Jocelyn kicked the door of her father's office in, her anger boiling over inside of her. She didn't care if he was in meeting with someone or in a conference call. Sure enough, when she saw that Lily and Lena were inside the office being instructed by Elezar about their next mission, Jocelyn grabbed them by their arms and threw the two out of the office. She turned towards her father, her eyes filled with tears and anger.

Elezar stared at her as if they had only seen each other a moment or so ago, without much care in his voice or reactions. "Oh, Jocelyn."

"Oh?" Jocelyn fumed. "OH? THAT'S ALL I GET?"

"Did you want me to roll out the red carpet for you?" Elezar replied dryly, his attention returning towards his work. "I thought I told you to remain at the Base. Why are you here at the Compound?"

Jocelyn slammed her fist on the table, causing her father's paperwork to fly everywhere. "You stopped her treatments. You let her die!"

"She was little more than a distraction, Jocelyn" Elezar told her. "Clearly, since you're so worked up over it, it succeeded in making you forget what our objective has always been. When did you defy my orders and go to see her?"

"You cannot deny me the right to see my mother" Jocelyn snarled. "I am not a piece of property!"

"I know" Elezar said coldly. "Then, when you disobeyed me, I'd be able to get you fixed."

Jocelyn was breathing heavily. "My mother, your wife, was sick and in the care of the best doctors in the region and you just let them take her off her medication! Why? How monstrous are you?"

Elezar slowly began to pick up his paperwork. "I cancelled an unnecessary expense."

Jocelyn couldn't fathom what she was hearing. "She was my mother!"

"And she was distracting you from our important objectives" Elezar reiterated. "Consider this the only punishment your actions deserved."

"My actions?" she asked, though she understood now that Nadine wasn't the only one Courtney confronted about the Deep Jade stories.

"Your actions" Elezar confirmed. "Perhaps next time you won't prove to be spineless and actually take a life when I demand it of you."

"You think this is some game?" Jocelyn cried. "That you can add and remove pieces to at will? This isn't a chess board, father. This is real life. And there are consequences for every action and reaction that happens. Killing Julia Pines would have brought you nothing but some sick need for revenge."

"My 'sick need' for revenge is justified" Elezar snapped, his temper flaring. "Did you forget that those people murdered your Grandfather?"

"Did you forget that you got your revenge?" Jocelyn cried. "James Kingston is gone. None of the other Kingstons had a hand in Grandfather's passing? Nor have any of the others you and Cassius have been hunting? Why do so many people need to suffer for this?"

"It's more complicated than that, Jocelyn" Elezar rose from his chair, staring at his daughter for the first time since she entered the room. "We are within an eyelash of reaching the final objective, the goal that my father set for us. We will soon be able to weaponize the power of The Crimson Fury in ways that he could have only dreamed of. The Syndicate cannot afford for one of it's admins to get cold feet. He sat back down and went back to his work, ignoring her presence in the room. "I'm placing you on probation. That way, you can have a few days to grieve the loss in your family before you come back to work."

"And what happens if that probation becomes extended?" Jocelyn demanded.

Elezar continued to sign document after document as he spoke to his daughter. "You won't be killed, Jocelyn. I just cannot afford for your ignorance of the world to interfere with my plans a moment longer. Consider it a vacation and a chance to clear your head."

"My ignorance of the world" Jocelyn repeated. "Some would call that compassion."

"And I have had my fill of your compassion" Elezar growled. "Or would you rather I throw you into a cell over the other transgressions your compassion has wrought?"

Jocelyn stood her ground. "I have no regrets about anything that I've done. All of it was to try and save what little I have left of my family. But you took that chance from me. And now, my mother is gone and you get to sit here and sign all your paperwork as if you never had any feelings for her. And if you were the one that took part of my family from me, as far as I'm concerned, you aren't my family."

"Very well" Elezar dismissed. "If that's your wish. We'll have a boss-employee relationship then."

"How about one as enemies?" she threatened.

This caused Elezar to raise his head and stare at her. "As enemies?"

"I've been giving my place in The Syndicate some thought over the past few weeks and I've come to an important decision" Jocelyn revealed. "There is no way that I will ever get back the father I once had. And I cannot stand idly by while I let your self-destructive behavior destroy thousands of more lives."

"We don't accept resignations" Elezar warned her. "Least of all from you."

"Then you can accept a transfer of allegiances then" she told him. "Because I am going to do everything in my power to make sure the Kingstons have the power to defeat you. I'll even join them if I have to."

Elezar was silent and reflective for a moment, but his face soon contorted into one of anger and bitterness. "So, you are willing to lie around with them instead of standing by your father?"

"You murdered my mother" she spat at him. "As far as I'm concerned, you're no father of mine." She then turned to leave. She ripped the door open and began to exit, but Elezar stood up and glared in her direction.

"You are a traitor to the Syndicate" he warned her. "You are our enemy and I will never show an enemy mercy, least of all one who has been leaking information to the Kingstons this entire time."

Jocelyn turned back towards her father. "Then I guess I won't need the Deep Jade disguise anymore." With that, she took off. As she did, she could hear the alarms blaring throughout the Compound. But it didn't matter to her. Her father had made his own choices, now she much make her own. Even if it meant the two were now mortal enemies. She called out her Dragapult, who looked at her curiously.

"Come on, Droopy" she said to him. "We're getting ourselves out of here!" The Dragapult nodded in kind and the two raced off as they began to hear footsteps coming their way.

{Meanwhile}

There were three days of intermittent travel from Cauldro City to Titanio City, but Ryan and his friends were determined to make it to Arcana's largest city and complete his quest to obtain the eighth and final Gym Badge he would need to compete in the Pokémon League, but more importantly, to find some trace of their dear friend Addison, who had been abducted and to find some way to stop the Syndicate from harming anyone else they knew. Too many people had been hurt in this sick group's quest to grab unlimited power. It had to stop, one way or another.

For the first evening, after Ryan had bested Jon to obtain the Medieval Badge, the group trudged back up the path towards Iron Mountain and took the Chairlift to the Iron Village to seek refuge for the night at the Iron Village Pokémon Center. Billy had already closed down his Pokémon Gym and made for Kingston Castle as Jon had mentioned he might do. They figured that Daniel, Tori and Greg would follow in suit. The army was beginning to assemble for war. And Ryan didn't really know what to make of it. For one thing, he was glad that his family was finally going to take action against the Syndicate instead of being passive towards it. But on the other hand, he was angry that they didn't do this earlier when it could have helped prevent this. Part of him agreed with Matthew's belief that their family was indirectly responsible for all that had unfolded since the Taghwan Hall Tragedy. And it only ate him inside knowing that Addison was a prisoner of them and unable to keep his own dark thoughts at bay. He could feel his inner resolve crumbling by the minute, but for the sake of Tommy and Holly, he remained optimistic on the surface.

On the second day, they made their way back down Iron Mountain and camped out for what would likely be the very last time on the road just before the Lonely Road began. As they traversed these roads they had once traveled, the trio paused so that Tommy could play around with his Pokémon for a few moments and let them run around. When Holly protested, Ryan told her that it's important for Pokémon to get just as much playtime as battling and grooming. Holly relented and soon, all eighteen of their combined Pokémon were playing in a wild party on the trek back to Magic Junction. While some were more playful, others seemed to take a more serious tone to what was going on instead, with most of Ryan's Pokémon sticking by him and cuddling up to him as his thoughts lingered on the girl he loved and the torture she was likely being placed under at the hands of The Syndicate. When they set up camp for the evening, Ryan called his brother to see if any news on Addison's whereabouts had been discovered, but his brother only had empty promises and assurances. When he hung up with him, he called up his Julia to see if she had any information on the Syndicate, but she and Piper only had the same speeches about faith and belief that they had given him the previous day. Dejected, Ryan hung up the call and wrapped himself in his sleeping bag, with his dreams of Addison being grabbed by a shadow all too real for him to bear. He woke up well before dawn and tried to check on his Poké Gear's update on the papers that Julia had sent him: 87% downloaded. Whatever it was she was sending him had better be important if it were taking this long to fully render.

Finally, on the third day, he and his friends made it to Magic Junction and the Taghwan Tram that would take them to Titanio City. Ryan bought the three their tickets to take the Tram all the way to the Entertainment Capital of Arcana and boarded their Tram. Though he was closer still to the completion of his journey towards being a Pokémon Master, knowing what he had lost since leaving Parlor Town, the idea that he was anything resembling a Pokémon League Champion felt hollow to him. He wasn't a Champion or a hero. He was just a kid who was in way over his head. And the closer the three were getting to Titanio City, the worse his emotions rang.

Holly, seemed to notice this. As they sat across from one another, she put her hand on his knee. "Hey, you okay?"

Ryan nodded. "Yeah. I guess so."

"We're going to get through this" she assured him. "We're almost there."

Ryan sighed. "That's what worries me."

The intercom for the Tram called out to all of the passengers as they neared the station just outside of Titanio City. "Good afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen, and welcome aboard the Taghwan Tram service, bound for Titanio City. While in Titanio City, be sure to visit the Seaside Aquarium/Pokémon Gym, the action packed amusements inside Titanio Park, the acclaimed ArcTV Studios and the Final Route, which takes Trainer's who have acquired all Eight Gym Badges for this abridged season towards their ultimate goal: Arcana Colosseum. For all you shopping connoisseurs, be sure to visit the Farmer's Market down by the Port as well as the Titanio Department Store. If you have any injuries or illnesses you would like checked out, feel free to stop by Titanio Hospital, where the world's finest doctors and medical practitioners all work to ensure we have the safest and healthiest populace in the world. Our Tram will be stopping right outside of Titanio Hospital, before continuing back to Taghwan City. For those of you keen to wait for this moment, please feel free to stay in your seats while the tram prepares to reengage. And as for our departing guests, we would like to thank you all for choosing to travel on the Taghwan Tram Service and we hope you have a wonderful time in Titanio City."

Ryan raised his head. "Titanio Hospital? My Dad's there."

"Then let's go see him" Holly said happily. "Maybe that will lift our spirits up a bit."

When the Tram finally came to a stop, Ryan and the Queensburys got off at the station and made their way down towards the entrance to Titanio Hospital, which was only a few hundred feet from the silent and swift moving Tram. Once they were on the level ground again, Ryan sprinted towards the entrance to the hospital, with Holly and Tommy doing their best to keep up.

As he skidded to a stop in the entrance of the hospital, Ryan made his way over to the Admittance Desk. "Excuse me, but me and my friends are here to see Ryan Kingston?"

The woman behind the counter eyed the three curiously. "Names?"

"Ryan Kingston, Holly Queensbury and Thomas Queensbury" Ryan said.

The woman went through her computer and nodded. "Alright, you three are in the clear." She quickly printed out three visitors passes and handed one to each of them. "Mr. Kingston is in Room 442 on the fourth floor."

"Thank you" Holly said politely as the three headed for the elevator.

After a brief elevator ride and some navigating of the halls of patients, Ryan found the room where his father was. He paused at the entrance to the doorway. Suddenly, he didn't know if he was able to bear the sight of a man as strong as his father all bandaged up after his attack. It was all becoming a little too overwhelming for him, but Holly took his hand and gave it a tender squeeze, giving him a bit of a courage booster to enter the room.

Robert was sitting in his bed, a good part of his body wrapped up in gauze and bandaged up, with his leg casted up and several deep gashes in his face stitched back together. He looked and tried to smile as he saw he had visitors. "Well, well. Look who's here."

"Hello Mr. Kingston" Holly said politely.

"Hi, Mr. Ryan's Dad" Tommy said cheerfully.

"Hey Dad" Ryan said, the sorrow dripping out of his voice. "How are you feeling?"

Robert looked himself over and tried to laugh. "I'd say I've had worse, but..."

"Do you need us to get you anything?" Holly asked.

"Actually, Holly" Robert said, "the nurses won't bring me up any Lemonade, even though I've been dying for a bottle. Would you be able to get me one from the store on the first floor?"

She happily agreed. "Of course, Mr. Kingston. We'll be right back. Come on, Tommy." She took her brother's hand and the two exited the room, leaving Ryan and his father alone. Ryan bit his lip as he studied his father's wounds more closely. These people had savagely attacked him. It made his blood boil to think that it had happened less than an hour after the two had met in front of the Iron Colosseum, but things were seemingly rolling together at this point. For all he could guess, it had happened the same day that Addison was abducted.

Sensing the plight in his son's eyes, Robert called him over. "Come here, Ry. Tell me, what's on your mind?"

Ryan walked over to his father's side and sat in the chair next to his bed. "It doesn't matter what's on my mind. What did the doctor say about your condition? When can you go home?"

"Oh, I'll be released within the next 24 hours, so long as I keep improving" Robert assured his son. "Just won't be doing any major battling anytime soon. At least the Gym is closed."

"Jon and some of the others are closing their gyms too" Ryan said to his father.

Robert sighed. "So it's starting then. The biggest fight of our lives and I won't be able to take part in it." He turned and saw his son's miserable expression and shook his head. "Come on, Ry. Buck up. What's on your mind? You can tell me these things, son."

Ryan shook his head. "You were right, Dad. You were right about everything. You and Mom and everyone who said we should have just gone home with you. I'd take Addison being in Hoenn right now over whatever the Syndicate is doing to her right now."

"Addison is going to be fine" Robert promised his son. "We've got plenty of friends. I heard Julia is contacting one of Michael's old friends in Orre to see if there is a cure for this whole Fury thing that Elezar has been cooking up. They'll find something out and we will get her back."

Ryan put his hand over his heart. "I feel like I'm coming apart. Like, everything we take part in just gets worse and worse. First Mike and the Elite Four. Then you. Then Addison. I just don't think I can take it anymore." He lowered his head and put his hands on his knees. "I just can't imagine things being the same when we all get home."

"It's not supposed to be the same" Robert said sadly. "Ry, we don't go on journeys to enjoy them and then go home at the end of the day. We go on these journeys to come out hopefully being a better person through all we've done. When you return home to Parlor Town, whether you're the new Pokémon Champion or not, whether we find a way to stop the Syndicate or not, things were never going to be the same when this journey ended. Life is about constant changes and newly evolving ideas and compromises."

"But why does it have to hurt so much?" Ryan asked. He tried to let out some more tears, but he didn't think he had anymore left to shed.

"Because we always hope that when we come to the end of the journey, we can find something that reminds us of home." When Ryan didn't respond, Robert continued. "You know, Ryan, I was out exploring the world after my first challenge of the Pokémon League came up short. I wanted to test myself and see just how many powerful trainers there were in the world. And when I was finally going to see my way to my first ever Championship, I got word from Junior that our Dad had died. I didn't know what to think at first. My Dad? The man who had been ruling over Arcana for 40 years? No way he could have died. I didn't want to believe it. I couldn't believe it. I wouldn't believe it. Your Grandfather was the epitome of the word 'status quo'. Under him, there was no real trials and tribulations. There was 40 years of concurrent peace and we were riding it as long as we could. To learn that not only was this idea of home forever taken from me, but so was my own Dad...I got to admit Ryan, it broke me inside."

Ryan listened intently to his father's tale. "But Grandpa was murdered by Elezar, Dad. It wasn't a natural passing."

"My Dad died protecting the people he loved from the Mt. Heatmor eruption" Robert told him. "If it weren't for him, who knows how many people would have been killed? How many of our family would still be here to this day? Grandpa died doing what he would have always wanted to. Saving the people he cared the most about." Robert looked to his son and smiled sadly. "I kind of see now how much in common My Dad's death had with Michael's."

"Losing my father" Robert continued, "gave me a crisis of identity. I didn't know who I was supposed to be or what I was supposed to do. I always thought that if I ever ran into a problem, my Dad would be there to fix it for me. It was because of this feeling, that I always wanted you and Matt to know you can count on your Mom and I for everything. But when my Dad passed, I didn't have anyone to turn to. My Mom was a wreck. So were my sister and my brothers. And I could hardly look to my nieces and nephews. So, I had to find some kind of inner strength that could help me get over it. I found it in a lot of places, but the most profound was the strength I had in myself. I knew that if I gave up and folded, that my Dad would have died for nothing. He wanted me to see the world for what all it had to offer. So, I stuck to my guns and fought as hard as I could in the Sinnoh Pokémon League. I lost, but I knew I could come back home, knowing I'd seen some of the world beforehand and that I had the strength to see through any adversities. And let me tell you, Ryan, I've seen my share of adversity since I came back. Everything from Giselle and her cronies to Elezar's resurgence and all the darkness that's come in between. Through it all though, I've held onto one singular thing that has kept me going through all of it."

"What was that?" Ryan asked.

"Hope, Ry" Robert replied sadly. "Hope that we would beat Giselle and bring peace back to Arcana. Hope that my sons would be able to grow up in a much better Arcana than the one I grew up in. Hope that Michael would be the one to steer us through to the next era. Hope that one day, my son and I would be able to sit in the same room with each other without arguing. And hope that even in these darkest moments, we'll see it through to the end."

Ryan took a deep breath as he soaked all that his father had told him in. "I wish I could have some of that hope."

"You don't need it, kiddo" Robert told his son. "The way I hear it, it's The Syndicate that will need the hope. You're only one Gym Badge away from going to the Pokémon League. You've proven to me, your Mom and to pretty much everyone in Arcana that you have what it takes to make it that extra mile."

Holly and Tommy returned from the gift shop with a few bottles of Lemonade for the patient. "Here you go, Mr. Kingston. I hope you like Pink Lemonade, because that was all they had."

"Pink Lemonade is my favorite, Holly" Robert said cheerfully. He took the first bottle and nearly drank it all in one sitting. He then put the bottle on his side table and turned to address the two. "Holly. Tommy. I want to thank you two for sticking by Ryan in these rough times. After hearing some of his own words, I know he probably wouldn't have made it this far without you two."

"It was more Addison than us" Holly insisted.

"You guys have played a big part, too" Ryan countered. "If it weren't for you, Holly, we both might have been taken by that Syndicate Snatcher in the Flower Sanctuary."

"I guess" she said, beaming slightly.

"And I know for a fact that I wouldn't have made the journey to Iron Mountain if I didn't get that speech from Tommy in the Trickton Pokémon Center" Ryan told his friend's little brother.

"You all made it this far as a team" Robert told them. "You all worked together as a team. When one of you needed some help, the others were there for them. I don't think Ryan could have had two better friends helping him get through this than you. And I can't possibly ever repay a debt of that size."

"Ryan's our friend" Tommy said proudly. "And I'm just glad to be a part of this."

"You don't owe us anything" Holly said cheerfully. "We've drubbed Ryan enough for one journey's worth of repayment anyway."

Robert took a deep breath. "Alright, you kids should mosey on out of here. I'll be home in a matter of time."

Holly and Tommy waved to Mr. Kingston before showing themselves out. Ryan kissed his Dad on the forehead. "Thanks Dad. I'll make you proud at Renee's Gym."

"Ryan" Robert smiled, "you make me proud every day just being my son."

Ryan clenched his fist. "And when we've rescued Addison and gotten Matthew and you back to talking, we'll all get to be a family again."

Robert gave his son a melancholy smile. "Oh, I wish it were true."