Timeless Wonders Chapter 12: Chips in my Pockets, Blood on my Hands, a pokémon fanfic

How to love your Elf Bride is getting an anime! YES! Now give a Kanojo Shoukan anime or a Dinosaur Sanctuary at that.

Anyway! Here's part 3!

Previously on Timeless Wonders:

While the battle against the Explorers unfolded, Michelle revealed to be in possession of a strange Salamence that was part of Koraidon's group which also seems to have a story with Nemona, this dragon identified as Roaring Moon overpowered our heroes and now Michelle managed to get her hands on Drake's hat, can Ash and co. stop her before she gets her hands on the Tera Keys?

"No, they won't." Michelle said while the Pokemon and her were in front of the vault, she then got off Roaring Moon's back and the dragon began to slash down the vault with his claws but he didn't even manage to scratch it. "Cut it off, this vault was made to block any Pokemon move, not even Ceruledge's portals would've brought us inside. There's only one way to open this." She said to then take Drake's hat off her head and approach the scanner at the side of the vault.

"Michelle, stop!" Ash called arriving into the scene riding on Koraidon, while Roaring Moon instantly stood in front of Michelle in an attacking position.

"Wait." Michelle told him and the dragon moved aside a little so she could look at Ash face to face. "What are you trying to do, Ash? It's obvious you can't defeat Roaring Moon."

"Doesn't mean I won't try." Ash said. "Michelle, please, I don't know what the Explorers are up to, but from what I've seen it can't be anything good. I can't let you take those keys."

"...That's all?" Michelle asked giving him an indifferent stare. "You just came to give me a generic hero speech and thought I'd get a change of heart? You really think you got to know me back in Hoenn? You only met the mask back then, this is the real me... keep him away, but don't hurt him." She said and Roaring Moon used Fire Blast right in front of Ash, creating a fire wall that forced Ash to back down, Koraidon tried to absorb the heat, but he was still weakened by the recent battle so he ended up backing down as well.

"...But why the real you doesn't want to hurt me?" Ash asked.

"Let's get this over with." Michelle sighed to then show Drake's hat to the scanner, which read the Poke Ball symbol of the hat and opened the vault, revealing the treasure chest covered by Drake's coat. Michelle hesitated before walking in, but slowly approached the chest and took Drake's coat to place it over her shoulders. "I'll make things right... I promise." She whispered to then open the treasure chest and see the keys in possession of the Tacklers. "Water, Normal, Rock, Flying, Fire and Steel, Huh, thanks, Fred."

"Alola Oe!" Someone shouted behind her and a white streak of light dashed into the vault and took all the keys to then fly away with them. "What the-!" Michelle quickly ran out of the vault along Roaring Moon and saw Friede's red Squawkabilly flying with the keys on his talons while smirking at her.

"Navi!" She shouted. "You stupid bird, don't you dare!"

Roaring Moon quickly rushed towards the parrot, but this avoided him with a Quick Attack, making Roaring Moon crash onto a wall while Squawkabilly used another Quick Attack hitting Michelle on her forehead and taking Drake's hat with his peck, but Roaring Moon quickly reacted and smacked the bird away with his tail, sending him through the flames and making him crash roughly in front of Ash, dropping the hat and the keys on impact.

"Friede's Squawkabilly?" Ash asked quickly taking the keys and giving them to Koraidon, who held them with his teeth while Ash tried to help the bird, which was affected by burn damage before the Salamence went through the flames and roared at them, Ash then pulled out his Rotom Phone and scanned Squawkabilly with the Pokedex app.

"That's it! Hey, Can you still fight?" Ash asked and Squakabilly nodded.

"I hope this works ...Terastalize!" Ash shouted activating and tossing Orla's Tera Orb at the Squakabilly, turning him into a pure Normal-Type. "Use Facade!"

"Bur! Ning! Love!" Squawkabilly shouted flying towards Roaring Moon at Mach Speed surrounded by a blinding white light and creating a massive explosion that sent the dragon flying away while Michelle still recovered from Squakabilly's attack.

"What is going- AAAH!" She shouted a few seconds before Roaring Moon fell on top of her, with the dragon finally dropping defeated.

"Thank you." Squawkabilly coughed to then pose on Ash's shoulder. "Thank you very much." He said before receiving another burn damage and faint only for Ash to catch him in his arms while he approached the fainted Roaring Moon along Koraidon.

"Michelle! Are you-"

"Navi, you stupid bird!" She shouted trying to get put from under Roaring Moon, but the dragon weighed too much for her to move. "I'll make you pay for this!"

"Michelle, listen-"

"Ash, you don't get it!" She shouted. "How- H-How dare you side with them?! All of this! What happened to Drake! It was Friede's fault! I'm just trying to fix his mess!"

"You are...?" Ash hesitated a moment before holding Roaring Moon by one of his shoulders and lifting him just enough for Michelle to crawl from under it and set herself free, with the girl panting a few times before standing up in front of Ash.

"Are you okay?" Ash asked.

"Yes, thank you." She said with a smile.

"Great, now please explain me, what's going on?" Ash said. "What do you know about all this?"

"What do I know? ...That you're pathetically predictable." Michelle's smile died down before giving Ash a sudden kick on his face that knocked him onto the floor. "I told you, I really didn't want to hurt you."

"Gaias!" Koraidon still with the keys on his teeth, quickly ran to Ash and tried to help him, but Michelle placed a heel on Ash's neck before he could do so.

"If you don't want me to break him something, put the keys down." She said and Koraidon growled at her before tossing the keys away. "Good." Michelle said getting away from Ash while Koraidon approached him and licked his face to wake him up.

"Well, this was troublesome, but could've been worse." Michelle said returning Roaring Moon to then look at the keys on the floor.

"AAAAAH!" Someone shouted down the hall.

"Uh- Conia?!" Michelle exclaimed seeing the girl running away from Ash's Skeledirge. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"I'm running for my life! What do you think?" Conia shouted.

"Gaias!" Koraidon shouted and Skeledirge fired a Torch Song that fell right in front of Michelle with an explosion and pushed away from the keys.

"No, no, no!" Michelle tried to get to the keys again, but was pushed away by the another Torch Song and as Skeledirge approached them, she made a quick movement and took the single key that was closer to her before running away.

"Hey, wait for me!" Conia shouted running past Ash while Skeledirge stopped to check on him.

"Dirge?" He asked looking at Ash.

"I'm okay! Go after them!" He exclaimed and Skeledirge continued the chase, while Ash took the rest of the keys and Navi on his hands to then jump on Koraidon's back and follow them. Meanwhile Skeledirge fired his Torch Songs to the two Explorers, with one of them eventually hitting Conia on her back and making her fall to the floor head first.

"M-Michelle!" Conia called her with her forehead now bleeding.

"Conia! Hang on!" Michelle tried to turn back and help her, but Skeledirge shot another Torch Song and pushed her away once again while continuing to run after them, Michelle looked at the key on his hand to then look at Conia, the still running Skeledirge and finally spotting Ash and Koraidon running on their direction as well.

"...I hope to be right about this." Michelle whispered to then stand up. "Hey, you, bald croc! What a horrible aim you have!" She shouted before continuing to run away, with Skeledirge following her and leaving Conia behind on the floor.

"M-Michelle...?" Conia called her again as she tried to stand up, but she ended up simply kneeling on the floor, hugging herself and doing her best not to cry while she was bleeding. A few seconds later, Ash and Koraidon stopped right next to her and noticed the girl was already crying out, normally he would instantly want to help her, but after what happened with Michelle a few minutes ago he was doubting himself.

"You're pathetically predictable."

"Yeah... I know." Ash sighed before getting off Koraidon and pulling out a handkerchief to press it on Conia's injury, making her hiss in pain to then look at him.

"Hey, uh... Conia, right?" He asked while kneeling in front of her. "I'll admit I've never seen a villain crying like that."

"...Did you see that?" Conia asked. "She just left me here like I was nothing... I thought we were a team... I thought we were friends... but I've been screwing up a lot lately... I guess I should've expected it... I'm as disposable as ever."

"...No, you're not." Ash answered and continued pressing until the bleeding seemed to stop, he then stared at Conia for a few seconds while the girl simply looked down with dead eyes and Ash sighed before reaching out to her and took her in a bridal carry, with Conia showing confusion but surprisingly no resistance.

"Um... W-What are you-"

"Alright, listen up, cause I'm only gonna tell you this once!" Ash interrupted her with a shout while giving her a serious look and Conia blushed in response. "I'm gonna take you to the infirmary so they can check your injury, you can just 'betray me', kick me and run away with the keys, but keep in mind that your partner just abandoned you so I doubt they actually care about you, I'm just trying to help you, so, what is it going to be?"

"..." Conia simply stared at him for a moment before silently nodding while looking down.

"...Guess that's a yes." Ash sighed before helping the girl get on Koraidon's back, with him hopping in as well and Conia hugging him from behind and resting her head on his shoulder.

"...Thank you." She whispered and Ash sighed again while the Dragon made his way through the ship until they arrived to the infirmary. Ash then entered it with Conia walking behind him. they saw Mollie running around the room with bandages, medicine and the like, while Friede was sitting on the edge of a bed, with Orla standing by his side, while Penny, Iono, Pikachu and Dot were next to Ludlow and Murdock.

"Ash!" Penny and Iono rushed to him and hugged him at the same time, while Pikachu jumped to the top of his head and the remaining Tacklers smiled at the scene until they noticed the person behind Ash.

"Are you girls okay?" Ash asked them.

"I'm just glad that you are." Iono said.

"H-Have you seen Nemo and Mela?" Penny stuttered. "D-Dot and Orla told us what happened, I-I'm so worried."

"I haven't seen Nemo since she left me to find Mela, I have no idea of where they could be and the signal still isn't working." Ash said. "Hey, girls, uh... since you tend to sleep with Nemo while we're indoors, have you ever seen her without her brace?"

"Well... I guess not?" Penny said. "She says it's more comfortable or something like that."

"Uh, why the question?" Iono asked.

"Ash, what happened with Michelle?" Mollie interrupted them while checking an oxygen mask that Ludlow was wearing.

"Oh, right." Ash said to then approach Friede and then hand over the five keys and Drake's hat.

"I'm sorry, she managed to take one of the keys." Ash said and Friede took the objects with a smile.

"She would've taken them all if it wasn't for you, Ash. Thanks a lot." He answered.

"Michelle escaped, but Skeledirge is following her, though I'm not sure if he'll catch her." Ash said.

"I almost can't believe you beat her." Orla said.

"Wouldn't have made it without your Tera Orb." Ash said. "Or without Squawkabilly, of course, he really came in clutch." Ash said while Koraidon walked in and carefully left the fainted parrot on a bed.

"Heh, yeah, Navi has always been a special one." Friede said.

"Why... did you bring her?" Dot asked pointing at Conia, who was still standing at the door.

"She's injured." Ash replied noticing Conia's forehead was starting to bleed again. "Mollie, I need you to check her."

"And why should I?" Mollie coldly asked. "I'm already juggling with the health of three of our members; and Ash, in case you haven't noticed: She's the enemy! She literally tried to kill Nemona and me like 15 minutes ago!"

"I know, but... that's the point." Ash said. "We're better than them, if we behave like the villains, then... what's the point in winning?" He said looking at Penny and she simply gave him a smile. "Mollie, you're a doctor, which means you made an oath, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did." She sighed.

"And what would Paige think of you breaking that oath?" Ash asked.

"...Fine, sit down on a bed, I'll check you in a moment." Mollie sighed before the lights of the room suddenly went out. "Agh! No, no, no!" Mollie quickly ran to Ludlow and took off his mask, sighing relieved once she saw he was still breathing. "Oh, thank goodness, he's fine, but I'm not sure of for how long, I can't just take the risk of attending Murdock and him without power."

"And the Explorers must know that." Friede said. "Orla, you think you can fix the electricity?"

"I'm not sure. The energy plant of the ship is quite a few floors beneath us." Orla said. "No electricity means no elevators, so it'd take me a while to get there and if I find another Explorer in the way things could complicate."

"I'd like to go with you, but we also need to look for Mela." Ash replied.

"Any ideas, Dot?" Mollie asked.

"There could be something I can do." Dot replied. "My computer is directly linked to the core systems of the ship, I may be able to restore the electricity and the signal remotely from there, but I left it in my room, which is relatively close, but with the Explorers around I don't think I can get there on my own."

"I'll go with you!" Iono said. "All of my Pokemon are still intact, I'll be your bodyguard!"

"Uh, o-ok." Dot nodded. "There's also a radar on my computer which has a full map of the ship, if we get there it could also help us find your friend."

"Sounds like an idea." Ash said. "Penny, do you still have your Pokemon?"

"Yes, Amethio defeated them, but Mollie healed them when we got here." Penny said. "Let's start looking for Mela and Nemo on our own while these two get to the radar."

"Right behind you." Ash nodded. "You ready, Pikachu?" He asked and his partner nodded. "Alright, you two, please be careful."

"The same goes for you." Iono replied giving him a short hug, which was joined by Dot, with the other two simply looking at her while the girl blushed embarrassed.

"Uh, W-Well, they say the warmth of another's body offers more comfort than anything else, right?" Dot stuttered to then let out a nervous laugh. "A-Aren't we all stressed?"

"Guys, I really don't think we have time for this." Penny said and the three separated.

"I'll stay here with Mollie." Orla said. "If the Explorers get here someone has to defend Murdock and Ludlow."

"Everyone, please take care." Mollie said.

"Alright, everyone knows what to do, let's get moving." Ash said and the duos parted in different directions.

"Huh, quite a captain I am." Friede said. "I can't even protect my own ship."

"Everything's going to be ok, don't worry." Orla said to then look at Conia.

"I... I-I won't do anything for now, I promise." She said.

"One wrong move and we'll kick you out of the window." Mollie said. "Simple as that."

10 years ago.

We see a young couple and their 8-year-old son. walking through a park on a sunny day, the father and the mother were accompanied by a shiny Gardevoir and Gallade respectively, while the child was carrying a Charcadet on his arms.

"Hey, Amethio, look, that girl over there also has a Charcadet." The mother said. "Why don't you go talk with her?"

"Y-Yes, mother." He shyly nodded before walking to the girl. "Uh, good morni-"

"Hello!" The blonde exclaimed turning around to see Amethio with her Charcadet sitting on her shoulder. "Name's Mela and this is Charlos! Nice to meet you!"

"Uh, I'd be Amethio and this one here is Richardo." He introduced himself while the Charcadet waved at Mela.

"Nice to meet you, Amethyst!" Mela replied.

"Amethio." He corrected.

"Amazon?"

"Amethio."

"Amarys?"

"Amethio!" He exclaimed. "A-M-E-T-H-I-O!"

"Yeah, whatever you say Amy toss." Mela continued. "Wanna play with us?"

"Well, yes, we'd like to-"

"Then let's go!" Mela shouted grabbing him by his hand and running away with him while Amethio barely managed to keep up with her pace and the two Charcadet ran behind them.

"I just want to go back to how things were before... why don't you let me?"

Back to the present with Iono and Dot.

"Here, we made it!" Dot exclaimed once they arrived at the door of her room. "And with no Explorers on the way, thank goodness." She said to then open the door, only to find Spinel using her computer with his Beheeyem by his side. "...Sure." Dot rolled her eyes before Beheeyem charged a Shadow Ball and tossed it at her. Dot quickly closed the door, but the Shadow Ball exploded onto it sending Dot flying away.

"Dot!" Iono quickly went to aid her and helped her get back up while Spinel came out of the room with Dot's laptop on his hands.

"You're up, guys!" Iono exclaimed releasing her Kilowattrel, Bellibolt and Mismagius.

"Well, look who it is." Spinel said while looking at Dot. "I knew you'd come after I turned off the power, but it took you a while to get here."

"Let me guess, you know me too." Dot asked while recovering from the hit.

"I'm afraid so, Dorothy Ikari." He answered. "I assumed Murdock wouldn't have the guts to tell you."

"To tell me what?!" Dot shouted. "Agh! You know what? I don't care anymore! I've got people to save, g-give me back my computer!"

"You heard the lady!" Iono added while her three Pokemon charged electricity.

"...You know, Dorothy? You have some really impressive data on this laptop." Spinel said. "But before saying you're a worthy rival on that topic... There's something I'd like to test first." He smiled before suddenly smacking Dot's laptop onto the wall, breaking the screen into pieces to then drop it on the floor and stomp it.

"NO!" Iono and Dot shouted.

"Impress me, dear." Spinel winked as the spots on his Beheeyem's hand shined with a bright pink light before they were teleported away.

"No, no, no!" Dot shouted again running to the broken computer. "I-It's over, there's nothing I can do now."

"But what about Ludlow and Mela?" Iono asked. "Y-You can't just give up!"

"B-But what am I supposed to do? All of my Data and systems were inside here, t-there's no way I can fix it."

"There has to be another solution, you have to think." Iono insisted. "Aren't you, like, super smart? You just need to find another angle, everyone's counting on you!

"Everyone... is counting on me?" Dot asked. "I... S-Sorry, I'm not an adventurer like the rest of the crew, it's the first time I've been in the middle of something like this, the whole thing of finding another angle is... I... I got it... I got an idea!" Dot shouted as she picked up the broken computer and ran inside her room, quickly opening every drawer until she found a USB cable. "H-He broke the screen and the hardware but if the software didn't receive enough damage then I can transfer the data to my Rotom Phone and use it from there!"

"Y-You really think that'll work?" Iono asked entering the room along her Pokemon while Dot placed the devices on her bed. "I-I mean, didn't he stomp it and all that?

"He stomped it right on the battery, but missed the disc and the ports." Dot continued explaining while using the cable to connect the computer and her phone as she started to type on the latter. "In theory, I just need to bypass my own computer security and... Yes! They're here! Elevate Keyboard!" She shouted and her Rotom Phone projected a holographic keyboard in front of her while Iono simply looked in amazement as she started recording with her own Rotom Phone. "Game on." Dot smiled cracking her fingers and started rapidly typing like a madman on the holographic keyboard. "Here's the signal..." She said while continuing typing. "Here's the electricity." She said while all the lights turned on again. "And here's the wi-fi, Bitch!"

"Alright!" Iono shouted hugging Dot who instantly hugged her as well while the two laughed. "I knew you could do it, Dot!"

"Thanks for the motivation, I needed it." Dot answered with a light blush. "I'm more defeatist than I'd like to admit, but your videos always cheer me up and having the real deal in front of me is even better."

"Oh? So you're a fan?" Iono asked.

"Y-Yes, I've been a fan for a long time, of both Ash and you, I went crazy when you revealed you'd be traveling together and I love seeing you two together in your videos; and you actually inspired me to make my own channel, B-But I haven't published the first video yet, I'm a little embarrassed to do so."

"You should go ahead and post it!" Iono replied. "You're adorable, girl, I'm sure it's gonna be a success! And you can hit me up whenever you like! We'll do collabs all the time!"

"T-Thanks a lot, really." Dot repeated blushing even more. "It's so great to meet you in person, you... you're more beautiful than I could've imagined."

"Uh... W-Well, thanks!" Iono replied blushing as well and Dot simply smiled embarrassed. "Right, so, uh, I don't want to break the moment, but we're still in the middle of a raid, didn't you say something about a radar?"

"Ah! Sure! G-Give me a second!" Dot replied quickly typing again.

"...Very good job, Dorothy." Spinel said watching the scene from outside the room to then look at a USB in his hand. "Let's see if you can surpass my expectations twice." He said while Beheeyem teleported them again.

5 years ago.

"Amethio?" Mela found the boy sitting behind a tree in silence wearing a black suit while she had a simple black dress. "They're... going to bury them, won't you come?"

"I've seen enough." He replied trying to express himself uninterestedly. "They're gone, Mela. Crying over them won't bring them back."

"Still... you shouldn't be sitting here all alone." She said sitting by his side and holding his hand. "Whatever's in your head, just let it out, I'm here for you."

"I'm going to find the person who did this." Amethio replied while holding tighter onto Mela's hand. "And I'm gonna kill him."

"Are you sure that's what you want?" Mela asked.

"You want to stop me?" He asked.

"N-No, I mean... it's not like I like the idea, but I can't just say I understand the pain you're going through." Mela sighed. "...Do what you must. Whatever happens, I'll have your back."

"Thanks, it's nice to know I still have you." Amethio replied. "...My grandpa didn't even show up. Can you believe it?"

"Something must have gotten in his way. I'm sure he'll come eventually." Mela said. "I mean, I haven't met him, but from what I heard from your parents, he sounds like a great person."

"They've always held him in quite high regard, but I could never understand why." Amethio said. "He's always out exploring or something like that... but back to us, there's something important I have to ask you."

"And that is?" She asked with a smile and Amethio simply stared at her.

"Mela... would you like to be my girlfriend?" He bluntly asked.

"Uh..." Mela simply blushed while her brain processes the question. "Me what?"

"Listen, the death of my parents made me realize that this life is way too short, there were too many things I didn't get to tell them. I don't want that to happen to us too." He said now holding both her hands. "You and I have met for a while now and we rely a lot on each other, and that's only gonna be more evident from now on. I swear I'll protect you from everything for the rest of our lives! So, what do you say?"

"I, uh, Y-Yes, of course!" Mela exclaimed taking him into a hug. "I-I also promise I'll do all I can for you, I'm sure you and I will be happy together no matter what the future holds."

"Lies... in the end that was all lies from both sides, wasn't it?"

Back to the present with Ash and Penny.

"Iono, you guys fixed the systems!" Ash said picking up his Rotom Phone.

"Aha! Dot here is a total genius!" Iono exclaimed. "The radar is working out too, you guys are close to Mela and Amethio, just go downstairs and turn left."

"We're on our way!" Penny shouted as both Ash and her followed the instructions only to be intercepted by the shiny Gardevoir and Gallade, both of them Mega-Evolved again.

"R-Right, those two belong to Amethio." Penny said. "They must be guarding the entrance to that room."

"Guess we're doing this." Ash said as Pikachu jumped off his shoulder and Penny released her Plusle and Minun, while Gardevoir charged a Shadow Ball and Gallade and Aura Sphere.

"Helping Hang!"

"Thunderbolt!"

The moment the Psychic-Type tossed their attacks, Plusle and Minun made a quick synchronized dance that surrounded Pikachu in red and blue light, letting the ace expel a massive Thunderbolt that broke through the sphere and impacted Gallade and Gardevoir, leaving them both in the floor albeit they stood up rather quickly.

"Alright, that hurt them!" Penny said. "Let's keep going and-"

"SURPRISE!" Zir shouted ambushed them from behind and took Penny in a sudden choke hold to then push Ash away with a kick to his chest the moment he turned around. "Well, if it isn't the protagonist of this whole damn world?"

"D-Don't you hurt her!" Ash shouted.

"That's only up to you, Mr. Hero." Zir replied. "You know how this goes, kid! So stand down and return your Pokemon or else I'll break her neck!"

"Ash, don't listen to him! You have to save Mela!" Penny shouted trying to force her way out.

"Hey, you! Stop moving!" Zir shouted at her. "Didn't you hear? I'm gonna break your neck!"

"BREAK IT THEN!" Penny shouted. "I'm not gonna abandon Mela again! I just got her back after two years! Don't you dare look down on a friend's love!" She continued moving before raising both her knees and landing a sudden double horse kick right on Zir's groin, causing the man to scream in pain and let go of her.

"Agh... that was low, ugh, even for me." Zir said between pants as he knelt down while Penny ran to Ash.

"You okay?" Penny asked helping him stand up.

"Heh, Eri hit me harder than that." Ash replied dusting off his shirt. "And you? Didn't expect you to make a move like that."

"I'm fine, Eri's self-defense classes were worth it in the end." Penny said. "Watch out!" She exclaimed pushing Ash and her to flow to avoid an Aura Sphere from Gallade that flew above their heads and exploded behind them.

"Stay close, this isn't over yet." Ash said while they both stood up and their Pokemon surrounded them to protect them.

"You watch my back, I'll watch yours." Penny replied as she released Garganacl and Meowscarada while Zir pulled out a Skarmory and both Gallade and Gardevoir prepared their attacks again.

3 years ago.

"Fifth floor, room 3, fifth floor, room 3, fifth floor, room 3." Amethio repeated while running upstairs inside a hospital, with Ceruledge running behind him, he could've told him to make a portal, but he was too distressed to think clearly. Penny called him some moments ago, which was already odd since she didn't have his number, that's when he realized she was calling from Mela's phone.

"T-They attacked Mela... he... she was... i-it's really bad, ok? We're in the hospital with her, can you come?"

That was all that Penny could stutter and unfortunately, Amethio understood everything perfectly. He rushed to the hospital, leaving what he was doing, what was that exactly? Ask it to his blood-covered jacket.

"YOU GUYS!" Amethio shouted once he made it to the floor, spotting the Anti-Terrorism Squad outside of a room.

"Amethio, you made it." Penny told him. "That's... not blood on you, is it?"

"Where's Mela?" He asked.

"She's in this room." Penny said. "We're outside right now because a doctor said he wanted to ask her some things."

"...Are you totally sure that's what happened?" Amethio asked.

"We are." Eri said. "Her parents told us that she hadn't made it home and she wasn't answering our group chat either so we started looking for her and... Penny found her in school." She explained to then clench her fists. "M-Mela told us everything a moment ago, I'm still processing all this, I almost can't believe one of those bullies would go that far."

"To do something like this in the school grounds no less." Atticus added. "I'm afraid our fear has been confirmed, the darkness in our Academy has spread too much."

"We were trying to tell those stupid teachers that Mela was being harassed, but none of them believed us." Ortega said.

"They all said Mela was exaggerating." Giacomo said. "Only because the one who did this was the Director's nephew."

"Either way, Mela asked us to call you." Penny said. "Where were you exactly?" She asked but the discussion was interrupted by the doctor coming out of the room.

"How is she?" Amethio asked.

"Physically and emotionally damaged and exhausted." The doctor replied with a sigh. "But stable for all it's worth. Try not to bother her that much, she's in a delicate state and it'd be best to let her sleep as soon as possible." He said before leaving the scene.

"Amethio, you should go in." Penny told him and he approached the door, holding the knob while looking through the window of the door, seeing Mela laying on the bed looking at the nothingness while hugging herself, Amethio slowly started opening the door and Mela noticed this, smiling at him and moving herself with difficulty to sit on the bed, but Amethio simply froze in place.

"Amethio, you okay?" Penny called him and the teen looked at them for a brief moment before closing the door and starting to walk away. "H-Hey, Amethio!"

"Ta Jolokia, what's the great idea?" Ortega asked.

"Where do you think you're going?! You low worm?!" Atticus asked.

"She's waiting for you there, man!" Giacomo said.

"There's nothing I can do for her now." Amethio answered without looking back.

"A-Amethio, listen, I understand this may be a complicated topic for you as her boyfriend, but you can't just leave her like this." Eri said. "B-Besides, aren't you bleeding too? Don't you need help? What happened to you?"

"...This isn't my blood." Amethio replied and snapped his fingers, with Ceruledge forming a shadow portal beneath and teleporting them away.

"Amethio?" Still expecting, Mela decided to stand up, but the moment she tried to walk, her legs suddenly gave in and she fell directly to the floor.

"Mela!" Eri shouted quickly noticing it and the group all rushed into the room, quickly helping her get back to the bed. "Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself?"

"G-Guys, where's Amethio?"She asked.

"We're not sure, he was about to enter, but then he simply left." Ortega said.

"He... left?" Mela asked. "Y-You guys told him about what happened?"

"Yes, of course we told him. This is Amethio we're talking about." Eri said.

"He..." Mela talked in a broken voice while hugging herself again. "H-He must be disgusted at me now, isn't he?"

"What?! M-Mela, no! There's no way!" Penny shouted.

"No... it makes sense." Mela insisted shedding some tears. "Who... w-who'd want a used girlfriend?"

"Mela-"

"You guys should go home." Mela interrupted her before covering herself with her sheets. "T-Thanks for being here, but it's already late and you heard the doctor, I need to rest..."

The five members looked at each other in silence and simply nodded, slowly leaving the room one by one, with Penny being the last one, once they were gone Mela picked up her Rotom Phone and looked for Amethio's contact, she was about to call him, but settled down for a short message.

...

"...Why?" She asked.

...

"I'm sorry that you put your trust in me." Amethio replied before blocking the girl's contact.

"As much as I don't want to admit it... looking back at it... that was the biggest mistake of my life."

Back to the present with Nemona.

"Come on, come on..." Nemona repeated with her Rotom Phone in hand, sitting alone and hugging her legs in a dark hall of the ship, while she was trying to contact someone until they finally answered the call.

"Well, well, well, you got some nerve calling me out of nowhere, huh?" A woman of fair skin and long black and green hair talked and Nemona hesitated before answering.

"Well... you answered, didn't you?" Nemona asked.

"What do you want?" The woman asked. "If you're calling me it's because you need something from me, so get to the point."

"Listen, it's just... it's my arm." She said getting the women's attention. "It got hit and suddenly started malfunctioning. I managed to reboot it by forcing an overdrive mode, but-"

"YOU WHAT?!" The woman shouted. "I told you the overdrive mode was only for life or death situations!"

"I was literally hanging from a fall of like fifteen thousand feet tall!" Nemona replied. "That sounds like a pretty 'life or death situation' to me!"

"Even then, you shouldn't have relied on it!"

"W-Why are you suddenly complaining? You were the one who gave me the emergency code!" Nemona replied. "I supposed you knew I would use it eventually."

"Guess I can't argue with that." She said. "After all the point of that arm was to make sure you didn't lose another one, but the overdrive mode causes a permanent power loss and as you can imagine that becomes a gradual problem."

"I know, it's honestly starting to feel heavier." Nemona said. "I've been trying to contact the Professors, but they haven't been answering any calls these last few days."

"So you had to crawl back to me, huh?"

"You're the only person I can call now." Nemona said. "I mean, you helped them make my arm, didn't you?"

"And what? It's suddenly my job to help you? I've got enough to deal with! Thanks to someone leaving me with all the responsibilities of the family business!" She shouted. "And it's not like the last time we talked we shared a hug and a chocolate, now, did we?"

"P-Please, I... You know I wouldn't call you if it wasn't something serious." Nemona started trembling before continuing. "T-That thing from Area Zero... I-I saw it again."

"...You what?" She asked.

"I... I-I'm scared, okay?" Nemona insisted doing her best to not burst into tears. "My... my friends are in danger and I'm here hiding like a coward because I feel useless without my stupid arm and I don't want them to learn that I'm a freak! ...Please, I've never asked you for anything, I just need your help with this one thing and I'll never bother you again!"

"...Where are you right now?" The woman asked.

"Well, we're moving on a giant flying ship so I'm not too sure." Nemona replied. "Last time I checked we were around the northwest of Paldea."

"Guess I'll have to track your Rotom Phone." She sighed. "...I can't go myself right now so I'll send someone to check your arm, okay?"

"Who are you gonna send?" Nemona asked.

"Who do you think?" The woman asked and Nemona simply gulped.

"I-I'm not too sure if I want to see him right now." Nemona said.

"You two can't run from each other forever, I'll be honestly doing you both a favor." She said. "Besides, if the Professors aren't gonna answer, Florian is the only one capable of fixing your arm, so yeah, I'll call him, see you."

"Hey, wait!" Nemona shouted. "Listen, about last time, I-I'm sorry about the things I said, it's just... I really didn't feel up to the task of handling the company, you know you've always been the brain and I the brawn, I imagined you'd be better for it anyway."

"... Why are you acting so regretful all of a sudden? We haven't talked in years."

"... Because I met with someone who lost her sister and couldn't say goodbye to her." Nemona answered. "I don't want us to end up like that, we're still sisters despite everything. I want to fix our relationship."

"... I also said some nasty things last time." She replied. "And I honestly can't picture you handling the company, so yeah, this was for the better... I'd appreciate it if you come to visit some day."

"Sure thing, Phorus." Nemona smiled before the woman cut the call only for her Rotom Phone to ring again. "Iono?"

"Nemo, listen, I'll put it short, we got a radar of the ship, you're close to where Amethio took Mela. Ash and Penny are also on their way, but they might need help, turn to the left two times and then go downstairs three floors, that's where they should be."

"...I'm on it!" Nemona shouted cutting the call and standing up, she was about to follow the directions, but she suddenly stopped herself. "But... t-that Salamence is still out there, isn't it?" She asked herself and started trembling again. "But Mela is in danger... and Ash and Penny could be too."

-We've been scared plenty of times in this travel, but we always fight back, especially you. The Nemona I know would never let fear paralyze her-

"... Witness me, senpai." She whispered before running away.

Meanwhile with Amethio and Mela.

"Mela... Mela, wake up." He said slowly shaking her while the girl rested on the floor.

"Huh?" Mela slowly opened her eyes until she finally got a clear view of him. "AGH! Amethio!" She exclaimed standing up and looking around seeing the place they were in was seemingly a storage. "W-What did you do?! Where are we?!"

"We're still inside the ship." He replied as calmly as he could. "Listen, I don't want to hurt you, I just want to talk."

"Talk about what?!" Mela shouted.

"About us." He answered.

"Oh? About us, well, let me start by why the fuck did you disappear from the face of the earth?!" She asked. "Back in the hospital, that was the moment I needed you the most, why leave me there? Why never coming back until now when I almost got myself killed?!"

"...Because I failed." He answered. "When we started our relationship I promised that I wouldn't lose you like I lost my parents and that I'd protect you from anything and yet... I couldn't... I didn't have the guts to simply go in and admit that I had failed."

"I would've forgiven you back then." Mela said. "It would've been better than leaving me for 3 years and never doing anything about what happened!"

"...I did do something."

In that same room of the hospital, the day after the Team Star incident.

"He's got 2nd and 3rd degree burns all over his chest, limbs and face, but miraculously the attack missed all of his vital organs." A doctor explained while being in front of a teen who was bandaged from head to toe. "We had to induce him into a comma so he wouldn't need to stand the pain, we'll have to give a few surgeries and he could need physical therapy due to the damage to his limbs, but he should be relatively fine after a few months... I have to ask again, are you sure you don't know how this happened, Mr. Harington?"

"From what we heard of his friends, he was attacked by a wild Pokemon." Harrington answered. "Isn't that right, Amarys?"

"...Yes, of course." The young woman answered. "Though some investigations regarding the topic might be needed."

"Fine then, I'll leave you for now. I'll return in an hour." The doctor explained before getting out of the room and Amarys simply stared at Harrington.

"Amarys-"

"I don't want to listen to whatever you have to say, uncle Harrington." She interrupted maintaining a cold expression. "I warned you both that something like this could happen, there was no way that girl's friends were going to leave this matter unscathed."

"Even then, those misfits took things too far." Harrington replied. "Look at what they did to your brother."

"Have you forgotten what he did first?" Amarys asked. "And this... this is all your fault, you let him act like he was a God in the Academy just cause he was your nephew, you let him do anything he wanted so he just escalated until... until that happened."

"Oh, well, what can I say? I've been doing my best to take care of you two." Harrington replied. "Your mother should've known what she was getting into when she sent you to study here, luckily, the Blueberry Academy in Unova has almost finished construction so you two will be transferred there soon."

"So he'll just get to run away from all this?" Amarys asked.

"For the last time, Amarys. That girl didn't have any proof." Harrington said. "And her parents didn't try to report anything, which means that, legally, he didn't do anything, so stop exaggerating already."

"HE RAPED A GIRL!" Amarys suddenly shouted breaking her formality surprising Harrington. "He confessed it to us when he arrived home after hours and drunk! He was celebrating! My brother was celebrating that he raped a girl my age! Forgive me if I'm 'exaggerating', but that's not something that a normal human being simply sweeps under a rug!"

"Don't speak so loud!" Harrington half-whispered. "Someone could hear you."

"...He should be in jail." Amarys continued. "We... we should have handed him to the police once he told us and none of this would be happening."

"He would've been locked for 20 years." Harrington replied.

"Rightfully so." Amarys firmly insisted. "He destroyed the life of that girl and her family and you know they didn't take it to court because they were scared of you, they knew you'd use your money to get out of it."

"It wouldn't have been that simple." Harrington replied. "Even if my lawyers had managed to prove him innocent, the case would have already happened... Amarys, you don't comprehend how much something like that could affect us. We're part of one of the most powerful and influential families in both Paldea and Unova, if what he did became public it would ruin our reputation, no one would trust us again and that includes problems for your studies, I only did what was the best for everyone."

"And look where that took us." Amarys replied looking at her brother.

"Don't worry, I got this covered." Harrington said. "I'll be preparing a case and the moment he wakes up he'll give us a declaration which we'll use to sue those kids and their families for everything they have."

"But... those kids were the victims." Amarys said.

"And this was an attempted murder." Harrington replied.

"They were only fighting back." Amarys insisted while doing her best to not shout again.

"Amarys, which side are you on?" Harrington asked. "I mean, you've been keeping the secret so far, haven't you?"

"T-That doesn't-"

"Like I told you, I'm only trying to make sure our family prevails and if that random girl and her friends are the price that has to be paid for it then so be it." Harrington said. "I won't discuss this further, I'll be leaving to prepare the papers." He said to then open the door of the room, only to find a Ceruledge pointing one of his swords at him while Amethio was standing behind him holding a tape recorder.

"...Get in." Amethio said and Harrington slowly walked back into the room. "Don't you try anything." He said noticing Amarys was holding a Heavy Ball in hand. "You look like the smart type, don't do anything stupid."

"...Who might you be?" Amarys asked hiding her Heavy Ball.

"I'm the boyfriend of that 'random girl'." Amethio replied. "And you know? These last months I've had plenty of thoughts in my heads, mostly about whether or not should I kill your entitled nephew for raping her... the only thing stopping me was that if I did so then the fault could go to Mela and her friends, but I see she decided to take the matter in her own hands."

"What do you want?" Harrington asked.

"I wanted you to confess the truth of what happened. But I already got that." Amethio said showing the recorder again. "So, what should I threaten you for now?"

"... How about a neutral ending?" Amarys asked.

"What do you mean?" Amethio asked.

"I imagine you've been recording for a while, but I'll try to explain to you from our current perspective." Amarys said. "As of now, the public already heard about the Team Star incident, but nobody knows yet that my brother was injured this badly nor that said brawl was the cause of his injuries. We told the hospital that we weren't sure of how it happened, that he was probably injured by a wild Pokemon... but that disclaimer can be changed at any moment."

"And your point is?" Amethio asked.

"My point is exactly the point that Mela's parents had." Amarys continued. "They didn't say anything so the doctors would focus on healing Mela first, but the main purpose was to avoid unnecessary drama, you heard uncle Harrington, we have everything necessary to accuse Mela and her friends of attempted murder."

"I have a recording of you admitting he told you that he raped Mela." Amethio replied. "That justifies what they did to him."

"Unfortunately, manslaughter is never justifiable." Amarys said. "What you have there is simply a reason, the confirmation that Team Star did what they did with malicious intent, for revenge, and believe me, my family has some really dedicated lawyers, if both sides state their cases, at the very least Mela will go to jail along my brother... and neither of us want that... so this is the deal, if you don't make that recording public then we won't do anything against Team Star... so, what do you say? I'm sure we both think your girl has suffered enough, don't we?"

"And why do you even care about what happens to Mela?" Amethio asked. "Nah, what am I saying? You only want to save your family the drama, Don't you?"

"The disclosure caused by this could indirectly affect my studies, yes, that concerns me." Amarys admitted. "But believe it or not, I'm a human being capable of feeling empathy. Your girlfriend and company are the real victims here but history won't see it that way if you try to gaslight it." She said to then offer her hand. "My brother hurt Mela and she hurt him back, let's leave it like that... deal?"

"...Heh, she'd be a better director than you." Amethio said looking at Harrington to then accept Amarys' handshake.

"Just two poor sinners shaking hands, right?" Amethio said to then show the recorder one more time. "Fine then, but I'm keeping this as a failsafe. Don't do anything stupid, Mr. Harrington." He said before Ceruledge formed a portal and teleported them away, with Amarys having to sit afterwards.

"Huff... I almost can't believe that worked." She said adjusting her glasses.

"What have you done?" Harrington asked.

"I tried to do the best for both families." Amarys replied staring at her brother to then pull out her watch and stand up. "Well, since you won't be doing those papers anymore, I'll be the one taking leave... I hope you think about what happened here." She said before reaching the door and leaving the room.

Back to the present.

"...Guess that explains why none of the bullies tried to sue us." Mela said after hearing the story, she was standing closer to Amethio, but still maintaining distance. "But why did you never tell me any of that?"

"It wouldn't have changed what happened." Amethio said.

"I would've taken it as an apology for leaving back then." She admitted.

"And you won't take it now?" Amethio asked.

"Amethio... listen, the moments we shared are still important to me, but way too many things have happened since then." She replied. "I'm not the same Mela you used to know and I can tell you're not the same Amethio either, I mean, you're with the villains, why am I even listening to you?"

"We're not villains." Amethio replied. "We, the Explorers, are simply trying to do the right thing in our own way. The Tacklers are the ones who decided to stand against us."

"The right thing?" Mela asked. "Hey... the person who killed your parents... did you find him?"

"Of course I did and I killed him." He replied without a sign of remorse. "I told you I would, didn't I?"

"You did, but... I guess I didn't expect you to go through with it." Mela said. "I mean, killing a person is-"

"Didn't you want the person who attacked you to die too?"

"... Of course I did." Mela admitted. "But even if he deserved it, I don't have the right to decide if someone lives or dies, no one has."

"But we have the right to decide what happens in our own lives." Amethio replied looking for something in his pocket. "Which is why I'm doing this." He said to then kneel in front of her showing a ring in his hand.

"That's... your mother's ring..." Mela said in a whisper while taking a step back.

"Please, Mela, come with me." He said. "Let's start over together."

"W-What? ...No... N-N-No!" She exclaimed holding her tears. "There's no way I'm gonna accept something like that; and you know it!"

"And why not?" He asked.

"Why do you think?!" She shouted. "T-This is insane! You abandoned me for three years and now you expect to simply run back to you with my arms open and act like you're some dreamed prince?! I was already yours! And you threw it all away! T-That's not something you can fix overnight with some sugarcoated words!"

"I see..." Amethio sighed. "This is all because of Ketchum, isn't it?"

"No, Amethio, it's because of me." Mela replied. "For once since I was born, I am truly sure of what I want to do with my life; and that definitely isn't whatever you're trying to do right now."

"...Is that definitive no then?" He asked again.

"It is." She replied. "I'm sorry, Amethio, of course I loved you before, like you have no idea, but it's over... we had our choices and we both failed, but I'm moving on, I'm not gonna let my tragedy define me... you should do the same."

"It was worth the try." Amethio sighed again while standing up, staring at the ring for a moment before placing it back in his pocket to then glance at Mela. "Fine... we'll do this the hard way."

"What do you- Agh!" Mela suddenly exclaimed when Amethio grabbed her by her shoulders and pushed her onto a wall. "W-What are you doing?!"

"I told you I wanted to make you feel comfortable, but you're starting to annoy me." Amethio said. "You're forcing me to take another approach."

"Y-You wouldn't." Mela stuttered.

"What? Do this?" Amethio asked before suddenly moving one of his hands to Mela's hips, which caused the girl to tense and quickly punch him right on his nose, making him take a few steps back away from her.

"Y-You... w-who are you?" Mela stuttered while her breathing got heavier. "What happened to the Amethio who said he'd protect me from anything?"

"What happened to the Mela who said we'd be happy together?!" He shouted before grabbing her again to then push her to the floor and restrain her by her wrists.

"Let me go!" Mela exclaimed trying to force her way out. "When my friends find me they're gonna-"

"Oh, no, nobody's coming to save you." Amethio replied to then move one of Mela's arms to her side so he could press it with his knee before using his now free hand to grab her by her jaw and make her look at him. "Just like the last time, right? ...But by the way things turned out, I suppose you didn't fight back as much back then... as guilty as I feel for not being there, you should've also done more to stop him... tell me the truth, did you enjoy it?" After hearing this, Mela suddenly stopped moving only to look at Amethio deeply in his eyes to then start moving erratically to force herself out of his grip with all her strength.

"Stop fighting me!" Amethio shouted.

"NO! From this moment onward I swear I'll never stop fighting you!" She shouted back.

"Have you forgotten, Mela?! We need each other!" He said. "We're the same! We've both done too much damage!"

"That's not true! I'm trying to do things the right way now!"

"After almost killing a man and destroying a whole school?!" Amethio shouted. "You think you can become a model citizen just because Ketchum told you so?!"

"I'm going to become a good person he believes in me! And because I decided it!" Mela shouted. "And I decided THIS is NOT gonna happen AGAIN!" She exclaimed finally freeing her arm that was under his knee, Amethio let go of her face and tried to hold her by her wrist again but Mela moved faster and grabbed him by his collar to suddenly pull him down to land a headbutt right on his face, causing Amethio's nose to bleed out and the moment he tried to cover it, Mela made a quick punch to his throat followed by a sudden uppercut on his chin, which forced Amethio to stand up and get away from her only for Mela to sweep his legs and make him fall to the floor.

"Geez... thanks, Eri..." Mela whispered while she stood up, now looking down at Amethio while he coughed blood.

"Yeah... I doubt you fought like that back in the classroom." He replied trying to clean the blood.

"... You're right about one thing, Amethio, even if I don't want to admit it anymore, you and I are pretty similar." She said. "We both lost a lot and thought that violence would be the answer to ease the pain so we both stared into the abyss... but that's where our differences start, cause when then the abyss stared back at us... you blinked."

Somewhere else in the Asagi.

"T-There, I think I lost him." Michelle sighed relieved after entering a room, having been chased by Skeledirge for quite a while. "At least I still got this one." She said looking at the key to then look up and notice where she was in. "This is... Drake's room." She whispered to then walk around the place. "Fred didn't get rid of anything, huh?" She continued until she spotted a framed picture of her, Friede and Drake, the three of them posing together while Michelle had a Tera Key in his hand. "...Not even of this one."

"Michelle." Her Rotom Phone suddenly talked.

"Huh?! J-Jean, what's up?" She asked.

"What are you guys doing?" A feminine voice asked. "This was supposed to be a half-an-hour mission at much."

"Things got complicated, Ash Ketchum is on the ship." Michelle replied. "I got one of the keys and Spinel must have gotten the data already, but they've been stopping from getting anything else. They managed to wear down Roaring Moon enough to beat him."

"So Ash Ketchum ended up messing with this after all." She said. "Tell the guys to retreat, the mission is over."

"Are you sure, Jean?" Michelle asked.

"Yes, I want you all in the base right now." The woman replied. "That key and the data should do for now."

"Understood." Michelle said to then cut the call. "You bitch."

Back with Ash and Penny.

"Night Slash!" Penny ordered and her Meowscarada tried to hit Gardevoir only to be grabbed by her cape by Gallade who then tossed her to the rodents, while Garganacl was trying to knock down Skarmory with Stone Edges but the bird kept dodging and hitting him with Steel Wings.

"Penny, can you call out the rest of your Pokemon?" Ash asked.

"I'm not sure if I should take the risk." Penny said. "Last time I did so we tried to attack them together, but Gardevoir and Gallade knocked them all at the same time."

"But we're running out of time and options; and Mela needs us." Ash said.

"Heh, these two are so done for." Zir smirked from his position while he watched the battle until he noticed a dim green light coming from the floor. "Wait, what-" He asked before the whole floor illuminated brighter only to be covered by shining grass and he turned around finding Nemona with her Arboliva and Oinkologne by her side.

"Nemo!" Ash and Penny shouted.

"Arboliva, Solar Beam! Oinkologne, Energy Ball!" Nemona shouted and her Pokemon shot the attacks powered up by the Grassy Terrain, but Gardevoir blocked them with a Light Screen. "Penny, now's your chance!"

"Right! Flower Trick!" Penny shouted and Meowscarada tossed green shining seeds towards Gardevoir and Gallade's feet, the seeds quickly blossomed into red flowers and exploded right beneath them, causing the Light Screen to break and letting the other Grass attacks go through and impact them, creating an ever bigger explosion that forced the Psychic-Types out of their Mega-Evolved forms, but they were both still able to battle, so Garganacl quickly dashed towards them with a Rock Polish to them hold them by the back of their heads and smack then against the floor, defeating them both at the same time and while the rest were distracted with that scene, Pikachu, Plusle and Minun jumped onto Skarmory and released a triple Thunderbolt knocking it out as well.

"Skarmory!" Zir shouted before being knocked down by a sudden kick from Meowscarada on his back.

"Guys, the door!" Ash ordered and the three rodents aimed at the door with an Iron Tail, Mega Punch and Mega Kick, breaking it open with a combined hit.

"You blinked." Mela said the exact second before the door was destroyed.

"Pika!"

"Y-You guys." Mela smiled before looking at Amethio one last time and running out of the room.

"Mela!" Penny shouted and ran to her taking her into a tight hug.

"Heh, I knew you'd come for me." Mela replied hugging her as well while Ash and Nemona approached them.

"Mela, are you okay? D-Did he hurt you?" Penny asked.

"I'm fine, don't worry." Mela replied. "Thanks to Eri's classes he didn't get to do anything."

"Y-You don't mean he tried to-"

"Yeah, and so what?" Amethio asked coming out of the storage, still bleeding from his nose, Penny took Mela a few steps back away from him, while Ash, Nemona and the Pokemon stood in front of them.

"And so now you've officially carried it too far." Ash said.

"You get close to her again and we'll find out if your innards are also black and white!" Nemona shouted while Amethio looked at the defeated Gardevoir, Gallade and Zir before sighing.

"Grunts really can't take care of anything these days." He said before returning Gallade and Gardevoir to their Love Balls to then release Ceruledge, Corviknight and Escavalier. "But this isn't over yet."

"Amethio!" Michelle suddenly shouted on his Rotom Phone.

"What do you want?" Amethio asked.

"Open the portals, we're retreating." She said.

"Just give me five more minutes." Amethio said.

"I'm giving you nothing! It's an order from Jean, we're leaving, open the damn portals!"

"...Fine." Amethio sighed returning Escavalier and Corviknight to then slowly walk to Zir along with Richardo. "Guess this is all for today... can I ask you something, Ketchum?"

"What do you want?"

"First off, congratulations, you're an enemy of the Explorers now... second, how long do you think you'll get to keep up this little cult you've been making in Paldea?" He asked to then stare at Mela. "I'll be back for her eventually."

"I won't let you get close to her." Ash said. "Mela is under my protection."

"...Hope you can stick to that better than I did." He said glancing at the girl one more time. "You're part of me, Mela... it doesn't matter if you don't want to be." He said before snapping his fingers, with Ceruledge forming a shadow portal that swallowed them along with Zir and closed right before the eyes of Ash and co.

"So that's it, huh?" Ash said to then look at Nemona. "You okay?" He asked and the girl simply gave him a silent nod.

"P-Penny, you're hugging me a bit too tight." Mela stuttered while Ash and Nemona looked at the two.

"A-Are you sure you're okay?" Penny insisted refusing to let her go.

"Yes, I told you, I managed to keep him away enough until you guys made it here." She replied to then look at Ash. "Thanks, Ketchum... so I'm under your protection, eh?"

"Well, yes, you're part of Team Ketchum now, like it or not." Ash said with a short laugh. "Thought I'm sorry, I wish I could've made it here sooner."

"You're here now, Ash." She replied walking to him before taking him into a hug. "That's the only thing I care about."

"Fine then, if the Explorers are retreating we should reunite with the rest." Penny said taking her Rotom Phone. "Let's get going."

Meanwhile in the infirmary.

"There, that should do it." Mollie said after finishing placing a band aid patch on Conia's forehead. "It looks like the injury that Orla left you with her wrench fully opened when you hit the floor, but it doesn't seem to be anything serious."

"Don't talk like she's the victim." Orla said.

"I still don't think you guys should've helped her." Murdock replied having woken up a few minutes ago albeit Ludlow was still unconscious. Murdock wanted to go and help Dot and Iono, but they received a call from them saying they were fine.

"Well, something should come out of this at least." Friede said standing up from his bed and walking until he was in front of Conia. "Alright, Mollie healed your injury, so let's assume we're in some kind of truce, we'd like to ask you a few questions, starting with, how did the Explorers find out about the Tera Keys in the first place?"

"Who's your true leader?" Mollie asked.

"Where's your base?" Orla added.

"Do you know what the Greatest Treasure is?" Murdock asked.

"Uh, W-Well, where should I start?" Conia stuttered before a portal appeared behind her and sucked her in, disappearing her from the room.

"...Well, there goes our chance." Mollie said.

"But I guess that means the Explorers are retreating." Friede said. "Everyone, to the Living Room."

?-?-?

10 days before the incident.

It had been a few days since that fight with the kid who bullied Liko, she had already told Ash and most of her aunts about what happened, with one exception, Penny. After a short discussion, they decided to not tell her about what happened, per Iono and Nemona's idea, it's not like that kid was gonna bother Liko again, right?

Either way, after that failed fight, Liko finally decided to start training with her family and she was currently doing a morning jog along with Ash, Dendra; and their son, Ken.

"I'm first!" Dendra laughed bursting into the front door and running into the house, wearing her usual black tracksuit, she had barely changed over the years all things considered.

"I'm second!" Ken exclaimed right behind his mother, being 10 years of age, he was the live image of a young Ash Ketchum, albeit lacking his cheek marks and inheriting Dendra's bright yellow eyes instead while wearing a tracksuit identical to hers.

"T-That's not fair, Aunt Dendra!" An exhausted Liko called while an adult Ash carried her on his back, both of them were wearing tracksuits akin to Dendra and Ken, albeit Liko's was teal green and Ash's was deep blue. "Y-You said it was gonna be a jog. You can't just make it a race out of nowhere."

"That was still a jog for your aunt and brother, I fear." Ash laughed carefully helping Liko get off his back. "Don't worry, you've been doing amazing for your first week."

"You really think so?" Liko asked once she was on the floor again.

"I'm sure of it." Ash replied and the two shared a fist bump.

"Dad's right, sis!" Ken exclaimed running until he was in front of Liko. "You're doing amazing! Just a bit more and you'll catch up to me in no time."

"Those two are right, but there's a more important matter at hand right now." Dendra said walking to Ash. "A deal's a deal and I won today's jog, so I'll be taking the lead tonight."

"T-That's not fair, I had to stay back because of Liko." Ash blushed while his wife smiled and hugged him tightly pressing her breasts against him, needless to say, said breasts had only grown bigger since they married and had children. "How do you even run so fast with those things hanging?"

"Knowing you're staring at them gives me all the energy I need." Dendra replied taking him into a passionate kiss.

"You guys really shouldn't be doing and saying that kinda stuff in front of us, you know?" Liko said embarrassingly looking away while covering her brother's eyes as Dendra continued to smooch Ash. "Why are you all always on top of Dad kissing him anyway? I-I understand you're his wives, but I feel like y'all kiss him a bit too frequently."

"It's very addictive, honestly." Dendra said with a smile. "It may be awkward for you, Liko, but you'll understand it once you get a boyfriend, then it'll be awkward for us."

"Good thing I'm not interested in anyone at the moment." Liko said. "Ken, go and take a bath, okay? You stink."

"Sure thing, sis!" He said before running away. "Hi, Aunt Penny!" He exclaimed running past her causing the others to notice she was standing a few feet away from them, wearing her usual pajamas with a worried frown in her face.

"Huh? Penny, what are you doing awake so early?" Dendra asked.

"Is everything okay?" Ash asked walking to her.

"Yeah, I... I just needed to talk with you three." Penny sighed. "And since I knew you'd be going out for a jog I've been waiting for you to come back."

"Uh, good morning, Aunt Penny." Liko said while Penny approached her.

"Liko." Penny trailed off. "...Why didn't you tell me?"

"Uh, about what?" Like asked.

"Why didn't you tell me you were getting bullied?" Penny asked again while holding her temple. "A-And how could you all not tell me either? Ash, After all that we've been through, you dare hide something like this from me?"

"H-How did you even find out?" Dendra asked.

"I knew something was up when Liko suddenly agreed to start training with you." Penny explained. "So after a bit of an elimination process I ended up asking Leah "

"Hey, that's not fair! You know Aunt Leah can't handle interrogations!" Liko said. "She always gets super nervous."

"Penny, it's not what you think." Ash said.

"Listen, we didn't tell you because-"

"I know why you didn't tell me!" Penny interrupted. "And I know it was Nemona and Iono's idea, but that doesn't give you the right! I'm part of this family and I'm Liko's Aunt too!"

"Penny, it was just a minor inconvenience." Dendra said.

"That's easy to say for the one person who could've prevented this!" Penny shouted. "That kid made fun of Liko in front of the entire school! How could you let that happen?!" You're a teacher! What's the point of you working at the Academy if you're not gonna watch over Liko?!"

"I-I always check on her!" Dendra shouted. "I-It was just that one day! I didn't have classes in the afternoon and I decided to go with Tulip to accompany Miriam in her check-up! I've been keeping an eye on her classmates and her since then!"

"...What's the name of that kid?" Penny asked.

"I'm... not telling you." Dendra said. "He's just a dumb middle schooler, Ann gave him a good scare and he understood the message, he hasn't bothered Liko since that happened, we don't need to make up some unnecessary drama."

"Unnecessary drama?!" Penny shouted. "You know who else thought that standing up for their bullied child would be unnecessary drama?!"

"Penny! We're not talking about that!" Dendra shouted.

"Liko! What's the name of that kid?!" Penny shouted suddenly grabbing the girl by her wrist.

"A-Aunt Penny-"

"Tell me right now!" Penny shouted again.

"Aunt Penny... y-you're hurting me." Liko stuttered and Penny noticed the grip she had on her wrist was too strong so she quickly let go of it.

"S-Sorry!" Penny exclaimed. "I-I didn't mean to, I'm just... I-I..."

"Penny, listen, I need you to-"

"NO! Don't you tell me to calm down, Ash!" She interrupted. "No child of this family is going to suffer bullying! Not as long as I live and breathe! I won't let that happen again!"

"There's no way that's ever gonna happen again!" Ash finally shouted back. "You know I'd protect Liko from anything!"

"JUST LIKE YOU PROTECTED MELA, RIGHT?!" Penny shouted out loud followed by a sudden grim silence and tears coming out of her eyes. "Y-You... y-y-you told me everything was gonna be alright! That you were gonna save her! ...and you didn't..."

"Penny-"

"YOU LET HER DIE!" Penny shouted again. "Y-You... you, Mr. Savior of the Universe! ... I finally got Mela back after two years only to lose her again... and I could've lost you in that fire as well! I could've lost all of my friends! All of that because of ONE stupid bully that we should've KILLED!"

"Mom?" A toddler of fair skin and brown hair called from upstairs wearing his pajamas while carrying an Eevee plushie and Penny paralyzed once he saw him. The toddler was also holding hands with Leah, who had her blonde hair down while wearing a nightgown and she could be seen shedding tears as well. "I-I heard you shouting, what's going on?" The toddler asked again.

"...Nothing." Penny replied before going upstairs and taking the toddler in her arms before looking back at Ash. "Mom and Dad were just talking about something... but this conversation isn't over yet." She said before looking at Leah to then walk away. "...Thank you for telling me." She whispered causing Leah to shed even more tears.

"...I-I'm really sorry!" Leah shouted running downstairs and desperately hugged Ash, crying out on his chest. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't know it would turn out like this, I know I shouldn't have told her, but she insisted so much a-a-and she told me about Mela and I-"

"It's fine, Leah, don't worry." Ash interrupted hugging her as well and kissing her forehead. "She asked you because she knew there was something odd, she was gonna find out eventually, and if she told you about Mela before it then she probably already had it figured it out and just needed a confirmation... this is my fault, it was Nemo and Iono's idea, but I was the one who accepted to keep it a secret from her... we only wanted to hide it in order to protect her, but we just made everything worse."

"...I'll try talking with her, okay?" Leah said before running upstairs to follow Penny while Ash simply walked to the living room and sat on the couch while holding his head.

"Easy there." Dendra sat by his side and hugged him. "You know she didn't mean any of that."

"That doesn't make it any better." Ash said. "You know she's right."

"Dad..." Liko slowly walked towards him until they were face to face. "Who's Mela?"

"Listen, Liko, that's a very complicated topic and Ash-"

"No, it's fine." Ash interrupted. "We had to tell her eventually."

"Tell me what?" Liko asked.

"About why your Aunt Penny hates bullying so much." He replied. "Liko, you might want to sit down..." Ash told her and she sat by his side. "You know how your Aunts and I are always telling you about the adventures I had here in Paldea? All those battles, dangers and how I met each one of them?"

"Yes, of course." Liko nodded. "You know my siblings and I love to hear those stories."

"Well, there's this one story we've been trying to avoid telling you." Ash said to then stand up and walk to a nearby drawer, opening it and pulling out a big red book.

"Oh, that's my Aunts' Senior Yearbook." Liko said "I've already seen it a few times."

"Yeah, but I don't think you've seen the last page." Ash said to then open the book in front of Liko, showing a picture of a smiling blonde girl, which above it read: 'In the loving memory of Mela Koton, dear friend, daughter and leader' , with another text beneath reading 'Sorry for not being able to protect you'.

"This is Mela Koton." Ash continued explaining. "She was Penny's best friend. They were both bullied a lot while they were in the Naranja Academy and... Liko, you're 15 already, I'll be as direct as I can... Mela was... she was raped in the school." He let it out causing Liko to flinch, but the girl tried to stay calm. "She went through so much pain and no one aside from her close friends tried to help her and do something about it. The one who attacked her was a member of a really powerful family and Mela's parents were worried that denouncing them would only make things worse..."

"One day, Penny, Mela and their friends fought back the bullies and scared them off the school, but then everyone thought they were the villains... some years later, at the same moment I was traveling though Paldea with your Aunts Nemo, Penny and Iono; someone made a false letter inviting the bullies back to the Academy and saying that Mela and her friends would be arrested for scaring them off... that was the final straw for Mela, she went and burnt down the Naranja Academy, but she got trapped inside the fire, I got there and tried to save her, but I couldn't find her in time... she died all alone in Classroom 7-9... that's a number I'm never going to forget..."

"And that's all different from what happened with your mother, of course I felt responsible for Lucca, but I got to say goodbye, we shared one last kiss, the only thing she asked me was to take care of you, she told me to move on and I eventually accepted that there was nothing I could have done about her death, whatever I had tried, I wouldn't have been able of changing her medical condition, but I could have done something else to save Mela, I could have made it to the school faster, I could've started looking from a different spot and maybe I would have found her, I could've tried to put down the fire... but I did none of those things... Mela was the one person I truly failed and I'll never forgive myself for it... and as you can see, Penny hasn't forgiven me either, can't say I blame her, imagine knowing that the person you love has saved millions of lives, but... couldn't save the one you cared about."

After Ash finished his story he simply sat down defeated on the couch, both Dendra and Liko hugged him, silently trying to comfort him, but the moment was interrupted by a bell ring coming from the front door.

"I'll go." Dendra said giving Ash a quick cheek kiss to then stand up from the coach and go to open the front door, finding a man in a black suit. "Yes, can I help you?"

"Pardon my unannounced appearance. But Miss Ketchum, correct?"

"Yeah, one of them at least." Dendra replied with a short laugh. "What's the matter?"

...

"This is all my fault." Liko said. "If I had started training with you and my Aunts earlier, Rowlet and I could've won that battle and none of this would be happening."

"Hey, don't blame yourself." Ash said. "And don't worry about this, I'll talk with Penny later, every couple fights from time to time, it'll be fine."

"Yeah, I've seen you argue with them before, but it's always about minor things, like where we are going to celebrate one of my siblings' birthdays or something like that, this is... far more serious. I've never seen any of them shouting like that."

"And I imagine you now understand why." Ash sighed. "Penny was the only one here who went through all that bullying and on top of that, like most of your aunts, she helped me raise you since you were born. Of course there's no way she'd want you to go through that same pain."

"Hey, Ash?" Dendra called him with a worried expression on her face. "You, uh, you need to come now."

"What is it?" Ash asked.

"Is..." Dendra glanced at Liko for a brief moment before looking back at Ash. "It's really bad, ok? P-Please, come with me, there's someone at the door you have to see."

"...Liko, stay here." Ash told her before following Dendra to the front door, but Liko followed them from behind anyway, stopping a few steps back while Ash stood in front of the suited man.

"Good morning, Mr. Ketchum." The man said. "First off, I'd like to say it's an honor to meet you."

"Uh, thanks?" Ash asked.

"Secondly, I'm terribly sorry for having to be the one to inform you of this." He continued. "In fact, I was supposed to simply send you an email, but I mustered the integrity to come here in person." He said while opening a briefcase and handing Ash a folder with a sigh. "This is a court summon in your name."

"...A court summon by whom?" Ash asked taking the folder and opening it to read the papers.

"This paper was issued by Mr. Alex Matsumoto, the biological father of Mrs. Liko Matsumoto Ketchum, he's intending to take the young lady's custody away from your family."

"Eh?" Liko whispered from behind and felt her blood freezing.

"What?" Ash asked before hearing a 'tud' behind him and turned around to see Liko fainted on the floor. "Liko!"

Back to the present.

"Alright, crew, damage control." Friede said, now with all members of both teams, bar Ludlow, sitting on the living room.

"The electricity and signal are fully restored. Seems like there won't be any lasting issues." Dot said. "But I'm still looking through my archives to see if Spinel took or did something specific."

"We lost one of the coal burners and there are some holes in the fuselage, but nothing that puts the Asagi in immediate danger." Orla added. "I'll start fixing them tomorrow if that's okay."

"Miraculously, you only broke two ribs." Mollie said. "Murdock got some heavy physical trauma but it ain't anything he can't handle. As for Ludlow... he's also relatively stable but doesn't show any signs of waking up anytime soon."

"And what about the keys?" Murdock asked.

"I'm sorry, but Michelle escaped before Skeledirge could catch up to her." Ash said. "So the Explorers now have that one key she took."

"And which key was that?" Dot asked.

"The Flying one." Friede answered. "She took exactly the Flying one."

"Who was that girl anyway?" Mollie asked. "We've never seen her with the Explorers before."

"Michelle is a Dragon Tamer from the Hoenn region." Ash said. "I met her there during my travels."

"Was she also a villain back then?" Orla asked.

"No, not at all." Ash replied. "I remember her being very kind, I have no idea of what could've happened."

"I think I do have an idea." Friede said. "After all... Michelle used to be a member of the Rising Volt Tacklers."

"She what?!" Dot asked while the rest of the teams gasped.

"Yeah, Michelle and I were part of Drake's crew, she left some time before Murdock joined us." Friede said taking Drake's hat from his Raichu. "And... she was there... when Drake died."

"Coming to think of it..." Murdock said. "You've never told us the details of how Drake died. You mentioned you were ambushed and that was all, since he was so important to you I tried not to push the topic."

"Well, I feel like it's about time to change that." Mollie said. "I know I'm in no right to demand, but this night reminded us of how much we need each other. The Explorers divided us and beat us down like nothing, if it wasn't for Ash's team we probably wouldn't have made it. If we want to be a real team, a real family, then we can't keep up with all these secrets."

"Mollie's got a point, Friede." Orla said. "Especially if that information can help us fight back the Explorers.

"Fine... it's true, you deserve to know what happened..." Friede sighed before taking a seat. "Brace yourselves, this is a long story."

And that's it! Merry early Christmas, everyone! This is my last chapter of the year, I'll be taking my usual break of January and I'll see y'all afterwards, we'll get more of Friede, Drake and the Explorers next chapter.

Anyway, I KNEW IT ! I knew Penny was Peony's daughter, the similar name, her being from Galar and referring to her dad as the most annoying person in the world, it just had to be, why do you think Penny's the only main girl in this fic whose last name hasn't been mentioned? I wanted it to be a surprise too, heh.

Clay being Lacey's father and Drayden being Drayton's grandpa was also expected, but it's great to see it confirmed, now thankfully the Elesa thing was fake, but that made me think that depending on the year gap between BW and the Indigo Disk I might need to readjust some things because of course I'm gonna use the Blueberry Academy, we got Amarys here already. The rest of the cast will have periodical appareances while we get to the DLC's part of the story.

Also, can you get who this 'Jean' is?

And as you saw we got more of Liko in the future, we'll have 2/3 more of those post credits scenes of her future before returning to present Liko.

We also got a shot of Nemona's sister, Professor Phorus from Pokemon Unite. I got a few neat ideas for her.

Either way, see you next time in 'No one brought us here but me'

Reviews:

Lord of Dong

Yup, we're gonna get some of Clay once we get to Lacey.

AndyKurosaki98

Yeah, I also considered going only by that version of the theory, but I ended up going full throttle with it instead.

Don't worry about Friede, he'll get someone too.

R.Vital

I actually finally advanced a little with Fighting Dreamers while writing this chapter, there's a 5k words draft for now, but you'll have to wait for next year.

We'll most likely have a double chapter update for it. the first will be a lemon to compensate the wait and commemorate the 10 girlfriends milestone, while the second will be story progress.

KGBeastboy

I actually have another idea to give Yancy a sister, I established her to be from Nimbasa after all, so guess who?

Conia and Sango will have their redemption arcs but I'd rather have them be separate things. Also, you can expect Sango next chapter.

I think I can work something out of that Miku idea. But she's 100% getting a Farfetch'd.

You got it right about Rayquaza.

And again, you'll suggestions are always fun to read.

Mighty Ranger 1

We'll get some Ash and Nemona next chapter.

Dragonkeeper01

Yeah, Ash and Skeledirge are just a perfect fit.

References:

The title of this chapter 'Chips in my Pockets, Blood on my Hands' is taken from the lyrics of 'Lonely King' by CG5.

It's obvious you can't defeat Roaring Moon." "Doesn't mean I won't try." - Mortal Kombat 11

"You really think you got to know me back in Hoenn? You only met the mask back then." - Lyrics from 'Nightmares Never End' by JT Music.

Navi the Squawkabilly, aside from being a Gokaiger reference, is of course also a reference to Elvis Presley, referencing his songs 'Alola Oe' and 'Burning Love' and using his catchphrase 'Thank you, thank you very much."

"You're pathetically predictable." - Spider-Man.

The scene where Ash meets Conia is inspired by Dating a Team Magma Grunt. (Good moment to mention I'm also working in a story based on that)

"Uh, W-Well, they say the warmth of another's body offers more comfort than anything else, right?" - If the Saotome Sisters did it for the Manga. (boy, I can't believe I just made a reference to this one)

"Elevate Keyboard!" - Regular Show.

"I'm gonna find the person who did this and I'm gonna kill him." "Do what you must." - Faster.

"Hey, you! Stop moving! Didn't you hear? I'm gonna break your neck!" "BREAK IT THEN! Don't you dare look down on a friend's love!" - 100 Kanojo.

"You watch my back, I'll watch yours." - Rambo: First Blood.

"That's... not blood on you, is it?" - Invincible.

"This isn't my blood." - Invincible too.

"I'm sorry that you put your trust in me." - Lyrics from 'Nothing Remains' by Andrew Stein.

"And what? It's suddenly my job to help you? I've got enough to deal with!" - Spider-Man: Edge of Time.

"Witness me." - Mad Max: Fury Road.

"Just two poor sinners shaking hands, right?" - The Princess and The Frog.

"We had our choices and we both failed." - Lyrics from 'Die Very Rough' by Mario Judah.

"I'm not gonna let my tragedy define me." - The Flash.

"Fine... We'll do this the hard way." - My Adventures with Superman.

"NO! From this moment onward I swear I'll never stop fighting you!" - Tangled.

"We both stared into the abyss... but that's where our differences start, cause when then the abyss stared back at us... you blinked." - Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths.

"And so now you've officially carried it too far." - The Incredibles.

"You get close to her again and we'll find out if your innards are also black and white!" - Wednesday.

"You're part of me, Mela... it doesn't matter if you don't want to be." - Lyrics from 'Put me Back Together' by JT Music.

Ash and Dendra's son being named Ken is a quick reference to Dendra's Spanish name 'Kendra'.

That's all for today!

Holdonlupin is out!