Preparations were complete, and everyone was riding on Lapras's back to the Mist Continent. There wasn't much talking on the ride for a multitude of reasons. Espurr went right to sleep on Lapras's neck as soon as Amaranth gave her medication, so she could rest up for the walk ahead. As for the other three, Light could tell that Fennix was still angry at the shaymin, making conversation light on their end. And Light couldn't really say much from the awkward silence that fell between them.

Though there wasn't a complete lack of chatter. On the evening of that day when the sun was falling down behind them and the skies and ocean were filled with a bright orange, they got a call from Ampharos. Everyone took out their gadgets and spoke softly in them to ensure that Espurr's rest went uninterrupted.

"Yeah Chief, what do you need?" Amaranth asked.

"Nothing much," Ampharos said. "I wanted to just inform you, Light and Fennix, that your friends are all rested up and are en route to Serene Village again. Buizel is escorting them too. I'll have Dedenne transfer you to them, but first I wanted to ask if everything has been going well."

"Well, riding across the sea is about as much fun as you can imagine," Amaranth growled. "Also, we have extra cargo."

"Extra cargo?" Ampharos asked.

"S-sorry Chief, but Espurr wanted to come with us," Light explained. "She's desperate to find her parents and well…we couldn't just leave her. Especially since she might go off on her own and then what would happen. She does have a pass and permission to ride."

"I suppose I can somewhat understand her feelings," Ampharos understood. "It must be tough having others look into your past while you remain unaware. I trust you all to keep her safe."

"Of course, Chief," Light promised.

"Anyways, I'll transfer you to Buizel now," Ampharos said.

Static sounded from the Expedition Gadgets for a few seconds as the transfer was made. Light held his breath as he waited for the static to clear and for his friend's voices to come from the other side. Eventually, the static finally cleared and Buizel's voice came out clear.

"Hey Light, Fennix, can you hear me?" the Water-type asked.

"Loud and clear, Buizel!" Fennix spoke.

"How are all the kids from the village?" Light asked immediately.

"We're fine!" Deerling announced. Light breathed a sigh of relief when he heard her voice from the gadget.

"Of course we're fine!" Pancham declared next. "I'm not going to let a little exhaustion stop me!"

"But you were the one who was collapsed the longest!" Shelmet sassed.

"Who asked you?!" Pancham yelled.

"Those two," Deerling groaned. Light could imagine her rolling her eyes at the two kids' behavior.

"Well, it sounds like you all have your energy back," Light chuckled as he felt a weight lifted off his shoulders.

"Yeah, we're fine now," Goomy said. "We're heading back to Serene Village now. Well, not right now. We're camping out for the night. But we'll get back there by tomorrow."

"What about Espurr?" Deerling asked. "How is she doing?"

"We're off finding a cure for her, right now," Light assured them all, even though he still had doubts himself. "Until then, she's mostly fine. A little woosy in the head, but we're keeping an eye on her. Don't worry too much about it, once we come back to Serene Village, Espurr will be completely fine!"

"That's good to hear," Deerling responded, relief in her voice. "I can't wait to see you all again."

"Me too," Light said. He heard Amaranth scoff at his words, and he had to admit that he didn't disagree with her. They still only had a slight idea of where Espurr's parents were and if they were wrong, then he didn't know what they could do. But he didn't want the rest of the kids to worry about it.

"Well, we should probably get some sleep now," Buizel brought himself back into the conversation. "But before that…Light, Fennix do you mind if I talk to you two alone?"

"I'm right here, you know," Amaranth scoffed. "But fine, whatever. I'll turn off the gadget and head to the other end of Lapras."

Amaranth turned off her gadget and walked to Lapras's tail end, watching the ocean as they passed through. Light and Fennix both gave each other guilty looks before looking back at the shaymin. Light eventually gave a sigh before turning his focus back towards his gadget.

"Yeah Buizel?" Light asked.

"Listen you two, I decided to do some digging on Amaranth's past on my own," Buizel whispered. "I know, that sounds bad, and we should trust the Chief in his decision to recruit her. But I was curious, so I did some looking. And well…."

"Well?" Fennix said. "Well what?"

"…Just…be careful you guys," Buizel confided. "I'm not entirely sure if I'd trust her."

"You're not?" Fennix asked.

"Honestly, I have half a mind to head over to you guys myself after I'm done with my mission here," Buizel admitted. "Just in case she does something we wouldn't like. But just…make sure you're careful, you guys. If the Chief trusts her, then I want to do so as well, but from what I've heard…I don't know."

"We'll be careful…I guess," Light hesitated. Though he didn't have his eyes on his gadget anymore. He was busy looking at the shaymin watching the waves.

"Alright, good," Buizel said. "Anyways, I should make sure these kids get some sleep. I'll see you all later."

Buizel turned off his gadget, allowing Light and Fennix to do so as well. The two placed their gadgets in their scarves before looking at the shaymin once again. Light wasn't entirely sure what Fennix was thinking as she looked at Amaranth, but he had a guess that it was something similar to him. They were both wondering exactly what Buizel found out about the shaymin.

"…It's rude to stare," Amaranth eventually spoke.

"S-sorry," Light apologized.

"So, what did Buizel want to tell you about that was so secretive that he couldn't tell me?"

Light and Fennix looked at each other. "Uhh…do you really want to know?" Light asked.

"Let me guess. 'Don't trust me' or something like that? Am I close?" Despite saying all this, Amaranth's voice didn't lose her calm and she kept looking at the ocean.

"He…apparently did some digging into your past," Light admitted.

"Of course," Amaranth responded.

Silence came between the three of them for a few moments. Eventually, Fennix finally asked, "So…what was he talking about? What…happened?"

"…I was in jail before Ampharos recruited me," Amaranth calmly admitted.

"WHAT?!" Light and Fennix both yelled.

Amaranth immediately glared and hushed the two. When she did, Light clasped his paws to his mouth and looked immediately at Espurr, his heart beating fast with worry that she would be woken up from their outburst. Luckily, the young girl was still fast asleep, having not even stirred despite their outburst.

"Sorry," he apologized.

"Y-you're just telling us?" Fennix asked.

"Yeah, what did you expect?" Amaranth said. "That I'd keep it from you this entire Expedition until some moment happens where I'm forced to admit it?"

"Y-yeah, we kinda did," Fennix admitted. "It seemed like…you'd be someone who wanted to keep something like that hidden."

Amaranth looked back at the ocean and shook her head. "You two have read way too many books. I have nothing to hide. Yeah, I ended up in the slammer. I was an outlaw once. I have no trouble admitting it."

"T-then why haven't you mentioned anything until now?" Light asked.

Amaranth sighed. "I don't like…talking about it. It wasn't exactly a fun time in my life. I'm not…entirely pleased with the decisions I made. And it took a lot for me to snap out of it. So yes, I'm not the large shining symbol of purity that most shaymin are. Most of the shaymin won't even look at me because of it."

"There's also…" Amaranth sighed and used Psychic on her bag. Out of it came a pink flower that looked similar to the ones on her head around her ears. Amaranth plopped it in front of her and looked at it with a sorrowful look.

"What's that?" Fennix asked.

"A Gracidia Flower," Amaranth answered, her eyes still on the flower. "A shaymin specialty. They're flowers that symbolize gratitude. When a shaymin is in close proximity to one during the day, they can absorb it's pollen to transform into their Sky Forme. At least…that's how it is normally."

Amaranth quickly flung the flower back into her bag with her Psychic power, almost as if she was discarding a piece of trash. "Normally…but not for me. I've tried it before several times, but I can't go into my Sky Forme anymore. I've completely lost that ability since going to jail. So I can't fly ever again. I can't feel the wind whistle through me as I'm going through the air, where only Flying-types can normally go. My paws will never leave the ground ever again."

"S-sorry," Light apologized.

"It's…well I can't say I've gotten over it, because otherwise I wouldn't be talking about it now," Amaranth said. "But…I'll live. I was the idiot that became an outlaw in the first place. I'm the one who got thrown in jail in the first place. So I have to accept the consequences. Everyone hating me, being unable to fly, those are all my fault alone and no one else's"

Light looked at her with understanding. While he had no doubts that there was something else underlying within her behavior, he did figure out one fact. Amaranth was a Pokémon who didn't fit in with the rest of her species. She spent time in jail and was now ostracized from those she used to be close to. While Light didn't know what she went to jail for, he understood her, and decided not to press on what took her there any longer.

"So, why'd you become a doctor then?" Fennix asked.

"One of my few remaining friends recommended it to me," Amaranth responded. She finally turned over to look at the two kids. "I knew the basics before I went to jail, and he figured it'd be a great way to get back into society and do some good to make up for all the horrible things I did. I told him he was an idiot and that nobody would bother hiring a past jailbird as a doctor. Heck, I doubted there would be anyone who would teach me. But I'm here now, so you can probably guess how that worked."

Light chuckled. "I've worked with the Chief for not even a year yet, and I can already tell you he's like that. Ampharos seems to like giving Pokémon a chance that others wouldn't. Take Fennix and me. The Expedition Society has a 'no children' rule, something the adults reminded Fennix all the time. But Ampharos let us join regardless. He can be a little ditzy at times and has the worst sense of direction I've seen, but he's a pretty good Pokémon. Everyone one of us in the society has some story like that. Just ask around, you'll find that all of us were given a chance we wouldn't normally have because of Ampharos."

"That why the kid over there idolizes him so much?" Amaranth asked, glancing at Fennix as she did so.

"I have a name, you know!" Fennix yelled. However, she quickly let go of her anger. "But…yeah. Who else would've given the town troublemaker a chance to join something like this? To see the world like this? I get to go on a lot of amazing adventures and it's all thanks to the Chief."

Light took a quick glance back at Espurr's sleeping form. "Even if it's not all fun and games."

"My friend introduced Ampharos to me," Amaranth explained. "Told me that he would help. And he did. He helped me get out of jail a lot faster then I should have, helped me find a place to study medicine and healing, and even gave me a job despite the fact that I lack an official certificate. He's a bumbling, naïve, idiot for doing that and trusting someone like me…but I can't pretend I'm not grateful for it. Even if there are some annoying parts of the job."

Light rubbed the back of his head with his left paw. "Hey…thanks for telling us all this. With…what Buizel said…I was starting to worry about you. But now that I got to know you better, I'm not worried anymore. I'm sure you'll be helpful on this Expedition."

Amaranth turned away again. "If you don't want to trust me, then don't," she rebuked. "I told you before, you don't have to. And I haven't even told you what got me in jail, either. You two still know nothing about me."

"Well…yeah but…" Light faltered, but Amaranth shook her head.

"Take it from someone who knows; every outlaw has some sort of a sob story. We all like to pretend the world is so unfair to us and complain about it all the time. Some of them will try and form a 'connection' with you only to stab you in the back later. In a way, you should still be wary of me. For as far as you know, I could be tricking you. I could be just saying what you want to hear, only to lead you into a trap later."

"I still trust you," Light confessed.

Amaranth sighed. "I suppose I can't stop you. Fine, do what you want. Just get some sleep for now, kid. It's getting late and we've got a lot we need to do tomorrow."

Amaranth continued starting into the setting sun, which was only now a sliver on the horizon. Light guessed that any attempt at conversation from this point on wouldn't go anywhere. So he unwrapped his bag from around him and placed it down to his side before lying down on Lapras's back and looking into the purple sky. Once he got comfortable, he placed his paws behind his back, closed his eyes, and listened to the calm sound of the waves.

Before he could sleep, though, Light felt something brush against him as Fennix whispered into his ears. "Do you really trust Amaranth that much?"

"I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt," Light whispered back. "Plus, I also trust the Chief. If he believes that she's good now, and if she's realized her mistakes, then I'm perfectly willing to trust her. You don't?"

"I don't know what to think," Fennix admitted. "She really likes to get on my nerves. And I know she's doing it intentionally too! But…she does seem to be a good doctor at least. I don't know if I like her, but I guess I can trust her. Or at least, I trust you and you trust her. You know, something like that."

"That was…poorly worded, but I think I get what you mean," Light teased with a chuckle.

"Well I'm sorry I'm not as articalate as you!" Fennix growled.

"That's 'articulate'," Light corrected with a smile on his face.

"Jerk."

Light only responded with a chuckle. "She's right about one thing, at least." Light looked over to the horizon with an introspective gaze on his face. "I think…there's always a side to everyone, even if we don't really notice it. Even to the worst of Pokémon, there's a reason why they became like that."

Fennix noticed his gaze and looked at him with understanding. "You thinking about who I think you're thinking about?"

Light sighed as he felt a slight pain in his heart. "Let's just go to sleep for now. We've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow."


And so we know Amaranth's backstory. In only Chapter 6. Well, that was quick.

Well, that's not all of her backstory. For example, we don't know what she did to get in jail, nor do we know who she was before she ended up in the slammer (though some of you might be able to guess). But Amaranth was quick to mention that she was indeed in jail. And we also learned that she's stuck as a Land Forme shaymin.

If you've read my stories Explorers stories, this makes her a contrast to the shaymin that appears there, Rain. Rain prefers Sky Forme while Amaranth is stuck in Land Forme. Rain is carefree and lighthearted while Amaranth is serious and abrasive. Rain is part of an Exploration Team and is good friends with them, Amaranth is part of a larger group and isolates herself away from the other members. Having the two contrast each other is not an intentional goal of this story; Amaranth's personality has other reasons for being here, but I find it interesting nevertheless.

Beta read by TheGOAT