Gallia and her family were stuck there for five days. They were not treated very well. She finally understood what "conditioning" meant and it was not good. She old herself daily that Lucion was going to find them. Every time they took her in for further "conditioning" she would try not to think in the present. Even in her cell she tried to remember Miss Fi, the lemonade in her shop, the gumballs she ate for free, and the goods they used to bake. Her friends laughs were never without missing. She missed Placid. She tried not to hate Lucion. When she looked at it, Johto was the one to blame. At least, that's what she tried to think. So much energy was expended trying not to think about any bad probabilities.

Maybe Lucion left us on purpose, maybe he forgot about us, or… maybe he… Maybe he didn't really love me," She began to cry.

If this is what conditioning was supposed to do, it was working super effectively. She currled up into her own ball, alone in the cell. It opened and her mother was thrown in.

"Ma," She called.

She pulled up and fell back on her belly.

"I'm alright, dear," She tried to say.

It was far to evident that it was a lie.

"Here, let me help you," She said in tears.

She was worried beyond reliving for her family. Even Rainer wasn't given any mercy. Every day, they were "conditioned" and every night they huddled for warmth. Kira was thrown in brutally by the Nidoking.

"Kira!" They both shouted.

Kira was crying, "I can't take it anymore; I didn't do anything wrong."

"Shh, I know baby, I know," Siad her mother, hugging her tight.

Rainer was now thrown in. Gallia saw them approach her.

"No, please," She begged.

The Nidokings picked her up roughly and dragged her out into the halls. She began to whimper and cry as she saw the red door on the left. But, oddly enough, they passed the door. Gallia was relived. Anyplace but there was good enough for her. She looked at either side of her.

"Where are you taking me?" She asked.

There was no answerer. They pulled her into a bedroom like room and forced her onto a chair. She was strapped down and left. The Zoroark looked out a window. He messed with something in his hand. Gallia looked on the desk in front of her and found her pocket watch and figure. In fact, her entire secret box was laid out in front of her. He turned reveling he had Lucion's gift in his hand. He smiled at her as if she were an old friend.

"So, Gallia, is it? I can't believe we ran into each other twice on the road. What about you?" He asked cheerfully.

"Who are you and what do you want?" She asked.

"Xexis," He replied, "And I just want to chat at the moment. I noticed you had this here stone and wondered, 'If she has this she must be a Kalosian. What better explanation?'"

He paused in thought then continued, "I do love a good catch."

"I'm not A Kalosian! I'm Johtoan, but if I was Kalosian, I would be prouder than I am now!"

"Now now, let's not be so vicious. I don't care who you are, really. I only care about how you received it. Do you know what this is?"

Gallia shrugged, "An evolution stone."

"Oh, good guess but half wrong. This is not an evolution stone. It's one of the evolution stones."

"The?" She asked, suddenly intrigued by him.

"Yes," He smiled, "They're very valuable too. These stones are even rarer to find than the casual evolution stone. This is a Mega Stone. I will not tell you what they do, but I will say this. They are only found in Kalos and hold the key to ultimate power for a single Pokémon. They have to be specific, however, or it won't work. Just like a fire stone to an Eevee."

"Why are you telling me this?" Gallia questioned.

"I said it before: I want to know where you got this one."

"It was a gift from… a friend," She replied.

"You hesitated," He nodded and shook his head afterwards, "Listen, this is the key to your families release. You tell me this one thing and I'll check it out. If everything works, then your free. Your family too, of course."

Gallia knew it didn't matter if she told the truth.

She took a breath and said, "It was as I said. It was a gift… but not from just any old friend."

"I'm listening," He leaned in.

"His name is Lucion…"

"What did you say?" Asked the Zoroark, getting up at the mention of that name.

"Lucion," She replied.

He grinned widely.

"I see. So you really don't know do you?"

She shook her head.

"It's alright, I believe you," He comforted.

Gallia was glad to find him reasonable. She almost liked him but since he was putting them through this she refrained.

"You don't have to know to tell me. I have a better idea. A proposition, you could call it."

"I'm listening," She assured.

"Lucion is a name that we don't really say here, so don't say it at all. However between the two of us, I'll bare it. I happen to be looking for this… Lucion."

He shuttered and returned to composure, "Eh hem, here's the deal. If you can help us catch him, we'll free you."

Gallia already didn't like the idea, "What? Why do you want him?"

"Not your business."

"I'll never help you! I'd rather get… conditioned for the rest of my life!"

He grinned widely, "Those are your two options. I'll give you a while to think about it."

The Nidokings came back and dragged her away.

"Remember, you may be able to be conditioned for the rest of your life… but can your family?"

Her heart sank to her stomach. A sick feeling reminded her what she was bargaining.

"One day," He ordered.

They nodded and threw her back into the cold cell.

"Gallia!" They all called.

"Are you alright, hon?" Asked her father.

"I'm fine, Da. But I think Lucion's gift…"

"Grrr!" A Nidoking scowled at her.

"Sorry," She apologized, "I think my gift is getting us into a lot of trouble. It almost got us free until I mentioned… him."

"Lucion?" Kira asked.

The Nidoking banged on the bars.

"Don't say his name. They may have permission to do more than they ought to if we do."

"What do they have against it?" Asked her mother.

"He wouldn't tell me. I have a choice to make by tomorrow. I either help them capture him or…"

"Or?"

Gallia was hesitant but she let the truth be told, "This is the rest of our life. I was rash; I was just defending…him but… I got carried away."

Her parents looked at each other.

"What do you think you will do?" Asked her mother.

Gallia first wanted to say, "Help them," but in her mind she suddenly wanted to say, "I can't just betray him."

But, in the end, she concluded, "I don't know."

Her father put him mouth to his folded hands and sighed. He pulled away to talk.

"How long has he given you again?"

"By tomorrow," Gallia replied.

Kira hugged her sister nervously. Rainer was balled into his mother's hold. Their parents looked at each other. This was going to be hard. They looked at each other, trying to come up with a solution. They would have to talk this over in depth.

"So, what happened to being sold?" Asked Gallia's father.

"They never said anything about selling us. I think our buyers withdrew," Gallia sighed.

He shrugged lying back on the rock floor. He didn't seem phased about the chance he could suffer for the rest of his life. To tell the truth, he was quite resilient to torcher. His family was a different story. As Gallia's family put themselves deep in thought she thought about Lucion. The chances made everything seem as if he was not coming at all. As a matter of fact, with the things he had to do, he was probably never going to have a chance. Even if he did, would he know? Would he be able to track them all this way? Would he care? Gallia went to a sleeping mat and tried to secretly cry. She didn't want her siblings to know she was breaking.

"Lucion, where are you?" She asked herself.

She looked at all the things he taught her, all the things he did with her, even the promises he made. We're all nothing? Maybe he was ordered to get rid of her. He did say she got in the way and made his orders harder to execute. She didn't want to think about it, but it wouldn't stop clawing at her.

"Please stop," She begged to herself.

She tried to stop them running. Nothing seemed to give her hope. But then a small thought came to her, a little voice whispered to her, a light in her head appeared.

"Other than my scouting runs, you were my first priority," Echoed in her head.

Gallia whipped away her tears and took heart. Lucion could have been getting rid of her. Miss Fi had specifically told him to protect her! She had to tell them that. Gallia pulled herself together then up.

"If it helps any: 'he' did say that I was his first priority."

"What?" Asked her father.

"He said something to me a few days ago. He said that he was ordered to protect me."

"Ordered? By who?" Asked Gallia's mother.

"I promised I wouldn't say," She replied, "But I know that he will find us. He has to."

She could see the hope in Kira's and Rainer's eyes. That worked perfectly.

"So what are you going to do with that?" Asked her father.

Gallia didn't know what to say, but just as if Arceus had put words in her mouth she asked back, "What do you want me to do?"

Her father sighed and replied, "Personally, I would prefer you help them catch Lu….him. But my moral tells me to just let thing happen like this. I wouldn't be able to live with knowing I made a decision that was for my own wellbeing."

That hit her good. Gallia gasped looked down. If she chose to stay then they would have to suffer physically the rest of their lives…but with the chance Lucion would find them anyway. However if she helped then they would be free but, at the same time, she would be trapped in a box of shame forever clawing at her tormenting her for her wickedness. She took more thought to it. She knew what to do. There was only trying to have the stomach to say it.

She didn't eat for the rest of the day or in the morning. Lucion said that if you were scared then skipping out on meals could actually make you say what you have to. She was again dragged all the way to the Zoroark's room and strapped down to the chair.

"So, have you made your choice yet?" He asked her, "Now choose wisely. Do you want you and your family to be relieved of their pain or are you going to help us and go free?"

Gallia felt tired. She fought the Nidokings all the way there and she was starving. She also felt sick.

She took a few deep breaths and answered, "You expect us to choose a leisurely life with someone we love's expense!?"

He raised his eyebrows.

"If that's what you thought then you're going to find yourself very disappointed. I would never, even if the torture doubled, no, tripped, help you with your wicked intents. I don't care what you do, you will not have any help from me… I'd…rather…die."

She leaned into the desk and added last, "And as for the stone: you can shove that stone up your ass."

He wanted to laugh but at the same time he was rather angry. He didn't know whether to applaud her or choke her. He sighed and shook his head instead. Gallia felt rather proud at what she said.

"You're brave, I'll give you that," He chuckled, "But I have to ask you consider."

"Not on your life," She said emotionlessly.

"As you wish," He grinned, "Take her away. She seems to be in need of further conditioning."

She tried to stay unphased as she was taken away and led to the torture room. Her action's read she wasn't afraid, but her eyes leaked it. It was the longest session she had. It felt like a day before they finally let her back in the cell. She felt terrible.

"Honey, what happened? Why did it take so long?" Asked her mother.

"I said no," Smiled Gallia.

Her parents looked at each other and exhaled. For some reason, they smiled. Her mother began to caress her head, giving her head a kiss.

"I think you made a good choice," She smiled.

Gallia smiled closing her eyes.

"In curiosity, what did you tell him?" Asked her father.

Gallia smiled proudly and replied, "I told him to shove it."

Her parents looked at each other again. He had to laugh. As for her mother, she smiled and shook her head. Gallia was picked up and set on a sleeping mat to recover from her session. Gallia closed her eyes saying one more prayer for Arceus.

"If you can't send Lucion to us, then at least help us withstand this."

She drifted to sleep-she was so tired-dreaming of the days she was young, just a Kiralia. The little girl who got in the way.