• Published 9th Dec 2014
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Old Scars, New Chances - Arcticbrony



Ethan Summers is a Pokémon caretaker that has been hiding from the law for several years. But when Arceus sent them to a new world, he finds himself teamed up with an unusual and unwanted partner. And running away from his problems is not an option

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Chapter 36

Author's Note:

This chapter contains a warning for sensitive readers.
Trigger Warning: Drug abuse

Author's note: This chapter was a blast to write. It has been a while since I have had to much fun while writing. I'm afraid I dont have too much to say this time, so... I hope that you all enjoy the chapter:twilightsmile:
And as always, any and all feedback is greatly appreciated^^

Editor's note

MoldyShishkabob : Feels :fluttershbad:

Zeusdemigod131 : Arceus, and I thought Thad's writing style was dark

It was later that very same day that Ethan and the others got back to Neighagra Falls. Protocol and his police ponies went back to their station, taking the captured criminals with them, while the injured Pokémon were taken to the hospital for treatment.

But not all of them were in such a condition that they needed medical attention, and with no other places to go, the warehouse that had been transformed into a home and shelter found itself getting a few new inhabitants that day. It was getting a little crowded, but as long as they had room to accommodate it, they would accept everymon who needed somewhere to stay.

And if the day came where they had no more space, then they would simply expand, and make room. At least that was the plan, but it would be a while untill they would need to do something like that. For the moment, everything was fine just the way that it was.

Ethan had initially wanted to join Protocol and possibly help to interrogate the criminal ponies that was captured, to see if any of them knew any valuable information about their organization, The Weavers. Oh, how Ethan had grown to hate that name.

But Protocol had been a police pony for a long time, and he knew how to do his job, so Ethan decided to leave him to it. He did not want to say that he trusted Protocol, because he still thought that he was lying about the letter that he presumably got back from Princess Celestia. Ethan could usually spot a liar when he saw one, and while he had not seen any of the telltale signs of it on Protocol, he still refused to believe him.

But even if he had lied about that letter, Ethan could not think of a reason as to why he would have done so. He was a pony like any other, and he had actively helped in apprehending the poachers that they had been pursuing, and Ethan could easily see the sincerity in his face when it came to justice like that.

No. There was something that he was missing, some part of the puzzle that, if he had it, would make sense of everything. He just had no idea what that piece was. So, he would let Protocol do his work, while he tended to other business.

They had spent a lot of time to get the new Pokémon that were going to live at the warehouse familiarized and acquainted with everyone. Most of them were still quite shy and scared from the recent experience. But everymon that already lived there was quite understanding and gentle with them since a lot of them had gone through something similar themselves.

Afterwards, Ethan went to check up on one of their patients, or rather, the pegasus filly who was almost blind because of an accident. Stormy, that was her name.

A Natu that had grown rather close to her had been the one that had been assigned to her as her service Pokémon. Her job, to be there for her, to be her friend and somemon that she could rely on, even when things were tough for her, especially when things were tough for her. But to do that, she had to know how to deal with certain things. It had been the hardest in the beginning. Dealing with someone, or somepony in this case, who is going through heavy depression, is difficult. You need to know how to act in certain situations, how to read the small, subtle signs of their body language. And most importantly, to never give up on them.

Ethan remembered one of the first nights when the Natu had woken him up in the middle of the night, begging him for help, because she simply did not know what to do. Stormy had been worse off than they had initially thought. She wanted to help, she truly did, but she needed to know how. Individuals with severe depression do not always follow the rules of logic. And Ethan had gone through and taught the Natu everything that she would need to know to help that little pegasus filly.

Now though, since several days had passed, Ethan had decided to pay them a visit to see how they were currently doing. He had not gotten any more surprise visits from the Natu so he had assumed that things were going well, but he wanted to see for himself. It might have been a bit early to hope to see improvements in little Stormy, depression can sit hard, and sometimes take months, if not years to break out of. But it varies in each case, and one could always hope.

As Ethan approached the house that Stormy and her family were living in, a sound that any individual would recognize, slowly started to fill his ears. A sound so innocent and beautiful that it could warm the soul of even the most cold hearted individual, a sound that Ethan had heard too little of recently: a child’s laughter.

Hearing the laughter, Ethan hurried up slightly, a little extra spring in his step. And as he rounded the last corner, he saw a beautiful scene unfold before him.

On the ground, just in front of the house that Stormy and her family lived in, a mare was sitting. Tears was streaming down her face, and one of her front hooves was lifted up to her mouth. But not to hide a frown. It was Stormy's mother, and her tears was those of pure joy and happiness. Because in the air in front of her, was her daughter, Stormy, and she was actually flying.

Her small wings slowly and evenly flapped, keeping her floating just a few meters above the ground. He face was that of pure bliss and a constant stream of laughter flowed out of her mouth. She was a little unsteady, as it had been so long since she had even dared to use her wings, but the Natu was there, encouraging and reassuring her every step of the way.

“I am doing it, I am doing it!” Stormy's cheery voice came out between her laughter. Though her enthusiasm made her sway slightly in the air.

“Steady, steady.” The Naru informed her. She was hovering right next to her, making sure that everything went perfect.

“D-do you see mom? I am flying again!” She was looking in her general direction. She had heard her mother, but she was not sure exactly where she was. “I am finally flying again!”

“I… I know, sweetie.” Her mother choked out, her tears still rolling down her cheeks, but the smile upon her face and the glint in her eyes, showed true happiness. She had not seen her daughter so full of joy in such a long time, and she was overwhelmed with emotion as a result. “I-it’s great.” Her voice cracked as she spoke.

“Mom?” Stormy looked down, hearing the voice of her mother's crying growing louder. “What’s wrong?”

“N.. it’s nothing, sweetie.” She forced out with a smile. “I… I just…” But that was all that she could manage to force out, and her voice was stolen away by her sobs once more.

“Mommy!” Stormy cried out, and as a result of her distress her wings started to flap irregularly and she veered off to the right. Or she would have if the Natu had not been there to catch her.

“Woah there, should we go back down to the ground again?” The Natu asked, getting a series of desperate nods in return as Stormy kept looking around, hearing her mother cry. “Okay then, just gently begin to slow the beat of your wings.” Stormy did as her friend told her to, and slowly but surely she started to descend. “Your mother is just happy, but you should still go comfort her.” Stormy was a little too young to understand the concept of why somepony would cry if they were happy. So the moment that her hooves touched the ground she ran over in the direction that her mother's crying was coming from and positively rammed into her headfirst.

“Mom!” Stormy threw her hooves around her mother who accepted the embrace and held her daughter close, gently nuzzling her. “I-it is okay, I am here. Please don’t be sad.” Stormy pleaded, she was on the verge of crying herself.

Ethan had kept his distance this whole time, not wanting to ruin or interrupt such a loving family moment, and apparently the Natu thought the same thing as it slowly flew over to where Ethan was standing, while Stormy and her mother, busy comforting each other.

“She had come a long way in such a small amount of time.” Ethan commented as the Natu landed on his shoulder. “Assigning you to her was the right thing to do, it seems like.”

“T-thank you.” The Natu chirped softly. Just like Stormy, he had a rather shy personality, but perhaps that was also why she had so quickly managed to bond with the pegasus filly. “She had it in herself, she just was not sure of it.”

“True, so true.” Ethan agreed, “So have you asked them yet?” He inquired as they looked upon Stormy and her mother. They were calming down, both of them it seemed.

“N-no… not yet.” The Natu chirped quietly. “I just… I don't know if I should yet.” They had talked with the mother before the Natu had started to live there, to help Stormy and had gotten her agreement of course. But the Natu wanted their arrangement to be permanent, she wanted to stay there with Stormy, even after she was done with her task. “I don't know if it would be rude to ask…”

“That is entirely up to you.” Ethan said as he patted the Natu gently on its head, a small grin growing on his face. “Though...”

“Nossie!?” Stormy cried out, her head darting around, a gesture mostly meaningless because of her nearly non existent sight. It appeared that now that she and her mother had finally calmed down, she had noticed that the presence of her service Pokémon, the Natu, was gone.

“Nossie?” Ethan asked as he looked over to his shoulder where the Natu was nervously looking down, covering part of its face behind its wing.

“S-she named me yesterday.” The Natu, or rather, Nossie admitted. And Ethan was sure that he could spot the faintest of blushes under her eyes. “I… never had a name before, so I accepted.” Hearing that only widened Ethan's smile and he glanced over to Stormy and her mother, who was currently pointing towards them and telling her daughter where her Nossie had gone.

“From what it sounds like to me, you don't have anything to worry about. You already seems a part of that family to me.” It was easy for anyone to see the close bond that had formed between Nossie and Stormy, even though they had not known eachother for that long, they had spent most of their time together.

“R-really?” Nossie looked hopefully over to Ethan.

“Nossie!?” Stormy cried out again, a little more desperate this time, even despite her mother's reassuring words. During the last few days, Nossie had spent practically all of his time with Stormy, and she had become rather dependent on him. And she missed his familiar weight on her back where Nossie usually resided.

“Really! But you should go, it sounds like she is missing you.” Ethan ushered Nossie on, who did not hesitate and took to the air. “Remember to report back to me if anything should happen.” Ethan called out after her.

“I will, thank you.” Nossie said, as she turned around and gave Ethan a small bow midair. An incredibly impressive gesture now that Ethan thought about it, especially since a Natu does not have that big wings to begin with.

He watched in silence as Nossie flew over to Stormy and softly landed on her back. The pegasus filly immediately started giggling and hopping around in a small circle. And as they talked, Ethan was sure that he could hear Nossie telling Stormy how proud that she was of her.

The mother watched the pair with happiness in her heart, but she had also noticed Ethan and took a glance over to him. She smiled gently and waved one of her hooves, gesturing to him that he should come over and join them. But Ethan softly shook his head, instead just opting for a wave of his own paw. He did not want to disturb or intrude any more on that precious family moment. And it seemed that the mother understood that, as she just nodded before turning back to her daughter and her little Natu companion.

Such a simple thing as a friend, or a companion greatly helped in such cases when individuals struggled with depression. And it always brought a certain warmth to Ethan's heart whenever he saw such a scene. He had always kind of suspected that the Natu… Nossie would want to stay with that little filly, and that was just fine. She had found a place that she belonged.

One of the medical companies that Ethan had worked with when he was on his last year of his psychology studies only looked at the big numbers, the percentages and the like. They cared so little for the individual cases. Maybe the impressions that he had gotten there was part of what had influenced him to go the direction that he had. He was concerned with the individuals, with the little guy. He cared little for the bigger picture, it was simply not his way.

But since he was done with that little visit, Ethan turned around and was about to go back into the town… only to meet something big, blue and currently very angry that was standing in his way.

“Um, hello Scylla.” Ethan started as he backed up a few steps. He had no idea how Scylla had managed to sneak up on him. Had be been that concentrated on his own thoughts? Or perhaps Scylla was just that good, even for her size. But whatever the case was, Scylla was glaring down on Ethan, and she was looking really pissed.

“Why did you not say anything?” Scylla demanded, the force behind her voice enough proof for Ethan to determine that she was meaning business. A few nearby ponies looked upon the ongoing scene, but they quickly went on with their daily chores. They all knew better than to stay if Scylla was angry.

“I don't know what you are talking about.” Ethan urged the furious water Pokémon, he honestly had no idea what she was going on about. He could not think of anything that had happened lately that would upset Scylla in a way like this.

Unless….

“Don't give me that. I know that you raided another poacher base.” Scylla growled and Ethan could only shake his head sadly as the puzzle pieces fell into their respective places. “Why was I not informed?!” Ethan was not sure how she had heard about it so quickly, but that was not important anyway.

“Deep breaths, Scylla. Deep breaths.” Ethan kept a calm tone, as it was easy to notice how agitated his friend and patient was. While it was true that she still had a few episodes and outbursts every now and again, he had not thought that she would get so worked up over something like that. “Calm down and I will talk to you.” But none of that mattered, it was another opportunity to further their lessons and to get further insight into the being that was, Scylla.

Scylla wanted to scream at him from the top of her lungs, and the anger of her inner struggle showed clearly on her face. He was the one who had been in the wrong, and he still dared to tell her what to do? She was the raging Queen of Checkmate, she ought to destroy that little Lopunny where he stood.

Those were the first thoughts that streamed through her mind after she had heard Ethan's request. But she was a changed individual, she was better than that now. And so, Scylla closed her eyes and slowly began to draw her breath. The area around her lungs expanded as they were filled to the brim with air. And once they were completely full, Scylla held her breath for a second before gently exhaling through her mouth, letting all of those destructive thoughts flow out with the air as it left her body. She repeated this process a few more times, before she was calm and collected once more.

It was more to that exercise than just the breathing. You had to believe in the fact that it was working, you had to want it to work, and put your trust in it accordingly. This was why it was so effective for Scylla. Because that despite all of their differences, and the fact that she hated Ethan's guts at times. She trusted him, and his methods. He had helped her when she had needed it the most, and he had always proved that he had her best interests in mind. He was the one that had told her that such a breathing exercise would work for her, and she believed him.

“There, that was not so bad, now as it?” Scylla looked down at Ethan, a small grin apparent on his face. She would be lying if she said that such a grin did not irk her slightly, but she would rise above such feelings for the moment.

“I suppose not.” Scylla agreed. “So will you talk to me about what happened now then?” In truth, she was a little hurt. Ethan had helped her so much, and while she had initially repaid her debt when she helped them out the first time, she still felt like she owed him so much. And fighting was what she was good at. She had wanted him to ask her for help, to get a chance to show how much she had improved with her anger control in the midst of a grand battle. But that chance had been stolen away from her, that was why she had been so furious when she had found out.

“That is what I said.” Ethan nodded. “But not here in the middle of the street, let us sit down at the very least.” He gestured over to a nearby unoccupied bench and walked over to it.

While Ethan sat down, Scylla just sort of coiled herself around the bench, cutting it off for anypony else that might have wanted to use it too. Not that she would have been able to sit down on the bench without destroying it in any case.

“So, you are angry about the fact that we… I did not ask you to join us on the raid then?” Ethan asked Scylla. Her head was on the same level as his, a small gesture of respect, Scylla usually looked down upon everyone unless she made a conscious effort not too.

“Angry is taking it lightly.” Scylla huffed, her body shifting a little bit more until she found a position that was comfortable. “I feel betrayed.” The usual blunt honesty that Scylla exercised was something that Ethan loved about her. Not that many people, ponies or Pokémon could speak their mind without any sort of filter at all. At least not without severe training on the subject. It made Scylla refreshing to deal with, but also somewhat troublesome at the same time.

Ethan sighed and ran one of his paws through the carefully groomed fur on top of his head. He would have to be careful with how he chose his words. Scylla was calm, yes. But just like she had said, he had betrayed her trust. No matter his intentions, that was not something that you could just shrug off.

“I did what I thought was for the best.” Ethan could see the anger slowly growing within Scylla after he had uttered those words. It had not been what she had wanted to hear, far from it. But it was the truth, and he continued before Scylla had a chance to cut in. “It would probably have been easier with you there, I won't deny that. But you have made so much progress lately… you even have found a place where you belong, where you have a purpose. You can deny it if you want, but this calm environment is having a positive influence on you. And it was because of this that I did not want to throw that all progress away. Sending you out into battle again so soon… it would only have influenced you badly. That is why I did not want you with us on that raid. That is why I did not tell you.” He could see mixed emotions within Scylla after he was done explaining himself. But in the end, anger was what prevailed.

“How dare you…” Scylla growled in a low tone. She was angry… no, furious with him. Her well trained body shook as the muscles underneath her skin tensed up. “HOW DARE YOU!?” Scylla roared, and Ethan found himself getting pressed down in his seat from the force. If it had not been for the fact that Scylla was coiled around the bench, well, he was positive that it would have been thrown back. And he along with it. “Do not make my own decisions for me.” Scylla sneered as she settled down into her normal voice once again.

“Even so, I stand by my decision.” Ethan kept his ground, despite Scylla's show of force. Though his ears had been thrown back from the force of Scylla's voice, and the delicate fluffy fur on them, messed up. “Besides, you had to guard that lake of yours, you even said so yourself. Would you just have left them to themselves after proclaiming how important it was to you that they remained safe?”

“Do not bring them into this.” But despite her words, she averted her gaze.

“You do not seem like the kind of Pokémon that would do anything half-hearted. I know how important those Magikarps are to you, I could feel your conviction earlier.” Ethan rose up and moved to that Scylla was forced to meet his eyes with her own. “This is not your battle. And while I appreciate your help the first time, you…” Something clicked inside Ethan's mind. “Is that what this is about?” Ethan asked slowly. “You do not still feel indebted to me, do you?” And from the look on her face, he knew that he had hit the nail on the head.

“I…” Scylla was not usually a Pokémon that had trouble with speaking her mind, but this time, she paused. “It is not that simple.” She rested her head against the ground and Ethan sat down next to her.

“Then explain it to me.” He quietly waited for her to continue after that, letting her take all the time that she would need, as he had already sensed the inner turmoil she was having.

And after a few minutes of silence, Scylla seemed to have found her words as she continued. “You have done so much for me, I am not even sure that my teammates would recognize the new me, the better me... And it is not just you either.” Scylla uncoiled her long serpentine body so that she was no longer trapping Ethan. “Zoey, Mary Care… you have all done so much for me. How can I not feel like I have to give something back?” Scylla paused again, and her eyes softened, though only slightly. “And then there is Jenny…”

“That is not your fault.” Ethan had remained silent until then, but decided to cut in. “None of us could have predicted that something like that would happen. She is a cop, an officer of the law. She knew the risks.”

“That does not make me feel any less guilty.” Scylla breathed in deeply and let out a long sigh, calming herself down again, though only slightly. She was too worked up and emotionally confused for the breathing exercise to work completely. “I was the one that was responsible for what happened to her. You claim that I am wrong, but I know it to be true.” She had a point, and Ethan knew that. Besides, he would have little to no chance of changing her view on that matter.

“Still… you do not owe me anything.” Ethan gently placed one of his paws on her. “I am helping you, yes. But that is what friends does. They help each other.” Syllas eyes widened as she stared straight at Ethan, confusion and surprise both raging through her mind.

“I…” Scylla was not a Mon that was often at a loss for words, but this was one of those rare times. “I…”

“I said that I only wanted what was best for you… though I will admit that I may have been in the wrong here.” Ethan bowed his head. “You still do not owe any of us anything, but I can see now that I should have let you help more since Jenny's disappearance haunts you so.” He had been blind; Jenny's disappearance had hurt them all, but he had only seen it as an opportunity regarding Scylla and her anger issues. And doing so, he had failed to take her feelings into consideration. He felt ashamed of himself to have let something like that slip past him. “I'm sorry.”

Ethan's past as a Pokémon psychologist was something that he prided himself in, it was who he was, and always had been. So naturally he had confidence in what he did. So when he had made such a glaring mistake regarding his patient, it struck him deep, and reminded him of his own faults. He only ever had his patient’s best health in mind, but in pursuit of that, he had failed to see the bigger picture. Needless to say, in that moment, Ethan felt ashamed of himself.

Scylla visibly squirmed as she looked down at Ethan who was still bowing his head. She was a battle expert. She knew a thousand different ways to kill and maim. She would take on any sort of opponent, anywhere, anytime. But when she was faced with an apologizing Lopunny. She could not help but feel a little out of her comfort zone. People, or Pokémon, usually did not apologize to her. And neither did her previous teammates, they never really had any reason too.

“Um… don't worry about it.” Scylla blew out a small breath of air at Ethan, forcing him to stand up to keep his balance. “Just promise to keep me in the loop from now on… alright?” They both wanted the same thing in the end, though for different purposes.

“I guess that's only fair.” Ethan smiled as he straightened back up. “How much were you told about what happened earlier today?” He has no idea who told Scylla about the earlier attack on the poacher base, or how much they had told her about what happened.

“Not much, I know that things went smoothly, but that is about it.” Ethan nodded, she had not gotten the in depth version, but when he considered everything that had been said, she deserved to know.

And such, he told her about everything that had happened on their mission, including as much detail as he could recall. He told her about how unprotected the base had seemed, at least compared to the previous one. About how the lab they had discovered had looked. About Jim the Cave Troll, though he kept the embarrassing part where Jim had caught him by surprise and grabbed him out of the tale. And lastly, he told her about how Jenny had disappeared from that base. By escape, or if she had been moved through, that they did not know. He also kept his own suspicion about Protocol a secret from Scylla. He had no concrete proof yet, so telling her would do no good either way.

Some time had passed before Ethan was done telling Scylla about everything that had happened. Surprisingly, she had kept quiet the entire time, but when they finished she had a satisfied grin upon her face.

“Serves those Weaver bastards right.” Scylla chuckled grimly for a few seconds, before a more serious look replaced the previous one. “But you are right, it should have been more security for a base of such a size.”

“Maybe we just got lucky.” Ethan shrugged. Coincidences happened, though if it seemed too good to be true, then it usually was.

“Maybe so… I do not know.” Scylla shook her head. “I only know what you told me. But it would not hurt to be a little on guard for anything out of the ordinary.” One of the possibilities, even as much as Ethan did not want to think about it, was that somepony from within had warned The Weavers that they were coming. His first thoughts went to Protocol. But even though he still did not trust that police pony, he had to agree that Protocol had done too much that would harm the organization too. No, he refused to believe that it was Protocol, it was what hit gut told him. But that meant that there was another secret that Protocol was hiding, if Ethan trusted his gut feeling. A feeling that had proven to be correct on multiple situations.

“I’ll let you know if anything pops up.” Ethan reassured Scylla once more. “But don’t you have somewhere that you should be by now? You have spent more than a little time with me here after all.” Realization lit up in Scylla's eyes, and she grumbled under her breath.

“You are right. I have wasted enough time.” She was about to start slithering away, but instead turned to Ethan one last time. “Be careful. If you do have a spy in your midsts… choose who you trust very carefully.” And with those parting words, Scylla left Ethan there with a growing doubt in his mind as she slithered away with surprising speeds for someone of her size.

A spy in their midsts… the very thought sent a chill down Ethan's spine. They had found and arrested several guards and minor scientists. But nopony that would give them any kind of useful information. If there was a spy, then they should have found nothing at all. Unless, it was deliberately made so the ones that had been captured were scapegoats so that they would not get too suspicious.

But continuing to think about such a subject would do him no good with what little information that they did have. Worrying about it would only possibly make things worse. No, there was no more he could do at the moment. So, Ethan did the same thing Scylla did, and started walking home. Deciding to tell Brawly about his thoughts once he returned. Hopefully, he could put his fears to rest....


It was time.

Those three words had never before carried such weight for Vernus. He was slowly climbing up the tree where the temporary base had been made… or perhaps it would be more accurate to call it a prison, for that was the function that it currently served.

He had done plenty of terrible things in his day, most before he had gotten taken in by Ethan who helped him become clean. But he had never done something like this before. Sure, he had made and sold drugs, and he had most likely ruined a lot of lives that way. But he had never forced his drugs upon anyone, they were always purchased out of free will, or as much free will as a junkie could have.

He carried a bag with him as he continued the climb up to where Olivia was held, a bag that contained everything that he would need to do the dirty deed. All the ingredients had been properly harvested, handled, prepared, and combined into what was going to most likely destroy the Pokémon Ranger for years to come.

How he wished that things had turned out differently. But what was done, was done; all they could do was to deal with the cards that they had been dealt.

It seemed like hours had passed from when he had started the climb, then he emerged within the room that held their captive, Olivia. She was curled up in one of the corners of the room, vines came down from the walls and down to the Manectric, keeping her tired up and fastened to the wall, limiting her range of movement severely.

Her coat had lost some of its shine since they had captured her, the roof and walls were too thick for the sun to shine through, so she had been stuck in a constant darkness, except for the times when he or Zoey had gone to feed her.

But it was only the two of them now. Zoey had stayed home, or rather, Vernus had asked her to. She had protested at first, but he had managed to convince her eventually. He did not want her to be there when he had to do it. He did not want her to see him do something so cruel… to make her go through seeing something like that.

He put the bag down in the middle of the room before he went over to one of the walls, and parted the thick vines and branches that made up for it slightly, allowing some amount of sunlight to slip in and illuminate the room.

Sensing the light, Olivia stirred and let out a low moan of discomfort as her left strained against her bindings in a useless effort to stretch them out.

Vernus watched her as she slowly opened her eyes and raised her head so she looked straight at him.

“Back so soon?” She teased, though her voice did not have the same amount of will that it did in the beginning. “What are you here for this time?” She struggled as she forced herself up into a sitting position, her binds making it more than a little awkward, but she managed it after a few seconds of struggling against them.

“... I am here to talk.” Vernus sat down in front of her and forced himself to look into her eyes.

Talk.” Vernus had never thought that a single word could be spoken with such disgust, but she had managed it. “If this whole mess could have been resolved through words, then it would have already.” She held up her own little facade, trying to seem proud and tough. But more than anything she looked tired, so very, very tired. “But it's not like I am going anywhere so…”

“I ask of you, beg of you… please reconsider.” Vernus looked away, though only for a split second, the thought of the bag that laid behind him and its contents pressing against his head. “You don't have to do this. We could let you go, we could put all of this behind us. Nothing more would happen to you if you agreed to just leave Neighagra Falls and keep your mouth shut.”

“And would you believe me if I said that I would?” Olivia countered, the fire that she usually had within her lighting up once again, he could hear it in her voice, see it in her eyes.

“I might…” Vernus sighed. Though he was not so sure if he believed in his own words anymore.

“Well, my integrity is one of the few things that I have left, and I don't intend to let it go.” The ranger sneered with a surprising amount of feriosity for one in her situation. “All of you deserve to be put behind bars, your master, Ethan Summers, especially.” She practically spat when she spoke Ethan's last name.

“I keep telling you that things are not what they seemed.” Vernus sighed, he had been through this before, but she would never listen. It was like her mind her been set in solid stone. “What we did… what he did was for the good. We rescued Pokémon that were being abused or harmed. They needed help and they had not received it from the police or from the rangers. Someone had to do something.” It was like a little dance that the two of them had. Every time Vernus visited her, he would try to change her mind, but every time her replies were basically the same.

“Say that I believe you.” Olivia mused. “Why did you not report these crimes? Surely the authorities would be better equipped to handle them than you.” Vernus did not know what had initiated the change in her, why she was willing to listen now of all times, but he would not take such a gift for granted.

“We did, and a lot of the times the matter was solved without us needing to do anything. But sometimes things did not work out like that. No concrete proof, or not enough evidence came up for you… or maybe the case got handed to some corrupt cops, I don't know.” Vernus shook his head. “In any case, nothing was done… and because of that, we had to do something. The law would not help them, so we would.”

And Olivia believed him, to a certain extent at least. “You actually believe that, don't you.” Confusion lit up on the her captors face for a moment as she continued. “He got you brainwashed to such an extent that you believed that what you were doing were right. He probably sold off those Pokémon the moment that you turned your head. Continued to feed you lies to keep you on his leash.” Anger rose up within Vernus. He could tolerate a lot of things, but whenever someone spoke badly about his family, he got worked up.

“Don't you dare to speak that way about him.” His words came out along with a low, guttural growl. But if Olivia was scared or threatened in the slightest, she did not show it. “He rescued both me and Zoey too.” Vernus finally said. “Rescued me from myself, and Zoey from an underground fighting arena where she would have surely died if it had not been for him. We owe him our lives.”

“Answer me this.” Olivia continued after a few seconds. “Did, or did he not kill somebody.”

“...” Vernus hesitated and looked away from her glare. “It was an accident. He was rescuing Zoey and it happened as an accident.” He looked up once more and he could see the defiant look upon her face.

“Do you have any proof of that? Of any of your claims?” He winced at those words.

“W-we have witnessed… some of the Pokémon who got rescued-” But he was cut off almost immediately.

“Won't do any good. If they spent any amount of time with him, under him, then they are likely to believe anything that he told them. I know of his past, his education. I would not put it past him to be able to mess with the minds of Pokémon to make them believe what he wants.”

“That is not true, Ethan would never do something like that!” Vernus raised his voice, his emotions seeping into his words.

“Your words mean nothing. You could be under his influence and not even know it yourself. No, he is a criminal, that is all there is to it.” She straightened her back slightly. “He needs to serve for his crimes, and nothing that you can say will change my mind.” Hearing those words saddened Vernus beyond belief. He knew that there had been a very little, if not nonexistent chance for him to convince her otherwise to begin with. She was just too stubborn, too set on her own beliefs. He would need concrete evidence to possibly convince her otherwise, evidence that they did not have, or was ever going to get since they were not on Earth anymore.

He had entertained the thought of bringing Ethan there, despite of what he would say to them having kidnapped somemon, even if it was for his own good. But if he did bring Ethan there, and the Ranger still could not be convinced otherwise, then Ethan would just let her go. He would set her free and willingly go to jail. It was just the kind of individual that he was. That was why such a thing was not an option; they had to protect Ethan from that Ranger, and they had to protect him from himself.

“Please reconsider!” Vernus knew that it was pointless at that point, but he had to try. “You can just leave and not look back. Forget all of this.”

“Or what!?” Olivia countered with anger in her voice. “You'll kill me? You would only prove my point.” She was right, he was going to prove her point. But he was not going to kill her.

“I am sorry that it had to come to this.” Vernus turned around and slowly walked back to the bag that laid in the middle of the room. “Though you are wrong, I am not going to kill you.” Though after he was done, she may wished that he had.

Vernus felt her that she kept her eyes on him as he opened the bag and got out what he would need. A few sterilized syringes, a strong rubber band, and next to them a glass container, a shimmering blue liquid within.

Heaven's Glow

That was that he had named that horrible substance, for its beautiful look. And it really did make you feel like you were floating through heaven when you were on it.

“H-hey, what are you doing?” He heard Olivia's voice, she was hesitating, becoming nervous. Not that he could blame her.

He put one of the syringes to the lid that contained the narcotic and stabbed through it with ease. He watched as the blue liquid were slowly drawn out of its contained and into the syringe. It felt all too natural for him to handle that kind of equipment, reminded him of all the times that he had done it before.

When he was done, he drew the needle out and lifted it up into the air with his paws, gently pushing out any air that remained within. “It’s for the best.” He kept telling himself in an almost inaudible voice.

As he turned to Olivia, her eyes widened with fear and she began to struggle violently against her bonds.

“W-what are you doing!?” She screamed. “N-no, get away from me!” But despite all her effort, she remained bound to the wall, only becoming more and more tangled as she struggled.

Vernus could only look down on her with sadness as he held the syringe in his mouth, the little distance between the middle of the room and her, feeling like an eternity.

Her cries for help were going past his ears at that point, he knew that he could not reason with her, nothing that he could ever say would get through to her, this was his only choice. It was what he and Zoey had agreed on.

Tears streamed down her face and profanities, mixed with pleas for help were coming out of her mouth as Vernus stood before her. A single tear fell down his own face and splattered against the floor, quickly being absorbed by the plants that it was made off.

There was a lot of things that he could say, to justify his actions, to make himself feel better. But in the end, only two words came out of his mouth as he took the syringe into his paw and readies himself.

“I'm sorry.”


Zoey was worried.

It was late, really late, the sun had gone down several hours ago. It was already many hours since Vernus was supposed to have returned.

She understood why he had not wanted her to be there as he did it. Too many bad memories lied in that syringe for him, and she had forced him to relive them. She had cursed herself for not thinking of a better option, but it was the only one they had, the only one that they could think of.

But that did not change the fact that something was wrong. She could have accepted it if he had been an hour late, maybe he had just taken his time then. But after two hours had passed, her thoughts had begun to wander. After three hours, she began to grow increasingly worried, and she could simply not take it anymore. She had to go and see if something had happened to him.

And it was so that she found herself hurrying through the darkened forest towards the secret place where they had kept the Ranger hidden. The moon brightening up her path along the way.

Her mind raced with all kind of possibilities as to why he would be so late. What if Olivia had escaped? What if she had escaped and she had hurt Vernus in the process?

If such a thing had happened, then she would tear that Pokémon Ranger apart, despite what she had promised Vernus earlier. No one hurt her family and got away with it.

She continued to think up new possibilities and increasingly worse scenarios as she got closer.

Sweat clinged to her fur when she arrived at the tree that held the secret room and their prisoner. She had sprinted a good part of the way there, her mind needed to know the answer as soon as possible. And she felt her stomach drop as she looked up the tree in front of her.

Nothing looked out of place, there was no signs of a struggle, no broken branches, no nothing. It felt wrong.

Zoey wasted not a single second more as she hurried up the tree. Subtlety was thrown out of the window, her claws dug into the bark of the tree as she pulled herself up with incredible speed. She tore away every branch that was in her path, the only thing that was in her mind was the goal above her.

Zoey tore into the room, breaking some of the branches and vines that made up the floor around the entrance with her ferocious climbing. She was panting heavily as she stood up in the darkened room, and the first thing that she noticed came from one of the corners.

Moonlight shone down through a gap in the wall, and down onto the wreck that was Olivia. Several used needles was laid out besides her, and she kept moaning softly as she laid there, not even acknowledging Zoey's presence. She was not even sure if the Ranger had noticed her at all. Drool kept dripping out of her mouth as she moaned and some incomprehensible words came out of her mouth. Zoey was even sure that she could smell urine; she had stained herself, it seemed like. Her body twitched every now and again, and her eyes were glossed over in a way.

Zoey poked her softly and waved a paw in front of her eyes, but got no reaction at all in return. The Ranger was already too far gone.

It was a sad sight, but a necessary one, Zoey thought, and she felt a bit relieved in a way since the fact that Olivia was there and already drugged meant that she had not escaped or hurt Vernus in the process.

It was then that she heard it.

Coming from the other side of the room was a low laughter, and Zoey spun around the moment that she heard it, dropping into a fighting stance as she stared into the darkness.

“Who's there!” She yelled, but the low laughter just continued, slipping into a series of soft sobs instead. “Come out now, and I won't hurt you!” She tried again, but the voice did not stop. Just slipping in between laughter and crying every few seconds.

Zoey slowly began to approach the voice, light of the moon had messed up her night vision so she took her time, claws at the ready as she slowly approached the voice.

“I mean it, you should not be here. Just come out right now.” But just like before, she got no answer.

Slowly her night vision returned to her, and she could make out the outline of a figure that laid in the darkest corner of the room. It was not a large figure, surely smaller than her.

The details began to clear up as Zoey got closer and her eyes got accustomed to the darkness. She was just a few steps away when the voice shifted from crying to laughing once again. She had missed it at first, but now that she was closer and could hear it more clearly there was no mistake. She knew that voice.

“Vernus?” She asked softly, dropping her fighting stance and taking those last step in a hurry. Only for her to stop, and even recoil slightly once she got a clear sight of what laid in the corner. “No…”

It was Vernus, she had been right about that in the first place. He kept slipping between laughter and crying as he laid there, weakly looking up at Zoey when she got close enough. His eyes had a sort of gloss over them, like a veil of sorts, just like Olivia had.

“Arceus, no…” Tears dripped down her face as she looked upon her friend. For in his shoulder, an empty needle was firmly planted.