The members of the Rising Volt Tacklers and Amethio were gathered in the conference room, looking very troubled and still shaken. While everyone was talking wildly and panicking, Amethio stood leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and eyes closed. "What are we supposed to do now?" Liko asked in a panic. "We can't just hand over Terapagos to the Explorers!" Roy said firmly. This was followed by another round of chaotic chatter.

Suddenly, Friede rose from his chair and said loudly, "Hey, everyone, calm down for a moment. I know this seems like a pretty hopeless situation right now. But we need to pull ourselves together and figure out what we should do next." "You're right, Friede, but we don't have time. We need to save Terapagos!" Liko objected determinedly. "Exactly, but first we need a plan on how to do that," Friede agreed. "WE don't need a plan," Amethio interjected, opening his eyes slightly. "What do you mean by that?" Friede asked, confused. "YOU won't save Terapagos. I will. After all, it was abducted because of me," Amethio declared, fixing Friede with a firm gaze. "And how are we supposed to know we can trust you? After all, the Explorers only found us because of you!" Dot snapped angrily. "You don't have any other choice. I'm the only one here who knows where their base is," Amethio replied irritably. "Unfortunately, you're right," Friede admitted. "But that doesn't mean you're going alone. We're coming with you. And besides, aren't you a little too injured for this?" "I don't need any help," Amethio hissed angrily, but winced from the pain in his ribs.

"Aha, so it really looks like you don't need any help," Friede replied humorlessly. "Even if you were to go alone, how do we know you wouldn't trick us and just take Terapagos for yourself?"
"BECAUSE I DON'T BELONG TO THEM ANYMORE!" Amethio yelled at Friede angrily.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Friede asked seriously. "Did you not even wonder why I suddenly showed up here with a broken rib and a head injury? Or why I stole something from Spinel, and he threatened to kill me because of it?!" Amethio snapped back, pointing at the bandage around his neck.

"Did they kick you out?" Friede asked uncertainly. "For someone who's supposed to be a professor, it sure took you long enough to figure that out!" Amethio retorted angrily. Friede looked at him apologetically before continuing, "You're still very injured, though. Let us help you. How about you start by telling us the location of their base?" Amethio sighed in annoyance and said, "It's in Paldea. More specifically, near Medali, deep in a forest."

"Alright, then we need to come up with a plan for how to approach this," Friede decided. Immediately, loud chaotic chatter broke out again, and Amethio closed his eyes once more.

"I have to save Terapagos. It's my fault, after all. I'll just go alone, whether they like it or not. I just need to sneak away. But how am I going to do that? I know!" Amethio thought, now fully determined to put his plan into action. "OW!" Amethio exclaimed, pretending to look like he was in pain. He bent forward slightly and acted as though he was about to collapse again. "What's wrong? Are you in pain again?" Liko asked worriedly. "What does it look like?" Amethio snapped irritably, but then quickly remembered what he was planning. "Should we take you back to your room?" Friede offered, stepping closer to Amethio. "No, no, it's fine. I can manage that myself," Amethio quickly tried to brush him off and eventually left the room. "Alright, we'll check on you later," Friede called after him.

Amethio walked as quickly as he could through the corridor lined with doors and made his way to the lower part of the airship. He summoned Corviknight from its Poké Ball and whispered softly to it, "Corviknight, you have to take me back to the Explorers, please."
Corviknight shook its head vigorously, refusing to let Amethio mount it. "I know what you're thinking, but I have to save Terapagos, please," Amethio pleaded, looking desperately into Corviknight's eyes. It finally gave in and took off, flying toward the Explorers' base with Amethio on its back.

Just like last time, the flight took about an hour and a half, but this time Amethio dismounted a few kilometers before the base. "Thank you, Corviknight," he said gratefully, returning it to its Pokéball and releasing Ceruledge from its own. "Alright, I guess we'd better get moving," he said to Ceruledge and began walking. It was quite a long journey, taking the two of them past many wild Pokémon and beautiful lakes, deep through the forest. "Next time, I'm landing closer to the base," Amethio muttered to himself in annoyance.

Suddenly, he heard a loud cry and stopped in his tracks. "Was that a Pokémon? We'd better check it out!" he decided and hurried in the direction the cry had come from. On a clearing, he discovered a small, cream-colored, fluffy, ball-like Pokémon. As Amethio approached, he saw that it was a shiny Eevee, which had gotten its paw caught in a trap. What stood out to him most was that the little Eevee, just like him, had a scar over its left eye. When Eevee noticed Amethio and Ceruledge, it panicked and began tugging wildly at its trapped paw. "Stop that. You'll only make your wound worse," he said soothingly to the little Eevee, stretching out a hand toward it. Eevee sniffed his hand cautiously and then allowed Amethio to scratch it gently behind the ears. "There we go," Amethio praised it calmly. "I'll help you." He immediately set to work freeing the little Eevee's paw from the trap.

When it was finally free, the Eevee tried to hop around joyfully but immediately pulled up its injured paw. Amethio moved closer, picked up the small cream-colored Eevee, and set it on his lap to treat its paw. Once he had tended to the wound and Eevee was feeling better, it snuggled up to Amethio, who now had a faint smile on his lips. But then he remembered that he still had something important to do: saving Terapagos.

With a heavy heart, Amethio placed Eevee back on the ground and said apologetically, "We have to keep going. You should go back to your friends too." Amethio turned his back on Eevee and walked away. After a few meters, he glanced back and noticed that Eevee was following him. "Stop following us," he said, irritated, to the shiny Eevee. Eevee stopped in its tracks and looked at him with sad eyes. "You can't come with us. It's too dangerous," he said to it sorrowfully and walked away quickly.

After about ten minutes, they finally reached the Explorers' base and fearfully examined the metal door. Just as he was about to open it using the correct code, he heard a voice behind him:
"Hey, Amethio, wait!" Friede, Liko, Roy, and Dot came running up to him. "Why did you leave without us?" Friede asked angrily. "Because I wanted to bring Terapagos back to you. But whatever. Now that you're here, you might as well make yourselves useful," Amethio decided and unlocked the door.

He walked down the iron corridor, closely followed by the others, who looked around in amazement. "This isn't quite what I imagined," Dot admitted. "You can admire it some other time. Right now, we need to save Terapagos!" Amethio snapped irritably. They stopped in front of one of the many doors, and Amethio whispered to the others, "Get ready for a fight."

He opened the door, revealing the seemingly endless conference room where the Explorers-Hamber, Spinel, Chalce, Coral, Sidian, and, of course, the projection of Master Gibeon-were in the middle of a meeting. All the Explorers turned around instantly, and Spinel said in a mocking tone, "Well, look who decided to join us. The dear Amethio, teaming up with the enemy."

"Shut up, Spinel, and give us Terapagos back!" Amethio snarled angrily at him. "Oh, you mean this adorable little thing here?" Spinel replied playfully, pointing to Terapagos, which was trapped in a cage in his hand. "I'm afraid that won't be possible.

"Amethio. So you really have allied yourself with the enemy. You've disappointed me," said Master Gibeon coldly to Amethio. "That's not nearly as disappointing as being attacked by your own grandfather and ending up with a broken rib!" Amethio shouted back angrily. "You leave me no choice. Attack them!" Master Gibeon ordered the Explorers. "Fight whoever you want, but I'm taking Spinel. I've got a score to settle with him!" Amethio called out to the Rising Volt Tacklers.

"Oh, now I'm scared," Spinel laughed, sending out his Umbreon from its Pokéball. Ceruledge took a battle stance as Amethio commanded, "Use Bitter Blade!" "You never learn, do you?" Spinel mocked and ordered Umbreon, "Block it with Reflect." Umbreon executed the move, and just before Ceruledge made contact, Amethio shouted, "Now, Phantom Force!" Ceruledge vanished and reappeared behind Umbreon, striking it. "Too bad that attack isn't very effective," Spinel smirked. "Umbreon, use Snarl." The attack hit Ceruledge head-on, sending it crashing into the wall. "Ceruledge, no!" Amethio shouted in despair, glancing around panicked to see how the others were faring. He saw that Liko was barely holding her own against Sidian, Roy was struggling with Coral, and Dot was having a hard time against Chalce. Even Friede seemed slightly overwhelmed in his fight with Hamber. "None of your friends can help you now," Spinel laughed. "Umbreon, Quick Attack!" Ceruledge had gotten back on its feet, but Umbreon rushed toward it with Quick Attack. Just before it could land the blow, a small cream-colored fluffball leapt in with its own Quick Attack, deflecting Umbreon. "Eevee!" Amethio exclaimed in surprise. "You weren't supposed to follow me. It's too dangerous here." "Oh, how sweet. Is that your new friend?" Spinel mocked. Eevee looked furious and used Baby-Doll Eyes, lowering Umbreon's attack. "How dare you!" Spinel growled in frustration. "Umbreon, attack it with Foul Play!" Eevee nimbly dodged the attack, causing Umbreon to crash into the wall. "This is my chance," Amethio thought and shouted, "Ceruledge, finish it with Bitter Blade!" Ceruledge ignited its swords and struck Umbreon, rendering it unable to battle. Spinel reluctantly recalled Umbreon to its Pokéball. "YES!" Amethio cheered, only for Spinel to ruin the moment by sneering, "Don't celebrate too soon. After all, I still have Terapagos."

Spinel shook the cage in his hand, where Terapagos was trapped. It screamed desperately throughout the room. Suddenly, the cage clattered to the floor and shattered into many pieces. Amethio saw that Eevee had secretly sneaked up on Spinel and attacked him with a Dazzling Gleam. This caused Spinel to drop the cage, and Terapagos was finally free. It quickly rushed over to Liko, who immediately scooped it up into her arms. "Let's get out of here!" Amethio called to the others, recalling Ceruledge to its Pokéball, picking up Eevee in his arms, and running, closely followed by the others.

At that moment, Amethio didn't even pay attention to how much his rib hurt. He just wanted to get away quickly. Once everyone was outside, they mounted their flying Pokémon and sped away as fast as they could from the Explorer's base. As the sun began to set, they finally reached the airship. Everyone was unharmed.

They dismounted from their Pokémon, and Amethio said to Eevee, impressed, "Hey, little one, you're not so bad after all. You're stronger than you look. Maybe we could try this together sometime?" Amethio held out a Pokéball to Eevee, and it jumped happily against it. The Pokéball clicked shut. A smile appeared on Amethio's lips. Suddenly, the Pokéball opened again, and Eevee popped out. It jumped onto Amethio's head and made itself comfortable. Amethio sighed, "Well, I didn't exactly picture it this way. Oh well, it'll work out somehow."