It was now late past midnight and the entire Brave Asagi was dead quiet. As already mentioned, Amethio slept with in Liko's room. But in contrast to the young Trainer, he was no longer able, to sleep after about 15 minutes. Instead, the teenager tossed and turned on the mattress, sweating. It looked like, he was having a nightmare, because now he was also making strange movements with his arms, as if he was reaching for something. "No, leave me alone! I'm not weak! No, stay away from me..." he started, to mumble at some point as well.

He was just so taken by it, that he could only vaguely perceive the suddenly muffled voice. ~Amethio? Amethio wake up! Hey, Amethio, do you hear me?!~

Amethio tried, to simply ignore these noises, but suddenly he felt something touch his shoulder and he had the presence of mind, to let out a scream. Shortly afterwards, as it sounded to him, the light was turned on and he just closed his eyes tighter for presence of mind. But then he heard a voice again, only this time clearer. "Amethio, please wake up."

The 16-year-old slowly carefully opened one eye after the other and shortly afterwards looked into a familiar face. "Thank God, you're awake." It was Liko. The girl was sitting on the edge of his bed and looked at the black and silver-haired with worried eyes. "Is everything ok?"

Amethio just looked at the black-haired for a moment and didn't know right away, what to say at first. But then his thoughts slowly returned to their usual course. "What... what happened? Where am I?"

Liko didn't seem particularly surprised at his reaction. "Don't you remember? You're on our ship in my room. You saved me from that Spinel and then brought me back home, don't you know anymore?" she tried to help him along.

Only now did the scales fall from the teenager's eyes! Of course, how could he forget that?! "Right, now I remember. But... Oh dear, I suddenly had a terrible nightmare! Sorry, I really didn't mean, to wake you... If so, then I'm really extremely sorry!! That wasn't my intention..." he said a little hastily and waved his hands around slightly embarrassed.

The young Trainer, on the other hand, didn't react in any way with annoyance or anger. Instead, she carefully touched the 16-year-old's hands. "Shhh, everything is fine. No reason to apologize, really. I got up on my own initiative and turned on the light, after I realized, that you might have been having a nightmare. And my guess was probably correct, it seems like." she said quietly, because it was still the middle of the night after all.

"Would you like to tell me? What exactly happened in the dream and who or what did you possibly see?" Liko asked and briefly went to her bedside table. There were two glasses and a small water bottle standing on it. She filled up one of the glasses with water and then came back to Amethio's side. "Here, have a drink first. Then you can tell me about it."

Amethio gave her a slightly grateful nod and then carefully accepted the glass, before taking a few sips from it. He then put the glass aside and took his blanket, wich he wrapped tightly around his shoulders, while looking at the girl again.

She still looked at him expectantly. "Tell me about your dream. What was it about?" she tried again. The teenager, however, avoided her gaze and didn't say a word at first. But Liko continued, to persist. "Amethio... I won't force you, to talk about it... However... Maybe talking about it right now will make you feel better, do you understand?"

She showed him a gentle smile and noticed from the corner of her eye, how Sprigatito once again made itself comfortable on the teen's lap and purred softly. "Nyaohja." This made the black haired chuckle slightly. "You see? Even Sprigatito is already trying, to encourage you. You really don't need to be afraid anymore. You're safe here, nothing will ever happen to you again, you have my word on it, I promise."

Amethio still looked at her a little uncertainly, but then gave in. "Okay, I get it! I... I'll tell you." he said and took another deep breath. "I... I suddenly heard voices. Then everything was dark, I didn't know at all, what was happening to me. Then... I was suddenly in a cage surrounded by loud laughing figures, who were making fun of me and kicked me over and over again. But then however... Gibeon suddenly appeared out of nowhere and called me a failure, I'm not worth living. Then he pulled out a knife, that he raised straight at me, I... I tried to dissuade him, but when I thought, it was coming to an end for me, you thankfully woke me up." he now reported in a trembling voice and you could actually see individual tears slowly making their way down his cheeks. "I... I was so afraid... I just... Wanted to get out of there! But... I was way too weak, I didn't have the slightest chance..."

Now the teenager really collapsed and finally released everything, that had previously weighed heavily on his shoulders in the form of fear, anger and despair. So he sat in front of his former enemy and cried for the very first time in 5 years. However, this crying had never been so emotionally charged before, not even when Amethio lost his little sister 5 years ago...

Liko was a bit surprised at first, as she had never seen the teen actually cry before, but she couldn't look at this scene for long. Which is why she reacted almost reflexively and took the now sobbing Explorer Admin tightly into her arms and stroked his back soothingly. "Shhh, Shhh... Everything's fine. Just let it out." the black-haired whispered gently and didn't stop, stroking his back. Liko now did the same with his hair.

However, the 16-year-old, probably contrary to some expectations, made no move to push the 13-year-old girl away in any way, nor to remove himself from her embrace. Instead, Amethio now really started to cry and clutched himself more tightly into his counterpart's shirt with each new sob. Liko still didn't seem, to mind this much, so she hugged the boy even more while still trying, to calm him down. She also started humming a little melody, to have even more success with her attempt hopefully.

And that actually seemed to work, because gradually Amethio's sobs became more and more irregular, before they finally stopped completely and the teenager only had slight hiccups for a short time.

After these had also faded away, the black and silver-haired looked carefully at the girl again. Then he noticed, that she still had him in her arms and quickly moved away from her, while clearing his throat a little bit.

"Sorry... I didn't want to pressure you or anything like that." the teenager actually stammered a little embarrassed and scratched the back of his neck. And yes, you might think, you could see a slight tinge of red on his cheeks. The situation before was really quite unpleasant for him. Especially, since Amethio had really cried in front of his former enemy. The 16-year-old was really quite embarrassed because of this.

The black-haired girl, however, still didn't seem to mind too much. Instead, Liko now smiled softly and continued to look understandingly at the young boy, who was still sitting in front of her with the blanket now tightly wrapped around his upper body again.

"We all have to cry sooner or later. That's why you really don't need to be ashamed or sorry. Crying is something completely normal and natural for most of us. You're certainly not alone with that Amethio, you know?"

The person addressed listened to her calmly and then wiped away his tears with his shirt sleeve. God, Amethio could never have imagined, that he would become so emotional. Normally, that wasn't really his style at all. It wasn't even that extreme, when he was still a child. Sure, of course he had to cry from time to time during that period too, if he injured himself or unintentionally damaged something. But these emotional breakdowns we'rent even remotely comparable to the one from a few minutes ago. Not in the slightest way.

It took some time, but then the 16-year-old managed, gradually calm down and now dared to look at Liko again. "Please forgive me, it's usually not like me to cry this much, If even at all." he murmured in a still raspy voice, actually looking quite embarrassed about, what happened earlier.

However, the young Trainer still didn't judge him for his moment of weakness. But she continued to look at him understandingly. "And like I said, you really don't have to apologize, Amethio. It's really fine, the way I'm telling you right now. So please try, not to worry so much about it anymore, deal?" she asked the teen again, who just looked at her and then nodded afterwards. "Got it."

"There you go. Everything will be okay, just believe in it. But now we should sleep a little more, we'll see what happens tomorrow. Maybe even then you'll have some strength, to tell us about the rest of your past." Liko now said lastly and laid herself into her bed.

The teen just nooded one more time, before simply mimicking the girls movements and covering himself with the blanket. It didn't take very long for him, to fall right back to sleep afterwards. This time, thankfully, Amethio slept through the rest of the night without any further nightmares or other incidents.

~~~

The next morning dawned relatively quickly. Liko and Amethio were already dressed for the day and were just coming through the sliding door into the Brave Asagis meeting room, which was also the dining area for all members of the crew.

As soon as they both entered, they were immediately greeted by Friede and Cap. "Yo, good morning Amethio, Liko. Are you well rested for today?" the leader of the Rising Volt Tacklers asked, in a good mood as always, whereupon Cap gave a short adding 'Pikachu' from himself.

Liko giggled slightly, straightening her hair a little. "Good morning to you too, Friede. Yes, we are very well rested, aren't we Amethio?" she asked and looked over at him briefly. The teen just gave a nod as an answer.

Friede folded his arms contentedly. "I'm glad to hear that. Plus, this is particularly good now, because today is about an extremely important cause. That's why I'm glad that we've all come together here right now." he then said, as he briefly scanned the room to make sure, everyone in the group was present. Well, maybe except Ludlow, but that wasn't anything new honestly.

After everyone had finally gathered and taken their respective seats, Friede immediately spoke up again: "Listen everyone. I had a conversation with Murdock last night and we both came to the decision... That we should start immediately, to untie Amethio from the Explorers. Best today." Shortly after he finished his sentence, he initially looked at quite confused faces. Yes, even Amethio was pretty perplexed about his words, but didn't say anything just yet.

"And how do you think, we should handle that? After all it's the Explorers, we are talking about. And not some random child's play Friede. You're aware of that, are you?" Molly asked, not seeming particularly convinced about his decision. So we're the rest, even Liko. But out off all sudden, the young Trainer was starting, to sense an akward feeling tightening up inside her chest.

Friede was the first one, noticing right away, that something seemed to be bothering the girl. He exchanged a quick look with Cap, before clearing his throat briefly. "Liko. Would you like, to tell us something? I have that feeling, that something seems to be quite bothering you." he got straight to the point and looked calmly at the black haired, so did the others. Well, maybe except for Amethio... The teen had a different feeling, he could clearly sense, that the girl he rescued, was afraid... Afraid of something or... Maybe someone? Whatever it was, he didn't like it in the slightest.

All eyes were watching the body language of their friend, witch indicated, that something was indeed wrong with the 13-year-old. Liko now swallowed slightly and started, playing around with her pendant. 'What should I do? I... I'm scared! Afraid of what's to come...' she heard her thoughts talking to her.

However, these were quickly interrupted, when she suddenly felt a steady hand on her shoulder. She looked up and was met with two piercing, violet eyes.

Amethio looked at her with a quite serious expression. Which actually surprised her a lot, because after all, he was so frail a few hours ago and now... Instinctively, she looked down at her feet with a steady gaze.

The teen, however, didn't feel like blocking at all, so the black and silver-haired grabbed her shoulders with both hands now. "Liko, look at me!" he now demanded her in a slightly firmer voice, wich honestly was quite unusual for him. At least most of the time.

However, when Liko still didn't react, he put his hand under her chin to lift it. So she had no other choice, but to actually look at him and listen to his words. "Liko. I can definitely feel, that something is bothering you. And that's why I want you, to tell us, what the reason is for that, I beg you!"

The girl was completely thrown off track, as Amethio revealed another new side of himself. Concern and determination. "But, Amethio... Why are you suddenly like this?"

The teen just gritted his teeth for a short time, but still remained calm. "You're seriously asking this question now?! I tell you, why I am currently like this!! It's because you are giving me the courage, to face my past; no one else would do that, except for you. So please... Now let me help you, like you want to help me. I trust you, so please give me this chance, to prove to you, that I really can become a better person!! I ask you for it!!" he tried again.

Suddenly Liko's eyes became huge and she had the feeling, that she was being trampled on by a horde of Rhydons. She only dimly noticed, how Amethio spoke to her in a shocked voice. At that moment, her environment became completely distorted and unclear.

Amethio was taken completely by surprise when the girl's condition suddenly seemed to change so drastically. Then she collapsed. "Liko... Hey, stay awake!! Don't fall asleep!!" He reflexively caught the girl, before the Trainer could hit her head on the ground and was immediately surrounded by the others.

"Liko!! For God's sake, what's wrong with her?" "What just happened, is she okay?!" Friede tried, to defuse the situation somewhat. "Hey, now calm down!! Give us some space!!" Everyone involved sighed and took a few steps back before the leader of the Rising Volt Tacklers knelt next to his rival.

Amethio was still holding the unconscious girl tightly in his arms, unsure what to do at first. "Take her to her room, Amethio. Molly will look at her in a moment." the white-haired said, briefly placing a hand on the teen's shoulder.

The person addressed then nodded. "Understood." he said, while carefully picking the girl up bridal style and now carried her straight to her room, where he carefully laid her into her bed and then covered her up with the blanket.

Amethio then took a seat on the nearby standing stool, so that he could wait, until Molly came to examine her, but then he suddenly noticed Sprigatito, cautiously walking into the room as well.

"Nyawrr?" The Pokémon was clearly worried about its Trainer and so it tip-tapped right next to Liko's bed, making clearly worried noises. Amethio sighed briefly and then carefully picked up the little Grass Cat with a smile, while placing it right onto his lap, so that it could see its owner more clearly.

So both of them sat there wordlessly and looked down at the girl. Amethio was most worried, although he couldn't really place it. He was so incredibly grateful to Liko, that she wanted to help him so much, to get out of his misery and now she was the one, who was feeling so bad again. It was almost like a vicious circle... With no possible way out.

~~~

At some point, Molly finally came along and began to examine Liko thoroughly. Friede and Roy had also joined in the meantime, to follow everything as well. After the Pokémon nurse then finished completing her notes on her clipboard, she now looked at all three of them monotonously.

"So far it doesn't seem, to be anything serious. She's probably still a little weakened by her injuries and that's, why she fainted or else... It's a psychological cause and that's, why the attack of weakness. I can't clearly tell, but whatever it was in the end, it's nothing seriously dangerous, so I can reassure you about that. We just have to wait and be patient now, until Liko regains conscious again. It's best for someone, to stay with her and watch over her in the meantime. Just in case there is still a possible incident, which I don't think will happen." she now gave her information.

Amethio then immediately perked up his ears and briefly turned his attention to the three of them. "If it's okay with you... I would like to stay with her. After all... I ultimately caused all the commotion. So it's probably the least I can do for her..." he murmured and bowed briefly.

Friede and Roy just looked at each other briefly and then nodded in unison. "That's fine with me." the boy said, whereupon Fuecoco only croaked in agreement. Friede also seemed, to agree with the teen's suggestion. "I have no objection to it so far either. But if something should happen or you need us, Amethio, you can let us know at any time." he said and folded his arms optimistically.

The 16-year-old gave a nod of understanding and looked after the three, until they finally left the room, so he was left alone with the girl. Incidentally, Friede had taken Sprigatito with him, to give the Pokémon some rest as well, so that it didn't have to worry about its Trainer the whole time.

Now the black and silver-haired carefully turned back to the black-haired girl. Liko was still laying in bed, but she seemed to be slowly regaining consciousness, because she was now breathing a little more normally again, as if she was just sleeping.

A smile spread across the teenager's facial features and Amethio couldn't resist, taking a closer look at the petite figure laying in front of him.

As he continued, to watch over her, the 16-year-old realized, that Liko was actually quite a pretty girl. Her eyes were loosely closed, the corners of her mouth slightly raised, so that it appeared to him, that she was having an extremely peaceful sleep. So he continued to watch her and couldn't resist, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

Amethio had to swallow slightly. He felt like his heart was skipping out of all sudden, but couldn't yet come to any meaningful conclusion. But why was he suddenly feeling like this? He wasn't about to fall in love with the young girl, was he?!

The young boy quickly tried to erase that thought again. Just the idea alone, that he could develop feelings for Liko, even though he had repeatedly tried, to steal her pendant many times until a while ago, was absolutely impossible and absurd for him.

However, he couldn't completely erase these feelings from his memory. He just couldn't do anything about it. But ever since Liko had promised, to help him get away from the Explorers once and for all, he had this strange feeling of always wanting to protect the girl from now on, no matter what the cost!!

~~~

"Damn it!!" the teen briefly hissed out trough his teeth after a while sunk in deep thoughts, and shook himself briefly, before taking a strong breath and immediately letting it out again. He urgently needed to think about something else!!! So he looked over at the sleeping figure again, before the young Admin carefully got up and walked quietly towards the door, while being extremely careful, not to wake the black-haired unexpectedly.

He took one last look at the sleeping girl before he closed the door completely, leaving the bedroom and now made his way into the kitchen. There he hoped, to distract himself a little with a glass of milk, but unfortunately, he did the math without Friede. Because the white-haired man was currently in the kitchen as well, checking the food supplies and, if necessary, adding things to the replenishment list.

So, he was more than surprised, when the leader of the Rising Volt Tacklers spotted the teenager suddenly entering the kitchen too. "Oh, didn't expect you, to come here Amethio. How is Liko? Has she given any reactions yet?" he asked and sat down on a stool, gesturing with his hand to invite the 16-year-old to sit down also.

The black and silver-haired sighed shortly, but then took the invitation and so took place on the stool, before giving his answer shortly afterwards: "No, not yet. But she seems to be slowly getting better again, she's sleeping now." he said, sipping something from the glass of milk that he had poured himself shortly before.

But then he had to sigh softly after a while again. "Listen, Friede... Can I... I mean, do you mind me, if I ask you something? Something personal..." the teen eventually gathered up his courage. He had actually decided, not to talk to anyone about his possible suspicion, that he might could have fallen in love with Liko, but... Friede was honestly the only possible contact person, he had to deal with more than once. Because apart from him, Amethio had no one, with whom he could possibly speak conscientiously about this, therefore, he was really the only candidate for such a matter.

After he finished his last sentence, however, he quickly looked back down at the floor. In fact, he was quite uncomfortable. Nevertheless, he had to and wanted to talk to someone about it!!

So at first there wasn't much of an exchange of words between the two for a short while, but then Friede finally answered to Amethios statement. "Of course you can, Amethio. Always put it out there, what do you want to know?"

The teen hesitated for a moment, but then started to speak: "Well... It makes me a little uncomfortable... But what I want to know... Have you ever been in love or in a relationship before?" This question took a lot of effort for the boy, but now there was no turning back for him. He just needed to get clarity about his feelings towards Liko!

The adult blinked briefly, but then gave a brief snort of amusement. "That's a strange question, my friend. But well, I'll answer it for you anyway. Yes, I've been in love before and also been in a committed relationship. The name of my girlfriend was Yuki back then, I was the same age like you, ruffly around 16 years old and not a Pokémon Trainer yet. She went to the same school like me at that time. That was also the specific location, where we fell in love with each other and started a relationship. We've been together for 4 years until Yuki unfortunately died in a car accident. But why do you want to know that exactly?" he asked at first, but then had to grin teasingly relatively quickly, when he became suspicious.

"Wait a minute... Could it be... that you might be in love with someone and would like to get some tips from me? Is that why this question?" He immediately went on the offensive and now had to grin broadly.

Now Amethio really had to swallow. Great, his rival caught him straight away. The black and silver-haired now tugged nervously at the collar of his shirt. "Well... you're not entirely wrong. There... There's actually someone." the teen now revealed and looked somewhat shamefully at the wall to his left.

Shortly after this statement, Friede's grin only grew wider and he now propped himself up with one elbow on the tabletop, while giving his counterpart a meaningful look.

"So, it's true then. Now it's getting interesting. Well then tell me, I'm listening closely." Now the adult practically insisted, on knowing more details.

This time Amethio even began to sweat a little from nervousness and he fiddled with the string on his collar. But he had to admit, that there would be no point in backing out. This situation was simply his own fault, so he now had to take responsibility for it. Even if he didn't actually plan it that way...

"OK, fine. I'll tell you! I... I indeed fell in love with someone... I... Ever since she promised me, to help me move on from my position as a Explorer Admin... Since then, I've constantly had this desire, to support her in every way and, if necessary, to protect her at all costs! And before you say anything about it, yes, I know it sounds totally crazy and absurd, but you have to believe me, Friede!!! It's really the truth!" these words practically gushed out of the 16-year-old's throat, so that it was very difficult at first, to even understand every word properly. But it was still possible somehow.

At first he got a relatively disbelieving expression after his 'confession', but then Friede bursted into an amused laugh, which in turn only added to Amethio's confusion. "To be honest, I don't really understand what's so funny about it..." he grumbled and gritted his teeth in slight annoyance.

However, Friede just continued, to laugh still in slight amusement, but luckily caught himself again pretty quickly. "Oh man, I really think, that you should know me a little better by now, Amethio. Because I know you indeed extremely well by now, do you really think, that I didn't notice, how infatuated you are with Liko?" The adult actually had to pull himself together, not to laugh even harder.

Amethio automatically had to swallow again and he reflexively avoided his gaze, so that his rival wouldn't notice, how he suddenly turned bright red. "So you... Really noticed, did you?" he then asked meekly after a while.

Friede sighed slightly and gently touched the teenager on the shoulder. "I noticed it from the start, actually right after you looked so grateful, as she promised to help you and also, how you so stubbornly insisted on taking care of her, after she suddenly collapsed earlier in the meeting room. Everyone noticed that straight away."

At some point, the 16-year-old finally had to realize, that he no longer had a chance to close his mind to this matter any longer. "Ok, I admit it, I really love Liko. But I really didn't want to admit it in the first place, honestly. However... When the image again appeared in my mind's eye, of how badly injured she was laying so close near that cliff... And later, when she swore, to help me, facing my difficult past, to finally get away from the Explorers... Then something like a switch flipped in me. Liko is so important to me now, I swore to myself, to always protect her now at all costs, if necessary."

Admittedly, Friede was actually a bit surprised to see this side of the black and silver-haired, but on the other hand, he couldn't really blame him. After all, everyone falls in love at some point and it was generally very difficult to influence this phenomenon.

"I didn't know it would come to this either, after all, I've already tried to steal this pendant dozens of times. But I... I just can't do anything about my feelings. I really don't know, what I actually want to do... " the teenager tried to explain himself somehow. Admittedly, he no longer knew, how to deal with the situation at all...

This only elicited a weak sigh from the white-haired man. "Listen, Amethio. At first I also thought that you were actually after us, because you wanted to be recognized in your organization and therefore really wanted to steal the pendant. But after, what Liko told us yesterday, when you showed up with her... I noticed, that you are indeed actually under a lot of pressure and have no other choice, but to carrying out these orders given to you by your boss, because you are simply afraid of the consequences, if you should actually refuse. I can understand you. And that you fell in love with Liko, yes, it does sound pretty crazy, but then again, you can't predict something like that. It simply happened." Friede then finished and threw an encouraging look at the black and silver-haired.

Amethio just looked at him even more confused. "I don't really understand that at all now... You're not mad at me? Won't you judge me for that?" he murmured, fiddling with a few strands of his hair.

"No, why should I? Being in love is something completely normal. Also for you. Don't worry about it for now. Instead, think about the best way to tell her. It's entirely up to you, my friend." the white-haired said next, once again having a big grin on his face.

Amethio just sighed again. "So you really think I should confess to her? But what if... she rejects me? Especially, since I don't know, if she feels the same way about me..." he said, while kneading his fingers nervously.

Friede smiled a little. "You'll have to find out for yourself. Unfortunately, I don't have much to say in that. But don't worry, everything will work out over time. The first priority for now is, that you stand up against the Explorers and that we fight this Spinel guy." he finally said and now stood up from his stool.

"I'll should go back to the others now. You can check on Liko in the meantime to see, if she regained consciousness again." he said and then finally left the kitchen.

Amethio looked after him silently and just sat there motionless for some time, letting Friede's words run through his head again. >"Being in love with someone is completely normal. Same for you. Don't worry about it for now. Instead, think about the best way to tell her. It's entirely up to you."<

"He's right. I will tell her! I will do it. Somehow!" he gave himself the first ultimatum, but then his rival's other words came to mind shortly, after he had left the kitchen. That's right, he should check on Liko again by now. She definitely had to be awake again.

~~~

So the 16-year-old made his way to her room, but not to collect Sprigatito on the way first. After all, the Pokémon was still worried about its Trainer's condition. And the teenager was more than right in his previous assumption when he entered the room shortly afterwards.

Because the girl was sitting upright again in her bed, with her back leaning against a few pillows, that she had previously stuffed into place. She wasn't fully feeling better yet, but she was conscious again. At least something.

After her perception had normalized somewhat, the black-haired looked around and then noticed, to her surprise, that she was in her bed. But how did she get here again? Adding to her astonishment was the fact that Amethio suddenly entered her room when she had just glanced at her door.

"Oh, it's you Amethio. But wait... How on earth did I get back into my bed? I was in the meeting room until recently." She was actually quite confused and rubbed her temple a bit.

However, the black and silver-haired said nothing yet and instead approached Liko's bed with Sprigatito in his arms, where he took his place again on the same chair, on which he had sat before.

"You suddenly fainted in the meeting room earlier. That's, why you've been taken to your room, to find the possible cause of your collapse. But you don't have to worry too much, apparently you were still a bit weakened by your injuries." he then explained, deliberately leaving out the fact, that he was the one who carried her to bed.

"You almost gave us a heart attack, you know? I wasn't the only one, who was completely taken by surprise by this." he then added and carefully placed Sprigatito on the mattress, who immediately padded over to its Trainer. "Nyaohja!"

Liko immediately took the little cat and began to scratch it behind the ears, whereupon the Pokémon made a contented purr. "I'm so sorry, Sprigatito. It really wasn't my intention to worry you. However, I'm almost fine again, so you can rest assured." she calmly talked to the little creature and continued stroking and scratching it, until Sprigatito finally broke away from her hold and snuggled itself up close to her side.

Amethio couldn't help, but smile contentedly as he watched the little scene for a bit. "You seem to have a very deep bond with each other. That's nice to see." he remarked after a while.

The black-haired nodded in response. "That's right, we are actually very close. Sprigatito has helped me to strengthen my self-confidence and to conscientiously move towards my goals. I really couldn't have imagined a better Starter Pokémon for myself. It's just something very special." she told him.

The 16-year-old then nodded slightly in response as well. "I see. Then you should always take good care of each other." Amethio then said simply, as he no longer knew exactly, what he should say now.

~~~

After the two of them now had talked for a while about this and that, an announcement suddenly came over the loudspeaker system. "Everyone go to the observation deck immediately! I repeat, everyone go to the observation deck immediately!" Friede's voice echoed through the entire ship.

Liko and Amethio briefly exchanged glances with each other, before nodding almost in unison. So Liko carefully got out of her bed, while Amethio watched her vigilantly so that he could support her, if necessary, since she wasn't fully recovered just yet.

After the girl took Sprigatito in her arms again, as usual, the two made their way directly to the observation deck, where the rest of the crew had already gathered.

"Friede, what's the matter?" the girl asked immediately. The leader of the Rising Volt Tacklers then looked at her with an extremely serious expression. "Cap and I have just found the Explorers' base. That's why I called you here, because this would be the perfect opportunity now, to confront this Spinel and thereby finally 'free' Amethio from this organization." he tried to explain the situation as best, as he could.

But at first he was met with extreme skepticism from everyone. "I don't have a good feeling about this. It could be an ambush and Spinel is just waiting, so he can capture us all at once. We should be careful. And besides, he's definitely not someone to be messed with!" Amethio then said and the serious undertone in his voice was definitely unmistakable.

Liko now also had a serious expression on her face. "I have to go with Amethio there. I've seen first hand, what Spinel is capable of. So we really should be extremely careful." she added her argument and waited for some kind of reaction from the others. This didn't take long to arrive, because after a short time Friede looked resolutely into the faces of everyone else.

"Liko is right. We should think of a plan first. How about this? Liko and Amethio will distract Spinel, while Roy and I then surprise and overpower him from behind. Then we might have a better chance, of getting to Amethio's boss and finally getting him out of this organization."

Everyone addressed looked at each other briefly before nodding in unison, whereupon Friede smiled contentedly and then held out his fist. "So it's settled then. Operation 'Freeing Amethio from the Explorers' begins now!" he said, whereupon everyone shouted 'All right' in unison and performed the handshake of the Rising Volt Tacklers, including Amethio again as well. Now the time really had come... There was definitely no turning back now!

~~~

To be continued...