"True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost." - Arthur Ashe

-Amelia-

"Harper!"

"Amelia!"

Even though they'd seen each other the day before, the two girls embraced like they'd been separated for months, much to the chagrin of their classmates.

"So," Harper inquired eagerly, "When will your parents let you come over again?"

Amelia groaned inwardly. Asking her parents to let her do anything was harder than climbing the Lumiose Tower. Not that she'd know.

"I have no idea girl," she said apologetically. "Getting them to let me come over the other day was a nightmare."

Harper rolled her eyes. "Your parents really need to lighten up. What are they going to do when you go off to college? Or are they against that too?"

Amelia shook her head, swiftly opening her locker and grabbing her textbooks. "They say I can either go to their choice in colleges or I can find a job."

"They're actually willing to let you work?" Harper fake gasped. "What's next? They start letting you come over to my house every weekend?"

"I'd seriously be bored to death without you."

It was true her parents were strict, but she knew they loved her and only wanted the best for her. Sadly, they had stopped knowing her a long time ago. Harper kept her sane with jokes to keep her in better spirits during the day, and letting her rant via phone at night. She couldn't ask for a greater friend.

"I'm so going to ask again." Amelia vowed, instinctively giving Harper her hand, their secret handshake habitual. Too soon, Amelia was left alone, forced to face seven hours of schooling before she'd able to the one person who took the time to get to know her, again.

•••

Piano and homework went by in a blur as she rushed through he daily routine. She was just heading downstairs for dinner when the doorbell rang.

"Alex," her mother's announcement was all she needed. Skipping the last few stairs altogether, Amelia raced around her mother to embrace her uncle.

"What are you doing here?"

Amelia ignored the pointed look she could feel from her mother. Even though they weren't still technically related since he had only become her uncle after marrying her aunt, who sadly passed away last ear from kidney failure, she couldn't think of him any other way.

"Animalia! How's my favorite niece?"

"Fine, but why are you here?" Amelia frowned, unsure how to convince her parents to let him stay. He traveled the world and typically called before he showed up, though her parents still tried to get rid of him as soon as they could without being outrightly rude.

"Sorry to show up unannounced Janet," Alexander cleared his throat. "But I'm only here for tonight since my flight got cancelled."

Her mother smiled, but the warmth was gone. "You're just in time for dinner."

Amelia watched as he lead the way into the dining room. When her mother left to tell the cook to move dinner, Amelia turned to her uncle.

"Where are you going this time?"

Alexander's eyes turned to hers, the blue storm grey. "I'm headed up to Dragonspiral Tower."

"Will you come back when you're done?"

"I'll always come back to you."

Reassured, Amelia tried to enjoy dinner with her family. Her mother led the conversation, making small talk for awhile as her father stayed silent.

"How's work at the office?" Alexander asked her father. Both her mother and her shared a glance, of one mind for once.

Her father barely spared him a look. "We're making great progress."

Her mother jabbed him, practically ordering him to behave.

"How's work with the um..." Her father searched but couldn't find the word.

"Fossils." Alexander supplied, taking a sip of his water. "It's slow going, but we think we discovered a new dig site."

"At Dragonspiral Tower?" Amelia cut in.

Alexander nodded. "Yes, we believe it holds the key to solving several mysteries."

"What mysteries?"

"Like how the regions are connected."

"Does anybody want desert?" Her mother interrupted.

Amelia let it slide. Her father would only continue to get more upset the longer she entertained her uncle's research. An archeologist isn't what her father wanted her to be.

"I'm glad you came," Amelia whispered as her parents fled to the kitchen after dinner. Gothita climbed into her lap. "But what's the real reason you're here?"

She loved to think he came all this way just to see her, but her intuition told her there was more to it. He wouldn't face his ex-in-laws unless he had to.

Alexander eyed the kitchen door. "I came to give you this." Pressing something into her hand, he firmly shut her fingers around it before she'd got a proper look at it. "I need you to hold onto it for me."

"What is it?"

"Something your dad wishes his company could produce."

She opened her mouth to ask for specifics at the same time that her parents returned. Alexander took that as his cue to leave, rising from the table. Subtly pocketing the new object, Amelia followed them to the door, Gothita choosing to remain inside. She knew he wouldn't be allowed to stay longer, her parents controlled that just as they controlled the rest of her life.

As if sensing her thoughts, Alexander spoke softly into her ear. "Don't let them decide who you are." He was down the street before she'd thought of a response.

But what if I have no other option?

Gothita thumped her forehead, pointing to her pocket.

"You're right," Amelia said, hurrying to her room. Thankfully her parents were too busy directing the clean up in the aftermath of the party to chide her for her lateness or lack of practicing today. Closing the door behind her, Amelia plopped onto her queen sized bed. Digging the object out of her pocket, she stared at it in confusion. Alexander had given her... a box? A cube no bigger than her palm sat in her hand. She traded glances with her partner Pokémon, who stood in front of her with the a similar perplexed look for a moment.

"Gothita." Gently holding it up with Psychic, turning the cube around until Amelia saw what she did- a button embedded in the metal. Hesitantly, Amelia reached for the object. Gothita waved for her to continue. Summing up her courage, she pressed the dark purple button.

•••

A slim figure leaped from roof to roof, running without fear. Gothita would catch her if she slipped. It'd been that way for a month now. Once she'd gotten over the initial shock of an entire outfit zooming out of a tiny cube, Amelia had eagerly embraced the new identity presented to her by her uncle. Now she was Liberty, or she was when she wasn't playing at being the perfect daughter.

"Help! Somebody help!"

After all, she thought as the ground rushed up to meet her, the eye screen's interface telling her how to move to minimize damage. You don't know who you were until you had the freedom to choose. Bending her knees, she landed with catlike grace.

"Look who finally decided to show up."

Liberty scanned the area for the voice but even the kid she thought she'd heard was nowhere to be seen.

"Who's there?"

Black smoke rose from the asphalt, combining midair into a glassy surface. A pair of red eyes pushed through it, gleaming hungrily at her. Liberty gasped, the image of her purple glove resting on the black suit over her heart reflecting off two more mirror-like surfaces on either side. Cursing her rashness, Liberty send a mental message to her partner Pokémon.

Don't come after me, stay hidden.

She felt Gothita's desire to follow her brush against her mind, but she remained firm. She wouldn't get her friend into any danger that came from her being a Super.

"Who's there?" she repeated the demand, "What do you want?"

Supers had been popping up all over the world lately- ever since Silph Co. had released the first batch of suits that allowed one to fight alongside their Pokémon. Even though she'd only been using this suit for a month now, it felt as if she'd been a Super all her life. It wasn't just having the suit either. She'd always felt out of place, like something integral to her had been revealed. She'd grown so used to being who her parents wanted her to be that she'd lost sight of who she wanted to be. As a Super, she got the chance to help others, not be served or catered to every second of the day. Other Supers however, deemed their abilities to be for their own gain.

When a lean woman stepped into the boxed off area, Liberty got the immediate sense that this Super was one of the selfish ones.

"How much do you think they'll give me for a photograph of your face, without the mask?"

Amelia smiled behind her mask, glad it concealed her better than those ones Supers had in kid's shows. She looked like a completely different person. "Let's see you try."

Gothita's idea flooded her mind as the woman's face contorted in anger. She quickly punched the buttons on her wrist, springing forward. Purple wings exploded from her back, and with the momentum she gained from pushing off the woman's head, gave her a short flight over the wall.

The illusion dispersed as the woman turned to face her again. "That was a cute trick."

Liberty grinned. "I have more where that came from."

"Zoroark, use Shadow Ball."

Liberty's suit encased her in a soft green bubble, exactly like a Pokémon's Protect. Using the bought time, she pressed her favorite button on her keypad. When the Protect ended, she shot two beams at her opponent. The Psybeams hit their mark, but didn't deal any damage. Her interface confirmed this, irritating her. She couldn't change her suit's moves in the middle of a battle.

"You should know your typings by now."

Startled, Liberty turned, surprised to see a bulky figure behind her. A Carracosta followed. She could only guess at the person's gender, but from the deep voice she supposed they were male. The suit he wore was clearly made out of tougher material than her own, blue mixed with earthy tones covered his face. Rock-like protrusions covered his shoulders and flowed into the metal plating on his torso. His pants seemed to be made of lighter material to aide movement. His swagger proved this.

"Who are you?"

"I'm um... Axiom." The male replied.

Liberty smirked. "You sure? You don't sound so certain."

Axiom nodded. "I am, now if you'll kindly get out of the way..."

"Why? So you can play at being a hero?" Liberty scoffed. "If you hadn't noticed, I was just about to kick this lady's butt."

"I let you do the easy work," he smiled, turning to face their shared opponent. "Now the real hero comes in."

"If lady's are done chitchatting," tell woman interrupted. "I'll take your suits now. Zoroark, Night Slash!"

"Carracosta, block it!"

Thanks large sea turtle moved impossibly fast, holding the attack off. Axiom swiftly hit a button on his wrist.

"Stand back, Carracosta!" Axiom warned, a brown light bursting from his hands. The attack hit Zoroark, causing it to stumble back.

"What typing are you?" Liberty asked.

"Fighting." Axiom answered without looking. "Carracosta, don't let them get away!"

Only when he said this did she realize that the woman had disappeared along with her Pokémon. Anger bubbled up inside her like magma in a volcano.

"Why'd you have to interfere?" Liberty wheeled on him. "Do you know how long I've spent tracking her? I'd finally cornered her and now you've blown it! She was the Mastermind behind two bank robberies last week alone!"

Axiom stared at her, gaping. "Why didn't you change your suit's typing then? I was only trying to help! You need someone with moves that can counter hers."

"I'm not taking advice from a newbie who nearly just got us all killed!" Liberty fumed, using her new wings to climb the closest building. Ten stories about ground and her problems still existed.

"For your information," she yelled down. "I didn't know I'd run into her tonight, but you can be sure when I do next time, I'll be ready."

•••

"You're late." Harper's eyebrow twitched.

"I know, sorry." Amelia apologized, hitting the button to change back into her normal clothes. She held her palm open until the suit folded itself back into the cube before placing it in her pocket again. "I had to take Gothita home. She gets really tired after Super stuff."

Harper sighed at the display. Although she had no Pokémon of her own, she'd kept her friend's secret without complaint. Amelia wouldn't dare tell anyone else her identity, even though no one had explicitly said it should be kept on the down low. She wasn't a kid who couldn't help bragging. Alexander had given her this gift because he believed in her and knew he could trust her not to blab, or so Amelia hoped.

"I came as soon as I got the call. How is she?" Amelia pushed past Harper into the familiar house. Harper trotted to keep up with her friend's longer legs.

"Stronger, but she's still not eating."

Harper's younger cousin had come to visit this week, but her cousin Emily had suddenly collapsed that morning. Doctors said she'd been starving herself lately and just needed rest and food, though she'd been put on an IV to slowly get her body used to getting the nutrients she needed. With her parents always at work, no one had noticed until it was almost too late.

"Em," Harper called, leading the way into her bedroom where Emily lay. "You have a visitor."

"Tell them to go away," Emily's stubborn voice could be heard through the cracked door. "I don't wanna see them."

"Not even if it was your favorite person?" Harper teased.

"Amelia?" Emily's voice changed to excited.

Amelia pushed her way into the room, ignoring the thinness of Emily's body as she hugged her. "I'm here."