Watcher of Arceus

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. Only the idea and OC's.

Author Notes:

-X-This will be used for scene breaks and for when the story switches to another character, but it does not mean that a new section of the story has started.

~xXx~ This will identify where each paragraph breaks.

"Human Speech" 'Character Thought' {Pokémon Speech}

Co-author: Catsithx

The following is a total and complete Reboot of the story "Watcher of Arceus".

~xXx~

Chapter 28 : A Place to Call Home

Quickly leaving and returning to the open water between the islands, Thomas just held Dahlia a bit, letting her slowly snack on the nearly crustless treat. Xent was in a rush to get them away from the island, only taking a paradise bun himself for now as he waited for dinner.

The paradise buns were once more called out as not true zansuu by Dahlia as she reached the tasty insides, but the thought of them still brought a smile to Dahlia's face and she enjoyed a few of them right away. Radara, Suicune, Juno and Thomas all knew what they were, and while not the true thing, they were all happy to have them again. It almost felt like a bonding moment once more for them, and while they did not spend the time to make these specifically denying part of that bonding experience, Dahlia at least had a smile on her face. While the heavy air of Dahlia's condition still hung over though, it was a good start to helping her right now.

The paradise buns weren't just for Dahlia and her family though, they were for everyone. Serenity and Flare were also eager to enjoy them, along with Zia, Verna, and Akra who were a bit more well trained about it. Of course, due to the size of the kitchen and its fold down table taking up a chunk of space, things were crowded and Juno volunteered to make sure there wasn't a mess in the living room space where Flare, Serenity, Akra, and of course herself would be eating right now.

Zia however choose to eat with Xent at the controls while Sarah kept up work on dinner with Verna's help. No one argued about the snack though, the concern for Dahlia keeping them all tense even despite the good food. Thomas just kept quietly reassuring Dahlia that he was fine, and Radara used the chance to take a break herself also strained from helping so much, and knowing there was still more to do.

It was a strange dinner with everyone crowded in the kitchen space and living room space due to the size of some of them, but despite this they made do. It was a bit of a learning experience of figuring out who could fit where when everyone was out, but it was a start at least. The meal was mostly silent though, no one eager to bring up a subject themselves unsure what all Dahlia had suffered during her time in captivity.

The night passed slowly, and Verna had quietly asked to return to her pokeball from the amount of highly mixed emotion that Dahlia was giving off, but otherwise it was quiet. Dahlia was in rough shape, but now she was at least trying to keep herself a bit safer as well.

~xXx~

The night was a strange one, Radara so focused on helping Dahlia have a dreamless sleep still that it bled into the others. Dahlia was the first to go back to bed shortly after dinner after having been interrupted when she felt Thomas was in danger. Fear had kept her from fully properly sleeping the day away and while Thomas and Radara had helped her naps, it wasn't enough. Exhaustion was finally creeping away at her and this time she fell into a full sleep with Radara guarding her mind.

Sarah found the feeling odd, but welcoming for now as she moved downstairs, finding one of the three guest bedrooms and moving into it. Seeing as they were staying on it for a while, Sarah just took one of her old contest ribbons, her first championship ribbon that even had her name on it. It was only for the Great Ranked pokemon contests, but it was still her first championship ribbon and so she still kept it.

She put that on the door showing that she had claimed it for now, partially a way to let the others know that she was using that room and to look there for her if they needed her, but it was also a way to help herself. She knew that she couldn't return home right now, and while she had managed to send out that letter by e-mail that she wanted to send, a phone call was just a bit out of reach right now.

Decorating the door, marking it as hers helped her at least pretend to feel more at home as she started to unpack her backpack and take a full count of everything she had. She would need more clothing, that was a given, and she needed a bunch of basic basics and even some personal items, but she had some stuff and laid them out in the room. Of course it was a small room though and she wasn't sure how she felt about that. The bed was a bit bigger then a twin size, so she could lay down comfortably, and it was soft so that was nice but it took up one entire wall and was just barely a third of the size entire room. She had a small closet, and some shelves, and of course the view was great, an underwater look at whatever the boat was passing by. There wasn't space for her to let her pokemon out in here at all though. Flare was just too big, even to get down the stairs and while Serenity wasn't too large and could physically fit, he'd be just as cramped and unhappy it.

Still, the size of it annoyed her having grown up in an estate where she had more room the most. She kept pulling things out of her bag and trying to figure out what to keep and put where, only to reach in and grab the gloves that Mew had given. She bit her lip a bit as she looked at them, and found herself a bit more pleased with Radara helping to keep Dahlia, and herself, calm. She felt a little shiver again as she recalled the emotions that she felt when she had them on outside of Pewter City, and just carefully set them down on one of the shelves.

"Can... can I really use Aura?" Sarah asked softly, looking at them. She knew that she had felt something back in Pewter City, she knew it had to be emotions, there was nothing else to describe it. Some anger, sorrow and sadness, guilt, and even something else, something that was a little harder to think of until it just clicked as she Sarah quickly looked up.

"Was... was Xent feeling... inadequate?" Sarah just asked quietly thinking about it. It took her a few to recognize it because it was something that she had hadn't felt in years, not since her early time as a trainer. She had always known what it meant to be a coordinator or so she thought when she first started her journey. She had watched dozens of major events and contests, and as soon as she got her starter pokemon, the treeco she named Grover, the two started working to be a great coordinator.

Even before she could start her proper journey, the two would practice all sorts of things and being the sneaky little child that she was, she decided to use numbers even back then rather directly call her attacks. It was supposed to be her secret weapon and when she finally had a chance to enter her first contest in the beginner ranks, she did pretty well and maybe got a little bit of an ego over it. Sure, she never won the championship ribbons, but in all but one Beginner ranked contest, she either made it to the top sixteen or made it to match to be in the top sixteen.

The step up from the Beginners to the Great Ranks though was brutal. In the Beginner Ranks, her extra training paid off entirely and it was enough to get her advancement to the Great Ranks, but in the Great Ranks, everyone was training like she was she was suddenly struggling to keep up. She put so much focus into just her routines on display that she couldn't adapt at first, she only had those few tricks that would woo the audience, that when the other trainers could figure out what she was doing before she was, it was easy to lose all of her points far to quickly.

For a time, she almost considered giving up. It was her mother to encouraged her further, and even Thomas. Thomas taught her the greatest lesson of her pokemon career ever, that was that there was always room for improvement if you wanted to do something. Nobody just mastered anything over night, and no amount of book smarts would help with actual experience with doing something. Thinking back on it now, it certainly held a lot more meaning.

After that, she didn't take losses so badly, and there were plenty of losses after her winning streak in the Beginner Ranks. With a reason to get better, with a desire to do better and earn her victories, she trained harder and didn't let a few losses get in her way. It all paid off when she got her first championship ribbon at the Great Rank, but she still didn't stop. With the Ultra Rank requiring costumes and make up and for coordinators to be part of the performance act, she learned how to do that too, and her act and dedication grew and grew. And now, she was actively competing for the Master Rank and trying for a championship ribbon there.

Thinking about Xent though, or what little she knew of him, she had to wonder why he was feeling like that. She knew that things were rough right now, but its was like that for all of them. Xent was clearly better then her in many ways from what she could tell. He had the air of a strong trainer around him, and he seemed like he had major confidence in things, that he knew what he was doing. He seemed to know a lot of things and sure things weren't going his way, but it wasn't like the world was ending.

She took a few deep breathes, just thinking about it before shaking her head a bit. "I'll just have to ask him about it... we all need help right now and maybe I can help him with that." She said as she laid back on the bed for now, thinking about it while just looking out the window. Her gaze slowly drifted back to the gloves once more, wondering if they could help, only to shudder again as the thoughts of what Dahlia was feeling suddenly went through her head. If she had felt that much the first time just when they were fairly emotional, she did not want to wear them at all given the emotional mess that Dahlia was feeling right now.
She just quickly picked them up and put them away almost fearfully away now, stuffing them into one of the few drawers that she had and pushed them into the back. "No... just no, no no no..." She said giving another shudder afraid of what she might feel, of how it might scar her.

In a bit of a rush now to put away the last of her things, she continued looking over her bag, putting a few more things back into, things that she would just donate later when they finally stopped to get new things. She laid down again, and this time just rested back.

"I... I just have to figure out what I can do to help right now..." Sarah said quietly as she got comfortable on the bed. "I mean, there has to be something right." She continued as she laid there. She knew that she was out of her league perhaps, that this was all way beyond here and she was still just trying to fully get past the idea of Thomas being a child of Arceus. She fully accepted that idea and didn't argue it, but comprehending it all was another thing. The entire concept of the legendaries being a family was just something else. While she was seeing more proof if it each day, it still went against everything that she had learned or thought she learned before being told and quickly shown the truth.

Suddenly she shot up. "Ya know what... Thomas is just a god. His mother is the god, but he's still just a god. If humans can hurt him, then why can't I as a human help him." Sarah stated firmly now thinking about it. "Maybe aura's not worth it, but I'm still human and I can help against other people. How is this really any different from me getting involved to help take down Team Magma or Aqua. I've fought them off before and they have training and funding... I just need to train harder myself."

A quick knock at the door caught by surprise though. "Uh.. yeah?" Sarah asked a bit confused.

Xent just opened the door slowly and looked in. "I plan to do suicide circuits first thing tomorrow, want to join?"

"Oh... su-suicide... circuit?" Sarah asked a bit worried.

"It's time based intervals. 20 seconds of exercise with 10 seconds of rest in between. There aren't any weights we can use on this boat, so it'll be fairly basic. 20 seconds of back and forth sprints, 10 seconds rest, 20 seconds of burpees, 10 seconds rest, 20 seconds planks 10 seconds rest. Repeat that 10 times. You go as hard as you can during the workout intervals, by the end you should be barely able to walk." Xent explained, only Sarah to just shake her head.

"I... uh... maybe, I'm not sure I can handle doing all that that fast." Sarah stated.

"It's definitely outside what a coordinator would normally do. For you, just start by just doing five sets. The offer's open... You're right though, if its just humans we're facing, then there really isn't a reason we can't help him. He certainly needs it." Xent said.

Sarah nodded. "Yeah... yeah it really feels like that. I... I'll think about it though. I need to get in better shape myself now, but that just... seems excessive."

~xXx~

Morning came slowly and Xent was the first one up, not really sleeping at all. He gave a knock on Sarah's door, but she was still sleeping and never answered. Going upstairs, Zia was very tired, but as soon as she saw Xent, she nodded to him and just walked over the couch in the living room space and plopped right down. The boat of course gave a small complaint about there being no one at the helm again and began to slow down while Xent mixed up his coffee, but he knew it was coming. He was just happy that Zia had made it through the night helping to keep the boat going. As soon as he got the controls again and verified a person was there, the boat started up nicely again even if it was a still a ways to go.

While lack of good sleep was annoying, Xent knew a few tricks to help him stay awake long enough to let the coffee take over proper and turned on the news, a mini-television there at the helm and he turned it on. Unable to start his exercises proper with no one at the helm with would have helped him wake him up proper, he was forced to just wait for now. There wasn't really a lot on right now to help him wake up though, and he was just channel surfing for anything on the local channels, only to grumble a bit when he hit the first of the Orange Island News Stations.

"-mas Falston, just who is this strange boy." The news caster started and that was enough for Xent to see the proper headline, a few images of Thomas there in the corner under a large headline that read "The Mystery of Thomas Falston". One was a proper image of Thomas, likely a recent trainer I.D. photo, and there beside it were two other small images, one of Thomas in the merchant's costume taken from the Castle Cameran incident, and another that had Thomas in the weak face mask and training outfit from what happened outside the Tree of Beginnings.

"Well that didn't take long..." Xent grumbled, but left the channel up. He wasn't directly interested in what the news thought of Thomas, but it might give him an idea what other people thought of him and if the Knights or other groups were trying to take credit or something.

There were various clips Suicune and Mew mixed throughout the story with questions about Mewtwo being an unnamed pokemon, tons of questions about who or what Thomas was, how Devon Corp. was involved and of course comments from Andrew and Vivian. Xent hardly paid much attention, just trying to listen for certain things and sure enough, nearly ten minutes into the news report Xent finally heard some of the things he was looking for.

"While many claim to have reports about just who is Thomas Falston, some people have been calling into various news organizations to announce that Thomas Falston is a demon bent on destroying the world. As shown in the following clip, its very clear that Thomas Falston has some kind of strange powers, and is willing to use for unknown purposes." The news caster stated, a clip of Thomas now being shown of him being circled by several large rocks before throwing them forwards, a clip of him riding on Suicune, and of course a shot of Thomas releasing lightning from the end of a blue metal crook.

Xent just shook his head a bit, hating that he was right and Hunter J had clearly recorded something and used it for a payday. Of course the clips were clearly not the full thing and Xent had to wonder just what else Hunter J had caught on film. In any event, it just made all of their lives very much harder as the news caster now started to ask questions about Sarah, and then finally his own name was dropped, or at least the fake name he was using, Xent Haste.

He just grumbled a bit more though when the call this number portion popped up asking about any kind of information, Xent very unhappy that the news stations couldn't keep their mouths shut and actually had the nerve to blatantly and publicly start asking for anything. It didn't really surprise him at all, but he didn't hate it any less.

Hearing something behind him, he looked back to see Dahlia walking up the stairs alone and this left him very confused and a bit worried. "You... you okay there?" Xent quickly asked as Dahlia just looked around, before moving into the kitchen.

Still worried about her, he moved a bit to see better into the kitchen himself and try and keep on eye on her since she clearly came up alone. Dahlia just moved slowly, seeming not to care if he was there or not, and moved up the coffee maker, starting to make herself up something. He was a bit surprised that she went right for the strong stuff, but he didn't ask for now as Dahlia just went about making her coffee, the slow and strong way.

It confused him a bit more when she started searching for something else, and quickly found it, pulling out a box of pocky recalling what Thomas had said about hard foods and grains. He wasn't sure if he should do anything, but Dahlia still appeared to keep ignoring him though to start. She just rubbed her eyes and finally looked right at him.

He instantly saw how red they were, but he couldn't be sure what kind of red it was. Her eyes were clearly not a natural red gardevoir's eyes, these were mostly yellow with a red trim and very little white, and they appeared natural for her like that, but still irritated like she had been crying. As she just kept looking at him for a moment though, as if examining him as well, Xent took note of the strange silver coloration in her hair, and how her "dress" seemed more loose and silk like, a fair deal fancier then other gardevoirs seemed to have as she slowly opened up the pocky now.

A few sticks were pulled out and it appeared to be offered to Xent as she held up the box some. "Thanks, but I'm good. You... you doing okay?" Xent asked, and Dahlia just slid the pocky right back into the box and turned for the coffee maker again, not making much noise or seeming to care at the moment. It wasn't until she spoke that Xent could tell anything.

"Turn it up..." A voice spoke, but vocally, not into his mind. It was female, a bit rough like it was strained, but not forced. It just felt weak, like she had spent a large portion of the night crying maybe, and very human like if soft.

"Turn... what up?" Xent asked, unsure what she meant, and trying to be calm with her, not sure what he should really be doing at the moment, knowing so little about her aside from knowing how quickly she could kick his ass.

"The news... Is there anything about Trinity Shipping?" Dahlia asked as she walked the coffee maker finally start to pour her cup, half a dozen sticks of pocky coming out of the box and dipping into the coffee as it was poured, adding a little milk to it and using the pocky to stir it now.

"Nope... All sorts of things about your brother though... Thomas is making almost every headline no doubt." Xent said as he still looked at her. It was just too early for him to be questioning much right now like why Trinity Shipping would have anything in the news, but he figured she had her reasons.

"Internet is a bit weak at the moment, but I could try searching if you wanted." Xent offered, but Dahlia just shook her head as she continued to use her mind to stir coffee, a large strong cup almost finished and waiting for her.

"They will either announce it on the news by making a proper statement or they won't say anything." Dahlia stated, the pocky slowly rising up out of her cup at last, and no longer hard at all. She sucked on the pocky a bit, pulling some of the coffee out of it before starting to nibble on it while her coffee cooled enough to drink.

Xent just barely nodded, but since she seemed to be aware of what she was doing now, he was a bit less concerned, even if he tried to search the company anyway. The usual things came up, with only one news item though just kind of tucked away. "It does look like Trinity Shipping will be making a statement in a few days though."

Dahlia didn't seem to react though, or was just uncaring for now as she pulled out the other sticks of soft pocky from her coffee and ate them now, before moving to the table and pulling it down.

"You... you sure your okay." Xent asked again, more carefully though, and this time Dahlia just shook her head a bit.

"I need my brother..." Dahlia stated softly, just barely sipping her coffee now. "I need Argyle... I need him."

Xent kept himself from grimacing, but nodded slowly. "I know..." He replied softly, trying to pick his words carefully right now, wanting them to stay neutral. Xent knew he was well out of his depth to do anything other than keep an eye on her, but she needed something more. She needed family right now, and that meant that he had to go down and get either Thomas, Radara, Suicune or Juno. For as many features as the luxury boat had though, the one thing that he found it was missing was an intercom right now.

He gently rubbed the pokeball Verna was in, debating whether or not he should bring her out so at least one of them could get Thomas. She expressed a desire to help Dahlia, and knew a lot more than him how the now brotherless gardevoir felt. Zia was fast asleep after taking the entire night to steer the ship, and Akra couldn't fit down there.

He detached Verna's pokeball and called her out. "Sorry to wake you up early, but I need to check something down below. Can you help keep an eye on things up here?" His eyes glanced at the Dahlia, who he knew needed the help right now.

Verna gave a small yawn, waking up quickly and nodded. Already she could feel the unwelcome feelings of loss that Dahlia was giving off while Xent went back down stairs but she still wanted to help. He quickly moved up to the master bedroom door and gave a hard knock to get some attention. There were small sounds at first, only for a large scramble of noise to sound, the door flying open. "She's upstairs and she's needs someone. She's talking about needing her brother, Argyle I think."

Juno quickly rushed past him now, darting up the stairs as Thomas helped Suicune get unstuck from the tangle of covers that she got stuck in. Radara also helped and Xent just started back up the hallway and upstairs again knowing that while Juno was small enough to get by, there wasn't room for all of them.

Before he could reach the stairs though, loud music, some kind of jungle tribal beat mixed with some rock started playing that quickly caught him off guard. "What the?" He started, only to hear a loud thud, and knocking on Sarah's door.

"You okay in there?" Xent asked, not sure if he was supposed to walk in and check or not.

"Why is it so loud!" Sarah grumbled, there a bit more thuds before Sarah got up and opened the door fully now, shaking her head. Even Thomas, Suicune, and Radara were confused and started moving more now before an angry zoroark just rushed down the stairs, a couch pillow squished over her ears before she threw it down and grabbed Xent's belt.

Zia quickly put herself away, before everyone else started up the stairs. Sarah grumbled a bit as she followed Xent up, but couldn't argue much about the sight. Dahlia was curled up in front of the couch, her legs under the coffee table that was now revealed to actually be a kotatsu that Verna had just turned on and was flipping the cover back down leaving just an bright orange light shining under the table a bit.

Juno was now on the couch directly behind her, one leg wrapped gently around her shoulder and chest a bit, her head resting over the other one while her tails covered her chest and waist, but left her arms free to hold her coffee.

Verna turned around, she gave a small apologetic look. 'S-sorry. I asked if there was something to help and she wanted some music. I didn't know about the extra speakers.' Verna said, before moving over back to Dahlia's side and moving to side down beside her, Dahlia grabbing her lightly and curling up a bit more into Juno's tails and her side, even offering her a bit of the coffee.

"We'll... just get some kind of noise canceling headphones at the first proper stop." Thomas sighed some, not waiting to disturb Dahlia right now in her condition, all of them finally seeing the speakers in the supports around the living room, all of them have been hidden behind false panels and they were just kinda busy with other things to search the boat in full so far.

"I'll start breakfast. Scrambled eggs and juice okay with everyone?" Thomas asked as he started for the kitchen, Suicune and Radara following him, clearly going to discuss something as Sarah nodded.

"Yeah, yeah I guess that will do since I'm up now." Sarah half whined a bit, going to the kitchen to look over the soda for some caffeine at the moment.

-x-

While the sudden blaring of music did help a bit and Xent was conscious as he continued to sip his coffee, he found some trouble waking up proper and knew that it probably from all the stress he was feeling himself. He knew that he didn't sleep well but as he just continued to have trouble waking up, he knew it was because he didn't sleep well.

Hating that his exercises would have to wait if he didn't want to half-ass them, he started to think about what he could do and one issue came up quick with the loud music Dahlia desired and Xent didn't want to deny her. The thin doors of the boat were something that would need fixed later, but for now it helped him, doubly so last night as he recalled the thing that Sarah just randomly blurted out.

It really was just humans and non-legendary pokemon that he would facing off against, and therefore there really shouldn't be a change in how he did things. It was the next logical step for him. He always demanded the truth of things, and while it clearly bit him in the ass this time, it also opened up some new thoughts as the coffee kicked in and he started thinking about everything again.

Of course the world was a screwed up place, how could it not be. He glanced at Dahlia again, and could only think of the pain she went through with another shudder. Thinking back on what all he had seen of things, of the legendaries and of Thomas and Radara, they were just another family trying to get by in the world, albeit they controlled the … well everything of the world at least physically. Mentally, they were just more people trying to get by and they were hardly perfect. As those thoughts started in his head, he started to feel a little better. He knew it would be a long time before any of this could even hope to be anything close to normal, but he would just roll with the punches as best he could for the moment.

Whether he liked it or not, he was for all intensive purposes the adopted child now along with his pokemon and Sarah and her pokemon. He had next to nothing at the moment though as he looked over the boat a bit more trying to get his muscles to wake up with some light stretches between sips of coffee and started to think about what all he would need.

There was the usual list of replacement gear, or as much as Thomas would let him get. A new tazer and pepperball delivery system, preferably gas fired would be the top of the list since he already got some crowbars again, and then there was the other gear like smoke bombs and such, a much greater need now then ever before. And he'd need some new "work" belts, tactical ones if found a set that he liked, and then it dawned on him.

"I... really need everything again don't I..." He grumbled mostly to himself. At least Thomas had offered him some cash. It wasn't too much, but it was something though to try and make it easier, but he'd need more then that. It would get him the basics though, enough clothing so he wouldn't have to wear the same thing twice in a row if he didn't want to and he would need some other things. Looking around, he quickly found a set of sticky notes and a pen. He quickly started up a few lists, wondering what all he need to get and then a second revelation hit him as well.

"I'm going to need spares, but where would I... I have a closet now if I'm stuck here..." Xent started, only for it to click that he would likely be staying on the boat for a while, and a long one. Moving to sit at the table, he quickly started a few lists.

"What are you doing there?" Sarah asked, still sipping her own drink as she sat down with him. "You know any ways to help wake up. I guess I should try some exercises myself since I'm up now..."

"Normally coffee is enough for me, but I haven't really slept well. Not sure faking doing the exercises will get anything done today until I wake up proper myself." Xent replied.

"Yeah, its a bit of change isn't it. I never could get use to sleeping on a boat and well, it was kinda loud this morning." Sarah sighed, and Xent nodded.

"Yeah, yeah it was... is. Sound panels...blocks... just what they called?" Xent quickly started, taking another sticky note and quickly writing sound panels on it, before looking up something on his pokedex, or wanting to but whatever signal he had when Dahlia woke up was gone now.

"Hey, you've done some real stage work and a few interviews. Do you know those professional sound... those foam wavy panels things that studios and musicians use to get rid of echoes and extra sound. Do you know what they are called?" Xent asked.

"I think their called acoustic foam panels. Why?" Sarah asked.

"Because they may not look like much, but even a few of them in the hallway downstairs and in our rooms would let us sleep quietly... well quieter in our rooms. I won't fault her for trying to find something to help herself right now, but we still need sleep and those doors are kinda thin. I didn't mean to surprise you last night, but when you just spoke up loudly like that, it was easy to hear every word. Not a lot of privacy here right now, but it would help with that to, I hope." Xent explained.

"If we'll be staying here, a little privacy would go a long way." Sarah nodded. "And we all need new clothing and … well almost everything else anyway. I will admit though I am kind of looking forward to actual cooking a lot more then just travel cooking. I mean we have some good food on the road, but it will be a change to have a fridge of my own." Sarah stated, and Xent quickly nodded.

"I will not argue that... and I know Verna will love those crock pots." Xent stated, it only just now hitting him as well that they do in fact have a fridge that could be filled with proper food consistently. "Ya know... I think that the last time I was in a proper grocer instead of a full trainer's shop was like over a year ago because I was helping Shikia and her orphanage, and maybe three years before that."

"You worked at an orphanage?" Sarah asked.

"Oh... I'd rather not... talk about that right now. I didn't even mean to bring it up." Xent quickly stated. "On a more important topic... clothing. I'm sorry to tell you this, but if we have to hide, don't pick out anything stylish that you want to wear outside. If you find a cute shirt or something that you really want, I won't stop you from getting it clearly, but anything that we have to wear outside right now needs to be basic and bland. Small logos are the most you should consider, but otherwise go for basic single or two tone clothing. A size or two larger might be good too, loose clothing makes it a bit harder for people to recognize you. Oh, and hoodies are a great thing, as well as other large hats." Xent stated, very clearly and quickly changing the subject.

"I understand." Sarah just let it go to start, but nodded. She kind of disliked having to change her style so abruptly, but she also understood the need for it. "But if we have a place to stay for now... I'm not giving up other things. Like you told Verna, we all need something to help us unwind right now and a good bath is how I relax. Do you have any allergies that I need to be aware of so I don't accidentally cause a problem?"

"I won't be overly fond of things if you try to make the boat smell entirely like an over grown flower garden, but we do what we need to." Xent replied, happy enough that Sarah was also changing the subject herself.

"You've been a full time trainer for years too haven't you." Sarah asked.

"And how do you know that? I refuse to believe that I'm that easy of a book to read." Xent countered, but more curious than anything.

"You find the thought of home and buying non-trainer goods foreign. You keep adding brand name trainer to the list instead of the house brand. Trainer Brands are good and all, but they still wear out faster since they need to be built differently and they... well they are all kinda small for travel. Its a much better bargain and easier to store things in actual sizes then the dozen or so trainer units of items. Plus, you've got a lot of other trainer items that we could buy fresh or in bulk since we have a place to hold them." Sarah noted.

"Yeah... yeah I guess I'm trained for that. I thought you were a full time coordinator though. This isn't that weird for you too?" Xent asked.

"Yeah, it's weird I guess, but I grew up spending the winter months at home to make my parents happy. I still intend... well wanted to make a full time career of being a coordinator for another ten or twenty years at least if given the chance, I know I can make a professional job of it, but I've still done my share of living in a house … well not being a full time trainer." Sarah explained.

"I guess that explains a lot... you want to make the list instead?" Xent asked.

"Yeah, I can help fix this up a bit." Sarah nodded, only for the helm to give an annoyed beep and it fully shut off the engines.

"That however... is not something I am going to get use to." Xent grumbled as he got up. "I'll feel a lot better when I'm not tied to the controls, but we have to move fast for her right now. Can I ask you fix up some breakfast, I'm not too picky."

"Didn't Thomas say he was going to make some scrambled eggs?" Sarah quickly asked.

"I did, and I am. Its just a smaller skillet and I made some for our pokemon first." Thomas stated as he came out of the living room and back into the kitchen. "I usually only use a bit of pepper, but we have lots of spices if you want something else." Thomas said as he walked back up the electric burner and pulled up the carton of eggs.

"Plain is perfectly fine for me." Xent said as he walked back up the helm and got the boat moving again. "Oh quiet you, I'm coming." He grumbled when it beeped again and a large automated stop icon appeared on the main screen.

~xXx~

The chill of Ice Island was always a strong one as the sun finished setting, only adding to the chill. The inside of the boat was nice and wonderfully cozy still, very well insulated and that was nice, but the thought of what was to come without winter gear wasn't something they were looking forward to. Sarah still had two coats to use, one of the things that she had left, and even a small warmer that she had let Moon use. It would fit Radara, but that was still a large problem since Thomas was a bit too large for the spare coat Sarah had and Xent refused to take one saying that if anyone needed one more, it was Dahlia right now.

Thomas kept staring at the skies though, fully expecting to see Articuno for a while now, but never did as he guided Xent slowly along the north side of the island. Thomas knew of a natural harbor that he knew had soft sand and would let them park and disembark without getting wet, something very important right now given the icy water and chill of the island. Still, she never appeared and this left Thomas and Radara a little concerned.

Suicune volunteered to go and check on her given the lack of winter gear, and they just had to wait as Suicune dashed out onto the island, running up towards the peak now and it was waiting game from there, if a short one.

There was a cry at last, and some came flying down off the peak of the mountain. Articuno came flying down, and then landed in front of the boat as it parked. Xent was a bit worried from how hard the giant bird landed, not liking the look it seemed to be them all as he just stayed inside the boat for now, staying at the controls. Sure, it wouldn't do much to help him if she attacked, but he felt better as Thomas and Radara were outside on the ring of the boat now, having gone out as soon as they saw her coming down.

Xent quickly cringed for a second when Articuno acted, a hard peck to Thomas's head, even ripping out some hair from his head as Thomas ducked down, holding his head, already cold enough in just the training suit and hoodie, pulling the hood over his head as well.

"What was that for!" Thomas gasped out, Radara quickly putting a full barrier over herself.

'Because you were supposed to be here two weeks ago! I know you were here, you were even planning on coming over, you always do and then you just rush off and leave!' Articuno stated, before grabbing his arm in her beak, tossing him up and making him land in the snow and sand of the beach, before sitting behind him, pulling him up against her body, and curling her wing around around him. She even started rubbing her head against his chest a bit now, leaving Xent confused as he watched, unable to hear anything that Articuno was saying.

As Thomas was forced up against her side though, he could easily feel an egg, and with a gentle rub of his hand on her stomach, found three. "You're carrying them all already?"

Articuno just nodded, rubbing her head to Thomas a bit inside her wing, only to suddenly stop and instantly turn towards the boat. She stood up and just stared a bit, looking on as she saw Dahlia still just resting in the boat, and could instantly tell what was wrong with her. 'What do you need me? How can I help?' Articuno quickly asked now as Suicune came rushing down the mountain towards the boat now.

"She needs to feel family, to know that she is not alone." Thomas stated, seeing how quickly she changed subject. "Can you help us all fly and carry the boat carefully like you are. Dahlia somehow obtained funds to purchase the boat and I'm worried that she needs it as her special to feel safe now, that she intends it to be her final home, her place of comfort. I worry about trying to take it from her and what it do, but if we can make it Mount Coronet..."

'I will take the back of the net we must use to carry her home. With Lugia's assistance, I shall be fine for this voyage.' Articuno stated, quickly flying up into air now. Thomas already knew what she was doing and a mighty cry, a pillar of aurora beam was sent rocketing into the sky lighting up the night a bit. Shortly afterward, two more pillars appeared in the sky, one of fire and one of lightning.

Articuno had started the calling, and her brothers knew right away at once to help as soon as they saw and felt it. The three of them had called for assistance, something that they had not done for nearly two hundred years, a sight that would be now seen by almost all of the Orange Islands, but was needed. With the three of them having down their part, Moltres and Zapdos would clearly be on their way, annoyed with no prior warning but both also knowing that they were calling for Lugia.

Articuno quickly flew back down towards them once more and landed easily, looking over the side of the boat, and then pressing her cheek gently against the glass where Dahlia was leaning against the glass a bit, Dahlia was seeking warmth right now, and Articuno did not blame her at all. It was very cold here to her own liking, and Articuno would always offer her body later when they were not in her frozen home.

Still, she let Dahlia feel her, and could feel how weak Dahlia's god essence was as well, knowing in how bad a shape she was easily as Dahlia reached out to her mentally. Thomas moved down slowly and getting back to the boat with Radara, just barely seeing something in the distance coming closer and knowing that Moltres and Zapdos were on the way quickly now.

Even more, he heard something behind him and saw Suicune rushing down the mountain towards them again, an unwelcome look on her face.

'That was entirely uncalled for!' Suicune half barked at Articuno.

'Yes it was, I wanted my Soular and he went away.' Articuno stated softly, still just keeping her cheek softl against the window, letting Dahlia feel her mind and pretend to feel her physically right now.

'No it wasn't!' Suicune repeated looking at the small bloody spot on Thomas's head, getting him to lean down in front of her and licking at the wound to help make sure it would heal.

As took care of Thomas though, there was a loud thud behind them, Moltres having set down behind them, and Zapdos landing soon ever.

'And to what grievance do we owe calling our arbiters this time.' Zapdos stated, already a bit annoyed.

"We need help, help now." Thomas quickly stated, Zapdos looking down in confusion, Moltres only sparing a small glance at the boat, only for both Moltres and Zapdos stop and their eyes went wide.

'When... how?' Moltres quickly turned towards Thomas, Radara, and Suicune needing answers. Zapdos was looking over the boat a bit nervously before dashing up into the sky and unleashing a storm of power, letting as much of his vast power free as he could before diving back down. He was out of breathe and it was easy to see how he much power he had let loose so he had barely any left before landing on the boat.

There was still a weak minor static over his form, but nothing that would harm the boat or Dahlia though as Articuno gave him some room to press his head against the boat as well, both more then willing to tolerate each other entirely for the sake their younger sister.

"We don't know how and I'm not ready to ask." Thomas stated.

'She needs family though, and Thomas thought up a genius way to maybe give her what she needs most. A pure crystal from our mother's den might be enough for her to feel us all properly again.' Radara quickly explained.

'It would be an echo of what she would know proper, but it would be enough perhaps. She may also choose that this is enough, and may die peacefully in her sleep.' Moltres stated, understanding well enough and knowing how it might play out, but he already had an idea of the suffering that she was already feeling, and could barely feel it himself. Even if it mean that Dahlia would choose to give into the feelings of peace, it was still better then the torture she was feeling.

"But she's chosen life so far. She was captured by the knights and she survived their grip. She even broke herself out of their hold on her. If she chooses life, then maybe that echo will be enough for her to hold onto that will that kept her alive this long." Thomas explained, only for the waters beside the idea to glow as something was coming up fast and the last of them arrived.

Lugia landed beside them and could already feel Dahlia as she got close, leaning forward as Articuno and Zapdos moved a bit, Lugia pressing her head up against the window now and sharing her thoughts and mind with Dahlia.

'Sister... I am sorry for not finding you... but be at ease, you are among your family once more.' Lugia stated, her voice strong in all of their heads now. It was firm and caring, the voice of a mother, but not like Suicune's. They were angry, protective, and yet welcoming instead of scary for them all. There was of course feeling of worry in the words, and that worry could be felt a fair deal as well as Lugia stayed there for a moment, before pulling back and turning towards Thomas.

'You are sure about this... I can feel what you are planning already, and feel the dire fears of your own mixed with those fears for the fate of our sister.' Lugia asked, turning towards Thomas fully as well as glancing to Radara.

"Its the only way that I can think of to save her... and Radara agrees." Thomas stated, his voice low and something was easily up, he had been growing a bit more on edge all day as his own fears were setting in full.

'And how will you manage the flight. I know well your fears, you would sooner take the longer harder route at all times then even risk staying in the air for a meager moment. This will be no quick flight, we must go slow as to not rattle the ship if Dahlia does indeed need this vessel.' Lugia asked.

"I don't care, we need to save her if we can. I'll have Radara dominate my mind if it comes to that, but it will take far too long to get to the Pillars if we only rely on the ship, to say nothing of the walk." Thomas stated, looking down to Radara who gave a firm now.

'We have discussed this problem already. I will have Juno help me if it comes to that, but I am hoping that with Rebecca, the lucario lover that my brother has taken will be enough to keep him from mental breakdown.' Radara added, Lugia nodding appearing to light up at the mention of a lover.

'So our youngest brother has found a future wife at last has he. I welcome this news and eagerly seek to meet her, but we must move quickly for now. Back in the boat, and pull it out a ways into some deeper water so that I might find a net of proper size and strength.' Lugia stated.

Thomas nodded and quickly moved back into the ship with Radara, Xent having already heard the command and turned the ship back to open waters as Lugia commanded and they set about locking things down for the flight. It didn't take long for Lugia to find a net that would suffice and boosting its hold with her power, she got it under the boat and lifted the corners and each of the four of them took a space, Lugia leading the way while Articuno took the back just like she said would.

They all worked now, a common goal, a common need and they were off, slowly getting into the air, and then flying to the north.