The morning was hard. Saying goodbye to Christian was difficult enough for all of us, but almost impossible for poor Nikki. She begged and pleaded and appealed to her boyfriend, desperately trying to get him to stay. But I knew, and Christian knew, and even Nikki knew that he couldn't stay. He had too many other duties and priorities back in Sinnoh.

So, the morning was full of tears and protests. Eventually, Christian had to put his foot down and leave, otherwise he would never make it back in time. He did however promise to come visit us all when we got back to Pallet Town. Nikki took a small comfort in that, and after one final hug and embrace, we all bade him goodbye.

While Nikki recovered, I took the time to quickly phone Mum and let her know we were just outside Goldenrod City. She sounded nervous and jittery on the phone as I told her this, making me promise to check in with her once I met up with Dad. I assured her I would, and then we were on our way to Goldenrod.

Goldenrod City was huge. It was such a big and bustling city with too many streets and alleys and massive buildings that we couldn't figure out where anything was, much less a dojo. I was agitated and irascible throughout the whole procedure, and probably a nightmare for everyone around me. But for once I didn't care about annoying my friends; I knew they'd get over it anyway. I was more interested in finding the dojo. My agitation was only intensifying the longer we walked around the Goldenrod streets, finding nothing. My hands were clenched around my Pokeballs, my mind fixed solidly on one thing.

I was going to see my Father. I was going to get answers after a whole year and a half of waiting. I was finally going to be able to understand why. Why he joined up with the organization. Why, if he only joined up to protect me and Mum, did he still try and capture Legendaries, act like an angered monster and set those Legendaries on us? And then why… why he apologised to me… why he protected me from the captured Arceus's wrath. Even why he treated me the way he did as a child.

And most importantly, what he wanted me for. Why he had requested to see me.

After another hour of helplessly scouring the streets, Elliot finally put pride aside and asked for directions. The first person he spoke to, a young mother and her two young children knew exactly the dojo we were referring to.

"Oh, that dojo? My son is going to start attending there next year. Its leader is a very kind man. He teaches young children that aren't really able to afford to go to the trainer school how to work with Pokemon. It's just down that street and then you take a left. You can't miss it."

"Was that woman really referring to my father?" I asked darkly as we moved down the street the woman have pointed us down in. The words "its leader is a very kind man" kept wriggling around my brain, and I was having a very difficult time matching them up to the image of my father.

"I'm still confused as to how a man like him, a wanted criminal was able to just open up a dojo in the middle of Goldenrod City!" Scott said hotly.

"People wanted to keep everything that happened at Mt Chimney and Sootopolis a secret," Elliot explained patiently. "The Gym Leaders and Elite Four from Hoenn and Kanto thought that if they kept the fact that Groudon and Kyogre and Rayquaza really existed a secret, nothing further would happen. They didn't want people flocking there trying to find them. Yeah sure, all the Gym Leaders from Kanto and Hoenn know, and a fair few members of the Elite Four, and probably a lot of people from Lavaridge and Sootopolis too but—"

"But didn't some other stupid teams tried summon Kyogre and Groudon before all this happened? Surely they would know from that?"

"As far as the rest of the public is concerned, Scott, that is just rumours. And that was like… six years ago or something… People have long since forgotten about it. I just thank God those kids were able to stop them." Elliot dismissed Scott's claims airily, whilst I remembered something Wallace had once told me. Years ago, there had been an attempt by two teams of trainers to capture Kyogre and Groudon. Thankfully, a couple of kids had stepped in and stopped it from developing into something more catastrophic. Again, it had been a matter, much like the attempt I had been involved in, that was only known to the people who had been concerned with it. The general public wasn't privy to that kind of information. But the Gym Leaders and Elite Four of Hoenn had known. It was one of the reasons that Wallace was so quick to believe me when I presented him my case.

I stopped thinking about that just in time to hear Elliot summing up his big speech. "And Goldenrod City is a big place… almost anyone could blend in here. Even people who had served prison sentences."

"Wanted criminals." Scott growled.

"Not exactly. Sienna's dad served his time. He didn't escape. He's legally obliged to leave prison. He's not classed as a criminal anymore."

"He should be." I said darkly.

"We're here for you, Sienna." Elliot assured me comfortingly. "He won't try anything while we're all here…"

"I… I just…" I broke off, suddenly feeling overwhelmed by the hopelessness of it all. "I just don't know what he wants me for… I don't even know if I can face him… after everything he did. I just… I just can't believe that he's reformed!"

"I know, I know," Elliot whispered, planting a soft kiss on my cheek. "But you can do this. We're all here for you."

We found the dojo by the woman's instructions. No sooner had we descended down the street, I noticed it. There was a sign hanging from the gates. The words "Free Spirits Pokemon Dojo" had been stamped on in thick black letters. For a moment, I almost thought we had come to the wrong place.

My heart was in my mouth as we walked down and entered the gates, the rather imposing figure of the dojo staring down at me. I swallowed hard, my hand closing around Elliots. There were lights on in the dojo, and I could hear a commotion from within, alongside the cries of what sounded like… kids. Kids and Pokemon.

I looked back to everyone standing behind me. "Should I knock?"

They all exchanged similar blank glances and shrugged. I sighed in annoyance. They were no help whatsoever.

I took a deep breath, and approached the door. My hands rested on its thick wood, and I almost chickened out, but I pushed myself to keep going. Before I knew what I was doing, the door began to slide open. I couldn't go back now.

As I nervously opened the door of the dojo, my breath catching in my throat, a dark figure suddenly collided with me. Force pushed straight into me, catching me by surprise and making me cry out in fright. A million bizarre, terrifying, horrible scenarios coursed through my head in a mad rush! At first, with a horrible urgent fear, I thought it was my dad! I immediately grasped for my Pokeball, ready at a moment's notice to fight and defend myself. However, a cheery, booming, good-natured voice shot through me, bringing me to attention.

"Sorry, miss! I didn't see you there!"

Cheerful, happy and apologetic. Definitely not my father's voice.

I looked up and came face to face with a boy about my age. He was tall, almost as tall as Elliot with thick brown hair cut short and left messy and sparkling eyes. He was also a well-rounded character, with a big belly straining underneath his blue and red striped shirt, thick, chunky arms and legs, and chubby face. However, he had an air of confidence around him, standing tall and positive, showing off his big figure with little care. As strange as it sounded, his fatness suited him. He had wide round eyes that had a twinkle in them and what looked like a well-practiced smile adorning his face.

I found myself struggling for something to say. Who was this guy? What was a guy like him doing in this dojo? I started to stammer, my confidence dashed even more now. "Umm, I'm… here… to…"

"Here to see Cal?" the boy asked straight away.

I shuddered inexplicably at the casual mention of my father's name. "…Yeah…" I eventually managed to spit out.

"Name?"

I looked at him in shock. "Huh?"

"Oh, it's nothing personal…" he said breezily. "Cal just likes to know who he's seeing before I let anyone in."

"Her name's Sienna. Sienna Volbeda." Jasmine cut in straight away.

The boy's smile slipped off his face to be replaced with a look of shock. His mouth hung open comically before he hastily cried out "Wait here," and then ran back inside, moving with surprising speed and easily edging his protruding belly through the half open door.

"That was weird." Elliot announced as we collectively stared at the empty space where the boy had stood in.

"More than weird…" Scott chipped in.

As conversation started to erupt around me, I maintained my stony silence.

The boy appeared again only a few moments later, looking flushed and out of breath. He composed himself before speaking again. "Hey, sorry to keep you. Cal's in the back waiting on the students to appear … but he said you can go right in."

I made to sweep past the boy, but he stopped me. He was grinning, holding his hand out.

"Hey, my name's Bailey Gray."

"Pleasure," I said icily, before pushing past him and entering the dojo.

I almost stopped dead on in my tracks. The décor and interior of this dojo was almost identical to the dojo at home. The cream wallpaper, the wood floors, the neutral colourings, even right down to the furnishings and wall displays. As weird and off-putting as it was, I didn't want to think on it too much and pushed myself forward, breaking into a run. I heard the others shouting after me, but that just made me run faster. I had to face my father alone.

I went through door after door, banging each and every one in my path. Icy fear and anticipation had me in its cold grips, and my nerves were jangling. A strange plethora of emotions were reverberating through me. Some made me want nothing more than to find my father and scream at him for all I was worth. Some made me want nothing more than to turn around and forget about this whole sorry affair.

I pushed open another door. I emerged in a training room that held no other exit or entrance. There was someone standing at the far corner of the room. Someone dressed in full karate gear, with a black belt tied around their waist, and a shock of flaming red hair.

Dad.

He turned around as soon as he heard the door open. His face paled as soon as his eyes touched on me. He looked a strange mixture of shocked and nervous. He took a few tentative steps forward, while I stood there, frozen to the spot and unable to move or say anything.

"Sienna?"

The sound of his voice made my skin crawl.

"Get away from me," I spat out as soon as he took another step forward. My hand was pointedly poised on my Pokeballs.

"Sienna?" He sounded confused, genuinely hurt. "What are you doing?"

"What do you think I'm doing!" I bellowed. "I'm getting ready in case you attack me!"

"Why would I attack you?"

I blinked. "You're seriously asking me that? After what you did back then! After how you captured those Legendary Pokemon? How you turned on your own daughter? How you treated me as a kid?"

"Sienna…" my dad's voice was unusually calm. "I'm a changed man…"

"I don't believe it!"

"Neither would I, if I were in your situation…" he admitted with a sigh. "But Sienna… you have to believe me. Seeing that Arceus back then… it changed me… It made me realise what a fool I had been. What a horrible father I was."

"No. I can't believe you!" I burst out, angry that he could even suggest such a thing. "I can't believe you're "reformed"! Why else would you ask me here unless you were going to attack me? Get revenge for what I stopped you from doing!"

"I asked you here because I knew you wanted answers," he stated calmly. "I knew you wouldn't understand completely what was going on back then. And that you probably don't understand it even now. I know you must wonder what happened. Why it happened. Why I did what I did, when you were a child…"

I shuddered.

"And what happened with Nathan. And what happened with the Legendary Pokemon. So… ask away. I'll tell you anything you want to know."

I was vaguely aware that Elliot, Jasmine, Nikki and Scott had entered the room behind me. Dad's eyebrows twitched as he looked them all up and down. "Friends of yours?" he tried to ask innocently.

"I'll ask the questions here, thanks." I replied coldly.

"Ask away then…"

I pondered my first question for a while. "Why?" I eventually asked. "You said back then that you joined Nathan because he threatened me and Mum. Was that… was that really true?"

"You heard Nathan back then." Dad said immediately. "He admitted it. He admitted he threatened to kill you." His eyes looked strange, kind of glazed over, but with a resonating sadness. I was completely taken aback. Those eyes that had once held nothing but malice now looked like the eyes of a man truly sorry. A strange feeling bubbled up in me.

"Is he… is he really telling the truth? Is he really changed? I… I don't know if I can believe it. The idea of him… when all I've ever seen him be is cold and distant, or violent and angry… or even mad and power hungry… the idea of him being a changed man, a truly changed man… it… it can't be true!"

"You know that part is true, Sienna. You know Nathan threatened to kill you and your mother if I didn't join his organization."

"Okay, okay," I said, leaving that one be. As truthful as I knew Dad was being, it was horrendously difficult for me to comprehend. "So why… after you joined up with Nathan and that team—"

"Team Quantum."

I stopped. "I… I beg your pardon?"

"Team Quantum," Dad explained. "That was the team name we operated under during our endeavours."

"Right…" I said slowly, unable to hide the distaste in my words.

"Nathan's choice," He said straight away. "Not mine."

I grunted, not really interested. "So, there's something I don't get. You only joined up to… Team Quantum… because you were threatened with our deaths, right? So why, why did you go… go so mad with the power?" my voice was intensifying, my words building up some strange kind of rhythm as I pushed them forth. "Why did you stick around? Why couldn't you have just left?"

"Sienna," Dad said slowly. "I never wanted to join Team Quantum, you must understand that. But Nathan was... is … a cold-hearted and cruel man. He thought nothing of stooping to the lowliest methods to recruit men. When he explained to me what he wanted to do, capture legendary Pokemon, I was… I was terrified. I strongly believed, and still do, that Legendary Pokemon should be left alone. Their power is not of our world. But I had no choice, I must stress that."

"There's always a choice…" I heard Elliot murmur from near me.

"When I left when you were thirteen… our relationship was not good."

"Don't have to tell me that," I replied haughtily.

"I took that as a good sign, however. As much as I hated the fact you refused to be a trainer, I knew that that reluctance and the way that you and your mother… hated me… I knew that you wouldn't come after me. When I joined up, I realised I had nothing in the world left apart from my involvement with Team Quantum. I had nothing apart from the promise of power. And I have always been obsessed with power. Power, getting strong, being the best… Even if it meant going through legendary Pokemon, I wanted that power. I desired it so much. It was all I had. I would stop at nothing to get it. And like you said, I went mad… I turned on you, your mother, the very people I had once tried to protect…"

I was starting to piece together things now. "And when you saw Arceus?"

"I was reminded of my own beliefs that Legendary Pokemon are beyond what humans can ever hope to achieve. Seeing that Pokemon's sheer strength… I knew that what Nathan was doing was wrong. I realised what was truly important."

"That's why you protected her," I heard Elliot's voice rise up again.

Dad nodded. "Indeed. I mean… I knew Sienna had been interfering in Team Quantum's business ever since Mt Chimney on our first attempt at Groudon. Nathan… he unfortunately knew as well as soon as he met her again at the Safari Zone. He beat it out of me that Sienna was my daughter. He started to torture me about it… you have to understand, I still did want to stop my daughter from getting hurt. But I knew she still hated me… and I knew that having this power was all I had left. I was… I didn't know what to do."

I had to admit I was starting to understand. Even feel a little sorry for him. But there were still many more questions I wanted answers to.

"Well, what about when I was a kid? The way you forced me to try and become a trainer? When you gave me that Geodude that turned against me? And all that other stuff?"

Dad sighed. "Sienna… Pokemon training is my life. It's all I've ever known. The idea, to me, that my own daughter didn't want to be a trainer… it… it dumbfounded me. I tried to push you into it… but you know me, I've always been a hothead…"

I actually felt mad here. He was passing off his anger and violence and temper as just being a hot-head? I opened my mouth to protest, but he cut me off again.

"I felt that because you didn't want to be a trainer, that I had failed you. So, after that incident with the Geodude, I just gave up. I started to blank you, I admit it. I… I was getting so much abuse from the fellow masters in my dojos. I know that's not an excuse!" he added hastily, seeing my face quickly anger. "My co-workers couldn't believe someone like me could raise a Pokemon-hating daughter. It was humiliating."

"That's your excuse?" I said slowly, anger building.

"No… that's my reason, as horrible as it is. And this is my apology. I'm sorry for everything I did. When you were a kid and what happened a year ago. I really am changed, Sienna. That Arceus… seeing him changed me. I realised what I was doing. I realised that I wanted to change. So that's why I came here."

"To open a dojo?" I said sceptically.

"I wouldn't be accepted in Kanto or Hoenn, you know that." He said sadly. "I served my time in prison for the destruction and the recklessness and the conspiracy. Even still, the Kanto and Hoenn Gym Leaders and Elite Four wouldn't hesitate to do something nasty to me if they knew I was anywhere in their regions. I can build a new life here in Johto. Goldenrod city is so big… and opportunities to teach kids about Pokemon are few and far between here. I saw an opening. I had to take it. Otherwise, what else could I do? I would never go back to Team Quantum. And it's not like I can go home to you and your mother."

I found I couldn't say anything. After a long period of thinking, and a long time staying silent, I eventually came out with. "I still can't forgive you. I still can't pretend all that stuff didn't happen. But…" I swallowed. What I was about to say felt like such a betrayal, like poison on my tongue, but I forced it out anyway. Tears were clinging to my eyelashes. "I think what you're doing… for these disadvantaged kids… is really great."

"Sienna…" Dad said slowly.

"Umm… excuse the interruption?" A voice came from behind.

We all looked around and saw the boy who said his name was Bailey Gray sidle in the door, effortlessly manoeuvring his big belly in the process.

"What is it, Bailey?"

"Your next class is here. The eleven year olds. Should I let them in?"

"Go ahead," Dad rose to his feet. His eyes were touching on me again. "I know you don't trust me. I know you don't even believe me. But I'm different, Sienna. I've changed. I really have. I can't get back your childhood. I doubt I can ever make it up to you. But I can help these kids. These kids who want to be trainers but for whatever reason can't afford it or go after it. I can give these kids a fighting chance. They don't want to be tied down to their old lives… they want to be break away and be free. Be free spirits, you know?"

I found I could say nothing.

"Well, why don't you come and see the work we're doing?" Dad invited, walking towards the door. "I think you would like to see it…"

"I'll… I'll come out in a minute," I said, my voice starting to choke.

The others looked at me inquiringly, but I reiterated firmly that I would be out in a minute. They all shuffled out, leaving me alone. I let out a long, shaky breath, trying to get a hold on my emotions. They were bubbling like a furious stream, threatening to burst its banks. My hands clenched into fists, my nails biting hard into the soft skin of my palm. I bit my lip furiously, feeling the tears rise up. I couldn't believe it. My chest was starting to hurt, and I could feel myself slowly losing what little control of my emotions I had. I couldn't believe what Dad had just told me. He treated me the way he did as a child because he was ashamed? Ashamed that for a man whose life was simply Pokemon, his daughter wouldn't become a trainer?

And what about his life with Team Quantum, or whatever the hell its name was. I could believe Nathan would resort to killing people's families as a blackmail method. But I couldn't believe that Dad would join up to save us. He said it himself. He already hated me for not being a trainer. Why not just let us die?

And what about his claims that he thought Legendary Pokemon should be left alone? That was a lie if ever I saw one! I mean, sure, even I can't deny that seeing the Arceus had a noticeable effect on him. But if he believed so strongly that Legendaries should be left alone, why did he join a group whose sole purpose was to capture Legendary Pokemon?

And all that stuff about him going mad for the power because that was all he had left in the world? I didn't believe it. I couldn't believe it.

But still… I remembered the look in his eyes when he told me. The softness of his normally harsh, grating voice.

I threw my head back and let out an anguished wail, before finally bursting into tears. Everything I had ever believed about my dad… everything that I needed to believe... had just shattered into a million pieces, like the pieces of a broken mirror reflecting back my sadness, and the ultimate truth… the ultimate, unbelievable truth.

I couldn't deny it anymore. Everything I needed to believe to keep me sane and keep me grounded had simply fallen away around me, leaving me open and vulnerable and completely, completely crushed.


Author's Note

Just a quick author's note cos I'm not on my own computer. My internet got shut off but I should be able to update as often as I can.

Thanks to my reviewers: Aeroga, TwewyReaperGirl, WarriorSwift, Something dictionary related, ArchXDeath, May and Dawn are the best, Chaison, Manser77, Padfoot Arcanine and Zoeten. All the reviews are so appreciated, they really make my day :)

Please read and review :) I hope you enjoy