J-Awesome_One

The 2 of us went running down to the ground floor and we were just about to go outside to find these crypts but a maid standing by the table spotted us and called us over. Maid: Why it’s you 2. What are you both doing around the manor? It’s very unusual for Indriad to have… guests. Matthew: Again with that? Anyways, Indriad gave us a trial and we’re trying to complete it so we can save my 3 friends. So if you don’t mind- Maid: Wait. 3? Only 3? Matthew: Yea? I had 3 other people here with me. Maid: Ohoho… Interesting… Very interesting indeed. Matthew: What is she going on about? Marianette: I’m not entirely sure. Maid: This is perfect. I’ll give you my own trial as well. Marianette: But we’re already- Maid: This 1 is entirely up to you whether you want to complete it or not though. Matthew: Well… Alright. What is it? Marianette: Really? Matthew: Yea. It might be useful and maybe we can find out more stuff. Marianette: True… So what’s the trial? Maid: 3 maids have been scattered across the area. Find them and defeat them in battle. When all 3 maids are defeated in battle, your trial will be complete. Your reward will be made clear after it is complete. Matthew: Another trial I don’t mind doing. Fine. We accept. Marianette: Yea! That’ll be easy to do I think… We figured that the maids had to be in the same areas where my friends were at. We 1st decided to check the courtyard. As we started to check the courtyard, we heard a Pokemon cry. As we got closer to a bunch of tree, the cries got louder and louder. We soon saw who the Pokemon was. It was a Liepard. It seemed to be trying to hide from something or someone. Most likely the maids. Marianette: Ohh this poor Liepard… Matthew: What’s wrong with it? Marianette: My father and the maids have tried to sacrifice this Liepard many times before. Matthew: Sacrifice it?! Marianette: Mhm. Luckily though, it’s been able to get away every time. But I think it’s really afraid of them. Marianette cautiously went over to the Pokemon. Liepard tried to back up more but it couldn’t. Marianette reached out her hand to pet it. The Pokemon clenched its eyes shut, fearing that it was going to be harmed in some way. But when it felt her just petting it, it slowly opened its eyes. When it realized it wasn’t going to be harmed, it relaxed a bit. It seemed happy now. I wanted to pet it too so I walked over and started to pet its head. It seemed like it hadn’t been happy in forever. I was glad I was able to make this Pokemon happy. Suddenly, the 3 of us could hear noises coming from behind us. I turned around and right there, standing in front of me, was a maid. Maid: Ahh. Liepard. It’s time to be sacrificed once and for all. Liepard: Lie! Liepard! Matthew: Hold on there… Are you 1 of the maids then maid in the house said I’d have to battle? Maid: Yes I am. Matthew: Good. I’ll make you a deal. Maid: A deal you say…? Alright. I’m listening. Matthew: We’ll battle. If I win, you leave the Liepard alone. If you win, you can take both the Liepard and me to be sacrificed. Marianette: Matthew?! What are you doing?! Maid: Interesting… I accept. Matthew: Good. And don’t worry Marianette. I got this. The battle between me and the maid started. She actually had some pretty good Pokemon and for a second, I thought I would lose. Thankfully, I was able to come out victorious. I had not only beaten 1 of the maids but also saved this Liepard. Maid: Fine. I shall leave it alone. -leaves the area- Matthew: Well you’re safe for now Liepard. Liepard: Pard Liepard. -rubs its head up against me- Marianette: They may leave it alone for a while but they will eventually try getting it again. Matthew: Hmm… Lieaprd? Do you wanna come with me? Marianette: That’s a great idea Matt! So do you wanna go with him? The Liepard looked at me, seemingly shocked that I wanted to take it with me to be a part of my team. Its eyes glistened and a smile formed on its face. It jumped up onto me and started licking my face. I took that as a yes. I reached into my bag and pulled out a Fast Ball. I held it out in front of the Pokemon. The Liepard bumped it with its face and went inside. The ball jiggled for a bit and then stopped. Liepard was officially my Pokemon. Marianette: Congratulations on catching a new friend Matt! Matthew: Thanks. Hopefully, it’ll be start to feel more relaxed when we get out of here. Marianette: Come on. We gotta find your friends. Once again, we searched the courtyard for any trace of where my friends could be. When we got to the Absol statue though, there appeared to be a hole there. We went inside. There wasn’t really anything in here except for some lit candles and a mirror. I went up to the mirror but surprisingly, I couldn’t see my reflection. Matthew: What’s up with this mirror? I can’t see my reflection. Marianette: Is this really the only thing in the room though? Matthew: It seems like it. Just then, fog started to come into the area. Marianette and I were both shocked but this sudden fog. We tunred around and were about to head out when we heard a voice. ???: What reflects in a mirror? Matthew: The hell? Marianette: Who said that? ???: What reflects can only be the truth. Let us see if that can be said the same about you. Do you know the truth? Do you want to know? Are you afraid to know? Let us see… Just then, 4 Venams appeared in the room. None of us knew what the heck was going on. They were just standing there though. They didn’t try to attack us or even move. They just stood there. Watching us. Marianette: W-Who is this? Matthew: It’s my friend Venam but… there’s not 4 of them. Top Left Venam: Who cares about anyone. I only care about myself. Everyone else who gets in my way should just disappear! Top Right Venam: If Matthew would’ve been a better trainer, we could’ve done something at Amethyst Cave. But they weren’t… It’s their fault that Melia is gone now. It’s their fault that everything in my life has gone to shit. I can never forgive him for what they’ve done. Bottom Left Venam: We all did our best to save our friend but in the end, it wasn’t enough. We were all too weak to do anything… We were all at fault. There was nothing we could do. Bottom Right Venam: Who cares what Matthew thinks. I let him beat me because it was for Melia’s sake. If I didn’t hold back, we’d lose her… and we did. Ren and I should’ve just left to find her the moment we knew she was in trouble. Now it’s too late. Matthew: What the hell was that about? Is that what she really thinks…? No… No it can’t be. Marianette: Ohh! I think I get what we have to do! Matthew: Alright. So what do we do? Marianette: That voice before said the mirror can only reflect the truth. Whether that means that it can show 1 truth or many truths is another story… I think what you have to do is pick the 1 you believe is true. Matthew: Pick the 1 I believe is true huh? That doesn’t sound hard. Marianette: But that also doesn’t mean there’s no wrong answer… You need to pick the real truth that’s hidden behind lies. Matthew: Alright. Let me think. I had to think about this really carefully. I knew the Top Left Venam was lying because I knew how much she cared for Melia and Ren when we were hanging out. The Top Right Venam was lying because she defended me back in Amethsyt Cave when Zetta blamed me for what possibly happened to Melia. The Bottom Right Venam was lying because she really wanted my help. I could tell by the way she was talking to me when everything was happening. The Bottom Left Venam was the 1 telling the truth. She was upset that we weren’t strong enough to do anything but she wasn’t blaming any of us. Matthew: Alright. The 1 that’s telling the truth is the 1 at the bottom left. Bottom Left Venam: Heh… That’s correct. A bright light filled the room. When I regained my vision, I saw 4 Rens in the room. Marianette didn’t seemed to shock by this. Matthew: What’s going on? I thought I got it right? Marianette: You did but I figured this would happen. We’d be tested more than once. Don’t worry. It’s the same as the previous 1. Matthew: Ok. Top Left Ren: I couldn’t care less about the people who think of me as their “friend.” Friendship is wasted on me. I don’t feel the same way back. I have my own agenda. Top Right Ren: I was sort of happy to know that Melia was on the run. I was sick of her weakness. It only brought me down. Everything that happened to her was absolutely deserved. Bottom Left Ren: What am I doing anything for? Just to waste my time, that’s what. Gearen City is just a hole of nothing of interest. It was a waste of time to even think about moving there. Bottom Right Ren: I care about my friends a whole lot. I was devastated to hear about Melia’s situation. I always have the best intentions, even if the result is skewed. I just want to be there for everyone. The opposite of what my town has done. Again, I thought about this carefully. The Top Left Ren was lying because I could tell he valued all of the friends he had made. The Top Right Ren was lying because he would never be that way towards her. He was really close to her. The Bottom Left Ren was lying because I knew he didn’t think of Gearen City like that. The 1 that was telling the truth was the Bottom Right Ren. I knew he was sad when he heard about Melia. And I could see how he wants to be there for people whenever I was around him. Matthew: Alright. This time… it’s the bottom right. Bottom Right Ren: I’m glad… that you saw the real me. Again, a bright light flashed the room. When my vision got back to normal, there were 4 Aelitas this time. Marianette: This should be the last 1. Matthew: I hope so. Hearing all of this stuff is kind of making me feel a little down. Top Left Aelita: No 1 ever tells me anything…! I feel like I’m absolutely powerless most of the time… I just want to help everyone, ok? That’s my ambition. Top Right Aelita: I feel like my father never loved me… I know he just wanted me gone from the moment I was born. He didn’t do anything to protect me! To protect anyone! Bottom Left Aelita: Sheridan Village is nothing without Sensei. We should all just give up and go our separate ways. In fact… that’s why I was so eager to leave with Matthew. This place was just… a lost cause. Bottom Right Aelita: I found it really helpful that Matthew fought for us at Carotos Mountain. I can just use his power to get things done from now on. I’m sure they won’t mind? Maybe I can convince them to live in Sheridan. This 1 was too easy to see the truth. The Top Left Aelita was the 1 telling the truth. The Eldest was keeping some things from here and probably still is. She tried her damnedest to help out when we were inside of Carotos Mountain. All the other ones just sounded the total exact opposite of her. Matthew: Easy. The 1 telling the truth here is the Top Left 1. Top Left Aelita: A sad truth… But perhaps you can help me overcome it? The 4 Aelitas disappeared. Marianette and I went over to the mirror to see if anything changed. It didn’t look like it did but when I went to touch the mirror, it disappeared, revealing another room. We went inside and in there, we could see a white box of sorts there. It looked like the same 1 I saw when Marianette rescued me. We touched the box. A purple orb floated up above us. When the orb crashed down to the ground, Venam popped up. I was so excited to see her again. Matthew: Venam! Venam: Matthew? What? Where the hell am I? Marianette: Well your soul was trapped by my father. So… Venam: So you and Matthew saved me. Why am I not surprised… Matthew: You could be a little more grateful. Venam: I am grateful Matt. Trust me. I just… I always seem to be getting saved by someone. Marianette: But that’s not a bad thing right? That means other people genuinely care for you. Venam: Yea… but it’s not fair for them. This is my fault anyways. I went too far… again. I always do shit like this. I think about myself all the time without thinking of the consequences. Matthew: Venam… It’s ok. You’re safe now. Marianette: Plus, you can use this as a learning experience… Don’t be so rash and think about things. Venam: I guess you’re right… So where are the others? Matthew: That Indriad dude captured them just like he did to you. Marianette: We’re trying- Venam: Is there any way I can help? Marianette: The best thing you can do right now is to wait in the mansion until Matthew and I are finished. Matthew: And don’t worry about a thing Venam. Me and Marianette got this. You worry about yourself for right now. Venam: I see… Well I’m just going to listen to you this time. I’ll go back and behave until things are settled. Please… stay safe you 2. -leaves the room- Marianette: She’s a sweet girl isn’t she? Matthew: Yea. That’s the 1st time I seen her like that. Marianette: She probably just has a hard time showing that side of her. Matthew: Yea… Maybe… Come on though. We gotta save the other 2. Marianette: Right! We got out of the room and back into the mansion. We headed to the left towards the hedge garden. But while we were about to go more into it, Marianette stopped and just stared at the hedges. Matthew: Marianette? Marianette: Hmm? Ohh. Sorry. Just… this is the hedge maze… Often, my father would hide things here for me to find. Matthew: Like what? Marianette: Toys or anything for me to play with. He never was the type to hand me anything directly. It always had to be through some sort of weird trial. I’m so sick of that word now… “trial.” It implies something that can be overcome. Matthew: I think I’m starting to get sick of that word now too. Marianette: But then again, it’s been like this for so long now. Ever since… that time… Matthew: What are you talking about? Marianette: I’m sorry Matthew… I just can’t talk about it right now. Maybe some other time. I’m sorry for distracting you. We should really go save your friends now. I was worried for Marianette. Whatever happened was really affecting her. We started to try to find our way through the hedge maze. While going through it, we eventually found the 2nd maid I was supposed to face in battle. Just like the previous maid, I came out the winner. We continued our way through the hedge maze until we came across a weird looking door. We opened it and went inside. It looked very similar to where we had freed Venam except this time, there was no fog. The 2 of us touched the box and out came Lenny. He was obviously shaken up and confused. Lenny: Wh-Where am I? Matthew: Calm down Lenny. We saved you. Marianette: Yes. Your soul was trapped by my father… Matthew and I rescued you. Lenny: Th-Thank you! Thank you both so much! I’m going to leave this place immediately. Matthew: Er… Well, about that… Marianette: Unfortunately, you’re not able to leave until we’ve saved everyone. We’re not exactly out of the woods yet. Lenny: W-What?! Well then where do I go?! I can’t stay here! Marianette: You can go stay in the mansion. Matthew: Venam’s already there. We just need to save Luca. Lenny: Alright. I’ll go back to the mansion. Please though… Hurry up. -leaves the room- Matthew: Well that 1 was easier than I thought it’d be. Marianette: Yea. At this rate, we’ll win this game for sure. But we gotta keep on our toes. Matthew: Right! Let’s go! The 2 of us left the building and went back through the hedge maze. We got back inside the mansion and this time went to the right. When we made it outside though, she stopped again and seemed like she was spacing out or something. Matthew: Marianette? Marianette: Huh? Matthew: Are you sure you’re ok? You’ve been like spacing out or whatever. Marianette: Ohh! I’m sorry Matt. Just… I don’t know. A pool area is a place where fun memories should be created. I always read about people having fun with their families. A place where they could be happy. But that wasn’t my reality… Matthew: Well… I’m sorry Marianette. I wish you did have fun family times here. But we can’t stop here. We gotta keep going. Marianette: You’re right. I’m sorry. The 2 of us started to look around the pool area. We found a maid hiding in some bushes. This was the last maid I needed to battle in order to win that other maids trial. We battled and I came out on top yet again. Marianette: Yay! You did it! Should we go back and tell the maid you beat the other 3? Matthew: Umm… We should save Luca 1st and then do that. Marianette: Ok. Hey. I see a building up there. I looked in the direction she was pointing and could see the building she was talking about. We went there and went inside. There was some kind of weird machine. There was a flashing red button on a keyboard. I pressed it to see if anything would happen. A couple of seconds went by but nothing happened. Suddenly, the ground started to shake and we could hear something move outside. We went outside to see what happened. Out on the pool, we could see a platform had emerged going down to a room. We went in but this time, we only found a little hole in the wall. Matthew: What the hell is this? Marianette: A hole? What nonsense is this now? Matthew: Are you telling me that Luca is at the other end of this hole? Marianette: Seems that way. Matthew: Well what now? I can’t go through that. I’m too big. Matthew: Whoa whoa whoa. I don’t know about that. Marianette: How else are we supposed to save her? Matthew: I… I don’t know but this isn’t the best option either. Marianette: If I don’t do this, we’ll lose the game! Matthew: I… Err… -sighs- You’re right. Just be careful ok? Marianette: I will be. Alright. Here I go. Marianette got on her hands and knees and started to crawl through the small hole. I watched her until I couldn’t see her no more. I stood in the room waiting. I was worried about her. What if her father were to try something to hurt her? To even kill her? I didn’t like the thought of that. 10 minutes had gone by and I was getting worried. Suddenly, out of thin air, Marianette and Luca were teleported right in front of me. Marianette: Ohh! Looks like we’re out here now. Matthew: Marianette! Luca! Ohh thank Arceus you’re both safe! Luca: Whaaat just happened? Marianette: I guess father made it so we could get back here… Clearly this girl here wouldn’t fit through the wall. Luca: Urgh! I’m tired of being pulled around like a rag doll! I’m leaving! -leaves the area- Matthew: Well… that was unexpected. Marianette: Yay! We rescued all 3! Matthew: Yea… Yea we did! This is great! We should go back to your dad’s room. Marianette: Yea! Wait. Before you go, I wanna tell you something. This may not make sense but I want you to remember this. Matthew: Ok? Marianette: Password 1 is 7896. Password 2 is 3135. Password 3 is 8187. Matthew: Passwords? Marianette: Mhm. I saw them written on stuff while we were searching for your friends. I memorized it and thought you should know them as well. Matthew: Huh. Thanks. I’ll try to keep them in mind. Let’s go! I went outside and so did Marianette but before we went anywhere, she called out to me. I turned back to her and could see that she seemed guilty about something. Matthew: You ok? Seems like something’s wrong? Marianette: I have something I need to talk to you about. Matthew: Alrighty then. What is it? Marianette: I… I don’t know how to say this without you getting mad at me. Matthew: Marianette, I’m not gonna get mad at you. Marianette:… You promise? Matthew: I double promise. Now what do you need to talk about? Marianette: Well… everything that’s happened is my fault. Matthew: Your fault? How? Marianette: You see… I was the 1 who created those pathways around the fence. Matthew: Hmm… Marianette: You used those holes to get here right? That was my doing. I-If I had never created those ways to escape myself… Matthew: Hey hey. Don’t blame yourself. You didn’t know we’d be stupid enough to try to get here. This is our fault. Not yours. Marianette: But- Matthew: No buts. It’s really not your fault. I promise. And I can understand why you’d try to escape this place. It’s a living hell. Marianette: I’ve tried many times to escape this place and many time I’ve come close. But everytime I almost got away, it was like this force was holding me back. As if I wasn’t meant to leave, despite everything… Matthew: That’s odd. That must be hard for you. Marianette: Yes. And… I have to be honest with you about something else… Matthew: Yes? Marianette: I’ve… I’ve been- Matthew: Using me? Marianette: Usin- What?! Matthew: You’ve been using me right? Marianette: H-How did you know?! Matthew: Well your talk with your dad earlier kind of tipped that off since you included yourself into this trial. But I’m fine with it. Marianette: You are? Matthew: Mhm. I was planning on taking you out of here to begin with. Marianette: Matthew! The little girl ran up to me and gave me a hug. I returned it to her. I didn’t want her to feel bad with what she was doing. We looked at each other with big smiles on our faces. We were about to go off to see her dad when 2 maids teleported in next to Marianette. It seemed that Indriad wanted to see Marianette now for 1 final trial. Before she vanished, she told me to go to the maid who gave us the battling trial. The 2 other maids then told me that I too had 1 final trial as well. The white doors that had been locked this whole time on the 1st floor were now unlocked and I could go inside. The 2 maids then vanished. I went inside the mansion and decided to talk to the trial given maid as Marianette told me to do before she disappeared. Maid: Ahh. It seems you’ve beaten my well trained maids. Very well then. A deals a deal. Matthew: So what’s my reward? Maid: I will open up all the locked doors in the mansion for you. Ahh. Almost forgot. Matthew: Forgot what? Maid: Concerning the door located in your temporary room… You will require more info to progress. Matthew: Ok? And what exactly do you mean by that? Maid: Hehe. You’ll just have to see for yourself. I went back into the room I awoken in and was finally able to go out the door that was locked. It lead outside. There seemed to be some kind of metal door closed shut. No matter how hard I tried to open it, it wouldn’t budge. I looked over and saw a password computer. I remembered what Marianette told me and wrote down the passwords in order she told me. Each time I put a password in correctly though, it would end with a word. When I put all the passwords in, I had the words ICE GUARDIAN ANGEL. I didn’t know what that meant. The door though started to open. But when it did, a rush of cold air came out of it and hit my entire body. Needless to say, I was really damn cold. I carefully went down the steps and started to walk the cold hallway. Once in a while, I could hear a voice. That freaked me out but I pressed on. I made it to the next room and could see a woman with long blue hair standing there. ???: H-How long has it been? A couple of years? Matthew: Wh-What? ???: How is the world now…? Are any of my friends even alive? My precious friends… Vivian… Nymeira… Will I ever know the truth about them? Is that what you enjoy? Seeing me suffer as the thought of the unknown cuts me to pieces? Well? I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t say anything. Mostly because her words were sending chills down my back and I also had no idea what she was talking about. Her tone changed when I didn’t give her any answer. ???: Heh… I see. No answer then… That’s suitable… for you at least. Because once I’m through with you… You will never have to speak again! Indriad! The woman turned around with absolute rage in her face. From out of nowhere, a big thing of ice came crashing right beside me. I was barely able to move out of the way. When the woman saw that I wasn’t Indriad though, she seemed regretful for what she did. ???: Wh-What’s this…? Matthew: Geez lady! What was that for?! ???: I’m so sorry! I thought you were Indriad! Matthew: Well… I can’t blame you for trying to kill him. Even though I wasn’t him. ???: Your face though… It seems familiar… Have I seen you somewhere before? I-I can’t remember… I just can’t… It’s far too cold… Matthew: It really is. So… ???: Come forth. Do not be afraid. I will not harm you. Matthew: -cautiously walks up to her- So… what’s your name? Anju: M-My name? I believe it’s… it’s… Anju. Matthew: You believe it is? Anju: Apologies but I’m having trouble remembering things clearly. Matthew: Well… that’s alright I guess. Anju: Listen, I know we just met but I need to ask you some questions. So please… please just answer them honestly and quickly. Matthew: Uhh… Ok. Anju: How is the world now? Has it been destroyed? Matthew: The world destroyed? No. It’s still intact. Anju: Oh thank Arceus… The world is alright… The world is alright… I thank Arceus for this blessing… for this good news. And what about Sheridan Village? Matthew: Sheridan Village is fine. In fact, I came from there not too long ago. Anju: That’s great news… I am happy. Sheridan would be the 1 place that would survive… I knew it. 1 more question and I beg you to be honest with me on this 1. Matthew: Ok. What is it? Anju: What is the current state of Hiyoshi City? Hiyoshi City? I had never been to that place before nor have I ever heard of such a place. She seemed to think that something was going to happen to it eventually though. I went with my gut feeling and said my answer. Matthew: It’s… been… destroyed… Anju: That’s… Ahh… As I thought. There was no saving that city. There was nothing we could do… We tried our hardest. We tried… But I appreciate you answering my questions truthfully. Matthew: I-It’s no problem. Anju: However, I cannot leave this place yet. Matthew: Why not? Anju:… As much as it pains me and as much as I want to see my son… my friends… my loved ones… I must… stay in order to protect someone. Matthew: I see… I think I understand. Anju: Thank you. But do not leave without taking this. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a pendant and handed it to me. It looked very nice but I didn’t know why she was giving it to me. She asked me if I ever had the chance to show that to her loved ones. They would know that she was alive. Apparently, this was passed down from generation to generation and a symbol for their loyalty and well being. She thanked me. I went to leave her room but stopped before leaving and looked back at her. She gave me a smile and nodded her head yes. I headed out of the area and back into the mansion. I stood in front of the door that I was supposed to go through. I didn’t know what Indriad had planned but I was determined to get passed this “trial” no matter what. POKEMON TEAM REJUVENATION CHARACTER RATES TIME SPENT IN AEVIUM QUESTION OF THE THREAD

When we got inside of the mansion, we were astounded at how great the place looked. We knew it was gonna look good but not that good. Venam: Good grief… Would you take a look at this place? Matthew: This place is… awesome. Luca: This place is very fancy… Maybe we can find something here. Matthew: Are you still on that Luca? Sheesh. Lenny: We’re not gonna loot the place Luca. Luca: But why not? They’re the ones who came here into our turf. It’s only fair if we collect rent. Matthew: I’m pretty sure stealing isn’t the same as collecting rent. Lenny: Plus we don’t even know who lives here! This could be the home of some terrorist organization or something! Matthew: Dude, I get that you’re worried and that’s fine but now you’re going overboard. Calm yourself. Venam: Seriously! You’re starting to annoy the hell out of me! Stop complaining or go home by yourself! Lenny: Ugh! Alright. Fine. I’ll go along with this but don’t come crying to me when- ???: Who’s there?! All of us heard someone shout that. We looked around the room but couldn’t see anyone. Then the door closest to us started to shake and the door handle turned. A man came out of it looking severely pissed off. He was dressed all in proper clothing and had brown hair. ???: You insolent pests! And just what exactly are you 4 doing in my mansion? Matthew: We were just uhh- Lenny: E-Excuse me sir. We got lost trying to get home and… stumbled across this place? ???: Stumbled upon? No. You hooligans deliberately passed through both LOCKED gates and broke into my home! That is far from stumbling upon. You 4 came here for a reason. Luca: Alright. Listen up dude. We’re here to collect rent bub. You can’t just move into our turf without telling us and without payin’. How’d you build this place in the sewers without anyone noticing? ???: Sewer? Rent? What are you going on about you blathering idiot? Matthew: I’m telling you all that this isn’t the sewers. I mean hell. You could see the sky outside! ???: I have no idea why you 4 are here but I’m ordering all of you to leave now. You should all be grateful that I am feeling extraordinarily merciful today. Venam: We’re not leaving. You’re on my property and I demand to be paid for it. Matthew: Are… Are none of you listening to me?! ???: So be it. The consequences are on you. Venam: Hmph… What’s your name anyway? Indriad: My name is Indriad. Indriad Theolia. And I guarantee that none of you will forget that name. Lenny: W-Why’d he say it like that? Venam: Quiet down Lenny. So Mr. Theolia, we have a lot of things to discuss. Indriad: We do. We certainly do. Tell me. Have any of you heard of the Dual Prophecies? Matthew: Wait… The Dual Prophecies? You don’t mean the Light and Dark- Indriad: Ahh. So you do. That’s… a little odd though. Venam: Why’s that? Indriad: They’re written in an ancient language that almost no 1 should be able to read. Even though you seem to know them, I shall explain anyways. They both go hand in hand. In the prophecy of light, the world is in paradise. In the prophecy of darkness, the world is in utter despair. Luca: Ok? What’s the point of telling us this? Sounds like a bunch of rubbish? Matthew: Luca… Quiet. Venam: Matt? Indraid:… In the prophecies, there is mention of 8 people. 4 Lights, 4 Darknesses. Venam: That’s pretty cliche. So lemme guess. They’re chosen heroes and villains? Indriad: Not chosen. Only ones that fir the description. It does not necessarily mean 1 individual. Luca: And that description is? Indriad: Irrelevant. That’s all I have to tell you 4 for now. Matthew: No! Tell us the descriptions! Indriad: Quiet! You may learn… But for now, since you all refuse to leave, I’m afraid that I’ve taken drastic measures to see that you all do not escape. Venam: Escape? The hell do you mean? Indriad: As this conversation went on, my lovely servants have locked both gates and blocked all passageways in between. Lenny: Y-You’re trapping us here? Indriad: Trap? No. I gave you a choice to leave and you decided to not listen to me. I said the consequences were on you. Matthew: So then you talking about all of that prophecy stuff was just a distraction. Indriad: Indeed. Venam: Whatever man. You think we’re just gonna give up because you locked up some gates? If we have to resort to violence, the violence there shall be. Matthew: Venam! Watch what you’re saying will ya?! This isn’t the time to be threatening someone! Indriad: Do you think I’m ignorant? Fine. If that’s the way you want to play the game, then I’ll cheat. Luca: Cheat? What do you mean ch- Indriad: Maids! Instantly, maids were teleported next to each of us. We had no idea how they did that or where they came from. Indriad instructed them to take us away somewhere and that we’d be needed for some kind of ceremony. 1 by 1, Venam, Luca and Lenny were taken away. But when it was my turn, he stopped the maid. It seemed as though he was going to tell me something but decided not to and had the made teleport me somewhere. I had no idea where I was. Everything was just pure darkness. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t make a noise, I couldn’t even really breath but I was still alive. Suddenly, I felt myself move super fast and in an instant, I was standing in a room. I had no clue where I was now. When I looked in front of me, I saw a little girl standing there looking at me. I yelped a bit and jumped back. I wasn’t expecting someone to be there. I didn’t know who this could be. ???: H-Hey. Are you feeling ok? Matthew: W-W-What happened? Where am I? ???: Well you’re talking so I assume you’re fine. You’re still in the mansion. Matthew: So I’m still in danger then… ???: Listen to me. I’ve completed your trial and freed you. Matthew: Trial? Freed me? ???: There’s no time to explain! If you’re smart, you’d leave now! Matthew: What? But… I can’t. ???: You have to! I don’t know why you even came here in the 1st place! Matthew: Well I mean my friends made me. ???: Ohh boy. If father found out that I rescued you… He would do terrible things. Now just get out of here ok? I’m going back to my room. Matthew: Wha- Wait! The little girl was already out of the room though. I felt like I could trust this girl because she was adamant about me leaving this place. But I knew that I couldn’t. I had to somehow save Venam, Luca and Lenny from this place. I went to the door and slowly opened it. I checked to make sure there weren’t any maids or that Indriad guy out in the halls. I checked all the rooms that were unlocked to see if I could find anyone. Unfortunately, most of them were locked. I finally found a door unlocked and sneakily went in. But luckily, it was that little girl’s room. She turned around when she heard me close her door. ???: What?! Why are you in my room? Matthew: I’m sorry. I was just trying to find my friends. I’m trying to rescue them. ???: Your friends huh? Unfortunately, I don’t know what I can do about them… They’re not anywhere inside the mansion. They’re probably located somewhere in the crypts. Matthew: The crypts? Sweet. ???: No. Not sweet. Matthew: Why not? ???: Going there would basically blow your cover… Matthew: Maybe so but I need to save them. ???: No. It’s a stupid idea. Just take the chance and get out of here! Matthew: That’s… That’s insane. I could never abandon my friends. If I were in their situation, they’d do anything to save me. I’m not giving up on them. ???: I… I see… I suppose… it would be better to confront my father rather than sneaking around under his nose. Matthew: Confront him? Are you serious? ???: Hmm… It’s decided! I’ll help you get your friends back ok? Matthew: You will? But what about your father? Won’t you get in trouble for helping me? ???: Probably but there’s also no way you can get around the manor by yourself anyways… Even I wouldn’t be able to do this by myself. So we’ll team up, find all your friends and get out of here! Matthew: Great! Thanks little girl. Err… What’s your name? Marianette: Huh? Ohh! How silly of me! I apologize. My name is Maria… nette. Marianette. Matthew: Ok Marianette. Are you sure you can help me though? Marianette: Hey! I may only be 10 years old but I can get things done if I have help! Matthew: I wasn’t implying anything but ok. I believe you. Marianette: So if we’re gonna go to my father, we have to go to his room. It’s the very top floor of this mansion. Matthew: Alright. Let’s go then. I have some things I wanna- Marianette: Uhh… I think it’d be better if I do the speaking ok? Matthew: But… Well I suppose I’ll let you do it. Marianette: Good! Don’t worry. I’ll figure something out. EEEEEE YAY! Matthew and Matthew! Teaming up to take down the forces of evil! Hehe… Matthew: Shh! You don’t want to alert your father or maids before we make it up there do you? Marianette: Ohh! Whoops… Sorry. This girl might have been a handful but I somehow felt safer with her around. That felt awkward though. I felt safer in a house with a 10 year old girl joining me. We exited her room and made our way upstairs. When we were gonna go into her fathers room though, a maid was there. She wouldn’t allow us to proceed through. Marianette: Excuse me but I would like to speak to my father. Maid: Your father isn’t seeing guests at the moment. Matthew: Guests? This is his damn daughter. What do you mean guests? Maid: Sorry but that even goes for you too Marianette. Marianette: Isn’t there anything we can do to let you allow us through? Maid: Well… I suppose there’s 1 thing you can do. Matthew: Yea? And what’s that? Maid: Complete my trail and I’ll let you through. Marianette: Ugh. I should have known. You maids are all the same. Well let’s hear it then. What’s your trial? Maid: I would like the both of you to find another maid somewhere in the mansion. She’s been slacking off recently and it’s time for her to fix up her act. If she doesn’t… Well, let’s just say she won’t be around much longer. Master Indriad would not be pleased. Marianette: Fine. We’ll find this maid for you. Marianette pushed me down away from the maid as if she wanted to talk to me alone. I could see the fear in her eyes. Matthew: Hey. What’s wrong? Marianette: Matt… I don’t know how to explain this exactly but… the maids here in the mansion seem to have some similarities with my father… My father… He loves to put me through these trails as if they were mini-games. Matthew: Are you serious?! That’s fucked up. Why does he do that to you? You’re his daughter? Marianette: I’m not sure… Some of these trials I’ve went on got incredibly… dangerous. Matthew: So we have to be careful. Marianette: Yes. Also, if we want any kind of help from these maids, they’ll probably ask us to complete a trial 1st. Matthew: I’m really sorry that things are that bad for you here. Marianette: It’s ok. T-That’s just the way things are around here… A world full of neverending games… Matthew: Marianette… I could see the sadness in the little girls eyes. She couldn’t stay here. I wouldn’t allow it. But I couldn’t say anything now. I kept it to myself for the time being. The 2 of us began our search for this maid. Luckily for us, it didn’t take too long to find her. She was sitting on a couch. Maid: What’s this now? Marianette: Hey… Do you happen to know the maid guarding my father’s room? Maid: Perhaps… Matthew: Well it’s time for you to stop slouching or else you ain’t gonna be here long… apparently. Maid: Is that so? But why does that concern you 2? Marianette: She won’t let us through unless we get you to return to your post. Maid: Ohh… I see… A trial then is it? Matthew: Yes. Why? You going to give us 1 too? Maid: As a matter of fact, yes. Matthew: What? But I was just joking. Marianette: Like I said Matthew, they all do this. So what is your trial? Maid: Teehee. Smart girl. I lost something somewhere out on the courtyard… If you can find it for me, I’ll mark my trial as complete. Thus I shall return back to my post and you’ll be able to talk to Indriad… Matthew: Fine. What did you lose? Maid: I lost my precious bracelet that Indriad gave me a long time ago… It’s so important to me… So important that I haven’t been able to complete anything. Marianette: Then I suppose we’ll have a look then… We left the room and entered the courtyard area to search for the bracelet. I was getting annoyed with all of these stupid trials. They were getting annoying. We eventually found the bracelet and returned back to the maid. Matthew: Here’s your bracelet back? Maid: Ohh dear… Oh my… Could it be? Yes. This is indeed the bracelet I lost. Matthew: Alright. Good. Trial complete. Let’s go upstairs Ma- Maid: Actually, I have 1 more trial for the 2 of you. Marianette: What?! But you already gave us a trial! Maid: Sorry, not sorry. But this is more of a solo trial. Your name. It’s Matthew right? Matthew: Yea? Why? Maid: I sense a great power emanating from you. You’re absolutely glowing. I wonder. Could this just be inner potential? Or perhaps it’s something much deeper than that? Either way, I’m curious… Matthew: Ok… You’re kind of creeping me out her. What is it already? Maid: A battle. Matthew: Wait. Really? Maid: Mhm. Matthew: Well would you look at that. A trial I can actually get behind. Fine. Let’s do this. I need to release some pent up frustration anyways. The battle between us started. I was into the battle more than usual because it was helping me stress out. When the match came to an end, I stood there the victor. The maid seemed really impressed. Maid: Oh dear… That power is quite remarkable. Matthew: Well I mean I guess but- Maid: But that’s not what I saw before. No. What I saw… was something with even more untapped potential. Matthew: What do you mean? Maid: I can’t tell you. You’ll find out on your own. But a deal’s a deal. Even though I hate it. I will return to my post and continue working. That should fulfill your trial with the maid upstairs right? Marianette: Yes. Thank you. Maid: Well have fun I guess. Don’t die to Indriad. -leaves the room- Matthew: Don’t die to Indriad? Would he really kill you? Marianette: I wouldn’t put it past him. Matthew: I can’t believe he would do that to his own daughter. Marianette: Yea… It’s horrible… But come on. We should get to his room. Now remember. Let me do most of the talking when we get there. Matthew: Alright. I trust you. The 2 of us started to make our way upstairs. The maid we saw before blocking the way to Indriad’s room was no longer there. We went through the door and continued to follow the hallways until we were outside of his room. But as soon as we were about to go inside, Marianette backed away slowly. I didn’t know what was going on with her. Matthew: Marianette? Marianette: I’m sorry Matthew. I’m just… scared. Matthew: Hey hey. It’s ok. I’ll be there with you. Marianette: I know but… is this such a good idea. Matthew: What’s wrong? Marianette: I’m just afraid of the consequences. Of what could happen if this doesn’t go as planned. I’m overthinking I suppose… I just… Matthew: It’s ok to be scared. I get it. I would be too if he was my father. Marianette: I remember the 1 time I did this. I spoke up to him once and that… It… Matthew: What? What happened? Marianette: It left me with a bruise on my arm. Matthew: He did that to you? Marianette: Yea… I’m alright now though. Matthew: I’m not sure if I should let you in now Marianette. Marianette: No no! I’m good now! Plus, I have you with me Matthew. You’re strong and you can protect me… Not to sound like I’m using you for defense… Matthew: It’s fine really. If you feel scared though, you can hide behind me. Marianette: You sure? Matthew: Mhm. We’re friends after all. Marianette: Thanks Matt… I really shouldn’t think about this too much though. Let’s go in… together. The 2 of us entered Indriad’s room. He was just standing there with his back turned towards us. Marianette stood beside me but her fear must have gotten the better of her because she hid behind me as soon as she heard her father grunt. Indriad: Honestly Marianette? You come this far just to hide behind a lowly prisoner? Even you cannot be that horribly distasteful. Matthew: For 1, I am no one’s prisoner. And 2, I don’t blame her for being scared. You treat her horribly and- Marianette: N-No… I can do this Matthew. -walks up beside him- Father, we wish to speak to you on the status of Guzma’s companions. Indriad: Well that’s obvious. What other reason would you have to come here and bore me? Matthew, You have no 1 to blame but yourself. Matthew: What do you mean? Indriad: I gave you and your friends a chance to leave my house voluntarily but you chose the stubborn route. Or rather, you had that route chosen for you… Isn’t that more accurate? Matthew: While that maybe true, I don’t care. What I care about is how you’re treating your daughter and- Indriad: You’re no father. You have no right to tell me how to raise my child. Matthew: Why you- Marianette: Matthew… Please… Matthew:… Fine. Marianette: We want you to free the other 3 father. Indriad: And why in the world would I do such a thing?They’re my property now and that’s just how it’s going to be. You freed Matthew from their prison. Is that not enough for you? You selfish girl. Leave Matthew. Or are you going to choose the stubborn road again? Matthew: Leave them? I’d never leave them. I- Marianette:… Fine. If that’s how you want to be father. I can choose myself too. How about we play a little game? Matthew: A… game? Indriad: A game you say? Hmm. Interesting. And what would this game entail? Marianette: If Matthew and I can find and free the others, you’ll let us go. Indriad: And what do you mean by “us”? Marianette: Us as in I am including myself in this game. I no longer wish to stay here at the mansion. Indriad: Ok. And what happens if you 2 are to lose this game? Marianette:… You can do whatever you wish. You get to choose what you get. I couldn’t believe what she just said. That if we lost that this man could do anything he wants to not only her but me and my friends as well. At the same time though, I knew that this was probably our only best shot at escaping this place. Matthew:… Not that you care what I say most likely but I agree to the terms as well. Indriad: Ahh. I was not expecting you to agree. Fascinating. And you Marianette. Your determination is quite impressive. It… reminds me of your mother. But unfortunately for both of us, we had her snatched away from us. Which 2 people in this room have witnessed… Matthew: So… do you accept? Indriad: Fine. I accept your terms. If you 2 are to successfully win this game, you will all leave… together. And, being the gracious man that I am, I’ll leave you with a hint. In all 3 corners of this mansion, I have hidden 3 souls in plain sight. Only with the completion of these trials will they emerge from their slumber. Marianette:… Thank you father. We’ll be going now. The 2 of us exited his room. I felt a bit calmer now that we had a chance at saving Venam and the others. But when I looked at Marianette, she seemed troubled. Matthew: Marianette? Marianette: No… But why? Matthew: What is it? Marianette: Matthew, I know my father… That was way too easy… Just way too easy… Matthew: So what are you saying? That he’s not gonna let us go then? Marianette: I don’t know… Maybe I’m just overthinking it. It could have been because I gave him freedom to choose his reward if he won, but… No… No, something abut that conversation just gives me the absolute chills… I can’t… Listen to me Matthew. Even if we win, he’ll never let us go. Matthew: So then what was the point of that whole conversation with him for? Marianette: I-I’ll think of something… But we have to win this game no matter what Matthew. Matthew: Well at the very least, it seems we have free roam of the mansion and I don’t have to worry about being captured again. What do we do 1st? Marianette: Hmm… Well father said that he hid your friends within the 3 corners of the mansion. To the left, there’s a hedge garden. To the right, there’s a poolside. And to the south, there’s the gates and statue with the Dual Prophecies. We’ll need to investigate all 3 of these places. But don’t worry. I’m not afraid anymore! Matthew: Hmm. I’m glad you’re not anymore. We’ll win no matter what. Marianette: Yea! I’m gonna help you win! I mean, I have to… If we don’t win, we’ll… we’ll… Matthew: Hey. Let’s not focus on the not winning part because we’re gonna win this. Right? Marianette: Uhh yes. Yes! Let’s just focus on your friends. Lead the way Matthew. POKEMON TEAM REJUVENATION CHARACTER RATES TIME SPENT IN AEVIUM QUESTION OF THE THREAD

I woke up the next day feeling refreshed. Today, Aelita and I were going to be traveling through Route 3 to get to Goldenleaf Town. Then from there, we’d find a way to Route 4 so we can get to Akuwa Town to find that Saki person. I got my myself prepared for the day but just as I was about to leave, I realized I hadn’t seen Aelita the whole time I was up. The house we stayed at wasn’t big so it didn’t take long for me to search the entirety of it but there was no sign of her there. I rushed out the door and accidentally ran into the Eldest knocking us both down. Eldest: Well that’s certainly 1 way to be greeted in the morning. Matthew: Ohh! Eldest! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to do that! -gets up and helps her up to her feet- Eldest: It’s alright young 1. I know you didn’t mean to do it on purpose. Where are you off to in such a rush though? Matthew: I’m trying to find Aelita. We’re supposed to leave for Goldenleaf Town today remember? Eldest: Ahh yes. About that- Matthew: Let me guess. You’ve decided she isn’t allowed to go now and she’s sulking somewhere? Eldest: Ohh no. Quite the contrary. She left early in the morning. She didn’t wanna wake you from your slumber. Matthew: What?! Eldest: Yes. And considering how early she left, she’s probably already there by now. Matthew: Ugh. And here I thought we were gonna be going there together. -sighs- Well at least I know where she’s at now. Thanks Eldest. Eldest: You’re welcome. Safe travels out there Matthew. I headed towards the get on the west side of the village. When I was just about to get through to get to Route 3 though, a face I hadn’t seen for some time came into the building as well. Amanda: Ohh! Well would you look at that! That’s a Matthew I spy with my little eye! Matthew: Wait… You’re Amanda right? Amanda: Guilty as charged. Been a while since we’ve last met huh? Matthew: Yea. Almost been 2 weeks I think. Amanda: Yea! I gave you your starter Pokemon! Ahh. What wonderful memories. Matthew: Speaking of starter Pokemon, it evolved the same day I got it. Amanda: Really?! Congratulations then! That’s a pretty hard thing to do. You must be an incredible trainer. Matthew: Well I don’t know about that. Amanda: Have you heard though? Matthew: Heard what? Amanda: The Professor has gone missing. Along with Melia. Matthew: O-Ohh? That’s… terrible… Amanda: Yea. Both of them just disappeared… I really hope it’s just some impromptu vacation or something. Matthew: Well, I-I’m sure they’re fine. Amanda: I feel bad for Jan. He’s been swarmed with emails and angry letters… all about Jenner. Poor guy… I hope he’ll pull through. Matthew: He will be. I know it. Amanda: Anyways… Minus all that gloomy stuff, how have you been? Matthew: Well… -shows off the 2 badges I’ve won- Doing pretty good. Amanda: 2 badges! Nicely done there Matthew! Matthew: Yea. Well I should get- Amanda: Show me what you’re made of! Now! Matthew: I’d love to but I’ve really gotta get going. I have to meet someone at Goldenleaf Town and- Amanda: Hey. We’re both trainers and our eyes locked onto each other. That means we have no choice but to battle! Matthew: Whoa whoa. Ok. Geez. I’ll battle you. Amanda: Goodie! And don’t worry. I won’t use my actual team for this. The battle started between us. She definitely was more of a challenge than the 1st time we battled. But then again, that was more of a Scratch VS Scratch battle. This was completely different. Amanda seemed impress with my team. Especially since I used Equalua in the battle. Obviously, Amanda had never heard of that Pokemon before. Amanda: Was that a new species of Pokemon Matthew!? Matthew: I think so. The only things I know about it though is that its name is Equalua and it’s an Electric Type. Amanda: It’s so cute! Where’d you find it? Matthew: Uhh… Find it? Err… It was… at Sheridan Village actually. Can you do me a favor though and not tell anyone? Amanda: Why not? Matthew: I wanna try to find more things about it before it’s known publicly. Amanda: Ohh. Sure! You got it Matthew! But that battle was nice! You definitely picked up a thing or 2 since last time. Keep going like this and you’ll make it up the ladder in no time. Matthew: Thanks Amanda. I appreciate that. Amanda: But listen. NOW is the time where your journey is going to start becoming more difficult. Matthew: I feel like it’s already been difficult. Amanda: Well I don’t know what’s been going on with you but most trainers give up once they reach Goldenleaf Town. Matthew: Really? That sounds really sketchy. Why is that? Amanda: I’m not sure. But that’s what seems to happen. But you’ll really prove something to everyone if you manage to get their and defeat their leader. Matthew: Wait. Goldenleaf Town has a Gym Leader? Amanda: Mhm. Matthew: Well, looks like my time in Goldenleaf Town is going to be lengthy now. Amanda: Well good luck to you Matthew! I gotta get back to Gearen City. You know the shtick. Gotta give trainers their Pokemon and all that. Matthew: Well you have fun with that Amanda. I gotta get going. Amanda: Ohh wait! Before I forget, I wanted to tell you something. I saw Ren a little while ago. He looked tense. Matthew: Ren? Where? Amanda: He was around the resting place near Goldenleaf Town. I just wanted to give you a heads up in case he challenges you to a battle or something. He challenged me to 1 without any preparation really. Matthew: You know, you kind of did the same with me. Amanda: Did not! Anyways, later. Again. Amanda exited the building, going to Sheridan Village. I exited the building going to Route 3. It seemed like this would be a peaceful walk to get to Goldenleaf Town with possible battles with random trainers. I started my trek through the route. As I was walking, I started to remember back to when Ren, Venam and I took the train back to Gearen City after not being able to rescue Melia. He told me his plan for fixing his hometown and it was Goldenleaf Town. I was finally going to see his real home place. As I continued to walk down the route, I saw a weird dude with green hair. Before I could even get close to get by him, he began to speak. ???: Finally… After all this time, the 1 who will satiate my desire for a heart pounding battle! A battle that will get every fiber, every muscle, every thought in my body to move like it’s never done before. Matthew: Uhh… what are you on about? ???: And that 1 is definitely… YOU! The man turned around and walked straight up to me. I had no idea what the hell was wrong with this guy. He seemed very intense about something with me though. Matthew: Whoa. Ok. What are you talking about? ???: What am I talking about?! Your charisma, your devotion, your love for your Pokemon is getting me all flustered! Matthew: Flustered? Rorim B.: The name’s Rorim B. And what’s yours? Matthew: If it gets you away from my face, it’s Matthew. Rorim B.: Ahh. Matthew. A name that I will remember for the rest of my life! You remind me of my son. Full of life and full of dance! Matthew: Dance? What? Look, I don’t have time for this. I need to- Rorim B.: Show me Matthew! Show me your dance moves! Make my heart race! Lights! Camera! Action! Before I knew it, this Rorim B. threw out his Pokemon. It seemed I didn’t have any choice but to participate in the battle so I sent out my Pokemon as well. I was able to beat him in record time. He seemed… Well, he seemed he was in some type of mood. I couldn’t really get a read on him though. Rorim B.: Ohh dearest me… Ohh happy day… You strength is absolutely off the charts… Matthew: Uhh… Thanks? Rorim B.: You are welcome! Yes! I must say that my heart was definitely satisfied with our little encounter here! But never again shall I want to see your face as you have spoiled my pride and thus my family. Must respect to you Matthew, but this is where we sadly must part ways. I say adieu to this ado and to you and you and you! -dances out away from me- Matthew:… What the fuck was that all about? And I thought that Karen chick was fucking weird. Ugh. I continued my way through Route 3 but the scene quickly changed. The lush green trees and grass suddenly turned to an amazing golden yellow color. It was surprising but I liked the change. That is, until I started to hear some people harass me. Apparently, me not being a native to Goldenleaf was a big thing. I remembered what the Eldest told me yesterday but I didn’t think it would be that bad. I made it to the resting area before Goldenleaf Town. As I was about to enter though, Ren walked out. Matthew: Hey. It’s you Ren. Ren: Matthew? You’re here already? Matthew: Yea. Is that a problem? Ren: No. I’m just impressed. People usually spend at least a couple of weeks in Sheridan because of Keta. Matthew: A-Ahh… I see… Well what are you doing here? Ren: Ohh, uhh… me? I’m just on my way. Matthew: Nice. It feels like it’s been way too long since we last saw each other. Ren: Uhh… Matthew, you realize that this way leads to Goldenleaf Town right? Matthew: Mhm. I’m actually here to meet up with a friend of mine and then take on the Gym Leader. Ren:… You realize that this place is filled with xenophobic people right? They don’t take too kindly to foreigners. Matthew: I already know about that. I just wanna meet up with my friend, have my Gym Battle and be on my way. Ren: These people… They’re so stuck in their own selfish land that they refuse to see what’s beyond them. But I intend to save my own people from their own fate. Matthew: Good Ren. I’m proud of you. Ren: Which is why… Ren went into the building and then ran fast as hell right beside me. Then, something came up from the ground, blocking my path from getting to Goldenleaf Town. I didn’t know what was going on but I knew Ren had something to do with it. Matthew: Ren?! What the hell is this?! What did you do?! Ren: The people in Goldenleaf Town actually built this fence to keep people out. It hasn’t been used in years. Matthew: So why are you using it now?! I can’t get passed it! Ren: Look Matt… I’m sorry. I know you just wanna meet this friend of yours and challenge the Gym Leader but I just know… I just know that if you show your face in that town, you’ll change them. Matthew: Wha- Dude, are you serious?! I just wanna get to my friend and challenge the Gym Leader! What is your deal dude?! Ren: I’m going to be the 1 to change them Matthew! Not you! It’s the reason I became a Pokemon trainer. It’s the reason why I went to Gearen City. It’s the reason why I’m here today. Matthew: You’re joking right? I’m not trying to save your people. I just wanna do what I was going to do today and leave. That’s all. Ren: I’m sorry but I just can’t. Matt… we failed to save Melia from the fate Team Xen dishes out… Matthew: Dude, I’m telling you, she’s out there somewhere. But this isn’t- Ren: I don’t what’s happened to her. Whether she’s dead or alive, I still failed her. But I won’t fail this 1. Matthew: Just please make this fence go down dude. Ren: I can’t allow it. It’s sturdy though so you won’t be getting anywhere while it’s up. You know, this actually reminds me of the time Venam melted steel fences as practice. Hell. I bet Venam could melt even this if she tried… Damnit. I’ve said too much. Matthew: Ren… Please. Ren: I’m going now Matthew. I’ll see you later. With that, Ren went up to Route 3 and disappeared. I looked at the blocked path to Goldenleaf Town. I was pissed off at Ren for doing this to me. I couldn’t believe he would do this. Was he really this crazy to save his town by himself? I didn’t care. I knew what I had to do now. I had to go back to Gearen to find Venam so she could melt this gate down. I angrily walked back to Sheridan Village and had the guy with the truck drive me to Gearen. I went to Venam’s Gym but when I got there, the 1st boy I met there when I was gonna take her on in a Gym Battle stopped me before I went any further in. Boy: Wait. Are you looking for Venam? Matthew: Yea. Why? Boy: She’s not here at the moment. Matthew: Great. Just great. -sighs- Where is she then? Boy: I believe she said something about the Abandoned Sewers? Something about discovering a new area there? Matthew: Hmm. That’s odd. But thanks. I exited the Gym and headed for the Abandoned Sewers. When I got down there, I searched the entire place. However, I was unable to see any trace of Venam. When I was just about to give up and go to her house to see if she was there or if her mom new where she was, I saw something weird on the wall. I walked up to it to get a better look at it. It looked like a puzzle piece of sorts but it was glowing a weird yellow color. I don’t know why but I touched the odd thing. Suddenly, I was warped to another place. I had no idea what just happened but as I looked ahead, I could notice some people standing outside of a gate. I didn’t know who 2 of them were but the purple haired girl I knew instantly. Venam: This… This can’t be right. What the hell is going on around here? Luca: It doesn’t feel like we’re in the Abandoned Sewers anymore. Does anyone else agree? What did we stumble into? Lenny: I don’t know but I don’t think we should be here anymore. Luca: Come on now Lenny! Where’s your sense of adventure? There could be all sorts of treasure located within the building. And if that’s true, we’re going to be rich! Then you and I can get out of Gearen City! Venam: Ugh! Would you 2 stop spouting nonsense? We’re going in the building but we’re not looking for hidden treasure or anything. We’re going to go in and ask whoever owns this place about their illegal residency. Luca: Uhh… Illegal residency? Venam: Yes! Anyone who wants to live in Gearen City has to go through me 1st! Especially when it’s inside MY sewers! Lenny: But Venam, Jan and Zumi are in charge of Gearen City. So wouldn’t that mean the sewers belong to them as well? Venam: Details, details. -turns around- All we have to do is… Matthew: Weird seeing you in a place like this Venam. Venam: Matthew! Is that really you?! What are you doing here? Luca: I know! They probably heard the rumor about a new passageway opening up. Matthew: No. It’s a long story but I think that’s best saved for later. Venam: You came at the right time Matthew. Can you believe this place?! It’s like another world entirely! Matthew: Maybe not another world but definitely another place. I really don’t think we’re in the Abandoned Sewers anymore though. Venam: Where else would it be then Matthew? Matthew: Well… I don’t know! Venam: Exactly. Who knows how long this place has been here! Luca: Unfortunately it looks like this is all we’re going to see. Matthew: What do you mean? Luca: We tried opening that gate but it’s locked shut. Lenny: It’s pretty sturdy too. It wouldn’t budge an inch when we tried to open it with force. Venam: But like I already told you 2. That’s not going to stop us. And now that Matthew is here, we’ll definitely be able to get through. Matthew: Me? Venam: Yes. There’s gotta be something around here that we can use to open this gate. Matthew: But what? Venam: I’m not sure but it’s decided. Lenny: And what exactly has been decided? Venam: Matthew, you are officially on recon duty. Find a way to get past this gate! Matthew: Well… it’s good to see you haven’t changed Venam. Venam: Get to looking Matthew! I started to look around the place. The area where we were at wasn’t large so it didn’t take long for me to search the entire area and not find anything to use on the gate. I then checked the hedges and noticed a hole in it. I crawled through it was soon on the other side. I started to search for a way to open the gate on the other side. While there wasn’t anything outside, I found a little building on the side. I went inside and on the ground, I found a key. I went back outside and used the key on the gate. It fit perfectly and soon, the gate was open. Luca and Lenny came running past me. Venam seemed pleased. Venam: Not bad Matt. Matthew: You know, there was a hole in the hedges over there. Venam: Really? Damnit. Ohh whatever. Let’s just get to the house. Luca: I don’t think we can do that quite yet. Venam: Why not? Luca: There’s a 2nd gate. Matthew: Great. Another 1. Venam: What does it matter? We’ll just use the key to open this 1 too! Venam went over to the gate and tried to put the key in it. However, it seemed it wasn’t the correct key for it. No matter how hard she tried, the key wouldn’t fit in the hole. Venam got angry and bashed the key against the gate, breaking it. Matthew: Venam, what are you doing?! Venam: What’s the problem now? Lenny: You broke a key that wasn’t ours! Venam: So what? It only opens the 1 and we’ve already used it. Matthew: Yea well if they wanna use it and they see that it’s smashed, they’ll know something is going on. Lenny: But- Venam: Just shut up and let’s find us a way inside this gate! Luca: Aye aye captain! We all started to search for another key or a way to get onto the other side of the 2nd gate. However, this time, we couldn’t find anything. It was very troubling. I decided to go into the small building where I found the key before and look to se if there was anything in there. While I didn’t find anything in there, I could see that the walls were cracked in front of me. I backed up and bit and then rammed the wall, causing a lot of it to collapse. I peered out and could see myself between 2 hedges. I went through it and exited it and could see myself on the other side of the gate. As I was about to go out more, Venam came up behind me. Venam: Well look at you Matthew. Being sneaky as hell! Matthew: Sneaky? I broke down a damn wall to get there. I wouldn’t call that being sneaky. Venam: Well anyways, it seems if we wanna go back, we’ll have to take this path. Matthew: Well maybe we’ll find the other key and we’ll be able to unlock this gate as well. Venam: Yea. That’s true. I’m gonna go get Luca and Lenny. We’ll be back soon. We’re gonna get to the bottom of this! Venam went back to get her friends. I decided to check out this area really quickly before going up ahead. The only thing I could find there though was a statue of a Gardevoir. There were inscriptions on it. I went up to read it. But when I started to read it, I was freaked out. This was the same thing that was in the hidden library’s slab about the Light Prophecy. I backed up away from it. I couldn’t believe that it was here too word for word. I decided I should go upwards. When I did, I found another statue but this time of an Absol. Just like the previous statue, except this 1 was about the Dark Prophecy. I basically ran away from it and joined the others. They were in front of a huge mansion. Venam: These doors are locked too. Matthew: Must not want visitors then. They had 2 gates to protect this place after all. Luca: I can’t believe they done all of this to protect their place. Venam: Well they’re doing a bad job at it. The 4 of us got passed them and we’re just teenagers? I can kind of see why. Lenny: Of course it’s locked! It’s private property! Which means we shouldn’t even be here! So can we all just get going now? Matthew: Cool it Lenny. Venam: Yea! Chill out will you!? Nothing bad is going to happen! You need to stop worrying so much! Lenny: -sighs- Fine. Venam: This sucks though. I can’t even see past this window. Matthew: What do we do now? Luca: There’s gotta be another way in right? The 4 of us looked over the house to see for any possible way to get inside of it. Venam then looked over at the side of the house and saw an opening. The 4 of us went over and started to climb into it. While I wasn’t like Lenny and wanted to go back, I couldn’t shake this feeling that something bad was about to happen to us. POKEMON TEAM REJUVENATION CHARACTER RATES TIME SPENT IN AEVIUM QUESTION OF THE THREAD

I got out of the Amethyst Grotto and headed towards Sheridan Village. With a new shiny badge in my possession, I was ready to get my team stronger. With my newly acquired Tangela, I knew I had to do some training with it. I had an idea though. I decided I’d do some Help Requests in the village. As I was heading up there, I saw Aelita walking around. Matthew: Hey Aelita. Aelita: Matthew! So you ready for tomorrow? Matthew: Yea. How about you? Aelita: I’m so psyched up. I got everything ready. Matthew: Good. Hey. I’m about to go to the Help Center here. Wanna come along and maybe do some quests with me? Aelita: Yea! That sounds great actually. I’ve always wanted to do some of those. Matthew: Great. The 2 of us walked up to the Help Center and went inside. We went up to the bulletin board and checked all the help requests that were up there. Matthew: Hmm.. Looks like there are 5 here. Aelita: So we can do some of them huh? Matthew: Yea. That Hidden Library 1 though… I’m gonna do that 1. Aelita: Sweet! I think I’m gonna do the Stolen Cargo quest. Matthew: You sure? That’s in Oceana Pier and if I remember correctly, you’ve never left the village. Aelita: Ehh… true. But I’m gonna be leaving the village official. I should try to get familiar with other places of the world right? Matthew: True. Alright. Let’s see. Hmm… The person is standing right outside of this place? Aelita: Well at least you won’t have to go far. Matthew: I suppose so. Come on. Let’s go then. The 2 of us walked outside and of course, there was someone standing outside. I instantly remembered who this dude was. He made the request back in Gearen City with the Hidden Library. It seemed he had some more info about that place. Man: Ahh! It’s you again! Have you accepted my request again? Matthew: I have. Couldn’t resist since I helped you with the other 1. Man: That’s great! And who’s this? She gonna help you? Aelita: Ohh no. Sorry. I’m just listening in. Hopefully that’s ok? Man: Of course it is. Matthew: So what are you thinking now about the library? Man: Well, I think I’ve found possible locations for the library. Matthew: Seriously?! Man: Yep. There are 3 places I think it’ll be at. It’s either underneath the Chrisola Hotel, underneath the largest fountain in Gearen City or underneath Dr. Jenkel’s factory. Matthew: But I thought we determined that it was submerged in water? Man: Yes but I found something out! I studied the way the land shifted during the catastrophe and I came to a conclusion. It’s impossible for it to be submerged. It’s most definitely somewhere underneath these 3 places. Matthew: Alright. I’ll get to searching them then. But… It’s gonna be a drag to go through the cave and then take a train back to the city. Man: Don’t worry about that. I’ve called a friend of mine and he’ll take you there and back on his truck. He even said he’ll help you to get around to some places you’ve already been to. Matthew: Really? That’s great! This will be good for you too Aelita. Aelita: How? Matthew: If this man is really gonna give us a ride to Gearen City, then I can show you where Oceana Pier is. And you’ll be able to get back here by yourself if I’m not done by then. Aelita: Ohh! That is great news! Well what are we waiting for then?! Let’s get a move on already! The 2 of us went to find the guy the man called for us so we could get a ride to Gearen City. When we found him, he gladly let us go into his truck and drove us to Gearen City. It didn’t take log at all to get there. We got out of the truck when we got there. Aelita seemed amazed with the city. Aelita: Wow… So this is Gearen City? Matthew: Mhm. Aelita: This looks so… nice! Matthew: I suppose so. Heh. Aelita: Alright. So how do I get to Oceana Pier? Matthew: So you wanna go left and keep going until you see a building south. You go through that building and you’ll be in Oceana Pier. Now I don’t know where exactly you have to go for your request. So you’re on your own for that. Aelita: Alright. Thanks! Good luck on your request as well Matthew! Aelita went on her way towards Oceana Pier. It was time for me to start investigating these 3 places. I was near the Chrisola Hotel so I decided to start there 1st. As I was just about to make my way to the door of the hotel, I could see someone standing in front of it. When I got closer, she spun around. Noticing me, she put on a big smile and waved at me. It took me a bit to remember her but I did. It was that woman Karen. I was surprised to see her here. Matthew: Karen? You’re here? Karen: Little dove! You’re here as well! Matthew: Actually, you can just call- Karen: Sorry but I don’t remember asking for a name last time. So I’ll just call you little dove for now!~ Matthew: Uhh… Ok then… Soo- Karen: Oops! Almost forgot. Remember those 3 bandits that tried to steal that pigeon at the docks? They are doing well for themselves as my servants. They have promise. I’ll sent the your regards. Matthew: You don’t have to. Really. So wh- Karen: Why are you here anyways, little dove? Matthew: Urgh… I’m looking for something. Karen: You are?! What a coincidence! So am I! Matthew: You are? Are you referring to the library? Karen: Yep! But I doubt you will find it. Only certain people are able to open its doors you know. But you seem to know stuff about it. Tell me… Have you found anything interesting about it? Matthew: Er… I don’t know if I should say. Karen: -laughs weirdly- Ohh little dove. You might as well tell me. You won’t be able to get in yourself anyways. Matthew: Fine. I was told that there are some possible locations for where this library could be. Here at the hotel, Jenkel’s Factory and the largest fountain in Gearen. Karen: Well it’s definitely not here! Matthew: How do you know that?! Karen: I just tried looking there and nada. Matthew: Well if that’s the case then what now? Karen: Well I suppose Dr. Jenkel’s factory is possible but it’s too close to the water… According to some books I’ve read,the library was built away from the water. Matthew: Well someone told me it was built near water for easy access so- Karen: Fraud! Not true at all! Matthew: Wh-Huh?! Karen: Then again… the land did split up into 3 pieces eventually. It’s possible that it was underneath a split. Very well then. We’re gonna go to Dr. Jenkel’s factory 1st little dove. Let’s make haste! Karen created some kind of disk, hopped on it and flew off towards the direction of that scientists factory. I ran off towards there as fast as I could. I didn’t want to upset her in anyway and become a servant to her. A little while later, I reached the factory, albeit a bit out of breath. As I entered the building, I could hear Karan yelling out something. Probably some kind of spell. I walked up more. Karen came to the middle of the room and looked down at me disappointed. Matthew: Is… everything ok? Karen: -sighs- Just as I said. This place isn’t it. Dr. Jenkel: Hehehehehe… Intriguing. Matthew: Dude, she will kill you… or make her servant… or something drastic. Karen: Ugh! Will you just shut up already?! You’ve been screaming that same phrase for at least half an hour! Matthew: -thinking to myself- Half an hour? She’s only been here about 5 minutes! Karen: I’m getting annoyed. This place is dumb. It doesn’t have any importance at all. Matthew: Uhh… Then we should just err, you know- Karen: And you! You stupid scientist! You can’t even talk coherently for the life of him! All of you are the same! Dr. Jenkel: Someone’s sassy… Karen: Wh- How da- AHHH! Don’t ever say that again or I’ll have you maimed and bisected! Bisected you hear! No, I’ll have you burned alive until you’re on your last breath! Then I’ll rip out your intestines and strangle you with them! And when you’re about to pass out from the pain I’ll push you into the river and wait for the Sharpedo to gnaw you up! And THEN I’ll bisect the Sharpedo because it would be covered in your filth! Matthew:… What the- Karen: Matthew! Meet me at the next designated location. Alone! -leaves the building- Dr. Jenkel:… She’s hot. Matthew: Dude… You’re just asking to be killed aren’t you? After all of that happened, I exited the building and went to the only large fountain I knew in Gearen City. When I got there, I could see Karen there. I cautiously walked up beside her. Matthew: So… This is the last stop. What do we do now? Karen: Leave it to me little dove. This… is our final hope. Until we find more news on it later on I guess. Here goes! Trowen Ma’ Acneeth!… Nothing… Nothing… NOTHING! Matthew: Whoa whoa. It’s ok. Like you said, when we find out more stuff later on, we’ll try more. But it seems for now- Karen: I’m sorry little dove. I didn’t mean for that outburst. I don’t know what I expected though. Somehow I didn’t expect this however. Umm… Obligatory thanks Matthew! Don’t give up on your dreams! Matthew: Uhh… I won’t! Karen: Aww! Don’t be sad! No! No crying! No need for crying! Matthew: What?! These aren’t tears! It’s just the rain! Karen: Ok. You can cry on my shoulders. No wait. Don’t cry on my shoulders. No no. That’s mean. Cry on my shoulders. Wait no! You’ll ruin my battle dress!… Ok fine. Cry on my shoul- Just then, the ground shook a bit. A platform formed over the water over to the statue in the middle of it. A passageway opened up, leading somewhere. I was excited. We might have finally found this place. Karen rushed right in and I followed suit. It looked weird in here. It kind of looked more like a ritual place than a library place. Karen then used her powers again to open the door just enough for herself to get through. I also was able to get through, albeit it was a tight squeeze. There were bookcases everyone. Now the area looked like a library. I took a bit exploring the place. It was interesting but I didn’t know what exactly I was to do in here. I went up some stairs and could see Karen picking up something from the ground. I went up to her but stopped a few feet from her when she started laughing weirdly. Matthew: Uhh… Karen? Is everything ok? Karen: Finally… After all this time… I’ve finally found what I’ve been looking for! Matthew: What did you find? Karen: The Mega Ring! Matthew: Wh-What?! A Mega Ring?! Karen: Ohh what’s wrong? Are you mad that I got the Mega Ring and not you? Matthew: Well… somewhat! Yes! Karen: Ohh boo hoo! Matthew is such a crybaby! Wah! Wah! I can’t contain these childish tendencies! You know, I used to cry an awful lot but then Momma and Papa died horribly… Matthew: Ok… You’re starting to freak me out now Karen… Karen: But afterwards, I just started laughing. I laughed SO HARD! Ohh I get it! You want me to laugh! Is that it Matthew?! You want me to laugh!? -starts laughing crazily- Matthew: What the fuck is wrong with you?! Karen: What’s wrong with me?! Matthew! I like you. You’re funny. My parents were funny too. Here. Catch. Karen grabbed a book and chucked it in my direction. I was able to catch it before it smashed me in the face. I had no idea what it was but it seemed to have some kind of Garufa symbols on it. Matthew: What… is this? Karen: With this book, you’ll be able to translate Garufan writings. It’s installed with Garufan magic as well. So there;s no learning process. Matthew: Ohh… Well thanks for this. Karen: By the way, don’t just hand that book around like it’s nothing. You’ll give away precious secrets to the common people. Matthew: So you’re saying I’m not part of the common people? Karen: Yep! You’re special. Well I got what I came for. So I’m leaving. Ohh! Ohh! Before you leave, you should totally read what’s on the slab behind me! You can now since you have the book. Later little dove! Karen walked right past me and exited the library. I couldn’t believe everything that just happened. Finding the location of the hidden library, being able to get into said hidden library, see Karen get a freaking Mega Ring, her giving me a Garufan book that allows me to read their language and then she just up and left. I decided to take her advice though and go up to the slab and read what was on it. Matthew: Hmm… The Light Prophecy. “With death there is also life. With life there is also death. On the darkest day, on the darkest night, tragedy shall befall the Earth. All those caught in the lord’s shadow shall be drained and destroyed. The world can be brought to peace again with 4 lights not born of man. They shall preserve and save the land and break down the establishment to single layers of sand. Light shall once again be restored to the world. Prosperity and peace shall mesh in 1 giant swirl. And the land shall be guided by a new light, the strongest of the 4 lights. To rid this world of everlasting evil and blight.” That’s… weird. And now the Dark Prophecy. “With life there is also death. With death there also light. On the darkest day of humanity, the world shall shake, houses will burn, people will be killed. The land shall shift and innocent beings shall fall between the crevices. 4 darknesses born from man shall reign supreme and create a world in their own likeness. The balance of life and death shall be shattered. The balance between light and dark shall tip. Snuffed out and destroyed forever. A world born out of hatred, evil, jealousy and prejudice. Disaster shall be the only known hope in creation of yet another world.” This is really freaky thing to read. I don’t know what any of this means but I’m getting out of here. I couldn’t get out of that library fast enough. It was starting to freak me out more than make me excited. I went back to Gearen City and found the guy to give me a ride back to Sheridan Village. As I was going back to the Help Center, I found the guy still standing there. Man: Ahh! You’ve returned! So what did you find? Matthew: I found it. Man: Hold on… YOU FOUND THE LIBRARY!? Matthew: Yea. It was quite the adventure. Man: This is a breakthrough! I can’t contain my glee- Wait! Is that bok your holding from the library!? Matthew: Umm… I mean yes but- Man: Yes! Ohh thank you! Give it to me! I thought about it. I wanted to give the book to him because I didn’t want anything else to do with that place. But then Karen’s words rang in my head. She told me not to give it to the common people. Plus, without this book, I wouldn’t be able to read Garufan language. I made up my answer. Matthew: Look, I’m sorry but I can’t give this to you. Man: WHAT!? PLEASE?! PLEASE?! Matthew: I can’t… Man: Whatever then. Be that way. I’m going to the library then. See ya later! The guy ran off to go into the library. I wondered how he was gonna be after seeing that place for himself. I went inside of the Help Center and got my reward for completing the quest. I looked back up to the bulletin board and could see Aelita there. I walked up to her. Matthew: Hey Aelita. Aelita: Matthew! You sure took a long time. Matthew: Huh? What you mean? Aelita: I’ve done 3 of these since you’ve been doing your 1st 1. Matthew: Wait. I was gone for that long?! Aelita: Yep. Must have been a tricky 1 though for you to be out that long. Matthew: You could say something like that. Aelita: Ohh! I almost forgot. This Venam girl told me to tell you that she says hi and that she’s getting stronger everyday. Matthew: Wait. You met Venam? Aelita: Mhm. She helped me out with that Cargo help request. I don’t think it would have ended good if she wasn’t there. Matthew: Well I’m happy she was there to help you then. And good. I know how bad she’s wanted to get stronger for… Anyways, is there any help requests left? Aelita: Ummm… Let me see here. Yea! There’s 1 left. Seems like it’s a battle 1 as well. Matthew: A battling 1? Then that must mean- ???: Matthew? Is that you? Aelita and I turned around to find a girl walking up to us. I smiled when I saw who it was. It was Novae. She gave me a tough Pokemon battle before. Seems she wanted to have another 1. Matthew: It’s been a while since our last battle Novae. Novae: I’m so happy you’re the 1 who accepted my help request. Hmm? Who’s your friend? Aelita: My name’s Aelita! I’m gonna be Matthew’s travelling partner starting tomorrow. Novae: Well that certainly sounds like fun. So for our battle, I, unfortunately, couldn’t reserve the battle square for out battle. But maybe we can battle in Amethyst Cave? Matthew: Sure! I’ll battle you anywhere! Aelita: Can I come too? I can referee the match. Novae: Sure! That’d be great! The 3 of us exited the building and headed down to the Amethyst Cave. When we got inside, we went down the steps and Novae and I got into position standing far apart from each other. Aelita stood in the middle to referee this match. Aelita: Alright! This match will be a 6 on 6 Singles battle! The person to knock out the opponents team will be the winner! Matthew: Good luck Novae! Novae: You too Matthew! Aelita: Battle begin! The 2 of us threw out a PokeBall and the battle began. This was an extremely close match. It seemed whenever I would knock out 1 of her Pokemon, she’d retaliate and do the same to me. Fortunately for me though, I had 1 Pokemon standing at the end of the battle. I was very impressed with how good Novae had become since the last time we battled. Aelita: Battle’s over! The winner of this match is Matthew! Novae: Looks like I lose again Matthew. Matthew: Yea but wow. You made me work for it. That was 1 hell of a battle. Aelita: You both were so great! This is 1 of the reasons I can’t wait to go out adventuring with you Matthew. Novae: Well I think I’m gonna head out Matthew. It was nice meeting you Aelita. Bye you guys! Aelita: See ya! Matthew: May our paths cross again! Novae walked out of the cave and soon, Aelita and I followed suit. I went to the Help Center to claim my reward. The 2 of us then went back to her house to rest up. It was starting to get late outside. I could tell Aelita was getting really excited about the next day. Matthew: Heh. You should calm down Aelita. Aelita: I can’t help it! I finally get to go out tomorrow! I should thank you Matthew. Matthew: Huh? For what? Aelita: If you hadn’t come into my life, none of this would have happened. Matthew: Ohh. Well you’re welcome. Aelita: Well I’m gonna try to get some sleep for tomorrow. Night Matthew. Matthew: Good night Aelita. POKEMON TEAM REJUVENATION CHARACTER RATES TIME SPENT IN AEVIUM QUESTION OF THE THREAD

I am SO ready to play more of this game!

Matthew: et! Whoa… Uhh… When I popped back into existence, I was in a room with 4 other people. I recognized 3 of the people, which were Team Xen Admins, but I didn’t recognize the other person but I figured he was apart of them too. Then I realized I must have been teleported into some kind of Xen headquarters. I was cornered. Matthew: Uhh… Hi guys? ???: What the?! Madelis: That’s 1 of them! That’s Matthew! ???: It’s you! ???: I’m gonna get them! Don’t worry! Almost as soon as that person said that, I was once again teleported. At this point, I felt exhausted. As if I was about to faint or something. Next thing I knew, I felt myself being thrown onto the ground and someone running over to me and yelling my name. I wanted to say something back but I just couldn’t. Then I completely passed out. When I came to, I was in a bed. I slowly sat up in bed, looking around my surroundings. This place seemed familiar to me though. Then I remembered. This was that Eldest lady’s place. I was finally back somewhere I knew I was. Just then, Aelita and the Eldest came walking into the room. When Aelita saw me awake and alert, sitting up in bed, she ran over to me and gave me a hug. Matthew: Geez. You sure missed me huh? Aelita: Well of course I did! I was worried sick about you! Matthew: Worried sick? For what? I was only gone maybe a couple of minutes. Aelita: A… couple of minutes? Matthew: Yea… What’s wrong? Eldest: Matthew, you’ve been missing for a week now. Matthew: Wait. What?! I’ve been gone for a week?! Is that what you’re saying?! Aelita: Well technically, 8 days since we found you in the evening yesterday. Matthew: No way… 8 days… I… I didn’t know. Aelita: It’s ok Matthew. The important thing is that we’re both alright now. Matthew: Yea… Yea you’re right. Eldest: What happened to you anyways? Matthew: Hmm… This Crescent girl had her Gothitelle teleport me somewhere. 1st I was in an area with at least 4 Team Xen Grunts and then the next minute I was thrown here. Aelita: Are you ok? Matthew: I’m fine now but wow. What a wild ride that was. A ride I wish not to partake ever again. Wait… Aelita are you doing ok? I mean- Aelita: Because of my father’s death right? Matthew: Sorry… I shouldn’t have asked. Aelita: No. It’s alright. I am fine. It’s hard to just forget about it but… I know he’s done some terrible things but I don’t think he wanted to do them in the 1st place. Matthew: Yea. I get that feeling too. Plus, if it weren’t for him… I don’t know what would have happened. Aelita: Mhm. So I’ve decided to be strong and carry his legacy for him. I think it’s what he would have wanted anyway. Matthew: I think he’d like that. Eldest: If I may butt in for just a moment, for the week you’ve been away Matthew, we have done some research on Shadow Pokemon. And We have found something that can purify them. Matthew: Seriously?! You can?! Eldest: If the 2 of you would, come follow me. The Eldest exited the room and the 2 of us followed her. I was excited at the possibility of purifying the Shadow Pokemon I’ve caught so far. I wanted them to have their hearts opened. She took us to a statue of Celebi in the front of the village. Aelita and I were kind of confused on why we were here. Eldest: It was once said that Sheridan Village had the power to open one’s heart and mind. That power is indeed hidden somewhere in Sheridan. Matthew: Why’s it hidden in the 1st place? Eldest: It is something to be protected. It’s crucial we do in fact. People have tried to steal this power in the past, which forced us to close off this area completely. Aelita: Ohh the irony. A place where you open yourselves up has been closed itself. Eldest: In a way it is but that time has come to an end. Come with me the 2 of you. Aelita: -walks up to the Celebi statue with the Eldest and Matthew- Soo… I don’t really understand. This is just a clay figure of some Pokemon. Matthew: Yea. What’s so special about this? Eldest: Ahh. But it is not just any clay figure. This is actually the gateway into a place called Purity Grove. Matthew: Purity Grove huh? Aelita: A gateway? Eldest: Yes. Its body is imbued with spiritual energy. Only those with permission from me are able to use this power. We shall all touch the clay figure on its head and- Ager Subcinctus! All 3 of us touched the clay figure’s head and we were transported to somewhere else. Aelita and I were amazed at this place. It seemed like it was under attack with some pillars being broken and fallen over. We followed the Eldest up more into the area. This was all amazing. Matthew: Wow… This place is incredible. Aelita: Yea. Who would’ve thought a place like this was hidden somewhere in Sheridan? There are so many secrets to uncover in this world! Eldest: I would like to welcome you both to the Spring of Purification. This is the sacred grove Sheridan Village has protected for hundreds of years. The spring isn’t as powerful as it once was many years ago. However… this is where you’ll be able to purify any Shadow Pokemon you come across. Matthew: This is… Yes! Alright! Let’s do this right now! Eldest: Hold on. Before we are able to do that, we must bless this area by calling the Voice of the Forest. Aelita: The Voice of the Forest…? Eldest: Mhm. It’s a temporal being that shares its power to purify evil beings. It is the reason why this place exists. Aelita: So what do we have to do to call it? Matthew: Yea. Let’s do this already! Eldest: Patience young 1. I will show you. The Eldest looked over to another Celebi statue and just stared at it. Aelita and I were a little confused at how this was doing anything. Aelita: Uhh… Nothing seems to be happening Eldest. Eldest: Patience. The Voice of the Forest isn’t native to the Floria District of Aevium. It will take just a little while for it to get here. Suddenly, we heard a Pokemon cry. Aelita and I looked all over the place but couldn’t see anything. Then, right in front of us, a Celebi appeared. It looked different than usual though. Instead of being green, it was blue. Matthew: That’s a- Eldest: Celebi, Voice of the Forest. Please bless this shrine so that we may purify Shadow Pokemon. Celebi waved its hands around. A quick flash of light lit the entire area and then vanished. The Eldest thanked it for its hard work and then the Pokemon flew off. Matthew: That’s all it took? Aelita: And it’s leaving just like that? Eldest: Yes and Celebi cannot stay in 1 place for too long. After all, it looks over all of Aevium with its power to travel across time. It must return home where it belongs. Matthew: Does this mean that I can now naturally purify any Shadow Pokemon now? Eldest: When a Shadow Pokemon’s heart is completely open, then yes. Aelita: That’s great to hear! Matthew: This is seriously so awesome! Thank you both so much! Aelita: You’re even more powerful than ever now Matthew! Matthew: What do you mean? I’m only gonna keep them if they want to stay with me. Eldest: What do you mean? Matthew: These Pokemon may have been taken from their homes or from their trainers. Once I purify them, I will give them the chance if they want to stay with me or go back to the wild or their trainers. Aelita: Are you sure about that Matthew? Matthew: Yes. Eldest: I must say, that’s quite respectable of you Matthew. Most other trainers would just take them and not put their feelings into consideration. Aelita: I see. You are a very kind person Matthew. But… I suppose you’ll be done here soon won’t you? Matthew: I mean I still gotta do some stuff here but yea. Soon I’ll have to leave. Aelita: So you’ll be continuing your journey then… I just want yo wish you the best ok? Matthew: Thanks Aelita. Aelita: A-And besides, you’ll probably be visiting even more now since you’ll be needing to purify Shadow Pokemon… Hey! Wait! Matt, isn’t your Snag Machine broken?! Matthew: Wha… Ohh yea! That damn Madelis did something to it! How am I supposed to rescue Shadow Pokemon now?! Aelita: Didn’t she jam your signal or something like that? Matthew: I think so. Ugh! What do I do now?! Eldest: Calm down you 2. I might have a solution to your problem. Aelita: Huh? You do? Matthew: Sweet! You’re the best Eldest! So what is it? Eldest: I heard that there’s a famous engineer visiting Akuwa Town at the moment. I believe her name was… Saki Blakeory? Matthew: Saki Blakeory?… Why does that name sound familiar to me? Eldest: In any case, she might be able to help you fix that Snag Machine. Aelita: Oh you’re a genius Eldest! Eldest: Aelita… why don’t you go along as well? Aelita seemed really happy to hear this. I could tell she wanted to go out and see the world or at least a bit of it. And to be honest, I was hoping for a traveling companion and she seemed like a fun person to be around with. Aelita: Do… Do you really mean it? I can really go?! But wait. What about the village? What will they do without a Sensei? Eldest: Survive. We will survive. I will look after the village until you return. Aelita: Oh thank you Eldest! You won’t regret thi- Uhh… Wait. I got so caught up in the moment that I didn’t even consider what you wanted Matthew. Do you mind if I come along? Matthew: Do I mind? I’d love for you to come along! Aelita: Yes! Yes yes yes! But umm… Eldest: What is it child? Aelita: I’ve never left the village before. I’m not exactly sure how to get to Akuwa Town. Matthew: I… don’t either. Eldest: Matthew, get your CyberNav out for us please? I did as she wanted and took out my CyberNav and opened up the map app. The Eldest explained to us how Akuwa Town was up north. There was once upon a time where people could take a train from East Gearen City but that wasn’t there anymore. So we had to take Route 3 to get to a town called Goldenleaf Town and then from there, we’d have to go onto Route 4 to get there. The Eldest was about to say something to us but Aelita was too impatient and rushed off to get her things ready for the adventure. Matthew: -chuckles- She seems like she’ll be a handful but I’m fine with that. Eldest: -sighs- Once Aelita is fixed on something, it’s hard to stop her. She reminds me so much of Vivian… Matthew: Who? Eldest: Hmm? Ohh. Nevermind that. But listen. I was going to tell you both this but since Aelita rushed off, I’ll just have to tell you. Matthew: What is it? Eldest: Like I mentioned before, you’ll have to go through Goldenleaf Town. The people there… aren’t really too keen on visitors. Matthew: Why? Eldest: I’m not sure but the 2 of you need to take care of each other. Matthew: Will do. Uhh… How do I get out of here by the way? Eldest: Simply walk on the red cube you appeared on before. Matthew: Ahh. Alright. Thanks. I’ll be seeing you soon! I went back to the red cube the Eldest told me would warp me back to Sheridan Village and stepped on it. I was instantly warped back to the village. Luckily, Aelita was still on the bridge. I called out to her before she went anywhere else. Matthew: Aelita! Aelita: Hmm? Ohh Matt. What is it? Matthew: I know you want to pack to go on this adventure with me but can you help me with something 1st? Aelita: Sure. What do you need help with? Matthew: I’m gonna give you some Shadow Pokemon and you’re gonna help me open their hearts up. Aelita: What?! Are you sure that can work? Matthew: We won’t know til we try right? Aelita: Well… Alright! I’ll help you out Matthew! The 2 of us went to the PokeCenter. I went to the PC and got out all of the Shadow Pokemon and gave some to Aelita. We did everything we could to open their hearts fast. Battled with them. Walked around with them. Anything we could do to help them. After a couple of hours doing that, we decided to go back to the Purity Grove and see if we could actually purify all of these Pokemon. We called them all out. The Eldest was able to purify them. I couldn’t believe it. All of them were purified. No longer Shadow Pokemon. I was so excited. Matthew: Th… They’re back to normal… They’re back to normal! Aelita: So it really does work! Eldest: I am relieved that all of these Pokemon are back to their normal state. Matthew: Alright. Listen to me. All of you. You are no longer in any danger. You have been freed. I shall give you a choice now. You can either stay with me if you so choose to or you can go out there and go back to the wild and or look for the ones you were taken from. Make your choices now. The Pokemon looked at me in a very appreciative manner. Almost all of them went over to the red cube and exited this place. Only 1 Pokemon stayed behind and it was the Tangela I caught back in the Team Xen base in Carostos Mountain. Matthew: Well then Tangela, does that mean you wanna stay with me? Tangela: -jumps up and down while yelping happily- Matthew: Alright then. Welcome to the team… Tangy. Eldest: Tangy? Matthew: Yea. I give all my Pokemon nicknames. Well… except 1. Aelita: Aww! That’s adorable! Matthew: Heh. I guess. Now return Tangy! -returns Tangela to its PokeBall- Aelita: Well now that that’s all out of the way, I’m gonna go pack up now. See you later Matthew. Matthew: Later Aelita. And thank you again Eldest. Eldest: No problem Matthew. I hope your adventures are safe and exciting. I exited the place and was just about to go do some stuff when all of a sudden, something appeared before me. It took me a few seconds to figure it out but it was Keta’s soul that was standing in front of me. I thought that when Keta died, it would go with him. Matthew: Keta? The soul of Keta? Why are you here? How- Keta: You’ve done well Matthew. If you would, I’d like to talk to you in Amethyst Grotto. Please don’t keep me waiting. Matthew: Wait! Keta then disappeared. It seemed I didn’t have any other choice but to go to Amethyst Grotto and see him. So I rushed into the Amethyst Cave and got to Amethyst Grotto. I walked up to where we had talked last time and sure enough, he was there. Keta: It’s been a long time Matthew. Matthew: Keta… How is your soul still here? Keta: While my body may have died, I am still restless. I feel like there’s something left for me to do here. Matthew: Ahh. I see. Keta: Matthew, although you could not see me, I could see you and what you were able to accomplish. While it is unfortunate that I could not walk out with you and Aelita alive, this is fine. We were prepared for this outcome. But now… what does this mean for you? Matthew: Huh? What do you mean? Keta: You did not receive a badge from me when you beat me before correct? Matthew: Ohh… yea… I forgot about that. Keta:… Fine. It is settled then. Matthew: Settled? How? What can you do? Keta: I wish to leave the realm of the living. Matthew: Wait. Is this the reason you feel restless? Why you can’t leave this world? Keta: It appears so. If you are able to put my soul to rest with a battle, I shall create a new badge for you. Matthew: -chuckles- Well alright then! Let’s do this! I went to the other side of the thing on the ground and the battle began. Unlike last time, he didn’t use all Fighting Type Pokemon. They were all different but that didn’t bother me. He was actually quite a tough opponent but in the end, I was able to come out with the victory. Keta seemed pleased with the outcome of the battle. I walked up to him afterwards. Keta: I see… So this is how it will be. Yes. For once I can see the light. A warm light that engulfs my soul. Matthew: You feeling alright Keta? Keta: Yes. I no longer have any regrets in this world. You deserve this Matthew. Matthew: -hands me the Diamond Punch badge- Thanks Keta. Keta: I am grateful for all that you have done for me. However, the world is still at peril. Team Xen must be stopped. -starts disappearing- Because if you don’t… Everything will cease to exist. Matthew: Don’t worry Keta… I will. I looked upwards for a couple of seconds. It kind of felt weird seeing him here again even though it wasn’t really him but it was nice to say good bye with a battle. Just as I was about to leave though, the ground started to rumble. I had no idea what was going on. Then on 1 of the podiums, a statue of some sort appeared out of nowhere. It looked like Keta and the limbs of the Dimensional Volcanion. It was weird. I didn’t know why it just showed up. Matthew: What the hell does this mean?… Something tells me more are gonna appear here sometime in the future. As I continued staring at it, I heard the noise a PokeBall makes when a Pokemon comes out of it. I turned around and was shocked to see my Gible out if its PokeBall. It never did that. Matthew: Heh. So you’ve popped out of your ball huh Taka? You don’t usually do that. Gible: Gible Gib. Matthew: I know. That statue… thing is weird right? I don’t- Huh? Gible started to glow a light blue color. I didn’t know what was going on but then I remembered back at Venam’s gym when Chimchar evolved into Monferno. Then I realized that Gible was starting to evolve too. I smiled as I watched it evolve into a powerful looking Gabite. Matthew: Well well well. You finally evolved. Gabite: Gabite! Matthew: Alright! This is awesome! You ready for more adventure buddy!? Gabite: Gabite bite! POKEMON TEAM REJUVENATION CHARACTER RATES TIME SPENT IN AEVIUM QUESTION OF THE THREAD

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

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

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

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

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