A/N:

Hey everyone, here's the next installment of the story. Hope you all enjoy. If you do, please consider leaving a review to offer your thoughts. It really helps the story out a lot to both to know what the readers are thinking and to gain the story more publicity.

Thanks as always to LunarKnightArchangel for proof reading the chapter prior to publication.

I still don't own Pokémon...

"…" - Spoken dialogue

Italics - Character thoughts

'Italics' - Telepathic dialogue

. . . . . - Time skip

/\/\/\ - Lemon Scene

Chapter 4

— — — — —

Liam

— — — — —

The lucario began to wake, the gentle sounds of the rolling waves being the first thing to register to him. What? Where am I? His eyes slowly opened only to be greeted by the bright morning sky. That's right, he thought. He had drifted off the night before on the beach. Selina must not have woken me up… Judging from the sun's position, he had seriously overslept. It was time to get up for the day. He was about to rise when he noticed something pressing down on him. When he looked down, his eyes went wide in shock.

Selina's head was positioned on his collarbone, her muzzle slightly contacting his neck. Had he still been a human, surely his cheeks would be red. The situation had flustered him, to say the very least. W-what should I do? he thought, trying not to panic. She had him pinned down, and it would be incredibly difficult to maneuver his way out of this. But I can't just stay here like this! And yet, could he bring himself to wake her? With that adorable smile she had, and the soft rise and fall of her chest. Gah… how the hell did this happen anyways? She probably had rolled over in her sleep.

Liam kept his peripheral gaze on her - just as content as could be, and not showing any signs of waking. Arceus… why me? He couldn't even imagine what kind of embarrassment would result if she were to wake up to this. Maybe if he moved slowly enough, he could slide from underneath her.

He began the gradual process of moving from under her, stopping every time she shifted so as not to get caught. At one point, she yawned, causing him to tense up. The soft sound that emanated from her brought a warm smile to his face, despite the situation. Alright, I need to be focusing on getting out of this… He resumed where he had left off, and had nearly completed his maneuver when she started to stir. Shit shit shit… He closed his eyes, trying to play it off in case she woke up. He cracked his right eye open ever-so-slightly, seeing her ears perk up.

Selina gradually opened her eyes - impossible for her to ignore the fact that she was using her companion as a pillow. Liam held his breath as she looked around, apparently confused by their presence on the beach. All she did was casually close her eyes again and lay back down in her previous position. What the hell?! Liam was at a complete loss for words; Selina hadn't seemed to have cared one bit, nor had she done anything to put an end to the awkward situation - as though it wasn't awkward in the first place. No, if anything, she was now closer than before.

Liam was at odds with it all, confused beyond words. Why had she seemed so indifferent towards the situation? Eventually deciding that he couldn't take this any longer, Liam gently tapped her shoulder with his one free arm. She stirred slightly, but showed no signs of getting up, causing him to repeat the action with slightly more force.

"Five more minutes," she mumbled.

"You're uhh… you're on top of me…" She slightly shrugged.

"What?" she yawned. "You're comfy."

"…I can see that… But I think it's time we got up…"

"Oh alright," she said. The umbreon slowly got to her feet and stretched out while he sat up and brushed trace amounts of sand out of his fur. He was still slightly weirded out by the circumstances surrounding how they had slept, but Selina didn't seem to be giving it any mind at all. Maybe he shouldn't either. No, he thought, what the hell am I thinking? We aren't… like that… so that shouldn't have happened! But still, there was nothing to be done about any of it now.

Once they had returned to their home and prepared themselves for the day, the two of them decided to check the guild for any jobs. All they saw, however, was an empty board under the outlaw section, and the jobs that were posted on the other side weren't exactly their caliber. "I guess we'll be forced to take today off," Selina said.

"Bummer," Liam replied. "What do you say we do?"

"Well… while we're here, we might as well complete the process for admitting Rachel into the team." That's right - he had completely forgotten about their new companion. She had disbanded her own team to join them; it would only be fair to admit her in a timely manner. Liam and Selina made their way to Chimecho's corner, where they could finalize Rachel's acceptance into the team.

The female lucario would certainly be a great addition to Retribution, and Liam relished the fact that he now had the ability to associate with another member of his own species. There were probably moves and attacks that she knew that were unknown to him - maybe this could be a great learning opportunity as well.

"Hi you two," the wind chime pokémon said, "I'm guessing you're here for Rachel's acceptance into the team?"

"Mhm," Selina responded.

"Perfect. She's right downstairs, so that'll make this a lot easier." She quickly descended into the guild's lowest level, then returned with the lucario of interest.

"Hey," Rachel said with a happy look on her face.

"Nice to see you again," said Liam. "We were just finishing everything up. Once you take our badge, your with us." The male lucario fumbled through his bag for the item of interest - one of the last spare badges that had come with their explorer kit. Due to years of almost being neglected, he found the small items in the corner of the bag. Still as shiny as the day they had gotten it. With Chimecho there to serve as a witness to the admission, Liam held the out badge for her. "Not gonna lie - the jobs we take can be pretty rough. If you're unlucky, you might even have to take a life."

"Wouldn't be the first time or the last."

"Well alright then."

"Are you willing to stand up for those who can't defend themselves - even at your own risk?" Selina asked.

"I am."

"Will you be sure to reflect your moral principles in all that you do? To act in a way that would be pleasing to Arceus?"

"I will."

"Then both your heart and abilities are in the right place," the umbreon said. "Welcome to the team!"

— — — — —

General

— — — — —

Their job at the guild finished, and lacking any sort of mission for the day, Liam and Selina decided to visit Spinda's Cafe. "I think we made the right choice," Liam said to Selina as they walked towards the bar. "Calling her qualified is kinda an understatement."

"Mhm. How do you think the others will like her?" the umbreon asked. "I mean, none of them even know about Rachel so far…"

"Who's Rachel?" a high-pitched voice to the left asked. They smiled, immediately recognizing who it was.

"Glad to see the two of you back. How'd your mission go?"

"All went well. The gabite that we rescued wishes to stay here in Treasure Town, and nobody was hurt," Eleanor said. Liam and Selina joined the two of them at the table to discuss their recent decision with the two legendaries.

"So we accepted a new member into Retribution," Selina started. "Actually just got back from finalizing everything at the guild."

"Rachel just moved into town recently. She's a bounty hunter that came all the way over here just to try and join us. Former lone wolf that achieved the first master ranking without a teammate," Liam stated.

"Oh my," Flora said. "That is impressive. What species?"

"She's a lucario. Only female one I've seen since… well, ever."

"Ohhh. That should be interesting," the shaymin teased. "What's she like."

"Very friendly. Wasn't expecting that from a bounty hunter," Selina said. Liam grinned at the umbreon.

"Really? And what is it that we do mostly?"

"…Good point…"

"So when will we meet this Rachel?" Eleanor asked. "I'd like to get to know her better."

"So would Liam," Flora whispered to her fellow legendary, who simply rolled her eyes.

"What was that?" Selina asked.

"Hmm? Oh, nothing."

"Well, no doubt you'll see her around. She had to go take care of some stuff, so she couldn't meet us here. But she will be coming to missions with us. If you two would like, you could ask her to tag along with the two of you in some of your jobs." Due to Team Retribution's size, they usually split up into two or three groups, each taking missions of their own. Since Eleanor and Flora weren't very combative in nature, they usually took jobs that wouldn't require the use of physical force. It definitely wouldn't hurt to tag them along with someone who was much more willing to engage in combat.

"That sounds like a nice idea. Definitely would give us a lot of time to chat," Eleanor said.

"Sounds like the two of you made a great decision," Flora said. "Tell me, are you looking towards accepting any more members, or do you think this'll be it?" Truth be told, neither of them had taken this into consideration. Usually they accepted those who were suitable on a fairly uncommon basis; only when someone truly stood out. As such, neither of them really had thought about how many other pokémon they would accept.

"I'm not exactly sure," Liam replied. "Guess we'll just worry about that kinda stuff when it becomes a concern." Spinda approached their table carrying a small platter with four drinks and began to disperse them among the four.

"Wait, we haven't ordered anything," Liam said, referring to him and Selina.

"No worries. It's on the house."

"Why thank you," Selina said with a smile. Spinda had brought both of them their usuals, with Selina's having a straw. Throughout their time there, the four of them mostly conversed about how their recent missions had gone. Eleanor and Flora were both understanding towards Liam's previous situation, though surprised nonetheless.

— — — — —

Liam

— — — — —

Once they had exited the cafe, Eleanor brought Liam over to the side to speak with him in private. There was no need to alert those who were uninvolved and unaware. "How is the situation with Weavile?" she asked.

"She… broke her parole. Her and her team have high-tailed it outta here, and there's no telling when we'll see 'em next."

"Oh dear," she murmured. "That's not good."

"Trust me, it gets better. Those guys I saw in the vision? They were some of the criminals Tristan and I took down on our mission." The cresselia stayed silent, trying to figure out what to make of this. As though Liam hadn't actively been trying.

"If that's the case, I fear that your premonition may be approaching us."

"W-what? It couldn't happen any time soon… Those two are locked up for Arceus knows how long. They could even rot in jail!" Eleanor, however, didn't seem to be convinced by his statement.

"While that very well may be the case, and while you have such a unique ability, you cannot predict the future. No one knows what may happen…"

"…Well damn… thanks for making me feel more at ease with the whole thing…"

"Liam… this may be something we have to face in the future. If people are in danger, we cannot afford to hide from the truth, no matter how inconvenient." Of course, she had a point, though he didn't want to admit it.

"So then what do we do?" he asked.

"All we can do is be cautious and prepare ourselves for whatever may lie in store." But how? They barely knew the circumstances of what they were potentially up against.

"Hey, is everything okay?" Selina asked as she approached the two of them. "What's going on?"

"We were just discussing Liam's vision and what course of action we must take."

"Oh… and?"

"I feel that we should alert the other team members as soon as possible. It is not right to keep them oblivious to the situation when it may have disastrous consequences."

"You're right," he admitted. "When should I break the news to them?"

"The sooner the better. Everyone should be in Treasure Town tonight, correct?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Then why not schedule a meeting tonight? We need to discuss the implications of all this together. You two may be the leaders, but we are still a team. It would only be fair to act like it." Though Eleanor's words were not harsh in tone, Liam couldn't deny the fact that the cresselia's statement sort of stung. But she was right - he didn't have to do this alone.

"Alright then. How about we get everyone to meet at the beach tonight?"

"What about Marvin?" Selina asked. "I don't think that he's… you know... old enough for all of this…"

"Agreed entirely," the cresselia replied. "I would encourage the two of you to ensure that he is in bed before the meeting begins. As such, I think we should schedule it late."

"Good idea. Yeah, we'll ask Lapras to make sure he's in bed by then," the umbreon added.

"For now, could you and Flora fly around and look for Rachel?" Liam asked. "Selina and I can go tell Tristan."

"We will do just that."

"I swear," Flora said, "what is taking you all so long?" The impatient shaymin was more than ready for them to leave.

"I shall inform you during our flight." Eleanor placed her hand on Liam's shoulder comfortingly. "Know that we are your family, and we will always have your back. You need not handle matters like this on your own." The lucario appreciated her comforting words, and knew that what she was saying was true.

"We'll see you two tonight," Selina said. Both Eleanor and Flora took to the skies, leaving the two canines to themselves. "Well, I guess we better go tell Tristan now…"

"Yeah…" Selina drew closer to his side.

"Hey… is something the matter?" she asked softly.

"N-no… I just don't feel so—." He stopped mid-sentence as he realized once again what was happening.

"Liam! Liam!" Her words faded out.

It was far too dark to be able to see much, and the sound of the gently rolling waves during the high tide. The air had a faint taste of salt to it. Moonlight shone into the opening of the cave, where two familiar shadowy figures spoke quietly.

"Yes," Eleanor said as she looked at a large, soaked bag, "this'll definitely help us out quite a bit. Thank you for obtaining the supplies from the water continent."

"My pleasure. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to get here sooner. It's been difficult to avoid all his patrols," Lapras replied.

"I know. I've had to be cautious in the skies as well." The elegant, composed legendary was for the first time that Liam could remember showing signs of uncertainty and fear. "So then I take it there's no chance that you could take any with you?" Lapras shook his head.

"We'll be caught if they ride on my shell. And I can't hold living people underwater like I can a bag."

"Err… that's true," she admitted. "Any telling when we may be in the clear?"

"No. No telling at all. But I wouldn't expect any 'shipments' for at least another week or two."

"But we're running out of time," she sighed. "I don't know how much longer we can keep them hidden…"

"While that may be true, you must hold out, at least for a little longer. I cannot knowingly expose them to death."

"Alright. I'll see we can do in the meantime." She stayed silent for a moment, trying to keep herself looking professional, but noticeably failing.

"Hey… I know we've all been through a lot," Lapras said quietly. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared… but we can't give up. A lot of people are counting on us. Us and the others are their last hope."

"Y-yeah," she said through teary eyes.

"We will make it through this together. We always have. Now tell them that I'll make another supply run while everything calms down in the northwestern seas, and that they only need to hold out for another week, maybe week and a half. After that, I'm sure the waters will be fine for transport."

"They have to be," she sobbed. "We w-won't be able to do this much longer." The lapras gently raised one of his large flippers and placed it on her side.

"Hey now - we're still here. We'll get our shot at him one day… then we'll end all of this misery."

"I just wish… that he had never been born," Eleanor said. "All this pain he's caused… all this suffering…" The first signs of sunlight were making themselves apparent, and the sky gradually began to shift to a dark orange.

"I must head off now if I wish to avoid the morning patrols."

"…I understand. Take care, my friend. May Arceus protect your path."

"And yours as well. Give the others my regards. Until next time." With that, Lapras left the way he came, leaving the cresselia to herself. Eleanor remained still for a moment as she watched the sea-faring pokémon recede into the distance. Eventually she looked down to the large pack he had delivered, and she went about unbuckling it. A loud click sounded, then she gently rolled the cloth open. The inside of the fabric had been lightly covered in some sort of silvery tarp for protecting whatever the was inside from water. As she continued to unroll, though, there was no mistaking the contents of the bag. Forged weapons.

"L-Liam! Are you okay?!" Selina asked frantically as he opened his eyes. The umbreon was clearly scared, merely inches away from his face. "You fell a-and hit your head really hard!" He sat up and touched the back of his head with his forepaw. Blood, though nothing too serious.

"I'm fine…"

"Thank Arceus," she said, nuzzling him comfortingly. "You had me really worried there…" He placed his hand on her shoulder gratefully, then managed to get back onto his feet.

"This… this isn't looking good…"

— — — — —

Selina

— — — — —

Most of the members of Team Retribution sat around the fire they had constructed on the beach as they waited for Tristan to show up. What is taking that luxray so long? Selina thought. This is serious! She nervously tapped her paws as the others made small talk. Rachel, of course, was unaware as to why they were there, as well as the ability that Liam possessed.

Selina couldn't help but constantly shoot sideways glares towards the female lucario. She was both friendly and sociable - something that they wouldn't have really expected from a former lone wolf. Selina didn't mean to stare - that was rude, wasn't it? But she just couldn't help it. It wasn't anything that she had against Rachel, it was just… It isn't fair. Why were bipedals so much more attractive than quadrupeds?

"Sorry to keep y'all waiting," Tristan said. The other five quieted down as he took the spot next to Liam.

"If I may ask, is this a team debriefing?" Rachel asked. Liam crossed his legs, getting comfortable for the long discussion that would surely occur.

"While we do have meetings about every month to discuss total earnings and the like, this is not one of those cases. This is something far more concerning."

"Liam, I think it would be best to inform our new friend about your ability," Eleanor said. Rachel looked confused after hearing this.

"Yeah, otherwise none of this is gonna make any sense." Liam pondered what would be the best way to tell her before siding to just be straight up with it all. "I understand that this is gonna sound… well… crazy… but know that I will never be dishonest with you."

"A-alright…"

"Do you remember how chaotic things were two and a half years ago?" She nodded.

"Yeah. Certain areas were getting frozen in time, and if my memory serves correct, Dialga nearly lost all control." She paused, then looked up at him. "Wait a second… there were a lot of rumors that Team Retribution was really involved in the situation."

"Mhm, that's true," Selina said. "Eleanor here too - she helped us stop Darkrai when he tried a second time to plunge the world into darkness."

"Wow… this team is even more amazing than I had thought… But then again, that only makes sense, seeing that Retribution has three legendaries!"

"Does it not strike you as odd," Selina replied, "that we were in the right places at the right times to clean up Darkrai's mess not once, but twice?" Rachel didn't initially reply, but was deep in thought.

"…Actually… now that you mention it, that does seem a bit convenient."

"That's because we had some help from Liam here." She looked towards her first partner and nodded.

"My origin is kinda a mess to say the least," Liam mumbled. "Truth be told, I don't really know. Can hardly remember a thing before the time when Selina found me - right over there," he said, pointing to the two rocks that were out of place. Rachel listened intently as he recalled the little that he did know about his pre-Retribution self. "Again, I won't blame you if you doubt this all initially, but bear with me for a moment."

"I trust you, Liam, and I will believe what you have to say."

"Thank you," he replied. "Where to start… Well, I actually didn't come from this world. Or at least, this time period."

"W-what?! What do you mean?"

"I was actually born some time in the future. Whenever that was… I'm not sure. From what I could gather the one time we went there, it seemed as though it was centuries from now - long after everyone here would be gone. I had a partner there, and a very close friend at that. We decided to try and go back to when it when it all went wrong. A friend of ours - a small pokémon that went by the name of Celebi - was the one who could send us back in time. But Darkrai pursued us and attacked. An accident occurred while we traveled through time, and as a result, I was turned into a pokémon and lost my memory."

"I'm sorry to hear th—." She stopped abruptly. "W-wait just a second… You said you were turned into a pokémon…"

"That's correct."

"What were you?!" Liam sighed, knowing there was likely no way that she would be able to visualize his past form. But then again… neither was he.

"I… I was actually a human…"

"What?! But I thought… I thought those were only in legends…"

"No," Eleanor said, "humans are very real indeed. They aren't very common in our world. I have never seen one personally… but they do exist."

"That's… that's incredible! What did you look like?"

"I don't know - I lost all my memories, remember? All I know is that I was apparently taller than what I am now. Much taller. But that's the extent of what I can tell you. But right now, none of this is relevant to why we're here today. The important thing regarding my messed up origins is my ability: the Dimensional Scream."

"The what now?"

"Dimensional Scream. Sometimes when I touch someone or something, I get a vision that originates from either the past or the future."

"Liam's ability helped us time and time again when we were up against Darkrai. He could predict events before they would happen."

"It is truly a remarkable ability," Eleanor added, "though we know so little about it."

"And that leads us to the topic we wish to—."

"Hiya!" Marvin said from behind him before squeezing himself between the lucario and Selina. Lapras was quickly swimming to the shore after the manaphy.

"Honey, I told you that you needed to be in bed," Selina said gently.

"Aww, come on mom… You and dad and the others get to do the fun stuff… Why can't I?"

"Kid," Tristan said in irritation, "they aren't your—." He was cut off by a cold glare from both Liam and Selina. Why would he even think about saying something like that?

"Because," Selina continued, "it's your bedtime, and this… this is an adult conversation…"

"I'm sorry he slipped away," Lapras said as he caught up. "He was just… way too fast…"

"That's alright," Liam replied.

"Will you go back to bed if I come with you?" Selina asked softly.

"Well… okay…" The umbreon walked over to Lapras, followed by Marvin. Before he went back to the two of them, though, he gave Liam a quick hug.

"Goodnight buddy," Liam said.

"G'night dad," Marvin replied. Selina always had found it adorable how the little manaphy had taken to them, even going so far as to refer to them as his parents. Ha, Liam and I as parents. The very thought made her smile, but then she realized what else such a thing would imply. And he'd explicitly stated it, too - in front of all of the others. She looked away in embarrassment.

It had always been something that they kept relatively quiet about - Marvin being like a child to the two of them. Truth be told, it was kinda hard to deny him that; after all, they had been the ones to hatch him and raise him early on. The day that they had to send him off had been brutally difficult for the both of them. It had felt like someone had ripped a part of the umbreon's very soul out, and it was one of the only times she could remember seeing Liam cry. And words could not even begin to describe the joy that she felt when Marvin returned to them. No, it was hard to deny him that bond. But then again, it wasn't that bond that was weighing heavily on her mind.

She and Marvin gently stepped onto Lapras's shell. "Fill me in on everything later, okay Liam?"

"Sure thing," he replied. Selina rode on Lapras all the way back to the small hut they had built for Marvin, all while the manaphy lazily drifted back. Throughout the ride there, though, her mind was occupied with thoughts of her suitability to be a parent. Maybe Marvin wasn't exactly her child… but there was more to being family than bloodline. And true, Walrein had taken charge of raising the manaphy in an environment most suitable for him, but that still hadn't stopped little Marvin from calling Selina and Liam his parents. Ha… Liam and I as parents…

She stepped off as Lapras slowed to a stop against the shoreline north of Sharpedo Bluff. "This might take a bit," Selina whispered to Lapras. "You go back to the beach. You'll wanna hear what Liam has to say."

"But you—."

"It's a short walk," she softly said. "Go on - I'll be fine." The lapras thought it over for a moment, but eventually nodded.

"Alright, if you say so." He turned around and began to swim away. "Goodnight," he called out as he left the two of them to themselves.

"Goodnight." A slight weight pressed down on the umbreon's back, and she began to make her way into his house. "You are quite a handful, you know that?" she affectionately said.

"Mhm," he replied. She walked to the side of his small bed, where he hopped off. Selina went about tucking the small pokémon in, then gave him an tender nuzzle to his cheek.

"Love you mom," he said with a yawn.

"Love you too sweetie," Selina murmured. Marvin must've caught on to the odd tone in her voice, as he sat up with a curious look on his face.

"Is… something wrong?" he asked. Should I… tell him?

"No honey… not really. I've just been thinking… you know that Liam and I…" She couldn't bring herself to say it - not to him. Such a sweet, innocent kid, and to tell him something like that? No, she couldn't do it.

"Mom… I know…"

"Y-you do?"

"You're an umbreon… and dad's a lucario. I don't know what that would make… but it wouldn't be me…"

"…I want you to know," she said with tears in her eyes, "that both Liam and I care for you very much." He reached up and hugged her.

"I know that," he said. "You two will always be my parents." She couldn't help but smile upon hearing that. For the next few minutes, she hummed softly as the manaphy curled up, thinking of how fortunate she was to have come across such a nice boy. As a drawn out yawn left him, she began to slowly step towards the door.

"Sweet dreams," she whispered.

"Mhm," he replied. As she neared the entrance, though, he spoke up once again. "M-mom," he said sleepily.

"Yes honey?"

"Wouldn't it be an eevee?"

"Hmm?"

"If you and dad got me a brother, wouldn't he be an eevee?"

"I…I…" She had no idea how to respond to that.

"I mean… I guess it could be a sister…"

"Th-that's enough of that talk," Selina stammered. She hurried out of there, undoubtedly more embarrassed than she had ever been in her life as she paced quickly along the sand. Of all the things he could have said… She had never felt the need to hide from the likes of a child until now. Her and Liam… they simply weren't like that, right? But there was no hiding from the thoughts that were starting to manifest themselves within her.

A/N:

And that sums up the fourth chapter. Let me know what you think and where you think things will be headed from here.