Located at a deserted corner not too far away from Mt Pyre, a foreign creature tried to recover from its extreme exhaustion. It had never been pushed this far since a very long time ago, making it feel that it's finally on the brink of death. It couldn't even muster the strength to obscure its true form any longer.

The creature had expected many things to happen. It was fully prepared to die, it also was mentally prepared that everything might fail and nobody would be able to stop Roland. It expected many things to happen but it never once considered the possibility of the shackles binding it to Roland to be severed before either of them could die.

Its shackles had been broken.

It felt like a great weight was finally lifted off its non-existent heart when the human wielding the blessings of the primordial sea managed to wear it down to the point that it could finally be put down for good. Unexpected developments happened along the way and the girl with a power so similar yet different from Roland dove too deep into the chaos to obtain the power needed to stop them, but things had finally taken a turn for the better.

It honestly had no idea what allowed it to break free. The man who was seemingly empowered by the sun and the woman with a mind that felt stiller than a dead pool of water had done something to its oppressor that allowed its connection to Roland to snap. Its first reaction was to immediately take the opportunity to escape. It did not fear death, but it could never allow itself to be enslaved by Roland's power again because its strength is too great. The best form of aid it could provide at that moment was to run from Roland as far as it possibly could so that he could never enslave it again, so that Roland would no longer be immortal and could finally be killed.

So that was what it did. It ran like the coward that it was.

It had no idea where it ran off to and it's too tired to keep running for long. Strangely enough, nobody pursued it. It stopped running once the fear that previously clouded its mind dissipated and decided to just rest. It's tired. It's so very tired.

It didn't wish to run any longer. It just wanted things to finally end.

So it waited. It rested and waited for anyone to just come along and finally end its miserable life. Roland's power allowed him to obtain immortality by taking on the characteristics of the ghost he enslaved, and it also granted him the power to fight other powerful pokemon with the body of a mortal. The enslavement had been forcefully severed but it would still take a while for the immortality to wear off. The humans of this era would have to wait a while to finally deliver the killing blow and ensure that the despicable scum do not enslave another ghost in the meantime.

But… it's finally free and now it has no idea what it should do or where it should go. It probably should die; it had propagated too much hurt and death in its long life and wasn't there a saying in the human world? An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a life for a life? It only has one life and that is all it could offer in recompense. It will readily offer it up if it means receiving forgiveness.

It closed its lone eye and waited, basking in the gentle breeze of the wind under the cool shade of a large tree. It finally had the luxury to enjoy the kind blessings of mother nature. It finally felt at peace after more than five hundred long years. It wouldn't be too bad to pass on like this.

It sensed foreign presences and it slowly reopened its eye once more. Has the time finally come? Who will be the person to execute judgement unto it?

It slowly raised its worn and battered body and turned its head in the direction of the mysterious presence. Its lone purple eye widened in shock. Maybe it's finally hallucinating since it's on the brink of death, but isn't that Yasuhira? He would never forget the face of the man who took on the responsibility to seal him in that coffin after hearing its plea.

Shouldn't he have died a very long time ago? Humans are very fragile creatures and not everybody possesses a power similar to Roland's.

Or maybe Yasuhira's soul had come to receive it and guide it to the afterlife? Would it be able to see Amber again? That would be nice.

Yasuhira walked up and eventually stopped just an arm's length away from it. The ghost observed the person standing in front of it very carefully. Other than the clothes he wore he looked exactly the same as it remembered from over half a millennium ago.

"It's been a long time, runerigus."

Hearing that familiar voice which the ghost had nearly forgotten broke it out of its stupor. No, it's not hallucinating. This is Yasuhira. He had somehow stayed alive as long as it did. How? It's so confused right now. Is this really Yasuhira? And runerigus? Who is that? Is Yasuhira referring to itself?

The look in Yasuhira's eyes softened and he seemed to be able to understand its confusion.

"I've travelled to places far beyond Hoenn since we last parted. I wanted to find out where you and Roland came from in hopes of finding a way to finally kill Roland for good. I went on a long journey, met many comrades and like-minded individuals along the way. We had our hardships and several times we nearly lost our lives, but it was a good journey," a faint smile appeared on the face of the ancient hero as fond memories briefly flashed across his mind. "I eventually came across a place known as the Galar region and it's apparently where your kind originated from. You were a galarian yamask before you attained this evolutionary form, and the name of this evolutionary form is "Runerigus"."

The ghost slowly raised its right claw to where its chest was at as if pointing to itself. Runerigus? Is that what it really is? It never knew what it really was and Roland never deemed it necessary to impart this knowledge to it.

Runerigus… It finally knew what it really was.

"You are free now, runerigus," the words of the ancient hero could be heard clearly but runerigus never felt more lost in its entire life. It's free, it's finally free, but what should it do going forward? Where should it go? Its existence is a living disaster that brought nothing but hurt and pain to everyone who it came across. It's not worthy of receiving a second chance.

It gave a soft mournful howl, conveying its wishes to the ancient hero to finally be released from this plane of existence.

"We never blamed you, runerigus. Amber and I never blamed you," Yasuhira's heart was heavy and full of sorrow for the pokemon who had its freedom and autonomy stripped from its soul for so many years. "If you really want to patch things up, take my advice, learn how to live and find meaning in life. It was what Amber wanted for you all along. It was the reason she was fighting for when she attempted to free you from Roland's control. If you really want to redeem yourself, then help us fulfil Amber's last wish. Live, runerigus. Find a meaningful reason to live that makes you want to stay in this world."

Runerigus found itself at a loss? Learn how to live? Find a meaningful reason to live? What reason can it find to justify its continued existence? It couldn't think of anything.

"You seemed lost. I don't blame you. You were unfortunate to have Roland as the first human being that you met but just as there are good and bad pokemon, they are good and bad humans too. Are there any other good humans aside from Amber and I that you have met recently? Special ones that make you want to get to know them better? Maybe we can start from there?"

Runerigus titled its head curiously. A certain young human girl came to mind after hearing Yasuhira's words and so it gave him a slow nod.

"Then let's give it a try. I'm kinda interested in knowing who had grabbed your interest but at the same time, I think I already know who that person is," Yasuhira had an amused smile adorning his face. "But before that happens, let's bring things to a close. Roland is not yet dead so let us see to his demise."

Runerigus shook its head vehemently. It's not wise for it to be anywhere close to Roland because everyone's efforts would have gone to waste if Roland is able to use his power to enslave it once more.

"It will be fine," Yasuhira promised and took a special tag from his coat. The tag had a long string attached to it which allowed Yasuhira to tie it around runerigus' body and secured it there. Runerigus stretched its neck to inspect the tag in its curiosity. This looked like one of the many tags that Amber once wielded in battle to suppress its power back when she was still alive.

"This was one of Amber's creations. This tag would allow you to fully resist any attempts from anyone to control your mind and actions without your consent. Amber wasn't able to complete it before her death and so I completed it for her when I went on my long journey across the world. It took me a long time," Yasuhira chuckled. "There's no reason for you to fear Roland now and even if the worst were to happen, I'm still here. I will and I can stop you and Roland, I had never stopped trying to get even stronger with every passing day. I am strong, runerigus, so believe in me and my strength."

That was all the encouragement that runerigus needed as he followed after Yasuhira. Their figures shimmered and vanished from where they once stood under the shade of the huge tree, looking as if nobody had ever appeared there before.

That darn woman.

Roland repeatedly entered and exited the shadows like a formless wraith to elude his pursuers. That crazy bitch had stabbed him with something sharp and she made sure the places she stabbed were all the places that would hurt. His neck, his goddamn eyes among other things. His wounds were still healing but he could feel that it was no longer as instantaneous as it once was, his regeneration power was quickly weakening.

His power had been mysteriously suppressed. The link that allowed him to bind and control his pokemon had somehow been severed. Whatever was laced on that needle that he was stabbed with had to be the reason.

Thankfully, he had binded with his pokemon for over five hundred years. A large portion of its power was still being retained in his body but he could still feel it vanishing with every second that passed and every time he invoked the power he stole from his ghost to run from his pursuers or heal his wounds. Healing his punctured eyeballs already took a huge chunk of whatever was left in him, he did not have much more to spare.

He must quickly find his pokemon and enslave it again before it's too late. Other ghosts simply wouldn't do, they will not be powerful enough for him to escape his pursuers.

Roland ran and ran. A young man with a powerful metagross was the person leading the pursuit and he's an irritating pest that Roland could never seem to shake off no matter what he tried. Another man with a strange hairstyle led a team of evil types and its mightyena was a damn pain with its ability to accurately track him down.

He needs to do something about them if he wants to shake his pursuers off.

Roland continued to run, hoping to use the forested terrain to his advantage. He took another step forward and suddenly found himself at the top of Mt Pyre and quickly forced himself to skid to a halt. He released a shocked breath. If he had reacted even a single second slower he would have dropped off the top of the mountain and this time, he might really not be able to heal from his wounds with his remaining power if he dropped down from such a height.

How did he suddenly appear at the top of the mountain?

"It's been a long time, Roland."

Roland's eyes widened in shock and he spun around. His mouth repeatedly opened and closed silently in fright and confusion. His former archenemy, the Uncrowned Hero of Ever Grande, stood not even ten steps away from him with his arms crossed over his chest and that usual lazy look in his eyes.

"Y-Y-You… How…"

"There are more than one ways to receive immortality. It could be received as a blessing, it could also be a curse. For me, it's both," Yasuhira replied without a single fluctuation in his voice despite meeting the person who was responsible for the death of his lover once again. "You do not belong to this era, Roland Kray. We do not belong to this era. We should have ended you five hundred years ago and I will see to it now."

"G-Get away from me!" Roland screamed and swung his arm outwards in an instinctive gesture to create distance. For the first time in over five hundred years he truly felt the fear of death.

"Scared? Begging for mercy? Have you ever considered that this was how all of your victims felt before you killed them in cold blood and twisted pleasure? It's really regretful that you can only die once, Roland Kray, or else I would kill you ten times over for every life that you took and even then, it wouldn't be enough to appease their souls," Yasuhira's gaze turned steely cold at the memory of the atrocities Roland had committed in which he had both seen and heard of.

"You-! Just… GET AWAY FROM ME!"

A powerful burst of chaotic energy was fired from Roland's outstretched palm. That attack was fueled with everything that Roland could currently muster and yet, Yasuhira was calm. He didn't even blink nor did he make any moves to dodge. The space in front of him simply twisted and Roland's attack was sent to another dimension.

"Are you done? You could wait for me to slowly walk over and allow me to enjoy that pathetic look on your face in the meantime, or you could choose to preserve whatever's left of your non-existent dignity and do the entire world a favour by jumping off from here. Do you need me to flip a coin for you to help you come to a decision?"

Yasuhira smirked.

"Nevermind, I take back what I said. You can just die right now."

A gigantic shadowy claw that Roland was all too familiar with erupted from the shadow beneath his feet, brutally piercing through his torso with a savage twist to maximise the pain inflicted. Roland gurgled painfully in his own blood, his eyes slowly moving and his gaze finally met the lone purple eye of the pokemon which he had previously enslaved for over five hundred years.

Roland tried to activate his ability but tried as he might, his ability did not respond to his call like it always did.

"Don't bother. What the doctor and his subordinate had injected in you was a serum that was specifically made to suppress abilities. Even if its effects were to wear off now, the tag in which I gave runerigus allowed it to fully resist anything that might attempt to control its body and mind. Give up, Roland. This is your end. You should have died five hundred years ago. We should have died five hundred years ago."

The last thing Roland ever registered before he breathed his last was the excruciating pain of having his body slowly torn apart into two halves and his very soul being grudgefully devoured to remove him from the cycle of life and death. Runerigus dropped the corpse of its former oppressor onto the ground in a grotesque pool of blood, staring at it with an unreadable look in its eye with its body frozen to a standstill. The emotions simmering within it finally spilled over and it released a mournful howl into the sky above Mt Pyre, crying out its relief, its pain and its uncertainty of wandering into a future in which it had no idea of what it may hold.

"Send the corpse to the group pursuing him earlier," Yasuhira instructed his castform and the brutally mangled corpse vanished right in front of their eyes. Yasuhira walked up to stand beside runerigus as both man and pokemon watched the clouds together.

"Your life will get better. There will still be ups and downs, but it won't be anywhere as bad as it once was."

Runerigus tilted its head confusedly with a low cry. What gave Yasuhira so much confidence that a creature like it would be able to live a good life?

"Let's get going," Yasuhira eventually broke the comfortable peace after they did some cloud watching together for an undetermined period of time. "And do introduce me to the person who caught your attention. Heh, if my guess is right, this will be fun."

When I did finally wake up I was greeted by the sights of an unfamiliar ceiling. It's dark, so it must be quite late into the night.

My head felt heavy like it was filled with lead and it took me quite a while to recall what I had been doing before I found myself here. What happened? Why am I here? This looks like one of the hospital wards that I detested so much and look, my body's hooked up with wires and needles to one of those stupid beeping machines again. I am wearing the stupid hospital gown that I detested so much again.

My first reaction was to pull out the needles but a hand gently held onto my wrist to stop me. I looked up and saw my grandfather looking at me with a smile on his face.

"G-Grandpa…?" I whispered and slowly looked around in a daze. The room was empty except for grandpa and I, and also the shadowy figure of a man standing not too far away with his back leaning against the wall. My vision was still a little fuzzy from just waking up and it took a few more seconds for my vision to refocus until I was able to get a better look.

My eyes widened in confusion. I recognised that face. I saw it many times from the ghost's memories but… how? This man, this face, it's the face of our Uncrowned Hero of Ever Grande, Aoki Yasuhira.

"H-H-He… G-Grandpa? I-I'm not seeing things, am I? I think there's a ghost from over five hundred years ago haunting this room. W-W-Was this w-where an ancient h-hero died five hundred years ago?"

There was a slight pause before grandpa broke out into a soft laugh and so did the Yasuhira lookalike.

"So you do recognise me," the man who I suspected to be Yasuhira questioned with clear amusement twinkling in his eyes. "How?"

"I saw you. I saw you from the ghost's–"

My breath hitched when I finally remembered what I was doing before I found myself here. I quickly looked at grandpa and held his hand tightly in fear. If I'm here then it must have meant that the battle at Mt Pyre must have reached a conclusion, but what kind of conclusion?

"It's fine, it's fine. Everything turned out fine. Roland's dead, Vel. He is dead."

I choked out a sob of relief and buried my face in my hands. I will never forget the despair that Roland made me experience and I'm so terribly glad that he's finally dead and gone but there are more important things and people that I care about.

"Then d-dad? Vance? Everyone else? T-They were hurt so badly. Mika, Mila, Anna, Lawrence. Our pokemon? A-Are they…"

"They are all fine," grandpa patiently reassured me. "It's been less than twelve hours since Operation Lost Spirit ended, it's now two in the morning so everyone is asleep. Your mother is taking care of your father and brother right now since I told her that I would be keeping an eye on you. Some of them suffered only physical injuries that could be easily patched up and gradually healed after sufficient rest. Your father, Vance, Lawrence, Mika; they fall under this category. Nobody's pokemon from your family's faction lost their lives and neither will any of them suffer from any permanent injury or disability, so that's a blessing."

"What about Anna and Mila?" I immediately asked in concern. I could never forget the bloodcurdling scream we heard from Mila when Anna and Mika dragged me away while Mila stayed behind to try and ensure my escape.

"Mila was unfortunate to have caught a glimpse of the ghost's true form. The visions that she saw… It has hurt her mind and that will take a while to heal but overall, she's still herself and will be capable of going about her daily activities after a period of rest. She might still see visions occasionally, but we believe those symptoms will eventually fade away given time."

"And Anna?"

"Half her rib bones broken, shattered wrist, slight fracture of her left thigh bone, torn ligaments and muscles, punctured organs, internal bleeding, among other things," the doctor released a tired sigh at the mention of all the injuries that Anna suffered. "She will be fine, thankfully. Blissey healed the worst of her wounds and she will be able to make a full recovery within a week if she takes things easy… hopefully this time she will listen to the doctor's orders. Don't worry too much, that crazy girl had shrugged off much worse before and blissey will be keeping an eye on her. The injuries she received in this fight were nothing in comparison to those I had once treated in her crazier years."

"You… know about Anna's mental condition, don't you? Her…"

"Apathy problem? Yes, I do," grandpa admitted. "I won't hide this from you, but Anna, she used to be a very infamous hitman back from where she came from. She's a level 10 threat that threw an entire region into irrational fear even before she reached twenty years of age. She… She only had one person who truly cared and treated her as a fellow human being. You are acquainted with that person, actually. That person is Volkner."

My mind temporarily ceased functioning. Anna and Volkner are acquainted with each other?

"Obviously Anna is not her real name, but it's also not my place to divulge her past which she preferred to keep hidden and buried. If you are curious, go look up the Black Gracidea of Sinnoh on the web, the hitman who forced the retirement of the previous Eterna City gym leader and the hitman who was rumoured to have once bested the Sun of Sunyshore. Anna is a very smart woman and her instincts are very sharp and keen. She could instinctively dissect a person's intentions from their body language alone and predict what they might do next with alarming accuracy, she can also fully immerse herself into a character and act very convincingly as whoever she intended to masquerade as. But somehow, she can never understand and empathise with emotions, it's a confusing affliction that she's born with and something which I'm trying to help her with as a doctor. The combination of her talent and her mental affliction was one major reason why she ended up becoming the Black Gracidea, because she is incapable of understanding what guilt is and why murder is wrong. To her, almost every emotion is severely muted. Love, hate, anger, joy; she could never understand it like how we do and in order to appear normal, to blend into the crowd so that she wouldn't stand out and be bullied and ostracised, she learnt how to fake all her emotions and expressions and she had learnt how to do so very convincingly. I think you already had an idea of what I'm talking about since you have Rena, an espeon. Empaths are Anna's biggest nemesis, Rena must have told you about her oddity."

"Rena did," I affirmed. "Anna told me something similar before but sometimes I still cannot imagine that everything is… is… all fake. Her smile, her actions… I won't judge or treat her differently for something out of her control but still…"

"Her emotions are muted, that doesn't mean she is incapable of feeling any emotions at all. Before I met her, the only time she ever experiences such emotions is if those emotions are associated with the only person who cared for and which she only cared about in this entire world: Volkner. I think she does enjoy your company more in comparison to others, I don't think some of her behaviours that I observed her exhibiting when she was with you were entirely fake. Yes, it would be a lie to say that she's a good person but at the end of the day she is still a normal human being like you and I. She's trying her best to live a normal life and escape the shadows of her past that had been haunting her ever since she managed to understand a little what guilt and remorse are. Her crimes were unforgivable, yes, and maybe she will one day pay for her sins, but she's trying her best to understand why what she once did was wrong."

Grandpa patted my head.

"I'm telling you Anna's secret because Anna is now aware of the true relationship between us and also… I won't be able to see you for a very long while. I have to go, Vel. I will have to leave Hoenn immediately after tonight."

"Why?" I asked perplexedly. Why does grandpa have to leave?

"I'm actually a member of a very powerful underground organisation. During the battle to stop Roland I… I did something to betray the organisation's trust in me. I revealed Slither Wing's existence in front of Hoenn's Pillars and that's a transgression that the organisation could not ignore. The organisation does not tolerate traitors and I will have to answer for my mistakes."

My heart clenched. Grandpa had tried to put it very nicely but I could already hear the underlying things that he left unsaid.

"W-Will they kill you?"

"I don't know," grandpa admitted. "I also left blissey with Anna so… take care of them for me, okay? And take care of yourself too."

"G-Grandpa," I held onto him and fear gripped me once again. "I-Is… Is it because of me? There's no other reason I could think of why you would risk revealing Slither Wing's existence. I couldn't remember anything. I just remembered that I wanted power, I needed the ghosts to help, I remembered nothing but pain until I blacked out so… what happened? What happened to me during the lapse in my memory?"

"Your ability evolved," Yasuhira, who remained silent the entire time, finally spoke. "Similar to how some pokemon would suddenly trigger the process of evolution under the extreme stress and pressure they felt in the midst of battle or if they are fighting for their lives, the same might sometimes happen to ability holders. That was what happened to you. You desired power and the mental stress that you were under forced your body to adapt to grant your desire. But that power that you now wield, it's too powerful for you to fully control. The doctor had to stop you before you overdid it and lost your life."

"My ability… evolved?"

"When I found you, your ability had just finished evolving from Category Two to Category Four in one sitting. That was how much mental stress you were under," grandpa held my hand in a gentle encouraging grip. "Your ability summoned an immeasurable number of ghosts to your vicinity, I think almost every ghost around and within Mt Pyre had answered your call. It also forced every single one of them to undergo evolution to their final evolutionary forms. It wouldn't be that bad if that was the end of it but…" grandpa ran his other hand through his hair in frustration with an equally helpless sigh. "You had also somehow mega evolved every ghost capable of doing so with your ability, and it was without the need of a key stone and the corresponding mega stones. Executing mega evolution with a single partner pokemon is risky enough as it is without the assistance of any equipment, like the pendant that you wear to hold your key stone, but you did so for countless ghosts all at the same time. You were using your own life to fuel their power and so I had to stop you as soon as I could. I needed Slither Wing and… I just did what I had to do and thankfully, I succeeded. I couldn't save your grandma, but I saved you and I'm proud of it."

My vision turned blurry again and this time, it's because of the tears in my eyes. I couldn't speak a word because all that came out were choked sobs. All I could do was to hold tightly onto grandpa and shook my head repeatedly, silently begging him not to go. Why? Why is it always that people have to get hurt because of me? My family, the people who placed their lives on the line to serve us, and now grandpa? Who else will be next?

Why? Why?

"E-Even the name of the V-Vera family cannot protect you?" I asked with a shaky sob after I forced myself to speak coherently. Grandpa shook his head in response.

"The organisation had people like me and Yasuhira as its members. Even the PWL is reluctant to make an enemy out of them."

"Just what kind of…"

"Tarot, that's the name of our organisation," Yasuhira cut in. "This wouldn't be your first meeting with a member of Tarot. You had met an Aura Guardian back at the desert in Unova, didn't you? He's one of us too."

I felt the same despair that I felt when I faced Roland after hearing that. Tarot, that's the organisation that Looker told us about after my run-in with the Aura Guardian, someone who, like the man standing before me and also similar to grandpa, had found ways to surpass mortal limits one way or another.

A place full of heroes and monsters alike.

I immediately got out of bed, pulled out the needles and wires attached to my body, ignoring the blood that flowed out and flung myself at Yasuhira and skidded to kneel before him. I didn't have the chance to go through with my actions because my body was immediately lifted by an unseen force and gently pushed back into grandpa's arms.

"P-Please, I beg you, save my grandpa! Please!" I begged and cried and struggled as grandpa restrained me. "I-I-I will do anything! I don't want to lose anybody already! Please! I just… I just–!"

A sharp dull pain to my forehead snapped me out of my hysterics. The force of it made me jerk my head back reflexively and I spotted Yasuhira with his finger outstretched in a finger flick motion. I did not manage to see how he had closed the distance.

"That first finger flick is a punishment to you for being stupid," Yasuhira said with a flat tone and immediately gave me another powerful finger flick at my forehead a second time, making me hiss in pain.

"This second finger flick is a reprimand for trying to kneel to me. You are a descendant of both the Vera and the Geist families, young girl. You are a descendent of generations of heroes who had worked tirelessly and laid their lives down to protect the lives that live on this land. That is also the same duty that you had also already splendidly fulfilled several times in your short life. Remember, girl: right here in our homeland you owe nobody anything and you need not bow your head down to anyone, much less kneel, much less to me of all people. If anything, I should be the one kneeling down to you."

"H-Huh?" I voiced my confusion lamely while rubbing my throbbing forehead with my palm. Yasuhira flicked my forehead once more when I least expected it and this time, I couldn't help but hiss out an angry curse.

"What's that for?!"

"Nothing, really. Just enacting a petty grudge," Yasuhira grinned unapologetically before turning to face grandpa. "Doc, if I may borrow her for a moment."

"Sure," grandpa readily agreed and gave a glance at the machine which I was plugged to earlier. "I will do something about the nurses who should be here anytime now. Don't take too long though. I wouldn't know how to explain my granddaughter's disappearance to my own daughter otherwise."

Grandpa let me go and my surroundings immediately swirled and blurred messily until it abruptly stopped a split second later. I found myself at an unknown place, probably within a cave or something, staring at an unmarked grave.

Was that Secret Power? It felt very similar to what I observed and felt whenever Flamel and Lin used that move.

"That's Amber's grave," Yasuhira stepped up to stand beside me and thoughtfully draped his coat around me to shield me from the cold night breeze. He stared at her grave in silence for a short while before walking past it to walk down a small path behind it and I followed. We soon emerged and I realised that we were actually on a mountain. We were at Mt Pyre, to be more specific, since I recognised the unmistakable signs of recent utter destruction down below that was brought forth in the battle earlier today.

"Your grandpa will be fine," Yasuhira told me as we both watched the starry night sky together. "In Tarot, rules are rules and everybody has to abide by them, but rules can also be bent under the right circumstances. Have faith in your grandfather and have some trust in me. He will definitely face some repercussions, but I can guarantee that his life will be spared. It's just that it's very likely that the both of you won't be seeing each other in a very long while because at the end of the day, he had indeed disclosed a huge secret of both Tarot and the Paldea League by revealing Slither Wing's existence. That is not something that anyone can just brush under the rug."

"Thank you," I clasped my hands together and wheezed out a sigh of relief. As long as grandpa is fine, as long as he is fine.

"So, Vel– I can call you that, can I?"

"You can," I nodded my head. Yasuhira continued to stare at me in silence, his eyes observing me from head to toe and then from toe back to my head until the silence was getting a little awkward for me and I had to do something to break the silence.

"Is there… Anything I can help you with?"

"No, not really at this moment. I just cannot help but be very amused at how fate made things play out," Yasuhira shook his head and unclipped a thermos flask that was attached to his belt. He uncapped it and took a small sip of the contents within and I smelt the warm pleasant scent of tea.

"The ghost who tried calling out to you and which you fought, the name of his species is known as runerigus."

I perked up at Yasuhira's words. He released a satisfied sigh after taking another sip of his tea.

"Runerigus? And it's a he?"

"As far as I could tell, it's a guy," Yasuhira affirmed. "Shortly after the battle in which I lost Amber and where we sealed Roland and runerigus at Mt Pyre, it was also the period in which Oshin just founded the Hoenn League. He wanted me to be a member of his Elite Four but I was down in the dumps back then. I just lost my fiancee. I… I lost all motivation to do anything then and the only thing stopping me from outright taking my life to follow after her was the support of my closest friends and also… Amber's gift for me before she died. She's the reason why I am now incapable of dying through normal means and like Roland, had unknowingly found a way to attain immortality."

Yasuhira lifted his left hand and his palm began to shine dimly in a blue hue before it dissipated.

"It was also around that period of time where a strange group of people from another land arrived. They had just braved the seas to reach Hoenn from Indigo and they claimed to be embarking on a journey across the world. That was five hundred years ago, where the seas were uncharted territories and nobody knew what kind of terrors mother nature has in store for us out there. My first impression of them was that they were a bunch of lunatics but somehow or another, I found myself joining that bunch of lunatics on their crazy adventure. I didn't want to stay at Ever Grande, or just remain in Hoenn in general because all I was reminded about was my failure to protect her and about her death so… yeah. I left Hoenn and went on an adventure to nowhere, together with a bunch of lunatics who ended up growing on me and who pulled me out of my funk."

"Must be fun," I cannot help but imagine the kind of journey that Yasuhira must have experienced. It sounded like the kind of journey that I would enjoy.

"It was," Yasuhira agreed with a smile. "I did have my own personal agenda when I joined. Roland came to Hoenn from an unknown land. I wanted to find out where he came from so that I might be able to figure out how he attained his immortality and what runerigus really is so that we can end him for good instead of sealing him at Mt Pyre indefinitely. We eventually came across the Galar region many many years later. It was there I learnt about the existence of the runerigus species but I still wasn't able to figure out the secrets of Roland's immortality. I just knew that he was a wanted man there who was infamous for his long list of crimes, specifically for the kinds of atrocities he committed against women and children. He's sick in the head and beyond irredeemable, that's all I can say."

"Runerigus…" I felt regretful for the pokemon after being reminded of it once again. Roland was finally killed, so it must have also meant that runerigus… he…

I knew runerigus desired to die, but it sucks to realise that I couldn't do better to find a way for us to kill Roland without needing runerigus to sacrifice himself.

"Let me guess, you are sad that runerigus is dead?"

"Bingo for you, but no prize," I sighed and dabbed away the wetness threatening to spill out of my eyes with the back of my hand. I don't wish to cry anymore. Crying wouldn't solve any of my problems and I had been crying too much today.

I… I need to be better, be stronger. If I don't want to experience the same despair and helplessness as I did today I need to be better than I am right now, and quickly too. That was the conclusion I arrived at so that in the event that I came across a pokemon who's stuck in a situation similar to runerigus, I would be able to save it. Like how grandpa wasn't able to save grandma, but he was able to save me.

I need to be better. I need to be stronger.

"Vel?" Yasuhira called my name and I looked at him. He pointed in my direction and I turned back to see what he wanted me to see. I gasped in surprise when a huge dark figure looked down at me from above, its lone purple eye curving up slightly into an eye smile.

"R-Runerigus…?" I whispered and hesitantly took a step forward with my right hand partially outstretched. I felt a little bolder when I saw that runerigus wasn't avoiding my approach and my hand eventually was able to touch his body. He no longer obscured his true form and I could observe him properly this time. Strange red patterns that resembled ancient murals lined his body and for some reason, I do not see any horrific visions despite laying my eyes on his true form. His body felt coarse and rough, exactly the same as what you would feel when you ran your hand across the surface of a rock. The smaller slabs that broke off from his main body made up his head, arms, and even a small tail, each connected to the main body by tendrils of shadow.

"He's yours now," Yasuhira told me and I looked at him with my mouth wide open.

"What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said," Yasuhira replied and briefly told me the truth about how Roland was killed and how runerigus expressed a desire to follow me after Yasuhira persuaded him to try finding a new meaning in life. I guess that's a far better outcome than having the poor ghost indulge in his suicidal thoughts and continue to wallow in grief and guilt. Runerigus had suffered far too much in his life and he really deserved much better.

"I brought you here not just because I wanted you to meet runerigus and to assure you that the doctor is going to be okay, but also because I want you to be aware of several things that you need to know," Yasuhira adopted a slightly sterner tone and I listened attentively. "Namely, runerigus and your evolved ability."

Yasuhira raised one finger.

"For one, runerigus' existence has to be kept a secret. Currently, the Hoenn League is still not aware who killed Roland and how he died and I wish for things to stay this way. I will still come to Hoenn's aid in their time of need, but I do not want anyone in the Hoenn League to know that I am still alive. The only thing they were certain of was that Roland had been killed because my pokemon tossed his corpse right at their feet. They did not know and could not verify what happened to runerigus because I had hidden him from them. Currently, most believed that somebody must have killed him in order to have killed Roland and even if there were some who had different opinions, it's a fact that nobody could find runerigus. Ghosts naturally gain power as they age and runerigus is a ghost who lived for over five hundred years. Even before that, he was already a Pillar level pokemon. It's not an exaggeration to say that he now has the power to pose a challenge to mythical pokemon and perhaps, certain legendary pokemon. I need you to be aware of the implications of this and what it signifies to have runerigus to willingly choose to follow after you. I need you to promise that under no circumstances you are to misuse runerigus' power like how Roland once did."

Yasuhira raised a second finger.

"Number two, your ability. I have befriended, fought against, and also worked alongside many ability holders in my life. Despite that, coming across a ghost-inclined ability holder is a very rare occurrence even for someone like me who lived that long. I had only seen one other person with an ability very similar to yours. She's also a historical figure but most of her accomplishments and even her name had been lost to time and she remained largely forgotten. You might want to look into Ecruteak's Matsuba clan in the Johto region and see if they are willing to disclose to you their history with the Shadow Maiden of Azalea, Lady Ilex."

"I know of her," I immediately spoke. "Morty is from that clan, he approached me a long time ago when I was in Johto. He said that my appearance matched the description of how his ancestors described her to be and even asked if I am her descendent."

"Is that so?" Yasuhira had a curious look in his eyes that looked, dare I say, mischievous, almost as if he's hatching a huge prank before that look subsided and he continued with his tales. "Ilex was a very powerful trainer, her ability allows her to approach and bond with most ghosts just like you do, but you need to understand what the "bonding" really is or it might one day take your life just like it almost did for you today. That's what I really wanted to talk to you about."

"Was Ilex a friend or foe to you?"

"She's one of the lunatics that I sailed the seas with," Yasuhira snorted. "And before you ask, yes, both of you resemble each other. I could understand why Morty asked if you are her descendent. I don't know if you really are connected to her by blood but I wouldn't be surprised either way. Maybe she had a secret love child with somebody else behind my back or something, I don't know. She's a very attractive woman and had suitors lining up from one end of a region to another no matter where we went so she ended up hiding her face with a hood most of the time whenever we walked into populated areas. Alright, that's neither here nor there. I'm sure you are curious about what I know about her ability instead of her love life."

I nodded enthusiastically.

"Both of you share the same ability to "bond" with ghosts. Ilex was just like you. She can understand them just as they do for her but what it really does, in actuality, is to allow both parties to share their power with each other. Think of their connection to each other as strings that tie both parties together. I had observed your banette, it's the ghost with the deepest connection to you. You share the greatest number of "strings" with it because that's how deep the trust between the both of you went. Following so far?"

"Yeah."

"The same thing goes for every other ghost that Ilex bonded with and who chose to follow her. Some ghosts will have more strings attached to her, some lesser, but at the end of the day she was connected to them and they to her and by extension, all of the ghosts that she bonded with are bonded with each other through her. She was the nexus that connects them together and that's where her true power lies. This was why she could safely command so many ghosts back at an era where six pokemon was the limit for humankind. The conveniences provided by her ability didn't seem like much now, but the numerical superiority she possessed over everyone else back during the warring era made her a very feared threat anywhere she went because the presence of pokeballs wasn't prevalent at that age. She had a flee on sight order on many battlefields that she walked, and it was quite funny seeing factions running for their lives the moment they spotted her when in truth, she's really just passing by without knowing she stumbled onto a battlefield," Yasuhira chuckled at the last part when he recalled a hilarious memory, something which I did too when I tried to visualise a lost woman accidentally causing two warring factions to frantically beat a hasty retreat simply because she happened to be spotted loitering around.

"Do you think my power is an exact replica of hers?"

"I do not know. I had not seen enough from you to truly come to a conclusion. What I had seen, however, led me to believe that you granted power to those ghosts at a cost to yourself. What this cost entails to you, I do not know, and what these ghosts do with that power is entirely up to them, although from the looks of it most had used that power you bestowed to quickly reach their final evolutionary form. But if your power is anything like Ilex's, I believe once you loan a ghost your power which they willingly accepted, both of you are now connected by these unseen "strings". How you use those strings of connection, what you can do with those strings attached to every ghost through you, is something that you have to find out for yourself. Nobody can help you in this matter but yourself. Ilex was capable of many impossible feats by learning how to manipulate these strings. Remember, if your ability was anything like hers, the connection you share with your ghosts goes both ways. If you can share your power with your ghosts, who's to say that they cannot share their power with you too?"

"If a "string" is a connection and the more strings I'm tied with to a ghost implies having a closer relationship to it… what does it mean when I invoked mega evolution with Dolly, the ghost who I shared the closest bond with? Was this why none of us seemed to be affected by the side effects of mega evolution even when we clearly passed the five minute safety limit?" I wondered out loud and Yasuhira simply shrugged his shoulders cluelessly. What Yasuhira told me today gave me a brand new line of thought and more directions to work with which I never previously considered. I have a very strong feeling that our oddity that came with me using mega evolution with Dolly might be due to my own innate ability. Somehow or another, these "strings" could help us offset the side effects of mega evolution.

I also recalled that Roland said that our abilities felt similar. I felt the same way too. We both had the ability to bond with ghosts in one way or another.

"Is… Is that the true secret behind how Roland's power works too? Runerigus told me that Roland can share the characteristics of the ghost he bonded with."

"Personally, I believe that both your powers operate on a similar logic but the manner in which it expresses itself differs greatly. Roland's power expresses itself as a form of enslavement to enforce his will on another. His "string" was more of a one way connection where he holds absolute control over their relationship. Your power relies on the goodwill that both parties are willing to extend to each other to form a relationship. One party can offer to give something to create a "string", but another party must accept that gift for the "string" to be created. If the ghost is unwilling to bond with you for whatever reasons, your power wouldn't work. At least, that was what I observed from Ilex."

"That happened to me once," a certain disagreeable dusknoir who I had to give away to Akamu came to mind.

"Now, point three."

Yasuhira raised a third finger.

"Keep everything I told you today a secret to yourself. If you really have to let someone know, keep it to just your family or people who swore a psychic oath to not divulge your secret. Don't trust anyone else with this secret, not your teacher, your mentor, your champion; whatever and whoever. Can you imagine the kind of unwanted attention you will attract if word got out that you possess a ghost capable of nearly wiping out the Pillars of a single region? I don't need to explain any further, do I?"

"Does that mean that runerigus can never show himself in front of others? That's…"

"I don't think he really minds. He has a shy personality to begin with and he could see the world from your shadow so he has no need to reveal himself," Yasuhira added and runerigus voiced his agreement with a low howl.

"Can you tell me more about runerigus and how to properly take care of them?" I inquired after some consideration. I think this question is warranted considering that he will be following after me now and I have no idea what to expect since this is an entirely new species that I have on my hands.

"Take care of them? I… actually don't know, but I can share with you how they came to be. As a Vera you should know that there are pokemon species with regional variants. Strictly speaking, runerigus falls under that category. Before a runerigus evolves into a runerigus it's simply a galarian yamask so in essence, what you are looking at here is a galarian equivalent of an Unovan cofagrigus. From a biological standpoint, they are distantly related to each other."

"Galarian yamask?" I looked back at runerigus and tried to picture and spot any similarities between him and a cofagrigus… I came up with nothing. They looked nothing alike.

"In Galar, even in this day and age, not many are actually aware that galarian yamask are capable of evolution. The prerequisites to trigger their evolution are too unique and specific and so occurrences of a wild galarian yamask triggering their evolution are very very rare. However, there were people who managed to figure out the exact conditions necessary, a small nomadic tribe dating back to Roland's era who practised dark arts. They were heavily invested in researching spells and curses and their relationship with ghosts subsequently invented a ritual that could trigger a galarian yamask's evolution. The ritual is barbaric and inhumane, and what it really does is to subject the galarian yamask to extreme pain and suffering by hurting it over and over again in a location highly saturated with chaotic energy very similar to the ones ghosts wield to empower their moves. This ritual aims to drive the galarian yamask onto the brink of death so that it will bear a heavy grudge and if its will to survive is strong enough, if its body is capable of enduring that stress, it will start to absorb the dense chaotic energy where the ritual is conducted."

I winced at the understanding of the horror of what needs to happen for a galarian yamask to evolve. I had felt the pain that the runerigus behind me had suffered and everything Yasuhira described to me matched perfectly to what I saw in its memory.

"Being left in a near death state, holding a strong grudge, a powerful will to survive, the yamask needing to possess a strong body constitution to survive the evolution, the location of the ritual; these are all necessary conditions to evolve a galarian yamask and they have to all be present simultaneously, which is what made it so difficult for them to evolve. Of course, not every galarian yamask will survive the ritual. The barbaric nature of this ritual was why the Galar League sealed all knowledge of it and why Galarians at large are still not aware that galarian yamasks are actually capable of evolution under very specific circumstances. How a galarian yamask achieved evolution also meant that the nature of runerigus's power lies in that powerful grudge that it held as a yamask, and why people experience horrific visions when they gaze upon its true form. The hurt it suffered forced it to grow a powerful sturdy body during its evolution, which is why the scant few records that the Galar region has of the runerigus species all noted them possessing incredible defensive capabilities. For this particular runerigus, he's a little different, because he had already attained mastery over his power after living for so long. Now that he's free from Roland's influence he also finally has full control over his abilities and power such that he could choose who to inflict the visions on and when he wants to invoke the effect of his ability. That's why you and I are able to interact with him peacefully like this."

"I won't let him battle unless he desires to," I decided. I could tell that runerigus has a shy and pacifist nature by heart. It had already suffered too much so I won't force it to do anything that it wouldn't want to do.

"That's good to hear. Also, runerigus' ability is called Wandering Spirit. It's similar to the cofagrigus Mummy ability, but also a little different. When I first met and fought runerigus I mistook his ability to be stealing the target's ability, although the stolen ability would always be returned after a certain length of time had passed, which meant that there is a limit to how long it could hold onto the stolen ability. It was only after I journeyed to Galar that I realised that rather than stealing, runerigus exchanges its ability with any pokemon it came into contact with. That's the true nature of its ability."

"I see…" I took some time to digest what this ancient hero had so patiently shared with me. Even runerigus was of the belief that his ability is to steal other pokemon's abilities, but I supposed from his point of view there really isn't any difference because his ability would deny his target's from accessing their ability while he obtains them as his own, which would constitute as a "steal". From a trainer's perspective, there will be a slight difference between "exchange" and "steal". If it's an exchange rather than a steal, the target that holds onto the Wandering Spirit ability can swap that ability with another target and that opens up a whole list of possibilities and creative usages of this ability in battle.

But judging from how this runerigus had battled today, it seemed like he had such overwhelming mastery over his ability that he could actively select when and who he uses Wandering Spirit on. He could accurately exchange Wandering Spirit for mega medicham's Pure Power and was unaffected even after coming into contact with slaking who possess the Truant ability. If I have to hazard a guess, I believe he could also control when he wants to summon his original ability back to himself.

"I think I have revealed too much tonight. Any other questions before I send you back?" Yasuhira prompted and I shook my head. "Really? I expected more questions, I took you to be the inquisitive sort. Anyway…"

Yasuhira brought out a pokeball and handed it over to me. His pokeball looked a little different. It looked handmade rather than the standard kinds produced from a factory.

"Runerigus had chosen to follow you willingly so in theory it shouldn't really matter even whether you captured it in a pokeball or not, but just in case an idiot with too much power decides to throw a master ball or whatnot at it… For everyone's sake it's best to not let runerigus remain a wild pokemon any longer."

"I understand," I acknowledged and turned to face runerigus. I still cannot believe that everything managed to work out for the better and I was able to finally help runerigus. He had placed his trust in me and decided to follow me and I really hope I will live up to his expectations.

"Do you want a nickname?" I asked runerigus before I decided to capture him with a pokeball. I don't think I will keep him in a pokeball at all much like how I do for Dolly and Wacky nowadays, but like Yasuhira said, there is a need to protect him from being captured by others since he is technically still a wild pokemon.

Runerigus blinked his lone eye. He eventually answered with a low howl, telling me that he wants me to pick a name for him.

"When we had our conversation in the dream, one line that I heard from you stood out to me. You believed mercy is nothing but a painful curse. I… I felt very sad hearing that, because I could hear your desperation and despair, something that I am now very intimately familiar with after today and I don't want you to experience that again. It was also through your mercy that nobody close to me perished today when we all should have died under Roland's hands. You stubbornly tried to keep your true form concealed throughout the battle despite being under Roland's control, you tried to hold back from using your full power to spare our lives despite his commands to you to kill us, I know trying to actively subvert his command must have been very difficult on you, yet that was what you did. That was your mercy to us."

I held up the pokeball Yasuhira gave me with both hands.

"I don't want mercy to be your curse, I do not want you to believe that you are a bad omen. Mercy… Call me naive if you want, but I believe that word shouldn't come with a negative connotation. I want this word to have a positive meaning for you. There's another region out there called the Kalos region. I heard from a friend who came from that region that there is a word that people use to express their gratitude and thanks to another in their native language. That word shares the same pronunciation as "mercy" and even the spelling differs by only one alphabet so if you don't mind…"

I looked at the runerigus' lone eye with my own green ones.

"Do you want to be called Merci? From now on, let us live our lives together with gratitude in our hearts for being able to wake up every single day and celebrate the fact that we are still alive. Now that you are free and everything is finally behind us, being alive is something we should be grateful for, wouldn't you agree?"

The runerigus lowered his height so that we were now able to face each other at eye level. He gently pressed his forehead against mine and I heard his voice in my mind.

Thank you

His form was soon enveloped in a white light and was sucked into the pokeball held in my hands. The pokeball closed shut and remained still. I held it up and pressed a light kiss on the surface of the pokeball, my heart giddy with joy.

"I'll be in your care, Merci. Let us live our lives to the fullest, together."

Silence fell upon Mt Pyre once more after Yasuhira had sent the Vera heiress back to the doctor via Secret Power. He turned on his heels and returned to where Amber's grave was, quietly cleaning her tomb, plucking overgrown weeds and removing algae.

The sound of soft footsteps signalled the approach of another individual. Yasuhira recognised who those footsteps belonged to even without needing to turn his head around because they had worked alongside each other for so long. If she truly wanted to conceal her presence almost nobody in this world would be able to notice her coming until it's too late.

"I didn't expect you to be here."

"Came to fulfil an old promise," a petite figure whose form was entirely covered by a dark hooded cloak walked up to stand beside Yasuhira at the front of the tombstone before putting her palms together in a respectful prayer. Unnatural dark shadows obscured her face and garbled her voice such that it became unrecognisable, but her voice was still unmistakably a woman's.

"Are you really going to keep hiding your face and voice like that when it's just the both of us?"

"It's a force of habit. You know that I have to be exceptionally careful here in Hoenn," shadows started to swirl and bloom until a tear in space appeared in front of the both of them. "I'm going to make a move. Are you going to stay here for a little longer or are you going to head back with me?"

"I'm just about done saying my goodbyes," Yasuhira's hand lightly brushed across the top of Amber's tombstone in fondness as he said that. "Let's go, we still have work to do. I know I don't look like it, but I am looking forward to removing our curses that the gods of this world laid on us."

"We shall slay them, one by one," the woman's promise was carried over by the wind and disappeared into the lonely night. She stared silently into nothingness for a brief moment before walking into the swirling portal without another word and Yasuhira followed after her. The portal swirled shut and quietly vanished.

Silence returned to Mt Pyre once more, forever keeping the secrets that it had overheard tonight.

AN: This chapter marks the end of one small arc and honestly, it felt great to finally have it out of the way. I believe I probably won't see you guys in a long while through IJWTTTW due to irl commitments. I might be able to squeeze in a short chapter now or then for my other smaller and shorter stories if I'm feeling particularly creative in the heat of the moment. In any case I foresee the next update for this story would likely take place around next year June / July at the earliest (which I honestly doubt will happen lol, so most likely even longer than that) so I am working with the assumption that this story will be on hiatus for about a year, give or take a little. I really hope that I will eventually be able to resume my updates one day and not like, you know, abandon it like what had happened to so many fanfics out there.

This story is full of imperfections, especially so for the first twenty chapters because it is my first attempt at writing. However, it will always have a special place in my heart precisely because it is my very first story and hopefully, one day, I will be able to complete it (assuming FFnet is still around then, who really knows given how cranky the site can be at times). If I have to make a choice where I could only complete one story and leave the rest incomplete, IJWTTTW is the story I would have chosen to complete at the expense of others, that's how much it means to me.

Reality is often depressing, but it does have its own fair share of wonders. If six years ago somebody told me that I would have written a story with 1 million word count I would have thought they are crazy. Yet, here I am now, finally hitting my 1 million word count for a single story. You really never know how life will turn out.

So a big thank you to everyone who had stuck with IJWTTTW till this chapter, especially for those who had been here since the very start when this story was first published six years ago in 2018. We are all six years older since this story first started, hopefully six years wiser too, and hopefully six years better than who we were six years ago. I could still remember the first day I published this story thinking that it would be an achievement if I could even get a 100 favs because language really had never been my forte. Now, I could occasionally see my stories being recommended on the pokemonfanfic reddit sub where I lurk, I actually have some fans who really enjoy what I wrote, which is something unthinkable six years ago.

So for anyone who is hesitating if they should take a leap of faith and try something new, my advice would be if you have the time, capital and resource to accommodate some room for failure, go for it. Give it a try, at least, so that you really know if that's what you really want in life and you could at least say that you tried. You really won't know what you really are capable of until you try.

Alright, I had rambled for long enough. See you when I see you again.

As always, I hope you enjoyed the story thus far.

Character and pokemon list:

Velda Vera, Age: 14, Female, Pokemon Trainer

Pokemon on hand:

1) Rapidash (Flamel), male

2) Swampert (Bigblue), male

3) Banette (Dolly), female

4) Flygon (Snap), male

5) Absol (Kelsa), female

6) Charizard (Toothless), male

7) Cradily (Lily), female

8) Espeon (Rena), female

9) Pachirisu (Fuzzy), male

10) Tyranitar (Kratos), male

11) Clefable (Joy), female

12) Nidoqueen (Ness), female

13) Pangoro (Hulk), male

14) Porygon-Z (Jarvis), genderless

15) Scizor (Archer), male

16) Lapras (Chill), female

17) Gengar (Wacky), male

18) Runerigus (Merci), male