The Brave Asagi now headed north of Paldea, exactly where Friede and Cap had previously sighted the Explorers' base. After they had finally crossed a wall of dense clouds, it was now clearly visible. About 20 meters in front of them was a large building, which stood elevated on a mossy mountain.

In terms of appearance, it almost looked like a knight's castle, but without the typical towers. Nevertheless, you could immediately tell, that it definitely belonged to a large organization of villains, because at the very top of the roof there was a huge blue, white and black logo, that looked like an 'E' and was illuminated on the outer edge.

After the airship was parked in a safe location, Friede, Liko, Amethio and Roy buried themselves off board, while the others remained there.

"Please promise, that you guys will be careful." Orla said. "And also let us know, if you get into trouble." Molly then added as well.

"We will, you can count on it." Friede assured the two and now looked at the three children. Well, realistically speaking, Amethio was no longer a real 'child', but the leader of the Rising Volt Tacklers still felt responsible for him too, aside from Liko and Roy. "Are you all ready?" he asked one last time.

All three looked at each other briefly before Liko finally spoke up: "Yes, we are ready." she said firmly. Sprigatito agreed with its Trainer. "Nyaohja."

Friede nodded one last time. "Okay, then let's get started now. Just remember to stay together." he said and now led the way, as a leader should, while Amethio, Liko and Roy simply just followed him.

~~~

After a few meters of walking, the 4 of them arrived at the bottom of the mountain, at the top of which was the Explorers' base.

"So... what happens next? I don't see a really ideal way, to get up there without support." Liko said, scratching her chin thoughtfully.

Now Amethio intervened. Logical, because after all he knew best about the Explorers. Well, at least almost. "I have an idea. Why don't we just use Corviknight and Charizard? At least that way Friede and I have an option, while one of us then just simply carries Liko and the other Roy. In theory, this is the best way we can get there." he then made a suggestion.

"He's not entirely wrong. That would at least be an uncomplicated method." Liko said, following the 16-year-old's suggestion.

Friede seemed to think about this for a moment, but then finally agreed. "Okay. Then we'll do it like that." he replied and took Charizard's Pokéball out of his jacket pocket, whereupon Amethio did the same with Corviknights ball and both of them called out their Pokémon at the same time.

Both of them directly climbed up their backs and Amethio took Liko in front of him again on Corviknight, while Friede took a seat on Charizard and then instructed his partner, to carefully take Roy between its claws.

"Good, then let's go." Friede said and already took off. Amethio did the same after making sure, that Liko was sitting safely in front of him and that she couldn't fall down. After about 5 minutes they reached the top of the mountain and the Pokémon were called straight back into their balls, while the quartet hid behind some small rocks, so that they wouldn't be noticed hopefully.

"Alright, then we've managed that. Now the only question left is, how we're supposed to get in there unnoticed. All entrances are strictly guarded." Roy said, as he briefly inspected the situation.

"Not all of them." Amethio spoke up, once again. "In fact, there are two secret entrances, that only the most experienced Admins know about. If we have any really top secret meetings, every member has to go through one of these entrances, to really make sure, that no one unauthorized can gain access." he explained now.

"In the name of Arceus, Amethio!! You are a genius!!! I could give you a cuddle right now!" Friede said in an almost childish voice and grinned broadly at the black and silver-haired, whereupon he grimaced slightly in disgust. "Not necessary, thank you very much."

"Could we perhaps postpone that to later and just concentrate, on getting into this building?" Liko was slowly losing patience. "Show us these secret entrances, Amethio." she said now, turning to the teen.

The black and silver-haired just nodded and briefly peeked out from behind the rock, to make sure, that really none of the guards was watching them.

"Very good, the coast is clear. Just follow me." With these words, the teenager walked forward, always in a crouched position, followed by Friede, Liko and of course Roy simply mimicking his movements, while meandering between some trees and rocks, to avoid, getting noticed by the guards.

~~~

So the quartet crept unseen past the countless guards, until they had all made an almost complete circle around the building and finally arrived at the back, where they could see a place, that initially seemed quite inconspicuous at first sight.

"Okay... And where is this secret entrance supposed to be now?" "You'll see that in a moment." Amethio answered Liko's question and took a step forward. Then he pushed aside a few low-hanging branches and some moss, so that a door appeared behind it, which was almost barely visible hidden inside the wall. "It's right here." the teen said afterwards and then pushed the stone in the middle a little inwards, which triggered a mechanism, so that the door slowly opened.

Roy, Friede and Liko all widened their eyes. "Impressive..." was all Friede brought out of his mouth.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. We can rave about it later, now let's finally go in there." Liko said, who was becoming more and more impatient with every second.

Amethio nodded, but still had a serious face on. "Okay, then let's do it. But I have to remind you, that Spinel is not to be trifled with. In any case, always stay close behind me, do you understand?" he said and looked at everyone intently again.

"Understood. And if something does happen, I'll be there as well." Friede said, positioning himself briefly next to Amethio.

With that, all three finally slowly went inside the building. The two children actually felt a bit uneasy, while wandering trough the dark hallway. "Well I have to get one thing off my chest, everything here is a bit scary to me." Liko uttered and even Hattena trembled slightly in her hood as well.

"Don't worry, we're with you." Friede said and briefly gave his two protégés a reassuring look.

Liko took a quick deep breath, but she still called Sprigatito back into its Pokéball just in case. After a while, all 4 finally arrived in another hallway. Roy was about to continue walking, when he was suddenly stopped by Amethio's hand on his shoulder. "Wait! Don't go any further! Someone is coming." he hissed in a whisper and looked around the corner for a moment. Then he suddenly saw a face, that was all too familiar to him. Because Spinel was standing at the other end of the corridor and seemed to be talking to Zir and Conia. 'Shit... What is he planning this time now?'

He observed the situation for a while before turning back to the other three. "Ok, let's go over the plan one more time. Liko and I will try to distract Spinel for as long, as possible. In the meantime, you, Friede and Roy, will go down the aisle to the right, then left again and then straight ahead. This way you should be able, to sneak up on Spinel without him noticing." he explained, how to proceed and quickly had Friede save his contact in his Rotom Phone.

"Got it, understood. Let's go then, Roy." the leader of the Rising Volt Tacklers said and walked with the boy in the corresponding direction.

~~~

After they both were out of sight, the teenager now turned his attention back to Liko again. "Give me your pendant." he demanded her in a calm tone. "Excuse me, I should do what?" Amethio hissed quietly. "Don't ask, just do it. Trust me, this is all part of my plan." he assured her. "And you do trust me now, don't you?"

"Yes, of course I do, I never said, I wouldn't! It's just..." Liko kinda had her doubts, but... Amethio was actually right. After all, she had said something similar to him before. If he could trust her, then she simply should just trust him as well.

After a short while of hesitation, the girl finally gave in. "Okay, fine." she said and now took off her pendant, which Liko then placed right in Amethio's open hand. "I just hope, you know, what you're doing." she added anyway, because she still wasn't completely convinced. However, it was always worth a try, even if it shouldn't work out in the end.

The black and silver-haired just nodded slightly and let the pendant disappear into his pocket for now. Then he put his arm around Liko, so that it would look like, he had captured her and slowly walked with her in Spinel's direction.

When he turned around, shortly after he heard someone's footsteps, he was indeed very surprised, when he suddenly saw Amethio coming towards him with the girl in tow. "Well look, who do we have here? Looks like, you're not completely useless after all." he said and still had his mischievous smile on.

However, Amethio wasn't very impressed by this, so instead put on his monotone, natural face again. "Apparently, I'm more capable of carrying out a mission more flawlessly, than you first thought." he said with pretending triumph and then carefully pushed Liko forward a little, so that she still hit the ground unharmed.

She made a pretend sound of pain. "Try what you want, but I will never hand over my pendant to you, so it's best, to forget about it right away again, you idiots!!" she growled. "Plus, I don't have it with me right now anyway, so no matter, how much you would try, to get something out of me, it's not gonna work, so you have no use for me either way." she added, while briefly glancing sideways at Amethio, who just threw her an encouraging look, wich Spinel luckily didn't seem to notice.

"Well, looks like, you found your way here after all. I'm really impressed by that." he said in a slightly diabolical tone and knelt in front of her. "One thing has to be said thow, you're not exactly that kind of a person, who's extremely easy to crack. I noticed that two days ago, when you so strictly refused, to hand over your pendant." he said and turned his face even more towards her, whereupon she backed away slightly in fear, but she still remained steadfast.

"But it looks like, you're not as strong, as I had originally expected." the green-haired said with a slight grin and then, to Amethio's relief, walked away from Liko again. "Be that as it may, it was clear to me from the start, that you wouldn't cooperate so easily." Spinel then added with an undertone, that was extremely strange, even for Amethio's liking, which made the teenager and the girl feel a little uneasy in their stomachs.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, the black and silver-haired noticed Roy and Friede slowly trying, to sneak up on Spinel from behind. However, he seemed to have just been waiting for it, because he suddenly snapped his finger and the two Rising Volt Tacklers suddenly fell unconscious, whereupon both Liko and Amethio widened their eyes in shock.

"Roy, Friede!" Liko called out and instinctively wanted to run over to her two friends, but then Spinel grabbed the unsuspecting girl tightly in his arms. "Oh no, you won't do that!" he said, smiling triumphantly.

Amethio gritted his teeth, while now stepping forward as well and throwing a death glare at his rival. "Let her go, you bastard!!" he growled, Ceruledge's Pokéball already firmly in his hand.

However, Spinel didn't seem to be particularly care about this in the slightest. "I'd rather not do that, if I were you." he said as he snapped his fingers once again and before Amethio could react any further, he was surrounded by dozens of guards. "I know, you have the pendant with you, Amethio!! Hand it over or I'll do even worse to your sweet and precious little girlfriend here, than I already have." Spinel now said in a more serious tone and it really seemed like, he now wasn't messing around anymore at all.

This only made the black and silver-haired even angrier, than he already was. There was even a slight frown line on his forehead now. "Tch... You little... You wouldn't dare, to even lay a finger on her! And just, that we understand each other correctly, she's not my girlfriend!" Amethio hissed angrily, while looking forth and back between Liko and his rival.

Spinel just shrugged. "But I'm afraid, I've already done that. And apart from that... Why are you suddenly concerned about her well-being? Could it be, that you taken a liking to the little one?" he asked teasingly and it was immediately clear, that he was trying, to provoke the teen again.

However, this time this attempt clearly failed, as the 16-year-old didn't make a single change of his facial expression once. "I know what you're trying to do, but unfortunately it won't work on me anymore! I won't repeat myself a second time... Let. Liko. Go. Now!!"

"I'm really extremely sorry, but that won't happen anymore, you've already lost your chance!" his counterpart replied and suddenly took Liko in a headlock, causing her to gasp in shock. "The pendant, immediately!! It's entirely up to you, Amethio!! So you better decide quickly, otherwise..." he said threatening and demonstratively increased the pressure on Liko's neck, which increasingly made it even more difficult for her to breathe.

~~~

After a few minutes had already passed, Liko's eyelids gradually became heavier from second to second, she wouldn't last much longer, Amethio also noticed that. 'Damn it, what am I supposed to do?! I can't let him do anything worse to her!! Think, Amethio, think!!' he heard his mind talking to him after quite a while again, while keeping his focus still on the fearfull Liko, who was still being held tightly in his rivals grasp.

"Sorry to say this, but your time is almost up. So tick-tock, Amethio! You better want to decide right now!" Spinel said again with a provocative tone.

He then increased the pressure on Liko's neck once more, whereupon the teenager finally gave in. The risk, that Liko would suffer even more damage from his rival, just because of him, was simply far too high. "Wait!! You won... I... You'll get the pendant. Just please... let Liko go." he said resignedly, but still begging and briefly slipped his hand into the pocket of his trousers, from which the 16-year-old took out the object in question shortly afterwards and held it up demonstratively for his counterpart clearly to see. "Look, that's what you want, isn't it?"

Spinel then grinned triumphantly, but still slyly. "I see, we understand each other after all. Why not like that from the start? Throw it over." he demanded and tapped his left foot up and down waiting.

Amethio still hesitated one last time, but then did what his rival asked of him and threw the pendant over, whereupon the green-haired caught it with ease. "There you go, you should just always do exactly, what is asked of you, then there won't be any problems." he said and gave a short, spiteful laugh.

Then he finally let go of Liko, who collapsed weakly to the ground and shortly afterwards instinctively grabbed her neck while coughing. Of course, Amethio immediately rushed to her side and directly pulled the young girl away from his rival, wrapping his arms tightly around her. "Are you alright, Liko, he didn't hurt you further, did he?!" he asked worriedly and let his eyes scan over her briefly, looking for further possible injuries. Fortunately, no others seemed to be visible at first glance.

Liko was a bit surprised by his reaction, but didn't say anything against it at first. Instead, she only gave a weak nod in response to his question about whether his rival had hurt her even more. "Luckily not, thanks to you. But it still hurts a little." she replied, while rubbing her neck a bit, which was a little red, probably caused by the enormous pressure, that Spinel had put on it earlier.

This statement made the black and silver-haired teen breathe a sigh of relief. "Thank God... I'm really glad, you're okay." he said and pulled away from her again.

"I really don't want to bother you two lovebirds, but unfortunately I don't have much time forever. Lock them up!" Spinel now gave the order and a few guards took the troop through a door and then down into a large room, which was obviously some kind of dungeon. There were spider webs everywhere and it generally made a very uncomfortable impression around it to express carefully.

So everyone was more or less 'thrown' into a cell and the door was immediately locked. After the guards had left, Amethio's rival came into view again. "You'll stay down here for a while, but don't make yourself too comfortable." he said coldly and turned to Amethio again for now.

"And as for you, Amethio... I'm very curious to hear, what Master Gibeon will think of your betrayal or should I say... your dear father?" he laughed spitefully again and then turned on his heel. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have important things to do. See you!” With that the green-haired man also disappeared, leaving all 4 behind.

~~~

After everyone was alone, there was pure silence at first, in which none of them spoke a single word.

"It's over... We failed... This is all my fault." Liko slumped her shoulders and leaned desperately against a wall. Amethio, who was sitting right next to her, sighed briefly and carefully stroked her shoulder in a reassuring manner, which the young Trainer allowed much to his surprise.

"It's not your fault, Liko. We simply couldn't predict, that the plan would actually go this wrong." he tried his best, to calm her down a little.

But the girl just shook her head rapidly. "That's not true! It was my idea from the beginning, mine alone!! I insisted so desperately, on getting you out of this organization and now look, where this has led us!!" she replied, sobbing and completely exhausted. "Now Spinel finally has my pendant, there's nothing we can do against him anymore, absolutely nothing!! Do you understand Amethio?!! We've lost, completely lost!!" she whimpered, burying her face deep in her hands, while she really started to cry now.

Then the 13-year-old was suddenly wrapped into two slender arms, while held timidly against a warm chest. "Shhh... There's no need to cry, Liko. Everything's fine!" Amethio said in a whisper and gently ran his hand, which by the way was not hidden in a glove, over her back extremely slowly, while the other ran through her hair and scratched her scalp a little. Apparently he wanted to calm her down with this method. At least, that's what Amethio was hoping for.

However the girl just sobbed even more now and instinctively clutched the back of his shirt, as she let her tears flow freely. It was sad, but true, she actually blamed herself for everything, after all Liko had made this whole suggestion in the first place.

"What have I done? It shouldn't work like that! I... I'm such a good-for-nothing, completely useless! I... I don't deserve it, to be a member of the Rising Volt Tacklers at all!" she continued, to sob and know even got a flow of small hiccups coming from time to time as well.

"No, you shouldn't even think that far! You're completely wrong about everything, are you even listening to, what exactly you're saying to yourself?!" Amethio now asked the question and couldn't actually believe, that the black-haired, the girl he fell in love with, was really questioning herself at this current moment.

The teenager now carefully grabbed her by both shoulders and turned her slightly towards him, so that he could look straight into her face. "Now listen to me very closely! What you're saying, is complete nonsense, so it's best, to get it out of your head straight away, Liko!" he said in a firm voice and looked deep into her eyes.

"What happened earlier, is definitely not your fault, do you hear me? Spinel must have expected, that we were trying, to trick him. I know him well, he always knows exactly, which leash he has to pull, to achieve his goals. But you aren't responsible for that in any way! So again, get that out of your head quickly!" he demanded and initially maintained eye contact.

"But Amethio, why..." Liko couldn't get a sensible sentence out at the moment. At the moment she didn't understand in the slightest, what the teenager was trying to tell her.

"Shhh, just don't say anything now." the 16-year-old said in a whisper and cut her off, by putting a finger onto her lips. "You're such a smart girl, Liko. You care about your friends, your Pokémon, everyone around you. You have a very special ability, you can understand other people's feelings, something like that isn't natural. And that's exactly, what makes you so special as a Pokémon Trainer. So please... Don't always try, to put obstacles in your way by doubting yourself. Because you won’t be able, to achieve your goals that way." he finally finished and then wiped away the girl's remaining tears with his thumb.

Liko let him finish in patiently and then took a deep breath, before exhaling again. "You're right. But what should we do now? Spinel has the key to the cell and he certainly won't give us back my pendant that easily." she said now and scratched her chin thoughtfully, after the teenager had pulled away from her again.

"I already thought that, that's why, I have an idea." he said and now leaned over to her ear, to whisper everything to her. Meanwhile Friede and Roy were now conscious again and were also listening to the conversation with half an ear at.

~~~

After the teen had pulled away from her ear, once again, Liko looked at him still with a slight unconvincing expression. "OK and you really think, that's gonna work?" she asked again, to make sure.

"Trust me, the plan is literally foolproof. Just try, to play along for as long as you can." the black and silver-haired said, to which Liko just gave a nod. "All right, then let's do it!" she said and suddenly fell to the ground, wincing. "Ohhh, it hurts so much!! Please, I need a doctor immediately, oh please quickly!" she whimpered, which of course was just an act, but that was exactly part of Amethio's plan.

And the bait seemed to have actually been taken, because as expected, two guards came into the dungeon and straight to the bars. "What kind of riot is this?" one of them asked, visibly annoyed.

"I'm really sorry, to have disturbed you, but my friend here isn't feeling well, you see." Amethio said with mock concern and pointed down at Liko, who was rolling around on the ground, still whimpering.

"She probably got a bladder infection from the very cold ground. That's why, we would be very grateful, if you guys could let us out for a moment so that she could quickly go to the toilet, would you?"

The guards looked at each other suspiciously for a moment. "If that's the case. But first we have to let our boss know." he said and was about, to take out his Rotom Phone to make a call when suddenly a yellow tail appeared behind him.

Shortly after, a quiet command was heard for "Thunderpunch!" and both guards collapsed to the ground unconscious, after they felt a brief pain in their necks and Cap appeared shortly afterwards grinning triumphantly. "Pika."

"Excellent work, Cap." it suddenly came from Friede, who was standing proudly next to Liko and Amethio. However, they initially gave the leader of the Rising Volt Tacklers a confused expression. "Friede?! But how did you?..."

"I regained my consciousness just a few minutes ago and overheard with Roy, what you were up to with Amethio. So I thought, I'd just join in." he said, still smiling proudly, crossing his arms in front his chest.

"Whatever, we don't have much time, before they wake up again." Amethio said with a quick gesture to the two unconscious guards. Then he called Ceruledge out of its Pokéball. "Ceruledge, use Psycho Cut on the bars!" he gave his partner the command, which the Pokémon immediately carried out. In less than two seconds, the bars of the cell were divided into two and the path to escape was clear.

"Wow, that was really quick..." Roy remarked with fascination, which Amethio, however, skillfully ignored. "Yeah, we can rave about it later. Let's just get out of here!" he said and returned his Pokémon straight back into its Pokéball. So now all 4 of them carefully stepped over the still unconscious guards and slowly made their way up the dark stairwell all the way back to the top of the large Main Hall, where their previous plan had failed miserably.

"Good, now we just have to find Spinel and get my pendant back." Liko said and looked around a bit.

"Good idea, but unfortunately we have no idea, where he could be. The building is huge, it would probably take us hours, to find him in this labyrinth." Roy was indeed a little unconvinced.

"We'll never find out, as long as we don't try." Liko said now and took Sprigatito's Pokéball out of her bag. "Sprigatito, it's your turn." With a pop, the Grass Cat Pokémon materialized in front of everyone. "Nyaohja!"

"Listen, Sprigatito. It all depends on you now. You have to help us, find Spinel. Do you think, you can do it?" the 13-year-old asked her Pokémon and gave it a quick scratch. Sprigatito then nodded with a short meow and began to sniff around with its delicate nose. At some point, it seemed, to have found a track, because it now headed purposefully in the right direction, wich lead into another hallway.

"Looks like, it picked up a scent." Roy said and so he quietly followed the little Pokémon together with Liko, Friede and Amethio. After a while, everyone finally came to a halt in front of a large double door, as Sprigatito pointed its nose purposefully at it. "Nya!"

"And you're really sure, that Spinel is in there?" Friede asked, still looking a little unconvinced. "If one of us has a good nose, then it's definitely Sprigatito. We should just trust it." Liko said and scratched her Pokémon proudly behind its ears, before recalling it back into its ball. "Good work, Sprigatito. You've earned some rest now." With that, she put the Pokéball back in her yellow bag.

Now Amethio stepped a little closer to the door, before something occurred to him. "I know this door. Behind it is the meeting room, where the mission reports are always held." he explained, carefully pressing an ear against the door, when he thought, he heard a few voices behind it.

At first, the others looked at each other a little uncomprehendingly, but then they simply copied the teenager's movements in order to listen to, what was actually being discussed behind the door at that moment.

~~~

"Good work, Spinel. Apparently, I completely misjudged you. You're actually much better, than my incompetent son could ever be. From now on, you will always carry out the important missions and Amethio is welcome, to look for a new job." That was clearly Gibeon's voice.

All four of them continued to listen, their eyes wide, after what they had just heard. Liko and Friede in particular were completely flabbergasted. "Wait, does that mean, that your boss is actually your father?!" the black-haired asked, looking at the 16-year-old in disbelief.

However, the teen didn't react to this at first, but simply ignored the question for the time being. "Later. For now, let's concentrate on getting your pendant back." he said instead.

"Good idea, but you do realise, that we can't just barge in like that, don't you?" Friede asked, crossing his arms slightly in front of his chest.

"I'm sorry, but I'll do it my way." With these words, Amethio suddenly lashed out with his foot and kicked the door in with full force, causing it to literally burst off its hinges. As expected, this loud noise did not go unnoticed. In a few seconds, several guards had moved back into position.

Friede and the two children blinked perplexedly for a moment, but then quickly regained their composure, before taking up their positions to the left and right of the black and silver-haired.

"What's all this about?" Now Gibeon appeared in his true form for the first time. And it really had to be said, that he was one of the reasons, why Amethio had never fully spoken about his past.

He was a tall man, even taller than Friede, with an extremely frightening expression on his face. He had extremely dark and thick eyebrows and otherwise, he looked anything but friendly. He wore black clothes, almost identical to Amethio's, with the difference that he also wore a long, black cloak with a high collar. He also wore high, black boots with pointed studs on the ankle and black gloves, also studded. His hair was also cut extremely short and almost looked, as if it consisted of black and white stripes, that had only been shaved into the surface. The overall look was rounded off with a dark and thick full beard around Gibeon's mouth.

"Spinel, I demand an explanation!" he said, not sounding particularly enthusiastic.

Spinel, however, waved his hands nervously, at least as surprised. "I... I have no idea how this could have happened, Master Gibeon, my guards were downstairs watching them the whole time, I swear!" he said awkwardly, pointing his finger at the quartet. "How on earth did you manage to escape?"

Liko and Amethio grinned slightly triumphantly. "Well, let's put it this way, with a little ingenuity and excellent acting." Amethio replied, before his face became serious again. "The game is over, Spinel. Hand the pendant back over right now!" he said, only to receive a spiteful laugh from his rival.

"Oh no, I'm already shaking with fear. You haven't the slightest chance against me, my dear." he said, obviously trying, to provoke the teenager again, but he was no longer impressed by this at all. "I'm very sorry, but your little tricks no longer work on me." he hissed and took a Pokéball out of his right trouser pocket. "Ceruledge!" he exclaimed and shortly afterwards, the Fire Swordsman Pokémon materialised in front of its Trainer immediately in a fighting stance.

"Well, son, I really didn't think you could actually be serious. I'm surprised, because you were never like this, when you were a child back then." Gibeon remarked, but this only made Amethio even angrier.

"You have nothing more to say to me, 'Father'! You've never really been a father to me anyway! Shortly after Malu died, you changed completely for the worse. You simply left. Then mum died too and I had nowhere to turn! Until one day I met Hamber and joined the Explorers. I finally had recognition, could prove myself, but you never recognised it!!! You only ever used and manipulated me!!! I always tried, to prove to you, that I was capable of carrying out missions flawlessly, but you just never realised it!!! I'm so sick of all this!!!" he growled and now Friede, Roy and Liko could see the real, angry side of Amethio for the first time. Even Zir and Conia, who were also present, were very surprised by the teenager's sudden behaviour. "Amethio, sir..."

"Do you even know, what you're saying right now, Amethio? How dare you, go against me, your own father?! Without me, you're nothing, nobody! You'll never make it out there on your own!"

"Oh, and I think, that you're incredibly wrong with that. Because I am simply appreciated by Liko and the others! I am treated like a real person, as a human being, someone with feelings and needs and not like a piece of dirt or a puppet, that you can do, whatever you want with, whenever it suits you! I've finally found real friends, Liko has opened my eyes! I finally have the chance of a real, better life than I could ever have with you!!!" he replied, snarling.

"If that's really the case... You are no longer worthy, of being treated as my son! Spinel, put an end to him and his so-called 'friends'!" he said, taking a step back.

The spoken one grinned diabolically and stepped directly opposite Amethio and Ceruledge, his Umbreon already summoned from its Pokéball.

When Liko realised, what was about to happen, she now stepped into the 'battlefield' as well with Sprigatito next to Amethio. "Sprigatito and I are going to help you, aren't we, Sprigatito?" she asked, her gaze briefly fixed on her partner. "Nyaohja!" it meowed in reply.

"Oh, now your sweet little girlfriend has to help you too? How cute." Spinel just grinned mischievously.

"For the last time, you lightning bolt, she's not my girlfriend! And now you'd better concentrate!" Amethio hissed, visibly annoyed, and streched out his hand. "Ceruledge, use Bitter Blade!" he commanded his partner, whereupon the Pokémon sprinted forward with both blade-like arms lashed out, to hit Spinel's Umbreon, but the Moonlight Pokémon dodged the attack with ease.

"Pah, is that all you've got?! How pathetic. Umbreon, Dark Pulse!" Spinel now gave the order. Umbreon, of course, did not resist in the slightest and fired circular beams from its forehead, aiming directly at Amethio.

"Amethio, watch out! Sprigatito, Leafage, quickly!!!" Liko called out. Sprigatito jumped straight into the air and fired dozens of small leaves from its fur collar, which shot like several bullets in all directions towards Spinel and Umbreon. And it succeeded, as the storm of leaves caused the Dark Pulse to dissipate, before it could actually land a direct hit on Amethio and Ceruledge.

"Tch, he's strong, very strong!!!" Amethio muttered quietly before ordering Ceruledge again, to use Psycho Cut, which was actually a good strategy. As the attack hit the ground with a somewhat loud thud, Spinel was thrown off balance by the force, causing the pendant to fall from the pocket of his cloak, in which he kept it.

"My pendant! I guess, it's now or never... Sprigatito, now use Quick Attack!" Liko shouted to her Pokémon, whereupon Sprigatito sprinted off at lightning speed and managed, to catch the pendant with its teeth and throw it in the direction of its Trainer, who quickly caught it with her hand.

"Good work, Sprigatito!" the black-haired said and gave her Pokémon a quick scratch under the chin, before immediately putting her pendant back around her neck.

"Tch, don't think, I'm just going to let you get away with it that easily! Umbreon, use Snarl!!!" Spinel finally had enough. His Pokémon immediately launched an attack, firing a red-ringed stream of smoke from its mouth, directly targeting Liko and Sprigatito.

Amethio watched the scene unfolding directly in front of his eyes in horror, before immediately rushing straight towards Liko and Sprigatito. "Liko, look out!!!" As soon as he reached them, he yanked the girl down with both arms mid jumping, pressing her protectively tightly against his body, and squeezed his eyes shut, probably waiting for the attack, to hit him instead.

~~~

But before that could happen, Liko's pendant suddenly began to glow brightly, causing the teenager to quickly pulling himself away from her. "What the...?!" he asked himself in shock, but now the pendant began to glow even more brightly, before a green, hexagonal shaped protective barrier formed around him, the girl and Sprigatito shortly afterwards, which in turn ensured, that Umbreon's attack bounced off it and couldn't score a hit anymore.

Friede and Roy, who in the meantime had managed, to overpower Gibeon and Spinel and keep them at bay with the help of Charizard, now also became aware of what was happening. Liko's pendant, which was still glowing, and a green hexagonal shield, which had erected itself protectively around her, Amethio and Sprigatito. Even Zir and Conia, who had just been standing there motionless, couldn't believe their eyes.

After about 5 minutes, the protective shield slowly dissolved again and the pendant also stopped glowing. Liko's hand instinctively reached for it, holding it tightly. Slowly, the girl looked at Amethio, who was still looking at her, completely dumbfounded, before the teen regained his composure after a few seconds. The 16-year-old slowly stood up again and offered her a hand. "Are you alright, Liko? Nothing happened to you?" he asked in a voice full of concern.

The young Trainer nodded slightly and finally took Amethio's hand, whereupon the black and silver-haired immediately pulled her to her feet and then let his eyes wander over her for a moment, to really make sure, she wasn't hurt in any way.

"No, I'm fine. But that was really reckless of you, you know? Just imagine, if the attack had really hit you..." she murmured quietly, sounding worried now as well.

"There's no need, to worry about me. I've been in far worse situations, than this one. What really matters, is that you're okay." the teenager replied. Then he took a step closer to the girl and suddenly hugged her tightly, while burying his face into the crook of her neck, deeply inhaling her scent. This sudden action caused her eyes to widen slightly in shock. After standing there perplexed like that for a few seconds, Liko finally simply returned Amethios embrace and hugged him back, just as tightly.

After they both separated from each other after a short while, Amethio couldn't take his eyes off Liko and instead looked deep into her beautiful blue eyes. Then his gaze lingered on her lips, which seemed to him, as if they were just waiting for what the black and silver-haired had in mind. Slowly, he closed the distance between himself and Liko, getting closer and closer to her rosy lips, and when the girl made no effort to stop him, Amethio finally placed his lips gently on hers and kissed her carefully and slowly.

Contrary to all expectations, she returned his gentle kiss and carefully intertwined her hands with his, which made Amethio smile a little into the kiss. At some point, he pulled away from her again, his lips still tingling from the incredible feeling, so that he didn't make a single sound at first.

"You wouldn't believe, how much I've wanted to do this all along..." Amethio admitted in a breathy voice, having gradually regained his speech.

Liko smiled a little sheepishly and had indeed turned a little red around the nose. "And you don't know, how long I've been waiting for this." she replied and then looked at him with a dreamy smile.

The teenager continued to smile with relief and gently placed a hand on the girl's cheek. "Listen, Liko... There's something I need to tell you..." he spoke a little uncertainly, but before he could continue, the pleasant moment was interrupted by a clearing of the throat, causing both of them to jump apart, slightly startled.

They both looked towards Friede, who had a slightly mischievous grin on his face. "I really don't want to interrupt you two, but I think we should get out of here, don't you think so too? " the leader of the Rising Volt Tacklers said.

"Yeah, but what's happening to them over there?" Roy asked, pointing his finger at Spinel and Gibeon, who were now sitting on the floor tied together.

"Oh, don't worry about those. Officer Jenny will take care of that. Now let's go." he said and called Charizard back into his Pokéball, before he set off. But then Zir and Conia joined in. "Just wait a moment longer. If it's all right for Amethio sir... We would also like to leave the organisation. We want to change our lives too." they both said somewhat uncertainly.

Amethio just nodded with a smile at their request. "If that's what you want, I won't stop you. It's entirely up to you." he said, as he put an arm around Liko's shoulders, whereupon she just simply leaned against him.

Both nodded shortly afterwards and bowed briefly in gratitude. Then everyone finally marched out of the building, while Friede quickly informed Officer Jenny about the situation. As soon as everyone was finally back outside, they all called out their Pokémon almost simultaneously, with Zir and Conia of course calling out their Skarmory. Liko naturally took her place on Amethio's Corviknight again and shortly afterwards, the entire team took off to the skies, as quickly and swiftly as possible, far away from this place.

~~~

After everyone had landed safely on the Brave Asagi again, they were all welcomed by Mollie, Orla, Murdock and Dot and pulled into a big hug.

"In the name of Arceus, you're all well!!! We thought you weren't coming back at all!" Murdock sobbed with relief and actually cried a few tears of joy.

Friede simply had to smile in response. He knew his comrade all too well. "Don't worry, we'll explain everything calmly. But now let's go inside." the leader of the Rising Volt Tacklers said and, with Cap on his shoulder, went straight down into the interior of the airship and directly into the meeting room, where the others arrived a little later too and took their seats at the table.

"Well, now you really have to tell us everything down to the smallest detail." Orla finally spoke up and leant her elbows on the tabletop.

Everyone just giggled and Friede put on his big grin again. "Don't worry, you'll find out everything as soon as possible." he assured them and turned his attention to Liko for now, who was sitting on Amethio's lap and leaning relaxed against his chest. "But first, I think, that these two have a lot to explain to us as well." he said, giving Amethio a casual thumbs up and even a little wink.

Liko and Amethio both turned bright red, as everyone turned their eyes on them, looking extremely knowingly at the pair shortly after Friede's statement.

"Well... You know, the thing is..." the black and silver-haired began and it was clear to see, that he seemed a little uncomfortable talking about the current situation. "It's not that easy, to explain really..." he started and scratched his neck a little.

"That's right, there was something important, you wanted to tell me earlier, wasn't it?" Liko now spoke up, also expecting an answer from the teenager.

Finally, the 16-year-old had to sigh deeply, after realizing, that he no longer had a chance, to deny his feelings for the young Trainer. "Ok, ok! You've won, you're already getting an explanation." he said and ran his hand trough his hair for a brief moment. Amethio already knew... This was definitely going to be a very long night for him...

~~~

To be continued...