Watcher of Arceus - Path of the Immortal

by The Shadow Master of Weapons

Watchers, the direct descendants of Arceus herself, sets of twins born with her power. Born in pairs, these twins were meant to bridge the gap that had come between humans and pokémon, one a gifted human, born beside a pokémon. Inseparable immortal twins, the godchildren wandered the world. But now, a single pair remains. Full summary inside. Reboot of Watcher of Arceus.

40. Chapter 40 : Leaving Coral Coast City

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 40 : Leaving Coral Coast City

Xent and Zai drove back down the dock, looking to the clearer, but still stormy skies as they finished up the last trip within Coral Coast City. Every last news station in the city was going on about Raikou, Team Galactic, and the possible involvement of Thomas making it hard to do anything, but Xent and Zai managed alone fairly easily.

They didn't notice any tails throughout their trip, no one stood out as dangerous to them, and they finished the day's preparations fairly easily. Dahlia had been allowed to withdraw a grand total of a hundred and twenty five thousand in cash, as well as arranged a payment of five thousand for Xent himself on top of that. This solved the short term income problems for now, and with the payment that Xent received for the courier work, he went out and picked up and paid for a full stock of groceries and non-perishables, and even a pair of all-in-one wall gyms that would slide easily into the closet on the Lunar Blessing.

Parking the truck on the dock, he looked around one more time with Zai, neither of which saw anyone following them and were fairly confident that they had gone entirely unnoticed through the trip. As he checked his hat again, looked over the docks again just to be very sure, and then got out, Zai was already disguising herself and got out with him. Moving to the back, Xent uncovered the wall gyms, knowing that those would be the hardest to move.

As he started to pull the first one out, another pair of hands reached in to help him out, a lucario easily gently sliding the wall gym out, Zai quickly giving a hiss as Xent rapidly turned, only to see Cynthia in a rather dull and out of place raincoat for herself. It boring, with no flair, and looked a little old, with no signs of who was wearing it until she was right on top of him and lifted the hood just a bit.

"Need a hand there?" Cynthia smirked some, already going to reach in and grab a few bags as Zai growled loudly until Xent just made a small hand wave to call her off.

"Please, be honest. Did I slip up, or was this aura?" Xent stated, doing his best to be polite but heavily annoyed anyway and worried a fair bit as well as he looked down to her lucario.

"Aura. But let's just get this all out of the rain. It would be better to talk out of the rain, wouldn't you agree? So... are we going to a boat? Or was this just a convenient spot to meet up with Thomas and Sarah?" Cynthia asked.

"Listen... I just want to come out and say this right now. I really am trying to be polite right now, but you don't know what you're getting into. Team Galactic might as well be a lightweight problem compared to what else is going on, so please don't blame me when you get hurt over this... or lose a pokemon." Xent stated slowly, still trying to be polite, but also knowing that he had to try and stress just how dangerous the situation was.

"Sorry, but I'm not backing off. Something big is going on, and your friend Thomas appear caught up in things pretty badly. I may not understand the situation, and yeah, I can see its pretty bad if your going out of your way to hide like this with them, but I'm not sure that any of you fully understand the scope of the situation either." Cynthia stated as her lucario just kept slowly pulling things out of the truck, stacking boxes for easy carrying, and getting all the bags together.

"Oh I understand it alright. The uh... well fate of the world can be a pretty big thing. And you're not going to let this go are you..." Xent asked.

"Nope. So you might as well just accept it." Cynthia stated, reaching down and grabbing half a dozen bags to carry beside him. Xent just shook his head a bit, but knew that he couldn't stop her right now.

"Alright, alright." Xent stated softly, before giving her a minor look over. "Good disguise by the way."

"Its a little hard to try and find someone when your easily recognized yourself. Thankfully, I've become known for a certain style and flair, so if just decide to dress down, people don't see me so quickly." Cynthia replied, Xent calling out Verna now, who was quickly disguised by Zai to look like an ordinary gardevoir.

"So, which way are taking these?" Cynthia as Verna looked around confused now, quickly trying to defend Xent as well, before he called her off.

"Just follow me." Xent sighed a bit. "Verna, Zai, the sooner we get all this back, the better."

Between the five of them, they managed to carry everything, with Verna carrying the remaining bags in the air beside them. A short walk down to where there Lunar Blessing was parked, and Xent walked down onto the ship, before knocking on the door. Dahlia was quick to answer, Radara and Dahlia both having felt the extra mind and knowing who it was with a brief glance, having recalled the mind's mental defense well.

"So... things happened and she's here now..." Xent stated rather bluntly, just pushing open the door a bit to get inside. "She's not taking no for an answer."

"I thought you were better about not being followed." Dahlia commented, only for Cynthia just walk in anyway.

"If you want to find someone who is hiding, don't look for a scent, those can be faked. But aura, well I haven't found anyone able to fool that so easily." Cynthia stated only for Thomas to slowly start walking up the stairs.

"Is... Xent..." Thomas started, only to look at Xent a bit concerned.

"So, should I just go ahead and schedule the exclusive interview with Poke-World News? It will take us what? Two, three days? Like five tops even in the rain to head back to Lily of the Valley Island where they have one of their biggest offices in the Sinnoh Region. How does scheduling it for Tuesday sound, everyone hates Tuesdays right? You've finally sobered up and your lousy bosses expect complete competence, and its not like we got anything planned, let's make a whole freaking day of it. I mean it can't be worse then our track record so far, because let's face it, despite our best efforts, sneaky we are fu-... sneaky we are not!" Xent grumbled loudly shaking his head, in full on sass mode, the only thing to even try and help him feel better right now, Verna just shaking her head at his sass.

'Not helping right now Xent...' Verna sighed mentally sharing her words and sigh with everyone but Cynthia right now, taking a few bags into the kitchen already.

"Look, I need a break. I'm tired, I'm not responsible for this one, and its not like I'm stopping her anyway. Cynthia, if you'll excuse me, I need to unpack these bags, and then go take an hour nap to get me ready for the tonight. We have a schedule to keep, so here's your warning, we're leaving Coral Coast City by seven thirty." Xent stated, just taking a few bags and heading over the kitchen.

"I take it you've have a rough past few days even after leaving me to clean up Team Galactic." Cynthia asked.

"What exactly are you doing here?" Thomas asked, rather worried as Radara followed him up the stairs now.

"Mostly making sure you're safe right now. And seeing how nice and secure you are in this very cozy boat, I can say that for the immediate moment, you might be safe enough. Of course, that's only if you understand the full scope of trouble that you've ended up in." Cynthia started.

"We know." Dahlia stated.

"Really? Because after doing some reading up on each of you, well most of you, I'm not sure you do. You're currently under an active federal investigation, you're not just hiding from groups like Team Galactic, or Team Rocket who seem to have a personal vendetta against you right now, you're also trying to hide from your family and the government which means your trying to protect people, but don't know to trust. It doesn't exactly look good for you, with you letting other people keep telling any story they want about you. Although there's not an arrest warrant out for you, there are multiple federal agencies are actively trying to find you, to ask questions and of course being exceptionally concerned about not just your safety, but the public safety as well." Cynthia countered.

"And yet, you're here alone, trying to trust us. Clearly you're not believing everything you've read." Thomas asked rather cautiously.

"Oh, what I've read about you three so far, I believe that well enough. But after that incident a few days ago with Raikou, seeing perhaps the most powerful espeon I've ever met and a gardevoir who speaks rather fluent United Common, that strange world wide video trying to explain who you are, the incident at Cameran Castle where Queen Ilene cleared you of all charges taking your side in full, and all of this talk online where a small movement has started declaring you some kind of demon of all things, I started to do a little more digging." Cynthia replied.

"And right now, I'm debating a little bit just how old you really are. I found plenty of pictures of a Thomas Falston growing up, and I think those are real too, but there is nothing on a biological mother, and the hastily completed death certificate on your father who was cremated. I couldn't find much on him either though even though it looked like he died young. And then I got to thinking about that video calling you out again, and the special number it mentions, that one hundred and twenty years of life before rebirth. If you dig deep enough into the history of the legendary pokemon, that number keeps showing up in some places, but its almost like someone, a lot of someones over the ages have been trying to scrub that number away." Cynthia continued, Thomas, Radara, and Dahlia all looking back and forth over each other, before Xent sudden rushed up from the kitchen space.

"We got a problem!" Xent quickly stressed. "Three guys are walking down the docks, two of them in Trinity Shipping Lanes coats and I swear I saw a head band when one of them almost slipped on the dock."

"Shit." Dahlia stated rushing to the kitchen window. "Damnit, they're checking boats. Probably under the pretense of inspecting the dock for some kind of update or something. And yep, that's a clouded mind, the big guy in the back has a tiara alright, he's one of them."

"Can we do anything there?" Thomas quickly asked, Radara joining Dahlia while Thomas rushed up and quickly covered a few things, before pulling out one of the tonfa and sliding that into the back of his belt, before pulling his shirt down over it.

"And that tells me that you really do need my help." Cynthia noted, looking to her lucario. "Any ill intent from them?"

The lucario just closed his eyes, and his dreadlocks started to raise up a bit, before they lowered and the lucario gave a small growl.

"How can I help?" Cynthia asked.

"Lie your ass off, they cannot know who owns this boat." Dahlia quickly stated.

"Then I suggest all of you get downstairs... Xent, call over that gardevoir of yours. Oh, and what's the name on the rental papers for the boat?" Cynthia asked before pulling off her coat, reaching into her pockets and quickly messing up her hair a bit, putting in the two large ornaments on the left side for now.

"James Orion. That's the name on the paperwork right now." Thomas replied.

"What's the plan?" Xent quickly asked, Verna moving back out of the kitchen.

"You all get downstairs, and make a little noise in the engine room. Just tap some things, open and close the panels. If you hear us start to mention you directly, just drop a wrench or something and pretend that you dropped it on your foot or something. Don't go overboard with it." Cynthia noted before shooing them downstairs.

Reluctantly, the group of them did just that, Radara moving downstairs first, but keeping a mental eye on Cynthia and trying to find the clouded mind and two minds beside it.

Thomas just quickly went to Sarah's room to let her know what was going on and help keep her calm a bit, the past few days rough on her to say the least with the emotional strain of what had happened.

Xent didn't like it, but he just looked to Verna. "Do as she says... I don't like it any more you do."

Verna gave a nod, and Xent quickly rushed the stairs and into the electrical room. "You two, just start unpacking the bags, and wait until they get here and knock. If they do, you two just peek around the corner. Verna was it?" Cynthia asked, Verna giving a small nod.

"If they knock, come around the corner to look, let yourself get seen. A lot of people are looking for a shiny gardevoir right now. If we try to hide you, they'll get more suspicious." Cynthia stated, roughing up her hair a bit more, and quickly taking off her coat, before setting that down on the table, trying to make herself look a bit more at home in the boat.

She just quietly peaked through the blinds to follow the men slowly working their way down the docks. They were stopping at each boat and knocking on the doors checking things, and it was clear that they at least saw someone entering the boat.

A few moments later, they started to come down the ramp of the Lunar Blessing, and then there was a knock at the door. Cynthia quickly sat back on the couch, moved a few pillows around, and then stood up with a Dahlia's tablet in hand while her lucario opened the door.

"Who is it?" Cynthia called out as her lucario opened the door.

"Dock inspections, ma'am." A voice quickly replied and a person started to step inside, but couldn't get far with Cynthia's lucario refusing to move and not them in, the three men just standing on the ring of the boat.

"Is there a problem?" Cynthia asked, setting the tablet down on her coat, easily making it seem she was at home and welcome on the boat before reaching over to grab her other two hair ornaments, and slowly putting them while she walked closer, the men finally realizing who she was.

"Just a routine inspection ma'a... oh. Oh Champion Cynthia, my apologies. I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were here. The uh... the name on the rental paper is James Orion." The first man, the one in the dock worker's outfit stated, only to get nudged by the larger of the two men in Trinity Shipping work outfits.

"Is something the matter?" Cynthia asked now getting up and walking closer, her lucario still between her and the three men.

"Just a routine inspection. Making sure that the storm didn't cause any damage. With every thing that went on a few days ago with Raikou here in the city and how he might have made the storm worse, its been a busy few days. We're only just now getting around to checking up on the small docks and making sure everything is fine." The dock worker quickly stated.

"Hello Cynthia, I'm Dock Master John Sun. We've also been asked by the local authorities to report any major problems to them. There's that kid from the news, and Team Galactic who were both spotted in the city, so we're taking the chance to also check in on things in general." The larger of the two men wearing Trinity Shipping gear asked.

"Ah, I've been following that myself. Had a run in with all of them already even, so I've doing some personal research on it in my spare time now." Cynthia stated, finally finished with fixing up her hair ornaments.

"I wouldn't know much that I'm afraid. I'm was just asked to report in any sightings of this list of pokemon here and a few people reported watching a gardevoir walk down the dock. We just want to check in on that?" John asked.

"And of course, one of the traveling companions of Thomas's has a shiny gardevoir, which is why your here no doubt." Cynthia noted. "Well, come on over, don't be shy. I won't let anyone hurt you."

Verna was a bit confused, but went along with her, not able to really feel what Cynthia was thinking, but slowly coming out trusting her enough right now to at least play along, not that she had a lot of choice.

Even as she stepped forward though, Cynthia's lucario made sure to keep her back just a bit, a paw showing her to stop from getting too close, but still coming into view.

"I was unaware you had a gardevoir. I mean I'm q-quite an avid fan." The dock worker said.

"Oh she's not mine, well not legally and on paper per say. She's a rescue mon and a bit of a special case. James is a good friend of mine, and I'm giving her to him. I know he'll take good care of them." Cynthia stated.

"The... uh report just mentioned a gardevoir, not a shiny one..." John noted.

"Oh I'm not surprised. In this rain, even a small psychic barrier might as well be a thick water covered window. Sure you can sort of tell what's on the other side. I mean, look at me. I walked right down here with my lucario, and my gardevoir, but its not like it was easy to see us. I even managed the whole walk without a single fan rushing up to say hello or ask for an autograph." Cynthia gave a small shrug.

"And... the person you where with down the docks?" John asked.

"My mechanic. He's downstairs ch-" Cynthia started, only for the sounds of a metal falling on metal sounded, just something quick following and some grumbling.

"Gardy dear, please go down on and check on him, see if he needs an extra set of hands. I know it can be a little cramped down there." Cynthia quickly stated, and Verna nodded, walking down the steps.

"Whose downstairs..." John quickly asked, started to try and walk in, but Cynthia's lucario just blocked the door with himself more. "Excuse me, could you stand aside please." John asked the lucario, who just growled a bit in response.

"Now now, behave." Cynthia stated, gently patting her lucario on the head a bit. "You'll need to forgive him. When dealing with Team Galactic at the Shrine of Kyorge a few days ago, I got hit in the side and my lucario's been a little overly protective of me since then. And I already told, my mechanic is downstairs. He was even kind enough to help me carry my groceries down to the boat." Cynthia stated.

"Look, could I just come in and look around for a moment?" John asked.

"That's hardly part of a routine inspection." Cynthia quickly countered.

"Just, trying to do our part ma'am. If you would just invite us in for a moment." John asked, a bit more firmly.

"I most certainly will not. If I so desire, I may end up purchasing this vessel for myself, but I'm not in the practice inviting people I don't know into my friends houses." Cynthia quickly replied.

"It would just be a moment." John tried to repeat, but Cynthia's lucario just growled louder.

"I know how a routine inspection works. This is not the first house boat I've looked into, I've done my research into them quite well. There's a lot of privacy to had on a house boat like this after all, a most desirable trait when you have an extremely large fan base. And more importantly, my lucario doesn't seem to like you." Cynthia added now.

"Should I call the police and ask for some assistance?" John suddenly stated, the other man in the Trinity Shipping gear giving him a strange look while the ordinary dock worker just gasped out.

"John, that is not how this works and you know it. There's not even small indication of probable cause to ask for police assistance here!" The dock worker stated roughly, only for the other man in Trinity Shipping gear to nudge him again.

"Maybe we should call the police, I'm starting to wonder if something is going on here. Since I'm still technically acting on a governmental request and capacity right now, I can have a pair of Elite Rangers here in twenty minutes." Cynthia stated more firmly and pulling out her pokedex.

"I just so happen to have the Ranger's Headquarters on speed dial, should I call them?" Cynthia asked, John taking a small step back.

"It's fine ma'am... Sorry for intruding. Its been a long few days, and its just the last time I didn't check something thoroughly, I found out that someone was smuggling in pokemon." John stated.

"Oh for Arceus's sake John!" The dock worker stated. "Cynthia, we apologize, we've been overworked the past few days, there's this internal review going on, and this big fire that laid off like two hundred people until its been sorted out. You're clear, its fine, have a nice day, and we ALL apologize for bothering you." The dock worker stated, slowly reaching into the dock, Cynthia's lucario giving a smaller growl, but letting the man reach in and close the door.

"Do you have ANY respect for the Grand Champion of Sinnoh!" The dock worker yelled trying to pull the other men off the Lunar Blessing.

"Report me! Do you have any idea how fast she could get us fired by reporting the three of us. There's already an internal review going on, and you two acting like that could get us all fired, fined, and who knows what all else. I don't know about you two, but I need this job, I've got twins on the way!" The dock worker screamed out loudly as he got off the Lunar Blessing.

Cynthia just watched through the blinds a bit, making sure that they left. She just watched them for now, and being one of the last boats on the dock, knew that they should walk away quickly. It took them a moment, but they finally did and once they left the dock, Cynthia finally walked to the stairs.

"They're gone... who were they." Cynthia called out now.

"Someone you don't want to cross anymore." Dahlia stated as she slowly walked up the stairs.

"Part of the same group who attacked us and in turn, Queen Ilene in Cameran Castle." Xent grumbled as he walked up quickly, crowbar in hand again.

"Xent..." Thomas grumbled.

"I'm sorry, but we aren't exactly in a position to negotiate right now. We can't force her off our boat, and if we cause a scene, then they come right back and we get found out." Xent countered.

"And who are they? Why would someone want you dead before that big "reveal" you had?" Cynthia asked now.

"Its really safer for you if you don't ask questions." Dahlia replied.

"I think someone would need to very desperate or rich to risk going after me personally. Sure, I've been attacked before, but its far more a case of me interfering with groups like Team Galactic while they're trying to carry out some ill plot rather then someone making on me first anyway." Cynthia stated.

"They've already attacked the Cameran Royal Family in the open, inside their own castle. Is it really worth the risk?" Thomas asked, turning as Sarah walked up the stairs now.

"Do... do you think that Suicune could convince her like she did Xent's other friend?" Sarah asked, taking a few deep breathes now, still a bit shaken but recovering.

"So, you have captured Suicune?" Cynthia asked.

"She wanted to travel with me of her own accord..." Thomas sighed, Dahlia giving a small shrug.

"Its worth a shot. Its not like we have a lot to lose right now." Dahlia said.

~xXx~

A long repeated talk, but with more questions about the legendary pokemon themselves and Cynthia had made up her mind about things. Suicune's direct involvement had helped greatly again, but Cynthia's own personal research into the legends, myths, and studies of the legendary pokemon had her a number of more direct questions, including forcing Thomas and in a way Dahlia to admit to be directly connected to the legendary pokemon, eventually admitting to be proper family with them. The whole time she controlled the conversation before at last she made her decision on the matter. While Cynthia refused to just "abandon" the group, she did at least agree to let them leave in peace for now with a few conditions.

First off, Cynthia demanded a way to stay on contact with them, and then she wanted a little more proof, something a bit more then just their word. Without much of a choice, and with her already telling them that she was on her way to talk with Andrew and Vivian Falston, as well as to see Mewtwo, the only thing that Thomas could think of to offer any kind of proof was for her to visit Queen Ilene at Cameran Castle.

It was well past seven thirty that evening by the time that Cynthia left and a late start into the night. While everyone else slept, Xent stayed at the helm and started them on the trip out of Coral Coast City off to get to Veilstone City as fast as possible.

This left the others to try and get some sleep, and while Rebecca was eager to try and help comfort Thomas some more, Thomas's and Radara's senses were only getting worse and in a bad way. Their shared connection was fuzzy at times now depending on where it felt like each of them were in the world, and that night, the two of them shared a bed, Radara sleeping on Thomas's chest just to feel each other properly.

Seeing Thomas and Radara so messed up though also caused a number of other problems however, especially in Dahlia who was starting to have a nervous breakdown. Suicune, Juno, and Verna were all at her side to help her out.

The next two days were roughly the same, and while Sarah finally got her nerve fully back, it still wasn't easy. Another round of news reports followed Thomas's actions, with many now speculating that there had to be some kind of connection between Thomas and the legendary pokemon after footage surfaced of his involvement in the incident between Raikou and Team Galactic.

As they reached the edge of Veilstone City on the morning of the next day, Dahlia had taken a few things into her own hands and made sure the the group docked very specifically at a dock on the very far east side of the city, where there dozens of similar other fancy boats.

"Dahlia... isn't this a bit... over the top?" Xent asked as he pulled into the docks where Dahlia told him to.

"Just find the slot numbered twenty-seven." Dahlia said as she looked around a bit more. "Is that it up there?" She asked pointing out a numbered sign post.

"Yep, that's it." Xent stated not liking it as Dahlia found the empty spot for them to park the Lunar Blessing. "Look, why are even stopping here. There's a small dock at the edge of the city."

"Because, you can't just leave a fancy boat like mine in the middle of a grouping of more basic boats for a week or more without attracting attention if no one is on it." Dahlia replied. "If you want to hide a tree, plant it in a forest, but if the tree your trying to hide is different then every other tree around, why hide it in the first place. The best place to hide a luxury boat is in a group of them, and if all of us are going with Thomas and Radara, then someone needs to watch my boat, and the people paid to guard the docks here are use to all of these fancy boats anyway, one more won't stand out."

Xent just stopped for a second and then gave a small nod. "Point taken... This might be a better place to hide it." Xent stated, only for Dahlia to quickly put a large cap on his head. "Wh-hey." Xent started going to take it back off, but Dahlia shook her head.

"You'll thank me in a second." Dahlia replied.

"Is everyone ready?" Thomas called out as he brought up his trainer bag along with Xent's bag and the standard hiking pack for the larger things.

"Did you get my bag already?" Xent called back.

"By the door already, underneath the hiking pack." Thomas replied.

"Then I'm all set." Xent called out as he pulled into the dock. Seeing the boat come up, a man came down from a small hut on the pier and quickly set about helping them pull into the dock, moving down and motioning for Xent to keep pulling in closer and closer until finally waving at him for to stop, then starting to tie the boat down for them.

"I understand the hat now..." Xent stated, giving a nod to the man who had hopped down onto the outer ring of the boat, and made sure that it was secure, and even flipped over the Lunar Blessing built in ramp and set it up against the dock.

"You ready to get into your pokeball?" Xent asked.

"I'm staying out to help make sure that everything goes smoothly. Sarah should be getting a coat for me." Dahlia replied as Sarah was coming up the stairs with her own trainer bag and two coats.

"I'm ready. Everything set up here?" Sarah asked as she came up and offered Dahlia a coat as Thomas was closing all the blinds fully now.

"I'll be carrying an umbrella for Sarah if you would take her bag please." Dahlia asked, Xent just nodding seeing that Dahlia seemed to have a plan right now.

Getting his own coat, and handing Thomas a hat as well while he got a coat, and took his bag and the hiking pack.

This left Xent to carry Sarah's and his own bag, just following along with the plan. "Just stick close." Dahlia noted, barely pulling her gown up a bit to remain hidden under the long coat. Walking out, the attendant on the dock just double checked things, only sparing a minor glance at them

"Have a good day sirs and ma'am." The attendant called out, even going so far as to start looking the boat over and checking off a few things.

"Just keep going along." Dahlia said quietly holding the umbrella over herself and Sarah while Radara gave them all a psychic umbrella for now. Walking down to the end of the dock though, Dahlia just gently pointed something out as they reached the end of the dock.

A pair of men in suits were just standing there outside the office under a large awning and waiting, the taller of the two men holding up two umbrellas, one for himself, and one for a somewhat smaller man. Both of them were clearly higher dressed and fit with the rest of the fancy boats and more, with matching fancy sunglasses as well. The smaller man though was holding up a sign, a rather fancy boarding sign that just read "Party of J.T." in bright neon letters to be easily readable in the heavy rain.

The sign stuck out easily, and Xent quickly moved up beside Dahlia. "J.T. As in Julia Trinity... please tell me you arranged this." Xent stated quickly, extremely worried now.

"I'm saving my brother and sister." Dahlia replied softly, and just moved forward.

The rest of them all looked confused, but followed Dahlia's lead as they walked up. "Party of J.T." Dahlia stated softly looking over them. The two men looked to Dahlia, and then each other before nodding.

"This way please." The shorter man stated and turned, leading them down the road and past the offices.

"What's going on?" Thomas quietly asked as he just followed along, Radara paying extra close attention to the two men. Their minds were very well guarded, but she couldn't feel any ill intent form them, all of them just forced to trust Dahlia right now.

"I just said that I'm helping to try and save you and Radara." Dahlia just as quietly replied.

The two men just lead them along into a very nearby parking garage and up the second floor to the back corner where there were only a few cars. "Miss Asagi wishes to extend her congratulations on what appears to be a successful escape. That said, she does not so readily approve of such contact so quickly. While she is prepared help in this situation, she recommends not making such contact for another few years. In the meantime, we will make sure your vessel remains secure until your return." The shorter man told her while the larger man now walked up to Xent.

"The car has a thirty gallon tank, and averages twenty miles to the gallon on the highways. While it has an effective range of six hundred miles per tank, its recommend that you top off before you reach four hundred miles per tank. Additionally, I highly request that you only use premium fuels when applicable." The taller man stated as Xent looked over the cars in the corner. There five cars there, and two of them were fancy business cars.

"First off, premium gas is just a rip off, but if Julia says so, it's her money. Secondly, what car?" Xent asked, only for the man to hold out a set of keys, and the clicked the open button the key ring. One of the two fancy cars quickly blipped its lights twice while the man just seemed to glare at Xent some.

"Rental paperwork has already been filled out in full and is located in the glove box. If you need roadside assistance or repairs, there is a list of proper mechanics to deal with mechanical issue and there is a list of towing companies in the immediate region who are paid to value privacy. Be sure to use them." The man stated, a bit annoyed perhaps, but not starting anything as he left, the two men starting to walk back towards the dock.

"So... uh... Do we just get in and go or what?" Sarah asked, Dahlia already moving over to get in.

"I'll be in the back with Sarah. There should be enough truck space for our bags and this should take all the way to Terrace in quick fashion. We'll have to walk from there, but it should save us three, maybe four days of walking." Dahlia stated, moving over and opening the truck, before moving around the car to get in.

Thomas just shrugged for now, before moving to put the bags he had into the truck, and Xent did the same, before the rest of them got in, Radara getting in back with Dahlia and Sarah.

As Xent got in though, it was immediately evident that the car was very high end and fancy, even fancier then it looked at first glance.

A digital display on the dashboard, heated seats, heated cup holders, charging station for all manner of handheld device and even a hook up for pokedexs and pokephones with video receiver to make video calls on while keeping both hands on the steering wheel. Xent quickly turned back and looked into the back.

"Do you have any idea what it means to be subtle?" Xent snapped as he looked back at Dahlia. "This is anything but subtle, we stick out like a sore thumb in this, we can't afford to be spending money like this, and how do even know they won't betray us!"

"Do you have any idea how much my net worth was and how many favors I'm owed. I will not sit back and watch Thomas and Radara my fate. If there's even a chance that I can save them, that I can help them somehow keep the bond that they have in tact, I'll do whatever I can to help out." Dahlia snapped back.

"Hey, hey calm down please." Thomas quickly stated now.

"Xent, its fine. We'll manage. This does save time, and a lot it, and the less time that we spend in the city the better. This looks like any standard rental office rental car for business trips." Sarah stated.

"Standard? This thing has heated seats and cup holders, the dashboard looks like a computer, and I know that the panels here and the windows were all designed to reduce noise. This thing is not just an average car you find at any dealer." Xent stated.

"But the body is a basic office model. Until you get inside it, you couldn't pick it out from a hundred other basic office models." Sarah replied. "I mean sure its got all the bells and whistles, but you couldn't tell that at first glance."

"Sarah's got a point. We'll be sitting down for at least seven hours one way, so maybe I wanted something comfortable. But this car won't stand out just by looking at it, it really is a basic business car at first glance." Dahlia continued.

'Xent, its fine. Just because someone has money doesn't make them stand out horribly. I've seen plenty of times where people have no idea who in a car until they are literately pulled over and being looked right at. Vivian, Thomas's foster mother this life is surprisingly well known in the Hoenn region, but no one can pick her out in a rental car just because its a rental car and from the outside, this thing hardly counts and high class luxury.' Radara stated.

"If we get pulled over for any reason, I'm not having any of it from any of you, I'm bolting not giving anyone a chance to catch before torch this thing." Xent snapped, before turning back around and sitting down. "Seat belts, now. If we have to run in this thing, I'm not taking it gentle just because you aren't strapped in right."

"Xent, please calm down." Thomas asked as everyone started to put their seat belts on.

"I am as calm as I am going to get right now." Xent replied as he started the car. "Where are we going? How close can we get to this, what'd you call it, the Lucario Kingdom?"

"Check the GPS for a called Terrace. We'll have to drive around the mountain to get there, but its as close to the valley as we're going to get in a car." Dahlia said.

Reaching over and setting his pokedex on the dash and plugging it in to charge, Xent quickly found the town of Terrace and grumbled again. There was only a single hotel there, and a few food places, and practically nothing else according to the GPS.

"Really? We won't stick out there?" He grumbled and started.

"Xent, please calm down." Sarah asked quietly.

~xXx~

The drive was long, taking almost eight hours do some road work. By the time that they started to pull into Terrace, it late afternoon approaching early evening, but the distance did provide some cover from the rain. As they approached, Xent just looked over the stretch of road that made up Terrace, the collective group of maybe twenty some buildings and a few side roads that lead to some houses one of the smallest towns that he had seen.

"Are you sure this is it?" Xent asked.

"This is Terrace. That building over there, the one with the sign saying rentals and cold beer. Pull in back there." Dahlia stated and Xent just did as he was told. Pulling up behind the building, there were a few metal sheds with garage bay doors on them and a man was coming out from the main shop.

"Well, can't say its the fanciest car I ever seen, but its up there. You four... three looking some specific or you just fancy trainers looking a quick thrill?" A woman asked as she walked out and barely spared a glance at them.

"Just tell her we're here for a hiking trip." Dahlia quietly replied.

"Just here hoping to do some hiking." Thomas replied as he got out.

"Well, ain't no hair off my head. Someone's daddy got money to spend, not like I'm gonna turn it down. How long you planning on stay for?"

"A few weeks, maybe less." Thomas said.

"Alright. You want a guide while your here, you need a wait a day though. Casey ain't back yet." The woman stated.

"We're good. I think we'll be just fine without one." Thomas replied.

"Fair nuff. Listen, garage is twenty-five bucks a day, I'mma make sure it ain't disturbed but I ain't washing it, it'll be a bit dusty in a few days. Cash, up front. And if you ain't back before you say, I'm only gonna give you an three days before I slap a tire lock on it and then it will be five hundred more on top of the rent money for me to unlock it. Oh, and the driver comes up and signs the paperwork." The woman stated as she moved over to one of the small buildings, pulling off her key ring to unlock the door.

"Alright." Thomas replied just going along with it and Xent pulled into the bay grumbling a bit again.

Once inside the bay, everyone got out and Xent walked into the building with the woman while others unpacked and got ready to head out.

It didn't take long before Xent returned with a key to the garage and a small envelope with the paperwork. "I signed it for three weeks just to be safe. She also gave me a whole lecture about leaving the wild lucarios around here alone. As she put it... Some of them carios round here will fuck you boy, so best leave em alone. I tried to clarify if she meant fuck you up, but she told me it was best to leave them alone. I guess that means we're close to the right place." Xent replied as he took his bag from Thomas and then followed Dahlia and Sarah were starting up the mountain.

Half an hour later, they were well enough from Terrace and Dahlia and Radara didn't feel anyone else around. Feeling that they were safe enough right now, Thomas released Suicune who was still heavily worried about Thomas and Radara. After being reassured again that everything was fine, Suicune started to lead up the mountain herself now.

She quickly found one of caves that they needed, and it was a slow walk through the caves, where they eventually had to set up camp for the night inside the cave. Juno watched over them for the night, and when they woke up, they just continued along the way.

Several hours spent in the cave system with Suicune leading and finally they were out, seeing natural light again at last. Suicune quickly forward and the others followed, all of them eager to get out of the cave, none more so then Thomas and Radara who were still feeling more and more lost.

Exiting the cave, the group stood on a large flat piece of land looking into a valley in the middle of the mountains, with barely a light rain present over them. "Its been ages since we've been here hasn't it..." Thomas said as he just looked over the valley, the place looking untouched by people from the current view.

"Its been almost four hundred years for me and Radara..." Thomas added.

"And almost eight hundred for me..." Dahlia noted as she walked up with Thomas and Radara looking over the valley.

"So... where's this kingdom at? And this temple?" Xent asked, taking a chance to enjoy the view, but not seeing anything out of the ordinary.

'The entire forest down there is their kingdom. But the actual village they have is not in view from this angle. It will be just around that section of rocky walls there.' Suicune pointed out, using a ribbon to point over toward their left side.

"I mean they have huts and a few dens inside the forest itself, but its not like they have a lot of buildings like you would find in a human settlement. Those kinds of structures are usually reserved for just the main village around the temple." Dahlia explained.

"So... these lucarios actually have constructed buildings though?" Sarah asked, a bit amazed by the thought.

"There's always been a small group of humans whose lived beside them here in the valley. Its been a closely guarded secret for a few thousand years. The original kingdom was started before our time, before our first birth even." Thomas explained.

"That that would make it over four thousand years old. Long time to keep secret." Xent noted as he started down the path following Suicune now.

'Our mother tried to plant a crystal tree here long ago, much like the Tree of Beginnings. It didn't survive well enough here and toppled many generations ago. But some of the power of the crystals remained and continued to give life. The lucarios of the valley here are unique though. Some of them are more attuned to aura then others and the crystals that make up the roots of the tree call out to them. Those who feeling this calling and follow it are more powerful with aura then others. These lucarios serve as the guardians of this kingdom where our mother allowed them to live in peace, a place all their own.' Suicune explained.

'But they did not live alone. There has always been a small tribe of humans who lived in peace beside them even in the ancient days. They were the humans who were first known as aura guardians, and some of them tried to take the ways of aura out into the world with them. All were sworn to secrecy, but the original tribe has never really left the surrounding area and have helped protect the lucario kingdom for generations.' Radara added.

"Rea Beck Ann also studied aura here for nearly ten years, before the human she was partnered to train with was asked to go to what would now be Johto. She was always fascinated with the legendary pokemon and of course us god-children." Dahlia smirked. "She took quite the fancy to our brother Thomas in a past life." Dahlia grinned.

Thomas just gave a loud sigh though and gently shook his head. "Yes... yes she liked me a lot."

"And you gave her every reason to." Dahlia teased.

'Can you please not tease us right now.' Radara grumbled herself.

"Fine fine..." Dahlia said with a sly grin.

'Be nice now. All of you.' Suicune said softly, but with a hint of amusement herself. Another few minutes of silent travel now though and Suicune stopped, before pointing over the valley once more.

'And now, you can see the temple.' Suicune stated, and looking over the valley, they could see just barely around the rock wall that had blocked their view before. There in the now slowly exposed rock wall was a a spire of bright green stone. As they walked further down the path, more of the structure came into view.

A large chunk of the mountain wall was made of a glassy green stone, a massive structure of what looked like crystal woven into the mountain. While not the same as the temple that they had found in the mountains north of Olivine City in the Johto region, it was still just as fancy, and there was another even larger golden cross of Arceus coming into view as they walked along.

Even more, there at the base of the temple in a very large clearing with a few streams was a village of some kind, small wooden huts, a farm, and a few other things all there around a rather large wooden structure in the middle.

"Fancy much?" Xent asked.

"It is a Grand Temple, a religious and holy site dedicated the proper word and peace of our mother." Thomas replied.