Amber, den mother to the Hiwaka women, comes back from seeming death in order to defend her daughters. This shocks the girls, but at the same time brings a joy that cannot be described in words. Amber's power and history make her a welcome addition to a fighting party, though her enigmatic approach remains a mystery to all.
"So, Amber… what we're doing now is visiting all eighteen of these 'Type Trinket' thingies and learning moves so that we can have what it takes to defeat Malachus…" Darien said, explaining things to Amber.
"You're going to go up against Malachus with just moves? That's suicide!" Amber said.
"Mum… we're destined for this," Serena said.
"It doesn't matter! …Wait a minute… OF COURSE!" Amber said.
"What?" Justyn asked, looking up from his dozing. Amber's shout had attracted attention.
"We've gotta go back to Hiwaka!" Amber said.
"WHAT?" Justyn asked, attracting more attention.
"In Hiwaka… I remember it… I had received those in a Caterpie market some years prior… I never thought I'd need them… I should've realised!" Amber said.
"Needed what?" Darien asked.
"These!" Amber said, holding out a stone. It was an orb inside of which contained an odd, mystical light. Well… this stone's light was black in colour.
"What?" Serena asked.
"This is the source of my power! I've got a few more back at Hiwaka… if I could get my hands on them… you'd be in a much better position!" Amber said.
"All right… I follow…" Darien said.
"Me, not so much," Justyn said.
"We're going to Hiwaka," Darien said firmly.
"So, how have my daughters been?" Amber asked.
"I got into a relationship with Darien, and it's actually floating quite well…" Serena said. "After a few bumps that were my fault…"
"My mother disowned me," Amy said simply.
"She suggested I become den mother, thinking you were dead," Lita said, pointing to Amy. "Of course, we still haven't been to the Dragon Realm…"
"I finally got over that jerk Ace. Now I'm pining over a different girl," Mina said.
"…OK… baby steps," Amber said, looking at the four girls.
"Mum…" Amy said simply.
"It's going to be all right, Amy… I've returned. After this mess is all over, we can go back to Hiwaka and live in peace, as we always have…" Amber said.
"Thank you, mother…" Lita said.
"We'll protect you, too!" Mina said.
"Serena?" Amber asked.
"…Whatever it is Darien does, I'll follow with him. Thank you for everything you've done, Mummy…" Serena said.
"If things don't work out between the two of you, you know where Hiwaka is…" Amber said.
"Get real. Darien could hardly hurt a Kricketot," Lita said.
"Amy?" Mina asked, after the conversation was over. Amy was starting to sob slightly.
"Would some Poffins cheer you up?" Mina asked.
"It'll take something a lot stronger than Poffins this time, Mina…" Amy said. Mina edged closer, and opened her arms. Keeping on her guard, she slipped her arms around Amy, and pulled her in. Despite Amy's height over her, she felt much bigger than the Delphox.
"Thanks… this might do the trick…" Amy said.
"Don't worry about anything, Amy. You just worry too much," Mina said.
"Yeah… maybe I do… thanks…" Amy said.
"And Amy… I… I... uh… I kinda…" Mina asked.
"Yeah?" Amy asked. Mina was shivering quite profusely
"I kinda… have a… have… a… crush… on you…" Mina said.
"…Really?" Amy asked. Mina looked down.
"I like you, Mina. Your Poffins are amazing, and you are a beacon amongst our sisters. I'd be honoured to stay by your side," Amy said.
"Thanks…" Mina said.
"So… you hungry?" Amy asked.
"A bit. But I've only got Pecha Berries right now…" Mina said.
"That will be satisfactory. I'm sure you could make even Liechi Berries taste good," Amy said.
"So… Amy reckons you'd be the next den mother?" Amber asked, looking at her Goodra. Lita flushed.
"You really think I stand a chance? I mean, there's you… and you're invincible!" Lita said.
"Yeah… but not immortal. I'm going to die one day. Might be sooner, might be later. But I will die. And someone's going to need to be the den mother of Hiwaka once I'm gone," Amber said.
"Yeah… but me?" Lita asked.
"You're the oldest of our group. There are Pokémon who need the hugs of something as adorable as you… well, minus the slime," Amber said.
"Hm?" Lita asked.
"Well… who do you think would make a better den mother? A woman with a nightmare for hair, or a bubbly dragon who likes warm hugs?" Amber asked.
"When you put it like that…" Lita said.
"Well… I guess I was right about Serena…" Madeline said, watching her laugh alongside her family.
"Not in the way you thought. She was getting scared… scared of losing me. I told her my little secret, and now she knows she's set," Darien said.
"…Thank you. It's nice to hear you two getting along a lot better now…" Madeline said.
"Anyway, Madeline… about your friend… well… what went wrong between you and Justyn?" Darien asked.
"Wait… how…" Madeline asked.
"Wasn't too hard. Lopunny's a happiness evolution, and there's just something… strange… between you and Justyn," Darien said.
"Well, yeah… me and Justyn… didn't go so well. He rose to become king, and I was just a lowly Buneary in the streets… I was lucky to even meet him. I became one of his handmaidens, and loved him with all my heart… but Justyn couldn't imagine marrying a female with such a station," Madeline said.
"So your courting actively ruined your relationship," Darien said.
"Once he realised his folly, he fired all the other handmaidens. I'm the only one who routinely sees Justyn… well, before this business. Everyone else only reported in the case of emergencies…" Madeline said.
"So he does still have fondness for you…" Darien said.
"Yeah, but I hear he's flirting with another girl… Lita," Madeline said.
"That's…" Darien started.
"I can accept that… I just hope Justyn manages to follow through on that one better than he did with me," Madeline said.
Luna watched as Serena unleashed all of her moves. Magical Leaf, Thunderbolt, Psychic, Moonblast, Signal Beam… her checks were few and far between, that was for sure.
"Well done, Serena…" Luna said.
"Thanks…" Serena said nervously.
"Have you and Darien been doing OK?" Luna asked.
"Better than ever, Luna. *sigh*… between us…" Serena said.
"Yeah, but you're also growing on your own, right?" Luna asked.
"Uh… well… I've been feeling really horrible for a while… but now that we've smoothed over that patch, I feel better off," Serena said.
"…That was supposed to answer the question?" Luna asked.
"Well… I kind of just want to leave the tough thinking to Darien for the time being. When everything's settled down, then yeah, I might need to start branching out…" Serena said.
"Serena! You're powerful! You're flexible! You don't need Darien to do everything for you," Luna said.
"Trust me, Luna… I know what I'm doing. At least… I hope I do… maybe you're right there… Something will come up," Serena said.
"So… where exactly is Hiwaka, Amber?" Justyn asked. Amber closed her eyes, and spun her head around.
"Hm… south. Definitely south," Amber said, her head locking to face south.
"There's a desert not too far to the south, the desert that holds the Ground Ruins and the Rock Mountain," Justyn said.
"Way to make everything about you," Amber said.
"This is fine, knocking this out now. Though don't tell me we're climbing a mountain," Darien said.
"Nah… the mountain's long since eroded to something of manageable size. The name 'Rock Mountain' really is just an artefact of the time it was erected," Justyn said.
"That was a long time ago, for erosion to have done that much…" Amy said.
"Yeah… now you know why our first instinct was to arrest you," Justyn said. Amber growled, but let the matter slide, judging by how her daughters acted around him now.
The vastness of the desert was one of the first things that struck the group. Those sheltered members were surprised at such a large expanse of sand, the less sheltered noticing that there was much more sand than usual. Darien sighed, resigned, and started walking through the sands. The desert pulled at his feet, slowing his progress to a crawl.
"This is going to be fun…" Darien said. Serena came forward, treading lightly on the sand, making triple the progress Darien did in the same time.
"Same to you!" Darien yelled in annoyance.
"I'll go ahead with the other Pokémon good at this. You follow as fast as you can," Serena suggested. Amy, Giac, Luna, Artemis, Loot, Jadit, Nephalem, Angela, Indira and Sierra made their way forward, while everyone else just trudged along slowly. Aaron seemed to be having the easiest time in the sands, but at the same time, he was also slow as Shuckle normally.
The Rock Mountain, although Justyn's claim was correct about it being an unusually short mountain, stood before the girls and boys, rather intimidating in might. The Larvitar, Pupitar, Froakie and Frogadier jumping around weren't helping.
"One of us has to climb that thing…" Serena said.
"Probably Darien… I mean, what Rock moves would you learn?" Giac asked.
"Yeah… but I'd better check both, just to be sure…" Serena said. She looked between the Rock Mountain and the Ground Ruins.
"Ground Ruins first," Serena said.
"Knew it," Giac said.
"You're making assumptions based on what you think I'm capable of, aren't you?" Serena asked. Giac raised an eyebrow.
"Sisters of Pegasus, we climb Rock Mountain first," Serena said. Sierra nodded, and the three escorted her in the direction of the mountain.
"Nice one, Giac," Jadit said, smiling and nodding. A small explosion sounded: one of Serena's Moonblasts shattered a bit more than the Pupitar it was aiming for.
Darien picked his way out of the sand, using Madeline's light feet to help him out. Everyone else was still struggling (or relying on Aaron to push the hard-going sand out of the way), so the lighter-footed members of the group came forward. Like Serena before him, he was presented with the option of going to the Ground Ruins or Rock Mountain.
"Which one?" Madeline asked. A small avalanche sounded from the Rock Mountain, falling just short of the pair.
"Ground Ruins," Darien said, without a hint of doubt.
Leaving more than a few avalanches in her wake, Serena scaled the Rock Mountain with ease. She found the plateau in which the Rock Stone rested, to spot a few Tyranitar. She used both Moonblast and Magical Leaf to take them out, and turned to the plinth.
"Not so fast, girl!" someone shouted. Serena turned for a moment, and turned back to notice the Rock Stone had vanished. She turned around swiftly, still not seeing anything. She pulled up a Magical Leaf attack, and fired. The leaves, like magnets, were drawn to an old log on the tree, revealing a Greninja.
"Grr… you're sharp," the Greninja said.
"No… but these are," Serena said, summoning another array of leaves. She pushed them forward, but the Greninja vanished. The leaves hovered in place, before turning around, dashing past Serena, into Greninja.
"Ah, ack, ack!" the Greninja shouted. Serena stood on the Rock Stone's dais, and let her heart grow.
"Sierra!" Serena shouted. The three Sisters of Pegasus looked between each other, and nodded. Now was as good a time as any. Angela pierced Greninja with a Façade, and Indira with a Dragon Pulse, the two standing on either side of Greninja. Sierra shot forward, facing Greninja from the front.
"Now's our chance! Tri Attack 2.0!" Sierra yelled, shooting an Aura Sphere attack. The Aura Sphere was much larger than normal, shattering the very mountain Greninja stood on. Greninja was sent flying into the air, and boulders cascaded down the mountainside in the direction of the Ground Ruins.
"Malachus doesn't stand a chance," Sierra said.
Darien and Madeline wandered through the Ground Ruins. Madeline stated that the Ground trinket was the Ground Hourglass, but Darien didn't find anything hour-y. Or glass-y.
"Hold! Go no further!" a voice called out.
"Who is it now?" Darien asked.
"If you ask us this or that…" a familiar voice said.
"The pity of the world is what responds!" another said. Sure enough, it was the Escavalier and Accelgor duo.
"To prevent the destruction of the world!" the Escavalier said.
"To protect the peace of the world!" the Accelgor said.
"To stand by the evils of love and truth!" the Escavalier said.
"The lovely, charmy villains!" the Accelgor said. "Wait… are you doodling?"
"Oh, you done?" Darien asked, looking up from his rough sketch in the sand. Like an unfinished nonogram, it didn't look like anything in particular.
"NO! But I expect a little more attention than that! Is it really so hard to listen to our motto? We even revamped it and everything!" the Escavalier said. A rock slide sifted past, knocking the two figures away.
"Thanks, Madeline. I thought they'd never shut up," Darien said.
"That wasn't me…" Madeline said. Darien looked up from the direction of the Rock Mountain, and noticed a Gigalith making its approach. Madeline pointed forward, at a Sandslash burrowing out of the ground.
"Well… this might actually be enjoyable," Darien said, readying an Aura Sphere in one hand and a Water Pulse in the other. The Sandslash shot forward, causing Darien to drop the Water Pulse. His Aura Sphere was still fine, and was sent careening towards the Gigalith. The Gigalith took it in stride, and shot an Earthquake forward. Darien jumped out of the way, and crashed into a podium. His soul widened, and he realised that, whatever it was he would be doing, it was going to be spectacular and late.
Madeline, realising hurriedly what Darien was doing, knew she had to come up with a plan, and fast. She looked at the Sandslash, and performed her Return attack. The Sandslash burrowed underground, and came for Madeline with little stealth whatsoever. Madeline jumped on Gigalith, and the Sandslash popped out of the ground. The Gigalith threw Madeline to the ground, and the Sandslash burrowed.
"Watch out!" Darien yelled. Madeline sprung into the air, using Bounce, as Darien slammed the ground with a mighty Earthquake attack. Dealing effective damage to both the burrowed Sandslash and the Rock Gigalith, he turned both guardians to dust. Madeline crashed into the ground, her Bounce finished.
"…Wonder if that means Serena's been up the Rock Mountain?" she said from the floor.
"I'll get the vulneraries," Darien said wearily.