After a while, it was already the next day, Amethio gradually woke up again. He hadn't really been able, to sleep after all, as he had originally hoped. The teen was still too preoccupied with yesterday's incident. He still couldn't believe, that Spinel had actually been so ruthless and had intentionally injured Liko so badly, just so he could get his hands on her pendant. Although, he had already said it right into his rival's face before, he still couldn't cope with the thought. It had just been way too terrible!

Amethio would definitely do something, to stop this bastard, from getting away with this. The teenager was definitely sure about that! Without any doubts or concerns!!

But first he stretched himself extensively, before looking at Liko to his left. The young girl was laying peacefully next to him, still sleeping. Sprigatito on the other hand was now also awake and calmly licked its paws.

This scene made Amethio smile slightly and he watched the two of them for a while, before deciding, to wake Liko up. So he very carefully crawled closer to her and shook her shoulder a little, because he didn't want to scare her in any way.

At some point, the girl finally moved and opened her eyes with some difficulty. Her head was pounding, her vision blurry and at first she didn't know, where she was or what exactly had happened. Then she finally managed, to make out her surroundings. It seemed like, she was in a cave. But how did she ended up, getting here? She was actually on her way to her grandmother with Roy and Friede to find out more about her pendant.

Liko continued, to look around and then suddenly spotted Amethio, who was sitting next to her, unusually calm and yes, strangely enough, a little worried. What the hell was going on here? Instinctively, her hand reached for her pendant and she stood up abruptly, to disappear as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, not very wise, because she was still dizzy and quickly lost her balance again.

However, Amethio reacted quick enough and stopped her fall with both of his arms, so that the Pokémon Trainer crashed right into his chest. But she quickly pushed the Explorer Admin away from her again and just looked at him with wide eyes, unable, to say anything at the moment.

So initially there was an inconsequential silence between both parties. Then Amethio finally spoke up. "Seems like, you're finally awake. How do you feel?" That was the first thing, the teenager said. However, it only caused more imaginary question marks for the still confused girl.

Then everything literally came pouring out of her. "What is going on here?! Why am I here?! Where is Sprigatito?! And why did you bring me here, why does my head hurt so much and..." Liko was so confused, that sometimes she didn't even know, what she was actually saying.

Then she suddenly contorted her face in pain and now also noticed, that there was a bandage tied around her stomach, just like around her leg.

At some point, however, Amethio grabbed both of her shoulders, to bring her out of her already somewhat hectic flow of speech. "Hey, hey, now calm down!! You're injured, so I wouldn't necessarily recommend, that you completely freak out right now." He took a short, deep breath, before continuing:

"I'll explain everything to you in detail, but only, if you calm down first and listen to me, please!!" he said in a firm voice, looking intently into her eyes.

Now Liko was even more perplexed, but she still followed his instructions and breathed in and out a few times. As her nerves calmed down a bit, she looked back at Amethio again.

"Ok, then explain that to me! What have you done to me? Why are we in this cave? And where on earth did these bandages come from?"

Amethio wasn't particularly surprised, that she was so upset. "I see... So you really don't remember, what happened?" he asked.

"Of course not, that's why I want to know this from you, Amethio!" she demanded with his name on her lips and took Sprigatito on her lap, when she had now discovered her partner next to her, awaiting his response.

The person addressed ran his hands through his hair, sighing. "Oh man, where do I even start?" Now Amethio began, to explain everything to her.

First the fact, that he had continued, to pursue her and her friends because of her pendant, then suddenly noticing his rival Spinel, who had separated Liko from her friends and finally the fact, that he had found her so extremely injured near that cliff including, that Spinel was responsible for the whole thing. And of course also, that Amethio had brought her out of danger and then treated her injuries, after fleeing with her into this cave, to be protected from the storm.

After he finished talking, Liko first had to put everything in order. "Ok, just so I understand this correctly... You stood up to that Spinel, to protect me and then fled into this cave with me?" she asked and rubbed her head, because it was still stinging a little.

"Just like I said. I know, that this is all a little much for you right now. But you have to believe me, the moment, I saw you laying near that cliff, seriously injured, unconscious... I just didn't think any further at that moment and then just flew away with you, so that Spinel couldn't hurt you even worse. This... I just couldn't allow it..."

"Then... So was that you too with the bandages and everything? Are you really telling the truth?" Liko asked, still a little sceptical.

The person being addressed sighed and then nodded afterwards. "You don't have to believe me, really, but I assure you, everything is true, just as I told you." Amethio said once again.

"Ok, and... What do you plan to do now? After all, neither of us can stay here forever. And besides... Why are you suddenly so nice to me? How am I supposed to know, that you're just faking it all, to steal my pendant and then just leave me here afterwards?! Please give me one single reason, why i should really believe you!"

Amethio just looked at her. "I'm aware of that. But you have to believe me, I would never just take advantage of your situation like that! To be honest... I don't even know anymore, whether this is all happening properly..." he murmured and now became a bit uptight.

The black-haired girl listened carefully to every word spoken. "And what is that supossed to mean? Are you trying, to get yourself out of the affair, by claiming, that you don't want to work for the Explorers at all, just to look good in front of your boss later?! Are you seriously expecting me, to buy this from you?! You're crazy!" Now she was starting, to get very, very angry.

Amethio grabbed her by her shoulders again. "My God, can we just leave it like that for now?! That's all, I can tell you at that moment, Liko! What's more important now is, what you exactly can remember, before you were no longer conscious."

Instinctively, the girl wanted to ask the teen, how he knew her name, but then brushed off this thought quickly. Instead, she answered to his question:

"All right, I believe you now. Kinda... However... I still don't really understand, why you protected me and then saved me. You could have left me to my own devices and run off with my pendant. Except you didn't do that... You're acting completely different... Normally you would follow me and my friends to God knows where, just that you could get your hands on my pendant. But right now... I've never seen you like this... So why this sudden change of heart? I just want to understand, Amethio! That's all!"

Just another sigh from the teen. "That wasn't the answer to my question. First tell me, what exactly you can remember before the incident. Only then will I give you my answers, I swear." he replied and now waited for the girl's actual answer.

"Hghh... Yeah, ok, you won. I was on the way to my grandmother with Friede and Roy, when suddenly Sprigatito just jumped out of my arms and ran deeper into the forest. Of course I followed it, because I wanted to know, why it was suddenly acting so strangely. And when I finally found it... I then saw these strange Pokémon tracks. Of course I immediately wanted to call Friede, because I just ran away, without letting him and Roy know.

Then suddenly this Spinel guy came out of the shadows and wanted me to hand over my pendant to him. Of course I refused, whereupon his Umbreon then attacked us out of nowhere, I didn't even know, what happened at that moment. Sprigatito tried, to defend me, but... Right after, everything went black. Well and you've probably seen the rest then. " Liko then ended.

"That's exactly, how it is." Amethio confirmed his previous statements again. "But now... You should go back to your friends. They're already probably looking for you like crazy." he said next now, standing up. Then he held out a hand to the girl. "Come on, I'll help you up." he offered, but Liko waved him away.

"No thanks. I can do it myself." the girl said and stood up demonstratively, but she was still not completely fit and hissed in pain, as she stepped on her injured leg.

Luckily, Amethio immediately supported her again and draped her arm across his shoulders, while he wrapped his other arm around her waist. This gave Liko a little more stability. "Wow, not so fast. There is no way, you can walk all by yourself in this current state. I'll take you to your friends." he said and took one of his Pokéballs out of his left pocket. "Corviknight!" As the Crow Pokémon appeared in front of the two, Amethio quickly put his attention back to Liko, who he was still supporting.

After he led the injured girl out of the cave, Amethio sat on its back and helped Liko onto his Pokémon right after, so that she was sitting in front of him. “Hold on tight, it’s actually not used, to carrying two people at once.” he explained.

The young Pokémon Trainer seemed unsure at first, but then finally nodded. Of course she took Sprigatito in her arms as well, so that it wouldn't be accidentally left behind. Shortly afterwards, the Crow Pokémon took off into the skies.

Liko stayed quiet at first, but then the silence became a little too awkward for her. "I was wondering... If we really fly to Friede and the others... What do you want to tell them? They will definitely think, that you kidnapped me and kept me in this cave against my will." she murmured at some point.

Amethio, who continued to look straight ahead despite her question in order to concentrate, finally answered her. "I've already thought of that. First try to reach Friede and tell him, to send his coordinates. This may give us a better chance of locating him and your other friends more easily. Then you can explain everything to them in more detail afterwards." he said, while he kept his focus on the correct direction of flight.

Liko only sighed, but then took her Rotom phone out of her jacket pocket. After it beeped a few times, someone finally picked up. "Yes, Friede? No, no, I'm fine, I wasn't kidnapped. Yes, I'll explain everything to you then, but could you send me your location first? No, it's not necessary. Of course. I promise, I'll get there straight away. Yes, that's good. See you later." After she hung up, she looked back at Amethio.

He also looked at her. "How's it going?" he asked. "He sent me his coordinates. He should be back on the Brave Asagi with Roy by now." Liko replied. The teen then nodded understandably.

"Okay, then we'll heading there now. Just hold on tight." he said and gave Corviknight a quick pat, whereupon the Pokémon made a croak and headed straight in that direction.

~~~

Meanwhile, the rest of the Rising Volt Tacklers waited impatiently for Liko's arrival. Friede was standing at the bottom of the airships plank, nervously tapping his foot up and down. Roy stood next to him, looking at him in slight worry. "Don't worry, Friede. She'll definitely show up any minute." he tried to calm him down a bit.

"It's easy for you to talk, Roy..." Friede just mumbled and continued, to look around impatiently. It was simply normal for him, to worry about, whether Liko was really okay. After all, she was like his own daughter for him.

At some point, however, Roy discovered a dark spot in the sky. "Hey, look up there! Isn't that..." Friede looked at him slightly confused and then also looked in that direction, as the spot seemed, to get closer and closer.

"No way... !! Charizard!!" He reacted, as if by reflex and summoned the Flame Pokémon directly from its Pokéball.

Roy blinked in confusion and looked back at the point, as he finally understood, why Friede was suddenly acting like that. A Corviknight landed right in front of them with a person, who was unfortunately all too familiar to both Trainers.

Both immediately felt their suspicions confirmed, when Amethio got off the Pokémons back and then helped a second person down shortly afterwards as well.

Friede thought, he couldn't believe his eyes. "Liko?! But how...?!" He was about to order Charizard to attack, but was suddenly stopped by Liko. "Wait!! Don't attack him!!" she shouted and stepped in front of Amethio with her arms wide, despite her bent leg, since she still couldn't stand on it properly.

This statement only made the leader of the Rising Volt Tacklers even more puzzled. "But... He suddenly shows up here with you, what does this all mean?!" At that moment he didn't understood, what was going on at all. But now the adult's gaze fell on Liko's bandages around her stomach and left leg.

"What in God's name happened to you? And what does Amethio have to do with all of this?!" he asked the next question.

Slowly all these piercing questions became too much for the girl. "Arceus, can we all just calm down first?!! Me and Amethio..." she briefly pointed to herself and then to the person mentioned. "We'll tell you everything in detail, but let's go inside, because even I can't stand for that long!" she snorted, slightly annoyed and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

Amethio listened to the little discussion with one ear, but preferred, to stay in the background for now.

Friede scratched his neck, but then finally gave in. "Allright, I get it. Then let's go in first. Molly can take another look at your injuries there." he said and briefly looked at the Explorer Admin, who was now standing next to the black-haired. It could be, that he valued him as a worthy opponent in battle. And that he would normally never trust Amethio to do something, like actually kidnapping Liko, just to get her pendant that way. But the fact, that he almost casually appeared with Liko in tow was suspicious, even to Friede.

"Finally." Liko spoke up again, breaking the silence and was about to start walking, but whimpered in pain, as she, once again unfortunately, put weight on her injured leg.

Amethio instinctively wanted to give her a hand again, although he didn't really know why, but then still preferred, to better step back, as Friede came to the young Pokémon Trainer's side, instead of him.

He let out another sigh. 'It's probably better this way... At least for now...' he heard his thoughts speaking again, so he stayed quiet. As he stood there a bit awkwardly at first, he quickly was approached by his other 'rival':

"Hey, if you don't want to spend the night out here, you should come in with us. Not that you're going to get sick." the white-haired man simply said to him and then went with Liko, who was leaning on him, onto the ship and into the meeting room. Beforehand, he dropped the girl off at Molly's, so that she could take a closer look at her injuries, as he mentioned earlier.

Amethio continued, to stand there silently and briefly looked down at Roy. "Is he always so... sarcastic?" Roy looked at him briefly. "You have no idea... Now come on." he said and now went onto the ship as well. Amethio just sighed again and recalled Corviknight, before simply following the boy.

~~~

After everyone had gone into the meeting room, all eyes almost automatically turned to the black and silver-haired. After all, it wasn't exactly an everyday occurrence for the crew, to have a member of the Explorers on board.

Thankfully, Amethio had given Liko good enough initial care, so that no further measures were necessary for the time being. So the black-haired girl quickly rejoined the rest of the group, but deliberately positioned herself next to the teen. After all, she was the only one, who could explain the situation the best, the current one and the previous one.

Friede was now back in the room as well and so it was him, who directly asked the first question:

"Ok and now everything from the beginning again, Liko. How come, Amethio suddenly shows up with you? I... I just don't really understand it."

Cap, who was sitting on his shoulder, made a sound of agreement. Apparently he also wanted to know all the details. Which of course was all too understandable. "Pika."

Liko looked briefly at Amethio, then back at Friede. Then she basically told her friends the same thing, that she had told Amethio and what he told her before as well. After she finished, she looked into dozens of shocked faces.

"Arceus... I knew right away, that you wouldn't just disappear like that." Roy interjected immediately, whereupon the rest nodded in agreement.

 "I was convinced of that from the start, after what Friede told me. But to get back to the topic... Why are you showing up here with Amethio of all people?" Dot now asked next.

Now it was Amethio himself, who spoke up after a while:

"Listen, I'm well aware that, you don't want to believe me. And I don't even expect that from you. After all, I've already caused you a lot of trouble. But this time... I... I didn't really know, what motivated me to help Liko myself." he gulped shortly, before continuing.

"But... After I saw her laying so badly wounded near that cliff... And then Spinel, who coldly admitted this terrible act without a hint of compassion... And then almost took Liko with him, probably to use worse methods to get her pendant and finding out its secrets... I really didn't know, what had come over me at that moment!! I just got her out of that situation out of pure instinct and then hid with her in that cave... I can't say anything more about it at the moment, as much as I would like to..." he finished and looked at everyone quite uncertainly.

The teenager then glanced sideways at Liko. She immediately interpreted his gaze and now looked at everyone else again. "Listen up, guys... I ask you all... Amethio told me on the way here, that... He is no longer sure, whether the matter with my pendant is the right thing to do. That's why... I would like us, to support him together, to get away from the Explorers... I think... He has good potential, to become one of us."

This statement only caused disbelief and even bewilderment on the faces of everyone present. Did they just get that right?!

"Wow, wow, wow, hold on a second! Are you serious right now?!! You want to make him one of us? For him to switch to the good side?! Is this supposed to be a joke or something?" Dot couldn't believe her ears. Same was true to Quaxly. "Kwua!"

Despite the objections, Liko still tried, to somehow convince her friends. "I know it sounds ridiculous, but hear me out. In my opinion, Amethio is under a lot of pressure. He's still very young after all, and... That's why I don't think, he's a member of the Explorers of his own free will. Maybe... Someone from the organization is forcing him, to work for him or her. I just feel it! So please, everyone... Please support me with my idea!!" the girl now pleaded and made a corresponding bow.

Some still seemed skeptical. "Well, I don't really know, Liko..." Orla mumbled and didn't seem, to be quite so convinced. So did Murdock and Molly, apparently.

Now it was Friede again, who scratched his chin thoughtfully. "If you look at it closely... Your arguments aren't that far-fetched, if I'm being honest..." he said, whereupon he received incredulous looks from his comrades.

"Um, excuse me, Mister 'Pokémon Professor'! Have you already forgotten all the tricky situations, we've been in because of him over there?" Apparently Molly didn't entirely agree with his kind of valid argument and pointed exactly in Amethio's direction, as she spoke.

"Ehem, I don't know, if you noticed it by now, but this 'him' also happens, to have a name and can hear you clearly!" it know came from Amethio, as he cleared his throat and you could tell, that he was a bit annoyed by the sound of his voice.

Friede just sighed slightly strained and stopped the little argument between the two pretty quickly. "Alright, that's enough now. And again, you know exactly, how much I hate it, being called Professor, Molly... But to get back to your point. No, of course I have NOT forgotten, what we've been through, because of Amethio. But if it's really true, what Liko just told us... Couldn't we just see for ourselves and check, if there's really anything to what she said?"

These words made the black-haired listen up. "Then does that mean... you're really giving him a chance?" Liko's eyes lit up slightly with hope, as she looked into those of her friends.

They looked at each other hesitantly for a moment, but finally sighed. Now was definitely not a good time, to start a discussion with Liko right now. And especially not, when Amethio was there at the moment as well. "As stubborn as you are here, we hardly have any other choice, do we?" Murdock said, smiling somewhat teasing towards the spoken one, however, she did not respond further.

The girl now finally looked at Molly and Orla. They also sighed and then nodded, albeit a little hesitantly. "All right, we believe you. And... Even though, we really hate, to do it... We'll give Amethio a chance. But that doesn't mean, we'll trust him right away." they both said almost in sync.

"Thank you, really." she said and looked briefly at Amethio, who was still standing uncertainly next to her. "See? I told you, I would help you." Liko smiled slightly at the young Explorer Admin and gently touched his shoulder.

He still seemed a little nervous, but then showed a timid smile, albeit a little hesitantly. "Thank you... That... That's really nice of you. Although I caused you a lot of trouble and for you as well." he said, still a little unsure, while looking at the others, especially Friede.

"And... For that... I really want to sincerely apologize to you... What I've done to you so far, really wasn't right. I'm so ashamed of this now... Please, you just have to believe me... I... I'll make it up to you... Somehow... You have my word." To support his statement, the teenager made a brief bow to everyone present.

Friede now stretched himself and rose from his seat. "Well then, I think that's enough for today. It's been an rough enough day for all of us. And... I have to thank you, Amethio... Even though I hate to admit it... For finding Liko and immediately helping her... Oh yes... And for bringing her back home as well..." the leader of the Rising Volt Tacklers said and stepped forward, holding out a hand to his 'rival'. "I am in your debt."

Amethio initially looked at his hand a little skeptically, but then finally shock it lightly. "No problem." he just responded quietly and then took a step back. He probably had to get used to the situation first.

"Well, then we should slowly go to sleep, it's pretty late by know. But first we should eat something, because it's not particularly easy, to sleep on an empty stomach. I speak from experience..." Roy now said.

Dot rolled her eyes slightly at his last words. "Thank you very much, Roy. That's, what we all wanted to hear." she said with a pretty obviously ironic tone and adjusted her sweater a little.

Murdock chuckled softly. Then he stood up and put both hands on his hips. "Anyway, I'll take care of the food then. It'll blow your mind!" he said with a broad grin and shortly afterwards disappeared towards the kitchen.

~~~

Meanwhile, the rest prepared the table, putting out cutlery and dishes. Shortly afterwards everyone took a seat and Amethio sat next to Liko. Which in principle was only logical, since Ludlow was fishing most of the day anyway and as a result, there was almost always an empty chair available.

So while everyone was waiting for dinner to be on the table, some decided to ask Amethio a few questions. After all, he already said before, or rather Liko, that he basically didn't want to work for the Explorers at all. Or at least, not anymore. Basically how you interpreted it.

"So... How did you come, to be part of a large organization of villains anyways?" Roy asked first. "Because to me you don't seem particularly evil enough, to be in such a position. At least not according to your age." he added.

The silver and black-haired teen just looked at him uncertainly. Great, just the very first question and he was already overwhelmed. Really a great start. "Well..." Amethio bit his bottom lip slightly and kneaded his fingers under the tabletop. Hopefully unnoticed by the rest of the team. At least he hoped so.

Liko, on the other hand, quickly noticed his tension and gently placed one of her hands on one of his. "If it's too much for you, we can put the question aside for now and start with something easier instead." she suggested and smiled slightly encouraging at him, whereupon the teen just gave a slight nod from himself.

"Then... How old are you actually?" Friede asked. The young teenager definitely liked this question better. At least so far. "I'm 16." Amethio answered. The leader of the Rising Volt Tacklers put his thumb and index finger on his chin, while his rival gave his answer, as if he had already expected this.

"Hah, I knew it!! Then my guess wasn't that far-fetched after all." he said, giving off a slightly triumphant expression, which was unfortunately all too typical of him. Amethio just slightly rolled his eyes and his face switched, once again, into a relative annoyed expression, while his left eyebrow was slightly twitching as well. "Tch... Whatever." he grumbled and crossed his arms.

"Ok, then how about this? What can you tell us about your past? What was your childhood like? And how was or is your relationship with your parents? And the most important thing is, how did you end up, being part of the Explorers after all?" Liko now tried her luck with something similar, to what Roy had asked him. She was still firmly convinced about the fact, that Amethio didn't work for the Explorers voluntarily. He just had to be under a lot of pressure! She simply couldn't find any other explanations at the moment. Plus she really couldn't imagine, that the teen was particularly evil. There had to be something slumbering deep inside of him, wich was never, ever seen by anyone before.

Amethio slightly jumped at her words. In a way, the teen had already expected these specific questions. And yet he was anything, but prepared for it. Even, if it was actually unintentional on her part, Liko had hit a sore spot in him.

"You know... Actually... I don't really like, talking about my past itself... It's... Let's say... Complicated..." he said very cautiously. It was clearly noticeable, that Amethio didn't talked much, or at least rarely, about his past in general.

"But on the other hand... I would like, to finally open up to someone... Who won't judge me, because of it... Unfortunately, I've already had some very unpleasant experiences with that..." he then said.

Liko looked at him somewhat compassionate. "Oh I see... If you don't want to talk about it then..." she began, but quickly was interrupted by the teen again:

"No, no, it's fine! I finally want to talk about it. But the thing is, that I haven't open up myself to anyone before. It was or rather 'is' extremely difficult. Not even Zir and Conia know anything personal about me. Only, that I have Corviknight and Ceruledge and that's basically it." he continued. "Up until now, I've simply repressed the idea, of ever talking about my past again." the young boy added lastly.

"Mhh, I see... The way you just put it, your childhood and the time afterwards seem to have been anything, but harmonious." Orla now spoke up, whereupon Amethio just nodded again. "You aren't quite wrong with it..." he mumbled.

Now, for the first time, a completely new, previously unknown side of the young Explorer Admin was recognized. Usually Amethio was always calm and collected... Had never shown a lot of emotions before, such as joy, sadness or despair, with mostly anger and the feel of disrespect being the only, two exceptions. But right now? They never seen him like this before, not even Friede.

After a good while, in which there was again a very uncomfortable silence, Liko now started speaking to the young teen once more:

"You know... I can understand you... I certainly wouldn't feel any different. But maybe... It would just be easier for you, if you talk about it especially right now. Plus, since you saved me from certain death." the black-haired brought up as a reminder, encouraging and trying, to give Amethio a sort of feeling of trust and some security as well.

Amethio then looked at her again, his eyes still showing concern and uncertainty. But actually there was simply something in her words. 'She's right... You can't run away from your past forever! You finally have to face it!! For the sake of yourself and your freedom!!' he heard his mind talking to him.

It was actually the only opportunity for the teen. Because only this way, he could possibly get away from all the pressure of being a member of the Explorers, regain his freedom and never, ever have to let others control and humiliate him again!!

So after sorting out his thoughts for a while, Amethio finally looked at everyone with determination. "You know what? You're absolutely right! I finally have to do something, to get my life back on track!!"...

~~~

To be continued...