Once they were all situated and set up in front of their own computers in the cellar of Kingston Castle, Julia, Piper and Amanda set to work in an effort to decode and decipher all of the files and information that their ally Deep Jade had sent them. Each set off on their own to uncover any previously unknown secrets and tricks that they would need to know if they were to stand a chance in combatting The Syndicate. When they were finished, they would send all of their information to Julia, who was working to put all of the missing pieces of this conspiracy together before they could present whatever they had collected to the entire Kingston Family. But many of the secrets they needed to answer were still being held within the golden chest that Julia kept on her lap, who's access was barred to all who did not have the key. And the only person who knew where it might be would be Lady Bonnie, who was still not seeing anyone.
Over the past few days of being in Kingston Castle, Amanda had been able to encode more about the Syndicate's operations. There was evidence of them being particularly keen on the ratings for the shows that filmed at the ArcTV Studios in Titanio City. Could the Syndicate be linked with some of the higher ups in the ArcTV Management? Perhaps that's how they greenlit someone like Walter O'Hara to have his own show. She also discovered that they were particularly invested in experimentation in two specific areas, one in the general vicinity of Titanio City and another possibly around the vicinity of the roads under construction between Pocus Town and Terra Town, perhaps where Cassius Sinclair's lab had been when the Elite Four seized it? Amanda was bound and determined to follow each route to its expected conclusion.
Piper, who had managed to get everyone into the mainframe by using Cameron and Chris's passwords, was busy looking up the actions of certain individuals that they had already proven were linked to the Syndicate. Both Courtney and Claude had gotten quite quiet since the Taghwan Tragedy, with little to no known information about the two save for Courtney's attempt to break into the Research Facility and kidnap Julia, but the two twin sisters that had been bothering both Ryan and Matthew on their journeys were quite active, likely serving on behalf of the Syndicate to try and Snatch some people as they had done once before. As for those that they did not have clear links to, including Cassius and even this Deep Jade themselves, she did her best to look through any anomalies in the documents she had at her disposal, but it all seemed to come to a grinding halt a few days earlier. Perhaps Deep Jade had been discovered? She didn't know what the future held, but if she wanted to do right by the memory of her fallen friends, she would have to push herself to the bitter end.
The doors to the room opened and Gerard entered. "I beg your pardon, ladies, but Lady Kingston will be with you shortly. In the meantime, Professor Pines, you have a visitor who wishes to help you."
"A visitor?" Julia asked. Who could possibly want to visit with us? "Send them in."
Gerard bowed and stepped back into the elevator and allowed a man to pass them. The man was wearing a worn white muscle shirt and torn jeans to go along with his thick gray and black beard. Though he was usually jovial and optimistic, the man was clearly as brokenhearted as Julia and Piper were. He looked to Julia with sorrow in his eyes. "I was hoping an old man could be of some help to you, Professor."
Julia put the chest aside and hurried towards the old man and embraced him. "I could always use your help, Big Mike" she said happily.
The old man hugged her back, shaking as he did. "They never prepare you for something like this."
Julia sighed. "I know what you mean."
Amanda rose to her feet. "Who's your friend, Professor?"
Julia pulled away and introduced him. "This is Big Mike. He's the Foreman of a Construction Company in Terra Town." She then put her arm around the sad and broken man. "He's also Michael's father."
Piper tried to rise out of her chair when she realized who it was. "Big Mike?"
The father of the deceased Champion smiled sadly at her. "Hello, Your Highness." He made his way over to her and kissed her on her head. "It's good to see you all, here."
"How did you know where we'd be?" Julia asked him.
"Tori told me when I went to visit her" he explained to his son's beloved. "She figured you guys would come to the Castle once you found what you were looking for." He spotted the chest by Julia's computer. "So, that's it then?"
Julia nodded. "We suspect the Syndicate is after the contents of this chest. James Kingston left it to Michael when he died, but the key was never given to him."
Big Mike made his way over to the chest and studied it carefully. "Michael never told anyone about this?"
Julia shook her head. "I didn't even know until I learned about James's will from Tori and Erin."
"I'm not too surprised" he said, sighing to himself. "He found it hard to trust anybody after what happened to him. I don't blame him."
"This could be the key to setting things right in Arcana" she told the man who would have been her father in-law. "I just hope Lady Kingston will help us with this."
"HOW DARE YOU!" a shrill voice shrieked near the entrance to the room. All four turned and saw Lady Bonnie, standing in the room, her eyes staring directly at the golden chest, her face white with both terror and rage. "I ordered that wretched box out of my castle fifteen years ago!"
"Ma" Mike said to his former Mother in-law. "hear them out."
"I will not hear them out, Mike!" she snapped. "That chest has caused me enough trouble for one lifetime! And I want it out of my castle, immediately! Who authorized you to bring that here?!"
"We need to find out what's inside this chest" Julia insisted, in no mood to play to Bonnie's emotions. "This could be the key to defeating the Syndicate."
"OUT OF THE QUESTION!" the elderly woman snarled. "There is nothing you need to see in there. The contents of that chest are meant only for the eyes of my grandson-"
"Who is gone, Ma" Big Mike retorted angrily. "Michael isn't here anymore. And the people who killed him are after what's inside this chest. Do you really want them to get their mitts on them?"
"I don't care who wants it" she fumed. "They can damn well have it for all I care. But I will not tolerate that thing's presence under my roof." She signaled for Gerard. "Dispose of it, at once!"
Gerard, who was standing behind Bonnie nervously, gulped. "Forgive me, Lady Kingston. But would it not be prudent to know what the contents of the chest are? Perhaps you should hear them out?"
"I gave you a direct order, Gerard" Bonnie hissed.
"And I as Queen of Arcana will negate that order" Piper commanded. "Lady Kingston, we need to do this so no one else has to suffer at the hands of the Syndicate."
"With all due respect, Your Highness" Bonnie replied bitterly, "I will not be dictated to in my own castle. I want that wretched box out of my castle and if you refuse to comply, I will be forced to-"
"BONNIE!" Julia shouted, causing the rest of the room to fall into silence. Bonnie Kingston glared at Julia, but her anger waned when she saw the fierce determination in the Professor's eyes. Julia was shaking in a combination of sorrow and grief as she stared directly into Bonnie's eyes. "We both made mistakes in our lives, regarding Michael. And they will haunt me for every minute of every day for the rest of my life. There is not a thing I can do that will ever let me atone for turning my back on him when he needed me. But if there's a chance that I can make sure that nobody ever suffers the same fate as he did, you can bet I will do everything in my power to make it so. Do you know why? Because your grandson was everything to me. He was my first friend, my confidant, my guardian angel, the man I loved more than life itself. And because I know, that if I let his legacy die with him, then he truly is gone forever." She held her hand close to her heart. "And I know how much you and the others regret what you did to him as well. How much it hurt to know that even though he came back, he'd never trust you the same way again. Wouldn't you like to make amends with him? This may be your last chance to do what's right by your grandson. Please. Don't let him go for nothing." Julia lowered her head, prompting Mike to put his arm around her.
Bonnie took in every word Julia said to her carefully. She eyed Julia with a different look now. One of reverence, respect and remorse. She took a deep breath before she could speak again. "You really did love him" she remarked.
Julia choked on her own tears. "More than anything else in this miserable world."
Gerard came to Bonnie's side as she wept. He put his arm around hers to keep her standing. "It's alright, Lady Bonnie."
Bonnie's eyes never left Julia's. "And Michael...oh how he loved you. He told me, he would have liked to spend the rest of his days with you."
Julia nodded sadly. "I know. And I wish he could have."
"I've made so many mistakes in my life, Julia" the old woman explained. "But what I did to my own Grandson, is something I will never be able to live down. I put my own power and ideas of security over what would have saved his life. And now, I've lost James and three of my Grandchildren, all to that contemptuous rat Elezar Aced."
"Ma" Mike said to Bonnie, "if we do what's right by them, to honor the legacy of Dad, and to fight for the same things that Michael, Chris and Cameron all fought for, they won't really be gone. If we don't do what's right by them, why are we the ones who cling to this world, when they were the ones who made it better?"
Bonnie closed her eyes as she leaned more onto her butler. She clung to him as if she needed him to continue to stand. "I cannot relive what's inside that chest. Not again. It broke my heart when James first told me. To carry it all, for fifteen years, it's given me too much pain to endure as one person. For the sake of James, and for the sake of my grandchildren, I don't have a choice anymore. It's time you all saw the truth for yourselves." She looked to Gerard. "Please, bring me to my chambers. I need to get that key." As the butler aided Lady Kingston into the elevator, Julia and the others looked at each other in surprise and worry. Julia's eyes fell on the gold chest and the hopes, fears, regrets and woes it may yet contain.
{Meanwhile}
At the end of the trail of The Lonely Road, Ryan and his friends found that they had made the right call in taking the treacherous path. Ryan looked down on the path and saw that a rockslide had caused the path to be covered in a sea of boulders. Beyond the fallen rocks were thousands of people who had been determined to make their way to Cauldro City and the Faire that would take place there.
"Looks like we lucked out" Tommy said happily. also seeing the collapsed rocks beneath them.
"I guess The Lonely Road won't be so lonely anymore" Holly joked.
Ryan frowned as it finally dawned on him the danger he had put his friends in by taking this path in the first place. "I shouldn't have taken you guys down this path."
"What are you talking about?" Holly asked him.
"I put you guys in danger" Ryan said sadly. "All because I couldn't be bothered to take a longer route."
"And if you had taken The Lonely Road by yourself" Addison told him, "you would have ended up dead." She put her hand on his shoulder. "We can only get through this journey if we stick together. You need us and we need you."
Ryan smiled back at her. "You're probably right. I guess I'm just getting a little too protective."
"Stop worrying about it" Tommy told his friend. "Come on, we're almost at the Chairlift."
"The Chairlift?" Holly asked.
"You need to take a Chairlift to get to the Iron Village and the Colosseum" Ryan told her.
"Really?" Holly said, a curious look on her face. "That's interesting."
The four made their way for the Chairlifts heading up to Iron Mountain. The man who was operating it seemed surprised to encounter people. "Well I'll be. Tourists? I haven't seen anyone come our way in a few weeks. And you all took The Lonely Road to get here? That's impressive." He pointed back towards the Chairlift. "Thank goodness we haven't seen many tourists come through here. The Chairlift has been acting up, so we've had maintenance crews working round the clock to fix it."
"Do they work now?" Ryan asked him.
"Oh yeah" the operator confirmed. "But for the time being, we're keeping the lifts down to minimal occupancy. Only two per Lift." He looked at the four. "So, which of you young kids wants to take the first ride up."
"OOOOH OOOOH! ME! ME! ME!" Tommy called to the operator.
The operator, pretending not to see him, looked around for anyone else. "I don't see any volunteers."
"ME! ME! ME!" Tommy cried.
The man finally looked to Tommy. "Okay, little fella. I think you'll do just fine. Now, who you gonna ride with?"
Holly made subtle gestures to pick to ride with Addison, but Tommy didn't notice it. "I'll ride with my Sister!"
"You'll WHAT?" Holly snapped.
"Excellent" the man said, ushering the two onto the lift. "Now, no rocking or horseplay on the lifts! Even for siblings!"
Holly looked back at Ryan. "But-"
"You guys can find good seats at the Colosseum" Ryan assured her. "We'll be up behind you."
"Yeah, come on, Holly!" Tommy called to sister.
Holly gave her brother a dirty look before the two sat on the lift. which took them up into the skies and towards Iron Village. Once the two were out of sight, the man brought in the next lift. "Next?"
Ryan looked to Addison. "You ready?"
Addison nodded. "You know it!"
The two hurried up towards their assigned spots and sat as the lift picked them up and began to carry them up the face of Iron Mountain. For the first minute of the trip, the two were in awe of what they could see as they scaled the mountain and sat in silence as they did. But Addison's mood shifted as their lift continued to climb up higher and higher. Ryan could tell that something was on her mind.
"What is it?" Ryan asked her,
"I'm sorry" she said sadly.
"What for? You haven't done anything."
"Yes. Yes I have. And to you of all people."
"What did you do?"
"I've been trying to be so distant" she confessed. "But I've just been going through so much the last few weeks and I'm afraid of things changing too much. It's a little complicated to say."
"Don't make it be" Ryan told her. "You know you can always tell me anything, Addy."
Addison smiled faintly. "I know that. But with everything that's been going on since we left Parlor Town, I've been so afraid of seeing things change, that I push people away. People that don't deserve it. And when I lashed out at you, it almost got you killed! And I'd never forgive myself if something happened to you."
Ryan shook his head. "It's not going to happen. Because I know I have people I can count on. People like you and Holly and Tommy and Julia. I've got a lot of people looking out for me. To be honest, Addy, I worry about putting you guys in danger."
Addison took a deep breath. "There's something else-something I think I should tell you about."
Ryan gulped. "It's Matt. Isn't it?"
Addison looked at him. "How did you-"
"You don't have worry about it, Addy" Ryan assured her. "I know how much he cares about you. It's-it's one of the few things left that we can relate to."
Addison sighed. "And I care about Matt, too. Just not to the same depth that he does."
This caught Ryan by surprise. "Really? I thought after what he said-"
"Oh, that dashing display of romanticism?" she asked, laughing a bit.
Ryan chuckled alongside her. "He was a little abrasive, but I always thought there would be something between you guys. I mean, when we were kids, he was always the hero. He was the one who slayed the dragon, rescued the damsel and saved the day when all hope was lost. And part of me, just never wanted to be left out. I knew one day, I'd get left behind."
Addison looked at him softly. "Ryan, you brought up when we were kids."
Ryan shrugged. "It's all I remember when I think of us."
"I remember a time when we were at the playground" Addison recalled, "I don't really think we were playing pretend or something like that. We were just playing on the jungle gym. And, I was trying to show you guys that I could climb on the monkey bars, but I fell and hit those old wood chips. I remember it really hurt. And I remember Matthew laughing at me while I was trying to not cry in front of you guys. But when I was about to, you were the one who helped me back up and checked to make sure I wasn't hurt. You even tried to rip a part of your shirt off to wrap up the scrape on my knee."
Ryan looked away. "Of course I would, Addy. You-you mean a lot to me."
"And that's the difference between you and Matt" Addison told him.
Ryan glanced back at her. "What do you mean?"
"Matthew always had to be the hero" Addison recalled, "because it was always something he wanted to be. But if he ever wanted to be a real hero, he could have just taken a look at you. Because you were the one who was the real hero. Being a hero means more than just stopping bad guys and saving the world. It's the little things like cuts and bruises and just being sad that you need to be there for too."
"You really think so?" Ryan asked.
Addison reached for him and took his hand in hers. "Of course I do. When Matt left us in Craft Terrace, which of you did I choose to stick around with?"
"Me" Ryan remarked, a bit of red coming in on his face.
"And I wouldn't change it for anything" she told him. "Because this entire journey, from us getting our Eevees from Professor Julia to the Ball at Kingston Castle, to fighting that Ghost in the Trickton Library and even what we've been through today, I couldn't possibly imagine without you." She rested her head on his shoulder. Ryan, completely sure this was something he wanted to happen, rested his head on top of hers and the two spent the rest of their trip up the lift enjoying each other's company. When their life reached the top, the two prepared to slide down to the peak of Iron Village.
"Are you ready for this?" Ryan asked her.
She squeezed his hand gently. "Are you?"
Ryan gulped nervously. I hope. Together, the two slid the icy path and came to a stop in each other's arms. When neither made the first move to pull away, Ryan looked towards Addison, who's eyes sparkled like the stars in the skies. He was about to lean forward towards her when out of nowhere, he heard someone clear their throat behind the two.
"Ahem" he said roughly.
Ryan and Addison turned to see Robert Kingston standing there and eyeing the two curiously.
"Dad?"
"Mr. Kingston?"
"Enjoy the trip up, did we?" Robert said coyly.
Addison, realizing she was in no favorable position with the father of her best friend and quickly escalating crush, quickly turned to head for the Iron Colosseum in the distance. She whispered to Ryan that she would find a seat and then quickly vanished out of sight.
As Ryan watched her disappear from sight, he turned to face his father. "What's up, Dad?"
Robert studied his son. "Hmmm. Mmm-hmmm. Interesting. I can see your Mother wasn't kidding when she said Matthew gave you a bit of a shiner."
Ryan rubbed at his cheek where Matthew had struck him. "Yeah. I'll be the good brother and not seek retaliation."
"Good, that's what I wanted to hear, kiddo" Robert told his son. "Did you Mother also tell you why I've been looking for you?"
"You don't think I have what it takes to keep going" Ryan said sadly.
"You gotta understand something, Ryan" Robert said. "This isn't because we want to punish you. Things just aren't safe anymore. No one's safe unless they can show that they're strong enough to protect themselves." He folded his arms. "Your Aunt Shannon told me how you beat her in battle and Mr. Tenton told me how you helped him to deal with a Poacher in the Safari Zone. But before I let you take another step on your journey, I think I need to test you to see how strong you really are."
"You want to battle me?" Ryan said, his excitement levels rising.
"It's a Kingston Family tradition, son" Robert told his son. "1v1. You pick your best and I'll pick mine!" He reached for a Poké Ball on his belt and watched as his son did the same. "It's time for you to show me what you've got! GO! INFERNAPE!" From out of his Father's Poké Ball sprang a rampaging monkey with fire sizzling from his fists, beating his chest wildly.
"On your guard, Dad!" Ryan shouted. "GO! CORA!" From out of Ryan's Poké Ball sprang his Kingdra, her eyes fixed on battle.
"A Kingdra?" Robert asked, shocked. "You have been improving."
"That's nothing" Ryan insisted. "Cora! Use Hydro Pump!"
"Infernape! Use Thunder Punch!"
The Kingdra launched a torrent of water directly at the Fire Pokémon, but the Infernape punched the blow away with the power of electricity. The blow still staggered the Infernape, but the Pokémon was otherwise completely unharmed.
"Change tactics them" Ryan said. "Cora! Use Smokescreen!" The Seahorse Pokémon shrouded itself in a cloud of smoke, while the Infernape had to wait and see what would come from it.
"Infernape! Use Close Combat!" The Infernape rushed headlong into the smoke and began to kick and punch violently, but none of his blows hit the Kingdra. Before it could react, the Fiery Pokémon was pelted with another Hydro Pump, this one striking it right in the head and knocking it out of the battle. Cora shook herself confidently as Ryan cheered his victory.
"Way to go, Cora!"
Robert was stunned. "Well, that was certainly eye opening." He recalled his fainted Infernape and shrugged. "That settles it, Ry. You're definitely quite a powerful trainer. And one I'd be happy to give my blessing to continue on with your journey for." Ryan high-fived his father. "Well done, Ryan. You really have come far."
"Thanks, Dad. Now, all I have to do is show off my talents to Billy" Ryan told his father.
"I want three things from you, Ryan" Robert warned him. "One, I want you to stick with your friends. It's safer to stay in groups. Two, I want you to take Billy down and prove how strong you are. And three, if you're gonna start dating, I'd like to know in advance."
"DAD!" Ryan snapped, his face red in embarrassment.
"Don't worry about it, son" Robert laughed. "I have a feeling you'll accomplish all three on your own. And now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go find your brother."
"You're not gonna stay?" Ryan asked, a little dejected.
Robert shrugged. "After I saw how you handled yourself in battle, I don't think Billy has much of a chance. Besides, when the Pokemon League Championships come along, I know you won't let me down. Good luck, Ry." With that, Robert called out his Charizard, climbed atop it's back and flew off into the skies above his son.
