"Alexandra" Piper blurted out. She, Julia, Michael, Cameron, Olivia and the young children Arya, James and little Michael were all out for dinner at Jeice Kingston's famous restaurant in Titanio City following the cremation of Maria Pines. They had all gathered together, these last few pupils of the great former Professor of the Pokémon Research Facility in Parlor Town, to celebrate her life and revel in each other's company. Though many had been engaged in conversations revolving her grandmother, Piper was lost in an ocean of her own thoughts. That is, until she could have sworn she heard someone ask her what her middle name was.
"Hmm?" Michael asked her.
"My middle name" she explained. "It's Alexandra."
Michael cocked his head in confusion at her. "I know that."
"But you just asked me-"
"No one asked that, Piper" Cameron laughed.
Her cousin reached across the table for her hand and grasped it. "Pipe? Honey? Are you okay?"
Piper eyed her family and friends in confusion. "I could have sworn someone just asked me what my middle name was." She shook her head and took her hand away from Julia. "Never mind. Maybe it was all in my head." She looked to her left and saw her niece bouncing around in her high chair while she doodled on a coloring pad. She leaned over and kissed the toddler on her cheek. Arya giggled at her aunt and blew her a kiss.
"Antie Pipe!"
"Love you, munchkin" she said sweetly before returning her attention to the conversations at hand.
"I'll never forget the day you guys moved in" Michael told the two Pines girls as the waiter returned to top off everyone's drinks. "We were supposed to go to Kingston Castle to visit Grandpa and Grandma, but Uncle Jeice said we needed to introduce ourselves to you guys. You know, to be good and gracious hosts and all that."
"Personally, I never saw the need for it" Cameron shrugged as she took a drink from a glass of wine. "We all would have become friends anyway."
"How do you figure?" Julia asked.
Cameron eyed Michael. "This one and Chris were always out there trying to make friends. They'd make friends with the Combees in Mom's garden if they hoped it could one day make them better Pokémon trainers. And befriending two granddaughters of the new Professor taking over for the retiring Professor Queensbury should help us get easy access to Pokémon for ourselves."
Piper giggled. "I suppose the Pokémon were always the reason you cared for us, eh Mikey?"
"Oh come on" Michael laughed back. "The more friends, the merrier the time. You all seem to forget that for the most part, unless we'd go to visit Dee and her family in Taghwan City, it was basically just the three of us in that house." He returned his attention to Cameron. "You'd sit there and tell me you could put up with me and Chris all the time?"
"Of course not" Cameron snickered. "I'd smash my head in a wall if I had to play another one of your games. 'Aipom in the Middle' was always the worst. You and Chris were always faster than me! I was so relieved we got another playmate in there." She nodded politely to Julia. "And look where we all are, twenty years later."
Julia raised her wine glass to that. "To Maria Pines! The reason we're all drinking tonight!"
"To Maria!" Olivia echoed.
"To Maria!" the others added, before clanging their glasses together and drinking in unison.
"What I liked the most about her" Olivia reminisced, doing her best to keep her long red hair from going onto the table by keeping it back behind her, "was the way she never treated any of us differently."
"You enjoyed that?" Cameron teased.
"Think about it, Cam" Olivia reminded her cousin. "She didn't treat us like we were better than any of the other kids who went to her to start their Pokémon Training careers. I probably wouldn't have admitted it as a little girl, but now that we're older, she served as something of a temperament for us, protecting us from what the world would really be like when we reached adulthood." She took a sip of her wine. "Imagine if it was someone like Claude or Aunt Bonnie running things."
"I'd rather not even think of that" Michael commented.
Cameron shuddered. "Ew. I agree. Let's leave that nightmare scenario for Halloween or something."
While the rest of the people at the table conversed and reminisced about her Abuela, Piper was again consumed by her thoughts. She knew she had heard someone ask her what her middle name was. But if it wasn't Michael, the only adult male in their group with them, who else could it have been?
I know what I heard. I know someone thought my middle name was Maria. But it was a feminized version of my father's name. Alexandra, or Alejandra if we were still at home. But who?
She wondered partially if she wasn't just feeling exhausted. With all that had gone on since she and the others returned beaten and bruised from Mirage Island, she hadn't slept well. She was worried about her Pokémon. She longed for her grandmother to feel better. She was fearful of Julia and Michael's relationship falling apart. But above all, she knew she could not keep dreaming about Chris. He was gone. And she did not have the power to mount a rescue by herself. So long as the others were lukewarm to the idea of rushing headlong to rescue Chris, whom she was sure would do the same for anyone else, she was left to simply dream and wish for him to one day come back to them all.
Feeling the distress building inside of her, Piper excused herself from the table and made her way to the bathroom. She went in front of the mirror and tried to splash some water in her face, hoping it would wake her up and stop her mind from wandering. But when she looked at herself in the mirror, she saw him. He was sitting inside some hut, drawing or writing with a broken stick and thinking of her. She put her hands on the mirror and beamed.
"Chris?"
She could see him mouthing words, but beyond that was pure silence. But that didn't matter. If what she was seeing was true, he was awake. Somehow, he had broken free from Darkrai's spell and was back in action. Maybe he was singlehandedly fighting Mewtwo and his flunkies. Or perhaps he was preparing his way to make it back to them without the Spirit Keys. But for every positive thought she had, another negative one would arrive to counter it. This could also be her heart projecting what she desperately wanted to see. For all she knew, he was still trapped to that same machine Ryan had been, his dreams being used to make that wicked monster even stronger. Or he had not even been put onto that machine. Perhaps he had been struck down? Had Courtney been able to...
No! I know he's still out there. I'm going to find him again. I know it!
The door opened and she backed away from the mirror. Cameron looked from her and to the mirror, which was now covered in handprints from Piper touching it. Though Piper was expecting her beloved's little sister to tease her, she looked at her knowingly and nodded. "I feel that way too, sometimes. There is nothing I'd want more than to go to Mirage Island and save my big brother."
"He called to me, Cam" Piper insisted. "I know it."
Cameron shook her head. "I've thought the same thing, but it can't be true." She turned Piper around, so the two were now standing directly in front of each other. "Piper, he loves you. And you him. Seeing you two get back together is something on my mind. Just to get the opportunity for all of us to be together again would be amazing. But it's just wishful thinking right now."
"I know it sounds like fool's hope, Cam, but how can you expect me to feel any other way? I saw him. He was awake. He was writing out something. He was the one who called on my middle name." She took Cameron's hands in hers. "Come on. You're honestly going to tell me that was all in my head?"
"I can't be sure of what is real or not anymore" Cameron told her friend. "Whether or not Chris is awake, whether or not we can actually stop Mewtwo or even if we may ever get our Pokémon back. I've never been one to drop anything to faith alone. I need facts to back up my reasoning, Piper. Otherwise, all we are is just dreamers." She looked out towards the restaurant. "Even Dad and Shannon are on the verge of giving up. And I can't be too sure of what's on Michael's mind." She turned back towards Piper. "If even someone like him is losing faith, how can any of us cling to it?"
"Easily!" Piper snapped. "If I can, after only finding out how much I cared for him on Mirage Island, surely you and Michael can hold out for him too."
Cameron slipped her hands out of Piper's and disappeared behind a bathroom stall, giving only a melancholy look backwards as she did. "I'm tired of crying every night, Piper."
Piper left the bathroom and headed back towards the table. The food had arrived, with Julia and Olivia doing their best to make sure their young children were eating. James was simple enough, but Arya and Olivia's son were throwing fits about not having their desired foods, prompting the two exhausted mothers to focus mostly on them. Michael was in the middle of a Poké Gear conversation with someone, choosing to rise from the table and head outside of the doors of the restaurant. Piper, though tempted to help her cousin and Olivia, followed Michael outside out of sheer curiosity. When she made it outside after him, she could tell he was either very unhappy or frustrated with whoever had contacted him.
"I am not going to condone anyone going out to that island!" he snapped. "Cynthia, it's way too dangerous." As Piper cautiously made her way to his side, the conversation continued. "Do you think I don't know that? Do you think I'm not worrying about Celebi every single day? I would love to get him back, but opening that gate could give Mewtwo his way back here to attack us. I am not going to put Arcana in danger, not when we're so undermanned." After listening to her rebuttal, Michael nodded. "Their hearts are in the right place, Cee, but that's probably because they weren't on that island like we were. If they want to do something to Hunter, they need to make sure our side isn't about to crack from all this pressure." When he noticed Piper had followed him out, he decided to cut the call short. "We'll talk later, Cee. I gotta go." He then hung up.
"Who else wants to go back?" Piper pleaded.
"Mark and Lizzie" he replied. "They think they can set up a trap for Hunter if I give them leave to find a way to either get him there or bring him here. But Hunter would have made his move against Cameron or Ryan by now if he could. Mewtwo cannot have a leash on him that tight."
Piper nodded. "But if there was a chance...as slim as it may be, to get them back-"
Michael shook his head. "There is no chance where people will not be harmed, Piper. I told you as much when you came to me to try and go save Chris after Claude died."
"Not even for Celebi?"
He squeezed his eyes shut as if trying to suppress a mental breakdown. "No. Not even for him."
Piper sat down on the lowest stairs leading back inside the restaurant and sighed. "So, I'm the only one who has any hope of bringing Chris back?"
"I wouldn't say that. I still have hope, but I won't deny that the embers are dying."
"Chris gave everything up for us and we can't even be bothered to return the favor?"
Michael sat beside her. "It's more complicated than that. You know it is."
"Why him?" she pleaded. "Why did it have to be him?"
"Chris chose to do what he did" Michael tried to explain, "because he thought that would be what I would have done. It was reckless of him to do, but I appreciate the gesture all the same. He was needed here, to be with the people who need him." He put his arm around his old friend. "The three of us need him. Maybe even more than his father and stepmother do. He may be a little abrasive and reckless at times, especially when he's emotionally fueled. But he is what keeps us all balanced. He keeps me hoping against doubt. He let's Cameron take a moment to laugh at the simple things. And he won your love and admiration."
"But he isn't worth going to Mirage Island for?" she asked, with only a touch of thick-headedness to her response.
"Is he worth endangering my life for? Absolutely. I've done it time and time again for him. And he's done it for me. But I will not put anyone innocent in harm's way. I don't trust Mewtwo or Courtney with the lives of my children or Julia. Nor will I let that monster get anywhere near Ryan or Addison. It's a risk we cannot take right now, no matter how much we may want to." Piper noticed him tensing up. "It breaks me up inside every time I have to admit it. Because I would love to go there just to spring him. But it's not something he'd want me to do, nor is it something I can do."
Piper nodded. "It's just not fair. I was so sure that things were going to work between us."
"Keep holding onto that feeling in your heart, Pipe" Michael encouraged her. "Because that might be our ticket to salvation. Even if that ticket is a freight train into the abyss." He rose to his feet, pulled Piper up alongside him and opened the door for her. "Remember, Piper. Just because we may not be as gung ho about rushing to the rescue, that doesn't mean all of us have given up on seeing him again."
She smiled slightly. "I'll try to remember that."
{}
Deep within the confines of her makeshift lab, Courtney was hard at work completing her own personal goals. With The Grand Master placated, at least for the moment, she would be left to pursue her own schemes without fear of being probed or mistrusted. Even now, with Caleb's work on the Helm almost complete, she wasn't even sure she would need it to have access to his power. She may not even need The Master's power until their arrival in Arcana came. Her plan did not need it. All she needed to do was to find a connection between her life and that of the maiden Celina who died generations ago.
It's clear to me that seeking to enrich Michael with power is not going to work, she told herself as she meditated. No. What I need is for him to no longer have that doubt in me. He needs to see that what I told him was the truth. There must be a way.
She had one plan, though whether or not it succeeded would be left up in the air. She didn't even know if it was feasible. But, it needed to be tried. She had been so focused on trying to bring the past to the present, that she had forgotten that it was possible not to just think linearly, but in curves. Why focus on going from the past forward, when she could retrace her steps and go backwards instead? All she needed to do was to figure out the family lines Celina and Sora had come from, or if they had gone on passed their deaths.
Think, Courtney! THINK! She took in a long and deep breath, ignoring the various technological sounds coming from Caleb's work and tried to immerse herself in the shadows of the past, as far back as she could tell. She opened her eyes and found herself no longer within her cramped lab, but inside a home which was perhaps even more cramped. There was hardly any room for the two who lived in this dwelling to even stretch their feet. Half the home was dedicated to a workshop that was used to turn Apricorns into Poké Balls to snare and capture wild Pokémon. The other half was home to the most meager living conditions Courtney had ever seen. A single full size bed with not even a place for vanity goods like mirrors to be stored. To it's side sat a very small handmade dresser with two drawers, one for the man and the other for the woman. She would have been sickened by it, until she saw the maiden sitting on the bed and brushing her hair.
She was the splitting image of herself, sans the lavender colored hair. Hers was a bright shade of brown, perhaps even blonde. It reached all the way down to her lower back. She had the same analytical eyes that Courtney had, but she was not keen to use them. If anything, she had resigned herself to the life she lived now. The woman, slender and delicate in build, looked longingly at the other side of their home, where her beloved was hard at work on constructing an Apricorn. Courtney studied the man, but his back was to her. He wasn't particularly as well built as Michael Kingston was, but he was certainly cheery and jubilant living as simple a life as possible. Something the man had in common with the reluctant Lord of Kingston Castle.
"It will be easier when Papa returns from his hunt for the Beasts" she called over, upon finishing brushing her hair.
"Easier and harder" he countered, doing his best to mask his displeasure. "I've never had to rely on anyone, though."
"We don't have a choice, Sora" she responded. Courtney watched as the maiden walked her way down to her beloved's side. "There's going to be another mouth to feed, soon."
Courtney gasped. What? It cannot be...
"I can go and find myself a job at the port in Goldenrod" Sora insisted. "It may not help the Apricorn business, but we might be able to actually give our baby a life, Celina. We don't have a choice."
"Any job in Goldenrod City will mean that we have to leave our home" she reminded him. "This is what you were born to do, Sora. Making people and Pokémon happy by allowing them to bond. Without you, only those blessed with the gift of being able to mentally communicate with them would be able to live among the Pokémon. When Papa finds out that we're expecting, he will offer us assistance. I'm sure of it."
"Asking Artemis the Seeker for help is not what I want to limit myself to" Sora admitted sadly. "Especially since he already has such a low opinion of me."
Courtney came to the side of the couple that could not possibly know she was there. She eyed Sora and she nearly let out a loud yelp. Though not as physically built, the man was the spitting image of Michael Kingston. A dark shade of brown hair, soulful eyes and a warm and welcoming smile. A smile she herself had never seen but in her dreams. The couple came together and embraced, with Sora cradling his wife's pregnant belly protectively.
"I swear to you" Celina assured him, "Papa will take care of us. He wants his only child to be happy, after all."
"Happy and well cared for" Sora answered sadly. "And with me not being able to-"
"Just stop" his beloved shushed, taking him into her arms and kissing him. When they pulled apart, she beamed as her hand gently held his cheek. "I am not going to leave you. Our baby is not going to leave you. The three of us are going to be a family. For rich or for poorer. We will be together. Right here."
Courtney grinned. This is precisely what I needed to see. She squeezed her eyes shut and reopened them a moment later. Her surroundings had returned back to her lab. Caleb was putting the finishing touches on the metallic helm she was hoping to use to suppress Mewtwo's control of her mind with. But it didn't matter nearly as much as she once feared it might. She had what she wanted.
Artemis the Seeker was the father of Celina, who in turn married Sora. The two must have had a child. Which means the bloodline has to have continued on. All I need to do is focus on the families of the Johto Region and find the perfect specimen to prove what I've been saying all along. Michael will know I'm speaking the truth. He'll put aside Julia and come to me. And once I've taken care of that smarmy little bitch and claimed her children as ours, we can be free to rule all of Arcana as Sora and Celina should have been able to live. Side by side. Together. As one!
Her eyes found a shadow moving along the door frame to her lab. She gasped. They had been discovered! Someone was hurrying up the steps at a quick rate. Courtney sprinted along after the person and leaped, grabbing at their foot. She managed to trip him up and leaped on top of him, a knife in her hands. She was about to bring it down towards the intruder's throat, when she held back. It was Kage. And Hunter's little imp looked as pale as a newborn Blitzle at her mercy. She collected herself and glared down at him.
"What are you doing here?"
Kage gulped nervously. "I was told to-"
"By who?" she demanded, pressing the knife down against his throat. "Use your words carefully, Kage. Hunter will be the only one who misses your worthless hide!"
Kage shook worriedly. "I-I-I was only-I was only following orders!"
"WHO'S ORDERS?!"
"Hunter!"
Courtney relaxed her grip. "Hunter?"
"He told me to keep an eye on what you were up to" Kage explained. "To make sure you were-"
"How much do you know?" she hissed.
"Nothing!" he cried, the blade beginning to cut him. "PLEASE! NOTHING! I SWEAR BY ARCEUS THAT I-"
She removed the knife from his throat and put her hand over the frightened thug's mouth. "Shut up! Now, you're going to report back to that buffoon that you didn't see anything. You will not tell Hunter or The Grand Master what you saw. And if I find out you acted otherwise, I will not hesitate to show you this knife again. Only this time, you'll get one quick glimpse of it before it cuts you to the bone! Do I make myself clear?" When Kage nodded, she released him and watched as he scrambled up the stairwell back to his little friend.
She turned back towards her lab and slammed the door tight behind her. "Caleb, we're in trouble."
"The Helm is almost done, Lady Courtney" the boy assured her. "The modifications I made-"
"Hide it!" she ordered.
"Hide the Helm?"
"No, hide this knife" she replied with more sarcasm than she though herself capable of. "YES! HIDE THAT HELM! If Hunter finds out what we were up to in here, one of two things will happen. He'll either report us to the Master or something much worse."
"What could be worse than us being reported to The Master?"
Courtney turned white. "If he wants it for himself. Someone with the Singularity's power and his ambitions could rival even The Grand Master. If that is Hunter's ultimate goal, we cannot allow him to achieve it." She did allow herself to smile. "He made one fatal mistake, Caleb. He outed himself too early. Now, I'm onto him. And soon, The Grand Master will be as well." She looked at him with softer eyes. "Hide that helm. He is not to find it under any circumstances. Do I make myself clear?"
Caleb nodded. "I'll keep it hidden." He took the helm, which now resembled Courtney's own Team Magma helm, and placed it in a box underneath the desk he was working at. Before Courtney could complain, she saw that there were dozens of prototypes from their previous work on the Helm. So many that it would take Hunter too long to decide which was the correct one. He'd be snuffed out and revealed before long, and she'd be rid of one treacherous ally and one faithless accomplice soon enough. It would soon be her camp and The Grand Master.
She looked to Caleb. "If only fate did not determine whom we were meant to be with. Otherwise, you would be perfect mate material."
Caleb blushed. "Gosh, Lady Courtney. I just want to help."
"If you and I were meant to be" she winked, "I'd have the heart of a scientist under lock and key. Unfortunately, my fate has been intertwined with that of another. I intend on ascending beyond being Maxie's lowly assistant. Higher than Elezar's stooge. Even rising farther than being just a pawn for The Grand Master. When all of this is over, Caleb, I will not only be in possession of my love, but a throne." She let out a sinister cackle. "I will be a Queen!"
{}
"CAMPING?!" Matthew and Ryan both cried out in shock, dismay and frustration. Both boys had been brought together only because of an urgent summons back home from their parents. But neither had been prepared for the announcement coming their way. Though he was unsure how Ryan was handling this, Matthew was downright apoplectic. He had more important things to worry about than some stupid camping trip with his family. He needed to find a way to save Jocelyn. To stop Mewtwo. To find and reunite with his Pokémon. To finally break free from the stigma of being an enemy or just 'Ryan's brother'. If he had to live another moment in his brother's shadow, he was going to lose it.
"At least you both can agree on something" their father laughed sarcastically before continuing. "Yes, boys. We haven't gone out to Waypoint Island in a long time. And considering all of the fighting between you two that has gone on since then, we know this is for the best."
"This is ridiculous" Matthew insisted. "Why are we wasting time going camping? We still have more to worry about!"
"And I just got back on good terms with Addison" Ryan argued. "There's no way I'm wasting time on some dumb camping trip!"
Alison Kingston, however, would hear none of their complaints. "I don't care what else is going on. What matters and should be highest of priorities is our family. And with you two constantly at each other's throats, your father and I are at our wits end over this."
"So long as you two are our sons and living under our roofs" Robert reminded them sternly, "we make the rules. And we say that all five of us are going to Waypoint Island for an extended weekend starting on Wednesday morning and ending Sunday night."
Matthew, frustrated enough by his inability to combat this, stormed out of their house and into the yard. Parlor Town was as drearily quiet as he remembered, but it was a quiet that he was sure he could get used to. The boy who wanted desperately to have an adventure and be the Champion was long since gone. So too was the aggressive and angry young man who had put all of his friends in danger in pursuit of power. But what had been left for him to become after this?
It was in moments like this where he would turn to Jocelyn, but she had been right when she told him she couldn't be there forever. In the end, he had to make his decision about what kind of person he was going to become.
While he brooded and rested on the outer gates of their home, he noticed Tommy and Holly were training in their front yard. Holly's Roserade was combatting her brother's recently evolved Donphan, but despite the obvious type advantage, the boy's Ground Type was utterly dominating the match. Holly was barely able to keep up with her brother. Matthew moved over towards their neighboring fence as the battle reached it's climax.
"Roserade! Use Magical Leaf!"
"Tantor! Use Stomping Tantrum!"
Both Pokémon rushed at each other, with the Roserade shooting a series of bizarrely colored leaves at the Donphan as he rampaged towards his quarry. To the shock of all three trainers, the Donphan seemed to brush off what should have been a super effective blow and smashed his feet onto the Roserade, crushing her. When he stopped his attack, Holly's poor Pokémon was little more than a decrepit flower. Holly rushed over to her Pokémon and gave it a Hyper Potion, quickly restoring it back to health as Tommy's Donphan stomped about happily in victory.
"You did great, sweetie" Holly told her Pokémon gently. "Rest easy, Roserade."
"That's a good win!" Tommy proclaimed, as his Donphan used his trunk to high five the excitable boy. Upon realizing they had a spectator, Tommy grinned. "So? Guess I'm not the runt you used to know, eh Matt?"
Holly looked over, but didn't say anything. Matthew nodded. "I will say. I am impressed. Your Pokémon really fight for you." He pointed towards the Donphan, who rose his head haughtily. "If you apply yourself and we all make it out of this nightmare Mewtwo has us in, you might be able to beat Ryan in battle."
"There you go, getting him hyped again" Holly finally replied. "He already wants to challenge Ryan as if the Pokémon League is even open."
"I think Tantor and I could handle Achilles" Tommy boasted. "It's Shaymin that worries me."
Matthew shook his head. "Nah. Take some advice from someone who has wanted to throttle Ryan since we became trainers. Even now, with all that's been going on, Ryan still has an edge over us. Whatever that 'it' factor is that Michael had in his prime, it's what Ryan has now. I don't think anyone around here could beat him, even if all of our Pokémon did come back to us overnight."
"Who has Ryan lost to?" Tommy asked. "He's not unbeaten, right?"
"Lizzie beat him once" Matthew recalled.
"He also lost to Nadine and those twin girls before too" Holly added. "He lost to Dawn just before the World Tournament, to me and Michael in matches since the end of the war."
"HE LOST TO YOU?!" Tommy gasped. "Then I can beat him for sure!"
Holly smacked her brother upside the head. "You dunce! He lost to me because he was afraid that he might use the Crimson Fury to hurt me. He had that fear until he learned to get over it." She flashed a glare Matthew's way, but did little more to him. Matthew rolled his eyes. The glares would be a thing he needed to get used to. Nobody would trust him again. Not with their own lives, at least. And he could live with that.
"If you know the Pokémon League isn't opening" Matthew prodded, "then why bother training?"
"Because I know Mewtwo is going to come back some day" Holly reminded her old friend, anger in her voice. "Because I know that Ryan will need all the help he can get when that day comes. And because I want Jeremy to know that I haven't forgotten about him." She huffed and collected her still fatigued Roserade before she went to go inside the newly renovated Queensbury home.
"HOLLY!" Matthew called, prompting her to stop. "I have a feeling he knows you haven't."
Holly, unable to respond, walked into the home and shut the door behind her. Tommy, having gotten enough celebrating out of his system, rushed to the gate to commune more with an old archenemy. "So Matt. Why do you keep training? You don't really need to either. Is it like with Holly? Do you really want to help stop Mewtwo?" He then folded his arms and a cross look appeared on his face. "Or is this the same old story between you and Ryan?"
Matthew turned his back to Tommy and smirked. "I'm just here for Jocelyn. When I get her back, you won't have to worry about me anymore."
"So...you're still on our side?"
Matthew flashed a glare of his own back at the boy, startling him a bit. "Do you want to save Jocelyn?"
The boy nodded nervously. "She saved me from those big goons on the Island. Of course I do. Her, Daniel, Addison's dad, all of them. I want to save them all!"
"Then until we get what we want" Matthew replied dryly, "we're on the same side." With that, Matthew walked away to leave Tommy to his own personal training. Matthew spotted Ryan going out the front door and walking out the gates and towards Parlor Beach. He had just the same reaction that Matthew had about going on this trip. Why their parents were so insistent that some kind of camaraderie be reborn in them was beyond either of them. They were allies in this fight. Not friends. Not brothers. Not anything more than fighting for a similar cause. And both of them were fine with this arrangement. So why would their parents try to intervene now?
"You two used to be so close" Alison Kingston spoke to her son as she made herself comfortable on the family porch. While Robert drew a bath for Kayleigh upstairs, Alison took a moment to enjoy the evening skies and speak with her other son. She eyed her youngest son with soulful and emotional eyes. "What ever came between you boys to make you such enemies?"
"You got us to agree that this camping trip is dumb!" Matthew countered, a bit more harshly than he intended. He slowly made his way over towards his mother and stood in front of her. "You know very well what did."
"Everything was a competition between you two" she recalled sadly. "Being Michael's favorite. Being your Grandmother's favorite."
"It was mostly our Pokémon League Challenges and Addison" Matthew insisted. "She was at the heart of it."
Alison nodded. "You both have been fond of her for a very long time."
Matthew, finally knowing he could be more vulnerable than he had been with anyone since Jocelyn, sat down beside her. "Jasmine told me that we couldn't be together until I no longer loved Addy. Mom, I don't think I can just stop caring for her, though. I know that love means putting someone else's needs before ours, but Addy has been-"
"Addison is with your brother, Matty" his mother responded politely. "There is no sense in pursuing that goal anymore."
"I'm not" Matthew insisted. "Not once have I tried since I got back. I know how much those two mean to each other. But does that mean I should just stop caring about her? Because I will never do that!" He lowered his head and laughed at himself. "No matter how much she may want me to."
Alison looked up to the fountain of colors that adorned the evening skies. "Matthew, ever since you were born, you've wanted to be my strong son. My bold son. My daring son. The one that could follow in your cousin's footsteps and be a Champion people would admire and respect for his bravery and courage. I think had you followed that path, you would be in a much better place now than you've ever been or will be."
"But I also wanted to be Ryan" Matthew growled. "To be the one who got both Holly and Addison to love him. The one who all the girls in Arcana worshipped. The one that Michael always doted over. I never even got a backhanded compliment!"
"You and your brother walk different paths, Matty" his mother reminded him. "You can be brave and strong and also win the admiration of people. You need to stop emulating people and be your own person, though. You aren't your brother. You aren't Michael. You aren't your father or me for that matter. You can only be you." She leaned forward and kissed her son on the cheek. "Now, I know you don't want to do this camping trip. But I'm sure Kayleigh's favorite brother would not want to let her down when we leave. She wants to spend more time with you."
Mathew cursed underneath his breath. "She's going to be my weakness from now on with you, isn't she?"
Alison winked. "She's your sister. Blame her."
{}
"I know it's a big ask" Ryan said to the other line of his Poké Gear, his nerves already rattled the unexpected announcement of his family trip to Waypoint Island. "But I don't have a choice."
"This is a very big ask, Ry" Julia told the boy. "Michael and I have to discuss it."
"Things are only going to get a lot harder for us, Julia" Ryan pleaded. "If I can't be sure that we'll get through this-"
"I know how you feel, sweetie" Julia went on, "but this is still a huge commitment for you and a very large ask of us. Even for Michael, who you know would do anything for you boys." She dithered on the other side of the call for a moment before answering. "I promise you that he and I will talk it over. But anything beyond that, I can't guarantee."
"I want to do this" Ryan insisted. "With all that's been going on, this is the only thing that I can think of that will keep me calm."
"You could always try talking to Countess Rosemary" his former mentor suggested.
"I did already. But she didn't really help me with this issue."
"You and Michael both harbor some mistrust of her" the former professor giggled. "But, for the sake of the both of you, I will ask Michael." She snickered on the other line. "You do realize that you are going to owe him big for this, yes?"
"I suspect I'll be doing a lot of babysitting for you guys" Ryan laughed.
"You're just lucky we think of you like our son" Julia responded. "Alright, we've got to go, Ry. I'll call you tomorrow to set up plans if he says yes."
"Thanks, Julia. You're the best!"
"Awww. I try."
As Ryan ended the call, he took a deep breath and stood in silence on the shores of Parlor Beach. If he could convince Michael and Julia to help him with this, he felt deep down that his nerves would settle and he could finally take a well needed rest from all that had been going on. To feel like, even with all of the bad things going on around the world, that he had done one thing to make himself happy beyond just one day.
Addy, I am yours and you are mine he told himself. And I intend on showing you that.
{}
Hunter stood on a balcony overlooking Professor Wong's work on the cloning machines he and some of the Syndicate Goons had put together. She was hard at work attempting to replicate the DNA of Mew to create more of The Grand Master. Whatever had been in those Prophecies he had Courtney studying up on had shaken him and proved the need for these kinds of projects. And while he was more than willing to comply with the Master's wishes, he was frustrated that he was pinned here on Mirage Island, when he needed to only snare both Shaymin and Victini to complete his set of Mythical Pokémon at his beck and call. He might even be able to breach the celestial realm of Arceus.
But until that day came, he knew he needed to play the good soldier. Being linked through the Singularity to The Grand Master meant that any action or thought he took against the Master was wishing for death. And he liked living. He was not so inclined to follow Cassius or Claude to the grave just yet.
He looked behind him and found Kage stumbling over to his side, clutching at his throat, which was bandaged up. Hunter could only scornfully mock his accomplice. "Man, do you look like crap. That's why I told you not to get caught."
"You could have told me she has a third eye or something like that" Kage coughed out as he caught his breath. "I almost got my throat slit."
"She wouldn't kill you" Hunter said confidently. "You're not a big enough threat to her, or valuable to anyone."
"But I'm your-"
"You'd better have some news for me, lackwit" Hunter snarled. "Otherwise, it would have been smarter to let Courtney kill you."
Kage gulped. "Well, she's got that Caleb guy working on something. I don't know what, but she seems really protective of it. I'm not even sure The Grand Master knows yet."
Hunter looked back down at Professor Wong, but was lost in his thoughts. "What could you be after, Courtney?" She already had power, both physical and mental. She had practically thrown herself at The Grand Master to become a puppet for him. So why be so secretive and protective of a project like this? To what end? As the cloning machine began to crackle and spark below and Professor Wong took a nervous step back from it, Hunter looked to Kage. "If she catches you down there again, you think she'll cut your throat?"
Kage turned white. "I don't think I want to know that."
Hunter smirked. "You won't have to. Courtney is a simple girl. All you need to do is figure out what she wants. And I think I've got the perfect thing in mind for what she and her little runt are working on." He scratched his chin as his idea formulated inside his head.
"You do?"
"Ever since I've known her" Hunter recalled, "Courtney has been after one thing: Michael Kingston. She gave up her humanity and her ability to possess free thought just to snare that idiot into her clutches. But she's probably starting to realize that Michael's too dense of a dolt to be worth the effort. And since The Grand Master offers no takebacks, what do you think is the new passion of hers?" When Kage did not answer, Hunter grabbed at the bars he was leaning on and squeezed them in anger. "Her freedom."