"I think your wrist injury has healed enough that you can leave the arm sling off now," Mollie said happily when she checked Amethio's injury the next day. "But still try not to strain it too much." "Thank you," Amethio replied gratefully and took off the arm sling. "Are we flying to Rakua now? Rayquaza wanted to take us there." "I'm not sure, but I believe Friede said that we need to buy supplies first. But it's best if you ask him yourself. You know how he is by now. You can never be too sure with him," Mollie explained as she turned to leave. "He's in the control room, just a little tip." With these words, she left Amethio's room, leaving him alone with his Pokémon.

"Should we ask where we're flying now?" he asked his Pokémon uncertainly. Ceruledge just shrugged indifferently, while Sylveon had already wrapped a feeler around his wrist and was pulling him along. "Not so fast, I'm coming," he pleaded after stumbling over his first few steps and barely catching himself. Sylveon pulled him so hurriedly to the control room that he almost had to run to avoid tripping over his own feet. "Why are you in such a hurry?" he asked Sylveon, puzzled and out of breath. Abruptly, Sylveon stopped in front of the control room. "Sylveon," Sylveon exclaimed excitedly. Not understanding what was going on, Amethio simply opened the door to the control room. He saw that not only Friede was there, but also Liko, Roy, and Dot. "Hello," he greeted them warmly as he entered. "Oh, hello Amethio. How are you?" Liko asked cheerfully, walking over to Amethio. "Good, thanks," he assured Liko, before turning to Friede. "Hey Friede, a question. Are we flying to Rakua now or not?" "Not yet. First, we need to buy some supplies. We're going to land at Liko's home and then go shopping in Mesagoza," Friede explained calmly. "Sylveon," his fairy Pokémon cheered, and Amethio finally understood why. His little Pokémon was excited about shopping. Even though he didn't quite understand why, he automatically shared Sylveon's excitement.

"Then you can finally meet my father," said Liko happily, looking at him with a sparkle in her eyes. A smile appeared on his lips when Roy suddenly shouted, "We're here!" Amethio approached the large window and looked happily at the small, but beautiful house. He would see his aunt again and meet Liko's father. "I hope he likes me," Amethio thought nervously as the ship landed near the house. "Alright, everyone off. We've reached our destination," Friede joked humorously, and everyone left the control room. As they stood on the deck, Amethio saw Liko's mother waving at them cheerfully. "Hi Mom," Liko greeted her mother and hugged her. "Hello my dear. Is everything going well with you?" Lucca asked, as she turned to Amethio, "Amethio, how are you? Friede told me you were injured." As if by reflex, Amethio automatically grabbed his right wrist and somewhat hesitantly replied, "I'm fine. I... well, you could say that sometimes I might get myself into a few dangerous situations." "Sometimes?" Liko asked with a raised eyebrow, looking at Amethio doubtfully. "Liko, I'm so glad you're back," called her father, who came rushing out of the front door and hugged Liko tightly. "Dad, I... can't breathe," Liko managed to say, and her father immediately let her go. "Oh, I'm sorry, my dear," he apologized, feeling guilty.

"Dad, I want to introduce you to someone. This is Amethio. He's my cousin," Liko introduced Amethio, who shyly hid behind his hair. "Lucca, is this Luna's son that she always talked about?" Liko's father, Alex, asked his wife. She nodded in agreement before Alex excitedly turned to Amethio, "Well, if that's the case, welcome to the family." He spread his arms wide and hugged Amethio tightly. Shocked, Amethio let out a brief hiss as he was not used to being hugged by strangers he had just met. In fact, he was not used to being hugged by anyone other than his mother, his Pokémon, and now Liko. Alex let him go, and Amethio was somewhat relieved. "Come on in," he invited the Rising Volt Tacklers politely. "Sorry, but we don't have much time. We just wanted to quickly say hello and then go shopping for some groceries," Friede reassured Alex, but suggested they could visit another time. "Wait, I have to show Amethio something," Lucca stopped them as the Rising Volt Tacklers were about to leave. "What is it?" Amethio asked, confused, and stopped immediately. "Come with me, I'll show you," his aunt explained and gestured for him to follow. Amethio glanced at Friede, who nodded in agreement, and followed Liko's mother with Sylveon and Ceruledge into the house.

Amethio had little time to take in the interior of the house before his aunt disappeared through the next door. Cautiously, he stepped inside and looked around the room. There was a large four-poster bed against the wall and a window with a view of the sea in front of it. He would have felt very comfortable here if everything wasn't so dusty, giving the impression that no one had been in the room for a long time. "Here, look at what I found while cleaning up," said his aunt excitedly, handing Amethio a box. Carefully, she set it on the floor, and Amethio's eyes widened in surprise. The box contained pictures of him as a small child and his mother. Tears welled up in his eyes as he carefully took the first picture out of the box to look at it more closely.

The picture showed him on his mother's lap, excitedly looking up at a Wingull and trying to reach it. He thought he was probably around two years old in the picture. They were on a boat and looked very happy. A tear unconsciously rolled down Amethio's cheek, and his aunt whispered softly, "I'll leave you alone for a moment." She left the room and closed the door behind her. "Oh Mom, if only I could see you one more time. I just want to hug you one more time," Amethio pleaded with tears and a bowed head. Sylveon snuggled affectionately against Amethio, and Ceruledge nudged him gently with his head.

Sadly, Amethio wiped the tears from his eyes and took the next picture out of the box. It was a family photo, in which he was still a baby. He was gently held by his mother, while his father stood stiffly to the side. "Mom... I want you back," Amethio's tears rolled down his cheeks again, and he let the picture sink a bit, "Why? Why can't you be with me?" He knew he had to let go, but it was just too difficult. Sylveon took the picture from his hand, set it aside, and dried Amethio's eyes with its feelers. "Thank you," he murmured, feeling very lonely despite his Pokémon.

Sylveon handed him the next picture, which showed him standing with Charcadet in front of a rose bush. "That was shortly after I met it," Amethio thought, surprised, and looked at Ceruledge, who was also staring at the photo intently. "I'm so glad I met you back then," Amethio said with joy in his eyes, "And I'm so glad I met you too, Sylveon." Both Sylveon and Ceruledge looked at him with equally happy eyes.

Now Amethio took the last picture out of the box and was somewhat surprised by what he saw. He stood next to Hamber, his grandfather's butler, holding his hand somewhat uncertainly. Behind them stood Dusknoir, as always, with a menacing look in its one eye. Even though Amethio no longer liked Hamber after he tried to stop him from escaping the Explorers, he had to admit that Hamber had always taken good care of him. Sighing, he gathered all the pictures again and carefully placed them back in the box. "Why can't my life be as beautiful as it was back then?" he asked himself sadly. He stared at the box for another moment before standing up and leaving the room.

He went back outside, where Liko, Friede, Roy, Dot, Lucca, and Alex were already looking at him. "Amethio, is everything okay?" Liko asked sympathetically. He only nodded briefly before turning to Lucca: "Thank you for showing me the pictures." "If you want, you can keep them," Lucca offered kindly, but he replied, "Better not; otherwise, I will only be constantly reminded of how beautiful my life could have been if my grandfather hadn't ruined it." With these words, Amethio walked past everyone and started heading towards Mesagoza.

"Hey, wait," Liko called after a while, before she, Friede, Roy, and Dot caught up with him, "What's wrong? What was in the pictures?" "Liko, I don't want to talk about it right now," Amethio denied her the answer and stopped. With a worried look, she gazed into his eyes but decided to drop the subject. The rest of the way was relatively quiet, and when they arrived in the city, Friede suggested, "Hey, we could split the shopping list. Roy and I will take one half, and Liko, Dot, and Amethio will take the other. This way, it will go much faster. Later, we'll meet up again at your parents' house, Liko." "Okay, we can do it that way," Liko said cheerfully, having decided to cheer Amethio up in the meantime. She took one half of the shopping list and set off with Amethio and Dot.

"So, what do we need?" she asked, looking at the shopping list. "Ah, we need Pokémon food." The three of them were looking for a supermarket when Liko, Dot, and Sylveon suddenly stopped in front of a clothing store, and Dot excitedly said, "Liko, do you see that dress? It would look great on you." "Yes, you're right, I should try it on," Liko agreed enthusiastically, and Sylveon started jumping around excitedly. Before Amethio and Ceruledge knew it, the three of them had already disappeared into the clothing store, and he sighed in annoyance, "Girls." Having no other choice, he followed them inside and had to navigate the gigantic clothing store before finding Liko, Dot, and Sylveon. They were already deeply engrossed in their clothes, and Amethio didn't dare to remind them of their actual task. "Uh, can you please make it clear to them that we need to keep going?" Amethio asked Ceruledge instead. However, Ceruledge just wildly shook his head and defensively held his sword arms in front of his body. "I'm definitely not going to argue with them. So we'll just have to wait until they're done," Amethio sighed in frustration and stood to the side.

"Hey, Amethio, here you are. Can you please hold this?" Liko asked energetically and handed Amethio a dress before disappearing into the changing room. "I thought we were just going grocery shopping," Amethio sighed, frustrated. Liko came back out wearing a green summer dress with white stripes. On her head, she wore a straw hat with a blue ribbon. "And what do you think?" Liko asked, spinning around once. Dot thought for a moment before answering, "Try the blue one instead. It matches your hair and the hat better." "What do you think, Amethio?" Liko asked him. Helplessly, he thought for a moment, as he had absolutely no idea about fashion, before answering, "Uh, good?" "Was that an answer or a question?" Liko asked, raising an eyebrow. "Uh... well..." Amethio stammered helplessly, then saw that Ceruledge had moved a few meters away, "Just don't listen to me; I have no idea about this." She just shrugged briefly before grabbing the dress Amethio was holding and disappearing into the changing room again.

"Sylveon," said Amethio's little fairy Pokémon, and he looked down. Sylveon was wearing a small amethyst in the middle of its ribbon on its ear, along with a small purple band. Like a little model, it presented the amethyst to Amethio and twirled around once. "You like the amethyst, don't you?" he asked his little Pokémon, which began shaking its head wildly. "Should I buy it for you?" Sylveon shook its head again, and Amethio took the amethyst. He went to the cash register and paid for it. He happily attached it back to Sylveon's ribbon, when Liko said from the side, "Oh, Sylveon looks really cute. Here, you two can match." She approached Amethio, pushed his white strand of hair aside, and fastened it with a small purple hairpin. Amethio looked at himself in the mirror, shocked. Even though Liko was his cousin and he really liked her, he couldn't walk around like that. It's just ridiculous. "Uh, I think I'll pass," he declined and removed the hairpin. "Alright, maybe Ceruledge would like a bow then," she said excitedly and looked around, confused when she couldn't find Ceruledge. "Well, never mind then.

"Can you please hold this for a moment?" She tossed him a few more clothes, and he barely managed to catch them. "Oh, Amethio, can you please hold this too?" Dot asked and handed him even more items and bags this time. "We just wanted to go grocery shopping. And now I'm functioning as a clothes rack," Amethio thought frustratedly, and Ceruledge came over to him. When the girls kept giving him more clothes and even started giving items to Ceruledge to hold, Amethio had enough and told them that he would find a café and wait for them there. He took the bags with the already purchased items and left the clothing store with Ceruledge as quickly as he could.

After a short time, he found a cozy-looking café with only a few guests and sat down at a free table with Ceruledge. A friendly-looking waitress came over and asked, "Hello, what can I bring you?" "Just a coffee, please," Amethio replied, exhausted from the whole clothing ordeal. "Okay, coming right up," the waitress replied and disappeared behind the counter. Amethio leaned back against the chair and closed his eyes for a short moment. "Ah, I see you're doing well," Amethio heard a very familiar voice behind him. He immediately opened his eyes and jumped up from his chair. Ceruledge did the same and stood protectively in front of his trainer when they saw Hamber. "Oh, calm down," Hamber said somewhat slurred, and Amethio assumed that he must have already had a beer or two. Amethio crossed his arms and asked seriously, "What do you want from me?" His gaze remained cold and unwavering.

"Let's have a little chat," Hamber responded and clumsily plopped down on the chair opposite Amethio. "Okay, he definitely had something to drink. Otherwise, he wouldn't be talking like that. Maybe I can get some information out of him," Amethio thought and sat back down on his chair. The nice waitress from before came back and said, surprised, "Oh, I didn't see you earlier. May I bring you something as well?" She placed Amethio's coffee in front of him before Hamber answered, "A beer, please." The woman noted the order before leaving again, and Amethio asked seriously, "What do you want from me?" "Oh, I just wanted to see how you're doing since we ran into each other by chance. Spinel said he found you injured in the forest and wanted to help you, but you attacked him," Hamber slurred drunkenly. Amethio was left breathless. He should have attacked Spinel? "That damn liar. How I hate him," Amethio thought angrily before replying with hatred, "And you believe everything he says?" "Why not?" Hamber asked back as the waitress brought him his beer, and he took a big gulp. "Why does Gibeon need the Rakurium so badly?" Amethio took the opportunity. "It kept him alive after he fell into the abyss back then. And not only that, he was even able to extend his life with Rakurium and live a hundred years longer. Rakurium keeps people's bodies young for a long time, but unfortunately, the effect eventually wears off, and you age again," Hamber explained while taking another big gulp of his beer.

"But Gibeon has been and still wants to steal it from Rakua for his own purposes! Just so he can live forever. It's dangerous! It changes the nature of people and brings out the evil in them. Lucius knew that and warned Gibeon. But he didn't want to listen; he absolutely wanted the Rakurium and even betrayed his best friends!" Amethio angrily shouted at Hamber. "And how do you know that? After all, it makes people almost immortal. It would be a great advantage for humanity," Hamber argued back, raising his voice. "It isn't. It's horrible. Pokémon go wild and hurt people because of it. People go insane and become evil. It makes them dependent and reckless. It wouldn't just be a danger; it would be life-threatening," Amethio yelled loudly at Hamber, causing all the remaining guests to look at them. Amethio noticed this and thought intensely, "I need to get out of here, or we'll attract even more unnecessary attention. I've got my answers, so I need to get away from here!"

He stood up, and Hamber asked, confused, "Where are you going? Your coffee is still there!" "I will not talk to you any longer if you don't understand how dangerous Rakurium is," Amethio replied irritably, grabbed the shopping bags, quickly paid, and left the café hastily with Ceruledge. Outside, he ran as fast as he could in any direction. He was far too scared that the Explorers would ambush him again.

Suddenly, he saw Liko, Dot, and Sylveon coming from a distance with even more shopping bags and hurried towards them. Completely out of breath, he stopped by them and had to catch his breath first. "Amethio, what's wrong? Is everything alright?" Liko asked worriedly. "Yes, I'll explain everything to you later; we should go back to the others first," Amethio decided hastily, and they made their way back. As they were approaching Liko's house, Amethio stopped dead in his tracks and said incredulously, "We forgot the groceries." "Oh, damn, you're right," Liko cursed. "How are we going to explain that?" Dot asked, the question that worried them all. "Oh, we'll think of something," Liko said determinedly and led the way, straight towards the large airship.