Chapter 2 - Redemption

**Chapter 2 - Redemption** is the second chapter of Rejuvenation. It starts after Melia escapes from Madelis in Gearen Laboratory. The Protagonist continues their journey across Aevium, meeting new faces in Sheridan Village as they continue to search for Melia and their mother. However, Team Xen remains a threat.

## Chapter Summary

### Confrontation at the Abandoned Factory

As Ren and the protagonist make their way to regroup with Venam to rescue Melia, they are stopped in their tracks by Karrina. She explains that she contacted Venam as soon as Team Xen invaded the city; Karrina gave her a tip that a Xen admin was fortifying themselves within the Abandoned Factory on Junction Bridge. Venam had sprung on the opportunity without a second thought. The trio proceed toward the factory to provide backup.

As the group enters the factory they immediately find a confused Venam. As both parties attempt to make sense of the situation, the alarm system goes off. Overheard are two voices; one of an individual named Dr. Jenkel, and the other one presumably being his boss. The boss swiftly warps away and leaves Jenkel to fend off against the intruders.

This Dr. Jenkel is seemingly experimenting on a Musharna. The protagonist then teams up with Ren and Venam to defeat Jenkel and free Musharna. To their shock, Musharna is frustrated with the group for freeing it from the device. Jenkel explains he was never abusing Musharna, that his machine benefits Pokémon and does not harm them. With Jenkel not being a Xen Admin at all, and this misunderstanding being cleared up the group leaves the factory empty-handed.

Ren informs Venam that Melia is currently fleeing from Team Xen; Ren and Venam depart for the Route 2 station. Karrina, after commenting under her breath that this should have bought enough time for something, wishes the protagonist luck with their goal of finding Melia and gives them the TM for Rock Smash, then makes her departure.

### Into the Amethyst Depths

Entering the train station, the protagonist meets a tense Venam and a doubtful Ren. While on the train, the protagonist can attempt to simmer down Ren and Venam with mediocre success. Venam declares that they should hunt Melia’s pursuers to the ends of the Earth, while Ren questions if they have the capabilities of doing so. The train arrives at its destination shortly afterward, with Venam rushing out and Ren being concerned that she will do something reckless.

The Group then progresses through Route 2 and into Amethyst Cave. Just as they attempt to make their way to Sheridan Village, they are informed by an enigmatic figure that Melia did not arrive in Sheridan, that she made a wrong turn in Amethyst Cave due to fear clouding her mind. Venam rushes down into the mines; the mysterious man leaves the protagonist and Ren with some ominous parting words.

Heading into the lower levels of the mines, Venam confirms that Melia and Team Xen are in the mines currently, while Ren notices that Joltik, which is not native to Amethyst Mines, has popped up. He also says that he failed to recall seeing any Joltik when he visited only a few days ago.

The group makes their way to the bottom of the mines, only to meet Zetta instead of Melia. After a moment of silence, he says they are all too late; Melia is dead. Aghast, they ask Zetta to corroborate his words, and Zetta explains that while pursuing Melia he heard a massive crash and found a Galvantula gnawing on Melia’s bag. Ren still does not believe Zetta until Venam verifies that the handbag that Zetta has is indeed Melia’s, noting the specially embroidered Hapi on it. Both sides exchange blame. Zetta, in a last-ditch effort to get revenge, throws the group into the Dimensional Rift.

They awaken within the Dimensional Rift. While the protagonist and Ren seem fine, Venam is still in despair over losing her best friend. Ren cheers her up a bit by saying that just sitting there would be giving up and letting Melia’s killer escape. The protagonist then proceeds to explain how to escape a Dimensional Rift; Venam agrees to kill the Galvantula residing within. Ren shows some reluctance, saying that Galvantula was caught in the crossfire, but later accepts that he has no choice.

Heading north, the group will encounter a massive egg, with the Galvantula presumably inside of it. To awaken the Galvantula, Ren tries hitting the egg, as Venam congratulates him. Ren says he hasn't even touched the egg yet. The Rift Galvantula awakens, and the trio engages in battle with the Rift.

After the fight with Rift Galvantula and its babies, the trio is teleported out of the collapsing Rift and back to Amethyst Depths. Enjoying a brief celebration, Venam notices that Zetta is nowhere to be seen, just as a mysterious yet familiar voice tells them to avoid jumping to conclusions so hastily; Zetta is then thrown in front of them. Crescent from the S.S. Oceana and her Gothitelle make their appearance; she says that the three made it out of the Rift faster than expected. Ren proceeds to connect the dots and realizes that this was the voice talking to him and the protagonist back in the lab. Crescent explains that she is disappointed in Ren and the protagonist for not following her advice, especially when that advice was given to protect the protagonist. After a few words from Zetta, Crescent teleports him away. With that distraction gone, Crescent turns her attention to the group. She scolds the protagonist and Ren for not following her advice; says that the group acts recklessly for no reason and is in over their heads; they had no chance of saving Melia as she was dead on arrival. Crescent tells the three to go back to East Gearen City and stay put because as a price for the group being weak, they had to experience the tragedy of Melia’s death.

Heeding Crescent’s advice, the trio returns to Gearen, utterly defeated. They proceed to spend the next several days in Venam’s house, grieving over the loss they suffered. As more and more days pass by, Ren finds the protagonist sitting at Oceana Pier. He gives a few updates on how things are going with Venam, encourages the protagonist to ignore Crescent’s advice and hunt down Team Xen, and take on the Gym Challenge to become more powerful. He points you in the direction of Sheridan Village and leaves to go on his quest for strength. The Player then leaves on the east train once again, bound for Route 2.

### Heading to Sheridan

The protagonist journeys through Route 2 and Amethyst Cave once again, this time heading north through the cave—only to be greeted once more by the hooded figure. He enigmatically says that he is unsurprised that the group failed to save Melia; and that now the pain of losing someone will stick with you for the remainder of your life, leaving shortly after. Upon reaching the exit of Amethyst Cave, the protagonist encounters a cheerful girl named Nim, who congratulates them on their entry into the Fun Games! Puzzled by this, they're teleported to an unknown location and completes three games, including a battle with her. After beating all three, she asks them to come to sit with her for a second. Nim explains that she wanted to cheer them up after observing the recent events in Amethyst Depths, saying that she felt remorseful about not being able to help the group. As a parting gift, Nim gives the protagonist a Room ID Card she found in Melia’s bag and some words of encouragement.

Nim then proceeds to return the protagonist to Amethyst Cave, right in front of the entrance to Sheridan Village. Upon departing from Amethyst Cave, the protagonist witnesses a scene between a young purple-haired girl and the Eldest of Sheridan Village. The girl is irritated about Sheridan's Sensei—Keta—and his distant governing style, and is anxious that Sheridan Village could fall into ruin as a result of his neglect. Meanwhile, the Eldest replies to Aelita by saying that the Sensei likely has an adequate reason for his actions, adding that Sheridan Village has fallen in the past but has always gotten back on its feet. Aelita then leaves to attend to her duties at the Cherry Blossom Inn, while the Eldest focuses on the protagonist. She seems surprised at first to see them as if she recognized them from somewhere. However, she keeps these suspicions to herself and formally welcomes the protagonist to Sheridan Village.

The protagonist then proceeds north to the home of the Sensei. While making their way up the stairs, the protagonist is properly introduced to Aelita. She realizes that they must be in Sheridan for a gym battle with the Sensei and says that they will not have much luck in that regard because the Sensei has been distant with not only visiting trainers but even his villagers as of late. Despite this, she welcomes them to try and ask, but to not get their hopes up and leaves shortly after. After knocking on the door, the protagonist fails to get a reply as expected and leaves.

The protagonist then heads to Cherry Blossom Inn to get some rest. Once they enter, they meet up with Aelita again, and she invites them to help her out with something. Aelita and the Eldest formally explain the situation with the Sensei of Sheridan, how Keta has distanced himself from them after a long trip a year prior. Aelita wants to confront the Sensei and wants the Protagonist’s assistance in doing so. She feels that the protagonist and her are bound to each other by fate, that being the reason as to why she thinks that she can have faith in and trust the protagonist.

The next day, the group meets at the bonfire to make final preparations for their plan. Just as Aelita prepares to knock on his door, she expresses some apprehension and tension, saying that she’s done this so many times before yet it still manages to make her uneasy. Keta then opens the door, to Aelita’s surprise! The protagonist walks in to see the Sensei scolding Aelita for coming to his house; Keta notices the protagonist before scolding them as well for coming in unannounced. Aelita explains that she brought the protagonist with them because they are both concerned for Keta and the Village’s wellbeing. The Sensei nihilistically replies that it’s for the best and that there is no future for Sheridan. Keta then proceeds to have a flashback in which a voice is telling him to always give others a chance, that there are pure souls out there; he just has to find them. Immediately after, Keta invites the protagonist to speak to him in his garden, to their surprise.

### Keta's resolve

Upon setting foot into the Garden, the protagonist overhears Keta confiding in someone known as Taelia. The Sensei then reveals himself to be the Hooded Figure that they met back in Amethyst Cave; he then questions the Protagonist’s motives for bothering him, do they want to see his suffering? Or are they clueless? Keta then tells them that strength doesn’t matter, that there was nothing that they or Ren or Venam could’ve done that day to change Melia’s fate. The protagonist then assures Keta of their resolve, and he gives them a task. The protagonist must retrieve a stone known as the Soul Stone within Amethyst Grotto, adding that they must do this task by themselves and to leave Aelita out of it.

Retracing their footsteps to said stone, the protagonist activates the stone and the entrance to Amethyst Grotto opens up. The protagonist then climbs down into Amethyst Grotto, where a voice instructs them to come forward. They are then met with a ghostly form of Keta, who expresses surprise that someone has come here. He reveals that Amethyst Grotto only opens up to those pure of heart and he seems surprised that Taelia was correct. “Keta” explains that he is a part of Keta’s soul, his emotions; these were separated from him by a friend as a result of suffering from a loss many years ago. He says that it is impossible to utterly remove your humanity and emotions, which perhaps is why Keta directed the protagonist to come here. The ghostly Keta wishes them luck in dealing with the real Keta, and the protagonist departs from the Grotto shortly thereafter. Upon exiting, they meet up with the real Keta again, awestruck that they could enter Amethyst Grotto. He then tells the protagonist to come with him as there is something he wishes to test. At the place of Melia's death he places the Soul Stone on the ground, but nothing seems to happen. Keta remarks that Melia is truly gone and follows that up by noting that the protagonist has passed his tests with flying colors and that he wishes to challenge them at his arena.

As the protagonist and Keta attempt to begin their battle, the whole of Sheridan Village’s residents has come in support of the Sensei. Before the battle begins, Keta explains that he is troubled and wants to see something from you during this battle. The protagonist then proceeds to defeat Keta in battle; he compliments them by saying that you battled just like her, though who the "she" he's talking about is unknown. Keta then proceeds to have an epiphany; realizing what he’s done, he runs off behind the nearby waterfall, convinced he has to do something important.

### Infiltrating Carotos

The Eldest tells the Villagers to go to their homes and wait for the Sensei to come back, but Aelita and the protagonist chase after Keta behind the waterfall into unknown territory. Heading into the gap, the protagonist meets up with a confused Aelita. She explains that she thought Carotos Mountain was supposed to be a damp and beautiful place with flowing water and not a volcanic wasteland. Aelita then asks the protagonist if they can help look for Keta, and the pair proceed forth, defeating Xen Grunts and encountering the SEC machine.

Soon enough, they arrive at the entrance to Madelis' Palace, a Xen laboratory focused on creating Shadow Pokémon. only for Aelita to be promptly kidnapped by Madelis, who says that she has been watching the pair ever since they entered the mountain. Entering the lab the protagonist bumps into Keta and they team up to find the keys scattered across the laboratory to rescue Aelita. Once the pair collects all of the keys, they confront Madelis. Madelis explains the situation that Keta is in, how they both made a deal that in exchange for saving Keta’s life, and how he would forfeit the lives of every villager in Sheridan to Team Xen. Madelis proceeds to smugly remark that Keta is so depressed that he would compromise the safety of his daughter, as well as informing him that the deal they made is void now. Madelis then takes Aelita and escapes into another room.

Keta and the protagonist advance into the next room only to find Madelis and Aelita right there waiting for them. To the pair’s shock, Madelis returns Aelita but in turn reveals that she has one last trick up her sleeve, Shadow Mewtwo. She also disables the protagonist’s snag machine so that Mewtwo cannot be snagged. Keta and the protagonist cooperate one final time to attempt defeating Madelis and her Shadow Mewtwo. Once the battle is over, she commands Mewtwo to eliminate all three of them.

As Shadow Mewtwo begins to attack, Keta has a flashback in which a voice urges him to save Aelita. To the surprise of everyone in the room, Keta rushes forward and holds back Mewtwo. Aelita tells him to let go of the Mewtwo and that they should escape together, which Keta counters by saying that he has been an awful father to her. However, upon hearing that Aelita doesn’t resent him he asks of her as a final wish to destroy the generator to the lab to undo his greatest mistake. As the protagonist and Aelita hurry to find the generator, Madelis questions Keta’s motives, noting how it seems he wants to die more than he wants to live. To which Keta responds that she understands him more than she thought.

The pair enter the previously restricted room behind Madelis’ throne, and proceed to find an elevator. Going down, the protagonist and Aelita regroup in the presumed location of the generator, only to meet Clara. The robot warns the two that this room is not to be entered, but the protagonist and Aelita continue to proceed only finding what seems to be a Volcanion. A confused Aelita wonders if the pair entered the wrong room before Clara tells them that the Pokémon itself is the generator; the only way to disable the generator is to destroy it. Madelis then appears, saying that Mewtwo killed the Sensei and that the pair are next. Aelita, wishing to avenge the Sensei, takes on Madelis while the protagonist is entrusted with disabling the generator.

The protagonist is transported into another realm, a tranquil place with a young Volcanion longing to see its mother. Upon reaching the Volcanion it asks the protagonist if they can take it to its mommy, and the battle begins. Once defeated, the young Volcanion thanks the protagonist, and they return to a chaotic scene in Carotos Mountain. Aelita has been incapacitated, Mewtwo has rebelled against Madelis, and Crescent has reappeared. She reveals that Shadow Pokémon have only a limited amount of ether energy; the more they fight, the closer they are to reopening their hearts and undoing the shadowification process, which is why Mewtwo broke free of Madelis’ control. As the laboratory begins to collapse, Crescent orders Gothitelle to teleport Aelita and the protagonist to safety, but Gothitelle laughs as she performs the deed.

### Aftermath

In a distant area, a young man named Geara wonders about the future of Team Xen; and how they have been on a consistent decline since the attack on the S.S. Oceana, having lost both Zetta and Melia. His presumed boss, Nastasia exasperatedly tells him to calm down. Madelis appears shortly afterward; when questioned about her defeat, she dodges the question and asks the man in the gray coat, introduced as Neved, for a drink. As he makes the drink, Madelis explains that she was betrayed by Keta, and ended up being overpowered by the combined efforts of Keta, the protagonist, and Crescent. Geara begins to taunt Madelis for her blunder, but as he does a dark portal suddenly appears in the center of the room. Nastasia asks the executives to gather around her, and the portal manifests into the protagonist. They attempt to run away as the Xen executives introduce themselves while attempting to corner them, but as the executives try to grab them, they're teleported away again.

Back in Sheridan Village the protagonist reappears and is immediately found by Aelita, who reveals that it has been a week since the events at Carotos Mountain. She also says that she and the Eldest have found a way to purify Shadow Pokémon. Meeting up with the two, the Eldest reveals that the previously closed gate in Sheridan Village leads to Purity Grove, a place of vast spiritual energy. Within the Spring of Purification, the Eldest calls upon Celebi, the Voice of the Forest to bless the spring to purify Shadow Pokémon. As the group celebrates, Aelita also reveals that she may have a solution to the Protagonist’s jammed Snag Machine. She says that a famous engineer, Saki Blakeory is visiting the northern city of Akuwa Town on Floria. The Eldest suggests Aelita tag along with the protagonist and gives the group directions to Akuwa Town, also warning that the people of Goldenleaf Town are not very welcoming to visitors, a town that they'll have to pass through in order to get to their destination.

As the protagonist leaves the spring, Keta’s voice calls to them, asking if they could come to Amethyst Grotto. Upon arrival, Keta’s spirit commends the protagonist on their actions and asks for one final favor; to battle him. Obliging and after defeating the Sensei one more time, he gives them the Diamond Punch Badge. As Keta’s spirit fades away, he bestows them and the next generation with the task of defeating Team Xen. They begin to head out of the Grotto as it shakes and a statue of what appears to be Keta appears on one of the pedestals. The protagonist then returns to the Inn for some much-needed rest.

## Locations of Interest

* Sheridan Village
* Amethyst Cave + Amethyst Grotto
* Carotos Mountain
* Madelis' Palace
* Route 2
* Spring of Purification