Looking right into my father's eyes, I could see he was a little hesitant to be telling this story to me. There was something about it that was hard to discuss. But he knew that it was important information for me to hear and he knew that I've had many questions.

Why did he leave our family so long ago when the War was close to coming to an end? Why did he leave me alone, only to be kidnapped by the man he'd been chasing for so long? What was my purpose in all of this?

A lot things were weighing on my mind from that time. Especially since I thought at that time he had passed on. It was just me and my mother. There was nothing else he could do if he was gone.

Now that he was alive and in good health before me. He opened up and began to speak things that I knew made him quite uncomfortable.

"Leaf, when I fell from that tower, when I tried to save Ho-Oh in Ecruteak City. There was a fire that had encircled me. A fire that had protected me from getting killed."

"You mean Ho-Oh saved you?" I queried.

"It's an ability known as Sacred Fire, an attack that can be terrifyingly powerful if used in the wrong way. But it's also the same power that the monks believe had the ability to renew life in the region itself. Had he not protected me from getting destroyed by Ensign's Pokémon. I wouldn't be here talking to you right now. It's almost like Ho-Oh had been trying to fight off the MK machine that had been put under his control."

"The MK machine?"

"It's a neural transmitter, a mind control experiment. It was patented and created by the organization back when it was benevolent in its ideals in the Kalos region. The device was used to control Ho-Oh and set the entire town ablaze with him as their experiment."

How cruel.

I had no idea how Ho-Oh was completely subdued under their control in this way. Especially since Yellow had explained he was the one that wanted peace all along. This explained a lot about what Red was saying when Misty's Gyarados were under some sort of signal or control.

Ho-Oh was instinctively trying to fight off the signal from the device and wrangled to protect my Dad from dying by his hand. This feet of power was difficult even for Ho-Oh to do in those circumstances.

It nearly made me cry just thinking about the possible things Team Love could have done to him. Now I was sound of one thing ever since I encountered him in my life. Ho-Oh was caged and someone had to set him free.

"When the fire had dissipated, I had my sights set on freeing Ho-Oh and bringing back balance to the Johto Region. So I met with members of the Elite Four and the Pokémon International government and discussed measures on stopping the organization from gaining their influence into the Kanto region. They told me that I needed to cover up my name to protect those close to me. So I agreed to keep my presence in the world a secret in order to protect them from you."

"But that never happened, ever since you had left they still came for me." I finished with the uncomfortable truth.

My father squirmed a bit and he started leaking tears and whimpering with heartfelt emotion. I believe the day that I was kidnapped by them was almost like the final straw, it was too unbearable for him. He didn't think Ensign would sink that low. But the evil man went through great lengths to try and destroy our family name and I fear it may have driven my own father to rage.

"Leaf, when I learned that he had stolen you from my home months after it had happened. I was so distraught that I wanted to end this man's life. So I went on a vengeful crusade to try and find him and rescue you as best as I could. My Arcanine was so responsive that he hopped right on out of his Poké Ball and growled along with me. Kneeling down and getting me ready for the ride and mission in Pallet Town toward the location they held you captive. Professor Oak had greeted me before I was about to go and told me to fight my feelings."

"Did you fight back?"

"I fought back in a different way, I told Professor Oak to shove it and bounced on out of there with Arcanine in toe. I learned the hard way that the Professor was right."

This had me curious, I didn't know that my Dad was the one that had attempted to rescue me.

But, what did Ensign do to my dad that nearly broke him?

"When I had arrived at Mount Silver, Arcanine and the rest of my Pokémon within my party all fought our way toward the top. Team Love had established their headquarters within the caverns of this incredible mountain. I defeated all fourteen of the Apostles excluding you who was unconscious through the final cavern that lead me up to where you were kept. Ensign was defiant, resilient, and even after the War had become more powerful than I had ever imagined."

"He knew right from the start that I was broken, that I had lost everything and he was using you to get to me. Like he enjoyed it, reveled in it. There wasn't a moment in my life where I felt like I wanted to kill him. His Pokémon were extremely tough; he had a Crobat, Sneasel, Tyranitar, Umbreon, Rhydon and..."

"Ho-Oh." I finished with deep contemplative thought.

"His Pokémon were more powerful then you could imagine. His entire force had nearly depleted my Pokémon's energy. The one who had the strength left to fight our way out of the compound was Arcanine." He said while caressing the Poké Ball of his only friend who had been through him since his training.

"That Pokémon's been with you through it all hasn't he?" I posed with sincerity.

"Who Arcanine? Ha! He's been my very first Pokémon I had ever caught when I was about your age. Starting out on a journey was the easy part, it was the training's that were difficult. Arcanine may be pretty old but he's a bit stubborn like me. We've been through a lot during my journey and all throughout the War."

What a precious moment it was for me to witness the bond between him and his Pokémon during this incredible story. I never thought in a million years I would be hearing such astounding heroism told by my Dad and his Pokémon.

They both fought for my sake and for the sake of others. He was a soldier and I couldn't be more grateful to him to be rescuing me from this wretched group like he did. He sacrificed a lot to protect me from him. My hero, right before me, my own father's strength pulled me out of that terrible abyss and because of him I was able to meet the people and Pokémon I know.

"What happened afterward, you were able to get out weren't you?" I asked while trying not to sound rude with my tone. My Dad gave me a look of gloom, like it never was successful to begin with.

"Yes, with the knowledge that you were scarred from this experience. Ensign had underestimated Ho-Oh's power that he was nearly buried from the intense capacity he exuded. So I took the opportunity to get you out of there before the entire tower would collapse beneath us both. I failed at saving Ho-Oh but I at least stopped Ensign from keeping you there."

He was not wrong. I thought with defeated emotion.

There were times where I often wondered if I was going to die sooner then I thought possible. Ensign would have us not eat food for days for a mission. Our Pokémon were never to be let out of their capsules in certain areas of the compound and at certain points in time. He neglected his group for the sake of absolute love, or as many in our group called it, absolute submission.

"You wouldn't eat for days after I had rescued you. You would never come out of your room. You're mother and I had been worried sick about your health and recovery from all of this. The effects of the MK device had altered you, made you a robot under his control. You could not think straight and in many ways, you would ramble on incoherently without even an acknowledgement to your mother for a couple
of years. I had fulfilled my mission but at a cost that I was uncertain that you were unable to recover from. I was sick to my stomach with all the disgusting things Ensign had done to many more children like you."

This realization that I was under his control, made it a bit more difficult for me to grasp how and why I had acted the way that I did in the past. He had used the same tech to try and make me an obedient puppet for his evil projects.

"Were there others that were saved during the time I was there?" I asked my Dad with somberness.

The man nodded from my inquiry and looked back into my eyes to resume the story he wanted to tell.

"There were many children that were saved by my Arcanine along with you. I'm not certain of all the casualties that had lost their lives from the towers collapse by Ho-Oh. But I tried to rescue as many lives as I could under Professor Oaks direction, I was grateful that I didn't give into my feelings. If I did, many other lives would have been lost that day. One man I'm sure you are familiar with, his name was Silver."

Silver?

I knew this man; he was one of those children who were taken like me. When Dad had mentioned his name the memories of being held captive all came flooding back to my mind like a mighty whirlwind. His gray eyes, his pure dark jacket with red lines came running all along his long red hair and petulant smile. His prominent image had never once fled my mind.

This boy and I had tried to escape multiple times from the compound. I've known him for months ever since I've been apart of Team Love. However, our efforts were thwarted by his hand.

If Silver survived then he must still be alive somewhere in the world.

This wasn't the only story to be told from his mouth. Now that I learned Ensign used a similar device to try and control my thoughts, my emotions, my own actions. The MK device had driven me to the point of fear from the very Pokémon he had possessed.

A powerful Legend that had driven me to the point of terror was used as the symbol to align with the man whom I despised. That man's name would go down in infamy as the most cunning despicable man in the world; his name was...

Ensign Drake.