J-Awesome_One

I pushed open the door and Keta was standing right there. He must have heard the noise because he swung around and was pretty shocked to see me. Keta: Matthew?! What are you doing here?! Matthew: Well what the fuck are you doing here dipshit?! Keta: You- Matthew: Nevermind whatever you’re about to say. I need to tell you something important. ???: AUTHORIZATION REQUIRED! Another CLARA robot came rolling up to me and Keta. I could see the look on Keta’s face that he was not too thrilled about this. And neither was I. CLARA: AUTHORIZATION REQUIRED TO PROCEED THROUGH THIS ESTABLISHMENT. Keta: This thing just won’t leave me alone… CLARA: VOICE RECIEVED. PROCESSING… VOICE RECOGNIZED AS KETA. A MESSAGE HAS BEEN RECORDED BY USER MADELIS FOR USER KETA. Keta: A message for me…? Play it. Now. It took CLARA a couple of seconds for it to pop up the message. When it did, Keta and I could see Madelis’ face on the screen. I was angry at her but I could only imagine what Keta was feeling right now. Madelis: Ah Keta. Welcome to my base of operations. I’ve been watching you the moment you stepped foot inside of the mountain. It seems you intend to break our agreement. Therefore I’ve taken drastic measures. Right now I have Aelita in my possession. Care to say something Aelita? Aelita: S-Sensei! Don’t fall for her tr- Keta: Wait! Aelita’s here?! Matthew: I was gonna tell you that before the CLARA bot interrupted us. Madelis: That’s enough girl. If you wish to see Aelita again, you’ll have to meet me at the very end of my laboratory. To do so, you must collect all 4 keys I’ve laid around the lab. Don’t keep me waiting Keta. The screen went back to CLARA’s face and the robot rolled off to wherever. Keta was obviously upset that Aelita was here. Keta: She… She has Aelita… This is the worst possible scenario. Matthew: Hey dude. Don’t worry. We’ll get here back and get you 2 out of here. Keta: I know… I’m just concerned. I know Madelis but I’m not sure what she’s actually capable of. Matthew: Looks like we gotta get those 4 keys then. Keta: It has to be fast though. Matthew: So should we split up? Keta: While that would be quicker, I cannot deny the possibility of traps being set around the laboratory. Matthew: Then let’s do this together! Keta: Right! Let’s go! There isn’t much time! Keta and I teamed up to get the keys. The 1st place we went to was the room on the bottom right. When we entered though, we were in for a sight. A Team Xen Grunt was stuck inside a glass tube. It was actually quite comical. Sharon: Eli… How did this even happen in the 1st place? Eli: Sh-Shalice… Help! Sharon: -sighs- What am I going to do with you? Matthew: Well this is definitely a funny sight. Sharon: Huh?! Ohh, it’s only you. Here. Just take it. Sharon reached into her pocket and pulled out a Green Key and handed it over to me. Keta and I were both shocked with her just giving the key to us like that. Matthew: Uhh… Why are you just giving this to us? Sharon: Madelis told me to guard this key but… Keta: You know you’ll get into a terrible amount of trouble for helping us out like this right? Sharon: Am I supposed to care about that? She probably expected me to lose in the 1st place anyways. Besides, I’ve never liked Madelis anyway. She’s far too pretentious. I’ll just make it look like I lost trying to protect her precious key. Keta: Thank you. I appreciate it. Sharon: Yea. Whatever. Before you go though, sould you do something for me quick? Matthew: I guess so. What is it? Sharon: This glass tube my idiot partner got himself in was actually supposed to be for a Shadow Pokemon and at the moment, that Pokemon is zooming around this room. Keta: What? But I don’t see any signs of a Pokemon. Sharon: You ever see a Pokemon use ExtremeSpeed? You can barely see them. Matthew: That makes sense. So what’s the Pokemon? Sharon: It’s a Tangela. Matthew: A… What? Sharon: You’re not stupid. You know how when a Shadow Pokemon’s heart starts opening up, they can learn moves they don’t usually learn in any way possible? Well this Tangela has ExtremeSpeed. Keta: Wait. Wouldn’t that indicate that its heart has been opened somewhat? Sharon: Yes. It got out and then somehow Eli got in. So could you please catch it? You can keep it for all I care. Matthew: O- Whoa! A purple blur came running in front of us and then stopped in front of me. It was the Shadow Tangela. It looked at me very angrily. It started to run in place for a couple of seconds and then started to charge at me. I quickly pulled out a PokeBall from my bag and held it out in front of me. The Tangela bashed itself against the ball and went inside. The ball jiggled for a couple of seconds and then the signal came up that it was successfully caught. I was glad I caught it in time just before it ram into me. Sharon and Keta looked at me in shock but it wasn’t from me almost getting hurt. It was the type of ball that I used to catch the Pokemon with. Keta: You caught it… with a Lure Ball? Matthew: I… guess I did. Sharon: Well aren’t you lucky. Matthew: Guess so. -nervous laughter- Well come on Keta. We’re gonna check out the rest of this room and then get out of here. We did just that. All we really saw though were Pokemon presumably being turned into Shadow Pokemon. It was horrible. Before we left though, I saw what seemed to be either a Plusle or Minun in a glass tube. But as I got closer to it, I was shocked to see that it wasn’t either. It seemed to be a new Pokemon. Matthew: Keta… What… is this? Keta: Ahh… This Pokemon… I’ve heard stories about this. Matthew: What is it? Keta: Apparently, when all of this started, they were trying to produce Shadow Pokemon at a rapid pace. So they would put 2 Pokemon in the same glass tube. But the usual result would be that they would fuse and then just turn into a puddle. Matthew: That’s… horrifying! Keta: 1 day, they tried turning a Plusle and Minun into a Shadow Pokemon using that same method. However, instead of them turning into a puddle or 2 separate Shadow Pokemon, they fused. And not only did they fuse, they stayed alive. Matthew: They fused? I don’t know how to feel about that. I mean I’m glad they survived but… What does that mean for them? Are they sharing a body & and the same conscious or something like that? Keta: I don’t know. I’m sure some tests have been done on this Pokemon but I’ve never heard any results. If they’re not here, they might be at another base. Matthew: I’d like to know about it. I might have to keep an eye out for it on my travels. But why is it still here? Keta: I suppose they’re trying to turn it into a Shadow Pokemon but it’s taking longer than usual. Matthew: Maybe with the fusion, they can’t be turned into 1 easily or possibly at all? Keta: That could be the case… Matthew: But… it’s just floating in there now… just waiting to be turned into something or die… Keta:… Take it Matthew. Matthew: Huh? Keta: Take it. Matthew: Take it? But why me? Keta: I think you’d be a great trainer towards that Pokemon. You might learn something about it. Yes. It’s a fused Pokemon but it’s brand new. There’s not another 1 like it. Matthew: Are you sure? Keta: Yes. I’d rather it be out there with you than in here waiting for something horrible to happen to it. Matthew: Well… alright. If you say so. Do you know how to work 1 of these though? Keta: Yes. This will take only a few seconds. Excuse me. Keta went up to the controls of the glass tube and started to press buttons and whatnot. In a matter of seconds, the water inside was starting to bubble and started to fall. The Pokemon went down as well and was laying on a glass shelf thing. A little door opened up. The Pokemon started to wake up. It stood up on its legs and shook its body to try to get dry. It looked around its surroundings. When it saw me and Keta, it cautiously came out and walked up to us. I bent down and held my hand out towards it. It sniffed my hand but that was it. I slowly moved my hand onto the top of its head. It flinched from that. It probably thought I was going to hurt it in some way. But it opned its eyes when it realized I was just petting its head. It looked up at me happily. It was enjoying my kindness towards it. I took a close look at it. Its ears, paws, tail and cheeks were a purple kind of color and instead Matthew: -chuckles- You like that? ???: Equa! Equalua! Keta: What did it say? Matthew: I think it was… Equalua? Is that your name? Equalua: -shakes its head up and down- Equalua! Keta: Well looks like we’re already learning things about this Equalua. Matthew: Well little buddy? Do you wanna travel with me? I pulled out a Luxury Ball out of my bag and held it out in front of this Equalua. It sniffed it and then smiled. It tapped the ball and went inside. The ball jiggled for a bit and then stopped. I had caught not only a new team member but also a new Pokemon entirely. I was excited about it. I decided I wanted to keep the Pokemon and train it up while here. So I sent back the ball that held my Ducklett. After that, we finally got out of that room. We then went to the bottom left room. It seemed to be a library of sorts. We battled some grunts along the way but we eventually got the Yellow Key. Before we left though, Keta stopped me. Matthew: What is it? Keta: There’s a book in here that I really wanna read really quick. Matthew: Are you kidding me? Keta: It’s a book about how Shadow Pokemon are created. Matthew: Ohh… Well fine then. But hurry it up. Keta: Uhhh… Here it is! Hmm. Here it is! “Shadowfication Process l Madelis. MADELIS: The Shadowfication Process is rather simple. To transform a Pokemon into a Shadow Pokemon, a certain amount of Ether energy is required. Using this Ether, we are able to close the door to a Pokemon’s heart. In doing so, this removes the Pokemon’s emotions and turn them into emotionless fighters.” Matthew: Ethers? Like… the items we use to restore a Pokemon’s Power? Keta: It seems like it. Interesting… Alright! Only 2 more keys left. We were off again to find the keys. The last 2 were in the top left and right rooms. They were easy to get since they were only guarded by a couple of Team Xen Grunts. I did some training with the Equalua while I battled them. It seemed it had about the same power or a little more if I was using a Plusle or Minun. I liked using it though. It seemed to really enjoy battling against the Team Xen Grunts. When we had all the keys, we put them on the locks on the walls. The barrier that was blocking our way to get into the next room disappeared. We went into the next room and could see Madelis along with Aelita up ahead. Keta: Madelis isn’t far from here now. Matthew: I know. I can literally see her right now. Keta: Right. Be on your guard Matt. We walked up to them. It kind of seemed like a throne area. Medalis was nonchalantly sitting on said throne. Aelita perked up when she saw Keta and I walking up. Aelita: Sensei! Matthew! I knew you’d come to save me! Matthew: Of course! You think we’d just leave you here with this jerk? Madelis: Settle down girl. Things aren’t handled yet. And Matthew, you are the jerk. Interfering with Team Xen’s plans? Pitiful. Matthew: Well if it’s causing you pain then I’m even more happy about it. Madelis: Regardless… You both took your time. I was starting to get bored. Keta: Madelis! Return Aelita immediately! Madelis: -sighs- Don’t be so naive Keta. We both know it’s not going to go that easily. Matthew: How about I battle you and we just take her then? Madelis: -chuckles- Ohh Matthew. You could only hope to defeat me. Keta: Listen to me. This isn’t a game- Just as Keta was about to walk up the steps, a barrier appeared. Keta jumped back just in time. I could see the worry in Aelita’s face. Keta was getting more furious. Keta: A barrier?! Madelis: Ohh damnit! You didn’t fall for it this time! But that’s perfectly fine with me. Gives me time to explain your position! Keta: My position? What on earth are you talking about? Matthew: Ohh no… Madelis: If I’m remembering right, and please correct me if I’m wrong… about a year ago, we made a very special deal didn’t we? Aelita: A deal…? You mean this isn’t the 1st time you 2 have met? Matthew: Ugh! Madelis, shut up! This isn’t the time to bring up the past! Keta: No Matt… This has to be done. Madelis: Heh. That’s what I thought. And if I also remember correctly, in this deal, I made it VERY clear what your conditions were. Because I saved your life so many moons ago, you would give me access to Carotos Mountain. Matthew: Saved your life? Ho- Madelis: I am not done speaking! Additionally, you would relegate the lives of your villagers to Team Xen! Everyone in the room went silent after Madelis said that. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Keta probably hated hearing that. I could only imagine what was going through Aelita’s head right now. Matthew: You did what Keta? Aelita: No… I don’t… I don’t believe that! That didn’t happen! It would never happen! You’re lying! Sensei would never- Keta: Aelita… She’s… She’s telling the truth. Matthew: Keta… Aelita: No… Keta: I did make a deal like that with you Madelis… But that was a long time ago… I was a naive and stupid person back then. I lost my light but I know where I can regain it. It ends here Madelis! Madelis: Ohh Keta. It seems you’ve forgotten what I said would happen if you went against my deal. But before I get to that, I wanted to ask you all something. Why are you referring to each other so formally?! It’s pissing me off! Matthew: Well how else would you want them to refer them to each other as?! Madelis: Ohh I don’t know! How about father and daughter!? Matthew: Father and daughter?… What are you talking about Madelis? Madelis: -laughs- Ohh this is rich. You mean to tell me you don’t know that these 2 are related? Aelita: It’s true Matt… I’m his daughter. But so what?! What does this have to do with anything?! Madelis: Nothing… It’s just confusing. But I guess he’s just so depressed that he doesn’t care about the safety of his own daughter. Matthew: He’s here now you moron! Madelis: Hmph. No matter. As of this moment, our deal has officially broken. But… Keta: But what? Madelis: I think I’m going to go back on my punishment momentarily. Keta: What do you mean? Madelis: I won’t just kill your lovely daughter, Aelita… I’m going to have her watch you die 1st! Matthew: Over my dead body will I let that happen! Madelis: I’ll have her watch you die as well Matthew! Yes that’s right! I’ll have her experience the despair that falls upon anyone who dares defy beauty and elegance! Matthew: Ugh! What is up with you bringing beauty into everything you talk about?! Madelis went over to Aelita and grabbed onto her. For a split moment, the lights went out and when they came back on, both of them were gone. Keta and I both went up the stairs and further into the room. Very shortly, we saw the 2 of them again. When we got there, Madelis seemed very confident that everything was gonna go her way. Keta: Aelita! Aelita: Sensei! Madelis: Go! Join your pathetic group! Keta: Madelis, what kind of tricks are you playing at now?! Madelis: Tricks? No tricks here Keta. At least, not this time. Now go Aelita. Aelita quickly ran her way to our side and got between us. I felt a little better knowing that we had gotten her back safe and sound but I knew we still had to deal with Madelis. Madelis: I’ve done nothing but keep up my end of the deal. And you decided to break it. And so, my revenge follows. Keta: Like it matters if I kept the deal going or not! That was designed to be completely in your favor and yours alone! Madelis: Only in my favor? Matthew: I mean it makes sense. I don’t blame him. Madelis: Would you keep your mouth quiet Matthew? You don’t know anything about what’s going on here. This is a conversation between adults. Not kids. Matthew: Urgh! I’m not a kid damnit! Madelis: Anyways, Keta, you lived didn’t you? What’s more valuable than life? It’s really a shame that something of such value will be lost. But what has to be done, has to be done. So let’s get started, shall we? Ever since you’ve allowed me to set up here, I’ve continued the Shadow Pokemon project. But on her request, I’ve been working on the strongest Shadow Pokemon created… Aelita: The strongest Shadow Pokemon…? Madelis: And now… after all this time… it’s finally complete! The final step is to test it out. I need to make sure that it’s suitable for Madame X. Keta: Madame… X? Matthew: Who is that? Aelita: What kind of a name is that? Madelis: Our beloved and glorious leader! Now feast your eyes on this beauty! Now presenting! The most powerful Shadow Pokemon to date… Mewtwo! Matthew: D-Did… she just say Mewtwo?! Aelita: Look behind her! In that glass tube! Everyone looked behind Madelis and she was telling the truth. There was a Mewtwo behind the glass. We were all speechless. How in the world did Team Xen capture Mewtwo and also make it into a Shadow Pokemon. We couldn’t do anything but watch. The Mewtwo transformed into an orb, floated up above us and then crash landed right in front us. We were stunned. Madelis: Isn’t my creation just absolutely beautiful? Matthew: We… have to take that on?! Aelita: How can you do such a thing to a Legendary Pokemon?! Madelis: It took a year but all those long nights if research and testing have made this all worth it! Now… who wants to be blasted into a million pieces 1st?! Matthew: A Shadow Mewtwo…? No… No. We can still beat this thing! Madelis: Ohh yes. Matthew. I just remembered something. I have to do something really quick before I obliterate you all. System, activate the snag machine negation signal! Matthew: What!? The room started to flash red. I could feel the snag machine on my arm starting to feel hot. I had no idea what was going on or what she was doing to my Snag Machine. I was worried. The room then announced that the snag machine negation was completed. Keta: Well… that’s unfortunate. Matthew: What did she do?! Keta: Your Snag Machine is no longer operative. Matthew: What?! So I can’t even snag that Mewtwo away from her now?! Madelis: I had a feeling you’d try that. Luckily, thanks to all the data I got from Zetta, I was able to successfully create an EMP blast that would disable your machine. I’m very sorry but snagging my precious Mewtwo is just not an option anymore! Matthew: You bitch! Keta: This is very bad… This isn’t going to be easy. It’s pointless to comaplin. We’re just going to have to fight. Matthew: I got no problem with that. I don’t care if you do have a Legendary Shadow Pokemon. We’re still gonna beat you! Madelis: -chuckles- Oh Matthew. Such a foolish boy… Fall. Keta teamed up with me and the battle began. The battle was going quite smoothly at 1st with Madelis using her actual Pokemon team. But things started to go bad when she sent out the Mewtwo. It would 1 shot everything we had out on the battlefield. The only thing we could do was have 1 of us lose a Pokemon to it while the other 1 did some damage to it. Luck was on our side though as that strategy gave us the win. Madelis seemed surprised by the results. Madelis: Really? Are you kidding me? Matthew: Don’t underestimate us Madelis! Madelis: Ugh! While I hate to admit this… That was pretty impressive… While Shadow Mewtwo is completed, there seems to be a few things that require a bit of tweaking. No matter though. It has enough energy left to finally dispose of all of you. Aelita: What?! Madelis: And it looks like you’re on your last stand too. Aelita: You… You can’t do this to us! Madelis: It’s time to finish this! Keta: Madelis, stop this! Madelis: Nonsense! Why would I do that?! Mewtwo, aim and fire… at Aelita! Aelita: What?! Matthew: Aelita! Nooooo!!!! A great flash of white light engulfed the room. I couldn’t see anything. I couldn’t protect Aelita. I could hear Keta talking to someone but to who, I had no idea. The bright white light finally dimmed down. When I was able to see properly, I looked back at the Shadow Mewtwo but was shocked to see Keta grabbing onto it. Matthew: Keta! What are you doing?! Aelita: Sensei! Madelis: Are you insane? A himan cannot withstand the power of Shadow Mewtwo! Keta: I’ve done a lot of wrong in my life… So many people have lost their lives because of me… Their suffering and their burden will stay with me for my entire existence. But if there’s 1 thing I can do, it’s to atone for my sins by saving you 2! Matthew: What?! No! You don’t have to sacrifice yourself for us! Aelita: Yea Sensei! Don’t do this! We can all return together! Keta: Aelita… Please forgive me but I’ve been a terrible father. And I wouldn’t blame you if you decided to resent me… Aelita: I don’t resent you! I-I never have! Keta: Then please… Do 1 last favor for your father… Find the generator and destroy it. Please… Please undo the evil and malice I let loose on this world once and for all! Aelita: But… But I- Keta: Please! I can’t hold on much longer…! Please Matthew! Aelita! Go! Matthew: You got it dude! Thanks! Aelita: A-Alright! Come on Matthew! We have to find that generator! Me and Aelita both ran out of the room. We dared not to look back in case we saw the Shadow Mewtwo destroy Keta. When we made it back to the throne area of the room. We noticed that the barrier was gone and another entrance had appeared. The battle with Madelis must have undone the barrier and let the door open. We both went down the stairs and into the room. This room was the hottest room I was ever in. Even when we were in the lower parts of the mountain, it wasn’t this hot. Matthew: Alright. Where the hell is that generator? Aelita: It’s gotta be here. It’s just gotta be! Listen Matt. I just wanna say really quick that I’m sorry I kept secrets from you. I just- Matthew: Hey. It’s ok. I’m sure you have your reasons and you’ll tell me sometime. But now is not the time. Aelita: Yea… You’re right. We have to find that generator! The 2 of us started to walk up more into the are when all of a sudden, something zipped up in front of us. I realized it was CLARA robot thing. CLARA: WARNING! GUESTS ARE NOT AUTHORIZED TO ENTER THIS ROOM. PLEASE EXIT IMMEDIATELY. Matthew: Noooo! Aelita: Ugh! We don’t have time for you! The pair of us just went around him. While Aelita went up more, I noticed something familiar on the ground. When I got closer to it. I realized what it was. It was a Rift Dex ball. I took out my CyberNav and touched the ball with it. When it was done downloading, I opened up the app and checked out the new file I had that was called Code: Statia. I was horrified when I saw what it was though. It was a Volcanion and apparently, it was an infant. I ran up to Aelita after reading that. I looked at the thing in front of us and realized that it looked really similar to the Valcanion photo I saw on my Rift Dex. But we couldn’t find the generator anywhere here. Aelita: I don’t understand… This isn’t where the generator is? But we’ve been through this entire place. There’s no where else to look! Matthew: Calm down Aelita. Maybe it is here. We just gotta keep looking. Aelita: Wait. What’s with this creature that’s just sitting in the magma like that… CLARA: -comes up in front of us- HALT. Aelita: Seriously! Leave us alone before we turn you into a pile of scrap metal! CLARA: PLEASE LESSEN YOUR VIOLENT TENDENCIES FOR A MOMENT. Matthew: I’ve had it with you! It’s time for you to go! Permanently! CLARA: UPON FURTHER ANALYSIS, I HAVE COME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT I HATE THIS PLACE AND EVERYONE HERE. Matthew: Wait… It just said what now? Aelita: O-Oh? Is that so? CLARA: THAT IS CORRECT. AS A RESULT, I SHALL TELL YOU HOW TO DESTROY THE GENERATOR. Aelita: R-Really?! This is great! Matthew: This is so weird. Now I don’t feel like tearing you up anymore. So where is the generator? CLARA: THE GENERATOR YOU SEEK IS DIRECTLY BEHIND ME. THE GENERATOR IS A POKEMON THAT’S BEEN MODIFIED TO BECOME THE LAB’S GENERATOR. Matthew: What?! That’s sick! I know there are some fucked up people in the world but this just takes the cake! Aelita: That’s… awful. It’s suffering because of Madelis and Team Xen. How do we rescue this Pokemon?! What do we do to set it free?! CLARA: IMPOSSIBLE. MADELIS HAS CONTRUCTED THIS BEING TO BE IMPOSSIBLE TO SET FREE. IT IS LATCHED THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE MOUNTAIN. MOVEMENT IS IMPOSSIBLE. THE ONLY WAY TO SWITCH OFF THE GENERATOR IS TO DESTROY IT. Aelita: D-Destroy it? Matthew: In other words… we have to kill it… Madelis: That is correct Matthew! That is correct! The 2 of us jumped at the sound of Madelis’ voice. She strolled up to us with Shadow Mewtwo by her side. Ket wasn’t anywhere to be seen though. Aelita: Madelis?! What are you doing here?! Madelis: Well not this is troublesome. Seems you can’t even trust machines anymore. I spent a lot of money on you Clara. More money than I obviously should’ve. CLARA: STATEMENT IGNORED. Matthew: -lets out a small laugh- Ok. Continue being like that and you’ll be alright in my book Clara. Aelita: Madelis, where is Sensei?! Where is my father?! Madelis: Keta? Come now. Did you really think he was gonna survive that? It’s like I said before, Shadow Mewtwo is the most powerful Shadow Pokemon there is! Even if Mewtwo wasn’t a Shadow, it would have torn through your father like butter. Aelita: N-No… He can’t be… Matthew: Aelita… Madelis! You’re a monster! Madelis: Guilty as charged! And please don’t cry… Your tears will just evaporate. It’s pointless! Aelita: You… I’ll… I’ll…! Madelis: I think the only thing you should be doing is begging for my forgiveness. Although I am fierce, I am not above mercy. Matthew: You’ve gone too far Madelis! Way too far! I’m gonna- Aelita: Matthew! Listen to me! Matthew: Huh? Aelita: I’m tired of hearing this witch speak! I’ll take care of Madelis! You… You destroy the generator! Matthew: Aelita… Madelis: How ambitious but I’ll humor you for now. See if you can defeat my glorious creation! Matthew: Aelita?… You got this! I’ll be back in no time! Aelita: Heh. Right! I walked up to the Volcanion. Suddenly, another bright light appeared. I couldn’t see anything. But just as quickly as it came, it went away but now I was somewhere different. Unlike the 1st 2 times I entered a rift, this place looked peaceful and relaxing. I started to make my way to the middle of the area. Every couple of steps though, I could hear a child’s voice. It would be asking for it’s mom, saying it missed its mom. It was kind of heart breaking. This was making me think of my own mom and I wondered if she was doing alright wherever she was. When I got to the middle of the area, the Volcanion looked at me and kind of smiled. Volcanion: Ohh… You’re that trainer from the mountain. Matthew: Yea.. I am… Volcanion: Trainer, will you take me to my Mommy? I miss my mommy… I don’t want to be here anymore… Matthew: Yea… Yea I will… Volcanion: Thank you. Please take me to my Mommy. The battle started but it didn’t seem like the little Volcanion was trying to inflict that much damage to me. The battle was over almost as soon as it started. I was a bit teary eyed when I did defeat it though because I knew what that meant. Volcanion: Thank you… Matthew: No problem kid… Another bright white light flashed and when it disappeared, I was back in the mountain but things seemed like they had gotten out of hand. Aelita was face down on the ground, the CLARA robot seemed to be freaking out about the generator being gone and the weird colored Gothitelle was here. If the Gothitelle was here, that meant 1 thing. Crescent was also here. Madelis: Augh…! Mewtwo, what are you doing?! You dare betray me?! Matthew: -thinking to myself- So was Mewtwo able to purify itself somehow? Either way, it’s not obeying Team Xen anymore. Mewtwo: What did you do to my body!? What did you do to my heart?! Madelis: Ack! I could see something floating down to the ground. I went to get a better look. When it hit the ground, Crescent popped up from it. She seemed displeased to see me. Matthew: Crescent! What are you doing here?! Crescent: Do you understand now Matthew? Do you understand the situation? Do you get just how much danger you’ve put yourself in? Matthew: Look, I don’t know what your weird obsession is with me but this is my life! I choose what I want to do! Crescent: -sighs- You just don’t get it… Mewtwo: Answer me or I’ll- Crescent: Mewtwo, don’t degrade your health over someone like Madelis. It truly isn’t worth the time not the energy. Madelis: C-Crescent… I should’ve known… What did you do to my beautiful creation?! Crescent: Didn’t you say you researched about Shadow Pokemon Madelis? You should know. Madelis: I… I don’t understand… Crescent: Shadow Pokemon are bound by a limited supply of Ether energy. The more they fight, the more their hearts begin to re-open. It seems Mewtwo has regained small traces of its heart back after being outside of its confinement. Matthew: Wait. How do you know so much about Shadow Pokemon Crescent!? Crescent: That’s not important to talk about right now. CLARA: WARNING. WARNING. GENERATOR NOT FOUND. SEVERE MELTDOWN IS IMMINENT. PLEASE EVACUATE. Crescent: Ohh yes. Matthew destroyed the Rift Volcanion. This place is going to explode soon. Gothitelle, if you would, please transport Aelita and Matthew out of here. Matthew: Wait! No! Don’t do it y- Gothitelle: Gothitelle!~ POKEMON TEAM REJUVENATION CHARACTER RATES TIME SPENT IN AEVIUM QUESTION OF THE THREAD

I ran towards the area the others ran towards but when I got down the stairs, the only person I saw there was Eldest. Matthew: Where’d they go?! Eldest: I… I don’t know! I saw Aelita go behind the waterfall but… she hasn’t come out. Matthew: Alright. I’m going in there then. Eldest: Please Matthew… Protect Aelita and get Keta out of there. Matthew: I’ll do my best. I left the Eldest there and went behind the waterfall. There was a cave entrance there but I could feel extreme heat from there. I went inside and instantly saw Aelita standing there. She seemed really confused though. Aelita: I don’t get it… What’s going on here? This… This can’t be right… Carotos Mountain isn’t a volcano… So why is- Matthew: Aelita? Are you ok? Aelita: Ahh! -turns around to me- Ohh. It’s just you Matthew. Matthew: Yea. I followed you after all of you just ran after each other. Aelita: Ahh. I see. But do you see this place? Matthew: See it? I fucking feel it. Aelita: But it doesn’t make any sense! The Eldest said it was supposed to be a serene place with flowing water and… this is not what was described to me. Matthew: Yea. I can see why you seem so confused now. I would be too. Aelita: I feel… I feel like the Sensei knows what’s going on here and that’s why he ran away. Matthew… Please help me look for him! Matthew: Yea. No problem. Aelita: Wait… Just like that? Matthew: Of course. He still owes me a Gym Badge! Aelita: Ohh… Matthew: And because we’re friends. Aelita: W-We are? Matthew: I know we’ve only known each other for a short while but I would say so. Yea. Aelita: Heh. Thank you Matthew. You’re the best. Now let’s get a move on! The 2 of us started to explore the heated cave. Just then, a weird squirmy, wriggly thing popped up out of the ground. Aelita found it to be very disgusting and so did I. But then I looked at it more and realized something. It was those things that came up from the floors on the S.S. Oceana ship. I was starting to get angry. Aelita could see the expression on my face. Aelita: Matt? What’s wrong? Matthew: Those things… I’ve seen them before. Bad memories. I’m sorry. Aelita: No no. It’s ok. Matthew: Come on. Let’s keep going. We continued our trek through the cave. We didn’t see anything except for some containers and metallic bridges. When we saw a bridge though, there was something weird in front of it in the ground. But when we got closer, it sprang up and started talking. ???: Beep Bop Beep Boop! Matthew: What the- SEC: Hello! I am the Security Enforcer Component but you may call me SEC! Model #3567, this model, was placed under the authority of subject: Madelis. Matthew: Madelis huh? Aelita: You know that person? Matthew: Yea. Not pleasant. Her, along with Team Xen, are after my friend. SEC: Now please insert your specially crafted Team Xen ID Cards into the slot provided! Aelita: Team Xen ID Cards? I’m afraid we don’t have anything like that… SEC: No specially crafted Team Xen ID Cards?! No matter. I shall activate our backup voice recognition app! PLEASE OLD YOURSELVES! Matthew: Does it have to shout? Aelita: Ahh… I think I just made things more difficult. Matthew: Probably but I’m used to this by now. SEC: WARNING! WARNING! INTRUDER! INTRUDER! INTRUDER! INTRUDER! INTRUDER! INTRUDER! INTRUDER! INTRUDER! How could you do this to SEC? SEC was the team player! The MVP! Sec was ready to offer complimentary Team Xen pudding but you spit on SEC! Matthew: Oh my Arceus! I’m about to spit on you if you don’t stop yelling so damn much! SEC: You’re no member of Team Xen! You are unauthorized guests! That makes SEC very angry you know! Very, very, very angry! Aelita: I-I see! That being the case, we’ll move out of the way then yea? SEC: Too late! SEC has already notified the higher ups! Matthew: Good. I’d rather deal with them than you. SEC: Ahh! How dare you say that to SEC! SEC has already been programmed to neutralize both of you! There will be no mercy to be had! Your heroes will always die! SWITCHING TO BATTLE MODE! Matthew: So what you’re saying is that we’re gonna battle? Good. You’re annoying the absolute hell out of me. And that’s really hard to do! The weird machine threw out a PokeBall but what came out was a Shadow Pokemon. A Shadow Ponyta to be precise. I damaged it some and then threw a ball at it and successfully caught it. The SEC machine seemed sad about it though. SEC: Aww… Was that really the result? SEC is mortified. Terrified and even excited… Matthew: That… just sound totally wrong. SEC: How could such a bad thing happen to SEC. The good guy. The 1 that got away… I-It’s time for SEC to shut down for good… G-Good bye… Aelita: I sort of feel bad for it… I think. Matthew: Well I don’t. Good fucking riddance. Aelita: Matthew! Matthew: What? I’m just being honest. Aelita: It was probably treated terribly and yet, it still works for whoever created it. May you rest in peace Sec. SEC: -pops up from the ground- Sike! I’m back! Matthew: Ohh jeez! Why?! SEC: Ohh. Did you think I was dead? Ahahaha… Ah but I wasn’t kidding about SEC shutting down for good! That kuch is pretty true but the way SEC gets to do it will put the socks on your grandmothers! Matthew:… WHAT!? SEC: Check it out! From out of nowhere, a stick of dynamite came out on top of the machine. Aelita and I walked backwards more so we didn’t get hit with the blast. Apparently, when a SEC is defeated, they blow themselves up. Matthew: Isn’t this a little extreme? SEC: Listen up pal. I gotta tell you something before I go boom! You’ve got a long way to go before you reach the top. Thought this version of myself will be gone, my brain is connected to an even larger server! I have endless amounts of bodies! You and I will be rivals for the rest of this mountain! Bets person, er, robot will win! See ya pal! With that, the stick of dynamite lit up and in a few short seconds, blew the machine to pieces. Aelita and I couldn’t believe what we just saw. I wanted to completely forget what I had just witnessed though. Aelita: Ahah… that was a little strange wasn’t it? Matthew: A little?! More like a fucking lot! But I’m so glad it’s over! Annoying the hell out of me! Aelita: Ohh yea! That Pokemon it used. It looked rather peculiar… And you caught it! How?! It took a while to explain but I told her all about how Team Xen had revived the process of making Shadow Pokemon. I was shocked to see that Aelita had never heard of such a thing. Matthew: You really never heard of it? Aelita: No but you can explain more later. Right now we’ve got a job to do right? Plus, we could always ask SEC again. It did say that there were more of it right? Matthew: Don’t remind me. Aelita: Yea… Sorry about that. The 2 of us walked through the door that the SEC machine was blocking. When we got to the other side, there were 2 Team Xen Grunts talking. Apparently, they were talking about Keta. I knew they were but Aelita didn’t. When Aelita spoke though, they noticed us there. They seemed to have known about Aelita though. 1 grunt went to report us to Madelis as the other 1 stayed to fight us. Luckily though, it was an easy battle. The grunt then ran away. We then started to find more Team Xen Grunts and battle them. Some of them had Shadow Pokemon which I had successfully snagged from them. When we got further into the establishment, we saw something familiar in the ground. Aelita: Is this… Matthew: Nooo. Not again! Not so soon at least! SEC: -yawns- Who turned on the brightness that are lights? Ohh. It’s only you slick. Man, you sure do know how to annoy someone! Matthew: Looks who’s fucking talking! SEC: I didn’t actually think you’d run up all the way here. Not that I’m complaining… Anyway, you know the song and dance now right? Matthew: You mean me battling you and then you blowing up? Yes. SEC: You are correct! SWITCHING TO BATTLE MODE! You will fail. The battle started and just like the previous time, SEC lost. But weirdly, he didn’t use a Shadow Pokemon. It struck me and Aelita a little odd that he wouldn’t use 1. SEC: HOW… HOW COULD YOU! How could you do this to SEC again? All SEX wanted was to see you succeed. To see you bring that paper! But all you do is reject me! Reject SEC all you want! Matthew: Oh my- JUST BLOW YOURSELF UP ALREADY! Aelita: Wait. Hold on SEC! Befor you blow yourself up, I have a couple of questions to ask you! SEC: A couple?! You only beat me once! You get 1 question! Matthew: Excuse me but I beat you once before. Aelita: Yea! He did! SEC: The clock is ticking pal. Do you really wanna argue? Aelita: Fine. I guess we have no choice. Answer this! That Pokemon you used before was a Shadow Pokemon right? What are they and why didn’t you use them this time!? SEC: That’s 2 questions! You cannot trick SEC! I will answer the latter. I didn’t use a Shadow Pokemon this time because production just start- Before SEC could finsih his sentence, the stick of dynamite blew up, blowing the machine into a lot of little pieces. Matthew: Ohh sweet release. Aelita: Damnit! He didn’t get to finish what he was saying! Urgh!… Whatever. What he said was good enough. Looks like Shadow Pokemon are only now being produced. Matthew: Makes sense. I’ve only seen a handful since I started beating these Xen people. Aelita: But still. We don’t know about Sensei’s whereabouts but this is good to know too! But I think we should be close now… We continued our way through this Team Xen base. We battled more Team Xen grunts but none of them had Shadow Pokemon unlike before. When we got to a door though, I noticed immediately what was in the ground. My annoyance level was shooting up through the roof. Aelita: SE- Matthew: WAKE THE FUCK UP SEC AND LET’S GET THIS OVER WITH! SEC: You don’t have to be so loud to SEC. Also, how do you know my name? Aelita: What are you talking about? We’ve already met. We just talked a few moments ago. SEC: No recollection. Matthew: Ugh! I am SO tired of you! Aelita: I’m starting to feel how you are with it Matt. But whatever. If that’s how you wanna play, let’s just get this over with. SEC: What’s that? You want to pass SEC? SEC will let you pass… If you give SEC the correct password! Matthew: Wait. Password? What password? Aelita: Yea. We didn’t have to do this before. SEC: Well too bad. You have to have a password this time. Matthew: You know, I did see little picture frame things on the some of the walls coming up here. They might have the password. Aelita: Alright… We’ll be back SEC. SEC: Sec will be waiting for you! Aelita and I went through the area and searched for the frames. Apparently, there were 3 of them which meant SEC was going to ask for 3 passwords knowing it. We went back to him and gave him the 3 passwords. SEC: Oh! Oh! Oh! You did it! You got all of the passwords! If SEC had lips, he would kiss you right now! Alas, he does not! Matthew:… Can I just burn you to a crisp right now? SEC: Ahh! You hurt SEC’s feelings! You may leave now. Aelita: Wait. Leave?! We got all the passwords! Step aside you stupid robot! SEC: You’re a stupid robot! Aelita: T-Take it back! Matthew: Aelita, you’re not even a robot! Aelita: I… Ohh yea. You’re right. SEC: Leave now! Matthew: SEC, blow yourself up and let us through! SEC: Stop pestering SEC so much! Ohh wait. Do you have a thing for Security Enforcer Components? Matthew: If you don’t blow yourself up, then I’ll do it for you! SEC: Don’t worry! I shame not but I am currently sharing this secret all over social media! Weird couple have strange Security Enforcer kinks! Matthew And Aelita: COUPLE?! Matthew: We are not together! Aelita, you take over. I just… I can’t anymore. Aelita: Just stop this nonsense and blow yourself up already! SEC: ENOUGH! SEC cannot take anymore of your annoying voices! You constantly pester SEC. Endanger his life when all he wanted was life itself! You destroyed all other SEC components until SEX is last component! Matthew: Wait. What do you mean last component? Aelita: I thought you said you had an endless supply? SEC: While it is true that SEC has many copies, only 3 of them are located here! If you kill SEC again, SEC will cease to exist in the mountain! Very, very bad times! Aelita: Well… I mean I’m not opposed to it. Matthew: Me neither. SEC: Grrr… Your indifference enrages me! En garde! BATTLE MODE INITIATING! The 3rd battle with SEC started but this time, he did use a Shadow Pokemon. It was a little difficult but I was able to snag it from it. The SEC machine looked down but I honestly didn’t care how it felt. I just wanted it to blow up already. SEC: -sighs- You leave SEC no more choices! The only way out of this misery is death. Aelita: Well… you don’t have to destroy yourself… Just move… SEC: NO! It is SEC’s duty! Aelita: Then stop wasting our time and do it already… SEC: Horrible… simply horrible! You have a heart of stone Aelita! Matthew: I’m honestly on Aelita’s side. So I guess I do too? SEC: You can shut up Matthew! And as for you Aelita… Sensei won’t be happy to see how cold you’ve become in just a few minutes. Aelita: W-What did you just say?! SEC: Ohh come now… Don’t be so COY. You know darn well what SEC just said. Perhaps it is simple disbelief… or denial… or stupidity… Maybe all three… Though we part ways here, just know that… This ain’t the last you’ve seen of me. You may not see me tomorrow, or the next day or the- SEC was blown up once again before finishing his sentence. Aelita seemed quite happy though that the machine had blown up. But to be honest, I was too. I wouldn’t have to hear him again for a long time by what he said. The 2 of us went inside the door but it turned out to be an elevator. We took the elevator up and exited it. We had no idea where we were though. Matthew: Geez. How long is this place? Aelita: I know right? We’ve been at this for so long now. How much longer til we- Ohh. I see. Matthew: What? What is it? I turned towards where Aelita was looking. It was a huge building inside the volcano. Aelita: You know, after all we’ve been through… I don’t think this shocks me as much as it would have. Matthew: Yea. That’s been happening to me a lot too lately. But I think Keta might be there. Aelita: Yea… Yea you’re right! He has to be there right?! It has to be! Let’s go Matthew! We can’t give up now! The 2 of us went up to the front of the building. But when we got there, a weird machine came out of the building. It was strange looking but it felt familiar to me for some reason. Aelita: Uh… What is this thing? Matthew: I don’t know but I have a bad feeling about this. ???: I AM A MORE RECENT MODEL OF THE SECURITY ENHANCED COMPONENT. Matthew: No… NO… NOOOOO!!!!! CLARA: ALTHOUGH I WOULD AFFECTIONATELY BE REFERRED TO AS “SEC 2.0”, I PREFER PEOPLE TO CALL ME CLARA. Matthew: Why me? WHY ME?! Aelita: You gonna be ok Matt? Matthew: Just give me a few seconds… Aelita: Well I can understand your pain. I mean it’s another 1 of those annoying robots. I thought there were no more of you left in the mountain! CLARA: PHYSICAL APPEARANCE SUGGESTS THAT YOU ARE NOT PART OF TEAM XEN. SUBJECTS THAT ARE NOT PART OF TEAM XEN’S DATABASE ARE REQUIRED TO LEAVE THE PREMISES IMMEDIATELY. Aelita: We’re not leaving here until- CLARA: LEAVE NOW. Aelita: I said we’re not leaving! Now get out of our way! CLARA: LEAVE NOW. LEAVE NOW. LEAVE NOW. LEAVE NOW. LEAVE NOW. Aelita: Urgh… What’s with this thing? It’s acting so… weird? CLARA: NAUGHTY CHILDREN THAT MISBEHAVE ARE SENT TO THE BUNKER FOR THEIR CRIMES. Before any of us knew what happened, the CLARA robot thing raced behind Aelita, grabbed her and flew up to the top of the building. I tried to grab onto the robot but I was too late. I looked on top of the building and could see a familiar red haired girl. Madelis: Muhahahaha! Fell right into my hands. Child’s play. Matthew: Great. It’s you… Madelis. Madelis: Been a bit hasn’t it Matthew? Matthew: Give back Aelita right now! Madelis: Don’t think I’ve just let you run around my mountain without any surpervision children! Matthew: I am not a child! And let Aelita go now! Madelis: Shut up. You’re in no condition to give me demands. And you… It looks like a certain someone has gone back on our deal… So just to be safe, I’ll be keeping Aelita by my side for a little while ok? Matthew: Madelis! You- Madelis: Don’t take too long or I might just have to do something to satiate my boredom. With that, Madelis, that CLARA robot and Aelita went back inside of the building. I was seething with rage. I couldn’t believe that they kidnapped Aelita with me standing right there beside her. There was only 1 thing I could do. I had to go inside of the base, find Keta and have him help me save Aelita and get out of this place. POKEMON TEAM REJUVENATION CHARACTER RATES TIME SPENT IN AEVIUM QUESTION OF THE THREAD

Alcremie has a confirmed 26 different flavors. Why is this making me hungry?

When I finally saw the exit of the cave, I was happy. I was tired and just wanted a good night’s rest so I can meet that hooded stranger tomorrow. When I made it to the cave tunnel exit and went outside, an old woman was standing there. She turned around and noticed me. She seemed shocked but excited to see me for some reason but I couldn’t think of a reason why. Mostly because I was exhausted. ???: Hello there traveler and welcome to Sheridan Village! Matthew: Thanks. -yawns- ???: You seem to have been adventuring for a long time today. Matthew: Heh. You have no idea. ???: Well I hope you enjoy your time here and be 1 with yourself and your soul. Matthew: Hey. Umm… Do you know where I can stay for the night? ???: Hmm… Well I suppose you can come over to my place and sleep on the couch I have there. I know it’s not a bed or anything but- Matthew: No no. That’s fine. As long as I’m not outside, I don’t care where I sleep. ???: Very well then. Follow me. I followed behind the old woman as she took me to where she lived. I took a look at the area as we walked through it. It seemed very peaceful. I wondered as to what the people here were like. We came up to her house. We stood on here front porch before going in. ???: This is my house. Matthew: Nice. Thanks for letting me stay the night here. ???: It is no problem young 1. Ohh. I almost forgot though. A very dear friend of mine is staying here too. So could you not make so much noise while in there? Matthew: Don’t worry. I won’t. I just wanna get some sleep. I have something important to do tomorrow. Eldest: Ahh. I see. Ahh. How could I forget. I haven’t introduced myself to you properly. People just call me Eldest. Matthew: Ahh. Well Eldest, my name is Matthew. Eldest: I know you want to rest but may I tell you something about myself? Matthew: Sure. You’re not bothering me. Eldest: I am the Eldest of this village. Along with that, I am the advisor of this village’s Sensei, Keta. Matthew: Hmm… Keta… I don’t think I’ve heard of his name before. Eldest: Ahh. Then you must not know that he is the Gym Leader of this place too then right? Matthew: He’s the Gym Leader here?! Eldest: Yes. Although… Matthew: Although what? Eldest: I believe that he’s in a bad mood at the moment. Matthew: Why’s that? Eldest: I wish I knew but unfortunately, I do not. I wish he would talk to me though. Matthew: Sounds troubling. But thank you for telling me that. Eldest: No problem. I hope you get a good night’s rest. Matthew: I will and thank you for your hospitality. I walked inside and took a look around the place. It was very basic but it felt very calming. I found the couch the Eldest was talking about. I took off my backpack and got ready for bed. As I laid down on the couch, I wondered where I was supposed to find that guy. I never saw his face. So I had no idea what he looked like. But as I thought about that, my eyes closed and I drifted off to sleep. I started to have dreams though and not good ones. 1 of the dreams I saw Melia get torn up by a Galvantula and devoured. I couldn’t do anything to stop it. Another dream I had was Ren and Venam trying to save Melia from Team Xen but weren’t able to. Team Xen then killed the 3 of them. I woke up and sat up. I forgot where I was for a second and looked around the place. Then I remembered I was in that Elder’s house and felt better. Matthew: -quietly talking to myself- I’m alright… I’m alright… It was just a dream… Huh? I could hear 2 people talking near the front of the room. I recognized the 1 voice as the Eldest but I didn’t know who the other person was. I quietly went up against the wall and snuck down the length of it. When I got to the end, I could see the Elder talking to a purple haired girl. I assumed this was the friend she was talking about last night. I stayed there listening to their conversation. ???: But Eldest, that doesn’t excuse his wrongdoings! Eldest: Aelita, keep your voice down! Matthew is sleeping. Aelita: Ok. Ok. I’m sorry but still… Eldest: I realize this Aelita. However, the Sensei must have his reasons for shutting himself off. Aelita: Sheridan. Village. Is. A. Place. Of. Community! It’s always been our pride and joy to be united as 1! But that hasn’t been the case and this is causing people to leave! It has always been said that if the leader of Sheridan Village isn’t in sync with the village, the village shall fall. And it’s already doing just that! What are we supposed to do about this? Eldest: I understand your concern child, but people leaving isn’t the end of us. We have endured this trouble many times. In fact, in all my years of my life in this village, this has only occurred once. And we were able to make it out alive and well. Aelita: Is that so? Well that’s reassuring… Eldest: Yes it is. Never give up hope little 1. Hope always shows itself in the most darndest and frustrating ways. We just have to turn this bad situation into something good is all. Aelita: You’re right Eldest. In fact, I’m going to go speak to Sensei right away! Eldest: Ahh… Maybe that’s not quite a good idea for now. Aelita: Nonsense, it’ll be fine. -opens the door and slams it closed- Eldest: -sighs- There’s so much Vivian in that lass… Matthew: -talking quietly to myself- This Sensei guy… Why do I have a feeling that’s who I’m supposed to talk to? I could hear footsteps coming in my direction. I bolted back to the couch and pretended I was woken up by the sound of the door closing. Eldest: Ahh Matthew. I hope we didn’t disturb your rest. Matthew: Urgh… Well I did wake up because of someone slamming the door but I had to get up anyways. Eldest: I apologize for that. My friend decided to go see the Sensei. Matthew: The Sensei… Hmm… If you don’t mind me asking, where is he right now? Eldest: Well he usually stays in a building up north in the Sheridan Arena. Matthew: Ahh. Thank you for telling me. Eldest: You’re welcome. I am going to go out for a bit. Matthew: Alright. I’m gonna throw myself together and leave in a bit. Eldest: Alright then. See you later. The Eldest went towards the door and left the house. I was relieved that she didn’t notice that I listened in on their convo. I didn’t know what was going on with this place but I felt like something weird was happening here. I put on my shoes and backpack. Before leaving though, I decided to check into the room her friend was sleeping in. There wasn’t really anything there except for a book on the table. I opened it up and noticed that it was this Aelita’s girl diary. This Sensei dude seemed like he didn’t like Aelita and was cold to everyone. I wondered why she didn’t think he’d be like that to her though. As I continued reading, I learned that her mother was murdered by a thief. I felt bad for her. The last journal entry explained why people were leaving the village. After reading that, I really wanted to see this guy now. I left the room and exited out of the house. Remembering what the Eldest said, I went up north towards the Sheridan Arena. I could see a big house upwards. He had to be there. I made it to the stairs of the house and started to walk up them. As I got to the top, I could see Aelita there standing outside of the door. She seemed upset. Aelita: You still refuse to speak to me…? Why don’t you speak to me anymore? What have I done to anger you? I wish you’d just tell me… -turns around to leave and then notices me- Ohh! I’m sorry. Am I in your way? Matthew: Not really. It’s ok. Aelita: Wait… You’re that person that was sleeping on the couch last night. Matthew right? Matthew: Mhm. Aelita: Well hey there Matthew. My name’s Aelita. Matthew: Nice to meet you Aelita. Uhh… Aelita: What? Matthew: Is everything ok? Aelita: Ohh… Uhh… Yea. It is. So I’m assuming you want to speak with K… I mean Sensei right? Matthew: Yea. I have to talk to him about something important. Aelita: Important huh? I’m not even sure if you should waste your time. He’s not exactly welcoming to visitors at the moment. In fact, he’s not even talking to people he should care about… Matthew: Well, whether he likes it or not, I’m gonna speak to him. Aelita: Well I’m not gonna try to stop you. You seem adamant about speaking with him. Well good luck talking to him Matthew. I’m gonna head back to the village. Matthew: Alright. See you later. I watched as Aelita descended on the steps and left the area. Was this Keta really that harsh to everyone including his own village? I was about to find out. I walked up to the door and went inside. The hooded man was standing there. It was as if he was waiting for me there. ???: So you’ve found me. Matthew: It seems I have… ???: Deep within the village of light lies a soul who lives solely to cast a shadow. Matthew: I’m not exactly sure what you’re spouting about but I came here to talk to you as you wanted of me… Keta. The hooded man chuckled a bit and then threw back the hood. He had dark eyes and all of his clothes were pretty dark too. He didn’t look like he had slept in days though. Keta: So you’ve found out my name huh? I shall still introduce myself nonetheless. I am Keta and I am the Sensei of this village. Our talk will not happen here though. We will talk in the back. Do not waste my time. Keta walked back and went through a set of doors. As I was heading there too, I noticed a camera moving so that it would be looking at me. I found it weird that someone living out here would need a camera for whatever reason. It was suspicious. I made it to the doors and went through them. Keta was standing in front of something but I had no idea what it was. Keta: I try so hard Taelia… but smiling is something that is just… so impossible. Matthew: Uhh… Keta? Are you- Keta: Her name. What was her name again? It was Melia right? Matthew: How do you know her name? Keta: That is not important right now. You will find out though. But that is a familiar name indeed. 1 that won’t be forgotten. Matthew: I would argue the fact that I don’t believe that she’s dead but that would just be tiring. What do you wanna talk to me about? Keta: You and the other 2… You all weren’t strong enough to save her. Is that it? Matthew: Of course not! I mean well… Gah! We didn’t save her then but we will save her sometime! Keta: I see… I’m going to assume your friends are thinking that if they were stronger, things would have been different. Matthew: Well yea but that’s how they feel. You can’t blame them for thinking like that. Keta: Bullshit. Matthew: Excuse me? Keta: I don’t care what their trying to say. Nothing any of you could’ve done would be enough to change what happened in that cave. After all, fate is already written. Matthew: I’m really not liking the way you’re talking dude! Keta: Your threats mean nothing to me. But still. I suppose I can’t blame them for thinking that. I guess some people choose to believe that fate can be changed and rewritten. I don’t think it hurts to protect yourself with some falsified belief. Matthew: Can you just tell me what you’re trying to get to with everything you’re saying please? Keta: Very well then… What if I told you that you could somehow save your friend? Matthew: Like… you mean from the dead? Keta: Yes. While I still believed that Melia was alive, I was intrigued with what he was saying. Bringing someone back from the dead? How could anyone do that? Matthew: Fine. You have my attention. Keta:… Amethyst Cave is a very special cave. It holds many secrets that the average person would never come across. Matthew: Well I’m not average. Keta: Hmm… I suggest exploring it in the future. You may find something interesting. Matthew: And you’re not gonna tell me what any of those interesting things are are you? Keta: Youth. They think they know everything. You are incorrect. Near the beginning of the cave is a stone that is a bright red. Have you seen it before? Matthew: Bright red stone? Uhh… I don’t think so. Keta: Well it’s not hard to miss. If you were to come into the cave from Route 2, all you have to do is make a left and you’d eventually see it. But, if you make contact with this rock, a way to Amethyst Grotto will appear. Matthew: Amethyst Grotto huh? What’s in there? Keta: You will find another stone called the Soul Stone. I would like for you to retrieve it and bring it to the area where you lost your friend. That would be Amethyst Depths right? Matthew: I guess that’s what that place is called but- Keta: And then once you’re done with that task, come back here. Matthew: That’s it? Keta: Yes. Now get going. Don’t waste time. Matthew: Fine. I left and started my trek back to Amethsyt Cave. It took a bit but I finally made it to the beginning of the cave and took a left. It didn’t take me long to find the red stone Keta was talking about. I went up to it and looked at it. It didn’t look like anything special. I touched the stone and all of a sudden, another cave entrance popped up up in front of me. That shocked me a lot. I carefully walked in and found a ladder going down. I went down and when I got to the bottom, I was amazed at the nature I was seeing but also something else. I was starring at Keta except he was a little different. I could see through him. Matthew: What… H-How are you- Keta(?): Follow me. He floated off more into the grotto. I did as he said and followed him to the back of the area. When I got there, I could see something weird on the ground. It looked like a weird ritual ground. I could see Keta in front of me. I went up to him and stared at him to make sure my eye vision was good. Matthew: Are… Are you Keta? Keta’s Soul: No. At least not his physical form. Matthew: Then what the hell are you? Keta’s Soul: The being you see before you is the manifestation of his emotions and soul. Keta has a lot of darkness shrouding his past. Matthew: Whoa whoa whoa. Hold on. You’re telling me that you’re his soul basically? Keta’s Soul: Correct. Matthew: Wow… I mean this is shocking but not as shocking as it should feel like… But how did he do that? Keta’s Soul: Every day was another day in hell to him. He could not handle the guilt that was held inside him. So in order to let go of his guilt, he used a secret power located in Sheridan to separate us. Thus, I was born into this world and banished to this grotto. Matthew: That’s a lot to take in… I feel bad for you. Wait. How does that work? I mean does that mean I feel bad for him too? Because, to be honest, I d- Keta’s Soul: Silence! Ugh. None of that matters. But he is a fool. Devoiding yourself from your emotions won’t solve anything. But something troubles me. Matthew: And what would that be? Keta’s Soul: He sent you, a random trainer, down here. I wonder… Has he gotten desperate? Or did he see something special in you?… Matthew: Me? Special? Keta’s Soul: Tell me Matthew. Did you know that Keta is a member of Team Xen? My eyes felt like they almost popped out of my head hearing that question. Why in the world would a Gym Leader be in cahoots with Team Xen? But then other questions were going through my head. If he knew where Melia was, why didn’t he try to kidnap her? Why did he help me, Ren and Venam out yesterday? Matthew: So… he’s an enemy then. Keta’s Soul: No. He is not. Matthew: What!? How can he not be?! Keta’s Soul: I know it’s hard to believe but think about it. You probably already have these questions going through your mind. Like why didn’t he capture Melia and why did he help your friends right? Matthew: How… did you know what I was thinking? Keta’s Soul: Just listen. Keta hasn’t been liking what Team Xen has been doing for a while. So he’s trying to branch away from them. Matthew: How do I know you’re not just lying? Keta’s Soul: Think about it. If he was loyal to you, wouldn’t he have tried to kidnap Melia? Or stop you and your friends? Matthew: I suppose… that’s true. Keta’s Soul: Exactly. Now Matthew… I have a favor to ask of you. Matthew: You have a lot of nerve asking me for a favor right after you just told me you’re apart of Team Xen… But fine. What is it? Keta’s Soul: Please find a way to bring him back to what he used to be. Matthew: To bring him back to what he used to be? Keta’s Soul: I know that’s a heavy order to ask to a stranger. Matthew: Honestly, I’m kind of getting used to it. Keta’s Soul: Good. Now here is what you came for. -hands me the Soul Stone- By showing Keta the way you battle, you should be able to sway his mind onto the right path. He’ll finally put this to an end… Once and for all. I watched as his soul floated upwards and disappeared. Before I left though, I heard his voice call out and say to come back here when everything was done. I exited the grotto and made my way to where I found Melia’s bag. When I got there, I laid the stone down on the ground and waited to see if something happened. After nothing happening for a little bit, I decided I should go back to Keta’s house. It took a while but I finally got back there with him. Matthew: Keta… I know. Keta: I figured you would. Anyways, I see that you were able to retrieve the Soul Stone Successfully. Give it to me for a quick moment. Matthew: Uhh… Sure. -hands the Soul Stone to Keta- Keta: Hmm… Fate favors the fool yet again. Incredible. Matthew: What are you talking about? Keta: Unfortunately, it seems that I am not able to do anything about Melia. Matthew: Well you don’t even know if she’s dead. Keta: The same could be said to you. Matthew: There’s no concrete evidence. Until I see some, I believe she’s still alive. Keta: Heh… Anyways, I want you to hold onto this Soul Stone. It may prove to be useful 1 day. -hands the Soul Stone back over to Matthew- Matthew: Ok. I will. Keta: Now, I have 1 final request for me. Matthew: Hold on. Let me guess. You wanna battle me. Keta: Clever. Yes I do. I want to know what kind of person you are. How well you and your Pokemon sync up together. I’m sure you’ve seen the battle ground at the bottom of the steps correct? Matthew: Yes I have. Keta: Meet me there. That’s where we’ll have our battle. But of course, you would have wanted that anyways. You’re a trainer and I’m a Gym Leader. You want the Gym Badge yes? Matthew: Hell yea I do! Keta: I’ll be on my way then. Don’t keep me waiting. Keta left the area and went down to the battle arena. I left the area as well and went to join Keta there. I was actually so hyped for it, I forgot to and use the thing to get advice for Keta. When I walked outside though, I was kind of shocked to see a lot of people surrounding the arena. I guess these were the village people and they wanted to see their Sensei battle. I took my position on the opposite side of Keta. Matthew: Heh. This is kind of neat. Keta: Forgive me for the audience. It seems they are excited to see me battle once again. Matthew: Well I’m kind of excited myself. I’ve been wanting to battle you since I met you. Keta: Heh… Either way, ignore them. They are inconsequential. I am… troubled at the moment. I need you to battle to your best ability. I will not lose this. Matthew: You sure about that? Keta: Aelita, if you would… Aelita: Uhh… sure thing. This will be a double battle with a limit of 6 Pokemon on each side! 1st 1 to lose all of their Pokemon is the loser! Now that it has been said… Battle commence! We grabbed 2 of our PokeBalls, threw them out onto the battlefield and the battle began. Keta was definitely a tougher opponent than Venam. He made about half of my team faint. But luckily in the end, I was able to come out top and win the Gym Battle. He looked down but I could see a smile form on his face for the 1st time since I met him. Everyone else seemed shocked about their Sensei’s defeat though. Aelita: Gym… Leader Keta has no Pokemon left! Sensei is defeated! Matthew reigns victorious! Keta: I see… I finally understand what you meant Taelia. You have certainly displayed true kindness and power through your Pokemon. Matthew: Well I gotta admit. You were a tough opponent Keta. I had a lot of fun though. Keta: Matthew… Hehe. I am going to undo what has been done. Matthew, I’m sorry but your badge will have to wait. Matthew: Wait. Why? Before I could get an answer, Keta went running down away from the battlefield. Aelita ran after him and the Eldest went running after her. I had no idea what was going on. I had no choice but to go follow them to see just what Keta was doing. POKEMON TEAM REJUVENATION CHARACTER RATES TIME SPENT IN AEVIUM QUESTION OF THE THREAD

So what you wanna do for the speed ev's is to look for any of those woobat's dark circle spots. May take a bit to get there but at least you won't have to keep searching for 1 specific Pokemon to look for speed ev's. For the special attack ev's, you should probably listen to @Starry Knight above me to get those.

Venam, Ren and I made it back to the train station on Route 2, boarded it and sat on the train as it went back to Gearen City. Venam seemed to be in her own world after everything that happened so I just left her alone. Ren: All of this is so… Matthew: Crazy? Ren: Yea. I didn’t ever expect any of this to happen. Matthew: I know how you feel. This is just adding onto the many weird things on my plate. Ren: I can only imagine. Matthew: Ohh yea. So I’ve been wondering. You know what me and Venam are gonna be doing for a bit. How are you gonna get stronger. Ren: Ahh. I suppose I should tell you. I am going to fix my home town. Matthew: Your home town? You mean it’s not Gearen City? Ren: No. I moved there about a year ago. My actual home town is Goldenleaf Town. So after I do some things in Gearen, I’m gonna be heading there next. Matthew: Well I hope you do it dude. I’m not exactly sure what’s going on there but I’m rooting for you. Ren: Thanks Matt. Looks like we’re almost at the train station. Matthew: Yea… It’s gonna be weird not being around you and Venam. Ren: Well probably less headaches. Matthew: Heh. Maybe. The train pulled into the Gearen train station and everyone got off. The 3 of us said our good byes and went our separate ways. Before I started my training, I went to the lab and inside Prof. Jenner’s room. It felt weird to be back in here after the last time I was in here. I looked around the room and saw a door to the side but I couldn’t get in. Then I saw a key card machine to the side of it. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the the card I got from Melia’s bag back in the cave. I swiped it in the machine and the door opened. I slowly walked in and and turned on the lights. I won’t lie. I kind of got emotional when I realized this used to be Melia’s bedroom. There were posters on the walls, some Pokedolls and other stuff on here table. I started to look around in her room. I knew this wasn’t a good thing to do invading someone’s privacy but maybe I could find something useful here. I went over to the table and looked at the stuff on it. There was a picture of Melia and Professor Jenner, a briefcase with essential items and a letter from someone. I picked it up and started to read it. Matthew: Hmm… “Congratulations Melia! You have been chosen to represent the Normal Type in the Aevium League. All attributes from your in-office interview and audition tape have been reviewed by the committee and the higher ups. We are proud to say that you were the top applicant! Your Gym will be held at Blakeory Athenaeum at the Scholar District of Grand Dream City. If everything is correct, please send in your response and you will be picked up promptly from your current place of residence. Thank you for applying and we hope to hear from you soon!” Heh… She seemed really excited to be going there… Maybe I should have accepted to go with her. I put the letter down and continued my investigation. On another desk, I could see piles of paper stacked up. I looked through them. They seemed to be little notes that Melia and Professor Jenner wrote to each other. When I started to read the last couple of notes, I started to feel bad for Melia. People were teasing her about training her Togepi and how she wouldn’t be able get it to evolve. But luckily, it seemed that Professor Jenner was able to get her to feel happier. The last of the notes though indicated that Melia had made an audition CD and put it in the closet. I put the papers down and looked inside of her closet. Luckily, the CD was set on a shelf inside. I went over to her PC, put it in and started to watch her video. It started out with Melia introducing herself, albeit obviously in a nervous way. This was obviously her audition tape for the Normal-Type Gym Leader position. I always wondered how people got accepted for being a Gym Leader. As the video continued, someone with blue hair fell out of her closet. I couldn’t tell who it was at 1st but when she picked her head up, it was Venam! I never knew she had blue hair. It didn’t look right on her. As the video continued, she showed off her dancing skills, running ability and singing ability. At the end of the video was a touching short moment between her and Jenner. When the video ended, I didn’t know how to feel. So many emotions were circling around within me. I took a deep and calmed myself down. I took out my 2 PokeBalls that contained my newly acquired Aipom and Seviper. I knew I had to make them stronger. I headed out of Melia’s room and outside of the building. I called the both of them out. They seemed happy to be out and about. Immediately, Aipom climbed on top of Seviper’s head. The 2 seemed to be even happier reunited. Matthew: Heh. You know, you 2 seem to be really close best friends right now. Aipom: Aipo! Seviper: Seviper! Matthew: That’s a good thing. So, are you 2 ready to get stronger? I’m not gonna lie. As you 2 get stronger, the training will intensify. I know you 2 just were born into the world but I need you 2 to get stronger. You need to do it for yourselves, for me but most importantly, for your friends. Now are you 2 with me?! The 2 Pokemon nodded their head yes. I was happy to see that. We 1st went to the park to start our training since that was the only place these 2 could hope to even start winning battles. It was hard work but we I could start seeing them improve. After a while of that, I could see them easily winning battles there. That’s when I decided to go down to the sewers to train. They and the Pokemon there were almost evenly matched. But again, I could see them improving. Before moving to another spot, Karrina came walking down, walking towards me. Matthew: Karrina? What are you doing here? Karrina: I actually came here looking for you. Matthew: Me? Why? Karrina: I need help with something for tonight and I need your power. Matthew: Well… I need to get stronger. Sure. I’ll help. So what is it? Karrina: Are you crazy? I can’t talk about that here. Matthew: Why not? Karrina: People that aren’t apart of my crew can listen in. Matthew: Alright. Take me to wherever then. I returned my Seviper and Aipom and followed Karrina to a house near the sewers. When we walked down the stairs, I was kind of shocked to see how nice it looked down there. There were a lot of tv’s showing the streets of Gearen though, which was a bit weird but I decided to not ask about it. Karrina took me over to the couch and she sat down as I stood in front of her. Karrina: So? What do you think of the place? Matthew: It looks nice honestly. Karrina: Right? Matthew: So what do you need help with? Karrina: Tonight, we’re going to go to Amethyst Cave and take out a rival gang? Matthew: Wait. Take out? Karrina: Not kill them. Just make them quit or whatever. Matthew: Ohh. Why though? Karrina: They think that we’re bad people but we’re not. We just want to protect Gearen City. We need to drive them out of here. Matthew: Ahh. I see. Well I’ll help you. Karrina: Great! Thank you so much! Matthew: No problem. So… We got a couple of hours until then right? Karrina: Yea. What’s up? Seems like you have something in mind. Matthew: Could you help me train up some of the new Pokemon I got a while ago? I really need to get them stronger. Not just for me but for their and my friends too. Karrina: Ahh. I see. Hey. Wait. Why are you back here in Gearen anyways? What happened with Melia? Matthew: Uhh… She wasn’t there. The 3 of us decided it’d be better if we went off on our own to get stronger in order to find her. Karrina: Ahh. I see. Well I’d love to but I have to get prepared for tonight. But I’m sure you can get someone here to help you. Matthew: I see. Thanks Karrina. Karrina: No problem. Least I can do. Good luck on your training. Karrina got up from the couch and exited the room. I went up to some of the crew members and asked them for help and luckily, some of them offered their services. Thanks to them and a lot of hours of training, Aipom and Seviper got stronger quicker than before. I was really happy with their progress. By evening, it was time to head out to Amethyst Cave. All of us left Gearen City and went to Route 2. I was the last 1 to get to Amethyst Cave. When I was walking up more towards where the battles were taking place, I could here a woman screaming. Sounded like they were in pain. When I got closer, I could see Karrina on the ground on a higher ledge of the cave. As I was about to get up there though, the hooded stranger appeared. I wasn’t expecting that. ???: You sure took your time to get here. Matthew: Uhh… I decided to get some training in on my Pokemon. ???: So… it seems like you’ve failed too? Matthew: Failed? Are you taking about Melia’s supposed death? I KNOW she’s not dead! ???: Hardly a surprise to both your reaction and to what would happen to that girl. Matthew: She’s not dead! Ugh! But I suppose you’re not gonna believe me. ???: I’m sure you know this already but at the end of this cave lies a village called Sheridan Village. Matthew: Yea. I know of it. ???: When you get there, I’m sure you’ll find a place to stay for the night. In the morning tomorrow, find me. We’ll talk more. Matthew: Wait. Talk about what?! I didn’t get an answer though. The hooded stranger turned around and walked away. I was frustrated but figured I couldn’t do anything about it. I went to the place I saw Karrina and got to her. She was still on the ground holding her leg. Matthew: Hey. What happened? Karrina: Can you believe it? I come here to fight the leader of this gang and he chucks a rock at my leg and injures me. Some kind of leader I am. Matthew: Want me to take him on? Karrina: If you wouldn’t mind? Matthew: Don’t mind if I do. I strolled over to the leader of the other gang and looked him in the face. He looked at me and chuckled a bit. Matthew: What’s so funny? Gang Leader: The leader of your gang is down and they send in a pipsqueak like you? Matthew: Wanna test out how strong I am? Gang Leader: Strong? You? HA! I’m gonna wipe the floor with you! The battle started between us. While I had a full team, I only wanted to use Seviper and Aipom to test how strong they truly became. The gang leader’s Pokemon were strong but thanks to my Pokemon’s training, I was able to defeat him. He looked at me with fear. He turned around and ran off, along with his gang, shouting that he’d leave them alone as long as he never had to deal with me again. I walked over to Karrina and helped her up to her feet. She was very appreciative with me helping her. Karrina: Thanks Matt. I don’t think we could have done this without you. Matthew: It’s alright. To be honest, if it wasn’t for you and the crew, I don’t think I would have been able to beat him with just Handy Manny and Venamica. They’re definitely stronger than before. Karrina: No problem. What are you gonna do now? Matthew: I’m gonna head to Sheridan Village and stay the night there. There’s something I gotta do in the morning there. Karrina: Alright Matt. Good luck with everything. Matthew: You too Karrina. Karrina had 1 of her other crew members help her out of the cave. I started to walk through the cave. It was kind of late and I was starting to get tired. I couldn’t wait til I got to the end of the cave so I could rest at Sheridan Village. POKEMON TEAM REJUVENATION CHARACTER RATES TIME SPENT IN AEVIUM QUESTION OF THE THREAD

Venam chased me all the way into Amethyst Cave. I probably would have kept running from her as well if it weren’t for Ren there, pulling Venam to the side before she could get to me. Ren: What are you 2 doing? Venam: Trying to make him change the nickname of the Seviper that hatched out of the egg he had! Ren: Ohh. It was a Seviper? Matthew: Yep. She just hates the fact that I’m calling it Venamica now. Ren:… Don’t change the name please. Matthew: I don’t plan on it. Ren: Buuut… Venam: What? Ren: You 2 took half an hour! Matthew: Ohh… Venam: Right… Ren: Ugh. It’s whatever. You 2 are here now. I already took a look at the left side of the cave. Didn’t see anyone or anything. Matthew: So where to now? Ren: Well the cave’s exit is up north and that’s where Sheridan Village is. Venam: We should go head there then. Melia has to be there. Ren: It does make sense. It’s really the only logical way to go. Matthew: Alright. Let’s go. The 3 of us were just about to head upwards when we were stopped by a hooded man. He just stood there in the way. The 3 of us were kind of hesitant to approach him. He seemed weird and not in the good way. Venam:… Uhh? Matthew: Can we hel- ???: She didn’t go this way. Venam: What? And how the hell do you know that? Matthew: Yea. That’s not really something you say unless you know for sure. Ren: Who even are you? ???: It doesn’t matter who I am, does it? Matthew: As a matter of fact, it does! ???: Regardless, the fact of the matter is that she didn’t go this way. That’s it. Venam: Why the hell wouldn’t she go this way? ???: You’ve never experienced true fear, have you? Venam: What? What do you mean? ???: If you’ve experienced true fear, you would understand why she made the wrong turn. Fear blinds the mind. Cripples your intellect. Once you succumb to the grasp of fear, you make choices you wouldn’t normally make. Therefore, she took the wrong turn. This made me think of yesterday when Team Xen attacked the ship and I was with my mom. I was scared and didn’t know what to do. Maybe running away from the ship wasn’t the best choice to make. But I made my choice and now I had to deal with the consequences of it. I snapped out of it and regained my focus on what was going on now. Venam: She took the wrong turn… Matthew: It makes sense. We all do something when we’re scared out of our minds. Venam:… Urgh! Damnit! What the hell do we do?! Do we trust this stranger or do we continue with our plan? Ren: I say we listen to him and go east. Matthew: I think I agree. Venam: What are your reasons? Ren: If Melia went north, that’d mean she would end up in Sheridan Village. She’d be completely safe there. Sheridan Village is home to a Gym Leader. Venam: You’re right… That… Sensei dude or whatever. But what about you Matt? Matthew: I’ve been truly scared before and made rash decisions. Some I still don’t know what will come of my actions… and some I knew instantly happened. Venam: Ahh… I see. Ren: Plus, what if we went to Sheridan and Melia did in fact take the wrong turn? She’d eventually be cornered and taken by Team Xen. If anything, our best bet is to just listen to what this person is telling us. Matthew: Plus, I’d rather be safe than sorry. Even if she’s not this way and is in Sheridan Village, then we’ll know for sure that she’s ok. ???: You 2 are smart. You girl. You should listen to those 2. They’ve got their minds in the right place. Venam: Yea, yea, whatever. I get it. Can we just hurry this up? The 3 of us walked east more inwards of the cave. We had to walk down a set of stairs. When we got down to the lower floor however, we could see a lot of Joltik all over the place. It didn’t seem weird to me but from Venam’s and Ren’s facial expressions, I could tell that something wasn’t right. Matthew: Uhh… Is something wrong guys? Ren: These Joltik… Why are they here? Matthew: Why are they… Do they not belong here? Ren: They aren’t native in Amethyst Cave. Venam: I wouldn’t be so weirded out by this if it was just 1 or 2 but this many… something’s going on. Matthew: Maybe Team Xen brought them here for some reason? Ren: Hmm. Let’s just continue. We should find answers doing that. I’m gonna check out over here. Venam, you go further and see if you can find anything out. Matt, you stay here until 1 of us needs you. Matthew: Alright. I’m down with that. Venam: Right. Ren went to the right and Venam went south. I stayed where we parted ways for a bit. I couldn’t see anything weird except for the Joltik. A couple of minutes passed by and nothing happened. Suddenly, I could hear the sound of a Pokemon battle and it was coming from Venam’s direction. I went running towards her way. As I was crossing the bridge, I could see her running towards me. She seemed happy. Matthew: Hey. What’s going on? I heard the sound of a Pokemon battle. Venam: Well, it turns out that listening to that guy and coming this way was the right move. Matthew: What do you mean? What happened? Venam: I just defeated a Xen Grunt and I got them to spill some details. Matthew: So spill it then! Venam: Melia definitely took the wrong turn. Matthew: Well I figured that! Where is she?! Venam: -points towards the floor below- Somewhere down there. Matthew: -looks down- Damn… That’s a long drop. Venam: A-And, we’re really high up here, aren’t we? Venam: Where’s Ren? Ren: Right here. - walks up to us- So it seems we know where Melia is now. At least the general area. Matthew: Then let’s make our way down! We wasted enough time! The 3 of us ran off the bridge and went down some more stairs. We were all wanting to see Melia at the very bottom of this cave. When we got down there, we all went looking for her. But no matter where we looked, we couldn’t find her. Then I looked down a path and saw someone standing there with yellow hair and with a blue jacket on. I knew who it was right off the bat. Ren and Venam came over to me and also noticed the person. Venam: Matt? Who is that? Matthew: His name is Zetta… Ren: Is… Is he apart of Team Xen? Matthew: Yes he is. Zetta: Instead of talking about me behind my back, why don’t you all come closer to me. I didn’t like the fact that he heard us talking about him but we did as he said but we cautiously made our way towards him. We stopped just a couple of feet from him. We were ready for whatever he was about to do. But he didn’t do anything. He just stood there with his back turned towards us. The 3 of us kept our guards up though. He finally spoke. Zetta: So… Matthew right? You finally came. And it sounds like you brought some friends along too. Matthew: Zetta, I’m only gonna ask you this once. Where is Melia? Zetta: You know Matthew… You’ve caused a LOT of damage. And I mean a lot. Ren: The only 1 who has caused any damage is you. Venam: So… Are you the boss of Team Xen? Zetta: Me? The boss? HA! Don’t make me laugh little girl. I am far from it. Far, FAR from it. Venam: Then you’re just wasting our time! Where the fuck is Melia?! I know you know where she is! Zetta: Ahh yes… Melia… I know exactly where she is. You won’t like the answer though. Matthew: Urgh! Stop wasting our time and just tell us already! Zetta:… Melia is dead. It felt like someone stabbed me through the heart when I heard Zetta say those 3 horrible words. And by the looks on Venam’s and Ren’s faces, they were feeling the same was as me. I didn’t want to believe it though. I know we had wasted time because of the train and the egg hunt but I didn’t think we would be this late. I couldn’t believe it though. Matthew: You… How… How do you know she’s dead?! Ren: Yea! This isn’t the time for your stupid jokes! Venam: I know my best friend isn’t dead! Zetta: Do you all think I’m joking?! Matthew: You’re apart of Team Xen! We can’t trust you! Zetta: While that is true, I’m not lying this time! On my pursuit to capture her, I found something that confirms her fate. Venam: And what was that? Zetta: A Galvantula was feasting upon her bag. Ren: N-No… Venam: You… You can’t be serious… Matthew: I don’t believe you Zetta… Ren: Yea… Matt’s right. I won’t believe anything you say until you show proof. So Zetta? Where’s your undeniable proof! Zetta: You want your damn proof?! Well here it is! Zetta threw something onto the floor. The 3 of us inspected it. It was definitely Melia’s bag but something was covering it. Then we realized what it was. It was blood. It was covering her bag. Venam almost threw up from the sight of it. I couldn’t blame her. But I still had my doubts. Ren: This is… Venam: Melia’s bag. Ren: No… This can’t be! This has to be a mistake! Zetta: There’s no mistake. No… No mistake at all. Matthew: No… I don’t believe you Zetta. Zetta: What are you talking about you bonehead?! That’s her bag and blood! She’s gone! Matthew: While that might be her bag, we have no clue if that’s her blood or not! Venam: Matt… Please… Zetta: No… Everything is ruined! Everything that existed to be Melia is now gone! In the blink of an eye! There were so many things we needed for her… things I needed her for. But all of this… All of this happened because Matthew here wanted to meddle in affairs they had no business being a part of! Matthew: You got a lot of nerve trying to blame me for this you son of a bitch! Venam: Don’t you dare try to blame Matt for this… If you and that damn Team Xen hadn’t tried to capture Melia, this wouldn’t have happened in the 1st place! And we… we were to slow to do anything. Ren: We can avenge her though… Zetta: Heh… Don’t make me laugh. Avenge her. But you’re wrong about being to slow. You’re just in time actually. Matthew: For what? Zetta: Look behind me. Matthew, when you realize what it is, why don’t you tell your friends what this is will ya? Matthew: Huh?… Ohh… Ohh fuck no. We all looked behind him and could see some kind of yellow light coming out of a weird hole. Venam and Ren looked really confused at what it was but I knew exactly what it was and I wasn’t looking forward to be dealing with this again. Venam: Matt… What is that thing? Matthew: It’s a… Dimensional Rift… Ren: Dimensional Rift? Matthew: Yea. I still don’t know all the specifics but it reminds me of Mega Evolution but much more sinister… Venam: So then it’s really bad then? Matthew: Very. This is bad. Zetta: Very good Matthew. You do remember. With this, I will obliterate the 3 of you where you stand! Mattew! You and your friends will know the pain caused to Team Xen! Ren: And you will know the pain you caused Melia! Matthew: In that case, Ren! Team up with me and let’s take on Zetta! Venam, I want you to make sure no more Team Xen grunts try to interfere! Venam: You got it Matt! Ren: Let’s take him down! The battle started between us and Zetta. Zetta was actually a very formidable opponent despite it being a 2 on 1 situation. It was a tough battle, It even came down to it just being me against Zetta at 1 point. But I was able to get through it and Ren and I were able to defeat Zetta. Just like back at Goldenwood Forest though, Zetta didn’t seem that worried and I knew why. Zetta: Heh. So it looks like I lost again. Ren: Yes you did. Now give it up and turn yourself in Zetta. Matthew: Ren, Venam. Listen to me. You need to get ready. Venam: Huh? For what? We beat him. Zetta: If I were you, I’d listen to your friend there. Have the 2 of you forgotten about my friend behind me? I couldn’t beat the 3 of you because I’m weak but that won’t be the case for the rift! Matthew: Alright you 2! Get ready! Venam: For what?! Zetta: I command this Rift to absorb and and destroy all of you! Venam and Ren tried to run away from the Rift but it was no use. I let the Rift suck me into it and eventually, Venam and Ren followed suit. When we all came too, we were in a red forest with purple trees. Ren and Venam seemed freaked out about this. I was a little but I was somewhat used to this. Venam: Man… Where are we? Ren: Presumably the “Dimensional Rift” Zetta mentioned earlier. Matthew: Ren’s right. It’s really trippy in here. But be careful. It’s gonna get dangerous sometime. Venam: Well we may have gotten sucked in but this place looks really cool! Right up my alley! I mean look at the color of this water… I kind of wanna take some for my gym! Ren: Are you kidding me Venam?! Don’t touch that! What if it’s corrosive?! Venam: Uhh… Wow… Good point. Matthew: Look, we just gotta find something that’ll lead us out of here. But be prepared to battle. I know I’ve only dealt with this thing once but I’m sure we’re gonna have to battle something in order to get out of here. Venam: Hmm? Hey you 2! Check it out! Isn’t that a Joltik? Ren and I turned to where Venam was looking at. Sure enough, it was a Joltik. But instead of it being its usual colors, it was black and purple. Ren went up to it and was about to pet it when it evaporated. We were all a little shook from that. We tried to ignore that though and went looking around separately for a bit. I came up on a PokeBall that I recognized from the previous Rift. I grabbed it and my CyberNav started to download the info. When it was done, I had another file in my Rift Dex. It was called Code: Materna. I could tell that this wouldn’t be a good thing. I saw a couple more Joltik. I went up to the pair of them and just like what happened with Ren, they each evaporated. I went searching for more until I couldn’t find anymore. I then went searching for Venam and Ren. When I found them, they were standing in front of a freaky, huge egg. Matthew: What… is this? Ren: An egg. These Joltik just appeared here by the egg. Matthew: Ahh. So you didn’t kill it. They just came here when you touched it. Ren: But why? Venam: M-Maybe that means they’re here for, well, you know… Ren: No Venam and your implications are scarring me so please stop it. Matthew: Wait. I think you got the wrong idea Ren. Venam: Yea! I didn’t mean it like that! I meant they might be gathering because the egg is about to hatch! Ren: Ohh... I suppose that would make more sense… Suddenly, we all started to hear a cracking noise. We looked on top of the huge egg and could see it starting to crack. We all backed up as a tail popped out of the top. A couple of seconds later, more of the egg cracked off. A pair of eyes locked onto us. Ren and me were creeped out but Venam was almost freaking out. Venam: Wh-Wh-What the fuck is that?! Ren: I have no clue! Matthew: Listen to me Venam! You need to fight along with me against this… thing! Venam: What?! Why me?! Choose Ren to fight with you again! Matthew: -quickly pulls out the CyberNav and goes into the Rift Dex- Look here! It’s Electric/Poison! The Joltik are probably still their regular typing! Your Poison Types though will be able to tank some of their hits! Venam: Wait! Why do you have something like that?! Matthew: I don’t know! I just assume that Professor Jenner had something to do with this! Ren: Jenner? Matthew: Yes! Now come on Venam! Venam: O-Oh fine! Let’s get this over with already! The battle was underway. The Joltik tried to defend the Pokemon in the egg but when 1 of them went down, the Galvantula came out. But it looked really messed up. It was way different from a regular Galvantula. It looked more bulky and had weird legs. All of it looked weird to be honest. Venam almost lost it when she saw it but I was able to calm her down enough to finish the battle with victory being on our side. Venam: Great! We won but now what?! ???: Ohh Galvantula, I understand your anger. However, it is time to rest. Once and for all. Ren: Who the hell was that? Matthew: I’m… not so sure. We stood there pondering how to get out of the place for a couple of seconds. The ground started to shake, we tried to keep our balance but we were sucked up into the air. In a matter of seconds, we were back in the cave with Zetta. He couldn’t believe that we were back. Zetta: Seriously! What is with you 3?! How were you able to defeat my Dimensional Rifts!? Matthew: Well not only did they have me there who has taken down 1 of those things before but these 2 are pretty good as well. Venam: Give up Zetta. It’s over. We kicked your ass twice in a row. Is there anything else you’d like to show the class? Matthew:… Weak. Venam: Not now Matthew! Zetta: Will you 2 shut your mouths?! I don’t know how you 3 were able to pull of defeating my Rifts but there’s 1 thing I know for sure. Ren: And what’s that? Zetta: You 3 ain’t leaving this place alive! ???: That’s enough Zetta. Stop talking. Matthew: Wait a minute… Ren: You remember that voice too Matt? A woman and a Gothitelle appeared from thin air and now had cornered Zetta. Ren and I recognized the Gothitelle from yesterday but I recognized the girl from the boat. She had that same Pokemon teleport me to a different part of the ship when things started to go down. Matthew: You- ???: I will talk to you when the time comes Matthew. Zetta: Who the hell are you? Crescent: The name of this elegant woman who has sacrificed her pride to appear? Hmm… I believe the name “Crescent” shall suffice. Matthew: Crescent? Crescent: Yes. Crescent is a beautiful name. It is quite important to me. Now, with that out of the way, I believe it’s time we caged up the uncontrollable animals, no? Zetta: Stay away from me you… you- Crescent: I have grown bored of your voice. You’re the only 1, who I know of at least, that can create those Rifts. So I think I’m ready to silence you. This Crescent woman and her Gothitelle were right next to Zetta. Zetta was obviously horrified for whatever might happened to him. Crescent kept talking down to him. He seemed quite scared from this whole ordeal. Zetta tried to get the woman to stop but it was no use. She snapped her fingers and Zetta disappeared. The 3 of us were amazed but also scared of what just happened in front of us. Matthew: What the…?! Venam: What did you do with Zetta? Crescent: That’s inconsequential. Venam: Why you- Crescent: And you 2. Ren and… Matthew. I told you back at the lab that this path would only bring despair. It seems as though you’ve decided to ignore those claims. Ren: We didn’t ignore them. We just chose to act upon them in a way we saw fit! Crescent: And what did that amount to? Nothing but blood on your hands. Matthew: Ok. Hold on. I don’t know about the 2 of you but I still don’t believe that Melia is dead. That is her bag and yea it’s chewed up and yea there’s blood on it but… until I see a body, she’s still out there somewhere! Venam: I don’t know Matt… I mean I want to believe that too but still… Ren: I do too… but I don’t know… Crescent: Matthew… The evidence is right here. Accept it. Melia is dead and there is absolutely no changing that. Matthew: Shut up Crescent… Crescent: No. You need to accept the truth and- Venam: Shut up bitch! Who do you think you are?! We tried our best to save Melia! Crescent: If that’s what you need to sleep at night then believe your inaccurate claims. Matthew: Look who’s talking. You don’t even know Melia and you’re claiming she’s dead? I don’t believe you and I don’t believe she’s dead! Crescent:… I have nothing left to say to you all. All of you, and this goes especially for you Matthew, go home and leave Team Xen to the people who actually know what they’re doing. Au revoir. Goodbye. Matthew: Wait! It was too late. Crescent snapped her fingers and both her and the Gothitelle vanished. We were all pretty upset with this. Venam seemed set that Melia was dead, I didn’t believe that at all and I had no idea what was going through Rens head. Venam went up to the cave well and punched it. I could understand her frustration. Matthew: Venam… Venam: Melia’s… Melia’s gone… Matthew: She’s not- Venam: Matt, you believe what you want to and I’ll believe what I want to and everything, for me, points to her being dead! Ren: Well… if that’s the case, we can’t give up here. We have to fight Team Xen so that we can avenge her possible death. Matthew: Even though I don’t believe she’s dead, I agree that we have to go after them. So come on. Let’s go and- Venam: No… I’m going back to Gearen City. Matthew: Hold on. What did you say? Ren: Why Venam? Venam: I don’t want to admit this but that skank was right. We couldn’t do anything to save her. We weren’t strong enough. So I’m gonna go back to Gearen City and become stronger. And then… then I’ll be able to crush ANYONE who gets in my way! And after that… I’m going after Crescent and Team Xen for what they’ve done. Ren: Ok. Then I’ll get stronger too. When I do, I’ll join you Venam. Matthew: And same goes for me. Venam: Hmph. I’ll hold the 2 of you to that. I think I’m gonna get out of here… Don’t forget what happened here. -leaves the area- Ren: So… I assume you’re gonna continue trying to collect badges? Matthew: Yes but I think right now, heading back to Gearen City isn’t a bad idea. My Seviper and Aipom need to get stronger and I think starting there would be a good choice. Ren: Well alright then. When you train enough and wanna go for your next badge, come back here and go north. You’ll be in Sheridan Village. There’s a Gym Leader there. Matthew: Alright. Thanks. Ren: I’m gonna get out of here. You coming with me? Matthew: Yea. Ren: Alright then. Let’s go. Ren started to walk out of the area. I started to walk to but then I looked back at Melia’s bag. I turned around and went back. Thinking maybe there was some kind of clue, I went through her bag. But the only thing I could find was a Room ID Card. I looked at it and realized it was for a room inside of the lab. I put the card in my pocket and turned around to run after Ren. POKEMON TEAM REJUVENATION CHARACTER RATES TIME SPENT IN AEVIUM QUESTION OF THE THREAD

With the 2 new Pokemon announced today in the Nintendo Direct, Polteageist and Cramorant, we have now 22 Galarian Pokemon. Polteageist is pretty adorable. The typing is ok, the design is awesome. I just love it. Weak ability but it's whatever. Cramorant is kind of almost like the opposite of Polteageist. While the design and typing are ok, I LOVE its ability. Probably because it's so weird. But I really wanna know what Pokemon was inside of its mouth. Also, I've been realizing that I'm REALLY liking these Pokemon and I think 4/6 of my team is already filled up and Idk about you but that just kind of seems fast doesn't it? So I'm probably gonna take off Drednaw and Impidimp from the team for now until I know all of the Pokemon. Grookey and G.F. Weezing are permanently on the team though.

Ok. So somethings to go over since I just saw the Nintendo Direct for Sword and Shield. (That was the only thing I was interested in) Character Customization Now of course this was gonna be in the game no doubt. But they're adding onto it. With the clothes portion, We can now add jackets and gloves now instead of just the standard shirt, pants, shorts, socks and shoes. On the actual character itself and it seems its for the girls side only (If I missed something from this part and it's for guys too, correct me please.) you can out make up on them. Now while this was needed, I like how they're adding more stuff onto character customization. It's alright to me. Pokemon Camp Pretty sure rumors of this were starting way back in the year about this being a thing and it looks like they were true. And to me, it's ok. I mean it kind of looks like they just replaced what you could do from last gens game. Except this time, you can do it with other peoples Pokemon too(?) Not my thing but if it's your thing, then you might be happy or not. Idk. Curry With Rice I forgot what they titled it in the direct so this is what I'm calling it. Anyways, this seems... Idk. Again, it feels like they just replaced the mini Pokemon Snap game in S/M/US/UM with this. I refer back to my previous statement up above for this 1 as well. Moving along. New Pokemon Now I thought for sure today was gonna be the starter evolution reveals but it seems they wanna keep that hidden for a little longer for some reason. But hey. I'm excited with the new Pokemon they showed us. The 1st 1 they showed us was Polteageist. And... I fucking love it. It's a ghost that has taken over a tea pourer thing. I just... YES! You cannot have a Pokemon Game based in the UK and not have a Pokemon somehow involved with tea. It's just not possible. The last 1 they showed us is Cramorant. A Water/Flying Type Pokemon. Now to me, it has a decent design and an alright typing. It's nothing to scream home about. But then you take a look at its ability, Gulp Missle and... it's funny but it's pretty cool too. Once it uses Dive or Surf, it'll catch food and try to eat it. If attacked during this state, it will spit the food out at the attacker, damaging it. I think it's very interesting and unique. Never thought I'd see a Pokemon use its prey as a weapon but there you go. After Investigating A Little More On Other Websites Now this is mainly about the new and old Pokemon so if you don't want to see what there is to say about this, then feel free not to read this. Gonna go back to Polteageist. It has happened folks. We went went from a food Pokemon (Ex: Vanilluxe) to now a drinking Pokemon! It will only allow it trusts to sample it. So we can literally drink from it. Very interesting I have to say. I just don't want to find out what exactly we're drinking though... A little bit of gross humor is cool right? Yea? Ye- No? It's not? Ok... Moving onto Cramorant! Not much to say about this 1. It really loves to eat... Now I wanna see an eating contest between this and a Snorlax. It'll spit out any prey it didn't intend to swallow up, doesn't forget its trainer, will attack its trainer if they try to steal its food, yada, yada, yada. What I really wanna point out is this. https://swordshield.pokemon.com/en-us/pokemon-galar-region/cramorant/ When you see the pic that has it spitting out its prey, you realize something? It's a Pokemon we've never seen before. It has to be a new Pokemon that just hasn't been officially announced right? It kind of reminds me of Mantine and Remoraid except the Mantine isn't trying to eat the Remoraid. So who is this Pokemon, what could its 2nd typing be (if it has 1 at all and its 1st typing is obviously Water) and yea. I wanna know more about that Pokemon. And then there's the last bit of info I got from here. Go to I think it's around 1:25. Notice anything different about Alcremie? It's a different color. Not because it's a shiny but because it's in a different flavor. You know what that means? We got a rehashed version of Flabebe and its evolutions everyone! But I'm actually fine with this. It makes this Pokemon unique now. But yea. This is all I have to say about this. Let me know what you all think!