After the Rising Volt Tacklers had eaten and cleared the table, everyone gathered in the meeting room to ask Amethio, their newest member, a few questions and plan their next steps together. Amethio sat next to Liko, across from Friede and Roy, holding Eevee in his arms, as it was still afraid of other Pokémon. Gently, he scratched the little, cream-colored fluff ball behind its ears. Eevee enjoyed it immensely and snuggled a bit closer to Amethio, which brought a small smile to his face as Friede began: "Alright, since you're part of the team now, would you mind if we asked you a few questions?" Amethio shrugged and replied emotionlessly, "What do you want to know?" "Let's start with you telling us how old you are," Friede decided, giving him an expectant look. "I'm 16," Amethio answered, already wondering what they would ask next. "That seems pretty young to join such deeply wicked people like the Explorers," Friede reflected, looking directly at Amethio. Amethio slightly turned his head away and murmured softly, "I really had no choice." "What do you mean?" Roy asked, confused. "Because... I... well, the leader of the Explorers is Master Gibeon. My grandfather," he admitted, embarrassed, avoiding eye contact with any of them.

Everyone, except Liko, widened their eyes in surprise and stared at Amethio in disbelief. Amethio instantly felt even sadder, and when Eevee noticed this, it snuggled even closer to him. Liko placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, causing Amethio to flinch slightly. "It's not a big deal," she tried to cheer him up. "Did you know about this?" Friede asked. "Yeah. Didn't I mention it at some point?" Liko asked sheepishly, removing her hand from Amethio's shoulder. "Well, never mind that now," Friede decided and turned back to Amethio. "Do you know who this is in the picture?" Friede handed Amethio an old, slightly stained photograph with three people on it. In the middle stood a young woman in adventurer's clothing, and to her left was Lucius. To Amethio's great surprise, he saw that his grandfather was standing to the woman's right. Sure, he was younger in the photo, but Amethio recognized him immediately and widened his eyes in shock. "Why... How... Did my grandfather know Lucius?" he stammered, confused and unsure what to think. "Apparently, he was searching for Laqua together with Lucius and his wife Rystal," Friedel said, snapping Amethio out of his daze. "Where did you get the photo?" Amethio asked, puzzled. "From my grandmother Diana, after we told her that we found Kleavor and that it's now traveling with us," Liko explained to him calmly. "But... how?" Amethio asked, more to himself than anyone else.

"Do you all remember when Briar told us, while we were with her about Terapagos, that at the Crystal Pool, you can talk to your ancestors if you think of them strongly enough? I think it's time we pay a visit to that Crystal Pool," Friede declared resolutely and jumped to his feet.
"YES," Liko, Roy, and Dot said almost simultaneously as they stood up as well. Amethio, still completely confused, also stood up, and together they set out on their way there.

It was already dark when they arrived. Liko had strapped on her belt with the ancient Poké Balls of the six heroes and now stood directly in front of the Crystal Pool with Terapagos in her arms and Floragato at her side. To her right stood Amethio with Eevee in his arms, Ceruledge by his side, and Rory with Crocalor. To her left stood Friede, Dot, and their Pokémon. Amethio looked around in awe. The Crystal Pool radiated a magical and mystical atmosphere. It also glowed in many shades of green and blue due to the crystals within it. Suddenly, Amethio heard a familiar voice behind him joyfully call out, "Ah, there you are." Everyone immediately turned around, and Liko exclaimed happily, "Grandma, what are you doing here?" Liko's grandmother quickly approached the group and explained, "Friede told me you wanted to talk to Rystal here. Then he suggested I come along too. I couldn't pass up the chance to see my granddaughter." She winked at Liko with one eye when her gaze suddenly fell on Amethio, and she was startled: "WHAT IS A MEMBER OF THE EXPLORERS DOING WITH YOU, AND WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM?"

Liko's grandmother immediately reached for her Poké Ball, but Liko quickly reassured her, "Wait, don't. He's with us now, and he was badly injured by another member of the Explorers."
Liko's grandmother looked at her in confusion as Liko turned to Friedel and asked, "Didn't you tell Grandma about this?" "Didn't I mention that?" he asked sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. Everyone, except Amethio, sighed almost in unison at Friede's forgetfulness, when Amethio suddenly stepped forward and looked Liko's grandmother directly in the eyes. "I want to apologize to you for everything I've done," Amethio said sincerely, closing his eyes so no one could see he was still hurt about his grandfather. "Oh, I think that's fine. You're no longer with them now," Liko's grandmother replied politely, smiling at Amethio. This cheered him up at least a little.

Terapagos was growing impatient and began approaching the Crystal Pool. Liko turned back to Terapagos and pleaded, "Please, we absolutely need to talk to Rystal." She closed her eyes, and suddenly Arboliva, Galarian Moltres, Lapras, and Kleavor emerged from their Poké Balls. Amethio looked around in confusion and awe, only noticing a few seconds later that a mist had begun to rise. A young woman with a baby in her arms stepped out of the mist over the Crystal Pool and stood directly in front of Liko. "Where am I?" the woman asked, confused, as she looked around. "And why are Lucius' Pokémon here?" Amethio realized that it was the woman from the picture. Rystal.

Liko opened her eyes and looked directly into the woman's eyes. Suddenly, Terapagos approached the woman with a cheerful "Pago" and snuggled up against her legs. "Pagogo, what are you doing here?" the woman asked, smiling. "Excuse me, are you Rystal?" Liko asked cautiously. "Yes, that's me. And who are you, and why do you have Lucius' Pokémon?" Rystal asked in return. "I'm Liko, and the thing with Lucius' Pokémon is a long story. In any case, they came with us because I want to bring Terapagos to Rakua," Liko said resolutely. "I see," Rystal murmured, when suddenly the baby she was holding began to cry. "It's alright, Leila, don't cry," she soothed her baby. Liko's grandmother's eyes widened in shock as she asked incredulously, "Is your daughter's name Leila by any chance?" "Yes, why?" Rystal asked, confused. "Leila... that's my mother's name," she replied, surprised. Everyone, except Rystal, froze in an instant. "Then... you must be the descendants of Lucius and me," Rystal said with a smile. "That explains a lot," Friede murmured to himself. Still shocked, Liko asked, "So you're... my great-great-grandmother, and Lucius is my... great-great-grandfather?" "Seems so," Rystal smiled, and Liko began to calm down as well.

Suddenly, Rystal's gaze fell on Amethio, who was still frozen in place. Her eyes widened as she took a few steps toward him. "Who are you?" she asked cautiously. "I'm Amethio," he replied somewhat shyly. "Strange, you remind me of my old friend Gibeon," she said, puzzled.
Amethio turned his head away and admitted quietly, "That's because... he's my grandfather." Rystal's eyes widened instantly, and she took a step back. "So... Gibeon survived?" she asked in confusion and then turned back to Amethio. "Can you tell me a little about him?" Amethio held Eevee even tighter in his arms and began, "He's the leader of the Explorers and is trying to find Rakua. That's why he sent several people, including me, to retrieve Terapagos for him because it's the key. But then Spinel, another member of the Explorers, made sure I had to leave them. When I refused, because I didn't know where else to go, Gibeon had me attacked." "That's horrible. I never thought Gibeon would go so far as to disown his grandson, his own flesh and blood. Is that how you got your eye injury?" Rystal asked further. "No, that was Spinel. His Umbreon attacked me," Amethio said bitterly, clenching his fists. Rystal looked at him with pity for several minutes, and Amethio gathered the courage to ask, "Can you please tell us what happened back then?"

Rystal began to tell her story: "It all started when Lucius protected me from some people who wanted Terapagos. After saving me, he told me that he was searching for a paradise called Rakua, though everyone believed it was just a legend. I decided to travel with him. One day, we met a man who was also searching for Rakua. We invited him to join us, and he agreed. He introduced himself as Gibeon, and together we set out to find Rakua. We founded the Explorers, and when we finally discovered Rakua, it was nothing like I had imagined. At first, everything seemed peaceful. But as we ventured deeper into Rakua, the trees appeared strangely unnatural, as though they had been altered by something. On a clearing, to our astonishment, we discovered a gigantic pink crystal-the Rakurium. Lucius and I felt uneasy and wanted to leave the place as quickly as possible. Gibeon, however, was immediately drawn to the Rakurium. He turned toward the crystal and told us he just wanted to take a few samples to study and would catch up with us later. We went ahead and waited for Gibeon some distance away. But when he didn't come, we returned to the crystal to fetch him. When we arrived, we saw Gibeon extracting more and more Rakurium. Lucius begged him to stop and come with us, but Gibeon only said loudly, without taking his eyes off the Rakurium, 'If you're so scared of this place, then just leave,' and continued taking samples. Lucius tried to stop him, but Gibeon wouldn't allow it, and they started to fight. The fight only made things worse. Suddenly, the crystal began to glow and vibrate, and mist filled the air. The trees around us grew rapidly, the Pokémon nearby became wild and attacked us, and cracks began forming in the ground. Then, all of a sudden, I heard a scream as Gibeon fell into one of the deep cracks. Lucius and I thought he was dead. Lucius looked deeply into my eyes and said, 'Flee and protect our future.' He turned back to the crystal and did his best to contain it, giving me the chance to escape. He sacrificed himself, staying behind with Terapagos and the six hero Pokémon to create a shield around the crystal. I managed to flee, and shortly after I returned home, our daughter Leila was born. His hero Pokémon were scattered across the planet, and Terapagos came back to me in the form of a small pendant." With that, Rystal ended her story, and everyone was completely shocked.

Amethio, especially, was frozen, struggling to process everything. "My grandfather betrayed Lucius? Why? Why did I help him all this time? Why...?" Amethio silently berated himself, lowering his head so no one could see the disappointment in himself or the tears welling in his eyes. Eevee gently nudged him, and Amethio looked into its eyes. Slowly, he began to stroke Eevee and then turned back to Rystal. "Thank you for telling us this," Amethio said sadly, forcing himself to smile faintly. "Rystal, do you remember the way to Rakua?" Liko asked hopefully. "Unfortunately not, it was very complicated to flee from there," Rystal admitted apologetically. "Please take care of yourselves if you truly intend to go there." Suddenly, Rystal began to fade and said with a smile, "It looks like my time is up. It was a pleasure meeting all of you. Especially you, Liko." Then, Rystal disappeared completely, and Terapagos called out to her sorrowfully. Liko picked it up and quietly comforted it. When Terapagos finally calmed down, Friede handed Liko a Poké Ball. Liko understood immediately and held it out to Terapagos. "Pagogo, would you like to come with me, as my Pokémon?" she asked hesitantly. Terapagos, however, eagerly leapt into the Poké Ball, and after a few seconds, a quiet 'click' was heard. Liko immediately released Terapagos again from the Poké Ball. Terapagos looked at her with big eyes, and Liko said resolutely, "I promise you, I will bring you to Rakua."

A little later, the group returned to the ship, and Amethio sought out a place where he could be alone. Once he found a suitable spot, he sat on the ground and gazed up at the sky. He held Eevee tightly in his arms, with Ceruledge by his side. "I will do everything I can to make sure he doesn't reach Rakua. No matter what happens," Amethio said firmly, and Eevee and Ceruledge affirmed his resolve. "Thank you," he whispered to them, leaned back a little, and closed his eyes. With his Pokémon by his side, he finally fell asleep, feeling at ease, with a small smile on his lips.