The Eon Academy [S.S. Wishmaker Side-Story]

[[Desolate Divine]]

Spiritwater Episode 15: Homecoming

Spoiler:

“It hasn’t worked…” Violet muttered as she turned Jon’s cursed forearm and hand, not so gently to inspect it. Jon winced in pain at the rough treatment. Despite the pain largely having disappeared over the last two days, whenever Violet took charge in attempting to use a healing spell, he always found she was considerably less gentle with her manhandling of the afflicted area.

“Let me look at it…” Willow said, moving forward to grip Jon’s arm and inspect it herself. Despite Violet’s handling being rough, Willow’s was worse, and Jon grimaced in pain.

The curse itself had confused all of the six Shadowcraft users that were aligned with the League over the two days since their victory over Agatha. Jon had grabbed Nicodemus’ hand, despite knowing it was channelling a curse, in order to buy a split second opportunity in order to land a hit and end the fight. It had worked. Jon hit Nicodemus with an improvised weapon, which had incapacitated one of Agatha’s most loyal supporters. To the point where Nicodemus had sustained a severe head injury, and would be requiring high care for the rest of his life. However, Willow showed little sympathy.

Where this turn of events was far from ideal, was that the curse that he had used was one that none of them had ever seen, Willow believing it to have been taught to Nicodemus by Agatha herself, which she had learnt from peering into the void. This was far from the first time Jon had gathered with those who may be able to remove the curse, as they sat in one of the secure rooms on the S.S. Wishmaker that the League had commissioned for the Diamond Ladies investigation. Ironically, it was where Jon had taken the Diamond Ladies after detaining them.

“Any idea on what it is, Glimmer?” Luneth asked, back in her human form, as Glimmer had her eyes closed, attempting to use an insight spell on the cursed hand, having grown exceptionally proficient in identifying curses over the last few days.

“I have figured out some stuff, but none of it is good…” Glimmer said, as a nervous silence came over the room.

“What have you found out?” Jarena asked.

“Firstly, this isn’t a simple curse, though it looks like it. This is actually a hybrid curse, with a conditional delay on one of the effects,” Glimmer explained.

“That was definitely a curse from Agatha. Nicodemus wasn’t smart or creative enough for this…” Willow remarked.

“The first effect is the one you see here,” Glimmer explained. “The blackened, shrivelled flesh, and underneath the skin, it appears to have been cut with hundreds of small lacerations. If this had have made contact on the chest or head, you’d be in a body bag…”

“I figured that was the case when he kept going for my head,” Jon answered. “I figured if the curse he was using could kill me by making contact with my arm, he’d be going for that, so I could use it to give me a window…”

“And had that hit to the head not knocked him out, it would have killed you anyway,” Cassandra retorted, as Jon gave a weak grin.

“So what’s this second curse?” Jon asked, trying to hide the worry. He had been worried that there was something nefarious under the surface, and this confirmed it.

“I don’t know,” Glimmer explained. “The hybrid modification alongside the conditional delay makes identifying it difficult if the curse hasn’t activated. Like trying to read the inside of a folded piece of paper. I managed to see one glyph, however it is vague, and didn't give any sort of indication of what this curse is…”

“And the glyph is?” Violet asked.

“Gravity...”

“So this curse could activate and I begin to float away?” Jon asked.

“I doubt it’s that simple, but yes. Your body is now cursed, and we have no idea what that curse is and when it will trigger,” Glimmer answered. “It’s a ticking time bomb…”

All present in the room went silent. Knowing Nicodemus, the curse was likely lethal, and at any point, in a day or a year, it could activate…

“Could we Nox Purge it?” Jarena asked. “Surely with the six of us…”

“Without knowing what the curse is, we risk killing all of us, if it is that ingrained into Jon that it exhausts us…” Cassandra replied bitterly. “And besides, Jon is still alive because he interrupted the curse by knocking Nicodemus out. But remember when we Nox Purged Avery?”

“We had to let the curse run its course…” Violet agreed. “Even if we knew how to force this curse to run its course, if it did, it would probably kill Jon, given what we know it does under the surface…”

“We couldn’t have one or two of us healing him at the same time while the curse runs its course?” Glimmer asked, however Cassandra shook her head.

“We’d risk killing the healers, if the curse is too strong, and also risk killing the purgers more than we already would be…” Cassandra muttered angrily. She had spent the last four years using Shadowcraft to help Pokemon, and in the last week, people, and now, was faced with one of her friends having what seemed like an incurable curse.

“Then we leave it…” Jon said, as he withdrew his arm, and rolled his sleeve back down to his wrist. Despite having become more comfortable with his scars being visible, they weren’t as obvious as the current state of his hand.

“The curse could activate at any time…” Willow warned.

“And it could not. And even if it does, it will likely kill me…” Jon answered. “But it seems like our only other options are to risk killing me by removing this thing, whilst risking killing all of you…”

All went silent. Whilst the idea of Jon living with this curse was far from what they had hoped to discover, he was right. He could live with the risk of it activating and killing him, or he could risk his own life and the life of those present in order to remove a curse which may never activate.

“So what, you just live with this curse until it activates and kills you?” Cassandra asked. Jon shook his head.

“I live with it until we figure out a safe way to remove it,” Jon answered firmly. “Until then, the pain is pretty much gone most of the time.”

“Most of the time?” Violet asked. “When is it bothering you?”

Violet reached out to inspect Jon’s wrist, however he quickly recoiled, as Jarena hid a grin.

“Not now…”

************************************************** ************************************************** *********

It was shortly after noon when Jon arrived at the S.S. Wishmaker infirmary, the reason for staying on the S.S. Wishmaker despite it being stuck on Akala Island until the damage was repaired. In his hand, he carried a plastic bag, containing disposable plastic containers, each with a serve of dumplings.

“Sorry I’m late,” Jon said as he entered the room. In one corner of the room, Abbee sat in a bed, hooking up to an IV drip, and various bits of monitoring equipment, with Dylan sitting on the chair next to her bed. Victini sat on her lap, as she spoke to him. Whilst Abbee felt fine, she had been kept in for observation, considering she received a substantial blood transfusion, through medically unorthodox means.

Not too far from Abbee, Jimmy sat in a bed, hooked up to a similar setup to Abbee, as did Avery and Abital, though resting on Jimmy’s lap, was the sleeping Jirachi who had not stirred at all since it closed the Netherlink. The trio had battled themselves into sheer exhaustion, defending their line in order to allow Triad to battle Agatha without being flanked by Agatha’s allies. They had been on the verge of collapse when the battle finally ended, and had remained under observation in the infirmary since.

“Any news?” Avery asked, as Jon made his way towards them, handing them a container with their lunch.

“Nothing good,” Jon said flatly. “There is another curse hidden beneath this one that they can’t remove without risking killing me, or themselves. It’s dormant, but they think that something may trigger it, and if it does activate, it will not be pleasant…”

“Jirachi could remove it…” Jimmy said quietly, as Jon handed him his lunch.

“Jirachi has done enough,” Jon answered. “I don’t want him waking up after all this, and then risking falling asleep again trying to fix this.”

Abital began signing something, though Avery, who already had a mouthful of dumplings, wasn’t able to translate.

“Abital says ’could you get an answer out of the witch who did this’, I think,” Dylan said, shocking Avery, and more so, Abital, who grinned at him. Dylan looked between the pair in slight embarrassment. “My grandma was deaf, so I learnt a few signs when I was a kid, then started actually learning when I found out my uncle was deaf…”

“Unfortunately, the reason it stopped at my hand was because I hit him hard enough that he’ll be spoonfed for the rest of his life…” Jon explained. “And Willow thinks that the only other person who knew the curse was Agatha herself…”

Jon handed Abbee, Dylan, Jimmy and Abital their lunches before sitting down on a chair near Avery and Abital’s beds.

“So I owe you guys an apology,” Jon said to the pair quietly. “For keeping you in the dark about what was going on, especially when I knew you were here. I’d hoped that you could have a normal wedding and honeymoon, so told Steven not to call you, Avery, and bailed on the wedding myself. Really worked a treat, with both of you now in the infirmary…”

“Twice in two days for Abital,” Avery remarked, earning a grin from their husband, as he ate his lunch. “Honestly though, I’m not sure whether it was dumb luck Abital and I wound up here, or some sick act of fate. We boarded the S.S. Wishmaker originally as a bit of a joke, and sure enough…”

“You both get caught up in another Shadowcraft s**tshow?” Jon suggested, and Avery grinned.

“Not my exact wording, but I’ll take it…”

Jon looked around the infirmary, and couldn’t help but grin.

“At least you aren’t sharing the room with a psychotic dragon trainer,” Jon noted. “Remember last time we were here?”

Avery couldn’t help but laugh at the recollection. Abital looked between his spouse, and Jon, who he hadn’t spoken to much at this point, a little confused.

“Last time Avery and I were here, was on the S.S. Wishmaker, when Jirachi wanted to play,” Jon said to Abital, as Jimmy looked up from where Jirachi lay, his eyes fixed on Jon. Jon noticed this, however continued. “Avery and I came here because Lance was detained here, and one of his guys was his guard. We were worried something may happen, and Lance would get out…”

Dylan looked to see Jimmy staring at Jon, hoping his teacher wouldn’t have a repeat of the meeting the night before.

“It was the funniest thing I had ever seen,” Jon said, struggling to keep a straight face. “Lance had been turned into a Flapple…”

“It was an Applin,” Avery corrected, as Jon grinned.

“Even better. An Applin,” Jon explained. “And the operative that was there, probably to help him break out, got turned into a Munchlax, and kept trying to eat him. We were outside and could hear something going on, and found Applin-Lance climbing onto a trolley or something where the Munchlax couldn’t reach him…”

Despite himself, Jimmy chuckled at the story being told, having not heard it before.

“So when do all of you get out?” Jon asked.

“Abital, Jimmy and I get out this afternoon,” Avery answered, before nodding towards Abbee.

“Same,” Abbee answered. “They’ve been checking me for any indication that my body has reacted badly to the transfusion, but found nothing. So I’ll be getting out later today…”

Jon nodded, however noticed Dylan seeming quieter than usual, and a little deflated. He had been this way since the aftermath of the battle, and despite Jon having tried to talk to him about this, he had blamed it on fatigue and changed the subjected. Jon, during one of his many calls to Alyssa in the previous few days, had mentioned this.

"You've all lived a nightmare and survived," Alyssa had said. "Dylan's naturally quiet at the best of times, so give him some time to process things and then see where he's at…"

She was right. Whilst Dylan was definitely more talkative than he was during his first year at the Academy, there were two reasons for that. The first being he simply was close to Jon, Alyssa, Steven and the other interns, who he found easy to talk to, until Chris began acting out the summer before, in which case Dylan became relatively silent around him again. The second reason being that Dylan, despite being naturally quiet, understood that in positions of leadership, such as his role at the Academy, communication was integral, and as such had adapted in those sorts of circumstances to be more comfortable speaking. However deep down, he was still the same quiet person he always was.

And now, Dylan had almost had his best friend, and Jon had a solid hunch of something more, all but die in his arms. It seemed no wonder Dylan had seemed to regress a little.

"Just give him some time," Alyssa repeated. "He's a smart kid, and will talk when he's ready…"

Despite Dylan not being a kid anymore, Jon also struggled to not fall into the trap of thinking that way. Dylan had been under he and Alyssa's care for nearly three years now, and despite being very independent, only asking for help when he clearly needed it, and in a lot of Eon Academy projects, actually taking the lead, they still felt a sense of responsibility for him, which was why Jon was against Dylan coming in the first place.

Jon sighed as he watched Dylan, who seemed to be exhausted by the million thoughts racing through his mind, but trying his best to hide it.

"I hope you'll be alright…"

************************************************** ************************************************** *********

Jon stepped off the S.S. Wishmaker, having been told Willow had headed into Heahea City and was immediately greeted by overzealous news reporters, with cameras and microphones placed in front of him. Despite the heat, he wore his motorbike jacket, and quickly placed his left hand in the pocket.

Normally he would have flown on Latios off the ship to avoid the cameras, however Latios was his reason for leaving the S.S. Wishmaker. He had been gone all morning, and Jon suspected he was with Latias, as he tended to be most of the time since recovering from the battle. Jon had been seeking out Willow to find out if she knew where they were.

"Mr. Drake, do you have anything to say about the claims that you had been in possession of Rayquaza in an unregistered Pokeball prior to arriving in Heahea City?"

"Are you aware that three of your students were visiting former Indigo Champion Lance at the time of his escape?"

"Is there any truth to the claims that the people removing curses from attacked civilians in Heahea City Hospital are actually the Diamond Ladies?"

Jon ignored the questions, making his way through the crowd of reporters, who despite Jon's clear role in stopping Agatha by battling and capturing Giratina, were simply looking for clicks on their website and asking leading and incriminating questions. The difficult part of the situation was that every insinuation they made was true.

"Do students of the Eon Academy and their parents need to be concerned by you being in possession of Giratina, considering its role in destroying Heahea City Hospital, and it being under the command of Agatha?"

This question was the one that stopped Jon in his tracks, like four years earlier as he left the S.S. Wishmaker.

"I guarantee you, that there is not a person alive better suited to rehabilitate Giratina, and make it safe than myself. This isn't to say it will happen, however it is to say that there is nobody else who has a better chance of undoing the damage to Giratina's mind that being under Agatha's command has done than myself," Jon answered. "I have trained Latios to be loyal and obedient to a fault, I have battled alongside Rayquaza to the absolute brink and beyond, and created enough of a bond for it to Mega Evolve, and under my instruction, Charlotte Jones had Deoxys safe to battle against the College of the North Wind in a matter of months, and has continued to compete to this day with Deoxys, with no incidents whatsoever. Let that speak for itself. By the time I allow Giratina out of its Pokeball the way I do my other Pokemon, around my students especially, it will be safe…"

Jon quickly left as there was a flurry of follow up questions, particularly pertaining to Rayquaza, donning his riding gloves, the left of which stung as it rubbed against his hand, and his helmet, before starting up the motorcycle and leaving the reporters to ask their questions to the exhaust smoke behind him.

It was on the beach on the southern coast of the island where Jon found Willow, who watched with a grin, as Latios and Latias dived in and out of the water, before flying up in the air.

"If one good thing were to have come from all this, it'd be what we're seeing right now…" Jon called out as Willow turned, and flashed him a grin. "I have barely seen Latios as happy as he is with his sister…,"

"Honestly, neither…" Willow answered. "Latias knew where to find him, but she had tried to approach him before, during one of your battles, and he hadn't recognised her…"

"He took a hit to the head when they got separated, and until recently, didn't remember anything from before then," Jon answered, having been shown Latios' recovered memories. Willow nodded in understanding.

"She figured as much," Willow said. "She saw how happy he was with you, and figured why weigh him down with a past he obviously doesn't remember?"

"He wasn't this happy…" Jon said, unable to hide the grin as he watched the pair of Eon Pokemon, despite being fully grown, acting like juveniles as they played in the air and water. Latios, having surfaced first from their dive, waited for Latias to surface, before using a telekinetic blast to splash her. "It's a shame that they can't just stay together…"

Willow considered the statement, before answering.

"Why not?"

"I need Latios at the Academy," Jon explained. "Fact is that all the publicity around this has likely put a target on my back, and I don't think the Academy would be safe without Latios. Agatha actually sent people who were still in Johto after three of my students, hoping to take them hostage and force me to hand over Latios…"

"I wasn't thinking of Latios coming with me," Willow answered. "You said it yourself, the Eon Academy needs to be protected. But you can't do much against Shadowcraft…"

Jon's eyes widened as he realised what Willow was saying.

"You want to come to the Academy?"

"If you'll have me. I can help keep it safe from Shadowcraft," Willow answered. "Besides, I'm the traitor who stole Agatha's Marshadow, and helped the League beat her. If they've got a target on your back, they have one on my head…"

"You're not wrong…" Jon answered, feeling sorry for Willow. If Agatha had more followers out there, and she likely did, Willow would be looking over her shoulder for the rest of her life…

"Safety in numbers?" Willow asked. Jon nodded.

"That, and during the summer, we now have the highest concentration of Legendary Pokemon on the planet…" Jon added causing Willow to grin. "Not even the government have that many…"

"You think they'd come after us?" Willow asked.

"Let them try. We'll send a message…"

************************************************** ************************************************** *********

Despite Abbee only being let out of the infirmary an hour earlier, she had insisted that she, Dylan and Victini go get an early dinner on the ship, quoting her distaste for the food they were given when Jon didn't bring them food himself. As their food arrived, Abbee noticed what was simply the next example of a trend that she had seen in Dylan since the battle against Agatha.

Having got her chair out for her when they arrived at the table, to pouring her glasses of water, and now, when the waiter had arrived with their food, taking hers first from the waiter to place in front of her, before getting his own. Even on their way there, he had walked far slower than his usual pace, as if he thought she'd collapse from exhaustion trying to keep up.

"Do you want to blow on it too?" Abbee asked jokingly nodding towards the bowl of pasta in front of her. "Make sure it's not too hot?"

Dylan grimaced a little, only realising just how fragile he was treating Abbee.

"Sorry," Dylan said as Abbee gave an apologetic grin.

"I'm happy for you to keep getting me drinks, and placing my food in front of me," Abbee joked. "But I can walk faster than a Slowpoke…"

"I was going just as fast as I normally do for you to keep up," Dylan retorted and Victini choked back a laugh, as Abbee fixed her gaze on him.

The pair ate with quiet small talk, as Abbee wondered how to ask the question she wanted to ask. She had really not minded the food she was given in the infirmary, however wanted some time alone with Dylan, and although having accepted by this point that Victini would always be the third wheel, after two days of always having Jimmy, Avery and Abital in the same room with the only privacy being the curtain that sectioned off each bed, finding that alone time had been difficult.

"Something wrong?" Dylan asked, as Abbee glanced up, realising she had been daydreaming.

"I was just thinking about the opening ceremony, before everything went to hell…"

"That costume you made me wear?" Dylan asked and Abbee grinned remembering the Bewear costume.

"No, not that…" Abbee answered. She considered putting Victini in his Pokeball, however knowing how carefree he was with his telepathy, she figured Victini knew the answer already to what she was going to ask. "About how we said we'd finally have that conversation when this is all over…"

Dylan, who had barely eaten at this point and was simply poking at his food with his fork, stopped as Abbee continued, Victini watching the conversation progress with great anticipation.

"Even after a year in Nimbasa City, working at the gym, and now this, nothing's changed," Abbee said. "We agreed to wait for a year because I'd just broken up with Chris, and was worried about moving, and you were worried about meeting Brent and potentially losing your hearing, and both didn't want to risk messing things up by just trying to latch on to each other…"

Dylan remained as Abbee asked the direct question.

"I still feel the same," Abbee asked. "But I want to know, do you?"

A silence permeated the table, as Dylan struggled to make eye contact. He already knew this would be hard, and seeing her eyes as he said it would only make it harder.

He sighed, before looking her in the eyes and speaking.

"I'm sorry, but I think we should just stick to being friends…"

Abbee felt her heart sink in her chest as she heard this, whilst Victini fixed his gaze on Dylan, Dylan suspecting this was the protective nature Charlotte had mentioned Chris being subject to when he was with Abbee. However he knew this was different.

"No, don't be sorry…" Abbee said, albeit quietly. "This is why we decided to wait…"

Dylan nodded in agreement.

"Still, I'm sorry…"

"It's okay Dylan," Abbee said, though Victini knew she was lying. "I'm okay…"

Abbee began picking at her food again, although silently, and Dylan attempted to do the same. However, Victini continued to stare at him.

"Why lie to her and hurt her?" Victini asked, shock and anger evident in his voice. "You said you loved her! Or did you only say it because she was dying?"

Dylan didn't look at Victini when he replied knowing that it was a dead giveaway they were talking telepathically. Instead he continued to eat as he focused his thoughts.

"She came here because I did, and almost died because she was following my lead. She almost died stopping me from being killed…" Dylan answered. "I don't want anything to happen to her, and if she is safer with someone else, then so be it…"

Victini wanted to argue, especially seeing how much this hurt Abbee, however could see that Dylan genuinely believed that he was doing the right thing by her, even if it was the complete opposite of what he wanted. He sighed internally, before beginning to poke around at his food, having lost his appetite.

************************************************** ************************************************** *********

Despite the fact he had barely eaten, Chris' appetite had deserted him, as he started at the late lunch that sat in front of him. Next to him sat Charlotte, who had opted for a bowl of nachos, as she could eat with her free left hand, whilst her right remained in a sling, as to not pull at the stitches holding the wound closed. Opposite the pair of them, Justin sat with a bland sandwich in front of them, his stomach a little sensitive from the migraines he had been suffering through as he recovered from the concussion.

“How did Candice take the news that you were in hospital?” Charlotte asked. Justin groaned.

“She freaked…” Justin answered. “She still doesn’t know we were planning to go help Jon. I’ll tell her when I see her next, but right now, she only knows we were attacked, and realised they were going after Chris…”

“When will you see her?” Chris asked.

“As soon as I get back to Jubilife,” Justin answered. “She’s taken leave and is on her way there now, and will meet us at the airport.”

Despite the warnings about travelling, both Charlotte and Justin had decided to head back to Sinnoh. Whilst Chris had offered for them to stay with him at his family’s home in Blackthorn City, they had both declined. Justin because Candice would be waiting for him to return, and worrying, and Charlotte because she figured if Justin was going, it would be best that she went too, so they could keep an eye on each other during the flight, and help in the event of any complications. Both of them figured they’d be more comfortable at home, and had arranged flights for that evening. Chris on the other hand, had decided to pull out of the next few tournaments, having been shaken up by the attack, and subsequent police investigation.

When Charlotte, Chris and Justin were finally taken in for questioning, they asked for a phone call each. Justin had tried calling Jon, however he didn’t answer his phone, they realised because he would be using a League issued one, so instead, Charlotte used hers to call Alyssa, who passed on a message.

The trio were interviewed for a few hours, being asked all manner of questions, as the police attempted to determine if there was any intentionality in their role in Lance’s escape. However, after answering all the questions truthfully and giving no reason to suspect any intentionality, as well as a very pointed phone call from Steven Stone midway through the interview, they were given the all clear to leave.

The waiter dropped off the check as they finished their meals, and Charlotte knew she was running out of time, as the taxi they had booked earlier to take her and Justin to the airport would be arriving soon.

“So next summer…” Charlotte said to Chris. “Will you come back to the Academy? I’m almost glad it didn’t run this summer, because it wouldn’t have been the same without you…”

“Agreed,” Justin said. “Jon doesn’t hold a grudge about what happened, and honestly, Abbee and Dylan aren’t the sort to hold grudges either…”

Chris grimaced at the references to their last summer at the Academy, and his own actions.

“Seriously,” Charlotte said. “We all know you love being there…”

“I do,” Chris answered, surprising Charlotte a little who expected him to deny it. “But honestly, even if Jon isn’t holding a grudge, I don’t deserve to be his student…”

Silence struck the group at Chris’ statement, as he continued.

“Honestly, I was hurt, and doing myself no favours. He tried to help me, and I spat in his face…” Chris muttered. “The fact that he isn’t holding a grudge just proves he deserves a better student than me…”

“Chris, you were the first one to decide we were going to Alola when we realised he was in trouble…” Justin said. “Surely that makes up for what you said to him?”

“Deciding to do something and actually doing something are two very different things,” Chris replied bitterly. “In the end, he won without my help…”

Charlotte sighed, knowing that she stood little chance of changing Chris’ mind.

“Just think about it,” Charlotte said. “You have nearly a year, and I’m going to make sure I beat you enough between now and then, that you need to go back to catch up…”

“Good luck…”

The trio continued to speak, mostly in disbelief that forty-eight hours earlier, they were watching a battle that could have decided the fate of the world as they knew it. Charlotte had spoken to Jon since the police let them go, and he had briefly explained what was going on, though Charlotte hadn’t understood more than the fact that had the League failed the day prior, it would have been the end of the world. However, before long, the taxi arrived. Chris helped the pair load their bags into the taxi, before saying goodbye, with Charlotte repeating her statement from earlier.

”Just think about it…”

Once the pair left, Chris started his motorcycle, before beginning the trip back to Blackthorn City. Whilst normally, leaving at this time, he’d have camped the night, he, like Charlotte and Justin, just wanted to return home, even if it meant arriving in the early hours of the morning.

After checking that his bag was secured properly to the back of the bike, having made that mistake once before in his early days of travelling on it, he donned his helmet, before attaching his phone to the handlebar mount, putting on his gloves, and climbing onto the bike. However, before he flicked the stand back up, he heard the sound of his ringtone, through the speakers in the helmet. Looking down at his phone, he saw a call coming through from an unfamiliar number, with a strange area code. Figuring it may be the police with more questions, he quickly took off his gloves and helmet, and stopped the engine, before grabbing the phone and answering.

”Chris Kingswood,” Chris answered, and heard a surprised voice on the other end.

”Chris, it’s good to talk to you,” said Jon’s voice, as Chris realised who was on the other end. ”I thought I was about to get voice mail.”

“I saw a weird number and thought it was the police,” Chris answered, shocked he was talking to Jon before kicking himself, as he realised he just admitted to screening Jon’s calls. Jon however didn’t seem to notice.

”S**t, I forgot this was my League phone,” Jon replied. ”Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you…”

”It’s fine,” Chris said awkwardly, wanting to change the subject. “How’re things in Alola?”

”Still messy,” Jon answered. ”There are still scattered groups of witches on the island, and the League are intercepting everyone leaving, and searching them for any spell reagents and stuff. But with Agatha gone, and Giratina and Marshadow captured, they are disorganised and much easy to track down…”

“I watched the battle on TV. We all did,” Chris said. “I can’t believe that Rayquaza Mega Evolved.”

”I can’t either…” Jon answered with a laugh, surprising Chris a little. ”Honestly, it will take a few days before I am convinced we didn’t fail and this is some huge afterlife hallucination…”

Before Chris could answer, Jon continued.

”By the way, yesterday I got to watch the recording of that battle between you and Charlotte from the other day,” Jon continued. ”You both battled really well. Honestly, if the three of you had been able to get here, I think the whole thing would have been over by sundown…”

”Thanks…” Chris answered awkwardly, though thankful that the conversation hadn’t moved towards their last few encounters. “But it seemed like Rayquaza Mega Evolving was what was needed to get rid of that Nether-thing…”

Jon sighed.

”In a way, yes, so you’re right about that. Maybe I’m being optimistic, but that’s irrelevant. You did really well in the tournament,” Jon said. ”I haven’t seen Charlotte that rattled in a long time…”

“She won’t fall for the same trick twice…”

”I’d be disappointed if she did,” Jon retorted. ”But keep coming up with tactics like that and you won’t need to worry about her pulling ahead…”

There was an awkward silence, before Jon spoke again.

”Chris, about Lance…” Jon began, however Chris interrupted.

“Jon, I stand by what I did. I know you would have fought him until help could arrive and detain him, but I’m not you. I was barely in a position to fight him alone, and Charlotte was injured, and-”

”Chris, back up…” Jon said. ”You did the right thing…”

Chris went silent, shocked to hear this.

”You’re right. Justin was unconscious and needed medical attention, and Charlotte was injured, but would have fought anyway. Lance and I have our history, but I’m not going to put that over the safety of my students,” Jon explained. ”You did the right thing letting him go, and looking out for Charlotte and Justin. Lance is dangerous even without his Dragonite, and chances are, even if nothing happened to the three of you, anyone else who came to try and detain him would be at risk…”

Despite this making sense, and Chris realising he should have known this was how Jon would feel about the situation, the commendation took Chris by surprise.

“So what now?” Chris asked. “Will you go after him? You have Latios and Rayquaza, and once Giratina is trained…”

Jon chuckled to himself, finding it funny that after all this time, Chris still treated him like some sort of superhero.

”No, that’s not my job. Besides, I didn’t get away from this business in Alola unscathed, and got a bit too close to being killed for my liking. I don’t want to leave Alyssa and Lili without me, and while I’d fight Lance if he showed up here, I’m not going to try and bring him in. Cornering him would make him even more dangerous, and I’m not taking that risk. I’ll leave that to whoever the League decide to send after him…”

Chris’ eyes widened at Jon’s comment about not escaping unscathed.

“Are you alright?”

”I’m fine now, but it’s complicated…” Jon answered, choosing his words carefully. ”Next time you’re in Hoenn, we can get a beer, and I’ll fill you in…”

Chris’ first response was to reject the offer, however couldn’t do it. He felt exhausted, not from the previous few days' events and stresses, but something else. Exhausted from trying to convince himself that he didn’t want to go back…

“Sure…” Chris said cautiously. ”I’ll be in Hoenn later in the year…”

”Great,” Jon said. ”But Chris, just something to think about…”

Worried that Jon would be choosing now to lecture him about the year before, he sighed.

”Between us, I think that next summer will be the last one with Charlotte, Justin, Dylan and Abbee,” Jon said. ”And during the fight, we were terrifyingly close to losing Abbee. It was an actual miracle that she survived…”

“Wait, is she alright?!” Chris asked before he could even think.

“She’s completely fine,” Jon said. “But it was a one in a million chance that she survived…”

Chris felt his heart sink hearing that Abbee had been so close to death.

”What I’m saying is, if you wanted to try and talk things out with Abbee, you just got given a chance that a lot of people would kill for,” Jon said evenly. ”And I know it would mean the world to the others to spend the last summer that some of them have at the Academy with you there as well…”

“What makes you say this will be their last?” Chris asked.

”Because you all have dreams that will pull you away from being here every year, and you’re starting to reach them…” Jon answered. ”Take Justin. By the time next summer comes, he will have finished his degree and will be trying to join the police. I’m willing to bet Giratina that he will apply to join the Snowpoint Police to be with Candice, and given his own reputation, and the fact that Snowpoint don’t exactly get a lot of cops wanting to relocate there, they’d be stupid not to accept him. Charlotte and yourself both want to compete, but given the biggest tournaments are in summer, you can’t keep avoiding them to come here every year…”

Chris knew Jon was right. Justin wanted to join the police, and he wanted to be closer to Candice. He wouldn’t let the Academy delay that any longer than it has to. And Charlotte would not avoid the summer circuits forever.

”I am certain they will all be here next summer, since this summer went to hell and back, but after that, I don’t know that all four of them, all five of you, will be here together again…” Jon continued. ”Don’t let this last chance slip by…”

Chris considered Jon’s words, before taking a breath. He spoke again, saying the words he’d wanted to say since he last saw Jon, back in Jubilife airport.

“I’ll be there…”

************************************************** ************************************************** *****
"Is there any truth to the claims that the people removing curses from attacked civilians in Heahea City Hospital are actually the Diamond Ladies?"

Cassandra, Violet and Jarena watched the television as the news played, showing footage from the battle two days earlier. As the cameras hadn't been inside the Megamart, the most they captured was Rayquaza against Giratina, which was the fight they had been oblivious to from where they battled Agatha. However, after that, the footage had changed to footage of news reporters harassing Jon only a few hours earlier as he departed the S.S. Wishmaker. As per his policy, he had ignored all questions, though broken when the safety of the Eon Academy and its students came into question, and answered that before leaving.

"I guess less people are buying into us dying in the fire," Violet said, sounding uncertain. Cassandra nodded. The trio sat in the same room where they had been taken after being detained during their previous trip on the S.S. Wishmaker.

"Based on what I am seeing here, it seems like all the hard work of covering our tracks back then is out the window," Jarena said, as she looked at Jon's tablet which was logged into his Twitter account. After relocating operatives onto the S.S. Wishmaker, the Diamond Ladies had realised that short of borrowing a flying Pokemon and flying off the ship, their only way off was blocked by media personnel who would recognise them in an instant. As such, they spent most of the time in their room, though this time allowed to leave and choosing not to. As such, Jon had left his tablet so they could entertain themselves. Jarena passed Cassandra the tablet, which was on the hashtag #DiamondLadiesLive.

"My brother was in Heahea City and got cursed. Said the three hospital workers handling the witchcraft were familiar. Now that somebody has said it, he is certain it was them…" Cassandra read out as Violet grimaced. "Then there is this. 'I always thought it was too convenient that they just died in a fire and that was it. Good thing they didn't. I heard they stopped Agatha personally.'"

"That doesn't sound too bad…" Violet said, though Cassandra had to correct her.

"There are still plenty of bad ones…" Cassandra said, as she scrolled through. "That being said, last time we were this popular on Twitter, there was nothing good to say…"

Cassandra locked the tablet, before placing it on the coffee table and sighing.

The trio had remained for the last two days on the S.S. Wishmaker, with an unspoken agreement that they would take some time to rest, and make sure they weren't needed anymore, before returning to the Star Glade.

"So when do we go home?" Jarena asked. "Luneth, Glimmer and Willow seem to have the Shadowcraft needs of the League met…"

"We can't leave this room without risking being discovered," Violet said, and Cassandra nodded solemnly.

"Honestly, we are stuck on the ship until the media get bored and leave. Now that everyone is looking for us, our Pokemon forms would stand out, especially not being native here. And if we tried to escape the ship and got spotted it would draw more attention…" Cassandra explained. "Even then, I don't want to end things the way we did last time…"

"How so?" Violet asked, though Jarena, having to have done the same thing as Cassandra last time, knew.

"Abandoning our Pokemon," Jarena said solemnly. "Cass is right. That was hard enough the first time, and she was lucky to see that Victini ended up with a good trainer. I have no idea whether my old Pokemon are even still alive…"

Violet understood then, and nodded in agreement. They had all gone and taken in Pokemon that had been abandoned or given up, thinking they'd be battling with them during this fight. However, being surrounded by more experienced trainers, whilst being more familiar fighting with Shadowcraft themselves, their Pokemon had barely been used. And now, they were talking about giving them up so they could return to the Star Glade.

"If we are going back, we either give them the option to come with us and be wild Pokemon, or we make sure they end up with good trainers," Cassandra said. "We don't just release them and hope for the best…"

There was an awkward silence, as all of them considered this before Jarena spoke.

"If…" Jarena said. "Why if, and not when?"

Cassandra gave Jarena a puzzled glance, so she elaborated.

"You said if we go back, not when we go back…" Jarena explained. Cassandra shrugged.

"Slip of the tongue…"

Violet looked between the pair before focusing on Cassandra.

"Cass, do you actually want to go back?" Violet asked.

"Of course I do," Cassandra answered. "Why?"

"Because considering we just saved the world, and can now go back home, you don't exactly seem like your heart is in it…" Violet said. "And the more I think about what you said to Agatha, the more I wonder whether you want to stay here, or go back…"

It took Cassandra a moment to remember what Violet was referring to.

“Today, the Diamond Ladies rise above their past. Nobody will be able to condemn us and have a leg to stand on. And we do that by stopping you!"

"Let me ask a different question," Jarena asked Cassandra. "Do you want to stay? Not here specifically because I'm going to lose the plot if I gotta spend too long here. But as a human…"

Cassandra was quiet for a moment

"I do…"

"More than you want to go back to the Star Glade?" Violet asked.

"Yeah," Cassandra admitted. "But at the same time, the world rejected us, and honestly, I don't know that anything has changed…"

There was a silence among the group for a brief moment before Jarena answered.

"Honestly, I do too…" Jarena said. "But I thought you guys would both be wanting to go back, and would have preferred to go back with you than stay here by myself…"

Cassandra nodded in understanding as Violet gave a cynical snort of laughter.

"I guess that makes all three of us," Violet said. "I was only planning on going back so we could stick together…"

"Still, we went there in the first place because it was made abundantly clear that we weren't wanted here…" Cassandra murmured. "If we stay, hiding will be nearly impossible. We'd be staying as us. And once the truth is out, we can't just disappear again and go back to the Star Glade. People would actually be looking for us, and chances are it would be discovered…"

"Cass, you said it yourself. We have risen above our mistakes, and anybody who judges us for our past now, doesn't have a leg to stand on!" Violet said. "Every breath that they waste abusing us, is a breath that they have because of what we did!"

Cassandra considered the thought as Jarena added to it.

"Honestly, people had every right to be mad at us. We lied, cheated and hurt people to get what we wanted," Jarena said. "But honestly, I believe that same sense of justice and fairness that drove them to hate us, will be the same thing that causes them to give us another chance…"

"And if they don't, screw them!" Violet said. "The fact they'd still hold a grudge despite what's happened here speaks more about their character than ours!"

"We have two regional champions, dozens of cured Shadowcraft victims, and the founder of the Eon Academy all backing us," Jarena said. "With that sort of support, who cares if we have a few haters…"

Cassandra considered what her two best friends had just said. They could play it safe, and go back to the Star Glade, at the expense of cutting ties again with their friends and giving up their new Pokemon, but remaining safe from the abuse they suffered beforehand. Or they could take the risk, and live the life they wanted to live, with their friends and Pokemon by their side, and despite facing the same abuse they had prior, facing it this time with their heads held high, after what they had done in the last week.

"I'm not going back…"


************************************************** ************************************************** *****

"So how bad is it?" Jon asked before sipping his beer. It was early evening in a small bar in Heahea City. Despite trying to pay, the owner had recognised Jon and Steven, and allowed them to drink for free in his establishment, stating it likely wouldn't be there if not for their actions.

"Far from ideal but we couldn't have asked for better," Steven admitted before sipping his own. "Your no comment approach is good for now but when the League start asking questions it will do more harm than good. So we gotta be honest with them and tell them everything."

"Except Cassandra being involved…" Jon added. Steven nodded.

"They know Hill had me detained. I'll tell them that I escaped with Cynthia's help, and ordered you to capture Rayquaza. I gave you the illegal Pokeball, and told you to keep it hidden," Steven explained. "That takes most of the heat off you, as you were just obeying the Hoenn Champion and your former commanding officer from the S.S Wishmaker incident…"

Jon's brow furrowed hearing this.

"Firstly, that puts a lot of the heat on you, and secondly, that still leaves a bit of heat on me…"

Steven nodded.

"Thankfully this works well for us, as our actions, despite being illegal, worked out for the best on multiple fronts. Hill had been proven to be corrupt and dismissed, which gives some justification to our actions back then," Steven explained. "Then when you consider what would have happened if you didn't capture Rayquaza…"

"Hill would have killed it," Jon said. Steven shook his head.

"Hill would have tried to kill it and Lance may have captured it. He admitted it himself at the hearing. So straight up we have an attempted murderer, loose with one of the strongest Pokemon known to man," Steven explained. "Then for this operation, Rayquaza intervened during the attack on Section B, helped capture Giratina, allowing Latios to aid Willow and Latias with Marshadow, and removed the clouds that allowed Jirachi to destroy the Netherlink. If Rayquaza weren't here, Latios would be fighting Giratina alone and likely losing given it being empowered by the Netherlink, as would have Latias against Marshadow. The Netherlink wouldn't have been destroyed, and Giratina and Marshadow would have joined the fight in the Megamart, effectively dooming us to failure. I mean, s**t, you even caught Giratina in the same illegal Pokeball as Rayquaza…"

Steven took a swig of his drink before concluding.

"As co-commander of the mission, I have to say that had we not conspired to catch Rayquaza three years ago, this mission would have failed and we would likely all be worse than dead…" Steven said. "And honestly, that terrifies me that we came that close…"

"Agreed…" Jon affirmed before taking a swig of his own. "So what should I expect? Another hearing?"

Steven shook his head.

"The government won't want this being as high publicity as the hearing last year," Steven explained."They're in the awkward situation where one of their citizens committed a serious crime at the order of their League Champion, and the result of that was extremely beneficial. On the one hand, if they throw the book at you they would destroy public opinion of them given your role in recent events…"

Steven set his bottle on the bar in front of him, and signalled to the bartender for another.

"On the other hand, if they ignore it, they set a precedent that laws can be broken as long as it all works out in the end," Steven continued. "Either way, the decision being a public affair is detrimental to them. So they will likely take written statements, deliberate and then give you a warning not to do this again and everyone moves on with their lives."

"I'll take that," Jon answered. "What about Giratina and Marshadow? Will they try and take them?"

"Given your history with training Legendary Pokemon, they will likely leave them with you," Steven explained. "Though because the Pokeball used to capture Marshadow was yours, Marshadow is technically registered in your name. Even if Willow holds onto it, I'd keep it that way until Willow is viewed with less suspicion. She will likely be looked at with the same scrutiny that the Diamond Ladies were four years ago…"

Jon scowled at the thought. The fact that they were able to win at all was based on Willow betraying Agatha and risking her life to help them. But sadly, he knew Steven was right. Agatha was dead, Nicodemus was a vegetable, and if the truth got out that Willow was once part of Agatha's inner circle, even if she betrayed her, she would be the one they directed their anger at.

"I don't mean to interrupt…" said the bartender cautiously, being able to see the pair were talking about something important. "But have you seen this?"

Jon and Steven looked towards the large TV mounted on the wall, where the bartender was pointing.

'Cryptic tweet from Jon Drake.'

"What the f-" Jon began as he grabbed his phone from his pocket before realising it was his League phone, which wasn't logged in to Twitter

He looked at the screen, where it showed a tweet. His profile picture, a photo of him commanding Blaziken during the battle against Camilla Blakely the year before, was on the screen next to a single sentence.

"In five minutes, things will get very interesting…"

"Have you been hacked?" Steven asked.

"I don't see how? I have two-factor turned on which needs my phone to approve a new login," Jon explained. "And my phone has been turned off since we got here, and would be equally hard to crack…"

Realising the person who wrote the tweet must be using a device he is already logged in on, Jon knew who it was.

Before he could say anything though, the screen changed to a Twitter Livestream, and visible was the familiar room on the S.S. Wishmaker and the faces of Cassandra, Violet and Jarena.

"What are they doing?" Steven asked in shock. Jon however didn't answer.

"Mind turning it up?" Jon asked the bartender, who nodded and grabbed the remote. The volume meter on screen appeared and increased as Jon could hear the voices of the Diamond Ladies.

"We figured we weren't fooling anyone at this point," Cassandra said on screen. "So we thought 'screw it'..."

"We've been hiding out since the rumours that we were still alive started, and Jon lent us his tablet to keep occupied," Jarena added. "Sorry Jon, but we needed your audience!"

Jon couldn't help but laugh at what he was seeing here, and had a hunch he knew where this was going.

"So for those of you who from the start, didn't believe we died in that fire, congratulations, you were right…" Violet said, causing Jarena to grin. What stood out most to Jon was how excited the three of them seemed, something he had never actually witnessed from the trio before now.

"Let's just cut to the chase. We didn't do this live stream just to make jokes," Cassandra explained. "Chances are if you're watching this, you know who we are. And if you know who we are, you also likely know what we did…"

There was an awkward silence among them, as they realised how heavy this was going to get, before Cassandra's resolve hardened and she continued.

"For quite some time, myself, Violet and Jarena here used an unknown at the time form of magic called Shadowcraft in order to cheat in Pokemon battles, taking fame, fortune and titles we didn't deserve, and at one point, using Shadowcraft to silence anyone who threatened to expose us," Cassandra explained. "We cheated people out of what they had earned with hard work and determination, and were willing to screw over whoever we had to in order to not get caught…"

Cassandra grimaced remembering this, as Jarena took over.

"Then we had an encounter with a Pachirisu, Buizel and Latios, and everything came crashing down around us," Jarena said. "In the space of half a day, our lives as we knew them were over…"

"We tried to fight our way out, and we tried to negotiate but the more we did, the more we realised just how badly we had backed ourselves into a corner, and just how messed up our actions were, that led us to that place," Violet added. "So we turned ourselves in, and accepted the consequences…"

"Over the next day and a half, we followed the League's instructions, and attempted to help undo the damage we had caused," Jarena continued. "But despite that, we were attacked, with former Indigo Champion Lance attempting to kill us, as well as harassed by rogue operatives who would settle for nothing less than us being burnt at the stake…"

"There were posts made online, calling for violence against us, and even once the League had issued their punishment, and we had faced the official consequences of our actions, we were still punished. From snide comments from strangers in the street, to being harassed, to even having my own Pokemon stolen, and the police refusing to even file a report…" Violet said. "We realised that no matter how much we paid for our actions, the world would continue to reject us, and was never going to forgive us…"

"So we disappeared. Lived a peaceful and contented life away from the rest of the world, letting all who knew us, and the few remaining who loved us, believe we were dead, just to live peacefully and try and make up for our mistakes," Cassandra said, as in the comments section, comments flooded in with questions, and some slander. "Until recently, when the three of us had a dream, of Agatha inviting us, alongside all other users of Shadowcraft to join her on Akala Island, promising knowledge and power to all who joined her. And as people who knew first hand how the prospect of power that Shadowcraft offers changes people, we knew it was bad news…"

"We sought out the League, who then mobilised a small force to meet on Akala Island, to figure out what Agatha had planned, and stop it, and joined the force ourselves under aliases," Violet explained. "We had hoped to act as consultants, however after the opening ceremony for the Spiritwater Festival, and people began being attacked in the streets, we set up a ward in Heahea City Hospital, where the three of us worked day and night to treat those who had been attacked, putting us in Agatha's sights, as she had her Giratina level the place, and her followers tasked with finding and capturing us, with some horrific punishment in mind…"

"Then two days ago, when one of Agatha's own turned himself into some horrific monster, and began attacking their base of operations, we took the fight to her," Jarena continued. "With the League covering our backs from her followers, and working to remove the world-shattering spell Agatha had been concocting, whilst Jon led the charge against Agatha’s Giratina and Marshadow to keep them busy outside the Megamart, we faced Agatha head on, at the risk of our own lives, and managed to defeat her, and bring an end to this nightmare…"

Cassandra nodded, before addressing their audience.

"Which brings us to now, and why we are here…"

Cassandra took a breath, before steeling herself and continuing

"We are here to say that we are done hiding. As of today, the Diamond Ladies are back…" Cassandra said. "We know exactly how much we screwed up back then, and why the world rejected us. But now, having risked it all, and succeeded in saving the world, we are done apologising. We are ready to live, and we aren't going beg for forgiveness, or permission to do that…"

Those in the bar watching jumped when Jon loudly began to cheer at the TV, before giving him an irritated glance.

"We are ready to make lives and names for ourselves, and actually work for it, like we should have been originally," Violet continued. "And as Cass said, we'd love for the world to be willing to give us a second chance, but if after all that's been said and done, it doesn't, we aren't going to beg for it…

"They've come a long way…" Steven said quietly to Jon, who couldn't hide the grin from his face. "To think, you thought you had royally messed up by listening to Latios and giving them a chance…"

"We don't know just yet what the future holds for us. We only decided to do this fifteen minutes ago…" Jarena said. "But we know we're ready to face whatever is thrown at us…"

"Actually, I know what the future holds for me…" Cassandra said, earning a puzzled glance from Violet and Jarena, who obviously hadn't heard this before. "As soon as I see Jon next, I will enrol at the Eon Academy, where I can learn from the person who ended my winning streak, alongside some of the best battlers the world has to offer. And one day, if the League can find reason to lift my ban, and allow me to compete again, I will prove to everyone, but most of all to myself, that I don't need Shadowcraft to rank among the best…"

"I think that may be the best advertising you could ask for…" Steven said before looking at Jon who could not contain the enormous grin on his face…

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

"Do you two think they want some space?" Dylan joked quietly to Jarena who got out of the van after him, when they saw Alyssa practically tackle Jon with a hug before kissing him. Jarena hid a grin, which Dylan shared, until he looked down to see Amelia looking up at him curiously. He realised his mistake, knowing that three year olds were naturally curious and Jon and Alyssa's daughter was even more curious than the norm.

"Why do they want space?" Amelia asked, as Jarena looked between her and Dylan.

"You're on your own for this one…" Jarena said, as Dylan, looking for any sort of solution, called out to Kaen, his pet Vulpix. The Vulpix ran out of the house towards him, which he promptly gave a scratch behind the ears, before prompting Amelia to do the same. Amelia was immediately distracted by the Pokemon, and forgot the question she was asking. He gave Jarena a relieved grin.

"That was low…"

"When the battle was on TV, I was so worried…" Alyssa said. "Lili woke up and I had to turn it off. Not knowing made it even worse…"

Before Jon could answer, she looked to see Amelia was distracted by Kaen, before turning Jon so he could remove his left hand from his jacket pocket without her seeing.

Realising, Jon removed his hand, revealing the blackened and shrivelled appendage to Alyssa, who by this point had been informed of the curse that lay dormant beneath the surface…

Alyssa looked at it in shocked and saddened disbelief, as Jon spoke quietly.

"I'm not leaving like this again," Jon murmured. "This was too close. Unless the fight comes to my doorstep, I'm done…"

Alyssa nodded, grateful to hear Jon say that, before embracing him again, whilst he put his hand back in his pocket. When she let go, Jon looked around to where Amelia played with Kaen, distracted from all going in around her.

"Lili, I'm home!" Jon called out, as he walked towards her, grateful she was still small enough he could pick her up with his remaining, normal hand. She walked towards him, as he scooped her up with his right arm, holding her as she hugged him, and thankful he had made it home.

"You alright?" Violet asked Abbee, as Cassandra and Willow stepped out of the van, leaving just the two of them. "You seem like you're a million miles from here…"

Having been swimming in her own thoughts, after seeing Jon and Alyssa's reunion, and unable to help but think about how a few weeks earlier, she had honestly expected to have that same sort of bond with Dylan, Abbee dismissed the image, and addressed Violet.

"Yeah, just tired…" Abbee answered. She wasn't wrong. It had been two weeks since the battle with Agatha and they had been initially filled with various medical tests to make sure she was still okay, before all sorts of reports had to be written by operatives, and other documents signed, in addition to helping round up stray witches when her assistance was needed.

Violet nodded, not believing Abbee completely, but knowing that she didn't know the girl well enough to pry further.

"I'm sure we all could use a break…"

Dylan went into Jon and Alyssa's house, leaving his bags by the door, and making his way straight to the coffee machine. However, after pressing the button, nothing happened.

"S**t," he swore, as he remembered how they convinced the public that the Eon Academy couldn't run its summer program, before calling out. "Jon, we got no power…"

In order to cancel the Eon Academy’s summer program without raising suspicion, Dylan concocted a cover up, which involved pretending a Rotom got into the properties electrical grid. He had installed a hidden isolator switch near the battery that stored all the solar energy, cutting the battery off from the rest of the property, before overloading it and destroying it, and whilst he could simply flick the switch and connect the property back up to the battery, the battery was beyond dead…

Whilst Dylan wanted nothing more than to sit down, he knew the sheer amount of people staying on site made going without electricity for however long it took for a new battery to be installed, far from ideal. He sighed, grabbing his keys from the bench where he had left them.

“I’m going into town,” Dylan said casually to those present. “Jon, we’ve talked about getting a generator for emergencies for a while. Can I use the company card?”

Jon nodded with a grin.

“We’re going to be reimbursed well for this little stunt, so may as well…”

Dylan nodded, before climbing into his car. Whilst before they left Mossdeep a few weeks earlier, Abbee would have jumped in to tag along without another word, Dylan wasn’t surprised when she didn’t, and instead said nothing. He turned the key, and heard the starter motor turning weakly before giving out, realising the battery was dead from the car having not been driven for weeks.

“For fu-” Dylan began before realising he hadn’t closed the door and Amelia could likely hear him. He looked to Jon, who was grinning.

“Mind if Jolteon jump starts me?”


************************************************** ************************************************** *****

”So despite knowing that there were likely dozens of deranged, power hungry witches in Alola, you volunteered to go on this mission?” Tyler asked in disbelief, as Abbee spoke to him on the phone. ”Abbee, please tell me there is something I’m missing here, like you discovering you’re actually immune to this Shadowcraft business?”

“Not that I’m aware of,” Abbee joked. “Ironically enough the biggest danger to me was a glorified kitchen knife…”

Abbee knew instantly she had made a mistake referencing that, as Tyler began to freak out.

”What do you mean?! What happened?!”

“Nothing major,” Abbee lied. “I got cut, and bled a bit. I was fine, and it’s already healed…”

Conveniently, Abbee left out the fact that the only reason it had healed was Brianna’s intervention, as Tyler began to lecture her for doing something so dangerous.

“They better have made this worth your while!” Tyler ranted. ”I’m going to give Jon a piece of my mind about this-”

“Jon didn’t want us going for the same reason you’re mad at me,” Abbee interrupted. “This is completely on me, not him…”

”He could have stopped the League from recruiting you!”

“Technically I’m eighteen, so he couldn’t if I was volunteering,” Abbee reminded Tyler. “And if he did, Dylan and I would have made our own way to Alola, without any of the training they gave us beforehand. Charlotte, Justin and Chris were going to do the same thing, before they got attacked…”

”They were attacked?”

“The witches wanted Jon’s Latios for its blood, and they tried sending people after the three of them to take hostage,” Abbee explained. “So add that to the list; if I had stayed behind, I’d have likely been attacked, without Jon or Dylan there to back me up…”

”Abbee, just promise me you won’t do something like this again…” Tyler said, realising he was making little progress trying to extract remorse from her.

"Okay," Abbee said, taking advantage of Tyler's vague wording. "I promise that if I ever accept another dangerous mission, I will tell you first…"

Tyler sighed, knowing he was wasting his breath at this point.

"I've been in Unova competing and planned to spend a bit of time here so I could catch up with you," Tyler explained. "When will you be back?"

Abbee considered the question. She had booked her flights thinking this would be a normal summer at the Academy and as such, her return flights weren't until the end of summer. However, she had been thinking since she arrived at Mossdeep just how much she wanted to go home. Whilst she was exhausted from the mission, that on its own wouldn't be enough to cut her time here short. Things with Dylan not working out the way she had hoped however, was.

"I hadn't considered it. My flights were booked when I thought I'd be working at the Academy, so I booked my flight back for the end of summer," Abbee replied. "But it's looking like I'll try and get them shifted forward. I may as well be back home and working if nothing is happening here."

"Well I'll be in Nimbasa in three weeks, and have a week off competing, so how about you keep some of your time off, and we can catch up?" Tyler said. "You can fill me in on what was happening in Alola?"

"Do you really want to know?"

"Look, probably not…" Tyler admitted. "But we'll catch up anyway."

Abbee said goodbye, before ending the call, and collapsing onto her bed in her room at the Eon Academy lodge. Victini, who had been sitting on the bed, was propelled upwards a little by the rebounding mattress. He looked at Abbee, his expression neutral.

"We going home soon?" Victini asked.

"May as well," Abbee answered, before unlocking her phone again and searching for the airline that her return flights were booked with. "Jon will be busy between getting the Diamond Ladies and Willow settled in, and making up for lost time with his family. And honestly, I think some space between Dylan and I would be for the best right now…"

Abbee had been looking at her phone when she said this, and hadn't seen Victini grimace. However, he held his tongue.

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

"Careful…" Jon said to Dylan as he went to start the generator. Dylan looked at him evenly, as Jon relented and nodded his approval. Dylan pulled on the starter cable, as the engine in the generator spluttered for a moment before roaring to life.

Despite Dylan being more adept at these sorts of things than Jon, Jon had helped Dylan get the generator running to power both Jon and Alyssa's house, as well as the guest lodge where Abbee, Cassandra, Violet, Jarena and Willow were staying. He had said he would help because despite his technical skill, Dylan wasn't a qualified electrician, and powering the property had more potential to go wrong than removing power from the property. What Dylan found ironic, was despite him not being a qualified electrician, neither was Jon, and his own lack of skill in technical fields limited his helping to passing Dylan whatever bits and pieces he needed.

"This should be able to power all the lights, fridges, TV's and chargers. The coffee machine as well, though use it sparingly," Dylan explained. "The oven in the cottage is gas isn't it?"

"I think so?" Jon answered. "The cottage is about forty years old, and we haven't made any changes to it."

"It'd be gas," Dylan said. "Use that, because the one in the lodge is electric and will pull too much power. And no hair-dryers either…"

Jon nodded in understanding, though wondering when he started following Dylan's orders about his property, as Dylan continued.

"The electrician will be here with the new battery in two days, and after that, we will be back on solar. If the battery is empty we will be on mains, and if the island loses power, the generator will kick in," Dylan explained. "Until then we just have to rough it a little…"

"You guys got a minute?"

Both turned to see Abbee, who had approached while Dylan was explaining the capabilities of the generator, with Victini sitting on her shoulder.

"Always," Jon answered. "What's up?"

"I got word that Tyler is in Unova now, and making his way towards Nimbasa," Abbee explained. "So I've actually brought my flight home forward…"

"When do you head back?" Dylan asked, somewhat surprised though realising he shouldn't have been. Abbee had been distant since he turned her down, and probably had been wanting to go home anyway.

"The day after tomorrow," Abbee answered, as Jon nodded.

"I'll make sure we are around to see you off," Jon said. "How're you getting to the airport?"

"Haven't thought that far ahead yet," Abbee answered with a weak grin.

"I'll take you," Dylan said. "I've got some shopping I want to get done in Lilycove so it works well…"

Abbee nodded in understanding, as Victini fixed his gaze on Dylan, having read his thoughts and seen through the lie.

"She's hurt enough as it is…"

Dylan heard Victini's voice and responded with his own thoughts.

"I want to say goodbye on good terms, even if it's not the terms we'd hoped for…"

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

Two days later, Jon found himself sitting in the lodge, now fully powered thanks to the new battery and regulator that had been installed to replace the fried one, opposite Cassandra, Jarena and Violet. It was a meeting Cassandra in particular had been eager for, however all present had wanted time to recover from the events of the summer.

"So, I know you want to enrol Cass," Jon asked. "But what do you know about the Eon Academy?"

The question took Cassandra by surprise. Being in civilisation again as she had been the last few months had revealed just how respected the Academy was in the eyes of the public.

"Honestly, not a great deal," Cassandra answered. "Victini showed me the recordings of your students last summer against the College of the North Wind, and I know you run a summer program…"

Jon nodded, figuring it best to cover all bases.

"The summer program is the core of the Eon Academy's work. We do run week-long camps here and there during the school year, but they are minuscule compared to the scope of the summer program," Jon explained. "But the thing that makes the Eon Academy different from places like the College of the North Wind, is what we teach. The most important lesson we try to teach trainers is to think outside the box…"

Cassandra nodded, remembering when she saw Jon battle for the first time against Ethan Caldwell. He had used a Baton Pass strategy, laced with a few other tricks, in order to beat Ethan. This was definitely his strength.

"We teach this by focusing on a few things in particular," Jon continued. "We put a lot of time into creating and practising tactics, both in order to use them in battle, and also to identify them being used against us, and combat them appropriately. Equally important is analysis. Even more than the trainers Pokemon, but the trainers themselves…"

Jon grinned at the memory, worrying his three guests.

"Two years ago, when the interns were away for a week, and I was training their students by myself, I spent that week with each group, showing them footage of battles their team leaders had won and lost; and helped them identify their strengths and weaknesses, and from there, pushed them in the right direction to come up with a strategy to beat them…" Jon explained. "When they returned each had a student challenge them, and despite a clear gap in skill between them and their students, all but Dylan were beaten…"

Cassandra's eyes widened at the revelation as Jon grinned.

"Why Dylan?" Violet asked curiously. "Is he the strongest?"

"No, that would be Charlotte, though Chris is usually just behind her," Jon explained. "Really, the others are all stronger but the difference is that they all had an exploitable weakness, allowing a weaker trainer who knew what it was to beat them. If Dylan did, or has, I have no clue what it is. He even beat me in an all out battle last summer by picking my own weakness…"

Jarena grinned at the idea of Jon having an exploitable weakness and how shocked he must have been to have had Dylan use it to beat him.

"In order to give a good foundation for the tactical and analytical focus, we also spend a lot of time focusing on Pokemon knowledge, and raising Pokemon. That way trainers will hopefully be able to identify most common Pokemon's abilities and attributes outside of just type advantages," Jon explained. "During the summer, during the weekdays, we have classes from nine 'till noon, before a one hour lunch break, and two teams each having a training session with me for an hour. Then on weekends, we usually have a seminar. However, it is made abundantly clear to students that whilst they shouldn't work themselves too hard, if they want to get the most out of the summer, they need to do more than the bare minimum…"

Cassandra nodded determinedly at the statement. She, like her friends next to her, had tried to succeed on the bare minimum. She knew how that had worked out.

"We have five classes that run during the week. Tactics and Strategy, and Practical Training are run by me. Dylan handles Raising Pokemon, Steven handles Pokemon Knowledge and Alyssa handles Trainer Career. However, if the program keeps growing at the rate it has been, I will likely get the other interns to take a class each, and have three classes running simultaneously instead of two…” Jon explained, however Cassandra interjected.

“Tell me about the interns, even Dylan and Abbee,” Cassandra said. “Honestly, we’ve met them, and spoken briefly, but it sounds like I’ll have a bit to do with them…”

Jon nodded in agreement, before taking a minute to think.

“Dylan is almost twenty-one, and is my second in charge here. When he has the luxury of being able to, he is usually pretty quiet around people he doesn’t know well, so don’t take it personally if he isn’t the most chatty. He isn’t that passionate about battling Pokemon, more raising and caring for them, but he has a good head on his shoulders, and can battle with the best. He’s lived on site here with Alyssa and I, working as an intern all year since after his first summer. Cass, what I am thinking for you, is a slightly modified version of Dylan’s role when he first took it on,” Jon explained. “But I’ll get to that later. Abbee is eighteen and a half, and is a Gym Trainer at Elesa’s Electric Gym in Nimbasa City, eventually hoping to become a Gym Leader herself, and once she is a little more settled, compete. She’s had a pretty difficult life. Lost her mum when she was six, and her dad, who is the competitive battler, Richard Strauss, passed away during her first summer here when she was fifteen. But, she has a very bubbly personality, and is always looking out for the people around her, even at her own expense. And her and Victini make a really good team…”

Cassandra nodded, though was surprised to hear that Victini’s new partner had suffered so much loss in her young life. Jarena however grinned, having had a few conversations with Dylan, and figuring he mustn’t have minded her company.

“And the three who weren’t here?”

“First, there’s Justin. He’s turning twenty at the end of this year. He took a little while to get his act together, but when he did, he really did. He went from not taking anything seriously, and honestly, being a bit of a pain in the a**, to setting the goal of capturing a Legendary Pokemon, and not only did he do that, he was a part of an expedition that Steven himself went on, to find an undiscovered Legendary Pokemon and capture it. He’s extremely self-aware and mindful, and very dependable. He’s wants to become a cop, but knew he wouldn’t be able to get in straight out of high school, so managed to get into a law degree at Jubilife University, which he’ll complete in the coming academic year,” Jon explained, as Violet’s eyes widened at the talk of this student of Jon’s casually getting into one of the best law programs in the world, for the sake of keeping occupied until he could join the police. “Then there is Charlotte, and she is one of the most determined people I have ever met. Just turned nineteen a few months back. At first, her determination was to a fault, but she’s grown past that, and honestly, one word I keep finding myself using to describe her battling, and others do as well, is terrifying. Of all five interns, she has beaten me the most times. She is easy enough to get along with, but if she thinks you need to be told to get your s**t together, she will, no worries. Her goal is to compete, and honestly, if I see any of my students taking the next High Seas Tournament, it is her…”

Cassandra grinned, now eager to meet this terrifying student of Jon’s, as Jon considered his next words.

“Then there is Chris…”

Violet and Jarena looked at Jon slightly puzzled, though Cassandra’s mouth shifted to a flat line, knowing what Jon was about to say from when Victini told her.

“Chris is actually Lance’s cousin, and if I’m being realistic, his skill is mostly on par with Charlotte’s. He’ll be nineteen in a few months. The two of them drive each other ahead, trying to be better than each other, and until recently, Charlotte had the most wins, though Chris managed to force a tie in their last battle, which against Charlotte is not much less difficult than beating her,” Jon explained. “I’m telling you about him being Lance’s cousin, so you have time to process that he isn’t Lance. He had a few troubles last summer, but honestly, they were a mixture of a few things going wrong all at once, and he seems to be doing better…”

There was a sense of unease in the room, as Jon looked between the three listeners in front of him.

“I need to make it clear that Chris is not Lance. He shares a little of the same pride that Lance did, but honestly, ninety percent of the time, you wouldn’t be able to see it past the fact he is one of the most loyal people I have ever met. He is the sort of person who you want in your corner for that reason, and it took a lot of hurt to rattle him enough that his pride took effect…”

There was silence for a minute, before Violet spoke.

“Thanks for letting us know,” Violet explained. “We know how much it hurts to be judged based on our own past, so we’ll do our best not to hold another person’s past against him. We may just need some time to get used to that though…”

Jon nodded, before looking to Cassandra, who quickly hid her unease.

“I’ll ask Violet and Jarena as well, but since you made it clear you want to enrol here, what are your goals?” Jon asked. “I mean beyond this place. As much as I love having the interns around, I don’t want them here forever, because I don’t want them to need me. Same thing goes for you. If this place is a means to an end, what’s that end?”

Cassandra considered the question for a moment, before answering.

“I want my life, up until now, to be the prologue of a story that will inspire people,” Cassandra explained, as Jon nodded. “Falling into bad habits with Shadowcraft, and getting all the materialistic crap anyone could ask for by cheating my way to the top. Getting caught, and learning from my mistakes. And now, finding redemption, even if it’s only in my own eyes…”

Jon grinned, as Cassandra continued.

“The best way I can do that, is by doing something extraordinary with the time I have left, and proving to everyone, myself included, that Shadowcraft wasn’t a crutch to me, but a weight. That I didn’t need it to achieve greatness, and that I can be a better trainer without it than with,” Cassandra continued. “So firstly, I want to become strong enough to battle among the best. That even when I lose, I will still inspire respect. And I want to be able to compete again…”

Jon nodded in agreement, before continuing.

“So here’s what I’m thinking. We have a little over nine months before the next Eon Academy summer program. And by the time that comes, if you’re willing to bust your a** to make it happen, I will have you at the same level the other five interns were at by the end of their first summer at the absolute minimum. Ideally, the end of their second summer,” Jon explained. “You will live on site, like Dylan does, and work at the Academy, however far less hours than Dylan, because you will need them for all the training we will be doing. Work will be a mixture of planning, administration, and brainstorming for improving the Academy. You will be paid, minus living expenses, but I’m not here to turn a profit on you. If your only cost to the Academy is water and electricity, and you want to organise your own food, then it will be negligible. But we can go over details later…”

Cassandra considered Jon’s proposal, as he asked a question.

“What do you think?”

“It sounds amazing, Jon,” Cassandra answered. “But do you really think you can get me to that level in nine months?”

“I think that the biggest factor to anyone growing isn’t natural skill, but a solid mix of determination to improve, and humility to see the need for it and be willing to listen to do it,” Jon answered. “And unlike the Cassandra Silvers who turned herself into an Eevee on the S.S. Wishmaker, you have both of those in spades…”

“Then I’m in…”

Jon beamed, before looking to Jarena, who had listened to the exchange in awe.

“What about you, Jarena?” Jon asked. “I told you all four years ago I’d help you get your feet firmly on the ground. Where do you see yourself going?”

“Honestly, until now, I wasn’t too sure. I had a rough idea, but no clue how to get there. But now, I think I know…” Jarena answered. “If you have room for one more, I’d like to enrol here as well…”

Cassandra looked at Jarena in surprise, which Jarena noticed.

“Not with anywhere near as much of a focus on battling, though I do want to improve. But really, I couldn’t care less if I never competed again. But I would like to work in Pokemon rescue. Maybe even open my own shelter one day,” Jarena explained. “And it sounds like the Raising Pokemon and Pokemon Knowledge classes would help me make that happen. And if the League did decide to let me compete again alongside Cass, being able to compete at a high level might help with funding whatever I decide to do…”

Jon nodded in agreement.

“It wasn’t my reason for competing in the High Seas Tournament, but winning that was what funded this place,” Jon agreed. “So in terms of training here, how much of a focus on battling do you want? Because if you just want to be able to compete in standard tournaments, it wouldn’t take the same level of training as it seems Cassandra is after. I mean, I don’t push Dylan or Justin anywhere near as hard in terms of battling as I do Abbee, Charlotte and Chris, because they aren’t after the level of skill that the other three are…”

Jarena considered the question for a moment.

“If you’ll take me on, it’s an opportunity I don’t want to waste. Fact is, whilst I want to stay here, I don’t want to stay here forever, and I’d rather put in the effort now, than focus purely on the Pokemon Knowledge and Raising Pokemon stuff, and realise in five years I should have made the most of my time here,” Jarena answered. “So while I don’t dream of being one of the best battlers like Cassandra does, which means having to be better than almost anyone else, I want to do well enough that battling can be a means to a different end…”

Jon nodded, as he considered her thoughts.

“In that case, minimum, I expect you to do half the training Cassandra does. By the time summer comes, I will hopefully have you at the point where Charlotte was when she arrived here, which was still a cut above a lot of professionals,” Jon explained. “In terms of the work side of the role until summer, I’ll have you working closely with Dylan, almost like a shadow, as much as he’d love that…”

Jon knew that whilst Dylan was far from unfriendly, he did prefer his own space, however, given what Jon knew Dylan’s own goals were, and how they aligned with Jarena’s, it was too good of an opportunity to pass.

“Dylan handles the Raising Pokemon curriculum, and also cares for all of the Academy’s Pokemon which are used in classes,” Jon explained. “But also, he has a very logical and technical skillset. You saw him when he prepared the property for the fake Rotom damage. Honestly, so much of the property-side things that work as well as they do, work because Dylan has become very handy over the last few years, and if you’re wanting to start a project that requires having your own property and space to build and maintain, he is honestly a really good person to learn from…”

Jarena nodded, having spent some time with Dylan, and seeing what Jon spoke of in him. Jon looked to Violet.

“What about you? We have space for one more, if you’d like…”

Violet grinned, but shook her head.

“Maybe down the track, but for now, I think I want to see what’s out there for me, outside of Pokemon battling and all that,” Violet explained, as Jon nodded. Cassandra and Jarena slumped a little, causing Violet to reiterate. “At the same time, I’m not ready to make a life somewhere else yet. I’m wanting to stay on Mossdeep with Cass and Jarena, and honestly, the idea of living on an island sounds pretty nice…”

“So you have some ideas of what you’re going to do?”

“Potentially financial advice, or maybe real estate?” Violet suggested. “Something in that field, where I can crunch numbers. But I do need a favour…”

Jon gave Violet a puzzled look, as she continued.

“It’s kind of hard to find a place to rent when you have no job and no rental history even when you have a nice sum of money promised by the League…” Violet explained. Her, Cassandra and Jarena had all been promised a substantial amount of reimbursement for their assistance in Alola, however given the general belief they were dead, didn’t have bank accounts anymore in order to receive the funds. “Would you let me rent a room here? Not as a student, but as a tenant?”

“Oh, that,” Jon said, having not considered the thought. “Live here at what it costs me to have you…”

Violet’s eyes widened a little, as Jon explained.

“Fact is, because of my win on the S.S. Wishmaker, as well as the reimbursement for that operation, the only finance I needed to get on this place was to get it ready to open the Academy. But there has been more grants and sponsorship than I had anticipated, and the growth has been rapid enough that honestly, plus the reimbursement for Alola, at this rate, I’ll have it paid off by the time I’m thirty-five,” Jon explained. “I run this place because it’s what I enjoy doing, and could quite easily charge students more than I do, but don’t because I’m not running it to make money. Same here. A landlord would charge you enough to cover expenses and make a buck. But honestly, I don’t need that. So whatever I deduct from Cassandra and Jarena’s pay will be your rent.”

“Jon, are you sure?” Violet asked, as Jon shrugged.

“Wouldn’t have said it if I wasn’t,” Jon answered. “Think of it this way, when I need to buy another property to keep up with expansion, you can get me a sweet deal…”


************************************************** ************************************************** *****

“Considering this airport is the closest to Mossdeep, Fortree, Sootopoolis and Ever Grande, you’d think they’d improve the parking,” Dylan remarked as he drove around the Lilycove Airport’s car parks, trying to find somewhere to park his car. Abbee sat quietly in the passenger seat with Victini in her lap. She looked at the time on her phone, and saw it was getting closer to her check in time for her flight. They had been driving laps of the car park for twenty minutes with no luck, and time was running out.

“I don’t have much to take,” Abbee said. She wasn’t wrong. She only had a backpack and a suitcase, both of which she could carry easily, and was taking as carry-on luggage. “You can just drop me off at the terminal.”

Dylan sighed internally. He had wanted to walk Abbee to the gate, not wanting what may be the last time he saw her until next summer to be limited by the drop off area’s strict five minute time limit. However, it was looking like their only option. They had arrived at the airport intentionally with half an hour to spare before her check-in time, and had used twenty minutes of that finding a park. At this rate, if they left now, they’d have just enough time to drive to the terminal’s drop off area, and get Abbee unloaded and ready to go. However goodbyes would be short.

“I guess it’s our best bet,” Dylan answered, trying to remain casual about it, despite the fact he was less than pleased with the outcome. “We’ll do that then…”

Dylan drove towards the exit of the car park, before finding himself back on the busy road that led to the terminal entrances of the Lilycove Airport. The pair drove in relative silence, as Dylan finally managed to pull into the drop-off lane, turning off the ignition. He climbed out of the car, as did Abbee, before quickly being descended upon by a parking officer.

“Five minute parking,” the officer said brusquely. “Keep the engine running.”

“I need the keys for the hard-lid,” Dylan said evenly.

“Well the car had better start again, or it’s getting towed after five minutes…”

“Considering how much you want me gone in five minutes, you’re doing a great job of wasting my time…” Dylan remarked, growing irritated by the parking officer. He went to speak, though realised he raised a good point, before pretending to notice another car arriving. Despite his slight animosity towards Dylan, given how much he knew Abbee was hurting, Victini couldn’t help but grin.

Dylan unlocked the hard-lid that secured the bed of his car, and picked up Abbee’s suitcase, given that the height of the vehicle and Abbee being slightly on the shorter side, would have made it difficult for her to lift it out over the tailgate, before closing the lid again, and locking it. Abbee already had her backpack on her back, which had been sitting at her feet in the car. She took the suitcase, extending the handle, before glancing over her shoulder towards the terminal, as Victini jumped up onto her other shoulder. Knowing they didn’t have much time, Dylan spoke.

“Listen, I’m really sorry things didn’t work out the way you and I had hoped…” Dylan said quietly. “But I don’t want this to come between us.”

Abbee looked back at Dylan, as he continued.

“I meant it when I said I wanted us to be friends…” Dylan said.

”Liar,” said Victini’s voice in his head, which he promptly ignored.

“But I get that things are weird right now,” Dylan continued. “So when you want to talk, get in touch, okay?”

Abbee nodded, and seemed to hesitate, before hugging him.

“I’ll see you around, Dylan…”

Abbee made her way through the sliding doors of the terminal, forcing herself not to look back, as she sighed. Victini, despite his animosity, and comment to Dylan, remained silent. The knowledge he had from his telepathy was proving to be a burden, as whilst he wasn’t fond of Dylan lying to Abbee, he couldn’t help but empathise with his reasoning, feeling like he had let Abbee down back in Alola as well, and knowing that Dylan was only doing this because he thought it was for Abbee’s benefit.

They walked in silence as Abbee made her way to one of the self-serve kiosks, where she checked in, before considering going through security. However, she knew that check in time allowed a generous wait before the flight, and once she went through security, Victini would have to be placed in his Pokeball, which would be locked, as to prevent any sort of terrorist act on the flight. And whilst she had offered for Dylan to drop her off at the gate and go, she didn’t want to be alone just yet.

“Let’s get something to eat first,” Abbee said, trying to sound cheerful. “Food on the plane is never good…”

The pair made their way through the now familiar airport, before finding a cafe with baked goods. She bought herself a piece of slice, and a muffin for Victini, before the pair found some seats. Despite being the one to offer food, she didn’t have much of an appetite, and struggled to finish the dessert.

They sat in silence, as Victini slowly got through the large muffin that sat in front of him, with Abbee staring at the table, immersed in her thoughts.

“I wanted to say it…” Abbee muttered to herself, as her mind wandered, not realising she had said the thought out loud. She realised, before glancing at Victini, who looked at her puzzled.

“Tell him what?” Victini asked, his mouth full of muffin. Now that Abbee could verbally understand him, she was growing used to hearing him talk with his mouth full, seeing as one of his favourite past-times was eating. Abbee considered dismissing the conversation, however knew Victini would simply listen in to her thoughts, and know anyway. She sighed, though hadn’t noticed that Victini already knew she was wanting to tell him...

“That I didn’t believe him…” Abbee said quietly, looking down at the empty plate in front of her. “I’ve known him long enough to know when he isn’t telling the truth. And even if I didn’t, there was something else…”

Victini made a noise that Abbee had only heard a few times over the years, and had never known what it was. However, now that she could understand him, she realised it was a groan of annoyance.

“What?” Abbee asked, shocked at Victini being so callous.

“Honestly, you humans…” Victini said in exasperation. “You always dance around the subject, and never say what you want to say, then mope about it when you don’t get what you want!”

Abbee looked at her partner in shock, as he continued.

“Honestly, I thought it was just a teenage girl thing you’d grow out of!” Victini said. “But Dylan is just as bad!”

Abbee’s eyes narrowed on Victini for his chauvinistic comment, however after a second, she registered the second half of what he said.

“Did Dylan say something?”

“Abbee, I’m a telepath, remember?” Victini asked. “And one who doesn’t really make an effort with boundaries…”

“Victini, what am I missing here?” Abbee asked, however Victini swallowed his mouthful of muffin, before glaring at her.

“I’m not going to tell you! That’s my whole point!” Victini answered. “If you want to know, go ask him, be honest with him, and if you think he isn’t being honest with you, call him out on it!”

“I’m not having that conversation over the phone-” Abbee began, however Victini shook his head in disbelief.

“The ferry won’t be going back to Mossdeep for another two hours, and really, you only left today because things didn’t work out the way you had hoped,” Victini explained. “If you’re right, and he wasn’t telling the truth, would you want to stay here for a little longer?”

“I guess…” Abbee said, before earning a glare from Victini. “I mean, yeah, I would…”

“And if you’re wrong about this, and you want to go home,” Victini said. “Well, you got twice as much from the League as you would have earnt from Jon this summer, so what’s the cost of a flight for peace of mind?”

“I suppose,” Abbee said, as Victini glared at her.

“Then what are you waiting for?” Victini asked. “Let’s go!”

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

The ferry appeared over the horizon from where Dylan sat, watching the ocean roll in and out from Lilycove Beach. He had his car backed into a space that afforded the best view of the beach and ocean, where he had lowered the tailgate, and sat. On the beach, Walrein and Flygon both amused themselves in the sea and sand, whilst Darkrai remained blended in the shadows cast by the hard-lid, which sat closed over the bed.

To his right, the ferry depot had a few cars lined up, eager to be first onto the next ferry to Mossdeep, which was set to depart in a little under an hour, and by extension, be the first unloaded, and on their way home. The reason for this vantage point however wasn’t the beach or the ocean. Unova was north-east of Hoenn, which meant that from here, he could see the planes leaving Lilycove, and travelling in that direction. One he knew he would see soon, being the one taking Abbee home.

”I did this for her…” Dylan thought to himself, and whilst he believed it, that didn’t prevent him from hating it. ”She’s better off away from me…”

”Try telling her that…”

Dylan’s eyes widened as he recognised the voice in his head, as he slid off the tailgate, and looked around, shocked to see Abbee, with Victini sitting on her shoulder, standing by the driver’s door, still carrying her bag and suitcase.

“Abbee, what’re you doing?” Dylan asked, looking at his watch. “You’ll never get back to the airport in time for your flight-”

“Screw my flight,” Abbee said, a little more intensely than she had intended. Dylan looked at her confused.

“Why are you here?” Dylan asked. “And how did you know I was here?”

“You need the ferry to get back to Mossdeep, so I thought I’d catch you there. But then, when we got to the ferry station, we could see Flygon digging up the beach…” Abbee explained, nodding to Dylan’s Pokemon on the beach, who was now covered in sand.

“But why aren’t you taking your flight?”

“Because there’s something I needed to say to you,” Abbee replied firmly. “And Victini made it abundantly clear how sick he was of me not saying what I really wanted to say, so I decided to take his advice…”

Dylan looked silently at the pair in front of him, as Abbee continued.

“I wanted to ask why you lied to me, when you said you only wanted to be friends…” Abbee said, taking Dylan by surprise. “Why you said that, when I know that you feel the same way…”

“Abbee, I meant it-” Dylan began, but Abbee shook her head, cutting him off.

“Don’t, Dylan,” Abbee argued. “I know you well enough to know when you’re lying, and even if I didn’t, I heard what you said, when I was bleeding out, just before I lost consciousness…”

Dylan remained silent, as Abbee stared at him intently.

“Victini’s right. We’d all be a lot happier if we just said what we wanted to say, so for once, I’m going to just say what I want to say,” Abbee said, before pausing, trying to find the nerve to follow through with it.

“I love you…”

Silence fell between them at the words, as Dylan looked at Abbee in shock.

“I don’t know for sure why you lied to me, and I don’t know why Victini has been keeping secrets for you,” Abbee asserted. “I don’t know if you don’t think you’re good enough, or if you think what happened to me in Alola is your fault, or you’re protecting me from something. I don’t know…”

She focused her gaze on Dylan, leaving no room for misunderstanding how she felt about the situation. She took a step towards him, before speaking again.

“All I know is that I love you, and I am certain you feel the same way,” Abbee said. “Neither of us are fooling anyone here, so can we just be honest with each other? And give ourselves the chance to actually be happy?”

“Abbee…”

“What’s it going to be Dylan?” Abbee asked, shocked at how forceful she was being. “All the other s**t aside, be it Alola, witches or League missions, what do you want?”

The silence that sat between them seemed to last forever, as Dylan, still trying to convince himself that he had been doing the right thing by Abbee, finally lost the will to keep up the charade. He sighed half heartedly, deciding to take Victini’s advice, before looking Abbee in the eyes, and speaking.

“Abbee, I love you…”

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

It was mid-afternoon, four weeks later when Cassandra found herself waiting out the front of the locked battlefield, with Jon cutting it awfully close to being late for their training session, which she had picked up quite early was out of character for him. She pulled out her phone to double check he hadn’t cancelled and instead found a text from Alyssa.

”Sorry he’s late. Come to the house, and you’ll see why…”

The previous four weeks had been shocking to say the least. #EonWitches had been trending after it got out that Cassandra and Jarena would be attending and working at the Eon Academy, and even though the trend died down, when Violet finished her first week in a trial shift working in a real estate agency, finding it to be too boring and mundane compared to her former life, she had decided to enrol at the Academy as well, which brought the trend back to the surface. However, to their shock, the context was mixed. Whilst there were still people who hated them for their previous crimes, the bulk of the tweets were cautiously optimistic. Making it clear that whilst they hadn’t completely forgiven the Diamond Ladies for their crimes, they were glad to see them going to the effort to work towards their goals. And for the first time in four years, some of the tweets were actually supportive of them, thanking them for their role on Akala Island, and wishing them the best in their training.

Even the media attention, whilst not hesitating to refer to them as banned cheaters, was still far better than it had been before they initially disappeared, with most news outlets withholding any sorts of judgement on the Diamond Ladies decision to learn under Jon until they could see the fruit of that decision, be it good or bad. However, some bolder outlets even began supporting them publicly, much to their shock. The biggest change however, was after two weeks, being able to leave the Academy grounds themselves, to go shopping or other places on the island, and realising that, whilst they were getting looks, they didn’t have to fear mistreatment or abuse.

Cassandra didn’t have to knock on the door for Alyssa to let her in. She was waiting, and stifling a laugh. She put her finger to her mouth, gesturing for Cassandra to be silent, and led her through the house, towards the lounge room. Sitting on the couch, as Super Sylveon Smile Squad played fruitlessly on the TV, was Jon, head resting back, mouth hanging open, and asleep, as Amelia, Lili, as he called her, sat next to him, equally catatonic to her father, resting against his arm. Cassandra noticed, with a twinge of sadness, that Jon’s cursed hand remained hidden in the pocket of his hoodie, which she knew he only wore as a means of hiding the cursed hand.

“She’s barely left his side since you all got back…” Alyssa whispered, trying to not laugh. “It’s starting to catch up with him…”

“She definitely takes after her dad…” Cassandra replied.

Hearing the chuckling, Jon began to stir, however he and Alyssa’s three-year-old remained sleeping, as Alyssa picked her up to put her into her bed.

“I can reschedule, if you’ve got other things to do?” Cassandra asked, half joking.

“No, it’s fine…” Jon answered. “I love her to bits, but if I have to hear that theme song, or the magic being the friends you make along the way, one more time, I think I may lose it…”

Jon stretched, letting his hand become visible, now that Amelia was safely in her room. It didn’t pain him anymore, meaning the physiological damage had healed, however they knew the curse remained, and still had no idea what it would do, or what would trigger it.

“Violet and Jarena around?” Jon asked.

“Violet’s in town, and Jarena is helping Dylan with the Academy Pokemon,” Cassandra answered. Part of Dylan’s role at the Academy was making sure all the Pokemon that the interns had caught two summers earlier, which were used for Academy purposes, were allowed out of their Pokeballs on a regular basis, to be fed, exercised, and generally checked up on. If a Pokemon was showing signs of aggression, or any sort of shift in temperament, it was Dylan’s role to spot this, figure out why, and if it could not be fixed, make sure the Pokemon was not used by students. And now, Jarena assisted him with this.

Abbee had left Mossdeep two weeks earlier, having decided to extend her stay at the last minute, though given how close her and Dylan had been, everyone present knew why. She had returned, knowing her brother would be visiting her in Nimbasa City, though Dylan was already planning when he could visit her. Violet however, had been the most enthusiastic about Abbee’s return, having been considering trying to earn a position as a Gym Leader herself, dreaming of potentially becoming a member of the Elite Four, if she could grow strong enough, and speaking to Abbee about her job, had helped make that idea a little more feasible.

An hour later the pair were in the stadium, Cassandra’s Ampharos battling Jon’s Jolteon. After a long and tiresome exchange between the two electric types, intentionally chosen to prevent Cassandra from relying on type advantages, Jon pulled Jolteon back, figuring that they were passing the point of diminishing returns. As he took a breath, he looked up, and stifled a laugh.

“What’s up?” Cassandra asked, as she called Ampharos back.

“I’m just sorta surprised that in the four years I’ve been at this place, other than the Deoxys incident, I haven’t had to repair any Latios shaped holes…” Jon answered. “If he keeps behaving himself, I might have to stop calling him Wrecking-Ball…”

“Well, if he wants to, there is another similar shaped Pokemon who could make finding a suspect confusing…”

“Yeah, don’t tell him that…” Jon laughed. “I don’t think he realises, and I’d hate for him to start again, especially after a beer or two…”

“Latios trying to take the tome, and leaving the hole in the chapel wall was what confirmed that you guys were onto us,” Cassandra laughed. “You should have heard Jarena! ’I swear, if I find out whose Latios that was, they’re toast!’”

“I would have been turned into a Dunsparce?” Jon asked, remembering the first conversation.

“A Dunsparce that felt like they were under the influence of a cocktail of recreational drugs…” Cassandra joked, before noticing Jon missing a Pokeball. “Latios off with Latias again?”

“Yeah, they’re pretty inseparable these days,” Jon answered. “I’m hoping they get it out of their system before next summer, because we are already breaking records for registrations…”

“How many?” Cassandra asked, this being the first she had heard of the numbers.

“One hundred and eighty and counting…” Jon answered. “I’d put half of it being the coverage from Akala, the other half being that the staff have a total of eleven Legendary Pokemon between them, and kids are hoping to be able to see them in person…”

“Wait, what?” Cassandra asked in shock. “We’re nearly a year off and that many kids are registered?”

“I know, I’m gonna have to build more lodges…” Jon laughed. “If the numbers keep increasing, I might need to think about buying the nearby land, or even opening another campus somewhere else…”

Cassandra thought over what Jon had said about Legendary Pokemon, particularly two of the three in his care.

“Are you in much trouble for the truth about Rayquaza getting out?” Cassandra asked, remembering when Jon shared with all operatives at the meeting about how he had been in possession of Rayquaza for over three years. Naturally, the truth got out in the form of rumours, and Jon and Steven came clean to the Hoenn government about Jon being in possession of the illegally captured Pokemon.

“Nowhere near as much as I would have been if this happened a year ago, but as much as Steven expected,” Jon explained. “Steven took most of the heat, and whilst I was still the one who committed the crime, Steven has told them that he used his position as Hoenn Champion and my former commanding officer on the S.S. Wishmaker to coerce me into doing it. And the fact that this directly helped to stop Agatha, means they are letting us get away with quite a bit…”

Jon grimaced a little as a thought hit him, and Cassandra gave him a puzzled look.

“Something we hadn’t considered however, is the government actually trying to get involved,” Jon explained. “They never interfered with Latios, because relatively speaking, Latios is no stronger than a Metagross. But Rayquaza is far stronger, and because of the myths surrounding it, and its role in Hoenn Mythology, there are some in government advocating for me to be forced to release it…”

“And you don’t think it’s ready?”

Jon shook his head.

“Fact is we captured Rayquaza because it had been terrorizing aircraft, and the previous government were going to kill it. And while I have no doubt Rayquaza will obey me, especially now that I can treat it like a normal Pokemon, I don’t feel comfortable letting it loose just yet,” Jon explained. “Rayquaza spent a lot of time in a Pokeball because I couldn’t risk it being seen, and because of that, is pretty restless. I think if I were to let it out now, it may start acting out again. So before that can happen, I need to focus some of my attention on it. Maybe even start competing with it again to get this out of its system, before I release it. But even then, I run the risk of training Rayquaza, and making it much more dangerous if it falls into old ways when I do release it…”

“So if all goes to plan, you’re going to release Rayquaza eventually?” Cassandra asked. She noticed Jon’s face darken a little.

“Not as soon as I want to…” Jon answered. “Even if I could, with absolute peace of mind, release it now, I need to hold onto it until Giratina is safe…”

Cassandra shuddered at the mention of the Legendary Pokemon. Rayquaza struggled to restrain it, even after Mega Evolving, and Jon was lucky to have been able to capture it himself. Using a specialised machine, Giratina had been transferred into a standard Pokeball from the unregistered one it had been captured in, however hadn’t been let out of the Pokeball since that night on Akala Island.

“I don’t know Giratina’s nature outside of the influence of having Agatha as a trainer…” Jon explained. “I will train it at the same place I trained Latios and Rayquaza, but Rayquaza is the only Pokemon I have that can restrain it, and keep it in check, and it could take years before Giratina can be released without the risk of it rampaging…”

“And what if it is never safe?”

“Then for its own sake, I hope that it learns to appreciate my company…” Jon said solemnly. “I really do want to set it free one day, but I can’t take any chances…”

Cassandra brow furrowed over the conversation. Whilst she did want Giratina to live a normal life like other Pokemon, seeing the damage that Giratina did, and the people it hurt made it difficult...

“But maybe things will work out,” Jon added, sensing the hopelessness permeating the conversation. “We thought that we needed to hex Rayquaza to force him into a Pokeball, when really, we were able to earn his respect. I don’t know how, but maybe I can earn Giratina’s?”

“Maybe…” Cassandra replied, though wanting to change the subject. “Aside from taming a potential demon, what does the future look like for you and Alyssa? All we’ve talked about until now is what the three of us are wanting.”

Jon laughed.

“Really, I just want to live a normal-ish life,” Jon answered. “Not a nine-to-five, but if I can go the rest of my life without another mission like Akala, then I’d be pretty happy. Maybe I’ll compete again, and defend my title. Maybe I’ll stay here and teach. Kind of taking it a year at a time, you know? Alyssa is slowly getting back to working as much as she was before, so maybe I’ll end up as a trophy husband, and spend my days looking after Lili...”

As Jon said this, he glanced down at his cursed hand, and Cassandra noticed a slight sigh as he did. He had mentioned going the rest of his life, however they both knew that there was an uncomfortably high chance that it may not be too long.

“We’ll figure out what’s going on with your hand,” Cassandra said. “You’ve survived too much for this to be what does you in…”

“You’re not wrong,” Jon said, laughing weakly, before Cassandra changed the subject.

“If you start competing again, and the League lifts my ban, we might end up facing each other again. Granted on a more equal footing…”

“Well if you want to beat me, then stop stalling,” Jon teased. “You gotta be able to beat me here before then…”

Jon sent out his Scizor, as Cassandra grinned, remembering its battle against her and Victini. Jon guessed what that smile was about pretty quickly.

“For months after he got here, Victini wouldn’t stop talking about how he owed Scizor one for that fight…”

“Did he ever get it?” Cassandra asked.

“I’d always Baton Pass Scizor out when Victini appeared,” Jon said with a grin. “Partly to wind Victini up, and also because I think that Victini could probably put Scizor in hospital for a few weeks with how strong he is now…”

“Who’s stalling now?” Cassandra asked as she readied a Pokeball.

“Point taken…”

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

That evening, Jon sat in the kitchen, as the clock on the oven read 01:14. It was not the first night Jon had struggled to sleep since returning from Alola. When trying to sleep, it was hard to force from his mind the thought of just how close they had come to failing, and what the consequences of it were. And when he was lucky or tired enough to be able to not think about that, the potential lethality of his cursed hand plagued his mind, as did the worry about retribution from some of Agatha’s followers, as he wondered what exactly would cause the dormant curse to activate, and what it would do to him when it finally did.

Jon was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of his phone, in silent mode, vibrating on the table in front of him. He grabbed the phone, seeing it was a call from a private number, before walking through the door onto the Eon Academy property. In the distance, he could see lights on in the lodge where Dylan, Cassandra, Violet, Jarena and Willow all lived, indicating that at least one of them was still awake.

“Hello?” Jon asked as he answered the phone, curious to know who was calling at this time. The voice on the other end was familiar enough to shock him.

”Did I wake you, Jon?” Lance asked, his tone indicative that he couldn’t care less if he had.

“Surprisingly no,” Jon answered, forcing himself to hide any shock at a call from the fugitive former Champion. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

”It’s nothing personal, just a tip off for the League, but all their numbers are well hidden, and the ones I could call, are ones that would trace me in a heartbeat,” Lance explained. ”You on the other hand, are in Steven’s pocket, and have no reason to have your phone tapped…”

”Why bother, Lance?” Jon asked. ”You’re risking a lot calling me, for what? To try and win over a little favour? Restore your pride a little?”

”I said you have no reason to have your phone tapped, but I’d be stupid to assume you don’t, so I won’t waste our time giving you the opportunity to trace the call if you can,” Lance explained, dismissing the question. ”I have been following a lead, and found out something that the League aren’t aware of…”

“And that is?”

”You ever heard of Blackstone?”

“Can’t say I have,” Jon asked, before adding, patronisingly, “are they a rock band?”

”They are technically a mercenary group, but that’s only because there is little evidence that sticks to them. You’d be more accurate in referring to them as terrorists…” Lance explained. ”They are incredibly dangerous, and I have set my sights on them…”

“Super Lance to the rescue,” Jon commented sarcastically with a yawn, as Lance ignored the comment.

”The reason they are so hard to pin down, is that they are able to blend in far too well. They don’t use firearms, but instead, Pokemon, that are specially bred and trained for Blackstone’s purposes, but honestly, that isn’t what makes them so dangerous…” Lance explained. ”They have four Legendary Pokemon in their possession that I am aware of, but from what I heard, they may have just as many, if not more, as you and your little Academy friends have between you…”

Jon’s eyes widened hearing this. He and Willow had their hands full dealing with two Legendary Pokemon, whilst battling with three between them. However, a group that Lance of all people considered terrorist, with many more, was concerning.

“Are they kept in unregistered Pokeballs?” Jon asked. “The League would have tabs on these Legendary Pokemon if they didn’t…”

“If they were using unregistered Pokeballs, they would have likely been caught by now. Sneaking them through airport security is near impossible, and deep water is usually patrolled, by squads who know what they’re looking for. Think about it, you only got away with having Rayquaza as long as you did, because I presume you didn’t leave Hoenn with it until this gig in Alola?” Lance asked. ”Yeah, I know about that…”

“So how do they keep these Pokemon hidden?”

”The guys in Blackstone developed a program that will allow them to break through the security on the standard, chipped Pokeballs. The security that the League believes whole-heartedly to be unbreakable, that prevents people from changing the information stored on the chip,” Lance explained. ”So these Blackstone guys can board a plane, going through airport security with six Pokeballs containing all manner of Legendary Pokemon, and when scanned, it will come up as six Eevees, under a fake trainer card…”

“Shouldn’t the computer detect it’s fake?” Jon asked, shocked at the implications of Lance’s intel.

”It would, if they didn’t have access to League Databases,” Lance explained. ”Remember what Steven discovered about the League laptops? Like the one you found with those poachers?”

A little under a year and a half earlier, Jon and the Eon Academy interns had taken a trip to the Whirl Islands, where they had been attacked by poachers, after Latios, Victini and Regieleki. Jon had been taken hostage, however after breaking free, escaped, taking the poachers laptop with him. It had been discovered that the former Hoenn Minister for Defence, Mark Hill, had ordered at least a dozen laptops, all with access to government servers, which he had then removed any record of existing from government documentation, before selling illegally to the highest bidder. This had been how the poachers had known the three trainers with Legendary Pokemon had landed in Goldenrod City, and decided to follow them.

“Steven went through the device list and found all twelve laptops, and removed their access?” Jon said. “It took him months to weed them all out. They should be glorified paperweights at this point…”

”I thought the same thing, but Blackstone had one long enough, and knew what they were doing enough that it doesn’t make a difference,” Lance explained. ”When they had access to the list, they managed to steal hundreds of IP addresses of machines that are legitimately allowed access. And now, any of those computers can be hacked, and used as trojan horses to access whatever they want. The only way that the government can keep Blackstone out would be to destroy everything, and make a new system, with no information about it saved on the current one, which they’d never do…”

Jon’s eyes widened hearing this. Despite Agatha being incredibly dangerous, she was one woman, who had a lot of followers. But she didn’t have access to government information, or potentially a dozen Legendary Pokemon. And she was contained on Akala Island. Now however, a new threat was presenting itself, alongside the existing threat of her followers setting their sights on Jon.

”I’m telling you this, because I know they are working towards something big,” Lance continued. ”I don’t know what it is, but something big enough that the guy I was getting this information out of wouldn’t spill, under threat of death, because, according to him ‘it won’t mean anything if they succeed’...”

“Did you kill him?” Jon asked, shocked to hear Lance speak of this so casually.

”He had killed four operatives in the last two years who were investigating Blackstone,” Lance said, which answered Jon’s question. ”I’m telling you this, so you can tell Steven, and watch your back…”

“Do you think they’d come here?” Jon asked, dreading what the answer might be.

”I don’t think what they’re working towards right now involves you at all,” Lance explained. ”But I got access to one of their computers, and by extension, the League database, and know that when summer rolls around, you will have eleven Legendary Pokemon, most of which are extremely powerful in their own right, gathered in one place. And if I were running Blackstone, and needed an edge to do whatever it is I am trying to do, your Academy has nearly a dozen Legendary Pokemon, and is nowhere near as secure as the sites they normally target…”

Jon felt his stomach sink hearing this. Lance was right. They had the power of a small army, on the property during the summer, and relatively speaking, that power wasn’t secured.

”I’m not telling you this because I give a s**t about you or your school,” Lance explained. ”I’m worried about whatever Blackstone have planned, and I’ll keep looking into them. But if they got a hold of even a few of your Legendary Pokemon, they go from being very difficult to take down, to f**king impossible. So watch your back…”

“I’ll pass all this on to Steven,” Jon said with a sigh. “Thanks Lance…”