Interceptor's Wish

by Masterdude21

What started as a young man's search for his abducted mother spirals out of control. Soon, he is fighting a desperate war for survival against greater odds than a more generous God would have allowed. The enemy is everywhere and allies are far too few. With the entire region at stake, who can prevail when fate itself seems set against you? - Novelization of Pokemon Rejuvenation.

18. Terajuma Island

fAN: Full disclosure, I won't be describing the gym battle with Valarie like I did with the previous gyms. This chapter would simply become far too long and bloated - more than it already is - so I'll be wrapping it up with a different approach, after which I'll get back to the more detailed battles I usually write.

Anyway, full Notes at the end of the chapter. Enjoy!

~~~~~~~(0)~~~~~~~

Chapter 5: Imprisoned

Terajuma Island

~~~~~~~(I)~~~~~~~

---

Adam walked into the ship's mess hall and looked around. He saw Val and Saki at the end of one table, Braixen resting her furry head on her arms. He saw some other survivors of the S.S. Oceana huddled together, quietly eating their improvised dinner. He saw Aelita and Em - Melia - bowing over a map, discussing their next move. He didn't see Will anywhere.

He sighed. Business as usual, then. He sat down next to Braixen, took a moment to give her a little head pat, then raised his voice. "So…how long are we going to just let him sit there?"

"I don't know…" Valarie quietly responded. "He didn't seem interested in speaking to any of us."

"Will only comes out when it's time to eat and then quickly goes back to his room," Braixen said without raising her head. "It's not healthy."

"At least he's eating now," Saki added. "Took him two days. I thought he was gonna starve himself to death or somethin'..."

"Saki," Braixen chastised her.

Saki raised her hands in apology. "No foul intended. Just genuine concern. Will's been doing bad before…well, this happened and…I dunno."

Braixen sighed. "I don't know what's going through his head, but it can't be good after…you know."

"Yeah, exactly what I meant. He's been blaming himself for things since day one. I uh…oh man, I got no way to say this nicely. People can do weird shit when they're this low."

"Saki, please," Valarie scoffed. "Not Will. He's tough as nails. He'll pull through…tell her Braixen!"

"I'm not a Psychic-type, Val," Braixen mumbled. "I can't read thoughts or tell the future."

Val stared at her in shock. "Braixen…"

Braixen lifted her head from her forearms. "Aelita and Melia seem to think he'll be okay. They're planning as if he'll continue to be with us, at least. So…make of that what you will."

Adam shoved himself to his feet again. Maybe he just didn't understand. Maybe he was at fault for not getting it. But these were all girls, and Will and him had been the only guys around for some time. Hell, out here, with Melia and Aelita added to the gang, they really were the only dudes. Maybe he just saw things differently. "You guys think too much. I'll be right back."

He stomped out of the mess hall.

~~~~~~~(II)~~~~~~~

---

Aelita had once told him that people had murdered her mother when she'd been young. She didn't know the details, didn't know the culprit. All she knew growing up was her village, her father and the Eldest.

When Professor Jenner had conspired with Team Xen to hand Melia over to them…when Keta had given up his village to the mercy of Madelis…when Indriad had discarded Maria's happiness for his own gains…when Geara had taunted Narcissa about how her love for her husband had blinded her to his many, many crimes…all of that had lingered in his mind, haunting him at night precisely because he had a family member to lose as well. The idea of someone willing to tear apart their own family had seemed so incredibly wrong to him because he had still clung to the hope of finding his mother.

Now she was gone. Team Xen had taken her from him.

But Will's stance hadn't changed. Team Xen had turned a loving father against his daughter. They had murdered a man who had been ready to sacrifice everything he had for his only child. They had taunted a grieving widow, whose only crime had been that she loved someone too much, with the idea that everything was somehow her fault, telling her that they would take so much more than she had already lost.

They wouldn't stop tearing families apart just because they had torn him apart. Now that they knew Melia was still alive, they would do it all over again. Madame X had said as much. They wouldn't ever stop.

So…even if his mother was gone…her words still lingered with him. Find hope. Find love. Find happiness.

Will had found love. He had found happiness. Nim was right. If he threw all of that away now…he would only hurt the people he loved.

He was done seeing people get hurt.

It wouldn't be easy. It would be far from easy. But…in the coming days…weeks…months…years…he would pick himself up. He had to.

As Will continued pulling back together the scattered remnants of his thoughts, the door to his cot opened again and Adam walked in.

"Hey Will," the big guy said. "It's been a few days now…but you've been cooped up in this room ever since. Just wanted to come and say that we're all here for you, man. We're worried!" He hesitated, then somewhat awkwardly, he added, "And I guess…I decided to come check on you because I feel pretty guilty. I don't let no one intimidate me. If I were there…maybe things would be different,"

What if, what if, what if…

"Maybe," Will conceded. "Maybe not."

"Yeah, maybe…" Adam agreed. "It's hard to say. I'm strong, but who knows what's going on with that madame whatever. Anyway, Melia really wants to talk to you. She's on the main deck, but she also said that if you weren't up to talking, then that's fine."

Will didn't immediately respond. Maybe Adam saw that as his cue to leave, cause he gave Will a reassuring nod and then walked off.

…this seemed like the right moment to start picking himself back up. Will slowly got off the bed, grabbed his jacket and left the room.

He hadn't made it more than a few steps before he noticed a familiar, yellow-and-red furred outline. Braixen stood in the hall, keeping a solemn watch over the refugees as they moved around.

And, Will assumed, over him.

"Will!" She said as he approached her. "I'm so sorry about your mother…if only I was stronger…I'm just not that good at fighting. But I should be, I guess."

"I don't think it would have changed anything," Will softly said.

"Nevertheless!" I'm glad to see you're up and about, as they say. How…how are you feeling?"

Will wasn't entirely sure how to answer that. Everything considered, he felt like death worn over given a quick adrenaline injection.

Nevertheless, he wasn't going to focus on his mental wellness for the foreseeable future. As long as they were on open waters in a stolen Xen battleship, it was his physical fitness that would see them through.

Good food and okay-ish sleep had helped his body recover. Physically at least, he felt much better. Moving around still hurt and it would take another week for the bruises to fade, but at least the bone-deep weariness was almost gone.

"I'm alive," he settled for saying.

Braixen closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. "Let's keep it that way, shall we?"

"...yeah."

He moved on. Packing hundreds of refugees on a single warship couldn't have been an easy feat, but his mother had managed it. Somehow, she had always managed things.

Will made his way to the outside of the ship again, to the main deck. The ship was a massive feat of engineering, easily three-hundred meters from stern to stern. With several floors and the rooms designed to accommodate as many people as possible with little room for luxury, Will could see a certain design philosophy at work. Still, taking care of this many displaced refugees had to be a logistical nightmare. So many people had to be wounded or traumatized or even both. The children and the elderly needed to be taken care of, and they all had to be fed. They'd been sailing for days now. When would their rations run out? When would Team Xen locate them and try to finish what they started?

Don't focus on that now, he told himself. That's not your job. Your job is to keep them safe.

Will made his way to the aft section of the ship. There, amidst a dozen other people gazing out at the sea, he spotted Melia. She'd taken up a corner at the back, leaning down on the railing and staring off into the distance.

Much like Crescent, when he first met her.

Do you know who I am?

Thanks to Indriad, there were many things Will didn't know anymore, but he did remember not knowing her, even though his mother seemingly did. He should have asked her about Crescent. He should have asked her why Team Xen was after her, why they had kept her isolated from the rest -

God, he wasn't able to recall even the most basic things. Where was his father? He hadn't been on the ship - did he even have a father anymore?

Why go to Akuwa Town? What kind of Starter Pokemon would mom have preferred? What kind of food would she have liked to eat to celebrate their escape, what was her favorite color, how would she have decorated her sleeping room had they ever made it to Akuwa Town -

Will felt the onset of something bad looming over him - felt his breathing growing more rapid and shallow, felt his throat tighten again. Panic at the ravaged, incomplete state of his mind rose like bile in his throat.

Stop. Focus.

He had to consciously swallow his scattered thoughts, ground himself by focusing on something solid, something that mattered.

Panic later, he told himself. Won't do much good. Focus on the now.

The now.

Crescent was still out there. He'd find her eventually. Or, knowing her, she would find him. He'd get the answers he needed then.

Melia was still here. Madame X would renew her efforts to have her hunted down. He needed to make sure they wouldn't take her.

Aelita sat cross-legged against a massive container, peacefully dozing off.

Valarie was bowing over a large, steel table that was bolted to the deck.

They…looked contemplative. Lost in their thoughts.

Looks like they were all in the same boat together. Hah…

Slowly, Will stepped onto view. He eyed the three ladies, wondering how on earth he'd start a conversation after the last time he'd seen them.

He remained silent for a moment. Then…"Uhm…"

Melia looked up from the railing and glanced his way. "Will!" She shouted. In the span of a literal second, she, Aelita and Valarie were up on their feet and in his face.

They crowded him, bombarding him with questions. Was he doing alright? How was he feeling? How did his head feel? Was he dizzy? Had he eaten?

They were so concerned, so worried about him…yet the only thing Will could focus on was sucking in a deep breath and trying to stave off a new mounting sense of panic. And…that troubled him. These were his friends, his loved ones. Their concern - their proximity and affection - should have put him at ease. So why the panic?

Almost subconsciously, he took a little step back.

"We've been worried sick about you!" Aelita said. "Ever since…well, I'm just glad to see you out here!"

"Had enough rest," Will said, his voice a low whisper. "Team Xen won't let up. I can't either."

Melia stared at him.

"That's as good a reason as any. It's good to see you, Will," Valarie said. "Looks like Saki owes me five bucks. I told her you'd be on your feet before we hit shore!"

Saki…had bet against him? Huh. Maybe she was sharper than he'd thought.

"Will…I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am for what happened…" Melia told him. "I truly wanted to bring your mother with us, but when I spoke with her deep within the castle's dungeon… she seemed to know this would happen. She told me that she would sacrifice herself for your safety. Yours, and everyone else's. She…she made her peace with that."

Will cast his gaze downwards. He'd spent every tear he had. He wouldn't cry again. He couldn't. He'd pulled himself back together this time, but if he broke again…he wasn't sure he would be able to put himself back again. "She…made her peace?"

"I…I was just following her wishes. That was her final request for me," Melia quietly said, looking as if she expected him to lash out at her in fury. That he would yell and rage and…blame her. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Will told her. "You were there with her when she…when she made that call. She wasn't alone. Thanks to you.."

His words came as a massive relief to her. "Thank you for understanding! It means a lot to me! If there's anything that could be said about your mother it's that she was one of the bravest people. To throw away her life to save ours…especially yours…that's a sacrifice I won't ever forget."

…his mother had given her life, knowing she had saved hundreds of people. Knowing that she had saved the person she cared for the most. It was a small consolation, but it was a consolation nonetheless.

"I won't waste it," he said. He had to say it. Not just to his friends, but to himself. For as long as he lived, he would make her sacrifice count. "I won't waste it."

"...Melia, speaking of the castle," Valarie said. "Was saving Will your only goal? Or was there more to it?"

"Getting Will out was my biggest reason, but it wasn't my only one," Melia explained. "I was also sent to investigate the castle and discover the reason why the Xen Initiative held so many people in that castle. I found some…interesting things, namely that Blacksteeple Castle is comprised of two landmasses, and two castle structures. I tried snooping around to get to it, but I couldn't. There was what seemed to be a barrier surrounding it…for some reason."

"A barrier?" Aelita said. "That means it's protecting something."

"Yes! And through some more snooping, I've learned that whatever they're hiding is so secret that not even Xen Admins are authorized to enter!"

Will knew that was important, and he made a mental note of it, but he couldn't help but notice that Melia had said that someone sent her. She'd changed. Not just mentally. Will wouldn't bring it up now, he knew that wasn't something he could put off either.

"And aside from trying to kill us? Was there any other reason to kidnap us?" Val asked.

"Neved said something about trying to gather energy from humans," Melia explained. "He said that conflict and battle created a special type of energy. What they need that energy for is also in the dark."

Aelita made an unhappy noise and backed away. "Okay, I'm done talking about this! I seriously feel so uncomfortable! I'm gonna go chill on the deck for now. See you guys later."

As Aelita walked off, Melia uttered a sigh. "Ah…I guess this stuff is pretty dark. I hope I didn't really scare her. She's been through some rough things."

"She's fine," Val said. "Aelita's tough. I guess I should go back to planning. How long until we reach Akuwa Town again?"

Will felt his stomach clench together painfully. Akuwa Town…he didn't think he could ever feel comfortable there again. In one fell swoop, Xen had ensured that his new hometown would never offer him any solace or comfort. He would never again set foot in that place and think of it as his home.

"We should arrive early in the morning, tomorrow," Melia answered. "I'll be heading back inside as well. It's pretty chilly out here. Okay, Will, a couple of things before I do…Saki went ahead and repaired what Madelis did to your Snag Machine."

"It was never meant for me," Will said. "It's yours if you want it."

Melia simply smiled. "I know the Professor made it for me. It's yours, okay? You did good with it. I think you'll continue to do so. Aaand…I want to discuss something with you. I'll be waiting for you down by the door."

Melia left.

"Man, Akuwa Town, can't wait to get home again," Val said. She raised her arms above her head and stretched, groaning as she did. "Speaking of, Saki told me that's where you were taken as well! Picked the wrong time to visit it, but I can assure you that the place is beautiful. You should drop by sometime! I'd love to invite you to one of our aquashows."

"...Akuwa Town was meant to be our new home," Will quietly said.

Val's body language changed. She looked at him in surprise, her arms dropping by her side. "What? You mean…both of you?"

"Yeah…" Will said. He didn't look at her eyes. "That's why we were on the Oceana when Team Xen attacked it. We moved to this region. We'd have moved into our new house the moment we got there.."

"Oh…I'm…I'm so sorry to hear that…" Valarie said. "Then what are you going to do now? Do you even have a place to stay?"

"...no," Will said. The admission felt painful, like it hadn't been official until the declared it so. "Can't settle down anyway. Better to say mobile and keep fighting."

Valarie was quiet for a while. "I'm glad to hear you're ready for another fight. Huh…to think we might have been neighbors or something….that's wild."

Yeah. He supposed it was.

"Well, I'll get back to work. Just remember Will; you're always welcome to drop by if you want to."

"Thanks Val."

He headed back to the entrance he just came from. Melia stood there, staring at the refugees that walked around the place. She looked up when he approached and offered him a smile. "Hey Will. So uh…when I talked to Neved back in the castle, and with Aelita when you were recovering, I…I heard about the ambush."

Will felt his anxiety ramp up. "Yeah?" He said, trying to keep his expression neutral.

"Um…so I noticed your bruises are still there. You've been so pale lately that they're very hard to miss. People kept asking you about them…so I thought of something."

"I…what?"

"Here, follow me, I'll explain," Melia said. She took him through a few twisting corridors until they reached a pair of bathrooms. Male and female. Melia checked the female bathroom, uttered a victorious little cry and then beckoned him over. "Come, this way."

WIll cocked an eyebrow. "Melia, that's the girl's bathroom."

"Yeah, I know, I know! But it's empty now. It sounds paradoxical, but this is the only way I can help you and do so without people seeing it."

Will shrugged. "Fair enough"

And he followed Melia into the girl's bathroom.

There, Melia parked him in front of the mirror and pulled something out of her handbag. "I picked up a thing or two lately. It was originally meant to help me disguise myself better, buuuut…" Melia picked up a little brush and a makeup kit. "I can help disguise others too!"

Will just stared at her. "Uhm…I don't think makeup will…keep them from recognizing me, Melia."

She laughed. "I'm not that good. No, I'm going to cover up those bruises! U-Unless I've misinterpreted things of course, in that case - "

"No, please," Will said. The less attention he got, the better it would be. He appreciated the concern, but everybody asking him what happened to him the second they saw his face was starting to bother him. He needed to start putting distance between it and himself.

"Alright then~!"

Melia began dancing across his face with her brush. She told him what she did, as she did it. She knew her business; she used words like "neutralizing concealers", "hypoallergenic" and "discoloration", but Will didn't hear everything she said. Melia got real close to him, studying his face intently as she cleaned up his damaged skin and began dabbing at places with her kit.

And he studied her in return. Melia had changed. Her eyes seemed sharper, less youthful. Her features were more angled as well, more…mature? Developed? She looked older. Everything about her seemed to have grown since he last saw her. Before, he'd been a foot taller than her. Now, the crown of her head almost reached his. She moved and talked with a confidence she hadn't openly displayed before.

"Melia…" he started.

"Yeees?"

"...we mourned for you," he quietly said. "Ren and Venam and I. We thought you were dead. How are you - ?"

"...I can't answer that," Melia said. "At least…not here. Not now. Some things aren't meant to be explained yet."

"...okay," Will said. Nevertheless, he needed to be sure. He needed to know she would be safe. "Do you have a place to shelter? Somewhere to go after this?"

"Hmm…well, after we've docked at Oceana Pier at Gearen City, we'll be dropping off Aelita, you and the other refugees…and then I'll head off on my own. Back to where I came from."

"Will you be okay there?"

"Haha, of course I will. Don't worry about me, Will. Team Xen won't be able to get me there. It will be as safe as possible."

Will couldn't physically nod along with her brush half a centimeter above his eye, but at least he was glad that Melia had found a good place to stay. "That's good to hear."

"Right?" She wrapped up her work, then had Will look into the mirror. "Whatcha think?"

Will saw a pale and disheveled young man with brown hair staring back at him. Gone were the dark bags beneath his eyes. Gone were the ugly blotches that marred the side of his face. Or at least, hidden enough that people wouldn't constantly be asking him about them. "Wow…you really are good at this."

He reached up to touch his face and Melia quickly caught his hand. "Ah-ah! You shouldn't touch them. Also, while this makeup is technically rain-proof, it will wear off eventually. So if you start sweating or fighting or something, chances are someone will have to reup this."

"Maybe Adam knows how."

Melia chuckled. "Yeah. Maybe. Well…that's all she wrote for today. You know - "

Someone flung the door open and Saki barged inside. She fumbled with her belt, then spotted Will and Melia. She shot them a puzzled look and stuck her head back outside of the bathroom, as if to confirm that she hadn't made a mistake or something. "I am so confused," she said, before continuing on into one of the stalls.

"Right, we should probably go now. Remember Will! If you want to talk, I'm always around."

WIll mumbled a quiet "thank you" and then followed Melia out of the bathroom. By some miracle, nobody else was close enough to notice the two of them leaving

"Have a nice evening, Will," Melia said before departing.

He watched her go. Her hair billowed ever so gently behind her as she strode away, all confident and purposeful now. He had…so many he wasn't sure where to even begin. He struggled to put them in order. Struggled to put much of anything into order.

Later that day, Will headed back to the mess hall, found himself a little corner in the back that seemed calm enough and sat down. He put his backpack down and fished around for a moment. He placed Mightyena's empty Poke Ball on the table.

He wasn't getting off at Oceana Pier. He'd join the others at Akuwa Town. Put Mightyena's remains to rest. Give him a proper burial. It was the least he could do.

…what would Team Xen do with his mother's remains? Bury her in a shallow, unmarked grave? Would they…

Will couldn't brea finishing that thought. He retrieved Axew's Poke Ball and sent him out, desperate for some distractions.

The little baby Pokemon materialized atop the table. It looked around, all confused, then looked up at Will with his large baby eyes.

Poor thing must have been so confused through it all. Resting in his ball for days, suddenly appearing inside of a moving ship…completely new surroundings, so many new sights to take in.

"Hey little guy," Will said, rubbing Axew's spiked little head. "Welcome to the team."

Axrw growled happily, sitting down on the table and rubbing his head against Will's hand.

They stayed like that for a while, just playing around. Other people came and went. Some drank coffee together. Others enjoyed a quiet meal. Will didn't mind them; they kept to themselves, and didn't bother him.

Eventually, Axew grew bored and darted off, exploring the mess hall on his own. As he did, Wil saw some other people enter the mess hall as well. An older man and woman, someone who could have been their daughter…and Aelita, following closely behind. She looked around for a moment, her eyes scanning the mess hall before finally settling on him.

Will gave her a little wave and she smiled, waving back. She took that as her cue to approach, and she grabbed a seat next to him. "Heya. I see Melia gave you a makeover?"

"I'm all pretty now," Will said.

Aelita laughed. "That, you are. Although…" She gave his face a lookover. "It'll take a few more beauty naps to…uh…improve on things."

"Hmm."

Something like indecision flickered across Aelita's features. "So I'm not really sure where to start. So much happened…and I don't feel like words are going to be enough."

"Let's start with the future, then," Will said. "Are you going back to Sheridan after we reach Akuwa Town?"

Her brow knit together and she looked down at the table for a moment. "I'm…not sure. I hadn't planned for what would come after we got the Snag Machine repaired. What are your plans?"

"A…a quick detour to Akuwa Town. Back to Gearen and…back to the drawing table, I guess."

"You were doing the Gym Challenge, weren't you?"

"Yeah…" Will murmured. It seemed so meaningless now. So trivial.

"Huh…well, at least you're spoiled for choice with Saki and Val and Adam."

"I suppose."

He watched in silence as Axew bumped his head against the steel leg of one of the tables. He fell on his butt, shook his head, and then quickly came running back to his trainer.

Will gently scooped the little Dragon-type from the ground and took him into his lap.

And Aelita's eyes practically sparkled as she saw the little guy. "Oh my god, I completely forgot! After - I-I mean, you've got a cute little new teammate now! "Hi little guy! Can I…?"

"Yeah sure," Will said. He picked Axew up, careful not to cut himself on those tusks of his, and then carefully handed him to Aelita.

"Yay!" Aelita happily said, and Will wasn't sure which of the two was more adorable. "Aren't you the cutest little guy!" She gently caressed Axew's chin with her index finger. "I haven't seen many Pokemon that aren't related to Fighting types. Aren't Dragon types kind of rare?"

"Don't know."

Aelita eyed him for a moment, absentmindedly stroking Axew's head. "I, uh, wanted to talk to you about Melia."

Melia…

She and him both. Half the questions that swam around his head revolved around her. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." She cupped one of Axew's tusks. "She was a real badass, the way she put together the plan to escape Blacksteeple…but she died, didn't she? Even Team Xen thought that."

Yeah. Either she'd somehow survived her encounter with the Galvantula, someone had rescued her, or…or she had somehow used the situation to fake her own death.

At least…was that right? He felt like he had missed something. He still hadn't sorted his thoughts and his mind felt like somehow had thrown a thick, wool blanket over it. He felt like he was missing something important, but he just couldn't see it. Everything was wrong, all spun around and twisted. The world didn't make sense to him anymore. "I asked her that. She said she couldn't explain. Not right now, at least."

"So…she's hiding something?"

Who wasn't, these days? "Yeah. But I don't care. She saved our lives. She's alive, Aelita. I don't care why or how. I…"

"I get that, I really do," Aelita said. "But…don't you think you should? I mean, she said it herself, didn't she? Someone sent her…which means she's now working with people who are opposed to Team Xen."

She did. And Will didn't for the life of him understand how that was possible. Maybe it was worth asking her. If these people had such relevant information on the enemy…perhaps they could help him. Point him the right way. "Baby steps Aelita. Let's try not dying first."

She flinched when he said that. "Y-Yeah. We're not out of hostile waters yet." She gave Axew another run underneath his chin and he growled happily. "Will…I'm so happy you're still with us. After everything that's happened…we'll find a way to pick things back up again. I've got some matters to take care of now, but don't push yourself yet! We'll see where to go tomorrow, when we reach shore."

"Sure. See you later, Aelita."

Aelita handed Axew back, hesitated for a moment, then left.

"...thank you," Wil said to nobody in particular as he stroked Axew's head.

The next morning, Captain Augustus woke everybody with the announcement that they'd be reaching Neverwinter soon. From there, it would be just an hour until they reached Akuwa Town.

Will swung his legs out of his bed, rubbed the sleep from his eyes and reassured himself that he wasn't still in his cell in Blacksteeple Castle. When his brain was sufficiently convinced, he gathered his things and made his way to the prow.

Val was already there, dreamily gazing into the distance as she leaned across the railing of the helicopter pad that oversaw the rest of the prow.

Saki stood all the way at the very tip of the prow, her arms spread out wide as she yelled at the top of her lungs. "I'M FLYING JACK! I'M FLYING!"

Will watched her goof off. Behind him, he heard Melia and Aelita approaching them as well. Aelita had let her hair down, and it drifted behind her as the ocean's wind buffeted the ship. "Morning," he muttered.

"Heya Will!" Aelita said.

"Good morning Will!" Melia pleasantly greeted him. "Did you sleep well?"

Will gave her an uncommitted shrug. His dreams started to have a real disquieting vividness to them. "Better than on the island. You?"

"Well enough, I suppose. We're close to reaching Evergreen Island, which means we'll soon be able to see Akuwa Town on the horizon!"

Aelita took a place against one of the containers, sat down and gazed out over the open sea as the Xen battleship cruised on. Her very first overseas trip, and it was to escape a harsh imprisonment on a stolen warship.

Despite everything, she kept smiling.

"Say…Will, do you like to travel?" Melia asked.

"I don't mind it," Will answered. He couldn't remember if his previous travels had been pleasant or not. His mother and him had left their previous home for some reason. Every step he'd taken since leaving Gearen City had been out of necessity, not pleasure.

"Yeah, travel can be fun! In our case right now, though…uhm…the circumstances can be way better, to say the least."

"Sounds like you've had a few fun travels, then?" Will asked. The ship passed through a bank of mist, as the visibility slowly began to grow worse.

"Oh, yeah! I do like to travel. I've been a few places outside the region, but not for very long. In terms of Aevium itself, I've only been to Route One and Grand Dream City. Grand Dream City is where I met Hapi." She laughed awkwardly. "It's embarrassing, but I think I named Hapi because the only word I could say at the time was "happy"."

"You don't hear that often as a baby's first word," Will said.

"Uh…guys?" Aelita said.

Melia didn't hear her. "Yeah, the Professor always teased me about that story, but I never cared." Her brows knit together as she frowned. "By the way…how is the Professor doing? Not that I'm really that interested, or anything."

Oh, yeah, that was kind of a thing. Melia had no idea what had happened after she disappeared. The crazy things that unfolded in the wake of her death. Maybe someone ought to bring her up to speed eventually. "Someone threw him into an alternate dimension."

The mist slowly grew worse. Will couldn't see the horizon anymore.

Melia looked at him blankly. "Uh. What?"

"Yeah. Happened shortly after Hapi teleported you away. She…this young woman said Jenner needed time to reflect on his mistakes and sucked him right into a black hole. Haven't seen him since."

"...the irony is thick here," Melia said as she contemplated his words. She took a breath and her features relaxed again. "Well, it serves him right for what he did to me. Who did you say it was…?"

The mist began swallowing up the sea now. Will saw Melia look around in befuddlement and noticed that Aelita was looking increasingly distressed as well.

Okay. It was time to label this situation as something to worry about now.

"Okay seriously, what is up with this fog?" Melia exclaimed.

"I don't know," Valarie replied. It's weird, I didn't see any fog ahead of us. It's not usual around here. It's like it appeared around us."

Will could smell an attack coming. "Stay sharp. We might have - "

Glistening, diamond-like sparkles began flickering into existence around them as someone had reversed gravity in a disco club.

" - company."

"Jack! I'm flying! I'm flying!" Saki continued, completely oblivious to what was going on.

"Something's not right here…" Melia said, moving closer to the railing as she observed the sparkles around them. "Could it be…" She gasped, and Will practically saw the lightbulb popping into existence above her head. "Everyone! Stay away from the sides of the ship and hold on!"

They burst into motion. Aelita leapt to her feet and grabbed the bars that kept the container locked, while Valarie ducked low and clutched the railing in front of her. "What's going on?" She yelled.

"Jack, I'm - "

"Saki!" Aelita yelled.

In a flash of blinding light, the Xen battleship seemed to twitch out of the sea and into a twisting, spatial mist of black space, millions of distant, shimmering stars and a disturbing lack of water or anything else to plow through.

The errant twitch catapulted Saki off the prow as if someone had fired her down the barrel of a gun.

"I'M FLYIIINNGGGGG!"

"Saki!" Melia shouted. "Everyone! Hold on!"

Standing smackdab into the open of the ship's prow with nothing to hold on to. Will did the only thing that made sense to him. As Melia grabbed a hold of a container's open door, he flung himself to the hull and began preparing himself to kiss his ass goodbye.

Thunder rolled through the deck. The ship seemed to roll as a thousand explosions went off all around them. Will felt his body come free of the deck, felt a sickening sense of freefalling before promptly getting reunited with the deck, hard.

It stopped as suddenly as it started. Will stayed put on the deck, vaguely aware of a strange feeling of warmness spreading through his body.

"Is…is everyone alright?" Melia asked.

"Bones…hurt…" Val groaned.

"That was so rough…but I feel alright, I think…" Aelita said.

Will scraped himself off the ship's deck. He counted four remaining limbs and then gave Melia a shaky thumb's up. He felt sunlight beaming down on him.

"Uh…is it just me, or has it gotten a lot…warmer?" Aelita asked.

"No, you're right. It is a lot hotter, and also, the ship isn't moving."

Will looked around. The weird spatial sea was gone, replaced by an actual sea around them. And…

"Of course it's not moving! Look over there!" Val shouted.

The Xen battleship had grounded itself against what looked like the whitest, cleanest beach Will had ever seen. Its surface was dotted with palm trees, little shrubs and tiny ponds of beautiful, blue water.

"Oh man…the ship's run aground…" Aelita said.

Melia gripped the railing tightly. "This can;t be…" she breathed. "This place…I've seen it before! I've been here a long time ago! The shore we've ended up on, it's a beach belonging to Terajuma island!"

"T-Terajuma island?" Val sputtered. "Don't be ridiculous, that's impossible! The Evergreen Islands were just on the horizon! Which, by the way, is north, not south."

They approached the railing. The ship had grounded itself deep in the sand, Aelita hopped across and landed on the beach. She kicked the sand a couple of times. "Yes! I can confirm that this is indeed a beach with a very nice and sandy shore!"

Will and Melia followed suit. They landed deeply in the soft, warm sand. The air smelled like salt and fresh greens and humidity.

"I've never been to a tropical island!" Aelita continued. "This could be really exciting!"

Val joined them. "So we're all under the same thought that whatever happened just now, has to do with us being in Terajuma right?"

"I don't think there's much debate on that one," Melia agreed.

Just as Will was about to plop down in the sand and bask in its warmth, he heard the sound of boots crushing sand up ahead. A moment later, someone yelled, "What. The. Heck?"

There, to the north of their ship, a man and a woman clad in blue uniforms emerged from an entryway on the side of a mountain. They didn't look very happy.

"Sam, I think this is a code orange."

"Seems like you're right about that one, Alex. Never thought I'd see the day, though…"

The pair began rapidly approaching Will's group with the air of someone about to confront a particularly aggressive Pokemon. "Who are you guys, and what are you doing here?" The one called Sam demanded. "No one is allowed to sail into or out of Terajuma at the moment?"

Will's very first instinct was to open his mouth and say something that probably wouldn't de-escalate this situation, so he decided to stay quiet and let the ladies solve this one.

"What?" Melia said. "Wait, we - "

The woman, Alex, glanced up at the Xen battleship and Will could practically see her reach all the wrong conclusions. "Wait a minute…This ship! It's a Xen battleship!"

And that was the sound of de-escalation flying out the window, shattering the glass in the process. Will reached into his satchel and prepared himself for the inevitable..

"Team Xen, huh? That answers that, we're taking you all in!"

Will sighed. Of course.

If these two he'd let them rot in a jail cell for Team Xen to tear apart, they'd have another thing coming.

"W-Wait!" Val said. "This is a huge misunderstanding! We - "

"Crawli's gonna have a field day with you guys!" Alex growled, her eyes burning with anger as she reached for her Poke Balls.

Will was faster on the draw. He sent out Pidgeotto. Melia acted immediately, quickly sending…well, it looked like an Azumarill, but Will had fallen for that one before.

In turn, the two uniformed hostiles sent a Pelipper and a large, hulking Golisopod out to fight.

Golisopod immediately dropped to all fours and dashed at Melia's "Azumarill", moving so fast that it almost seemed to disappear from view. The very next instant, it reappeared mere inches from Azumarill's face and and lashed out with blinding speed -

Pidgeotto slammed into its side like a feathered missile, the force of his impact knocking the towering Bug-type off course. It bought Melia the time she needed to order her own attack. Azumarill finished gathering power and then unleashed a beam of deep, purple rings held together by black energy. From that range, there was no way it could miss, and the Dark Pulse struck Golisopod head-on.

Pelipper remained at a distance and peppered Pidgeotto with circular pulses of water. Pidgeotto had just been about to gain altitude again, and the first pulse hit home hard. It exploded across his feathery body and nearly knocked him out of the sky. Melia's Zoroark, still disguised as her Azumarill, swept its Dark Pulse across the sky and the Pelipper was forced to abort its attack to avoid getting hit.

Battling alongside Melia for the first time in months was a strange experience. She seemed to respond to the way he fought with the same quick-witted intuition as Aelita.

Pidgeotto uttered a piercing shriek and went after Pelipper, who tried to intercept him with another barrage of Water Pulses. Will ordered Pidgeotto to steer sharply to the left. He was faster and more agile than Pelipper, who wasn't able to navigate the sky to keep up. In doing so, Pidgeotto maneuvered himself directly in-between the sun and Pelipper - letting the sun blind his foe.

Golisopod attempted to interfere, firing off several quick lances of water at Pidgeotto, but Melia upped the pressure and soon, the Bug-type was forced to evade another Dark Pulse.

Pidgeotto's teardrop-shaped body was built for speed. He flattened his wings against his body to pick up speed. Though the distances involved weren't enough to make full use of his technique, Pidgeotto was still sixty pounds of muscle with the targeting sense of a freaking computer. Claws extended, he slammed into Pelipper's thick body, striking him right in the nape of his neck.

The impact sent a ripple through Pelipper's body. it twitched, flapped its wings helplessly and then began falling.

The rangers ordered Golisopod to help him out, but Melia wouldn't let it. She ordered Zoroark to get in close and engage its foe with Shadow Claw. Thus forced into a close quarters battle, it wasn't able to disengage.

Will didn't let up. Pidgeotto harried Pelipper even as it fell from the sky, savagely pecking and clawing at him until its trainer recalled it.

"We can't let them get by us!" Alex yelled. "Ampharos, blast that Pidgeotto from the sky!"

"Machamp, give Golisopod some cover!" Sam ordered.

Two could play that game. "Blaziken, don't let that Machamp get close! Keep it busy!"

"Hapi! Show them who's the boss!"

Within seconds, the battle escalated into a two-on-two. Ampharos charged up a Thunderbolt to zap Pidgeotto from the sky just like ordered, but Melia was on it. She had Hapi harass it with a series of quick, low-power Aura Spheres that detonated in small craters around it.

Blaziken moved to intercept Machamp. The four-armed Pokemon unleashed a flurry of quick jabs at her chest and face, but Blaziken surrounded herself with an intense corona of fire and moved to defend herself. The two Fighting-types were a blur of motion as they struck, blocked, counter-struck. They went back and forth across the beach, throwing up large clouds of sand and dust as they furiously pounded each other with superpowered fists and fire-enhanced kicks.

But with Pelipper out of the picture, Will and Melia outnumbered their foes. Hapi's constant barrage prevented Ampharos from lining up a shot, which in turn allowed Pidgeotto to climb high. Really high. Like, smaller-than-a-dot high.

Zoroark and Golisopod went back and forth, but it wasn't long before the Illusion Pokemon took a bad hit and its disguise fell apart. The raw power that Golisopod packed in its punches were too much fot Zoroark to deal with, and the simple-minded nature of the Bug-type meant that the horrible energies of its Dark-type attacks were far less effective. Will still wasn't sure just how it truly worked, but it was like its Dark Pulse attacks, powerful enough to blast through rocks and scorch the sand, failed to truly harm Golisopod. In turn, it was able to put Zoroark to the ground with a fell strike.

Melia saw her friend struggling and wisely recalled him, sending out her actual Azumarill in turn.

Meanwhile, Pidgeotto stopped climbing and began descending. This time, without anyone to pressure him, he was able to leverage the tactic Will had been itching to put to use ever since he realized how it worked.

As Blaziken kept Machamp engaged, as Melia forced the Ampharos and Golisopod back, Pidgeotto reached terminal velocity.

Machamp was like one giant muscle, its skin as hard as rock and its four arms capable of attacking and defending simultaneously. It was a master martial artist and each blow packed the power to shatter rocks into splinters. Compared to that raw power, thirty kilograms wasn't very impressive.

But thirty kilograms hitting with a velocity of about two-hundred and fifty kilometers per hour was a completely different matter. A flash of brown feathers and Pidgeotto was agone again…and Machamp lay on the ground.

He tried to rise again, but a quick Blaze Kick to the back of his skull put an end to that.

Weakened by its initial fight, Golisopod was no match for Melia's angry Azumarill. As Azumarill pressed its advantage, Will said, "Melia, aim for Ampharos's face!"

"Gotcha!"

Hapi came in low and peppered Ampharos with another series of rapidly-charged blasts of energy. Ampharos covered its face with its little arms in an attempt to protect itself against Hapi's next Aura Sphere and Blaziken shot forwards. The soft sand was no hurdle to her whatsoever as she bounded towards Ampharos, crossing the distance in the time it took Will to blink. Her flaming leg connected with the side of Ampharos' head and the blow sent the Electric-type crashing to the ground.

Pidgeotto uttered an ear-piercing shriek, and its body began glowing in that familiar white corona of evolutionary enerrgy. High in the sky, Will found it hard to see what happened, but when his Flying-type descended towards the ground again, Will saw that he was at least twice as large now. His decorated crest of bright feathers was now easily as long as his body.

Melia saw Pidgeot soar across the beach right as her Azumarill dealt a knockout blow. "Yeah! How do you like that!" She shouted.

"We…weren't able to stop…Team Xen?" Alex said. The anger in her eyes was still there, but she took a careful step back as fear flickered across her face. "Sam…this is bad! Call Crawli right away!"

"Already on it!"

Will would have assumed that Melia and him calmly and patiently waiting for the two to call for reinforcements should have been a dead giveaway to these two, but it looked like they were really adamant about this thing. Sam hastily called in an emergency call while Alex glared nervous daggers at the group who, by all accounts, should have already gone on the offensive again.

Did they even know enough about Team Xen to realize the difference? Had they ever faced people aiming to truly brutalize and kill before?

"Shouldn't we…?" Will asked Melia.

"Nah, let them call Crawli, it's okay," she said.

"There'll be reinforcements."

"Trust me."

That, he did, so he waited.

"Crawli, sir, we found a bunch of Team Xen grunts that ran their ship on the shipyard beach!" Sam spoke urgently into his phone. "Yeah…uh-huh…Got it."

"Wait, if you've got Crawli on the phone, tell him "It's Melia, and I'm back!"

Alex eyed her suspiciously. "What?"

"Lady, come on," Aelita said with frustration. "We don't have uniforms and we're not attacking you right now! How are you this dense?"

"Sorry sir, there's this girl here that's yelling weird things," Sam continued. "Huh? Like what? Well, she said "It's Melia, and she's back". Uh-huh. Wh-What? Really! Well, you're the boss, sir."

"What's going on?" Alex demanded as Sam hastily stuffed his phone back into its pouch.

"Crawli wants us to bring them back to the village…as guests."

"What? Seriously?" Alex snapped.

"Are you two for real?" Val exclaimed. "We're not freaking Team Xen! We just escaped those assholes!"

"Crawli trusts them," Sam said, though he looked like she would have rather eaten his phone than to speak those words. "I guess we have no choice, but…this ship is going to be a problem. If we just leave it out like this, it's going to cause a scene."

The words came out of his mouth before Will could really think about it. "Well, let me just stuff it in my pocket then."

Furious, Alex stepped towards him, jabbing an angry finger at him as she yelled, "Listen here you punk - "

"Alex, please," Sam interrupted her. "It's alright.I know a good place where we can hide it for the time being. You lot, please follow us to the dockyard. We'll send out a tugging boat and a salvage team to hide your ship there. Just…try to keep a low profile. People are tense. Times have been tough recently."

"Oh no, tough," Val murmured under her breath. "Would you imagine that…"

Aelita gave her a nudge. "Try to play nice, okay? Melia will clear this misunderstanding up and things will be fine."

Braixen and Adam appeared at the top of the railing. "Yo! We heard fighting!" Adam yelled. "Everything alright down there?"

"Yeah!" Val yelled back. "Just a misunderstanding. How about you two get down here and join us? We're meeting Crawli up ahead in the village!"

"Crawli? We're all the way at freaking Terajuma?"

"Sand's a dead giveaway you know?"

Everybody could hear Adam's exasperated sigh. "Coming…"

The pair - Rangers, as they called themselves - took them to a dockyard to the south of the island while the rest of their group began towing the Xen battleship to a dockyard large enough to conceal her.

The two rangers still weren't very happy with the situation, but as Aelita and Melia explained the specifics and their somewhat dire circumstances, the tone of the pair began to change. They led their group away from their crash site and back to the relative civilization of the southern docks.

"You're lucky this particular dockyard is free at the moment," Alex said as she gestured towards a massive hangar that stuck out far into the ocean. "This should do well enough to hide your stolen ship once we tow it here."

"Just try not to bring too much attention to yourselves when visiting it after we've tugged it there," Sam added. "Anyway, we'll be heading deeper into the island. When we've finished getting your ship into position, we'll come pick you up."

The two rangers hurried along across the pier,, before heading through a passage into the jungle ahead. The literal second they were out of earshot, Val whirled on Melia. "What was that all about Melia?" She demanded. "Why'd they stop attacking us? How do you knox Crawli?"

Will assumed it had something to do with a lack of healthy Pokemon on their end, but he could be wrong.

"I know this is all very…sudden, but, just trust me on this one," Melia hurriedly said. "I'll try to explain the best I can when we make it to the village."

"As long as I'm not cold, I don't care," Adam simply said, She sat down, rested her arms above her head and began basking in

"Same here!" Braixen chimed in. "Honestly, this is working out pretty well in our favor. If Team Xen was on our trail, we're waaaay off their radar for now."

Will hadn't considered that yet. Something had happened to their ship, sending it about a hundred miles to the south in a flash. Outside interference, no doubt, but who? More importantly, why?

"Huh, I guess you're right?" Valarie said after a moment's consideration. "But, uh, has anyone seen Saki?"

The group lapsed into a short moment of silence, only to be interrupted by Adam taking a deep sigh. "Last I saw of her, she flew off the side of the ship when everything started shaking."

"I was so shocked by everything that happened that I completely forgot…" Melia said in a despondent voice.

"Maybe she's somewhere on that island we crashed on?" Aelita suggested.

"We've got people searching that whole place while the Rangers salvage our ship," Braixen said. "Saki's kind of hard not to notice, so…"

"We'll find her," Valarie said. "We always do."

With nothing else to do but wait, they spread out across the pier and…for a lack of a better description, they began sunbathing. Adam closed his eyes and dozed off. Melia spent the first hour walking around the pier, checking out the various ships and scattered containers as she did. Will simply settled for putting his against something solid and watching the sea for any hostile activity.

As time went by, however, Melia seemed to relax. She stopped antsing around and sat down next to him. shooting the occasional glance at the sea.

"...you evolved Hapi," Will said.

Melia nodded. "I did. And you evolved Combusken. You've only been a trainer for…how long has it been?"

"Two months."

"Two months…a fully evolved Starter Pokemon in just two months is crazy, Will."

"Well…we've been through some stuff, fought quite a few enemies. The majority of my team evolved when they were being pushed back during a fight. Houmdour's evolution probably saved my life."

Melia looked at him sharply. "You've been fighting that much these months?"

Will shrugged. It hadn't been that much. He was sure that there were people out there who fought every single day. "A full day in Sheridan, where I met Aelita. An evening and half the night in Goldenleaf Town. Those were the only days I really had to fight for my life. Until Ak - until Blacksteeple Castle, that is."

Melia looked at him the same way she had back when "Emma" first met him. A mixture of pity and empathy. "Including Goldenleaf Forest and Amethyst Cave…that's four times you had to fight for your life in two months' time, all against…Team Xen in Sheridan and Goldenleaf too, I presume?"

Wordlessly, Will nodded. "Found their other Admins."

"All against Team Xen," she reiterated. "People tried to kill you twice a month, every month. That's…not normal, Will."

In a perfect world, what she said made sense. But Aevium wasn't a perfect world. After all, he was still alive, while his mother was not. It was so wrong. Everything was so wrong. "It is what it is," he whispered tiredly.

"...all of that because you were there when Team Xen came for me," Mekia quietly said.

"Because I chose to interfere," Will corrected her. "Because they chose to kidnap you."

"Even so…"

Melia stayed quiet after that.

Slowly, the hours drifted by. The others partook in some small talk. Aelita told Val about Sheridan Village and its traditions, its ways. Adam told Will about the finer details of surviving extreme circumstances like those found in the desert.

Mostly, they just enjoyed the sun.

It was late in the afternoon when the various tugboats and other salvage ships the Rangers had in their possession slowly began approaching the massive hangar, the Xen ship in tow.

Just then, a thought occurred to Will that he really, really hoped the others had already thought of themselves. "So uhm…did you guys find all the trackers?"

Val and Adam stared at him blankly. Aelita frowned, before her head snapped back to the ship, and a very uneasy expression slowly seeped into Melia's expression.

"Trackers?" Braixen asked.

"...Augustus helped disable the navigation computer's tracking signal when everybody readied the ship," Melia slowly said. "...but we haven't found any physical tracking devices. At least, I haven't."

"...what trackers?" Adam said.

Will placed his back against the sun-warmed steel of the warehouse and sat down. He rested his head against its wall and closed his eyes.

What if, what if, what if…

He would have hated himself for ruining the mood, let alone shattering the group's morale. But he had to be realistic here. Unless someone could tell him with absolute certainty that they had destroyed all tracking signals and devices Team Xen would surely have installed before that strange anomaly dumped them into the tropics,..he had to assume that the enemy now knew where they were.

"Will, if you are going to rain on my parade…" Val said, cracking a nervous smile.

Will wished he had it in him to smile back. "Let's assume that they know we're in Terajuma now."

Val uttered a frustrated groan. "Seriously? Just when we caught a break too? Goddamnit!"

"We don't know that for sure," Braixen said. "Even if they do, it could take them a while to get here. They're considered a criminal organization, and the Rangers stationed here aren't your average mallcops."

Braixen hadn't been there when Madame X attacked them, she hadn't seen what the upper levels of Xen's staff were truly capable of.

"...no, but it never hurts to plan for the worst case scenario," Aelita said. "Underestimating your opponent is never a good idea."

"In any case, standing out here isn't going to help," Melia said. "We should keep moving."

"Right, let's follow Alex and Sam for now," Val suggested. "Saki may have found her way into the jungle, somehow…"

Someone flung open the door from the inside of the hangar so suddenly that Will nearly jumped out of his skin. He'd thrown himself aside and away from the door before he realized that it was Nim. The girl leaned against the frame, panting as she caught her breath.

"W-Wait!" She huffed. "Wait for me!"

"Nim?" Aelita said. "How'd you - ?"

"Slow down Nim," Will said. "We're not going without you."

Soon, the pair of rangers came back for them, and began leading their group deeper into the jungle.

~~~~~~~(III)~~~~~~~

---

Nastasia swallowed her fear, steadied her expression and then calmly walked down the long path up Blacksteeple Castle's peak, where Madame X patiently waited for her.

She stopped when she was roughly three meters away from the helmeted, armored leader of their organization. "Ma'am."

"Have you brought him? The one I've detailed."

"Yes." Despite herself, Nastasia felt her heart rate slowly begin to quicken. An unfamiliar sensation of apprehension mastered her as she turned aside. "Please, come forth. Introduce yourself," she said, raising her voice so the boy could hear her.

And Ren followed her down the path towards Madame X. He stopped when he stood right beside Nastasia, his expression difficult to ascertain. "Hello, Ma'am," he calmly said. "My name is Ren."

"Ren used to be comrades with William and the others," Nastasia explained. "But based on what he's told me, if accurate, would display the attributes of the one we're looking for."

"And just why would one of Will's comrades want to betray him?" Madame X asked. As always. it was impossible to gauge what she truly thought. Skepticism? Genuine interest? An invitation for Ren to explain himself? It could have been none of them. It could have been all three of them.

Ren sighed and cast his gaze downwards. When he looked up again, there was a slight tremble in his left hand. "Will and the others betrayed me first. I've decided that this is the best course of action."

Madame X regarded him for a few, silent moments. "Hmph, very well then," she agreed and Nastasia felt something akin to a weight falling from her shoulders. "But know this, betray me and that marks the end of your pitiful existence."

The threat to his life did not seem to faze Ren. "Don't worry. That won't happen."

"Great, if that's all, we'll begin our way to the Shadow HQ to retrieve the data we've lost on Carotos," Nastasia quickly said. "Where do you want us to relocate yourselves afterwards?"

"There is a transit system that was built to connect the lab and Grand Dream City. Make your way there, drop off the data and make your way back to Headquarters."

"Understood. Ren, let's go."

Together with their newest member, Nastasia took her leave. They had a lot of work to do and not a lot of time to get it done.

~~~~~~~(IV)~~~~~~~

---

"...which is where Combusken evolved," Will continued as Nim and him followed the group into the Terajuma Jungle. He eyed her carefully, seeing that she had barely heard what he told her. She looked pale and sweaty, like she was in pain, or possibly sick or something. It was just like that night before everything went to hell in Akuwa Town. Had she not taken the time to recover? "It was the coolest thing ever. And…you don't look so great, Nim. You okay?"

"Nah…I'm always great…" Nim said in-between deep gulps of air.

Aelita and Melia were just ahead, standing next to a large wooden bridge that allowed passage across the roaring river splitting the jungle in half.

"See!" Aelita said. "I told you they'd be right behind us!"

"Yeah, I didn't doubt you or anything, but you never know," Melia said.

"Trouble?" Will asked, glancing around uneasily.

"No, we're fine!" Melia smiled. "We just noticed you two lagging behind and decided to stay back a bit. Kakori Village is a straight shot from here, but it's always good to be cautious."

Nim was gasping by then, trying and failing to keep her breathing steady. She'd turned away from the group to hide it, but…it wasn't subtle.

"Hey, Nim…Are you doing okay?" Melia said, getting closer to their psychic friend to take a peek at her. "You've been acting a little strange…"

"H-Huh! No, I'm fine!" Nim exclaimed in dismay, turning further away to fully hide her face. "I just had some seasickness is all! Never been on a boat that big before, y'know? Just takes some gettin' used to!"

Will…didn't remember her showing any sign of seasickness before.

"Oh, yeah, I feel that," Aelita said in what Will assumed was meant to be a reassuring tone. "It was kinda weird for me too, but luckily my body adjusted quickly!"

"Regardless, we should head over to Kakori immediately if Nim isn't feeling well," Melia decided. "She could rest on the ship while we go, but that wouldn't help with the seasickness."

"How far is it?" Will asked.

'Just a couple of kilometers. We can make it in half an hour. The Rangers have really cleared this part of the island out, so it's more like a walk through the forest than a jungle expedition."

Will nodded. "Come on Nim, I got you."

"No…that's not necessary," Nim protested as Will took a hold of her arm and put it around his shoulders. Her hand felt cold. "I'll be fine…"

"You picked me up when I needed it," Will said as he hauled half her weight onto his shoulders and kept her steady with his left arm. "This is the least I can do in return."

"If necessary, we can rotate," Melia said. "Swap out every ten minutes."

"Guys…seriously…" Nim sputtered. "I…"

"Hey, that's what friends are for, right?" Aelita warmly told her. "You saved our lives back at Blacksteeple Castle! It wouldn't be right to let you labor on by yourself."

Nim's cheeks slowly flushed red and Will hoped it was just because she was blushing. Running a fever on a tropical island seemed like an easy ticket to the hospital.

They headed out, moving north alongside the river bank towards Kakori Village. Melia hadn't been exaggerating when she said the Rangers had cleared the place up; it was as if the entire right side of the river had been turned into a park. Will saw workers with large construction machines, people hauling crates and supplies from massive steel containers like those on the battleship and various clearings with picnic tables and elaborate wooden statues.

Nim struggled, and the heat of the jungle meant that Will soon felt the sweat trickling down his neck, but he welcomed the physical exertion. It felt good to be out and on the move again. It gave him something to stave off the unwelcome thoughts and keep himself grounded in the now. A sense of purpose.

A few meters ahead, Aelita began telling Melia how she had met him in Sheridan Village. With gusto, she told her about Sheridan's Sensei and how troubled he'd been the past months. She told her about the Eldest, their plan to get him to open up and finally, the Gym Battle between him and Will.

When he was sure that Melia and Aelita were fully engrossed in the story, Will turned his head towards Nim and quietly said, "Nim, it's not the sea that's bothering you, is it?"

Nim made a vague groaning sound and looked away.

"You can talk about it with me, if you want to," he offered.

Nim shot him a very unhappy look. "Can't.."

"Why not?"

She grumbled something angry to herself. "Same reason you don't talk about what caused East Gearen to shift into a different reality…"

Unwelcome memories bubbled up within his head again. "I…okay. That bad?"

Grumbling, Nim looked away again.

Well. Shit.

Up ahead, Aelita gestured wildly. "And it was a freaking volcano! The temperature jumped like twenty degrees, molten rocks everywhere and the Sensei was nowhere to be found!"

And Melia gasped. The way she stared at Aelita with large eyes, fully engrossed in the story, made her look like her old self again. The way she'd been two months ago, when nobody had been around to threaten her, when her father still loved her with all his heart and her best friends were but a mile away.

"If your health is at risk…" Will tried again, but Nim squirmed in his grasp.

"It's not! Please drop it!" Nim all but begged him. "I - BFF's don't push!"

"Okay. Okay," Will said. "I didn't want to push. Just want you to be safe. Is all."

"Just need some time…it'll be fine…heh…that rhymed…"

They made their way through a passage flanked by a row of large trees on both sides and entered Kakori Village proper. There, right at the entrance, Adam, Val and Braixen were waiting around with the two Rangers,

Behind them stood a man with tanned skin, messy green hair and a brown jacket that left his chest exposed. He ran a careful gaze across the newcomers, narrowed his eyes when he saw Wil and NIm, then widened them when he saw Melia.

"Wah! It's true! I wasn't entirely sold, but it really is you, Melia!"

"Crawli!" Melia yelled, happily running towards the man and embracing him. "It's been so long! I missed you!"

Crawli hugged her back, looking a bit puzzled. "Well ,it's only been about a month, but it's good to see you too!"

"R-Right, not too long then," Melia said, pulling away again.

"Wait, so you two know each other then?" Valarie asked, looking back and forth between Melia and Crawli with confusion.

"Um, I stayed here in Kakori for a few days…some time ago," Melia said with a hint of uncertainty. "Crawli and I became good friends while I was here, but…

If it had been a month since she last saw Crawli, it had to have been somewhere after her disappearance in Amethyst Cave.

"You disappeared so suddenly!" Crawli said. "Didn't even get to say goodbye."

"I'm…I'm so sorry," Melia timidly said.

But Crawli merely laughed. "Hey, there's no hard feelings here. Just glad to see you again, is all. As for the rest of you…it looks like you've been through a lot."

"Escaped from prison. Fought against a dictator. The usual," Adam casually said.

"Oh," Crawli replied, looking lost.

Will felt Nim's body slacken and he pulled her closer against him to better support her weight. "Melia," he said in a low, urgent voice.

"Crawli, I'm so sorry to ask this of you without even any introductions, but do you have a place where our friend can rest? She's not feeling well and could use some time to recover."

"Not a problem at all," Crawli said almost instantly, and Will started to take a liking to the man. "I've already arranged accommodations just in case they were needed. There's a vacant house just east of here that we use exclusively for special guests. "Y'all can stay there while things figure themselves out."

"Thank you so much…" Val replied.

Crawli smiled. "You guys must also want a good bite to eat, right? I got the impression you had some rough times lately, and it's getting late already. 'll go make a reservation at Dartreaux's Izakaya while you guys get settled."

"Thank you for all of this, Crawli," Melia said earnesty.

"Hah, don't mention it. See you all later!"

Having said his piece, the man left, leaving Alex and Sam to get things started.

"Right, well, you heard the man!" The female Ranger ordered. "We'll leave you to your own devices for now, but don't cause trouble - "

That depended entirely not on them.

" - and have a nice evening!"

"How nice of Crawli to do all of that," Braixen said, happily stretching her limbs.

"I don't trust him," Adam growled, and Will instantly felt alarm slapping the budding sense of ease right out of his head.

"What'd you see?" Will said, scanning the village for any signs of trouble. Pokemon, suspicious people, signs of a struggle - anything that could indicate something was going on.

"A gut feeling," Adam said as he narrowed his eyes.

The best kind of feeling when it came to sniffing out ambushes. "Let's look around, scout out the area. Aelita - "

Melia stepped in front of their group and held out her hands, bidding them to stop. "Wh-Whoah, okay, let's slow down. Crawli's a good guy! He's the Head Ranger of Terajuma Island, so he's always helping people out like this! In fact, the "special guests" he's talking about are people who need a place to stay the night comfortably!"

Adam scoffed and crossed his arms across his massive chest.

Then, much to Will's surprise, Braixen started giggling like a little girl. "Adam's such a tsundere~! He's just mad little Sam didn't notice him back there!"

"Shut up you stupid fox!" Adam snapped. "Why'd Saki have to make you a voice box?"

Oh. Oh.

Oh.

…wait, wasn't Sam a dude? Will was pretty sure Sam was a dude..

Oh. Oh.

Huh.

Well, love was love, he supposed.

"Does it really matter that much?" Aelita said. "These are good people, and we got a free night!"

"Aelita's right," Val said. "Let's just lay low and see what the village has to offer. Let's get Nim to a bed and make sure she's properly taken care of."

"Y-You guys don't have to do all this for me…" Nim weakly protested.

"Yes we do, and we won't hear another word about it," Melia firmly said.

And that about summed the entire thing up. "You're our friend, Nim," Will said, giving her a reassuring little shake.

Nim looked about five seconds away from breaking down crying. "Everyone…" she said, gritting her teeth as if she was physically fighting the tears away. "Thank you so much…Even saying that is making me feel so much better. I just…never thought I'd hear those words…ever."

"Aw, Nim," Melia said, her expression bleeding sympathy. "You're part of our group! We're here to take care of you!"

"She's right!" Aelita joined in. "So let us take care of you!"

"...Okay…" Nim conceded, and she relaxed in against Will's body.

Aelita helped and together, they brought Nim to the guest house Crawli had allocated them. It was a sizable building, with a large living room, a reading room, a fireplace and a kitchen on the ground floor. The first floor was dominated by a singular bedroom that housed up to ten cozy beds, already made, and a big dining table in the corner. A single green door led to the bathroom.

Will and Aelita gently put Nim down on a stair next to one of the beds. "H-Hey…if I lay down right now I'm gonna hurl…just lemme sit here so gravity will keep my insides at bay. That's…that's how gravity works, right?"

"Gravity and I don't see eye to eye," Will said. "Aelita?"

Aelita snorted. "Of course that's how gravity works. Take it easy Nim! We'll be right downstairs if you need anything!"

"Kay…" Nim weakly said. "Later…"

With Nim in a safe, comfortable spot, Melia, Aelita and Will went downstairs to sit down at the dining table and just…relax for a moment.

They'd made it. They'd escaped whatever retaliation Team Xen had planned for them and they'd made it all the way to Terajuma Island. They were among good people, a solid core of veteran Rangers and far away from Blacksteeple.

They were safe.

For now.

"Man…I can't believe I'm really at Terajuma," Aelita said. She eased herself down in one of the chairs as well and closed her eyes. "You often read and hear about these places, but you never imagine yourself being there…and now I am!"

"Enjoy it while you can Aelita," Melia said, smiling warmly at Aelita as she too took a chair.

"...that sounds way, way ominous!" Aelita replied.

"Oh I'm sorry, I meant, you should enjoy this moment now that you are living it!" Melia hurried to correct herself.

"Hehe…I knew that. I was just messing with you…"

Will placed his arms on the table and rested his head on them. More than half a day had gone by from the moment they'd first crashed into Terajuma island. The Rangers had properly salvaged the battleship and towed her to a location where she wouldn't be attracting any attention and they had done so without ever encountering a single Xen scout.

He wished he could believe that things would remain this peaceful. What was the point of relaxing now, if the enemy would certainly come for them later?

"So…I was thinking of gathering everyone here early for a small meeting," Melia said. "What happened to us is something that should be discussed, don't you agree? Will?"

Will looked at her uncertainly. "The teleporting thing, right?"

"Yeah."

"Agreed."

"So do I! I've only been teleported once and it was weird enough," Aelita chimed in.

"Okay. I'll go ahead and gather everyone then. They shouldn't be far - most of them are still hanging around here. Gimme a moment…"

It didn't take her very long. Within a couple of minutes, Melia came back with Val, Adam and Braixen. They all sat down around the dining table and Melia didn't beat around the bush. "Hey guys, so I wanted to bring us together to talk about what's going on, and what's happening next," she said.

"Ah. Good. For a second I thought we were going to ignore that we were warped to the opposite side of the region," Adam gruffly said.

"Frankly, that's something that cannot be ignored," Melia continued. "And although we are out of Team Xen's grasp for the moment, it's still concerning."

"Agreed," Val said. "It almost felt like we were brought here intentionally. I've never experienced anything like that out at sea, and I'm there quite a bit."

Melia's poker face wasn't very good. She looked very uncomfortable, and Will started to realize that she might have known a bit more about this situation than she led on. Her response at the ship had been too fast, too accurate to handle what had been about to happen.

He met Aelita's eyes and she gave him an almost imperceptible nod. "Melia," Aelita started. "Do you know something?"

"It just…a very familiar phenomenon," Melia said. "I don't know for certain. We can't stay here, that is for certain. Will is right; we have to assume that Team Xen knows we are here. We need to return the citizens of Akuwa Town and we need to get you guys home."

"We can't leave without Saki either," Adam spoke up. "She's a menace, but she's my menace. Friends don't leave friends behind."

Will nodded in approval, as did Aelita and Val. "Agreed," Valarie added. "Saki should be our main priority at this moment."

"Glad we're on the same page," Melia said. "We should explain our situation to Crawli when we go out to eat tonight. Everything from Saki being missing to our situation with Team Xen."

"He could also be their target," Will spoke up. "Xen's targeting leaders and strong trainers."

"Agreed. He should be aware that they might try to do something to him. We should also order a meal for Augustus down at the shipyard. He's done so much for us…"

Will hadn't even stopped to think about that. Just Melia being Melia, he supposed. Thoughtful and considerate.

"I'll deliver it to him," Adam said. "It's not a far walk from here."

Braixen hopped off her seat. "I'm not sure if I'll be such a good fit for a restaurant scene, soooooo…I'm just gonna stay here and watch over Nim, kay?"

"Thanks Braixen, appreciate that," Will said.

Braixen's ears flicked happily. "Make sure to bring me back somethin' nice!"

Someone knocked loudly on the door and Will sucked in a breath of air, his hand automatically going to his pouch. He spun around in his chair with too much force and nearly tumbled to the ground, chair and all.

"Heeellooo?" Alex's voice came from outside. "Got a message!"

Adam walked over and opened the door, letting the ranger in. "Yo."

"Heyo, sorry for the sudden drop in, but I have a message from Crawli. Unfortunately, he could only reserve three seats at Dartreaux's Izakaya. That's including himself." She offered them an apologetic smile. "So only two of you will be able to go. The two of you that go will have to bring food back."

"Oh, well, I've been there before so I don't have to go," Melia said.

"I'm not a good fit for a restaurant scene either," Will said.. "Braixen, I'll join - "

"Sorry sir, ma'am, but actually Crawli requested that both of you join him tonight, including Will."

Alarmed, Will shot a look at Aelita, hoping she'd bail him out. He couldn't remember if he'd ever had to do proper restaurant etiquette before in his life and this Izakaya place sounded like it was one of those places. Too many people, too much etiquette and rules and judgemental people to worry about -

Aelita didn't get his telepathic request for assistance. Instead, her attention was drawn by Valarie, who suddenly looked like someone had robbed her of something precious. "So what you are saying is…I won't get my tempura."

"We'll bring some food back, Val. No worries!" Melia reassured her.

But it was too late. "It's not the same!" Valarie cried out, wriggling in her chair in misery. "The tempura will be soggy by then!"

And then she promptly fell out of her chair, slumped on the ground in a little heap of sorrow and depression and…well, Will had no reason to believe that she'd done anything less than lose consciousness out of sheer disappointment.

"Uh…is she okay?" Alex asked in concern.

Adam looked wholly unimpressed. "She's coping. She'll be fine."

"I…guess Will and I will be on our way then," Melia said, not looking convinced that Valarie wasn't dying. "We'll bring back food, so don't worry."

"Hurry," Adam said. He hooked a thumb towards his stomach. "I'm starving…"

"How fancy is this restaurant?" Will asked, looking back and forth between Melia and Alex.

"It's a fine - "

"A chic place that requires proper manners and etiquette," Alex said. "Your lack of proper attire will be explained away by the circumstances."

Will set his jaw, then looked at Aelita again. "Please - "

"Hey, sounds fun!" She said, smiling earnestly. "Have fun you two!"

That was that. Alex stepped aside and waited until Melia and Will walked past her, before shutting the door behind her and escorting them to the restaurant.

"Welp, I guess we're out for dinner Will," Melia said as they followed the Ranger through town. "It's a pretty cool restaurant, part of the Ranger HQ actually. I think you'll like it. It's a popular place!"

"Why do you think Crawli requested us both?" He asked.

"Hmmm…I'm not entirely sure, actually. He knows me, so it's understandable he wants to know what I've been up to, especially considering the circumstances. But you? I'm not sure."

"He knows my name, too. Did you tell him?"

"No. Okay, I think I know where you're going with this. Will, you don't have to worry about a thing, okay? I trust Crawli. He's a good man. I trust the Rangers! They've been keeping this place safe for a long time!"

"Okay," Will said quietly. Maybe Melia was right. Maybe he was just being paranoid. Sure, he'd had a few bad runs, but the majority of the people he'd met were just normal people living their lives. Just because things had gone wrong in literally every village and city he stepped foot in, didn't mean it had to go wrong here…

Eventually, after a fifteen-minute walk, the three of them reached the Ranger HQ

"Right, this is it. It's on the right side, can't miss it," Alex said. "I wish you two a very pleasant evening. Send my regards to Crawli!"

"We will, Alex. Thanks for the escort!" Melia gratefully said.

Alex nodded, then headed inside of the HQ and went to the left, disappearing into one of the many rooms in there.

Meanwhile, Melia led Will to the right, past a receptionist and underneath a thin cloth they'd hung there as a doorscreen or something.

Will found himself in a small, but fancy restaurant with about a dozen other people spread out across about as many tables. He spotted Rangers, a pair of women clad in elaborate dresses and beautiful headgear, a pair of women in a classic maid's uniform that wouldn't look out of place in Maria's mansion and a pair of sharp-dressed men wearing sunglasses. A few other people sat at the counter, quietly enjoying their dinner in silence.

An actual Dartrix stood behind the counter, piling food on top of plates and moving back and forth between the counter and kitchen. A pair of Rowlet and two human waiters helped distribute the plates throughout the restaurant.

Despite himself, Will warily glanced around the restaurant again, just in case. He spotted no windows, no fire exits and no apparent structural weaknesses. If it came down to it, he'd have to bust down the rightmost wall -

"Hey, Will, over there!" Melia said, tugging at his sleeve and pointing at the far left corner, where the same green-haired man he'd seen before was seated.

Crawli saw her and waved them over. "Melia! Will! Welcome to the party."

Melia sat down next to Crawli. Will took one of the corners, making it easier to keep an eye out without having to worry about his exposed back.

"Sorry I could only get a few seats tonight. Dartreaux's kinda too popular around these parts nowadays."

"You requested Will and I specifically tonight," Melia replied. "Was there a reason for that?"

"Of course! I wanted to invite two old friends to eat!"

Melia raised a slender eyebrow. "Two "old" friends? Have you and Will met before?"

Two old friends…old…

…that green hair.

No way. "Agent C?" Will said.

"Haha, yep, you figured it out!" Crawli - Oh so that's where the C comes from! - said. "I mean, it's kinda hard to not notice. My hair is a strikingly unique color."

Between the raid on the Wispy Tower and the utter mess that had unfolded after Akuwa Town, Will had completely forgotten about the trio of people who'd asked him to do a little chore for them back in Goldenleaf Town's western terminal. He hadn't even told Aelita about that one, considering how busy everyone had been at that moment. After his time in Narcissa's theater and the subsequent Gym Battle, he'd completely forgotten about it.

Melia looked back and forth between the two of them, looking completely lost. "I'm missing context here. Mind filling in the blanks?"

"Will helped me a few weeks ago with something called a Dimensional Rift, in Goldenwood Forest. I had not prepared enough and it was too much for me to handle at the time.

"Oh!" Melia exclaimed. "Goldenwood Forest? Was it the Dimensional Gyarados?"

Yeah. A ghostly imprint left behind by the original Gyarados, or perhaps even the leftover spirit of the Gyarados itself. A specter or a ghost burned into the land that had lingered there for far too long.

…Mightyena had taken that thing down the first time. The second time around, he'd teamed up with Houndoom and showed him the ropes. Together, they had helped the Rift Gyarados out of its mystery.

Will wasn't going to blame himself for not wanting to remember that.

"Yeah?" Crawli said to Melia. "How'd you know?"

"Oh man…Okay, here's what happened."

Melia began explaining to Crawli what had taken place that fateful day. How Team Xen had appeared out of nowhere to abduct her. How Will had refused to back down and risked life and limb to get her out of there. How Team Xen had overrun East Gearen City in their search for her, forcing her to escape to Route 2.

As Melia talked, one of the waters came by and offered them the menu. He asked them if they would like something to drink and both Melia and Crawli immediately asked for something they called a Whipped Sweet Heart Droplet.

"Okay, two droplets," the waiter said, before eyeing Will.

Will, who hadn't even gotten to the part of the menu that showed him the drinks yet, decided to succumb to peer pressure rather than being the odd one out. "I…one Sweet Heart Droplet too, please."

"Three droplets coming up. Be right back!"

When the waiter was out of earshot, Melia continued explaining. She left out several crucial details, however. Jenner's role in this whole mess, for one.

It was a an abbreviated order of events, but still Melia took the time to point out how much Will had been involved in the fighting, up to and including the wounds he sustained that day.

"I see…" Crawli said when Melia finished. "I'm sorry you guys had to go through all that. Team Xen is the worst. Kind of came full circle, though."

The worst…well, leaving out all the death, misery and suffering the Xen Initiative had caused didn't leave a lot of room for a more hefty description. That, or Crawli was trying to be polite.

"I guess I did," Melia agreed. "I wonder what Garbodor is doing right now. Hopefully it's alright."

"Well, what matters is that the issue is taken care of and we're safe. Away from Team Xen's grasp. Let's just chill out as friends tonight."

As if he'd been magically summoned by the Head Ranger, that same waiter appeared again with three glasses filled with a light-brown fluid topped off with cream.

"Yeah…Will, Crawli, let's cheer to our friendship!"

Crawli and Melia gratefully took their glasses and held them up expectantly. The waiter watched them with relaxed anticipation.

"I'm glad we could share this moment together," Melia continued. "Cheers!"

Together with Crawli, Melia slammed that sucker home, and Will quickly imitated them.

As it turned out, the Whipped Sweet Heart Droplet was some sort of cold chocolate drink sprinkled with little flakes of chocolate and about a hundred pounds of sugar. Will downed the shot of goop the same way Melia did and regretted every second of it, but at least he wouldn't be making her look bad in front of her friend.

As his stomach fought not to revolt against the stuff he just drained down the hatch, one of the figures at the counter suddenly got to their feet and began approaching them. "Aayyyy! I knew I heard a familiar voice! Wassup."

Holy shit. Saki?!

"Saki!" Melia exclaimed.

"Your missing friend?" Crawli asked. "Looks like she showed up after all!"

"Saki, what happened to you?" Melia asked.

Saki sat down on the seat next to Melia. "After I was thrown off that ship, I woke up on some beach. I was like, hell yeah. Got up and made my way to this place and found this sick Izakaya. They got a ton of these back home so I felt welcomed."

Crawli stared at her in shock, while Will exchanged a quick look with Melia. "Wow, okay, for some reason I thought we were going to have to search the entire island for you," Melia said.

Sali pulled a face. "Naaahh, that's lame. Besides; i've been on this island a few times already, technically. But enough talk! Let's eaaaat!"

All in all, things worked out much better than Will had expected. Saki was fine, Crawli turned out not to be a secret Xen sympathizer but an actual chill dude and Melia looked like she was having a ton of fun.

Things were good.

The waiter brought them their dinner and one of the Rowlet helped him put down a couple of bowls of steaming liquid with a little slice of lemon by the side. Will politely thanked the little Pokemon and made sure to observe Melia and Crawli so he wouldn't pick up the wrong knife and fork from the fifty different sets of cutlery the waiter had given them for some ungodly reason.

Reasonably sure that he hadn;t made any significant screw-ups yet, Will reached for the bowl of the clearest-looking soup he'd seen in his life, lifted it to his chin and took a sip.

For such a fancy place, the soup tasted more like dishwater than anything else. It sure could use some salt and pepper. Maybe it was an acquired taste?

Saki started laughing. Melia shot her a curious glance and then looked at Will, who carefully put his soup bowl down again. She clasped a hand in front of her mouth. "Will!"

Ah. He should have probably used a spoon for that. "My bad, sorry," Will said, before picking up one of the bigger spoons. "Dining etiquette…"

"No, no!" Melia quickly said, reaching over the table to put his hand down again. "That's for cleaning your hands afterwards, not for drinking!'

Ah.

Well, that explained things.

Crawli looked up from his fish, saw what was going on and then promptly started laughing as well. "Well, here's to your health, Will!"

Melia tried to hide her amusement behind her hands, but she couldn't hide her flushed cheeks and her little trembles of laughter.

"My man just gave in to the intrusive thoughts," Saki said.

Will wasn't going to make excuses…but someone should have labeled those bowls.

Thankfully, that was the last major faux pax of the evening. They laughed, they talked about Kakori Village, they had fun and the food was good.

All in all, one successful dinner.

"That was really fun!" Crawli said as the four of them left the restaurant. "Thanks for hanging out with me, guys."

"Ay, no problem homie!" Saki replied. "Thanks for the free food!"

"It was my pleasure! I gotta head home now. Got some stuff to prepare, and it's getting pretty late already. I'll send some rangers to refuel your ship in the morning. But uh…you guys might not be able to leave yet. At least not until we get this lighthouse situation fixed."

"Oh yeah, I think I heard some of the people in the village talk about that," Melia said.

Lighthouses malfunctioning, trouble brewing around the island…it was a bit fishy.

"Yeah, it's a whole mess. I'll get into it a bit later. But you guys have a good night, okay?"

Melia watched him leave. "Hmm…something weird is going on," she mused.

"Being teleported to Terajuma and not being able to leave?" Saki said. "My ass coulda told you that. Anyway, I'm super tired so I'm gonna head on home." She took several steps to the exit, paused, then backtracked in a hurry. "Where's home again?"

Melia just sighed. "The vacant house near the dual berry patches. Fifteen minute walk, just off the edge of the sea in the west. You know what, we should be heading home too. We'll take you there."

Unfortunately for Val, storm Saku hadn't left much Tempura in its wake. Melia and Will picked up the food Crawli had ordered for the others, but Will just knew that Val wouldn't be amused. It would be an absolute tragedy to have to throw Saki under the bus…but that wasn't going to stop him. If he didn't have a damn good reason for failing to get her Tempura, he knew Val was going to drown him in the bathtub.

"Yooo what's up guys!" Saki loudly proclaimed when she flung the door to their new stay open.

The others immediately got to their feet and began crowding her.

"Well, look who decided to show up!" Adam said, giving Saki a stern glare and a quick lookover.

Braixen hopped up and down in excitement. "Saki! Thank goodness! We were worried about you!"

"Yeahh, I kinda got thrown on a beach somewhere and then eventually ran back into Meli and Will."

"At least we got you back in one piece!" Braixen said, latching on to Saki's waist for a quick hug.

"Yup! We're one big family again! Alright, time for bed. I'm tired."

"Good to have you back," Val said. "It's been a long day, and we're going to be leaving first thing in the morning, so we should get plenty of rest."

Melia winced. "About that…we're going to be on this island for a while, unfortunately. Crawli said that ships aren't allowed to leave or visit the island while their lighthouses are down."

Valarie looked alarmed at that. "How long until they are back up?"

"He didn't say. I don't think even Crawli knows that…"

Upon seeing all of their disappointed, frustrated expressions, Saki spread her arms and demanded, "Why is that a bad thing? We're on a tropical island! No Team Xen, nice weather, and a beach in all directions? I prefer to stay inside, but it's better than nothing!"

With a sigh, Val said, "Yeah…"

"Saki's got a point," Aelita admitted.

Adam made a sound of disgust and remained silent.

"Oh!" Val said, perking up all of a sudden. "By the way, did you guys get my tempura?"

"Tempura?" Saki said. "After I was done in there, there wasn't any of that left."

Val's right eye twitched.

"Sorry," Melia said. "It's hard to stop Saki once she starts…"

Val's left eye twitched. She laughed shakily. "I see."

Will and Melia slowly inched away from Saki.

Val twitched again. "MY TEMPURA!" She screamed and flung herself at Saki, her hands immediately going for the engineer's throat.

Aelita and Adam piled on top of her and the room descended into chaos and anarchy.

Will stared at the bloodsport. Filled with bloodlust, Val really was a lot stronger than she looked. It took both Aelita as Adam to keep her from throttling Saki, who seemed content to just lay back and take it.

"Looks like we'll be planning our next steps tomorrow morning, then," Melia said, her eyes glued to the violence unfolding before her.

"No."

"Right? We've got a lot to…wait, did you just say no?"

"Yup."

"Er…okay. Did not expect that, to be honest. Do you have a better plan?"

"Yeah. Gotta do some shopping."

"...you do realize that you're the one who said we needed to anticipate Team Xen's arrival any moment, right?"

Will nodded. Maybe he ought to rephrase the shopping part. It just wasn't something a guy was supposed to mention to a girl. "Yeah. So…I tried to wash my clothes in Blacksteeple Castle. I still have bloodstains…there, there and there," he said, pointing at the various blotches of dried blood.. "Here, also here, something there…"

"Oh…" Melia breathed. "I…I did not even realize that. I'm sorry."

But wait, there was more. Will knew it wouldn't be proper to talk about his underwear to a lady, but he had to get the message across. "No, the thing is, blood seeps and soaks through layers of clothing."

"Huh, but…oh! Wait, are you telling me you've got bloodstains…there?" She finished with a horrified whisper.

Again, awkward, but kinda important to get across. "And when we escaped Blacksteeple, I did so with just the clothes on our person…and nothing else."

Melia was silent for a couple of moments. During those moments, Aelita and Adam subdued Val, who clawed at Saki like she could take her head off with an errant swing. "So when you say you're going shopping…"

"I need dry socks, Melia. Some fresh…spare clothes would be nice, too. You can do the planning while I'm gone. I'll go along with what you say."

She considered his words for a moment. "You'll go along with what I say, even though you don't know what that will be?"

Will watched Aelita usher Saki upstairs. "I trust you," he admitted.

"...thank you, Will," she said slowly. "That means a lot to me."

"Hey, you earned it." A yawn nearly escaped him. "Hmm…gonna check on Nim, then hit the bed. See you tomorrow."

"Yeah, have a good night, Will," Melia said.

A good night? Bim? Maybe if Saki knew the Hypnosis move. "You too."

Upstairs, Nim had finally decided that the bed was more comfortable than the chair. She'd drawn the cover up across her face, leaving only the upper side of her face uncovered. It looked adorable.

He watched her for a minute, making sure that she was still breathing.

"Oooh, busted. Watching girls sleep now, are you?"

Will glanced over his shoulder to see Braixen chilling in the corner, her furry little paws outstretched on a bed. She had the same kind of smug expression on her face as when she'd teased Adam.

"Just this one," Will replied. "How is she?"

When he didn't rise to her quip, Braixen's amused look slowly disappeared. "I don't think she's doing much better. She…keeps panting, like she's constantly short on breath. She's struggling with something but I don't know what. Maybe we need to call a doctor?"

Will looked back at Nim. She didn't seem to be struggling to breathe at the moment. She looked…kind of peaceful. If they woke her up now, they'd be interrupting what could have been a much needed uninterrupted sleep.

"Tomorrow," Will said. "Let her sleep for now. I doubt there's a doctor around this late anyway."

Braixen nodded. "And how are we doing?"

"We?"

"By that I mean you. How are you holding up?"

…Will didn't want to start reflecting. He'd picked himself up and he had a purpose now. For the moment, that was enough to keep him going. "Fine."

"Okay," Braixen patiently said. "And now without lying?"

Will glanced at the little Fire-type, feeling bemused by her insight more than anything. "I…still feel cold. Inside, I mean. But… I've got friends around me. That's good enough."

Braixen conceded that with a thoughtful gesture. "Glad to hear that. You're going to sleep now?"

"Yup."

"'Kay, then I won't bother you anymore tonight. See ya tomorrow!"

Crawli's people had supplied them with the basic necessities, such as toothpaste and toothbrushes, some soap and fresh, white towels. Will took the opportunity to get some basic cleaning done, washed his hair and then dumped his clothes on the chair by the bed in the upper left corner. He'd toss them in the washing machine first thing next morning.

Saki had bounded downstairs again for round two in the meantime, which meant the bedroom was nice and quiet.

Will scrubbed his hair dry and took a moment to listen by the stairs to hear if the unholy screeching started up again.

Nothing. Good. Nim needed the rest.

He laid down on the bed, hesitated for a moment, then sent out Houndoom.

Houndoom shook himself, cast his small, red eyes about the room, then settled his gaze on Nim's sleeping frame.

A low, whiny growl emanated from his throat and his tail slowly went rigid.

"I know, she's not feeling well," Will told him.

Houndoom shot him a look over his shoulder. A little plume of smoke escaped from his nostrils.

"We're safe, for now. We escaped the castle. We…" Will cut himself off. "They'll be after the rest of us too."

Houndoom blinked, then began padding around the room, pausing to sniff at every bed. He halted at the stairs, then looked at Will expectantly.

"All good people. I need you to…keep an eye out, you know? Your senses are far better than ours. If you hear anyone approaching, smell any Pokemon approaching us…please wake me up."

Houndoom made a point to look down the stairs again, then back at him.

"Anyone besides Braixen. She's with us."

Seemingly satisfied, Houndoom wandered back to Will's bed, put himself at the end of his feet and curled up into a ball with only his horns, his ears and his tail sticking out.

Satisfied that he wouldn't have to worry about any physical threats for the night, Will rested his head on the pillow, closed his eyes and hoped that he'd be able to scrape together a few hours of sleep.

With sleep came the nightmares. They had him choking and drowning in a viscous, black void that seeped through his nostrils and his mouth, filling his throat and freezing his lungs. Shadowy hands of the Death Wings who had lured him into this trap pulled him under when he tried to swim back up. They tugged at his arms and his legs just when his fingers breached the surface. They laughed.

Driven half-mad by fear and desperation, Will kicked and jerked and thrashed around.

Just then, his mother plunged her arms deep into the pit. She seized his shoulders and she began to pull him, even as the maddened Death Wings continued to tear at his body with their metallic wings. He felt them scrape away bits of skin and flesh with every hit.

"Come Will!" His mother whispered. "We're almost home. We have to go!"

"Go?" Madame X whispered. Her gloved hand seized the side of his head and suddenly, all of the Death Wings were gone. Cold, steel-clad fingers dug into his skin as she wrapped her arms around his upper body and pulled him down again, out of his mother's arms. "No, that can't happen. This is your final stand."

Madame X appeared behind his mother now. Half wreathed in shadows, she unsheathed a slender blade.

He wanted to scream his mother's name, but he couldn't. His throat was wound up tight. He was drowning, and he couldn't muster more than a choking gasp.

Madame X plunged her blade through his mother's spine. Blood burst from her chest as the blade erupted on the other side. Warm blood sprayed all over his face -

Houndoom woke him up with a little nudge, shoving his wet muzzle against his face. Will breathed in sharply through teeth so tightly clenched that they hurt. His mother's name bled at the back of his tongue, teetering between a sob and a scream.

She was gone. She would always be gone.

Will balled his hands into fists, struggling to contain the urge to break down again. Houndoom heaved his upper body on the bed and pressed his arm, black-furred body against his chest, nudging his chin with his wet nose.

Hot tears dripped down on Houndoom's head. Will struggled to suppress them. He fought to make his head as blank as possible, to keep his thoughts at bay.

He couldn't get the sight of his mother's blood out of his mind.

Dont't think, he told himself. Don't feel. You have to be strong.

He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and slowly got out of bed. Houndoom pressed his flank against his thigh, keeping him steady.

Slowly, Will glanced around the sleeping room. The others were already up and downstairs. He only saw Val still sleeping in her bed, all tangled up in her sheets.

"Thank you for keeping watch," Will said, reaching down to scratch Houndoom's chin and rub his forehead.

Houndoom took his scratches with dignity, then nudged Will for more when he stopped.

"Sorry, but we don't want to alert the others. Come back for now."

Will was about to head downstairs when the door to the bathroom suddenly clicked open and Nim walked out, already fully clothed and looking pale, disheveled and…scared? Did he see that right?

She saw him and she flinched back as if he was the source of her fear. "G-Good morning, Will…" she murmured. "S-Sorry, I was just taking a quick shower."

"Sorry?" Will repeated. "What for? Nim, you - are you feeling okay?"

"Y-Yes!" Nim replied quickly. "I'm running a small fever, but that's nothing I can't handle! I promise!"

"Nim, I think we need to call a doctor, you're - "

"No!" Nim snarled, and the veracity and force in her voice took Will by total surprise. He flinched, and he couldn't keep himself from taking a step back himself.

Nim stared at him. Her lip quivered suddenly. "I-I mean…I-I…Will…"

Will had to shake his head at his own weakness, He stepped towards Nim, took her hand in his and felt her forehead. She felt cold, too. "Nim…talk to me…" He quietly said,. "What's going on?"

Softly, Nim pulled away from him. Her voice sounded strangled as she spoke. "Hey…uhm…do you think…do you think everything that's happening is because of a specific reason?"

It wasn't the kind of question he'd expected. He wasn't the right person to ask. Philosophy seemed more like Melia's thing. Still. she'd asked him, so the least he could do was try to answer. "Team Xen's the reason for everything that's happened to us. Aside from that…a lot of people have been talking about fate lately."

"What about you?" Nim urged him on. "What do you think?"

Will couldn't help but scoff. "If fate is real, then it's cruel and unkind. I think we're better off without it."

His answer…didn't seem to be what Nim was looking for. If anything, she looked even more dejected. "If so…then why me? Why do I have to be this way?" She turned away from him, gritting her teeth and squeezing out her words like they pained her. "Why? Why do I have to be the one to go through this? I just wanna be with my friends…my only friends in the entire world…but I can't…I can't even have that…"

Her anguished words made Will feel sick to his stomach. "Nim, come on, I want to help you! What's going on? You're my friend damnit, let us help you!"

Nim looked at him with an expression he couldn't place. It was something vicious and hopeless and agonized. It was as if she looked at him and didn't see Will, her friend, but someone - something - completely different. In that instant, he saw something like hunger in her eyes.

The next instant Nim shook her head, backed away to the stairs and mumbled, "You can't help me." Then, before Will could say or do anything else, she ran off and she ran off fast.

Goddamnit Nim! Will thought. He hurried after her, but by the time he made it downstairs, he was just in time to hear the front door shutting behind her.

"Morning Will!" Saki said, already munching on some bread at the dining table. Melia was pouring tea for Aelita and Val.

"Hey Will," Aelita said. "We wanted to let you rest, but I see you're already up."

"Morning," Will muttered back. "Did you see Nim just now?"

"Yeah, she said something about taking some fresh air," Aelita said. "I was just about to fill the others in on what happened in Carotos Mountain. Since that's what made Team Xen so upset in the first place, we should share as much information as we can. Wanna join? Tell us your side of things?"

Will didn't take his eyes off the front door. What was going on with Nim? What had her so scared? Why would she be so vehemently against the idea of involving a doctor? "Later, gotta run some errands first."

"Oh…I guess I can fill in the gaps myself. When do you think you'll be back?"

"An hour. Shouldn't be more than that."

Aelita nodded. "Eh, I can wait an hour. Be careful!"

"Ayo, Will found a new city and the first thing he's gotta do is conquer it," Saki said.

"Just some necessities," Will muttered. "Later."

Nim being Nim, she was long gone by the time Will got around to searching Kakori Village. He could have turned the entire place upside down with a hundred Pokemon and still not find her. She'd likely fled into a pocket dimension.

What could be so bad that she'd rather suffer alone than ask for help?

He didn't know. Not for the first time, he wished he had a Psychic-type Pokemon on his team. Maybe they could have figured out what the problem was, tell Braixen what it was. Turn his thing into a problem they could start solving.

Seeing the people he loved in pain and not being able to help them…Will couldn't think of anything worse. The helplessness was agony.

It didn't take him very long to locate a little clothing store. He bought himself a spare set of everything, including a new jacket - dark green, with several pockets so he could immediately access his battle items - and a couple of new trousers, then went right back to the house. On his way there, he took notice of the local Help Center. Since they'd be stuck in Terajuma for the foreseeable future, they might as well try to pay back Crawli for his hospitality, right? Something to look into later.

"Back so soon?" Melia said when he closed the door behind him.

"Yeah," he replied. Nim was still missing it seemed, but so was Adam. Maybe he'd gone looking for her? In the meantime,, Val had woken up as well. She and Saki were setting the table for a proper breakfast. Will smelt fresh coffee.

"Ah! Will! Come sit down," Val said, gesturing at the seat next to her. "You're just the person I wanted to talk to."

"Quick minute," Will said. "Gotta change first."

"Sixty! Fifty-nine! fifty-eight!" Saki started.

Will went upstairs, double-checked to see if he wasn't about to accidentally flash someone, then quickly changed into a fresh set of clothes. He folded his bloodied, tattered clothing over his chair, satisfied that he'd taken care of at least one problem.

"Minus fourteen….minus fifteen…" Saki counted when he came back down again. "Too late my dude. No breakfast for you."

"That's okay," Will said. He sat down next to Valarie. "Only one thing I need."

Aelita grinned. "I figured. Made you some coffee, too. Just the way you like it; extra disgusting,"

Will gratefully took the steam cup she handed him. God, the smell of fresh coffee in the morning…"Thanks. Val, you wanted to talk?"

"Yeah! I was out north just exploring the area while you were gone. I came across the Mynori sea, just half a kilometer away. It got me thinking "This would be the perfect spot for a battle!" My mind instantly thought of you. I've been curious about your skill ever since we first met."

"Is this what I think it is?" Braixen gasped.

Val beamed. "Will, I'm challenging you to an official Gym Battle!

"Ooooooh!" Went Saki. "OOOOH!"

Well, he could hardly refuse an official challenge now, could he? "You're on."

"Yes!" Val grinned. "Got me all excited now. How many Pokemon are you going to fight with? Five? Okay, I'll take five of my own then. I'll show you the spot in a minute; I think it will be a beautiful place to fight." She calmly took a swig of tea, then added, "Oh, considering the weather, you guys might want to take your swimwear with you."

…damnit.

Will knew he'd forgotten something.

Well, that was where the spare boxers came in.

"Fighting at sea? Taking the home field advantage, hmm?" Aelita said.

Val laughed. "How else are we supposed to challenge our trainers? It's about adapting, improvising and overcoming! I dare say every Gym Trainer Will faced up to now had the field advantage. It's the way the League Challenge is set up, Aelita."

"She's right," Melia chimed in. "When Will fought Venam, he had to boogie in her night club to even earn the right to face her.

That got the gang's interest alright. "I would have paid money to see that happen," Braixen said. "How'd he do?"

"Yeah Will, you never mentioned you could dance!" Aelita said, leaning with her elbows on the table to look at him. "You any good?"

Will took a large gulp of his coffee, savoring the burning in his throat for a moment. "Boogying? The best."

"Dancing…not so much," Melia laughed. "It took you how many tries to get to that podium?"

"Lost count after attempt eight."

Valarie nearly spat out her tea. "Oh god!"

"...Val, I think Will might drown before he gets to you," Saki said.

"Don't worry about that; I don't have any challenge set up beyond the fight itself. Besides; I'm sure Will can swim." She eyed him. "Right?"

Will nodded from behind his coffee.

They wrapped up breakfast, gathered their things and then followed Valarie to the north.

She hadn't been exaggerating; Will could see Mynori from the moment they headed through the northern forest path. It was a stone's toss across the beach, which led to several wooden docks with sailing boats tied down.

"Wow…this is like, the most sun I'll get in the next twenty years," Saki sad as they walked across the sand towards the middle pier. "I better SOAK it up! Gotta walk off all that food I ate last night, too. Don't get used to this level of physical productivity! These are special circumstances!"

"You're already skin and bones," Aelita commented. "Some physical productivity might do you good! A healthy mind needs a healthy body, after all."

"The amount of energy Saki can fit into her body defies all logic," Braixen said. "I'm still not sure how she does it."

"Size isn't everything," Will absentmindedly replied. He knew for a fact Aetlia was lighter than him, but she'd lay him out in a physical fight ten out of ten times. Probably even with one hand tied to her ponytail.

Braixen snickered. "Size isn't everything, no?'

Of course it wasn't. Braixen ought to know that herself; she was tiny, but as a Fire-type, she could probably turn any human into a pile of ashes if she so chose to. "It's about what you do, with what you have."

Mightyena had dealt a near-fatal blow to a Rift Gyarados many times his size. His tiny Combusken had defeated Maria's enormous Bewear in single combat. The list went on…

But Braixen simply kept snickering, so Will guessed he'd missed something.

"Aelita, you're from Sheridan Village, right?" Melia asked, a few meters ahead of Will, Saki and Braixen.

"Yup! It's my home and I love being there. Have you ever been?"

"Couple of times, but only very briefly…I had a job to do at Amethyst Cave for my dad, and I ended up wandering too far within the cave…I guess I got a tad too excited and didn't realize I ended up at the exit. For a split second I thought I discovered an entire new world within the cave itself!"

Aelita laughed at that. "You're so silly. Well, when this is over, I invite you and Will to come over for food! There are some Sheridan specialties I think you'll love!"

"When this is over, huh? I'd love to visit, Aelita. Thank you!"

"Where's Adam?" Will asked.

"Down by the ship today," Braixen replied. "He said he's gotta look after the Akuwa Town citizens and make sure they're okay. And they said chivalry was dead!"

Even when they were all in the clear for the moment, Adam still felt the need to take care of others.

If it keeps others from falling apart, I can be solid for them too.

Adam's words echoed through his head. It was like that for him now too, wasn't it? Keeping the others safe was the one thing that kept him going. Being strong for Melia's sake, for Aelita's sake.

For Nim's sake.

Adam knew exactly what he was doing. Will admired that.

"The place I wanna battle is out at sea, on that island there. Are you ready? Do you have your Pokemon on you?"

"Yeah," Will replied. "Let's sea where this goes."

Val did not notice. "Gotcha! All aboard!"

Will had no idea where Val had plucked that motorboat from, but she started taking them a couple of miles deeper into the Mynori sea, going full throttle right from the get go. If Valarie hadn't been here before, then she must have developed some sort of telepathic sonar at one point in her life since she deftly avoided rocks, buoys and coral reefs without even a hint of stress.

Aelita sat down at the front, holding on tightly as the boat skipped and leapt atop the waves. She laughed as the wind buffeted her face, seemingly perfectly at ease despite Val's…somewhat reckless boating style.

And Will had to admit, there was something inspiring about being at the front of something that moved so fast, with so much feedback from the environment.

"Wow! I can't believe how fast this thing's going!" Aelita yelled over the roaring wind. The wind smacked her hair in front of her eyes and she brushed it behind her ear. "Did it take long to learn?"

"Nothing much to driving a boat," Val said from inside of the little cockpit as she threw the steer around. Melia sat in the seat behind her, content with stating out the window. "It's a bit like driving a car!"

Will barely heard her over the howling wind, but Aelita got the gist."What if someone falls off?"

If Saki leaned forwards over the railing just a few inches more, they'd all find out.

"Then we go swimming earlier," Will replied.

Aelita laughed at that.

It took Val a little over half an hour to get to where she wanted to go. She brought the boat to a halt near a large ring of land that surrounded an enclosed pond of seawater perhaps fifty meters across. A sandbank to the right led up and towards a rocky hill, with a large cave entrance reinforced with wooden support structures.

"Valarie, you got this!" Saki shouted as Val made her way to the northern side of the enclosed ring. "Sorry Will, you're cool too. Val's just my gal, you know?"

Aelita heard that. "Don't make me laugh! Will, you beat Narcissa and she was incredibly strong! With everything we've been through, I have no doubt in my mind that you can do this!"

"I think you can do this as well," Melia said. She and Aelita took up a position atop the sandbank, just a few feet higher than Val's ocean circle. "You've come so far already! If you fight like you did on Blacksteeple, you'll be fine for sure."

Will slowly approached his own side of the battlefield, taking note of the terrain, the weather, the rocks jutting from the water, the local vegetation and the wind. More than half his team was weak to o Water-types, and Val would certainly try to exploit that.

"Thanks for accepting my battle!" Valarie said as he took his position. "I've always wanted to be a marine biologist, but battling is something I've been good at as well. And I can't deny the rush I feel when a strong opponent is my challenger."

Will felt a stab of pride at her declaration, but not everybody seemed to agree on that.

"Yeah yeah," Saki said dismissively. "Will's strong and all, but you got this Val!"

"I'm rooting for Will of course!" Aelita fired back. "Buddies gotta stick together!"

Braixen brought a furry paw to her mouth in a belittling gesture. "Aww so cute~!" She said in a singsang voice. "Will's gonna need a support duo like you after Valarie crushes them."

"Yeah, Will's got zero chance, dudes," Saki agreed. She held out her hand and Braixen gave her a low five.

Will saw Melia's expression grow skeptical. "You two serious? I don't agree. Will's gotten so strong. The only time I've seen Wil defeated was against Madame X, and that hardly counts as a fair fight."

"Alright then, if you gamers are so confident then put the money where your mouth is," Saki demanded. "Let's bet on it!"

Things escalated a bit from that point.

Without even a moment's hesitation, Melia said, "Ten thousand says Will wins first try."

"I'll bet twenty grand Valarie sweeps Will away in one try!" Saki yelled back.

"Done deal!" Aelita decided then and there. "This is the easiest twenty grand in my life!"

"Then it's settled! Val's gals are gonna win!"

Will could hardly believe what he heard. They were betting? On him? He wasn't sure if he ought to swell with pride or not. He was not about to cause his friends to lose money over him.

"Will…how about we make this fun for ourselves too?" Valarie said to him. "Let's gamble on our skill too. No pressure if you don't want to, of course."

Surely succumbing to peer pressure a second time couldn't go wrong, right? "Let's make bad choices," he shot back. "How much?"

"What do you want to wager?"

If Aelita and Melia were willing to lose twenty thousand, how could he do anything less? "Twenty grand sounds good to me!"

Val looked like she'd just choked on something. "Whoah! All or nothing? Alright. alright Will, I see you!" She pulled her arms behind her head and stretched her back, which made it very important for Will not to let his eyes drift. "Well, we shouldn't keep our fans waiting, right Will?" She said. "I'm excited for this! Let's see where the tide will turn!"

~~~~~~~(V)~~~~~~~

---

On this field, against an experienced battler like Valarie, Will was at a severe disadvantage. With what she had seen of him in the past and against Neved, Melia expected Will to have cooked up some sort of clever tactic centered around the individual strengths of his Pokemon. That, or perhaps some intricate, well-managed hit-and-run type of combat.

Instead, Will decided to Attack with a capital A. With extreme firepower and the utmost aggression, Will attacked, and he attacked without regard for his environment. Great plumes of flames flash-vaporized the surface layer of the water, throwing up a large screen of boiling steam. Blasts of dark energy created vast clouds of inky blackness and large, shaky waves.

It was like that with Houndoom starting out against Qwilfish, it was like that when Will swapped out for Froslass. A great wind of frigid air buffeted the water, freezing large patches of water in place and creating thick, solid stepping stones. Froslass defended those stepping stones with an unending barrage of Ominous Wind as she slowly turned the tropical weather into something akin to a tundra, hail and everything.

"What's he doing?" Aelita asked, fidgeting nervously as she watched Will swap out Froslass - not for Blaziken to make use of the extra land he just created, but for Nidoking, who was also weak to Water and Ice moves. "I don't get it."

"...I'm not sure," Melia said, trying to find a pattern in Will's tactics, something she could add up and make sense of. Nidoking possessed a lot of firepower as well; he generated several large blasts of unsanitary, purple sludge in seemingly random directions, never striking the Dewgong as it deftly navigated the water.

As the Sludge Bombs slowly turned the water purple and corrosive, generating foul-smelling fumes that slowly mixed with the clouds of steam, Melia started to get it. She couldn't be sure however, not until Will recalled Nidoking and sent out Froslass once again. That was when she realized what was going on.

She carefully watched Dewgong's movements. It had to move in ever-increasing circles around the arena, as Will had created several locations where it wouldn't be able to see a thing if it surfaced. It was almost as if…

Dewgong found the one spot it could surface to assault Froslass from range. It was pretty much the only spot it could surface without either blinding itself with the steam or poisoning itself with the tainted water and Froslass was ready. When Dewgong surfaced, she struck it dead-on with Ominous Wind.

The coin dropped. "I think he isn't fighting Valarie's Pokemon, but the field itself," she said. "Look; he's freezing, boiling and poisoning the water in a pattern. He's taking away Val's advantages, while also forcing her to act in a certain way."

"Oh. Oh!" Aelita exclaimed. "I see it!"

The battle raged on with increasing intensity. Both Will's as Valarie's Pokemon suffered hits, slowly whittling each other down. Froslass took out Dewgong, but had to make way for Octillery. Houndoom took out Octillery, but was taken out in return by Primarina. Primarina suffered a terrible blow from Nidoking's Poison Jab, but Nidoking in turn was unable to deal with Lumineon, which defeated him in turn with a well-placed Water Pulse.

It was a savage, violent battle, but Will and Val gave it everything they had. In the end, Will's systematic disruption and destruction of the field turned the tide faster than Valarie was able to whittle him down. In the end, even Blaziken had to take a loss and bow out when she took one too many Water Pulses, but she did the damage she needed. Froslass flash-froze the poisonous vapors and launched them like a cannon blast at Valarie's Lumineon…Valarie's last Pokemon.

Something occurred to Melia however, and try as she might, she was unable to solve that particular query.

She saw Will's Blaziken, his Houndoom, his Nidoking, his Pidgeot and his Froslass. Five Pokemon, most of which she had seen him fight alongside with against Neved as well.

But she missed someone. His second Pokemon ever, the one who had had bravely put himself between her and Team Xen's thugs all that time ago, navigated through a forest filled with enemy forces like a shadowy guardian angel and ultimately helped beat Zetta and cripple his Rift Gyarados.

Where was Mightyena?

~~~~~~~(VI)~~~~~~~

---

The blast of frozen gunk-shards struck home hard just as Lumineon leapt up for an attack. It was one of two possible avenues of approach it could have taken, and he had guessed correctly.

Froslass drifted in a lazy circle when she saw her attack hit, happily flickering in and out of view amidst the falling hail.

"Grah!" Valarie exclaimed, before recalling Lumineon. "Looks like I've been washed away…"

Will exhaled the breath he'd been subconsciously holding. That was it. That was it?

That was it!

. "I guess that's it then," Val said, looking like she couldn't believe it either. "You win, Will."

And the crowd went wild.

"Hahahah!" Aelita laughed maniacally. She leapt up and down, thrusting her first into the air. "Yes!"

Melia looked at Saki with beautiful feigned innocence, head slightly tilted and everything. "I'm sorry, what was that about Will having zero percent chance, hmmm?"

Saki mumbled angrily under her breath, then kicked at the sand angrily. "Damn."

"I'm a Pokemon so…Saki, this one's all you," Braixen said, not sounding the least bit miffed.

"Yeah yeah," Saki grumbled, reaching for her wallet. "Here take ya money."

Melia happily skipped down the steps and plucked Saki's money from her hand. "Thanks~! Aelita and I are going off to Dartreaux's later tonight. It's a date."

Aelita grinned and gave Melia a high-five. "It's gonna be sooo yummy."

Will watched them take their victory and slowly felt the tension seep from his shoulders. Seeing them all giddy and happy like that…it made him feel peaceful inside. They'd earned a chance to unwind and have fun many times over.

Meanwhile, Saki looked like she was plotting someone's demise. "You two will rue the day I swear on my gramma's booty cheeks."

"It's okay Saki," Braixen said. "You win some and you lose some."

Valarie sighed explosively, then began making her way around the battlefield, reaching for a wallet WIll hadn't even realized she'd been keeping on her person. Where on earth had she been hiding that? "I guess a deal's a deal. Aaaand…paid."

Will gratefully took the money and put it into his own wallet. "Straight into my jungle survival budget," he said.

"Yeah. So, how do you feel about that battle?" Val asked.

"It was pretty even the entire battle," Will said. "I was one Pokemon away from losing."

She smiled. "Who knows? I had the advantage on this field, after all. Anyway, since I lost, I guess this belongs to you now. I present to you: the Dewdrop Badge!"

Will had completely forgotten about the whole Badge aspect of the battle. "Thank you," he said, carefully taking the blue piece of metal from her outstretched hand. He knelt down, took his badge case from its spot in his bag and gently placed his fifth badge where it belonged.

Five down…eleven more to go.

Melia and Aelita applauded him, and Saki begrudgingly joined them. "And Will continues to be an absolute menace!" Aelita exclaimed. "Holy moly what a violence. I was afraid you two were going to tear this whole island apart!"

"We did cause quite some damage," Valarie said, eying the murkwater in the center of the ring. "I have to get around to cleaning that. So…now that Will's finally gotten the badge that will permit him to swim, how about it? Let's hit the water. I can assure you that it's nice."

"Don't mind if I do!" Aelita said. "I packed my swimwear back in Sheridan for just this occasion!"

"Yeah, this seems as good an opportunity to unwind as any," Melia agreed. "We cannot let our guard down too much, however."

"That's what our Pokemon are for. Come on, we can use that cave over there to change. Braixen, no peeking!"

"No promises!" Braixen fired back. She turned to her trainer. "Saki? Wanna go swim?"

"...nah, I'll pass," Saki said. "Too much sun and water might turn me into Val. Am happy the way I am."

As the others began changing into their swimwear, Will took that moment to tend to his hurt Pokemon. He sent them out one by one, then began pulling his potions out of their straps.

Swimming in the ocean…Will wasn't sure if he'd ever done that before. Like everything else, he simply couldn't remember. Did he even like swimming? The water didn't solicit any feelings of fear or revolt. Quite the contrary; he felt like he couldn't wait to throw himself face-first into the water.

Houndoom, who could wade into a volcano and convert its heat into usable energy for himself, merely plopped down on the hot sand, dug his limbs in deep and rested his head between his head, full in the sun. Nidoking however, didn't have that luxury, and he was forced to sit still and let Will spray his wounds with the healing potions.

Nidoking really didn't like sitting still.

Blaziken watched it unfold with a neutral expression. She'd taken shelter underneath one of the trees, resting her feathered back against its trunk and just letting the seawind wash over her. Will was almost willing to bet that she was judging someone. Whether it was him or his unfortunately-typed friend, he wasn't sure.

Meanwhile, apparently all Val needed to do to get ready for a swim was take off her top. She wore a sports bra underneath, much the same color as the rest of her clothes, and she simply waded into the water without any regard, spreading her arms as she basked in the warmth of the water.

"Akuwa Town might have been cold, but the indoor pools are to die for," she said as she turned to look at Will, already up to her waist in the water. "Unless you prefer ice diving?"

"That's a thing?"

"Yeah. I tried it a couple of times. It's supposed to be really good for your immune system and builds resilience." She sank backwards into the water, until only her head was visible, "You coming?"

Well…why the hell not?

He started pulling his jacket and shirt off, zipping open his bag and stuffing them in. By that time, Melia and Aelita had finished getting changed as well. Melia was dressed in a black bikini rimmed with golden bands, while Aelita wore a swimsuit that really stuck to her athletic body.

He was very aware that, without Adam or Ren, he was the only guy in the presence of several very attractive ladies . That meant he'd have to be very careful about where to rest his eyes. A part of his brain was aware of that, and actively tried to keep the rest of his brain from noticing how much Val's tight clothes accentuated her curves. or how good Melia looked in a bikini.

…but that didn't make sense. Melia looked older than she should have been. She'd have turned sixteen this year, but she sure didn't look fifteen. She looked more like Val, who definitely wasn't fifteen.

…had she lied to him about her age, in Goldenleaf Forest?

No, that couldn't be it. He'd noticed the change in her face before, too. She'd changed, not just mentally. But how was something like that possible?

Maybe he was overthinking things. Maybe he remembered her age wrong.

…maybe he was just going crazy.

Will wasn't sure if his eyes were the only ones that wandered. He didn't exactly stop to check. He simply put his shirt and his pants away, deliberately not looking at anyone as he exposed his beaten body to other people for the first time. He could imagine their response. He didn't want to see it.

But the water was nice.

"Gah!" Aelita sputtered as her head emerged from the surface of the water again. "Ah, that feels good! It's a shame Sheridan isn't closer to the sea!"

Melia's Azmuarill happily drifted along, its bobbed tail keeping it afloat.

"Right?" Val said with a grin. "Imagine missing out on being able to swim every day!"

"It's a pleasant change of pace after Blacksteeple, yes," Melia agreed.

Overhead, Hapi and Pidgeot chased after one another, occasionally veering off-course to skim the surface of the water.

Will took a gamble, breathed in deeply and then submerged himself. The salty water stung all across his body where it washed into his many tiny cuts and scrapes, but it was a good kind of pain. It reminded him that despite everything, he was still alive.

And underwater, through hazy, blurry eyes, Will still managed to see so much life down there. Little schools of Remoraid fluttered around the seaweeds and darted around the rocks.

Something as simple as seeing Pokemon in their natural habitat suddenly became infinitely more beautiful when their habitat was so hard to reach. Will looked around until his lungs were about to burst, then swam up again, kicking with his legs until his face broke the surface of the water again. He took several deep gulps of water and then dove again.

In the distance, Will saw chubby little Mantyke flapping their winglike fins like they were flying underwater. He saw a pair of Krabby nestled in-between a pair of rocks, fighting over scraps. He even thought he saw the large, bulky shape of a Wailmer, but he couldn't be sure.

His tiny human lungs couldn't last him more than forty seconds underwater, so again he swam back to the surface. He took another deep breath and then proceeded to swallow two gallons of salty water. Breathing turned to wet, choking coughs, which threatened to turn into more saltwater swallowing.

"Will, you okay?" Melia said.

He heard Val laugh, "Swim with your mouth closed, Will! Better that way!"

Will would have said something really smart and cool in return, but doing so would probably have resulted in the inhalation of even more seawater, so he settled for sputtering something unintelligible instead.

Aelita, meanwhile, casually swam around on her back, backstroking in loose circles. "I've swam in lakes and rivers before, but somehow, this is much simpler!"

"You will find it's much easier to stay afloat in the sea!" Val said. "Seawater is denser than freshwater. It's got so much salt and other stuff per cubic meter that you're much more buoyant."

Water lessons from Valarie the Gym Leader. It felt surreal. These people had been like celebrities in his eyes, back on the Oceana. They still were, in some way. In a normal life, he'd have been happy to catch one of Valarie's shows once a month and now, he was swimming with her.

Will spotted NIdoking slowly sliding off the beach and into the water. There, he spun onto his stomach, poked the upper half of his head above the surface, then began slowly paddling around, his horn sticking up from the water like some sort of reverse snorkel.

Melia, Aetlia, Val and him watched the cumbersome Ground-type ball of destruction casually snorkeling around with varying degrees of amazement and disbelief. Then, Aelita started snickering. Val cracked a laugh, and Melia soon followed.

To Will, it really was his partner's mentality summed up.

They enjoyed the warm seawater for another half hour before Val decided that they really had to start heading back. "We've got a lot of things to plan for," Valarie explained.

"True," Melia said. "Let's dry off and then return to the village."

They swam back to shore. Val met up with Saki and Braixen to discuss their next moves, while Aelita and Melia headed back to the cave entrance to dry themselves off and change back to their regular clothes in peace.

Will dried himself off with the spare towel he'd brought with him, got dressed again and then waited for the others to join him.

"Got rid of that stress you had?" He asked Nidoking.

His pal slowly emerged from the sea and shook himself wildly.

Nidoking had some…anger issues. Will wasn't sure if it was just the way his species worked, or if the recent events had something to do with that. It wasn't often that his Pokemon got to sit back and relax, and the past few days had been nothing but stress.

"Thank you so much for the fun times," Melia said when they'd almost made it back to the pier. "I didn't think I'd get to enjoy myself like this."

"It was fun," Saki agreed. Together, they got back on Val's ship. "I love gambling. Win or lose, it's all okay."

"Sureeee, Saki," Braixen said, rolling her eyes.

"Well, I'm just glad you're opening up to us," Val replied. "I was worried you'd be stuck in that "Emma" persona."

"You think so?" Meloa replied. "I just wanted all of us to be safe…being friends was the second priority."

One by one, they disembarked from the boat and began making their way back to the entrance to Kakori Village.

"But now we're really safe!" Saki exclaimed. "So it's all good now, right?"

Will wasn't sure if that counted as jinxing it, or if Saki was just that naive. Things weren't all good now. Things wouldn't ever be all good as long as Madame X was still alive.

"Safe…" Melia mused, "Everyone, thee's something I need to tell you all. Look - "

Adam burst from the entrance. "Finally found you guys!" He loudly said, looking tired and in a great hurry. "Did you find Nim? Is she with you?"

A chill crept under his skin. Nim hadn't gone back after getting some fresh air? She was still gone?

"Nim?" Val said. "No, I don't think I've seen her today."

Adam's expression grew grim. "Nim's not home either. I haven't seen her all day. She's been gone for hours. She's not in the village either."

Fuck. Fuck!

Will felt dizzy. What had gotten into her?! She was in such a bad way, why on earth wouldn't she just stay put?

"We need to go out and look for her!" Val vocalized his thoughts in a more coherent manner. With the practiced ease of a leader, she began distributing orders. "Saki, you and I will take the jungle."

"Yuh.'"

"Braixen, Adam, please take a look at the shipyard again."

"You got it! Let's go, Braixen."

"Y-Yes!'

"I'll take the village!" Aelita said.

"Good. Melia - "

"Will and I will check the beach!" Melia resolutely said. "We'll meet up back in Kakori if we can't find anything."

"Good. Let's move!"

Something had clearly been eating her up from the inside. They shouldn't have left. They should have never left while Nim was gone. God, what had he been thinking!

"Damnit Nim," Will growled. "Hang in there, we're coming!"

~~~~~~~(VII)~~~~~~~

---

AN: And so ends one of my favorite story chapters! We are currently sitting comfortably at 4,000 views and counting! A big thank you to everyone who followed/faved and reviewed!

I think I've been looking forward the most to writing this chapter, at least thus far. "Imprisoned" is the turning point for our Interceptor's characterization, the part where the traumatic experiences start doing irreversible damage. That's where I think the writing truly becomes the most interesting experience for me personally; the interplay between intense violence/combat scenes and their aftermath, which I can now finally start exploring fully.

Oh Interceptor, we have miles to go.

…

Anyway, thank you all for sticking around for so long! It's been a long ride and it's going to be eeeeeven longer. Don't target to leave a review and I will see you all with the next update!