn't known about the book or its stories and she felt a little guilty for talking about something important to her without letting Linoone know about it. The Pokémon answered by nodding its head and taking a comfortable possession next to her.

She nodded and searched for the right pages, turning hundreds of pages before finding the correct story.

"The Pendant of Ampyr and the Beast of the North" she read the title and couldn't help but smile. She turned to Linoone, who was staring curiously at the book.

"This used to be my favorite tale," she said softly and stroked the picture of a silver necklace. Linoone just huffed impatiently, wanting her to continue. Something about that name seemed familiar, yet he couldn't remember when or where he'd heard it before.

As Dawn began the story Linoone became more and more antsy. He'd finally remembered why it had sounded so familiar. But that wasn't the reason for his restlessness. He'd smelled the one he knew wasn't here anymore, the person that had caught him when he was still a Zigzagoon, the person with whom he'd traveled for years.

Damien.

The book practically reeked of him, making him feel joy and sadness all at the same time. He was bewildered of how Dawn couldn't smell it but then again her nose wasn't as good as his.

Dawn hadn't even read half of the story when Linoone couldn't control himself anymore. He hopped into her lap and stuck his nose to the book, breathing in his past owner's scent and trying to turn the pages to get closer to it. At that point Dawn was really worried about her friend.

"Linoone what's wrong with you? You've never acted like this before!" she questioned the Pokémon while trying to get the book from his reach.

Linoone stopped at once and stared intensively into her eyes, trying to get the message through. Dawn held the book firmly against her chest with a confused expression on her face. She couldn't understand why Linoone was acting like this, it almost seemed like he was possessed or something. Moreover, the book was too precious to her and she didn't want anything to happen to it now that she'd finally found it again.

After an intense moment of staring, Linoone finally broke their eye contact and slowly approached Dawn, sitting in front of her. He gently poked the book and huffed, keeping his eyes on the cover.

Dawn knew Linoone was trying to tell her something but it was ever so hard to understand his attempts of explanation. Whatever it was, it had something to do with the book. She carefully set the book down in front of both her and Linoone and sighed.

"What do you want me to do?" she asked him and tried to focus only on his body language.

Linoone eyed the pages and turned his head to the side, implying for her to turn the pages. Dawn started to turn the pages, not knowing what she would find. She could feel Linoone's excitement build up as she kept turning the pages, now almost done with the tale of the pendant.

And then she could see it. It was on the last page of the tale, covering the picture of the ice-caves.

"A letter..." she whispered and looked at Linoone. He was looking at her curiously, waiting for a reaction. She brought her eyes back to the letter and picked it up, vaguely studying it.

"I wonder where it came from. It sure wasn't there when I first read it..." she trailed off as she carefully opened it.

What she found made her heart skip a beat. It was written in a very familiar handwriting and was addressed to her.

She stared at the piece of paper in shock, a million different things going on inside her head. Linoone was starting to get a bit worried, maybe this wasn't a good idea after all.

Finally, Dawn recovered a little from her state to murmur out the first thing on her mind.

"…Impossible," she whispered so quietly that even Linoone had trouble hearing it. She tried to swallow the lump that had formed in her throat to be able to continue.

"…Damien," she haft whispered, half sobbed, as she stared at the words her brother had written for her in disbelief. She didn't know what to do or what to feel. Should she be happy, sad, angry, relieved? Should she open it or just stick it in a cupboard and just forget about it? And what should she tell her mother?

She felt Linoone's burning gaze and turned to her friend for help. The Pokémon seemed to be battling with his emotions like she was; he was excited, yet pained and just sat on her floor looking at her, waiting for her decision.

"...I don't know what to do," she admitted to him and looked at the letter once again. "Should I open it, find some comfort in his thoughts, yet feel the same pain and agony as before? Or should I just hide it and try to forget about it?" she debated to herself, trying to think of every possible outcome that would happen whether she opened it or not.

Linoone huffed to get her attention back on him. Once her eyes were firmly on him, he made his way to the letter – still in her hands – and poked it with his head. He didn't care what it held, as long as she'd read it to him, he would be happy.

Dawn nodded and sighed before eyeing the letter. To be honest she was dieing to know what Damien had written, no matter how bad it would make her feel afterwards. She unfolded the single piece of paper and gulped loudly before she was able to concentrate on the letter.

"To Dawn, whenever you should find this letter and decide to read it..." she whispered the first words from her brother, trying to hold back her tears and keep her voice clear. Linoone sat quietly beside her, waiting patiently for her to continue.

"You have no idea how hard it is to write this letter to you or try to think how you'll react to it once you find it. Anyhow, it doesn't really matter now, because the fact of you finding this letter proves that dad and I failed. I'm dead and for that I'm sorry, Dawn."

She needed air. She had to get air!

Dawn let go of the letter, rushing to her window to fill her lungs with the cool evening air. She'd been taken completely off guard by her brother's words that she'd even forgotten to breath. She could feel the first tears start to make their way down her cheeks and she quickly wiped them with her hand.

She hadn't cried in over three years and she'd be damned if her record would be ruined by this letter. She stayed by the window for a moment to clear her head, enjoying the cool air, before she turned around to face Linoone. The Pokémon hadn't moved a muscle and was staring at the letter. It almost seemed as if he was guarding it so it couldn't disappear. Dawn walked slowly back to his side and grabbed the letter in her hands, re-sitting herself.

"…He's sorry that he's dead?" Dawn repeated quietly, trying to keep her voice firm. Linoone hung his head down, not knowing what to say. He was as confused as she. After a moment Dawn continued with the letter.

"I'm sorry for making you and mom go through a thing like that, dad is too. But don't get us wrong when I say that we don't regret it, the dying that is. We've accepted it as a possible outcome a long time ago. To be honest we both probably knew that we would die… Sorry."

She had to pause again to think things through. Damien knew he was going to die, her father too. How on earth could people even pretend to live their lives whilst knowing their days were numbered? It must have been really depressing and scary.

Dawn glanced at Linoone before continuing the letter.

"The next thing I'm going to tell you is something you absolutely can't tell anyone - especially mom. She'd have a heart attack if she knew about this letter even existing... Now listen up, 'kay lil sis?" Dawn held her breath as she kept reading, shocked by Damien's next words, totally bewildered.

"..The Pendant of Ampyr is REAL!" she whispered in disbelief. She held the letter tightly in her hands, checking the sentence over and over again, not believing her eyes."

"Shocked? You're not the only one; dad and I were also pretty taken back when we heard about it. We'd thought it was only a myth, a tale passed down from generations, a story. But sure enough, as far as myths go, there's always some truth in them."

"Have you ever heard the myth of Pyron? He was said to have made a number of special tiles, which would lead you to the pendant. The tiles were originally made to help find the pendant in a case of emergency, but obviously they attracted power hungry people, wanting to control the beast. This is why Pyron hid them across Sinnoh, trying to make it as difficult as possible to find them, thus protecting the pendant. Pyron also created 'The Crimson Heart', a piece of scarlet emerald said to share a link between the beast. This gem was essential to finding the hidden tiles."

"I think it's about time to let you in on what we were actually studying at the ruins, although you've probably already guessed about now. Yes, we were looking for 'The Crimson Heart', along with a dozen others. Our boss – Eyan, the grandson of a famous archeologist, – led the project with high hopes, employing some of the best researchers in Sinnoh to find it. He wanted to find the gem in honor of his grandfather, who'd searched for it his whole life. His own ambition was to find Pyron's tiles, which would lead him to Ampyr."

"Eyan was, well, an odd person, with a sharp tongue and short temper. You didn't have to do much to get him in a bad mood. We all found him a little strange, especially when he only showed up at the ruins for checkups, not taking part in the search himself. Because, you know, normally people want to do some of the work for themselves – at least I would."

"And then there were the disappearances of a few who'd been rumored to have found something to do with the gem. All of a sudden it seemed like everyone was disappearing and dad and I got suspicious that something wasn't right. Eyan seemed to be connected with the incidents somehow and we figured out we'd gotten mixed up in something really dangerous."

"And then it happened, the thing every archeologist dreams about. I found it; a blood-red stone with strange markings on it. I knew straight away what it was and decided then and there not to report about it. That night I showed it to dad and he agreed with me to keep it hidden for the time being. Dad had been spying on Eyan and his shady henchmen and he suspected that they were trying to find the gem in order to gain power of the beast. We knew it would have terrible consequences due to his nature and we couldn't let that happen."

"We tried to fight him by working day and night, searching for the tiles in order to find the pendant first but without any luck. Even with the gem in our possession it's impossible to leave the ruins for over a day. It's only a matter of time before they find out that we have the scarlet emerald and what we've been doing, well, at least tried to do. He's a cruel man, Dawn, so be careful."

Dawn stared at the paper, her eyes the size of plates and mouth open. Linoone braced himself for the worst.

"WHAT?" she shouted at the paper, totally confused with what she'd just read. What did he mean by 'be careful'? Was he actually telling her to continue whatever he and their dad had started? Did he actually believe that she would?

"I can't believe this!" she thought out loud, still looking at the paper. Linoone, who had backed up a bit in case she'd explode or something, had understood perfectly what Damien wished her to do. What he wished him to do. He remembered the day when Damien had left him with Dawn, telling him to keep her safe. He hadn't understood his last plead had held a deeper meaning to it before his death.

Dawn was still having problems deciding how she should feel about Damien's last words. She was totally freaked out by the fact that her brother and father had even attempted something so dangerous but at the same time she couldn't help but feel a bit proud.

She sighed, maybe she'd decide after finishing the letter. Refocusing on her brother's messy handwriting, she searched for the correct line and kept reading.

"I know this is too much to ask of you, dad would kill me if he ever knew I even mentioned it to you and for that I can't blame him. The reason you're reading this letter is because we failed, leaving our hard job to you. Please, if you value the world you're currently living in, then promise me this. You won't let anything happen to it. Promise you'll stop him before he destroys Sinnoh. And if not for your sake, then for all the people and Pokémon that inhabit it.

"Find the tiles. Find the pendant.

"Don't let them have it. I have no idea on how many years have passed since my death but I do know this; they're still looking for them. We haven't lost, so keep going! Make us proud!

"I can't help you look for the tiles but I can point you to the right direction. Dad and I think that the most likely place to find the first one is in Oreburgh City. The city is known for its mine and that sounds like a good place to start.

"That's as much as I can do. The next ones are all on you but they will be easier to find, trust me! Anyway, I've reached the limit of this sheet of paper (by the way I stole this from Eyan) so I guess this would be a good place to stop.

"Thank you for all the great years we spent together. I've learnt to cherish every moment and wouldn't change a thing between us. Remember that I'm always watching over you as well as dad! Dawn, you can do this!"

A single tear fell down her cheek as she read her brother's goodbye and heartwarming words. Damn, so she cried after all.

Fresh tears rolled down her cheeks, making it ever so difficult for her to read Damien's last words. She didn't actually care anymore that she was crying, in fact she barely even realized it anymore.

"See you in your dreams - Damien"

Johanna was absolutely exhausted as she dragged herself home, her Glameow greeting her happily as she opened the door. It had been a long day making the final preparations for the festival and now all she wanted was a good night's sleep. The festival would start at ten but the staff had to be present at eight, which meant one very tired and pissed off daughter.

She smiled at her Pokémon and stroked her gently behind her ear. Glameow purred contently, she'd been bored out of her head the entire day and was determined to follow her owner now that she'd returned.

"Did you have a good day Glameow?" Johanna asked the feline as she made her way to the kitchen. The cat meowed loudly, obviously very displeased.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't take you with me but you know the rules; no Pokémon. Good grief hasn't that girl eaten anything today?" she wondered in horror as she stared into the fridge, noticing nothing had been eaten.

She sighed and looked at Glameow. By the way she was acting, it seemed that Dawn had forgotten to feed her as well. Johanna frowned; it wasn't like Dawn to forget about things like that. She quickly opened a can of Glameow's favorite tuna as an apology and decided to go find her daughter.

"Dawn? Are you home, honey?" she called out and started making her way to the stairs, surprised to see her daughter standing in the midway of them. Her face was pale and she had a sad frown on her face. Johanna looked at her for awhile before taking a few steps towards her.

"Dawn, what's wrong?" she asked, wondering what had upset her daughter.

"Is it about the festival? I'm sorry but there's no way you can drop out of it now. There's no more time and yes I know you don't like to be the center of attention but…" she trailed on before Dawn stopped her.

"Mom..." she looked at her with serious eyes, voice firm and full of determination. Johanna figured it wasn't about the festival after all.

"I want to start my adventure."

"...What?" she asked in disbelief, not believing her ears. Ever since the day they heard about Michael and Damien, Dawn hadn't mentioned anything about wanting to leave home and set off on an adventure. She rarely ventured far from town, claiming she didn't have the right ambition to leave. And now, after fives years, she all of a sudden wanted to go. To leave Twinleaf. To leave her roots.

To leave her.

"You heard me mom. I want to go... I have to go!" she said seriously, trying to find the right words to express herself.

She knew her mother would get suspicious about her request; after all, she hadn't made any attempts to set off after that fateful day. She also knew well enough that if it was up to her mother, she'd probably stay in this town for the rest of her life.

Dawn mentally sighed to herself. Johanna (and probably everyone else in town) had always thought she didn't want to leave, that she didn't dare to leave.

But they were wrong. She wanted to leave, even without Damien's letter she would've still wanted to go. She hated her life here, hated how people looked and treated her as if she had some decease or something.

Johanna couldn't handle this right now. She was too tired and focused on the festival that she just didn't have the energy to talk to her daughter. She rubbed her temples and brushed past Dawn, who was still glued to the stairs. She had to be joking; did she seriously want to leave?

Johanna cursed to herself; out of all the days Dawn decided to tell her this, it had to be the day before the festival?

"Look, Dawn, it's already late and your obviously tired. We have a long day tomorrow so we better get some sleep, right? Let's talk about it after the festival if you still feel that way, okay? Now go eat something and go to bed..." she babbled on as she disappeared into her room, shutting the door behind her.

Dawn sighed; this was the way her mother always dealt with things she didn't want to talk about. Linoone huffed by her side and Dawn lowered herself down to his level, hugging him tightly.

"If it's what he wants us to do, we'll do it, right? We'll do it for them and for the people and Pokémon of Sinnoh," she murmured to him, seeking comfort from his breathing.