"WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP!"

Ari groaned while he rubbed his eyes, slowly stirring awake as he tried to tune off the noise in his mind. He would panic at the yelling if it weren't because he was used to the intensity of his Brionne friend. Right, she spent the night with them at home and stayed awake late playing games.

It was fun, but now he wondered how Cora could have any energy left after sleeping 4 hours. Well, that's what everyone else thought when he used to have those nightmares and he still forced himself to go to class, so whatever.

Nimb was equally as exhausted, but he pushed himself up and cast the Brionne an annoyed look.

"There's no need to yell…"

"I know, but Maia said breakfast is ready!" Cora said, bouncing on Nimb's bed. The bird slept in the same bed as Ari to give Cora a bed for her to sleep in, but both of them were fine with sharing the space. It wasn't like they weren't used to being so close to each other all the time.

"Right, ugh… What time did we go to sleep last night?" Ari asked, slowly sitting on the edge of his bed.

"Dunno, but who cares, there's no class today so… Oh, how is your injury, Ari?"

Ari looked down and inspected the bandage around his chest, the same one he got after he was burnt a few days ago in the incident. He grimaced at the thought but pushed it to the back of his mind.

"I think it's getting better. The doctor said I'm going to have a lasting scar since the burn was a bit severe, but at least I don't feel much pain now."

Cora smiled and jumped to his bed, giving him a gentle pat on the back. "I'm glad! You're just too strong to be affected by such minor inconvenience!"

Nimb narrowed his eyes. "Well, I wouldn't say 'minor', but okay."

"Yeah, I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the whole thing… Not just about Armarouge, but the other stuff too," Ari explained. "Mystery dungeons being artificially created is really messed up."

Cora shrugged. "It is… But there's not much you can do about it for now, just let the police investigate this. They now have the evidence, so they can't keep pretending that nothing is happening."

"I guess you're right."

"Guuuys I'm hungry," Nimb interrupted, pulling Ari's tail and making him flinch. "Someone take me to the living room and feed meeee, I can't mooove…"

"Ouch, I'm gonna take you there but by kicking you. Remember how good of an aim I have? And how strong my legs are?" Ari demonstrated by standing up on top of the bed and motioning like he was about to kick Nimb.

Nimb rolled out of bed hastily. "Okay, okayyyy, I'll move by myself!"

Ari smirked. "That's more like it."

"Good, we're all up now!" Cora said. "Or down. I guess Nimb can just roll all the way there."

That he did. Nimb just dragged himself through the door and the other two watched with amusement. They were about to leave as well, but Ari stopped as he noticed the item on top of the desk. It was a wooden cube with different icons carved into it.

"Damn, I never got to solve that puzzle in the end," Ari said, and he approached it and snatched the item. "I wanna keep trying later."

"You liked that, huh? You spent most of the night trying to solve it and you're still not tired of it," Cora said, bringing a flipper to her waist.

"I like puzzles, they're cool. Even if I take forever to solve one, it still feels satisfying whenever I make progress with them."

"Mhm, nice. But I'm hungry and Nimb is looking at me funny, so let's-a goooo!" Cora ran ahead, leaving Ari behind as he focused on the puzzle once again. He then raised his head and gasped.

"Ah, wait!"

Nimb swallowed the remaining bit of his berry and coughed violently, once again going feral mode whenever he ate. Maia gave him some pats on the back followed by a gentle stroke and chuckled.

"I told you to take it easy, you're going to choke one day, Nimb."

"I told him too," Ari said, and he chewed on his own berry and went back to his puzzle. "I don't want another accident like that again."

Maia frowned. "Like what?"

"Uhhhh nothing, Noida was fine in the end!"

Cora and Maia gave him a confused look while Nimb drank some water, now feeling better. "Food will never kill me, I might be soft on the exterior, but my insides are water-proof!"

Cora raised her metaphorical eyebrow at him. "Water-proof?"

"Uh… I'm a rock type, so water is kinda bad for me I guess? I thought the message was clear." He shrugged.

"... Ah, okay then." Cora then turned to Maia. "Anyway, thanks for inviting me to stay for the night, I had so much fun!"

Maia smiled at her. "It's no problem, Cora! You can come whenever you want."

Cora nodded with a brightened expression and then approached Ari and Nimb and wrapped her flippers on their shoulders. "So… Wanna go explore the town? See some new places?"

Ari smiled sheepishly at her, tapping her flipper while he rested his other arm on the dining table. "That sounds like a cool plan and all but… Don't you think there's not much more to see here? It's been more than a month since we arrived."

"Uhhh I guess… I wish we could go visit your hometown, I've heard wonders about it!" Cora said.

Ari wasn't too convinced, and he looked away with an awkward smile. "I… think you can understand why I don't wanna go back there."

Cora deflated. "Right…" She then brightened again as she turned to Nimb. "Oh, what about your old home? What is it like?"

Nimb tensed. "Uhhhh n-no, I mean, t-there's not much to see in Relic Park!"

Maia suddenly dropped her cup and widened her eyes at him. "Did you say… Relic Park?"

Nimb flinched hard, realizing his mistake a bit too late. "I… I did?"

"But that's not that far away! We could get there at noon by flying!"

Ari noticed what was happening, gave Nimb a concerned look, and then looked back at Maia. "Wait, you're not thinking about…?"

The Decidueye suddenly stood up and nodded with determination. "Nimb? I want to pay your family a visit."

Nimb sank in his seat, but Cora grabbed him before he phased through the chair. "W-what? No wait! We really d-don't have to-"

Maia interrupted him. "Are your parents abusive with you too?"

"W-well, I wouldn't say that, but-"

"Then that's all I need to know. You left your family without giving them any explanation, so as your current tutor, it's my responsibility to talk to them about the situation and at least get to know them. I need to know, Nimb."

Nimb and Maia looked at each other's eyes for a long moment, the latter not giving up on her determination, until Nimb sighed. "I… I understand…"

Ari rested his paw on Nimb's shoulder and tried to defend him. "But Maia, I'm sure he had his reasons to leave! What if something happens? I don't want Nimb to suffer because of this…"

Maia looked at both of them for a long moment, then at Cora, who just looked completely oblivious to whatever was going on. Eventually, Maia shook her head. "Nimb, you will be okay because I'm gonna be there. I'm not going to abandon you there either, I just want to meet your family, that's all."

The Riolu gave Nimb another concerned look, but Nimb just looked away, a bit sad. "It's fine. I… I guess this was inevitable."

"Well, even if that's the case… I'll be by your side at all times, alright?" Ari reassured, wrapping his arm around him.

"... Thanks, Ari." He smiled.

Cora, who was trying not to interrupt the familiar affairs, raised her flipper. "I, um… Can I come too?"

Maia nodded. "Of course! The only issue is how to carry all three of you, hmmm…"

The issue was solved quite fast. Maia took a moment to visit a certain other teacher, someone that she trusted enough since they'd shared many moments together in the academy and even outside of it, much to the kids' surprise. It was Emeric the Noivern, the same one Ari didn't properly meet until the Toxtricity incident.

It didn't take Maia that long to convince him to help them, so they soon took flight towards Relic Park, with Maia carrying Cora and Emeric carrying both Ari and Nimb. Even if Nimb was nervous around someone he hadn't even met before, he didn't want to stay far from Ari for that long, so he chose to go with him.

"So… Family reunion, huh?" Emeric asked as he flew a bit higher to avoid an air current. "Are you excited?

"Y-yeah… I g-guess…"

Nimb wasn't excited. On top of the anxiety of seeing them again, he was trapped with a stranger at 200 meters above the ground. He was still not over his fear of heights, and he was almost choking Ari with his wings wrapped tightly around the Riolu's torso.

"Ugh… Uh, don't worry if he doesn't say much, he's just shy…" Ari said, struggling to let out the words. He didn't want to complain about Nimb's grip, probably more afraid of him falling down than concerned about his own lung capacity.

"I get that," Emeric said. "But you'll have to get over that shyness eventually. Look at me, I'm about to get in the middle of two families while not being a part of them. And am I nervous? No, because I know I've been invited."

"R-right…" That didn't make Nimb feel any better.

"Look, I think we're almost there! That's Relic Park!"

Everyone perked up as they saw a small forest at the foot of a mountain, with wide open areas between the trees, some of the trees being much bigger than others. Near that forest, there was a big area that didn't have a single tree, at least not that they could see from the sky. Ari wondered about that.

Maia gestured for Emeric to go down, and both approached the forest while slowing down, eventually landing without any issue. The forest wasn't dense and it was well illuminated. It looked pretty, and Ari could understand why someone would want to live there.

Some pokémon were wandering around, looking at the newcomers with curiosity. There were Sudowoodo, Sunflora, Cranidos, Rockruff, Cradily, and a Serperior. Then, from inside a treehouse, a Cubone, a Squirtle and an Excadrill peeked to see who was coming. Maia couldn't help but notice some of them didn't look with just curiosity, but wariness. It seemed they were unwanted visitors, but she didn't care now.

"Okay, now what?" Cora asked, turning then to Nimb. "Where do we find your family?"

Nimb sighed. "They live in a big tree not far from here. Just… Try not to draw too much attention…"

"Why? Are you scared of these pokémon?" Ari asked.

"That's not it, I-"

"Nimbus?"

Everyone turned around and saw an Archen, not the same one they knew but very similar looking, with longer feathers on his neck, and he looked like he had just seen a ghost. Nimb, on the contrary, looked quite unamused, almost frowning.

"... Hi, Vayu."

There was a collective gasp as everyone realized what was going on, and both Ari and Cora had to double-check on both archens trying to spot the similarities.

"You're Nimb's brother?" Maia asked and then tilted his head as he registered the previous words. "Wait, did you call him… 'Nimbus'?"

Vayu the Archen snorted. "Of course, that's his name." He then shook his head and approached Nimb. "But forget about that, you're back! Come on, we gotta tell the others!"

He grabbed Nimb's wing and started running away from the group.

"Ah, wait!" Ari called as he, Maia and Emeric quickly ran behind them, leaving Cora eating dust and coughing.

"Hey, don't leave me here, I can't run that fast!" Cora yelled. The Noivern turned around and grabbed Cora, earning a squeak from her. He placed her on his back and ran ahead before she could even react. "Woah, thank you."

Ari couldn't help but worry, knowing the concern that Nimb had about his family, for what he'd said so far. He was being dragged straight into it, and he had no idea if his little bird friend would be able to handle it. Ari was determined to stay by his side at all moments.

The archens went past many other families, dodging trees and cave entrances and crossing a small river until they reached the big tree that Nimb mentioned earlier. He really undersold it before; that tree was huge. Worst of it was that it wasn't even the biggest one around, since the area was pretty much filled with similar trees like that one.

Many of them were hollow on the inside and had families living within. Cora was awestruck; she would love to live in one of those if it wasn't because her current home was perfect for a water type like her.

The tree in front of them had a couple of holes acting as windows and a bigger one as the door, with only a leaf curtain acting as the door. Ari could only wonder how they stayed warm in winter without actual doors. Could they light bonfires inside those trees without burning the whole forest?

The thought of that sent chills through Ari's bones, with the memories of Misty Valley still fresh in his mind. However, his thoughts were interrupted when the second Archen yelled.

"MOM, DAD, PAN! NIMB IS BAAAACK!"

Everyone flinched at the booming voice, but they flinched harder when they heard strong footsteps coming from the inside. A few seconds later, three figures came from the doorhole, one by one. An Archen, this one bigger than the first two, and two Archeops. Their faces were those of surprise and disbelief.

Slowly, the female Archeops took a couple of steps forward, scanning Nimb up and down, until her expression turned into a scowl.

"... Nimbus. So you decided to come back?"

"Well well, I wasn't expecting to see you again, haha!" The remaining Archen, a female, said.

Nimb flinched and looked away. If Ari was beside him, he would have used him as a shield, but with Vayu dragging him like that he didn't have anyone who he trusted to turn into.

Eventually, Nimb gained the courage to respond. "Hello… W-we were just visiting."

"Is that so? After two years, you show up just like that?" The male Archeops said calmly. He waited for a response, but Nimb didn't say anything, so instead he turned to the strangers. "And who are these?"

Maia spoke first. "We're coming with him. I'm Maia, his teacher in Gholdengo's Academy, and these with me are Emeric, Ari and Cora."

The father arched an eyebrow at that. "Academy? What are you getting yourself into, Nimbus?"

Nimb sighed. "I… might have joined an investigation team."

"A… what?" The mother asked. "You ran away to play detectives?"

Ari, sensing the tension, stepped forward and stood beside the one Archen he knew. "He's not playing! We're a team, and we've solved many cases so far! Well, maybe only about five, but still-"

"I'm not asking you, Riolu," she responded bluntly. "You've been hanging out with civilized pokémon, Nimbus?"

Ari frowned. Oh no, they happened to run into that kind of wild pokémon. Well, it seemed like they weren't wanted there, good. Before Nimb could answer, Emeric let out an annoyed snarl.

"So what if he was? He's old enough to decide who he wants to spend time with," the Noivern said.

Maia was both surprised and mortified by that. She didn't want to have any problems with Nimb's family. "Uh, forgive him, I know we might not be the kind of pokémon you wanted to see, but I ask you that we let our differences aside for now. I just want to get to know my student's family, if that's fine with you."

Both Archeops looked at the newcomers with intensity, eyes narrowed as they studied them. Slowly, their suspicious expressions softened and the mother let out a deep sigh, and she… smiled?

"Welcome home, Nimbus."

Ari frowned. What? Just… What? He couldn't understand, just a moment ago they were clearly hostile towards their son, and now it turns out they're friendly? There had to be more to it, right?

The male Archeops went inside and gestured for them to enter. "Come on, let's talk inside… I suppose you can bring all those… civilized as well."

Cora swallowed, clearly uncomfortable. At least they were allowed there, but she suddenly felt like she was intruding on family affairs and with a clearly conflictive one. She wasn't so sure that it was a good idea to come anymore. Emeric, on the other hand, didn't care too much.

Ari, Cora, Nimb, Maia and Emeric followed the bird family inside, an awkward silence falling between them as they inspected the tree's interior. It had been carved cautiously to make it look cozy and clean, with a few pictures painted on the walls depicting various species of pokémon, and many holes acting as windows.

For a place that was built inside a tree, it was well-illuminated, and there was a big wooden table in the center of the room with hay seats around it. There was a set of stairs leading to the next floor, probably where they slept.

Ari wasn't expecting something so… clean, coming from wild pokémon. But then again, he didn't know what he expected, it's not like he had been in any wild mon home before. The main difference from what he was used to was the lack of technology and the exclusive usage of handmade materials.

The Archeops duo stopped and turned to their guests. The male spoke first. "Sit wherever you can, we don't have enough seats for all of you."

Everyone nodded, and once the locals sat on their hay seats, the guests sat around the table however they could, with the smaller pokémon on the front line and the adults behind them.

"So…" The mother finally said. "What have you been doing all this time? Why did you leave?"

Nimb looked aside nervously, but Ari held his claw to give some support. "I don't know… I w-wanted something different. This life wasn't for me, so I left."

The male Archeops stomped a foot on the ground, annoyed. "And you just run away like a coward? I'm pretty sure we didn't raise you like that."

Nimb flinched, and Ari stepped in. "Please, try to understand his situation. He's not a coward for wanting to find a place to actually fit in."

"Yeah, and I'd say he's doing much better than the first time we met!" Cora said, proudly.

"Guys, thank you…" Nimb said with a subtle smile.

Pan, who happened to be Nimb's teasing sister, snorted. "Really? Does little Nimbus actually talk to new people? I don't believe that, haha!"

"Well, you're seeing it," Nimb responded a bit annoyed.

"So… investigator, huh?" The father asked. "How did that happen?"

Maia decided to finally explain herself. "Well you know, Mister…"

"I'm Kai, and Isla is my mate," the father responded.

"Right, Misters Kai and Isla, I just happened to find both your son and Ari here," she pointed at the Riolu, "when they were being attacked by a powerful pokémon that's still on the run, and I took them in at my house. They were thinking of joining the academy because they wanted to investigate it, and I happened to be a teacher there, so I pulled some strings."

"A powerful pokémon?" Kai said with a growing frown and he looked at Nimb. "You couldn't fight them? You certainly need more training."

"It wasn't a normal pokémon," Maia responded seriously. "I could only contain it for a moment, I assure you that wasn't just a pokémon, it was worse than a feral."

Isla crossed her wings as she thought about it. "And nobody could catch them? That sounds dangerous…"

"It was. That's the pokémon who did this to me," Ari said as he pointed to the bandage around his chest. "We… ran into it again recently."

"Sounds to me like you're a magnet for trouble," Kai said, and Ari flinched at that, but didn't find any words against that. That was just what Ari needed to hear now, of all things.

"Or maybe it's Nimbus," Pan said, laughing. "He was probably too scared to fight and just cowered behind someone all the time.

Nimb looked away with embarrassment, but Vayu jumped in before anyone could retort, shaking Nimb excitedly. "Hey, how is it to be an investigator? Are you fighting baddies with the power of knowledge or something? Are you like a real detective?"

"Eh… W-well, that's like…" Nimb stammered, his frown slowly vanishing.

The conversation eventually turned into a narration of all of Nimb's experiences since the moment he met Ari, how they joined the academy, their classes, investigations, their recent encounters with the Rising Bandits…

It was hard to tell what his parents were thinking about all of it, but Pan and Vayu looked interested. Maia and Cora were adding their own parts as well, and the mood was quite better than before, but there was still something wrong.

Ari.

The more he listened, the less he understood what was going on. Why was Nimb smiling now? Why did everyone look so… comfortable? And why was he the only one that wasn't?

"So you actually went to a mystery dungeon more than once…" Isla said. "And you learned a new move? That's impressive."

Kai snorted. "Let's not celebrate just yet. Nimbus only fought because he had no choice, but he even chose a job that's not about fighting at all."

"Well, but this is progress, right?" Vayu intervened, bumping Nimb on the side. "He even speaks to all these new pokémon without having a mental breakdown, and I wouldn't have ever bet on him."

Nimb rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Geez, thanks…"

Cora rested her flipper on Nimb's shoulder and smiled at him. "That's right, you've changed a lot since I met you! You're doing great, Nimb!"

"Okay, maybe you're not such a pushover. That's the only compliment you'll get from me," Pan said as she crossed her wings.

Nimb was blushing now, not used to getting so much praise, but it was only the beginning, as Maia decided to add her own part. "He's also getting really good grades, he's quite smart for a kid his age."

Kai was hesitant now, even if he didn't want to show it. "Well… I suppose you haven't been wasting your time in the end."

Isla shook her head. "I'm sure what he means is that… you did well, Nimbus. Even if you disappeared for such a long time, you managed to survive on your own and you became stronger. We're proud of you."

"Mom…" Nimb almost wanted to cry, but he took a deep breath and stayed strong. "Thank you."

The female Archeops extended her wing and stroked Nimb's head carefully, and he smiled at that. It was a bit unexpected, but he really appreciated that, after being gone for so long. The family was reunited again, and it looked like a happy one as well. There might be some fights and disagreements, but that was a family alright.

Everyone talked happily, forgetting about the bad relationship between wild and civilized pokémon for a while and just enjoying their time as-

Ari coughed three times, sniffing like he had caught something in his nose, and everyone turned to him. "Excuse me, I think I'm getting allergies. I'm gonna head outside to get some air."

Ari stood up and took a big step to jump over Emeric's tail, making his way out of the house. The Noivern looked at him for a moment but didn't think too much of it and returned to the conversation. Nimb and Cora, however, exchanged glances as they had a suspicion of what that could mean, knowing the Riolu.

Before they could say anything, Vayu stood up as well. "I'm boreeed. Can we go play upstairs?"

"Right, how about you kids go with him so we can discuss adult stuff?" Isla asked.

The older sister snorted. "Yeah, whatever."

Cora frowned. "I'm not a kid…!" She then saw the pleading look on Nimb's face, who didn't want to deal with this alone and sighed in defeat. "... It's fine I suppose, heh."

Nimb, Cora, Pan and Vayu left the main room, leaving Maia, Emeric, Isla and Kai alone. Once they were without the presence of the kids, Isla spoke again, in a suspicious tone.

"Okay, why are you doing this?"

Maia frowned. "Pardon me?"

Kai was the one to intervene this time. "Why are you taking care of Nimb? You suddenly appear in his life and turn him into an investigator out of nowhere. He's not a detective, he's a fighter. You're only trying to prevent him from unleashing his full potential."

That angered Maia. "I'm preventing him from what? If you knew your son, you'd know his potential isn't fighting."

"And he's doing something he enjoys now," Emeric said, sitting closer to the table and resting a claw on Maia's shoulder. "You should be happy about that."

Isla hesitated. "Well, that's good, but it's still not the way we do things here. He should know that."

"But he's not living here now," Maia retorted.

Isla and Kai looked at each other, the Archeops couple showing distress at that. Kai wasn't happy at all, and he glared back at the guests.

"Don't you go acting like his parents! As far as I'm concerned, you could be just kidnappers pretending to care about Nimbus," Kai said.

Maia flinched. That was going to be a tough conversation.

The room was pretty much the same as the one downstairs, but smaller and without a table, just hay beds on different sides of the room. No decorations, just windows and beds. Cora saw it pretty boring, but she guessed it was enough to live there. She just wished she'd bring a toy with her as Ari did.

Instead of joining the brotherly reunion, Pan just went straight for her bed and lay there. "I'm gonna take a nap, don't be too noisy."

Vayu was going to be noisy. "Come on, Nimb! Show me your new move!"

Nimb rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to use it here, I might burn the tree."

But that wasn't what Vayu wanted. The younger Archen tackled Nimb annoyedly, pushing him back a little, and snarled. "You're so boring! Come on, use it!"

"Ugh, I don't wanna! Cora, help me here!"

Pan grunted from her bed. "You two shut up already!"

Cora was feeling completely out of place. And really uncomfortable. "I uh… Hehe… I wonder what's Ari doing?"

That made Nimb drop his scowl. "Right… He didn't look happy, and I think I know why."

"Who cares? Come on. Show. Me. That. Move." Vayu insisted, pulling Nimb's tail repeatedly with each word. Painfully so.

Nimb was growing more annoyed with each passing moment. Vayu was around his age but it sure didn't show. "You don't even care that I got stronger, you just want your fireworks display, don't you? Ugh…"

"FIREWORKS!"

"... You know what? I'm going to check on Ari," Nimb said, and he turned to Cora. "Please, could you keep Vayu entertained while I go look for him?"

Vayu turned his head abruptly towards the Brionne, and she tensed. "H-huh? Are you sure? I mean, I'm used to playing with my bro, but this is…"

"Pleaseeee?" Nimb said, with those cutesy eyes nobody could say no to.

"... Ahhhhhh alright. You owe me, you know…" Cora let out a deep sigh and flinched once she felt the other Archen perching on her flipper.

Vayu stared at her soul for a long moment as he breathed slowly. "Fight me."

"What?"

"Okay byeeee," Nimb said and quickly left the future murder scene. He quickly ran downstairs and got past the adults without saying a word. Luckily they didn't notice him since Emeric was pretty big and he could just slip behind him without the need of any explanation.

Once he got outside, Nimb looked around trying to spot the Riolu, but he wasn't nearby, so he started going around the tree. Luckily, he didn't need to look for a long time, since Ari was resting against a tree not too far away from the back of his treehouse.

Ari was fidgeting with the wooden cube from earlier that day, trying to solve the puzzle with no apparent progress being made. He tried to rotate it in different ways but he eventually huffed in annoyance and rested his back against the tree, staring at the sky.

Nimb came closer. "... Hey, Ari."

Ari looked at him for a moment, but then his eyes returned to the sky. "... Hi."

Nimb sat down next to him, and they stood in silence for a long moment until Ari returned to his puzzle. Nimb didn't know what to say.

"You never told me your real name."

Nimb was surprised by that, flinching slightly. He looked away sadly. "I don't actually like that name too much…"

Ari stopped and nodded after a few seconds. "I understand." Another silence came while Ari kept fidgeting with his puzzle. "... I thought I liked this puzzle. I usually like finding different ways to make the pieces match."

"I see…"

"But even when the pieces seem to fit perfectly and I feel like I'm about to get the whole picture, there's one piece that just…"

Ari stopped, staring at his cube as he got stuck at the last square.

"... Doesn't fit."

Nimb frowned. He got the feeling this wasn't about puzzles. "You know you have me, right? You're not alone, Ari…"

Ari clenched his fist and dropped his cube aside, finally turning to Nimb with an annoyed glare, something Nimb wasn't expecting.

"That's not it, Nimb! Ugh, I never had a real family, I was beaten up, insulted, and ignored for my whole life! But you? You had a loving family that actually cared about you and wanted to see you grow and you just…. ran away!"

"Ari, that's not exactly…"

"IT IS!" Ari stood up and his scowl turned into a pained frown. "You had all this and you gave up on it just because of some minor disputes! I thought you and I had gone through something similar and you understood how I felt, but who am I kidding? We're nothing alike!"

That hurt Nimb way more than Ari could imagine.

Ari panted, trying to calm down after snapping at Nimb and regretting his tone as he saw the scared look on him. Nimb was just speechless. A part of him knew Ari was right, but this just… didn't feel like the full truth.

"I know I'm not alone, but…" Ari sagged, looking away and lowering his voice. "Now I feel like I am, somehow."

Nimb stepped forward, but he was hesitating. "Ari, I'm… I'm sorry…"

Ari shook his head and embraced himself. "It doesn't matter. I just need some time, that's all. I'll be back later."

"Are… Are you sure?"

Ari nodded. "Please."

Nimb took a deep breath and looked away. "Okay… We'll talk later."

With that, Nimb turned around and returned to his treehouse, leaving Ari to reflect and stare at his puzzle cube without actually doing anything. He couldn't stop thinking about what he just said. A part of him felt bad for snapping like that, but he couldn't help but be mad at Nimb.

Nimb had lied to him, in a way. All that time, feeling like he finally had a brother… but his brother already had siblings. Real siblings. He was nothing compared to that. He was just a stranger that showed up out of nowhere and just… tagged along.

Ari thought at first that Nimb needed him, and that's why he decided to stay with Nimb. That was a lie. It was Ari the one who needed Nimb, and the only one whose family never loved him.

His anger made him ask for Nimb to leave, but those angry thoughts were turning into depressing ones and now he wished he wasn't alone. Luckily for him, he could hear a familiar voice coming closer.

"Hey, Ari…" It was Cora.

Ari looked up in a mix of relief and embarrassment. "Oh, Cora… Did Nimb tell you to come see me? Too much for 'I need some time', I guess…"

Cora frowned and started to turn around. "Well, I can leave if you want me to-"

"Wait!" Ari extended his arm desperately. "... Please, stay."

Cora turned back and smiled softly before sitting down next to him. They stayed silent for a long moment, Cora worried about choosing the correct words and Ari was too embarrassed about his situation to talk.

Eventually, Cora broke the silence. "... Are you mad at Nimb?"

"... Yes. He lied to me, he made it seem like his family was awful, but you saw what I saw, right?"

"Did he really ever specify that his family was awful? Or was that the impression you got?"

Ari hesitated. "Well, I… He always looked sad when the topic was brought up!"

"Weeeeell I wouldn't say that's the same."

"But… ugh, I don't know anymore," Ari said and crossed his arms in annoyance, looking away from the Brionne. "He had it way better than I did."

"Ari… You more than anyone should know this. The fact that you had it worse doesn't change how Nimb felt about his situation. He wasn't happy living here."

The Riolu frowned at that. He… he knew that, but still, it was unfair. Maybe he was exaggerating a bit, but how couldn't he? After all he's been through…

"Maybe I'm just jealous of him. I don't know…"

Ari was surprised at himself for saying that. He hadn't even realized until now, but that was probably one of the reasons why he was mad.

"Jealous?" Cora asked with a tilt of her head.

"Yeah. He has a loving family. I don't have that, I never did."

"But what about Maia and Nimb? Aren't they your family now?"

Ari felt his breath hitching at that. "I… No, maybe Nimb is kinda like a brother to me, but Maia is just our teacher… who happens to let us live with her."

"Awwww come on! I saw how Maia worried about you when you were trapped in the nightmare, she's kinda like a new mom to you, obviously!" Cora giggled.

Ari couldn't hide his blush, but he tried to suppress it before she noticed. He let out a deep sigh. "I'm not a kid anymore, Cora… It's too late for me to have something like that."

Cora dramatically supported herself on Ari's shoulder and whined. "Aaariiiii, don't be like thaaat! You're only fifteen!"

Cora's display made Ari chuckle a little, but he tried to pretend he wasn't amused. It was hard for him to stay too sad with such a clown of a friend, which he was grateful for. That didn't change that he was a bit mad at Nimb, though. But it did make him see things a bit differently.

Ari sighed. "I'm so dumb… This day was supposed to have Nimb's name written all over it, and somehow I managed to make it all about myself once again. I wish I wouldn't attract so much attention sometimes, it's embarrassing."

Cora leaned back and smiled. "Don't sweat it, you just need to let it out sometimes. I did the same with our last case too."

"Yeah… Anyway, we really should head back now."

"Sounds good."

Ari and Cora returned to the treehouse, getting suspicious looks from the folk on their way, probably because they weren't from around there and this time they didn't have the Archeops family around to at least make sure things were under control.

However, once they were back inside, they found a tense scene. Everyone was gathered again and the two Archeops looked angry, while Nimb was quite distressed.

"You can't be serious! I don't wanna do it!" Nimb complained.

Kai glared back. "Well, you have to! Your brother wants to fight you, and if you wanna be a part of the family you have to prove yourself through battles. You know we've always done that."

Nimb stepped back, trembling. "W-why does it have to be what he wants? It's always the same!"

"You were never like this, Nimbus," Isla said. "We didn't raise you to become a rebellious kid. Are you really going to disobey us?"

Both parents looked mad, and none of them looked like they were going to give in. The air was really tense, and not even Pan wanted to make a snarky remark in the middle of that. Nimb trembled.

"B-but… I don't…" Just like that, Nimb's courage had completely vanished. After all that time, he still couldn't face his parents, it was useless. He turned his gaze to the ground in defeat.

Maia wasn't letting that happen, though. She stepped in front of Nimb and spoke." You can't force him to do that! He doesn't want to fight, and you should respect that."

"Excuse me? We're his parents, we decide what he has to do, period," Kai responded with narrowed eyes. He looked close to snapping the tree in half from the interior.

"If you're his parents, why are you actively trying to make him unhappy?" Emeric asked.

Ari could only watch the scene with a bit of unease, worried he might make things worse if he intervened, just like Emeric was doing. Seriously, for someone who was just tagging along and wasn't related to anyone there, the Noivern was meddling a lot. Ari couldn't blame him, though, and it was still appreciated.

Kai didn't like that, however, and he was fuming at this point. "We're not making him unhappy! This is a sacrifice everyone in the family has to make, and he's the only one selfish enough to complain about it!"

Maia shook her head. "For you, it's not a sacrifice, you actually enjoy battling, but he doesn't! You should realize-"

"I'll do it."

Everyone turned to Nimb with surprise. He still looked unsure, and really tense, but he didn't want anyone to argue because of him. That was his own problem, and he had to deal with it.

"Nimb! Are you sure?" Maia asked, stepping aside as Nimb approached his parents.

"Yes… I'll fight. But please, stop arguing."

Kai and Isla exchanged looks, slowly smiling again. Meanwhile, Pan looked amused and Vayu was hopping around in excitement.

"That's more like it. See? It wasn't that hard!" The mother said.

"Come on then, let's get to a wider area so you two can get started," Kai said, moving to the entrance.

Ari looked at Nimb in concern. He looked really nervous, but Ari didn't know what to do anymore. He thought of reassuring him, but as soon as Nimb looked back at him Ari looked away. It was still early after that argument, it just… would be awkward. He couldn't bring himself to even look at Nimb in the eyes.

Nimb was desperate for support at that moment, and judging by the way Ari was avoiding his gaze, he realized he wasn't going to get it. However, Cora approached him and patted him on the back, smiling widely.

"You can do it, Nimb! It's just this once, and then you don't have to do it again," Cora said.

Nimb sighed. "I… don't know about that."

Everyone had moved to an open area not far from there, the same one Ari noticed when they were flying right before arriving at Relic Park. Now that they were actually there, it was easy to see that there used to be trees there, but they were all cut down; only the stumps remained. It was a strange sight.

Before anyone could think too much about it, Kai spoke up.

"Attention, everyone! My son Nimbus has returned, so he and Vayu are going to delight us with a battle!"

Cora gasped once she noticed the amount of pokémon that was slowly approaching the area, all of them from Relic Park. It seemed this was a common event in the area, and that matched what Nimb had told Ari so far about his experience when he used to live there. The locals had the tradition of hosting battles which everyone was invited to watch.

Much Nimb's dismay.

Once everyone was gathered around the improvised arena, Nimb and Vayu went to opposite sides of the arena and turned to each other. Vayu was clearly the only one excited about that, judging by his determined look.

Kai and Isla were standing on one side of the arena, far enough away so as not to get in the way, with Pan behind them sitting under a tree. On the other side, Ari, Cora, Maia and Emeric watched with unease. Ari still didn't want to get closer, though.

Nimb was trying so hard to ignore the stares of the dozens of pokémon that surrounded the arena, but he could feel his heart beating faster and his breath hitched. It was starting to get overwhelming, but he couldn't just hide behind a rock now. That wasn't the first time he was in that situation.

"Alright, this battle will end as soon as one of the combatants cannot go on, as simple as that," Kai announced. "With that out of the way, get ready…"

Nimb tensed, and Vayu crouched as he prepared to break into a run. Isla smiled excitedly while Pan yawned. Maia gripped Emeric's arm/wing to ease her nerves, and Cora swallowed. Ari took a deep breath.

"FIGHT!" Kai yelled.

Vayu started running in Nimb's direction really fast, and Nimb was quickly reminded that his brother knew quick attack. He yelped as he jumped high enough to avoid the impact, and Vayu skidded to a stop and turned around, trying again once Nimb had landed. This time, the attack hit him and he was sent flying.

"Argh!" Nimb grunted as he landed on the hard soil, and he could hear a gasp coming from Maia. A quick glance told him Ari was now watching in concern, but he quickly looked away. Nimb shook it off and stood back up.

"Come on, this is too easy!" Vayu teased. "Do something already!"

Nimb gritted his teeth. "O-okay, how about… T-THIS!"

Nimb generated rock fragments that were thrown at his foe, but he dodged them easily and ran in front of him. Nimb gasped but didn't move as his brother leered at him and made him lose his courage. Vayu took his chance to hit Nimb with his own barrage of rocks, but Nimb rolled to the side. He couldn't avoid all of the fragments, however, and he squealed in pain.

It was painful, but it wasn't the worst he had been in. However, he couldn't help himself, and this time he turned to look at Ari for reassurance. He just needed his support, but he was…

He was looking now. Ari was clenching both fists as he looked at him as if he wanted to yell something. He didn't, but as they kept looking at each other, Ari's frown worsened with concern.

That wasn't the reassurance Nimb wanted, but at least it was a sign that Ari was worried about him. And Nimb didn't want him to worry.

Nimb slapped himself and returned his gaze towards Vayu, slightly more determined. He spat a bluish flame that Vayu dodged with graze, but he wasn't expecting a second dragon breath that hit his face and made him stagger.

"Ouch! That was dragon breath? Cool!" Vayu said, somehow ignoring the pain.

Nimb groaned in annoyance and tried to get closer to him, but out of nowhere many copies of Vayu appeared out of thin air all around Nimb, which confused him. He tried to use rock throw to disperse the false archens, hitting most of them but failing to find the real one.

From behind him, the real Vayu attacked with his own rock fragments, hitting Nimb on his back and sending him to eat dirt once again. He spat and tried to clean the mud off his eyes, but he felt humiliated. Once he looked around and saw the faces of everyone watching, he froze.

They were laughing. Was it because he was covered in dirt? Was it because he was failing? It didn't matter, it was happening again. He wasn't a good fighter, and he wasn't even worth the spectacle. Well, maybe for a laugh or two, but nothing more.

Nimb was shaking and barely holding back the tears. No matter how much he told himself he was getting better, he was still useless. He shouldn't have come back home. He knew this would happen, and yet…

"NIMB!"

Nimb opened his eyes and looked to the source of the voice: Ari. He was gesturing with both arms like he was flapping some nonexistent wings, and Nimb realized what he meant by that.

"W-what? Are you sure?" Nimb asked.

"Yes, I know you can do it!" Ari yelled, finally smiling. "YOU know you can do it! But remember… You're here to fight for something else!"

Something else…?

Nimb looked at him for a bit longer and found that his true brother was fully trusting him now. Even after all that happened, he was still there for him. That snapped him out of his trance. Nimb stood up, now ignoring the laughter and focusing only on the other Archen.

Vayu ran ahead with another quick attack, and Nimb braced for it… but instead of staying still, he kicked the dirt, some of it landing on Vayu's face before he could reach Nimb, which made him fail in his trajectory and miss Nimb.

Nimb turned around and extended his wings. He inhaled, then exhaled. Eyes open. Target set. He was ready.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

Nimb ran ahead with his wings spread widely, ignoring the looks, ignoring the pokémon who always laughed at him at moments like this, and focusing only on his new family and friends. He thought about Maia, about Cora. About Ari.

The wing attack impacted Vayu's torso, sending him back a few meters and falling with a loud thud. Vayu groaned in pain, trying to stand back up, and everyone cheered as the battle reached its climax.

That was it, Nimb could win this. He was almost there, only one more hit and that stupid battle would be over! He just needed to…

'You're here to fight for something else.'

Ari's words resonated in Nimb's mind, and he gasped. Why hadn't he realized before? If he was strong enough to win that battle, he was also strong enough to…

"Come on, Nimbus!" Kai cheered. "Attack now!"

"I WON'T!"

Everyone gasped. Emeric tilted his head. Cora and Ari beamed. Kai and Isla frowned. Pokémon whispered.

"What do you mean you won't?" Kai asked. "You're almost there!"

"I know… But I don't wanna fight! I never wanted to!" Nimb said with a shaky voice. "I already told you…"

"What's all of this about, Nimbus? You can't say that now!" Isla said.

However, Nimb was done with all that crap. He stepped forward, getting closer to his parents, ignoring the confused look of Vayu, who was already standing up again. "I said… I won't fight anymore!"

Kai narrowed his eyes and snarled. "Nimbus, drop that nonsense already! I say you fight and that's what you'll do!"

"I won't! And s-stop calling me Nimbus! It's Nimb… p-please."

Kai flinched. His son was… disregarding him? That was unheard of. Isla wasn't happy either, and she stomped her foot on the ground with annoyance.

"Now you're also disrespecting your own name?" Isla said. "You're disappointing us so much, I can't believe you've turned into such a bad-mannered kid."

Nimb frowned deeper. "Times change, we don't have to fight out of dangerous situations like in ancient times, and… I'm not a wild pokémon anymore! I… I just want to be HAPPY! A-and if I have to confront you to achieve that, then so be it!"

BOOM!

Nimb turned around and found that Vayu had tried to attack him while he wasn't looking, only to be stopped by Ari's protect barrier.

"He said he doesn't want to battle!" Ari said. "You should respect that."

"Ari!" Nimb smiled at him, grateful. Ari smiled back.

"Those civilized pokémon were a bad influence on you! You shouldn't have stayed with them, look at what they did to you!" Isla said.

"Excuse me?" Maia intervened, stepping into the arena as well, followed by Cora and Emeric, who also looked angry. "At least we were there for him and helped him gain all the courage he has now, which he never had while living with you!"

"Okay, that's it! You think you can just come here and-"

Nimb tuned the argument out as Ari grabbed his wing and ran away from the arena with him in tow. The ruckus faded out behind them as they went somewhere safe, away from that crazy family and all the wild pokémon living there.

Once they were far enough and no one was around, Ari stopped and both he and Nimb gasped for breath. Ari put a paw over his chest bandage, feeling the pain rising back, but it receded after a moment. He forgot he was supposed to take it easy. Once Nimb was looking back at him, he embraced the Archen.

"You were amazing! I knew you could do it, you're the best," Ari said. Nimb blushed, but he coughed as the Riolu was squeezing him. Ari realized and let him go. "Whoops, sorry."

Nimb scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Yeah… You were right, that wasn't my fight. My only fight was to finally stand my ground against my parents. And honestly… it was scary, but it felt good. Really good."

"Yeah, I'm so glad…" Ari's smile slowly faded as he looked away. "Hey Nimb… I'm sorry for earlier. I shouldn't be mad at you, you had your own reasons to be sad about your family, no matter if they're not as bad as mine. I shouldn't have ignored that."

Nimb's eyes widened at that, and he smiled. "Ari, it's okay. I'm glad you were there for me in the end." He sighed. "You know… I've realized that my problem isn't that I want to run away from battles, but… I was running away from confrontations. I couldn't say what I really wanted because I was scared of making things worse."

Ari nodded. "Yeah… I know that feeling."

"But all of this happened because I wanted to do something different than what my family expected from me. I wonder if I was born wrong…"

Ari shook his head rapidly. "No way! Everyone is different, and that's pretty cool, I think. I take back what I said earlier; in that way, you're like me, but also different! You're perfect the way you are, Nimb. Don't ever forget that, okay?"

Nimb felt a warmth in his chest as he looked at the Riolu, and he teared up a little. "Ari… Thank you so much."

"Don't mention it, bro. Once we get back home, we can play some more games together. How does that sound?" Ari said while he took the puzzle cube from his bag and showed it to Nimb.

"You're still obsessed with that puzzle? Haha… Fine by me."

Ari smiled and hugged him again, while Nimb pressed tight against him, enjoying the warmth. Ari felt Nimb's feathers tickling his fur, which made him chuckle a bit. Nimb didn't mind; he was just focused on feeling the vibration of Ari's neck as Nimb rested his head against it.

Ari then kissed Nimb's head, and the Archen snapped his eyes open.

"Did you just… kiss me?"

"Yeah."

"... Thank you."

The brothers kept the embrace for a bit longer until they heard someone calling. It was the voice of the male Archeops, who still sounded mad. Ari and Nimb stopped hugging and looked to see who was coming. Isla, Pan, Vayu, Emeric, Maia and Cora were also there.

"Nimbus… I mean, Nimb." Kai said, and that caught Nimb's attention.

"Did you just…?" Nimb asked.

Kai frowned. "Forget that. After all of this, I can clearly see I was wrong about you. Isla and I thought about this and we've reached a conclusion."

Nimb and Ari exchanged hopeful looks. Maybe all of that was worth it in the end. Nimb looked back at his father and swallowed.

"So…?"

However, Kai's frown only deepened. "You're banned from coming back home. You're not a part of this family anymore."

Nimb gasped. "WHAT?"

"You gotta be kidding!" Ari said.

"Enough!" Isla said. "If you're not capable of following the rules and traditions of this family, then you're no longer welcome here."

Nimb first felt his heart sinking. Then he felt confusion. Then he felt anger rising to his throat. He was done with this.

"FINE, BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO COME BACK!" Nimb yelled, and Ari had to grab his wing to offer support as he felt the Archen was going to have a panic attack.

"You can't just abandon him like that!" Maia said, frustrated. "What kind of parents are you?"

"Shut up!" Kai said. "You're no one to speak, civilized scum!"

Ari felt his blood boiling. He tried to fidget with the puzzle cube to ease his anxiety, but it wasn't working. "I don't get it, what's your problem with us civilized pokémon? Did we do something to you or what?"

"What do you think?" Isla growled. "Look around you!"

"... Eh?"

Ari glanced around with a confused look. What was all that about? There was nothing around there… Only them and the tree stumps.

Wait…

"Don't you realize or what?" Kai said. "You civilized pokémon keep taking everything away from us! The trees were cut down by people like YOU!"

Cora and Nimb gasped, but Ari could only freeze as he realized what was going on.

"Those… all those trees…? But that can't be true, r-right?" Ari stammered.

Isla shook her head. "You're just so naïve... That thing you're holding on your paw was made from trees like the ones that were cut down here."

Ari stared at the cube in disbelief. All this time, he was playing with something that was made with…

"An entire chunk of our precious home was destroyed so you could play your stupid games," Kai said. "And you ask why we hate civilized pokémon?"

Pan and Vayu weren't saying a word, all of that being too tense even for them to joke about it. Emeric and Maia shared knowing looks like this wasn't new to them, but they weren't happy either. Cora and Nimb hadn't thought about all that either and were as shocked as Ari.

Ari was just staring now. His paws were trembling, and he couldn't stop thinking about everything. That puzzle he was playing with… No, everything he had. All those toys, or even furniture! Where did that come from? Was it all… like that?

Wild pokémon were actually…?

"I didn't know…" That was all Ari could say.

"Hmpf. This is a waste of our time. Let's go, family," Kai said, and he turned around before giving Nimb one last look.

Nimb stared back with an unreadable expression. Nothing was said.

Once Kai left, Vayu, Pan and Isla followed behind without a word. Everyone looked at Nimb for a moment too, a look that wasn't all disappointment, but also… concern. But still…

Nothing was said.

Ari, Nimb, Cora, Maia and Emeric were left there, still processing all that had just happened. It was funny how everything had gone downhill so fast. Cora rested a flipper on Nimb's shoulder for comfort, but he wasn't even crying.

He was free, in a way.

Ari was just conflicted. He didn't even pay attention when Maia turned to them.

"...You all wait here. I'm going to do something real quick," Maia said. Cora was confused, but she didn't have time to ask questions as Maia was already leaving.

"I hope she's not going to fight them or something… She can be scary sometimes!" Cora said.

"Don't sweat it, kid, she's quite smart. I'm sure she knows what she's doing," Emeric reassured, and then he moved to stroke Nimb's head without a warning. Nimb didn't react at first, but then he turned to him with an embarrassed look. Emeric snorted at that.

Time went by as they talked, with Ari being the quietest as he kept staring at his toy lost in thoughts. Eventually, Maia returned and everyone perked up. She didn't look mad anymore, somehow.

"Maia? What happened there?" Cora asked.

"Ah, don't worry, I just needed to clarify something with them. Nothing you should concern yourselves with," Maia explained with a smile.

Ari finally snapped out of his thoughts and looked at her. "So what about Nimb now?"

Maia approached both Ari and Nimb and enveloped them in a warm embrace, surprising both of them. "Nimb has a new family now. And you too, Ari."

Nimb froze. It had been a long day with a lot of emotions, and he was exhausted. However, he had still room for one more emotion. Tears began forming in his eyes once more, but this time they weren't caused by anxiety.

He couldn't take it any longer and cried in the embrace, hugging Maia in return. He knew he had another family, but some reassurance was never unwelcome. Ari, on the other hand, didn't expect that. He looked at Nimb, the crying mess he was, and felt something change.

Maybe he was allowed to have this. Maybe it wasn't so bad… that Nimb wasn't the only one with a family. Ari was there too, as weird as he felt. Even if he was old enough to be on his own.

It felt… warm.

For now, he would forget about those thoughts. He just leaned into the embrace and stopped thinking. He'd deal with his thoughts later.

It had been several days since the Relic Park incident. Nimb was feeling better about it, and he was slowly accepting that he wouldn't be able to go back to his old family ever again. It wasn't that bad for him, after all, he had a new home and Maia was taking good care of him.

He was happy.

Ari was still hesitant, but he also felt better. Bismuth Town was his home, it had been for quite some time already, and he was slowly accepting that he had a new family. Sometimes, thoughts crossed his mind about the possibility of that changing at some point. That maybe Maia would change her mind, or get tired of him.

But so far, that never happened.

Ari stood in front of the mirror in the bedroom, staring at his bandage for a long moment until he started unwrapping it, after being told that it should be fully healed already. Once he took the final strap, he saw it.

A big scar on his chest, right where his heart would be. It was just a burn, but that scar was never going to disappear. It would stay as a reminder for the rest of his life. Ari almost laughed at that. It was so ironic.

"Ari, are you ready? We should head out soon," Nimb called, peeking from the door, and then he saw the scar. "Oh, you already took it off…"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. It looks ugly, doesn't it?" Ari said with an awkward smile.

"Well… You could always cover it with your neck fur since it's quite long. And I don't think it's that bad."

"I guess you're right… Anyway, let me grab something real quick and I'm ready to go."

Ari went to his drawer and opened it, taking a book from it without much care and almost dropping many other items from inside. Ari quickly caught one item that was falling down and sighed in relief. However, once he saw what it was, he frowned.

It was the puzzle cube.

Ari eyed it for a long moment. Ever since that day, he couldn't stop thinking about it. Not just the item, but everything that it meant. Ari had always been in a sheltered view of the world around him, and he never questioned it. He thought everything was alright, and some wild pokémon were just a bit exaggerated. But now…

Everything felt wrong.

Ari let out a deep sigh and put the cube down at the bottom of the drawer, as hidden as possible. He didn't want to play with it anymore. Once he had gathered his stuff, he left along with Nimb, ready to start the day and hopefully not think about that stuff anymore.

Once Ari and Nimb arrived at the academy along with Cora, they encountered Mylo, who was also heading to the classroom. They walked together and exchanged anecdotes from the recent days.

"And my little bro was, covered in chocolate!" Cora said. "He's such a mess, it was a miracle we didn't get banned from the bakery, haha!"

"Romi will get you in trouble one day…" Nimb said.

Mylo noticed Ari wasn't wearing the bandage anymore. "Hey, cool scar you got there. It gives you this experienced vibe."

"Huh? Well, I haven't thought of it like that… I guess that's true, heh," Ari said with a chuckle.

However, once they turned a corner, they found Ryder the Toxtricity threatening another student. Again.

"Come on, say you're sorry!" Ryder said.

The cornered pokémon, a Quilava, whimpered with fear. "S-sorry! It was just an accident, I swear!"

"Oh no…" Ari said. "We can't let this happen again, it's just so… huh?" Ari noticed Mylo was shaking a bit, something he had seen before. He was clenching his fists, knowing there was nothing he could do, like always. "Mylo…"

Mylo shook his head. "I can't watch this… It's better to just leave it be."

He turned around and started walking in another direction, taking the longer way to reach the classroom. Ari, Nimb and Cora watched as he left, once again unable to confront his brother.

"Why are families so complicated…?" Cora said with a sigh.

But Ari didn't want to just… watch. He didn't feel good seeing this, but he was also worried about something bad happening, just like last time. Luckily Emeric would show up in time, but for now…

"Ryder!"

Nimb winced. "Ari, what are you doing?"

But Ari kept walking, approaching the blue Toxtricity and leaving Cora and Nimb behind, who were watching in horror.

"Huh? You again?" Ryder said, releasing the Quilava, who only stayed there, frozen.

Ari didn't know if this was the right thing to do. So far, he'd been able to solve things peacefully and there were no consequences… almost. Kyle's words echoed in his mind.

'Sanah treated you like trash, and yet you still gave all you got to help her. I know it turned out well and you're friends now, but in most cases that's not going to happen.'

Maybe he was right. Maybe he should just listen to him and forget about this. But this was Mylo's brother! If they're family, they probably weren't that different, right? Or… maybe they were. Ari should have learned the lesson by now.

And yet…

"Ryder… I know you don't really enjoy doing this. Please, I'm sure things can be solved peacefully. Let's talk, okay?"

He couldn't be truly bad, right? Okay, maybe he was disregarding Kyle and Emeric's warnings, but it would turn out okay! Probably.

"... Are you retarded or what?" Ryder said, approaching the Riolu menacingly. "Don't you see I'm in the middle of something?"

"I… I know, b-but," Ari continued. "I don't like seeing things like this happening. Please, let's just talk! Did something happen to you to make you this easily angered? You c-can tell me, I just wanna help."

Cora facepalmed. He couldn't be serious. Nimb also didn't like that, but he wasn't going to come closer; he was too scared.

Ryder growled. "What are you, my therapist? Listen to me, you femboy, watch your mouth if you don't wanna have a piece of this!"

Ari trembled. That was starting to backfire on him. "No, I just… I just wanna get along well with you! I'm sure that if we-"

He was interrupted as Ryder pushed him to the wall with a loud thud.

"Okay, that's it! Don't tell me I didn't warn you!"

Ryder raised his fist and prepared to punch Ari in the face, and he flinched hard. He would have used protect if it wasn't because he was pretty much frozen from his domestic abuse traumas.

POW!

Ari slowly opened his eyes. That punch didn't land on his face. Instead, he saw that Mylo had appeared out of nowhere and punched Ryder in the face, dropping Ari and staggering.

"Mylo!" Ari said with surprise.

Ryder recovered and turned to his brother with an angry scowl. "What are you…? Mylo, you son of a bitch!"

Mylo's face was contorted in a mixture of anger and fear. He was shaking a bit, but he had forced himself to stand his ground in order to protect Ari.

"Stop… harassing him. Leave Ari alone!"

Ryder rubbed his cheek where the punch had landed, and he glared back. "I don't think you're in a good place to ask that, you know!?"

"I DON'T CARE! I can't stand seeing you harass everyone…" Mylo said.

Ari, Nimb and Cora only watched without saying anything. The air was tense like a storm could start at any moment.

"Mylo… If I were you, I'd watch my tone… I'm giving you one last chance to go back from where you came from, or you know what'll happen!" Ryder threatened, looking angrier than ever.

Mylo tensed. That was it, he couldn't take it anymore. No matter what he did, that was going to haunt him for the rest of his life. It wasn't worth it anymore. He let out a deep sigh.

"I've… already made up my mind. Stop. Harassing. Everyone."

Ryder frowned. Then, that turned into confusion. And finally, a wicked grin. "That's it, then. You're done for. I'll see you in court."

Ryder started walking away, passing by Cora and Nimb, who were just watching in disbelief. Quilava was still processing everything, but he didn't say anything either. Then, Mylo let his shoulders slump in defeat.

"What… was that?" Nimb said.

Mylo stayed silent. He wasn't like himself anymore. All his courage, his determination, his resilience… all of it was gone now.

Ari knew that Mylo couldn't do anything to his brother for reasons he never wanted to explain. Ryder could ruin Mylo's life, somehow. But how? Ari turned to the yellow Toxtricity with a frown.

"Mylo… Are you okay?"

Mylo stayed still for a longer moment until he started walking away.

"No, I'm not. Goodbye, everyone," he said.

"What?" Nimb asked in disbelief.

"Wait, Mylo! Where are you going?" Cora asked.

Mylo stopped without facing them. "... To the police station. I'm gonna turn myself in."

Ari swallowed a lump in his throat. "Mylo… Just w-what did you do?"

Another long silence. A deep sigh. He turned around, and two unrecognizable darkened eyes stared back at them.

"I killed my parents."

Well. That was concerning. Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter! It probably wasn't what you were expecting since Nimb's family wasn't exactly as bad as it could have been, but we got a ton of wholesome moments! By the way, shoutouts to Random for proofreading this fic! Without him, this would be awful to read, I assure you. Go read his fic PMD: Connected by a Web! I keep finding more and more similarities between our fics...

Next time: Ari, Nimb and Sanah investigate Mylo's past.