I barely slept a wink that night. Jasmine and Nikki, even after staying up for hours talking about the day's events fell asleep quickly and easily, which I resented. Jasmine, as was to be expected was completely antagonistic about the whole thing. She was adamant that Dad hadn't changed. That it was completely impossible. That she couldn't believe that she just sat for a casual dinner with someone who had not so long ago tried to take over the world.

Nikki said nothing, but her silence, as always, obviously proved she was feeling the same way.

It was difficult for me to get across my feelings on the matter. Trying to explain to Jasmine and Nikki what I was feeling was as difficult as getting blood from a stone. I somehow managed to make the point that I knew my dad was a changed man, as much as I hated to admit it. But explaining why I was having difficulty accepting this beyond simply what he had done at Mt Chimney and what he'd done to me as a child was a lot harder.

"You see… I kind of knew he was changing… I knew as soon as he saw that Arceus. I didn't want to know, but something still told me that he had… It… it was so strange for me. I know he's genuinely sorry… I know he… he only joined up to protect me, and that he only threw himself into Team Quantum's affairs because I already hated him and he didn't have anything else in his life. But… but it's weird… even though I know he's sorry and that he's a better man now… it's like I need him to be that man. That horrible, evil, power-hungry, abusive man. Otherwise I don't really know what to do with myself…"

"I can't trust him." Jasmine had announced. "I can't. I just can't. I can't trust anyone who attempted to capture Legendary Pokemon, who was so ruthless to his own daughter, who tried to kill innocent people! I'm shocked that you're even entertaining the thought."

I had rolled over in my bed at this point, simply wanting to bury my head in the pillow and scream into it. "I'm not entertaining the thought of trusting him. He gave me the answers I wanted… and yeah, they're not what I expected… in fact, I think I could probably have dealt with the thought of my dad wanting revenge or… going on another mad spree better than this…"

Jasmine had let out a growl. "I still won't believe it. I say the better we leave your crazy father behind, the better. He's obviously not right in the head."

I had sighed wearily. "I don't know…"

"I do." Jasmine's voice was firm, unquestioning. "You came here, you got answers. Granted they might not be what you want, but if that's all he can come up with, then fine. Just get out, Sienna. While you still can."

I didn't know what to say, so I simply murmured something about wanting to get to sleep. It seemed to satisfy Jasmine enough to shut her up, and within a few minutes I heard both of them breathing heavily and slowly, obviously asleep. However, I couldn't sleep that easily. Thoughts of my father, his revelation and the horrible fact that I believed him when he said he was a changed man twisted around my head like a sea of snakes. I tossed and turned into the early hours of the morning until sleep finally took me for a welcome couple of hours.

We headed off to the dojo the following morning. I could tell everyone was a little reluctant to go. Heck, I was a little reluctant to go. Who knew what this next visit could drudge up?

We were greeted at the dojo gate by a perpetually cheerful Bailey. There were two little boys, about the ages of nine and ten dressed in regulation school uniforms (not Pokemon trainer's school, I noticed) hanging on his every word as he directed other children in to the dojo. These other children were dressed in white martial arts jackets with various colours of belts tied tightly around their waists.

As we approached, Bailey said something to the two boys by his side and they took off almost immediately, waving goodbye as they left. Bailey sent a cheery grin our way as we came closer.

"Sorry about that, those were my brothers," he said apologetically.

"Your brothers?" I said slowly. A nugget of information returned to me, and I remembered from the previous night the fact that he had four other siblings.

"Yeah." He grinned. "They always come to see me before work as they're on their way to school. I tell them not to, but they never listen…"

"That's kinda sweet…" I said with a half-smile.

"Here to see Cal?" Bailey asked immediately after.

"How'd you guess?" I said, with a cheap, fake laugh.

He simply shrugged off the obvious malice. "He's in taking a class. But he said you could just go right ahead."

"Uhh…" the thought of interrupting a class worried me. What kind of memories would being in one of those familiar classes stir up? Despite my reservations, I was eager to just get this whole thing over and done with. "Sure."

We entered the dojo, and easily found the room Bailey had been referring to. Inside we found a class of about six kids around ten and eleven sitting on mats. A collection of Pokeballs were lined up in front of the kids, each kid with one Pokeball in front of them. Dad was standing in front of the line of Pokeballs, talking. Even though I didn't want to, I couldn't help but listen in.

"Today, you will receive your partner. A special Pokemon bred in this very dojo, bred from my own Pokemon. Many of you come from families that for whatever reason, cannot allow you to follow your dreams. But here, you can. Here, you will get your first Pokemon and begin your journey together. But first, a word of warning. Pokemon are real, living beings, just like you and I. If you treat your Pokemon wrongly, they will treat you that way in return. Your Pokemon aren't just Pokemon… they're our precious friends. Friends that are going to be with us, no matter what we do or what mistakes we make in our lives. And those of us lucky enough to learn their company should be eternally grateful for every second we have with them."

His words struck a chord with me. I understood. I understood what he had meant. His words twisted around my brain, echoing like a song you couldn't get out of your head.

He was giving Pokemon to children who couldn't afford to become trainers under their own actions. These weren't the actions of an evil man. No self-respecting criminal would go out of their way to teach poor kids the basics of being trainers, and going through all the stresses and problems of breeding Pokemon to just give them away for free. The realisation hit me like a punch in the stomach. There was no way that he was an evil man. He wasn't an evil man anymore!

I watched as the ten year olds all took their first Pokemon. The look of joys on their faces as they bartered and swapped and decided on their starters made a strange, nostalgic feeling bubble up in me. And then there was the look on my father's face. A kind of warm, soft pride as he watched over the children. The kind of look I so ardently desired when I was a kid. The kind of look I always yearned for Dad to pass my way. In fact, the kind of look I still wish he would give me.

He looked up, and noticed us for the first time. "Sienna?" he sounded surprised, but pleasantly so.

"Hey, Dad." The easiness of it slipping out shocked me and I began to stammer, unable to say anything else.

But before Dad could open his mouth, the kids quickly realised who I was.

"You're Master Cal's daughter?" one of the kids shouted and I sighed as déjà vu struck. I didn't want a repeat of last time…

"Yes," I said, quite firmly.

"Wow!" the kid cried. "You must be super strong! Hey, Master Cal? You should battle your daughter!"

The kid's words shocked me, but no sooner had they been said, the other kids started shouting eagerly.

"Yeah! Battle her!"

"Do it! We wanna see you battle!"

"Battle her, Master Cal!"

"No, kids, kids, please…" I heard Bailey interrupting, but they didn't even pay him a hint of notice.

However, with one word, Dad silenced them. "Quiet." He said in a low voice , and the kids instantly became silent. He then looked across at me. "Well, what do you say, Sienna? A battle. You and me? I think we're due a fair fight, don't you think?"

I immediately stopped, my heart leaping to my mouth. I heard the blood rushing through my ears and I felt faint. A battle? With him? No, I couldn't handle that! Not even with the knowledge he was reformed and changed. I couldn't wipe away the memories of the battles he made me participate in as a child. Or the horrifying memories I had of his brutish Pokemon that still scared me to this day. And especially the memories of the sheer power he had displayed at Mt Chimney back then.

He must have seen me waver, as he strode forward a few paces. "Okay, then how about this? You gather four Johto Gym badges. Get used to the idea of us battling, gain some experience, and get back into the swing of fighting hard battles. Then come back. Challenge me then."

It took me a long time to reply. A plethora of emotions was running through my head and I didn't know what to think, or do. I couldn't just go jaunting off around this whole region searching for gym badges; I had a life at home! I had school! I had Mum! I had Elliot and the girls, and Scott too! I couldn't ask them to put up with me taking off to explore the region just because I wanted to battle my father! Going after gym badges could take weeks! Months even! Did I really want to do this?

I looked up into my father's eyes. Yes, all that stuff was true. But this was a chance here. I knew that if I said no and gave up, went back home to Pallet Town, I would never reconcile with him. While part of me wanted to go home and never see him again, a small part of my conscious, right at the back of my brain was telling me to take this chance. Because it would never come again.

"Four Johto League Gym badges?" I double-checked.

Dad nodded. "Four. Then a battle. Right here, at the dojo. Do we have a deal?"

He reached out his hand. I stared at his hand, scarred and rough with the pains of previous battles. Then somehow, my own hand reached up around its own accord, curled around his and gave it a brief, but firm shake. "Deal."

I heard a groan from behind me. I couldn't tell who the voice belonged to. I didn't want to turn around and find out.

"Excellent," Dad said with a smile. Then his face softened, and he murmured something for only me to hear. "Thank you, Sienna."

My school was sympathetic to my taking time off, assuring me that as I was doing a two year course, one year of which I had already completed, it would be easy enough for me to simply do the second year again once I returned. Of course, if I returned home early for whatever reason, and I could still feasibly catch up, I could simply resume my place. I was sincerely hoping for that option.

Elliot, Jasmine, Nikki and Scott obviously had their reservations. Some of them voiced those reservations much louder. Despite their initial reluctance, after a great deal of begging on my part, the four of them decided to stick with me around Johto until I got the four Gym Badges I needed.

Dad had a class, so we had no choice but to leave as he worked with some of the younger kids. The class only lasted an hour, so once it was getting ready to conclude, I started to get inexplicably nervous. I started to pace up and down corridors, dashing into rooms here and there to avoid being seen by excited kids or any of my friends. For some reason, at that moment, I didn't want anyone to see me. I needed to be alone.

"Sienna?"

I jumped. I had literally put one foot out of one of the doors when a voice caught my attention. I turned around and saw my father, standing in a nearby door's alcove.

As my heart eventually returned to a normal pace, I let out a long sigh of relief. "Yeah…?" I asked slowly.

"Come in here for a second,"

At first I hesitated, but I followed him obediently through into the room, and he closed the door behind me. I looked around the unremarkable room for a few seconds, not really sure what to say. "What is it…?" I eventually croaked out.

"I want to thank you for giving me a chance. And—"

"You already thanked me," I said immediately.

Dad smiled. "There's a few other things. Obviously, the most important one is to thank you for what you did in 2009. You threw yourself in front of that Samurott for me. I… I want to thank you. You almost died for me…"

"I didn't get away with nothing though…"

I showed him the scar on my arm from the Arceus's blast. It was only slight, the kind of scar you weren't even aware was there until it was pointed out. "And these too…" I pulled up the t-shirt I was wearing, showing off three identical serrated scars criss-crossing my torso. My father gasped, his face dropping. I let my t-shirt fall back over my stomach, feeling horrible. I hated those scars. I hated how ugly they made me feel. I even hated them when Elliot kissed them, telling me they were beautiful, and a part of me just as much as anything else was. I hated that they were a physical manifestation of the horrors I had to endure. Horrors that would never fade.

"Oh, Sienna." Dad said softly.

He turned away for a few seconds, delving within a desk and eventually came away with a very badly wrapped parcel. It was tiny, barely fitting in the palm of his hand. He thrust it towards me clumsily whilst I just stared at it. "What is it?"

"Birthday present." He stammered uncertainly.

"You remembered my birthday?" I asked slowly.

"You're my daughter, aren't you?" He stated gruffly. "Open it."

"What it is?"

"Open it!" he said, stuffing in my hands.

"Is it a car?" I joked, turning the tiny parcel over in my hands.

Dad returned me a blank stare while I laughed nervously. Obviously I wasn't endowed with the talents of a stand up comedian. I edged the parcel open slowly, and a tiny beaded bracelet came tumbling out into my hand. I let out a low gasp. It was absolutely beautiful. The beads were medium in size, and a stunning ruby red in colour that sparkled like a handful of precious gems whenever they caught light. Tiny flowers in a rainbow of colours had been dotted and peppered across the beads. "Wow…" I breathed out slowly.

"Red is your favourite, isn't it?" Dad asked me quickly.

"Of course!" I cried out. "It's beautiful, thank you!"

"It's not much, considering… but I hope you like it."

"I love it," I said at once. Immediately I fiddled with the clasp and slipped the red beaded bracelet around my wrist. I held it out, admiring the red on my pale skin and smiled. I caught Dad's eye and with all sincerity, managed to say "Thank you, Dad. I really love it."

We were soon packed and ready to go. We stepped out into the hall, our bags shouldered. We were destined for the closest Gym, the one right slap bang in the centre of Goldenrod. I didn't want to prolong going around Johto, so I had decided to go for the closest Gyms, regardless of when they took place in the circuit, how difficult they were and what type of Pokemon they trained. But just as we were getting ready to leave, a voice called me back.

"Sienna?"

I had expected Dad to be the one calling me back again, but instead it was Bailey Gray. He was standing at the doorway alongside Dad. I cast confused looks to everyone else. They all looked just as blank as I did. "Yeah? What is it Bailey?"

He was blushing, his round cheeks flushed painfully red. "I was wondering if I could ask you something…"

"Shoot."

He began to stammer, stumbling over his words, making no comprehensible sense whatsoever. It was almost quite painful to listen to and watch. Dad sighed haughtily at him as he faltered. "Spit it out, Bailey." He eventually snapped.

"I… I want to come with you guys to collect badges!" he suddenly burst out. "I'm not a strong trainer yet, not like you guys at all, but I have four Pokemon! I really want to get out there and be a real trainer!"

I swallowed hard. I remembered that Bailey had told me about his family, how his father depended on the wages that Bailey earned to support them. I found myself in a moral dilemma. If Bailey had to support his family, was it really okay for him to go gallivanting off around the region looking for gym badges if it meant his family would suffer? "Is… is it okay with your family?" I had to ask.

He nodded. Fiercely, I might add. "Dad said to go for it. He said it wasn't fair that I should be trapped here not doing what I want. He says it's not fair for him to be constantly relying on an eighteen year old."

I murmured in agreement.

Bailey was smiling again. "Besides… I can earn money on the road too and send it home. I can still support them."

I nodded, satisfied with his answers. I found mysel feeling really quite touched by his words. He was still thinking about his family. He was still going to support them. He would sacrifice the money he won while training to support his family, give up the money he would need for food, necessities, travel and Pokemon supplies for his family. I admired that more than I cared to admit. I turned back to look at the four other people standing around me. It was just as much their decision as it was mine. They had agreed to accompany me after all. "What do you guys think?"

"I don't see a problem," Elliot pointed out with a smile.

"Me neither," Nikki said.

"I guess not…" Jasmine said with a shrug.

Scott merely grunted.

I smiled across at Bailey who looked delighted. "Looks like your part of the team, Bailey."

The grin practically spread from ear to ear. His eyes welled with what looked suspiciously like tears, and he started to gush. "Thank you! Thank you! I really mean it! I won't let you down, I promise!"

From behind me, Jasmine let out a cough that sounded suspiciously like "pathetic."

As Bailey came over to join us on our side, I caught my father's gaze once again. He was smiling as he stepped forward. "Good luck, Sienna. Although I doubt you'll need it. I look forward to our battle."

"Yeah." I found myself saying. "I look forward to it too."

And with that final truth expelled, we were on the road again.

The first gym we were going to challenge was only a mere ten minutes walk away. I would be battling a woman called Whitney, something of a local hero in this city. A kind of role model for the young kids. She used a type of Pokemon I had never expected a Gym Leader to use. She used the Normal types. They were often seen as the weakest, most worthless types of them all. But I knew that a Gym Leader would have some extra twists and tricks up her sleeve. I mean, I had only ever battled two Gym Leaders in my life: Misty from Cerulean City in Kanto, and Wallace from Sootopolis City in Hoenn. I considered them both personal friends now, but that didn't take away how difficult they had been to win against. And it had been a long time since I had fought a Gym Battle. And I'd never fought a Gym Leader that didn't use Water Pokemon as their speciality…

But I couldn't back out. This was something I had to do.

And come hell or high water, I was going to do it.

Author's Note

Hey guys! Sorry I'm so late! I'm back at university now so updates will be quite sporadic henceforth until Christmas!

But on the plus side, Free Spirits gets back into the swing of things now.

I got a mammoth 15 reviews for the previous chapter! I couldn't believe it! Thank you all!

WarriorSwift, eeveelutionluvr, Sniper Mudkip, TwewyReaperGirl, Manser77, WOWFan123, Aeroga, WildCroconaw, Zoeten, chaison, May and Dawn are the best, ArchXDeath, musa lover, anon and beatlesfan123.

I will get back to responding to you all individually next chapter, I can't this time because I have a super long announcement!

That's right! OC Submission!

I am a good number of OCs short for the battling tournament Sienna and the others will be competing in, so I need you guys help! I already have three, from Aeroga, WOWFan123, and Chaison, but I need more! So if you want to submit a character to take part in the battling tournament against Sienna and the gang, here are the guidelines:

YOU MUST SEND ME AN OC BY PRIVATE MAIL ONLY.
This is completely non-negotiable. Must be sent in by private mail or the submission will not be accepted.

For the OCs I will need:
Name (first and last)
Age
Occupation: (trainer, breeder, co-ordinator etc)
Hometown
Appearance
Personality
Goals
Battling Experience (are they good at battling, do they have a specific style, how many badges/leagues have they won/competed in and how have they fared?)
Pokemon (Maximum six. Please no legendaries and horrendously over-powered Pokemon. Like I'm very unlikely to allow someone with a team of only Pseudo-legendaries. Try and make it realistic! Shinies ARE allowed, but only one per trainer)
Pokemon's Moves and Nicknames
Pokemon's Personality and Relationship with trainer
Trainer's History (like what they've been doing, anything that's happened to them in their lives, hopes, dreams, aspirations)
Misc: Anything you feel is necessary to understanding your OC and their pokemon.

Try and make this as detailed as possible, okay? :) And if there's a specific person of the Spirited cast you'd like to battle, please specify that as well. Now remember... SUBMISSION BY PRIVATE MAIL ONLY. This is only because I don't want hundereds of OCs cluttering my reviews. Thanks guys!

I hope you can submit an OC and that you enjoyed the chapter!