Amethyst cave exit

This part of the cave was filled with minecarts transporting crystals and two waterfalls, making it look quite vibrant, yet Ray's mind was on something else... He had met the mysterious hooded man again. This time, the man asked him to locate him in Sheridan village, and since he was the only lead to Melia, Ray had no choice.
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Village outskirts
Coming out of the cave, the bright light stung his eyes a little; he looked down the stone stairs to see a vibrant green scenery with a Large wooden gate saying "Sheridan".

He then notices two individuals arguing. One is a muscular girl about his age with purple hair wearing spats and a white sports shirt with a red cross design, and the other is an elderly-looking woman with gray hair in a white and red tribal gown holding a staff with an "O" on it.

"It's gone on for too long! His negligence is driving people away from the village, Eldest!" The purple haired girl shouted as she addressed the old woman

"I know this Aelita... But he must have his reasons for shutting everyone out" the eldest replied to the girl now known as Aelita.

"Sheridan village is a place of community!" Aelita reads the sign out loud: "It's always been our pride and joy to be United as one, but not anymore. People are leaving in droves now! If the leader is being slient what are we to do?!" She shouts again.

"I've lived here for years; we've faced far worse and came out of it alive and well," the eldest says as she shows off her old muscles.

"Well that's reassuring..." Aelita said sarcastically.

"Yes, it is; never give up, young one; hope will show itself in the darkest of times to turn bad situations into good situations," Eldest said in a calming tone.

"you're right Eldest. I'll go speak with him right now! Let's go Hawlucha!" Aelita sends out a red and green bipedal hawk that looks like it's wearing a mask and the 2 dash north towards the village.

"Wait that's not what...... 'Sighhhhhh' there's so much of Vivian in that lass" Eldest smiles a bit.

"Vivian?" Ray unconsciously says out loud, alerting Eldest, who looks at him with a grim expression.

(So he has finally reached this place) she said in her mind, "Hello and welcome to Sheridan village, I hope that little quarrel didn't make you want to leave?" She says kindly trying to find her previous expression.

"No, It's fine; my name's Ray, by the way; also, if you wouldn't mind, could you take me to the Pokemon center here?" Ray asked.

"No problem, follow me, lad" Eldest then walks north, and Ray follows her.

Sheridan village
The setting is quite different from Gearan, which was huge with story buildings; Sheridan had a more Edo period look to it with wooden houses and sliding doors, and the few occupants here all looked like martial artists.

Pokemon center
After giving all 5 of his Pokeballs to the nurse Joy here(who wore a pink kimono), he decided to chat with the eldest.

"I am the Eldest of this village, advisor to the Sensei/gym leader of the village who is currently in a slump..." She said with a sad expression.

"Can you tell me why he's in a slump? I need his badge to get stronger," Ray presses the issue.

"I wish he would tell me; sadly, if you want the badge, you'll have to talk him into a battle," Eldest answered.

"Damn... Alright, he should be in the biggest house on the mountain, right? I'll make him battle me for sure!" Ray stands up from his sit and turns to Nurse Joy

"Your Pokemon are all healed, take care now," Nurse Joy said with a smile.

"Alright come out guys! 'poooop!' " Ray released all his Pokemon to observe them

"Pipluppp!" Pip said happily showing he was back to 100%

"Zzzzzz" Weepinbell was still sleeping making Ray pop a vein on his forehead.

"Leooo!" Leo was also ready for action

"Swooo", "yah yah get off!" Swoobat had once again tied its tail around Ray and hugged him, to his displeasure.

".........' Lick' " Rocky the lycanroc completely ignored Ray and started licking her red and white fur.

"Rocky?" Ray turned to face her but she would just turn the other way.

(The hell?! Is she in her rebellious phase!) Ray thought as his face turned red with anger.

In case this sudden personality change would affect his team's strategy he decided to take a sixth Pokemon from his PC.
He collected the Pichu he earned from his battle with Novea (chapter 5).

"Pichuuu!" The electric mouse cried happily.

"Learn from the others for now, little guy," Ray said as he returned all of them to their balls and went off to the hill.

Sheridan arena
On the hilltop next to the huge Edo-style mansion was a big battlefield in the middle of a small stream, meaning knocking an opponent into the water was a fair strategy.
As Ray made his way to the field, he was challenged by 2 martial artists and their fighting types, which he swept with Piplup, Swoobat, and Weepinbell.
After winning, the martial artists asked him to try and speak with the Sensei.

As he got to the doors of the mansion he saw Aelita kneeling by the door with Hawlucha by her side.

"You still won't talk to me anymore?, what did I do wrong? I wish you would tell me..." Aelita said in a heartbreaking voice the frustration was very visible.

Seeing her in this state made Ray sad so he put a hand on her shoulder
"Hey, are you okay?" He asked softly.

"Huh?!" Aelita jumped back, startled, and wiped her red face. "yeah, I'm okay! Sorry for blocking you," she bowed her head.

"Don't worry about it" (she's a lot different from how I imagined) Ray says as he's surprised she isn't the violent type of girl.

"My name is Aelita; I'm a student here if you're interested in talking to the Ke..... Sensei, I'd say you're wasting your time," she says to him with a sad face.

"Well, I've come too far to quit; I'll definitely make him talk!" Ray says as he puts his hand on the sliding door

"Mmmmm..... What's your name?" Aelita asked looking very interested

"Ray! The future champion of this whole region, believe it!" Ray gives her a big smile.

Aelita's eyes light up, this guy was giving off a similar aura to the one Sensei once gave off.
"Ray huh? I like it; good luck, Ray!" She says, smiling, and rushes off with her Pokemon.

Sensei's house
As soon as he entered the mansion the same figure that stopped him before (chapter 7) was standing in front of him, the purple hooded man. "You?!" Ray says surprised

"Here lies a soul who lives solely to cast a shadow" The man lifts his hoody revealing his pale face and dried-up raven hair(which looked in bad shaped)
"My name is Keta, the Sensei of Sheridan; follow me," he says as he begins to walk to the back of the well-decorated parlor. Ray follows him.

Backroom
This open-roofed environment houses numerous beautiful flowers and in the center was a designed plank of wood with the words "Teaila: gone but not forgotten"
Keta puts his hand on the plank and says, "I'm sorry, Teaila, but smiling has become somewhat impossible," he says in a sad tone.

"Hey, you've got information on Melia haven't you?!" Ray butts in.

"Ah, Melia... A familiar name, you and your friends failed to save her... Don't tell me you think you could have saved her if you were stronger?" Keta asked in a somewhat mocking tone.

"I..." Ray couldn't find the words.

"Bullshit! Kid, nothing could have been done! That's fate, it's written; only fools try to change that!"

"Then I guess I'm a fool! Cause I know she's still alive and I'll find her!" Ray declared again.

"Sighhhhhhhh, alright then" Keta facepalmed.
"I've got a way for you to check if it's possible to save her".

"Really?!!!" Ray's eyes lit up.

"In the amethyst cave, there's a bright red stone, that's the key to the hidden grotto, there you'll find the Soul stone
Take it to where Melia died. If her soul is captured in it, then her fate is sealed, but if nothing happens, there's a slim chance; when that's done, return here." Keta said all this and turned his back to Ray.

"Heh! Is that all? Piece of cake!" Ray ran out with no hesitation homebound to the cave.
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Amethyst cave exit
"Pip pip up" was out of his Pokeball and doing something like a karate chop with his wings as he walked.

"Hehehe, Are you trying to imitate Jackie Chan or something?" Ray laughed as he saw this.

"Hey Ray wait up!" Ray turns to see Aelita and Hawlucha running toward him with a small green box.

"Huh, Aelita?" Ray asked confused.

"Sensei gave you a trial, didn't he? Here, I made these rice balls for you in case it was a tiring task," Aelita says and hands him the box with 3 rice balls tied with seaweed wrap.

"Really?! Thanks a lot, Aelita, you're a pal! Pip here" Ray says gratefully and hands one to his penguin.

"Pipluuuuu!" Piplup says in joy as the taste of the rice balls explodes in his mouth.

"These are amazing! 'munch munch' " Ray shouts and continues eating.

"You got Sensei to talk? It's the least I could do; he's not been the same in a while," Aelita's tone gets sadder. " If only my mom wasn't killed by that red thief, she'd know what to do." Aelita's face looked pained, making Ray stop munching.

"It's okay Aelita... When I get back I'll make sure to battle him and knock some sense into his head" Ray puts a hand on his chest

"Ray..... Try your best. I'm rooting for you." Aelita smiled at him, making him once again question her muscles (she's so girly!)

Hawlucha also gave a head Pat to Piplup since they were both birds they must share a bond.

Inside the cave
After finishing off the rise ball, it didn't take up to 5 minutes to find a crimson stone stuck to the wall.

"Alright, Rocky, smash it!" Ray sent out his newly Evolved dog however

"Yawnnnn!" The dog yawned and didn't even move an inch to the rock.

"Rocky! Come on girl!" Ray pleaded but the midnight lycanroc didn't obey him.

"Return.... I hope this phase passes quickly," Ray recalled the disobedience dog and went towards the stone.

"Okay, how about this!" 'tap' Ray slaps the stone slightly and 'twickkkk!' the stone disappears leaving behind a hole in the wall which Ray entered.

Amethyst grotto
The environment was much different from the gray plants were everywhere despite no sunlight and the trees were red, in the middle of the room was a circular stone floor with five stone blocks around it with a translucent man floating

"Wait a second Keta?!" Ray shouted as he realized the ghost was Keta.

"Yes and no, I'm the emotions that fool cast aside and trapped in this grotto," the ghost Keta said as he moved his hands, revealing translucent purple chains binding him to the ground.

"But why?" Ray asked.

"That man has suffered so much in the past he believed ridding himself of emotions would work, but it didn't work. He was even a part of team Xen once, poor fool, but.... For him to send you here? You must be special here," Keta points at Ray's right hand.

"Huh? Is that?" Ray looks at his hand and sees a purple crystal-like stone the size of a tennis ball.

"Take that, do what you must, and bring that fool peace of mind. That's my request to you." Ghost Keta then vanished, but his presence remained.

Ray's heart began to beat faster, the hard part began...

Amethyst depth
Every step he took towards this area felt heavy; he couldn't hide his fear (what if Melia's soul was really here?) He thought to himself, he couldn't even imagine what he'd do if that was the case.

Finally, he reached where her red bag was, where she met her demise; with balls of steel, he kept the stone on top of her bag and..........
.........
.........
........

Absolutely nothing happened; he sank to his knees and was able to breathe again.
He couldn't even smile the tension was too much
"She's....... alive," he said softly as if he was weeping.
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Sensei's house
Ray had returned immediately after confirming Melia's soul wasn't in the cave.

Keta collected the stone and said, "Hehehe, fate favors the fool once again," and gave a small sarcastic smile.

"Can you find her?!" Ray asked impatiently.

"Sorry, but no, she's not here; I can't tell if it's my fault or if she's not in this world anymore; you should keep the stone. Maybe you'll find more clues," Keta tosses it back.

"It never gets easier does it, but at least I know there's a chance! Now then!" Ray's eyes lit up. "I challenge you to a gym battle, Keta!!!".

Keta sighed and stood up. "I guess there's no choice, let me see how you battle, boy." he looked Ray in the eyes.

Sheridan arena
Everyone in the village gathered to watch this battle,
"Go Ray!", "You can do it," "Show the Sensei who's boss!" All the cheers were one-sided, mostly due to Keta's reclusive attitude.

Even the Eldest was surprised (Keta was in a worse condition than before) she thought to herself.
Aelita was going to be the referee, her Hawlucha and Ray's Pichu sat behind her at the side of the field.

Ray had gotten some advice from Jan
First was that Keta's Pokemon was Lucario and its signature move is Gale fist an attack that gets stronger the more beat up the user is
Secondly, the field is a forest terrain giving a boost to grass types
And finally, to use flying or psychic type(fighting < psychic) Pokemon, however...

"This battle will be a 2 V 2 double battle. The trainer with the last standing Pokemon wins. Begin!"

"Go Lucario, machoke...." Keta said nonchalantly, as he tossed 2 balls onto the stage
'pop!' "Luuuu", "Choook" His Pokemon also didn't seem like they had the fighting spirit Lucario was a shiny purple bipedal dog with iron spikes on its paws and chest, while Machoke was a muscular purple humanoid creature with veins sticking out of its arms(also it wore black pants).

"Hehehe see this! Weepinbell, Pip I choose you two!" Ray says smiling as he tosses his balls upwards.

'Pop!' "Piplupp!!!", "Weeeep!!!" Piplup and even Weepinbell seemed ready to kick some ass.

(He has a Swoobat, yet he's going with these?) Aelita questioned him in her mind

"Lucario Aura sphere, machoke low kick," Keta said with no energy.

"Luu," Lucario shot out a small blue orb of Aura at Piplup while Machoke went to kick Weepinbell.

"Pip, bubble beam!", "Pipluplupluuu!" Ray commanded and Piplup launched a blue beam of bubbles at the orb destroying it and even hitting Lucario
"caaa!" It cried.

"Weepinbell dodge it and counter with vine whip!", " Bellll!" Ray ordered the plant, which, using its big leaf arms to propel its body upwards ' Whoooshhh' dust flew, blinding Machoke a bit finally...
"Weepinnnbell!" 2 vines appeared for the back of its leaf arms and started lashing away at Machoke with no mercy and even hit Lucario too "Maaa!", "Luca" Both Pokemon fell backward (forest terrain increased the vine whip's power.)

"What?!", "No way." "This is seriously like David and Goliath!" The crowd screamed seeing as Ray's tiny Pokemon were making Keta's huge monsters look like chumps.

(Ray sugoi....) Aelita couldn't help but be amazed by Ray's training skills.

"Pipichuuu!" Pichu smiled as it was observing and soaking up Exp.
"Hawww" Hawlucha also smiled at Piplup's growth.

(Hmmm, I'll go for the plant and weaken his momentum) "Lucario, ice punch on Weepinbell, machoke, use rock smash on the plant as well" Keta ordered

"Luu," "choke." Lucario's fist turned Blue, and the muscular giant launched a fist, too.

"Not so fast Pip, counter them!" Ray ordered.

"Piplupp! Pippluuu!" The penguin got in front of Weepinbell. First, he hit away Lucario's fist with his flipper 'thick' and then kicked Machoke's hand to the ground, breaking it. 'Bam!'.

"Alright Weepinbell!, Infestation!" Ray commanded

Unexpectedly the forest terrain once again powered up weepinbell's attack
"Weeepppp!" 'the plant sent out a swarm of green glowing orbs that surrounded Keta's Pokemon sending them back to his far side of the field,

As the others were trying to rid themselves of the infestation Ray went to work with another strategy
"Weepinbell, plant your arms in the middle sides of the field and move towards me as far as you can!" Ray orders.

Weepinbell puts its arms on the left and right side of the field in the middle and moves towards Ray; its arms are currently stretching like a rubber band.

"Pip, use Peck and jump on Weepinbell's face. Stop moving when I give the signal," Ray added.

"Pippp!" Piplup's beak started glowing white as he jumped on Weepinbell's face and then "Now!!!" Ray shouted, and Weepinbell stopped moving, causing him to fling Piplup straight forward.

"Witness our battle technique "Jungle catapult!!!" Ray shouted as Piplup flew towards Machoke 'shwooooosh!!', "Maaaa!" Machoke took the full force of the accelerated Peck to the gut, it fainted as soon as it was pushed out of the field.

"What?" Keta was dumbfounded by the insane strategy just used.

"Ma..... machoke is unable to battle Sensei is down to his last Pokemon!" Aelita Announced.

"Wowwwwww!" The whole crowd went insane.

"You see that Keta! Fate may suck most of the time, but there's something it doesn't control, and that's our growth!" Ray roared. "I don't care anymore. If fate tries to stop me, I'll tear it down!"

Hearing his master's decree, something within Piplup sparked
"Piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"
In a flash of blue lights and bubbles, Piplup's shape began to change.

"His evolving?!" Aelita shouted in surprise.

"Yoshaaaaa!!!! Finally!!!!!" Ray went down on his knees seeing his starter finally reach a new frontier.

"Prrrriiii" Pip's voice got deeper, from his head to his ribs got covered in dark blue feathers while his bottom remained light blue,
2 yellow Combs grew on top of his head and merged with his beak making it sharper, his wings got longer and sharper like blades, it's height was now reaching Ray's waist,
And finally, its eye color was now bright blue.

"Prinpluppp!!!!!!" The newly Evolved penguin yelled with pride.

Ray used his Pokedex

Prinplup
the penguin Pokemon
A water type and the Evolved form of Piplup
Using its sharp flipper it's able to chop down a tree with a single swipe.

"Freaking wicked! Alright Pip, finish off Lucario!" Ray ordered

"Prinnnnnn!" The penguin jumped with force thanks to his stronger legs, he readied his flipper like a sword, which was strangely glowing silver (new move?), However.....

"Tsk....." Keta hissed as his final Pokemon was going to be knocked, but his reason for hissing was the fact he could no longer see Ray standing in front of him, what he saw was a younger version of himself.

(I had forgotten something important, Teaila I finally know what you meant) Keta smiled for the first time in ages before.

"I'm not done yet!!!!!!!!!" He shouted causing everyone around him to feel the wild Aura.

"Lucario! Gale fist!!!" Keta yelled, and as Prinplup's flipper blade was inches away from Lucario's neck...
'Booooom!', "pr.............!" Prinplup's stomach was assaulted by a sharp pain planted by Lucario's fist

"Carrrrrrr!" A wave of wind pushed Prinplup towards Weepinbell, knocking the two into the water and causing an explosion. 'Boooooom!' While Lucario's whole body erupts with power.

"Nani?" Ray couldn't process what just happened.

Aelita and Hawlucha rushed over to check the status of Ray's Pokemon.
"Both Prinplup and Weepinbell are unable to battle; the winner of the match is Sensei!" Aelita says and points to Keta.

"No way," "that Gale fist really saved Sensei," such a wild match," the crowd chattered.

"Damnit! I want a rematch! You were holding out on me Ket....." Ray's shouting stopped when he looked at Keta's smiling face.

"Kehehehehe, sorry, Ray, but I'll have to deny you your rematch for now; there's something I have to do, something I should have done years again!" Keta says and then runs off to the base of the mountain.

"Wait Sensei!" Aelita chases after him.

"Lass!" Eldest follows as well.

"The hell! I ain't missing this! Return guys!" Ray retrieves his Pokemon and rushes after Keta.

Ray's first gym battle lost; determined for a rematch, what awaits him is something much worse: Team Xen.
To be continued