Author's Notes: It's been a while since I uploaded this one, the first fic I put out onto this site. I figured I'd come back to it with a wee prequel of sorts, some certain events that lead up to the main timeline. It was fun actually, to muse on certain shenanigans going on behind the scenes.

Well, at any rate, I hope you enjoy it. Have fun.

Elesa is five years old when she understands the difference between a superhero and a supervillain. She's heard the terms at school, she's seen the snippets about them on TV sometimes and one of her few memories of earlier years involves her mother screeching the latter term at her father. It's a very curious concept to a young girl, so it's only natural that she finally brings herself to ask her father; "What's a superhero?"

"That depends on how you ask, really." He replied. "For the most part, they are defined as someone with extraordinary talents that drive them to help and assist others. The opposite of this is a supervillain, someone who uses similar abilities to hurt and destroy."

She considers that and it makes sense. She knows the difference between good and bad; good is when you help someone if they fall down, bad is if you kick the person who called you a name until they cry, and heroes and villains are simply a more adult version of that concept.

He adds: "But ultimately, it is your viewpoint alone that defines and separates heroes and villains, not anyone else's. Perhaps a hero is only good so that people will give them money or praise, and perhaps a villain only steals because they have no other way to support their family. The world is not black and white, Elesa; remember that."

It seems a silly thing to say, the world not being black and white. Her favourite colour is yellow, after all, and yellow would not exist if the world was purely black and white. Still, she nods, thanks him and promises him that she'll remember.

Elesa is seven years old when her father tells her that he is a supervillain. To be honest, she'd never suspected him of being one of the dark and foreboding figures she hears about on the news now and then, with frightening powers that other people talk about in hushed nervous voices. He'd often come back home from his big company Kamitsure Industries (named for their family surname and founded by her great grandfather) dishevelled, frustrated, angry, but she'd always thought that was due to a difficult job, not because he was going toe-to-toe with other superpowers and attempting to exert his dominance over Unova.

So when he sits her down one night on the sofa and bluntly informs her of his alternate identity, she is understandably very surprised. He tells her he is the Dark Ion, a renowned thief and so-called megalomaniac who had slithered through even the strongest defences that secure facilities, banks and hidden laboratories had to offer, and he shows her a secret chamber in the basement, which contains the deep purple suit of the villain, the many newspaper clippings detailing his appearances and the treasures he has stored over the years.

And as final proof, he demonstrates the Dark Ion's signature ability to manipulate electricity, summoning an arc of lightning from the room's light-bulb and illuminating himself briefly with the crackling energy before returning it to its source.

She's surprised, scared, petrified, unsure of whether to cry, flee or listen. He is an iconic villain of Unova, and villains are something to fear and hide from, but he is still her father. He is the perpetrator of many crimes, but he still raised her and cared for her.

Part of her realises this is why her mother left. Another part is curious is to his motives. So she remains still, her wide eyes questioning all she has known, and thus he enlightens her.

He kneels before her, tears rolling from his eyes, whether from regret of having hidden this from his daughter for so long or pride at how she has steeled herself for the truth, and he tells her why he is who he is: "The world is a beautiful place, Elesa, but it is also cruel. So many people hurting others, so many people abusing their power, so many people leaving others to starve and suffer and beg. The so-called heroes save lives but they do not save our society. They do not weed out the corrupt and cruel from the higher tiers of civilisation."

He pauses, perhaps unsure if she understands what he is saying; she is only a child, after all. But his daughter nods that she perfectly understands this concept, and he continues: "In an ideal world, I would never have turned to this lifestyle. Never would I have taken so many things, never would I have wanted to control this world so much. But I must. I must use all the resources I can gain to impose a new rule upon our planet, a rule that will ensure no-one can ever abuse their power again, that no-one will ever have to grovel at the feet of a cruel superior again."

The tears stream more freely now, and her own eyes are watering as she sees him unveil his innermost feelings, sees the strongest man she has ever known break down before her. Perhaps if she were older, she might consider the possible hypocrisies behind his words, but as it is, she can only stare and listen.

"I'm sorry I lied to you." He whimpered. "I'm sorry I never told you before. But you're a strong and smart girl, my Elesa, and I realise now that I should never have pushed you away from my other life. You're the only one who could understand why I must take this world by force, who could realise that our society will only end up destroying itself without a strong hand to guide it. You're the only one I can trust anymore."

He hugs her tightly to him, and now her own tears dribble down as she buries her head into his shoulder, and he murmurs: "My daughter, please, help me make sure our world stays beautiful forever."

She says yes.

Elesa is twelve years old when she meets Skyla, on a bright sunny day with a fair wind. Since that fateful confession from her father five years ago, she has devoted herself to becoming as dedicated a worker as he is, throwing herself into her studies and throwing herself into his beliefs. The world is cruel, and greedy fools ruin it for everyone else, and she will help him make sure that the future does not devolve into the grim image painted before her by her father's greatest fears. Selfishness lurked in every human's heart, and she would not be swayed by any of their foolish and ignorant notions.

But then there was the girl with bright crimson hair and lightly tanned skin and eyes as blue as the sky she was named after. Elesa is starting at a new school, heralded from her previous years as an incredibly smart and dutiful learner, though lacking in any desire to socialise and interact with others, and this girl, this Skyla, is one of the first students she meets. She'd seen her at the assembly, and even then she'd been struck by this girl. There was something about her, something innately beautiful, that drew Elesa's attention like a Mothim to flame. Maybe it was those sky-blue eyes, maybe it was her wide and joyful smile, but something about her seemed… different.

But oddly enough, for all her smiling prior, Skyla is trying her best not to cry when they're all released from the introductory assembly and allowed to explore the massive school before they are to report to their tutors when Elesa spots her curled up on a bench near the main hall. It would be hypocritical of her to ignore someone else's sadness when her whole life was committed to ensuring peace and happiness for everyone, so she goes over to see what's wrong.

She looks up at Elesa with surprised eyes that are slightly red, hands cupping at her cheeks in an attempt to wipe away any tears that might have slid free, and she tries her best to smile and respond to the blonde's question: "N-nothing really, it's just… well, I know it sounds kind of silly, but I just really miss my old house back in Mistralton. My family moved here recently and I like it very much but I just…"

She gulps slightly when her lips start quivering and her eyes get wetter and her hair is messily ruffled by a sudden breeze and Elesa is quite frankly surprised at such emotions being poured out so easily to a stranger, as if she is already a trusted confidant to the red-head. She's reminded of a similar scene from her past, her own father crumbling and crying before her, and though she has only known this girl for less than a minute, she's struck by the same sensation of incomprehensive shock she experienced five years ago watching the Dark Ion sobbing and revealing his truths.

She doesn't know this girl. She's only just met her. And yet there is this immense desire, born from that odd attraction, now burning within her to stop the poor girl from crying, to stop her from being sad, from ever being sad again.

The solution hits her like lightning. She sits down next to her, slings a comforting arm across the surprised girl's shoulder and says: "Well that's okay. Everyone always gets sad when we have to let go of something. But we'll just be strong, carry on and build ourselves a bright future, shining and beautiful."

The girl blinks her, that look of surprise still on her face, perhaps caught off-guard by such an eloquent statement, but she nervously smiles: "Y-Yeah, that's true. I… I shouldn't be so worried, right? I should just keep my head up and smile, right?"

"I think that's the best anyone can do." Elesa replied, smiling back. And then she does something completely impulsive, considering the warnings her father has given her over the years. "And I think it's even better when you have someone else with you. My name's Elesa. What's yours?"

The red-head's reaction is stunning; she suddenly coils around and wraps Elesa into a tight hug with a squeal of glee: "Oh wow, you really want to be my friend?! That's so nice! That's so wonderful! I'd love to be your friend! My name's Skyla, pleasure to meet you!"

And that's that. Elesa makes a new friend on her first day, the best friend she'd ever have.

She knows she is disobeying her father's most absolute rule, befriending someone who knew nothing of their secret and knew nothing of how to liberate the world from greed. But Elesa feels that Skyla is different than the people her father has always warned her about; Skyla is sweet and kind and endearing, a constant source of energy and fun and support. She enjoys playing lots of games, she enjoys helping people and she's nearly always smiling with a constant spring in her step and a cheerful wind blowing wherever she went.

Oh yes, Elesa is absolutely positive that Skyla is not one of the selfish and cruel black hearts in this world. She's something different, something better and brighter and purer and Elesa finds herself getting drawn into her world of shining happiness in but mere days. Teachers are pleased to find that the anti-social genius they've heard so much about has found someone she can open up to, and other students find Elesa much less intimidating and more approachable with her bubbly friend at her side.

In some ways, Skyla is very childish. She loves to sing and dance whatever the weather, she likes to play with model aeroplanes and stuffed toys and she loves to flap her arms and pretend she's flying high above the Earth. Elesa is endeared by this, regardless of how it contradicts her more work-related psyche. But in some ways, she's very mature, offering plenty of optimistic statements in that she believed that everyone could hold the potential to help everyone around them. Elesa is endeared by this, albeit somewhat disbelieving of the sentiment; nevertheless, it only continues to sustain her belief in Skyla's pure heart.

Elesa dreads the moment that she'll have to tell her father about Skyla, though. She's sworn herself to aid his mission to reclaim Unova, she's always followed his rules to the letter and yet she has defied his wishes and bonded with an outsider. But she knows she must confront it when Skyla wants to come around for a sleepover and she can't think of any excuses to deny her friend, and so she returns home and tells him the truth.

To her surprise, her father does not react with anger or disappointment. Instead, he simply tells her: "If you feel you can trust her, if you feel she's not another one of the selfish cretins who would hoard our world's leisure's for herself, then I have no objection to your decision. It's no fault of yours that you would desire some company outside of myself."

A brief pause, before he sullenly adds: "But try not to get too attached, my daughter. You never know what she might be hiding."

Elesa does not point out that it is only she and he who are hiding anything, given she is too thankful for his acceptance to care.

Elesa is fifteen when she discovers Skyla has the ability to manipulate the very air around her. She's always known that there are superpowers in this world, even without the fact her father is one such extraordinaire; they are continually on the news, they are debated intensely on Internet forums, there are books and lectures and articles devoted to them. But it's still a surprise to discover your best friend possesses such talents.

Coincidentally, the day Elesa discovers Skyla's aerokinesis is the day she first kisses her.

It's a bright sunny day that fateful day and she had decided to give Skyla a surprise visit; they've known each other long enough to have a good knack for guessing when they were free from any particular duties. She darts down the street towards houses closer to the forest, towards the place where her friend lives with her mother and grandfather. But when she gets there, she finds that Skyla seems to have something else in mind; the blonde spies the red-head sneaking off into the forest when she stops outside the house's gate.

Elesa is curious; why is her friend heading into the forest? Part of her suddenly feels paranoid; could this be a reveal of a darker part of Skyla that she didn't know, a part her father had always cautioned her to be wary of? The rest of her stuffs that silly paranoia down and recommends she ought to follow, to observe the situation before making conclusions.

So she does, slowly, steadily, following the red-head's trail deeper into the forest until the trees lighten into a clearing, and she spies her friend at the centre of it. Remaining hidden behind a tree, she watches and waits.

What she sees is unbelievable.

Skyla begins to dance, always the better dancer of the two and bearing the enthusiasm to make relatively unrefined techniques work, but it is not the dancing itself that strikes Elesa to the core. No, it is the fact that the very winds of the forest begin to dance alongside the girl, billows of air swirling around her. The way the air moves, it is not natural, the way it curls and curves around the dancing red-head as if it were a puppet on a string. And who else could be controlling it than Skyla herself, smiling and laughing in her blissful ignorance of the world as she danced alongside the air she manipulated. It was if she and the wind were one and the same, bearing the same soul and living the same dream.

Quite frankly, it's the most beautiful thing Elesa has ever seen in her life.

However, she is so enthralled by this dance of the winds, so amazed at how utterly free and happy her friend is, that she doesn't realise she's stepped out of cover until Skyla sees her and shrieks in horror, the wind instantly dissipating back into normalcy as her dance abruptly ends. Her expression has changed from bliss to horror, but Elesa is too caught up in what she has seen to be appropriately regretful of her deceit.

"I didn't know that-" Elesa begins slowly, tone struck with curiosity and aw, but Skyla cuts her off with a panicked cry:

"You're not supposed to know! No-one is! Granddad said to keep it a secret, Mummy said never to tell or show or, or anything, but I have, I just have, and that's terrible and I, and I, and what I am gonna do, I didn't mean to, I didn't… What's Mummy's gonna say?! What will Granddad say?! They'll, they'll hate me forever, they'll never forgive me, they'll, I, I didn't, I don't know-"

She's blabbering, panicking, under some insane belief that she has betrayed her family and ruined everything and terrified her friend and that her whole life will wind up crumbling around her. But her emotional dilemma suddenly winds up causing a greater problem; as she gets more and more distressed, the wind starts to move unnaturally again, more aggressive this time, immediately swirling around the red-head in an angry vortex that has leaves and dust whipping up around her. Shocked by this sudden onslaught, Elesa struggles to keep her balance as the wind furiously expands from the red-head and howls around her, spurred on by Skyla's panic.

The wind only strengthens and she winds up blown to her knees, debris flailing around her. This was rapidly becoming terrible, this was getting out of control! She had to stop Skyla somehow, she had to get to her, calm her down before she blew her off the face of the planet!

Skyla is seeing what her power is doing, and she's trying to reign it in, but panicked as she was, she was incapable of restraining it. Her inability to recall her power only distressed her further, and the increased distress only made the growing typhoon stronger. Overwhelmed, Skyla fell to her knees, clutching her head in her hands as she begged for it all to stop.

Elesa realised that if Skyla kept this up, if the wind continued to grow, she could blow the whole city down! She had to stop her! Mustering all her strength and all her courage, Elesa forces herself to her feet and starts to furiously push through the powerful gusts, struggling towards the crying girl in the middle of the chaos. It's difficult, she's getting blown off-course with ease, but she powers on, struggling through with all her might. She wouldn't let this happen, she had to fix this. She struggles onward, struggles onward, she's getting closer but the wind's getting stronger, she can't even hear anything but its howl, but she's so close, she's nearly there, she's there, and there's Skyla at the centre of it all.

Maybe it's impulsive, maybe it's sentimental, or maybe it was just meant to be, but when Elesa finally staggers through the raging wind and grabs the crying girl at the centre, at the eye of the storm, the first thing she can think to do is to kiss her. Her lips crash against Skyla's, warm and wet, an astounding wonder in the midst of chaos, and Skyla freezes in her grasp, completely caught off-guard, and then the wind stops in its tracks, settling done into nothingness.

It's almost disturbingly quiet then, as the vortex dissipates as swiftly as it had appeared. There is no sound for a moment. All there is now is the two girls, the calm air and the connection of their lips.

Suddenly aware of the outside world, Elesa separates from her with a gasp, a part of her suddenly feeling pained at having to stop the kiss, and she breathes in deeply before muttering, as quick as she can before Skyla can recover: "No-one's gonna hate you, Skyla, okay? No-one could ever hate you. No-one. Anyone who hates you is a terrible person who doesn't know the meaning of goodness."

Skyla hiccups a little, tears still streaming down her cheeks, and she whimpers: "B-But… my… my secret… you…"

"I won't tell anyone." Elesa assures her, hugging her tightly now. "Okay? I won't tell anyone. Don't be upset, okay? Don't be upset."

She holds onto the red-head tightly until her hiccups cease and the tears stop flowing. When she's finally calmed down, Elesa says: "I always thought there were nice winds wherever you went, but I never really thought you were controlling them."

"It… it varies sometimes." Skyla murmurs. "It acts how I'm feeling most of the time. If I'm happy, the wind is happy, and if I'm sad, the wind is sad. But I can also make it do stuff I want it to do…"

"That's really cool. I wish I could do something like that."

Skyla shrugs a little bit, before whimpering: "I wanna go home."

"Okay, okay, of course. I'll take you home."

Elesa walks Skyla back home, and it's the heaviest walk she's ever been on in her life. Part of her feels weighed down by some kind of intense sense of responsibility, the fact that she intruded on and discovered a secret so intensely personal that Skyla could not trust even her with it. Not to mention the fact that said secret is a superpower, a literal superpower. The only superpower she knew of personally was her father's ability to control electricity, and now her best friend turns out to be able to control air. It's quite crazy, she realises, that the two people she valued most possessed such amazing powers.

She and Skyla eventually arrive back at the house, and it's too awkward to exchange any words as Skyla sheepishly opens the door and stumbles through it. Elesa is concerned, but she can't think of anything of say, can't even think of some appropriate apology. They just sort of glance tentatively at each other, before both mentally decided they should just call it quits for today.

Before she closes the door though, Skyla pauses, works up her nerve and asks: "When I was… when I was losing it, you kissed me. You actually kissed me. Why?"

Elesa doesn't really know, so she just says: "It seemed like the right thing to do."

Skyla doesn't really know what to make of it, so she meekly thanks the blonde and disappears into her house. Elesa stands outside for a moment, considering her own actions and motivations, before sighing and trudging down the drive. Somehow, she supposed that her mission to aid her father's goals of conquest just became a tad complicated.

When she gets home, her father is shocked at her ragged state, her messed up hair and the leaves clinging to her windblown clothes. He jumps up from the couch, shouting: "Elesa, what happened?! How did-"

"Skyla's got superpowers, Father." Elesa sighs, sinking into his grip when he lurches forward and wraps his arms around her in a protective embrace. When he suddenly stiffens upon comprehending what his daughter said, she adds: "I know, I'm shocked too. She can control air. Isn't that funny? The girl called Skyla can control winds and stuff."

She gives a sort of weird little laugh. Now that she mentioned it, it actually was kind of funny. Skyla, named after the sky, could control wind. That was pretty good.

Her father is flabbergasted, sputters something or other in shock, and she elaborates: "I found out today, when I followed her to the woods. She panicked, she thought I was going to tell everyone her secret and she lost control of her power. But I stopped her. I helped her. I feel… I feel good-"

"Good? Good?! Elesa, you could have been killed! An aerokinetic losing control of herself, she could have-"

"She could have, but she didn't." Elesa replied, a rare case of interruption towards her father. "I stopped her and I helped her. She'll be fine now. She was just surprised, that's all."

He seems more than ready to continue his protest, but she just sighs: "Don't worry, Father. She's my friend. She'd never hurt anyone intentionally. Can I just go to bed for a bit?"

He's unsure, uneasy, unnerved, but if there was one person's judgement that he could trust, it would be his daughter's. He nods and helps her to her room and into her bed. Elesa is asleep in seconds, but not before she mutters: "Don't tell her I told you…"

Skyla comes over the next day, timid and worried, eyes glued to the floor and unable to look at anyone for barely a moment. She's worried that she's scared Elesa, that her loss of control had deterred her from wanting to still be her friend. Of course, she's completely wrong.

When her friend's father, looking somewhat sullen, lets her in, before she can even ask where his daughter is, Elesa dashes down the stairs and grabs the red-head in as tight a hug as she can manage, Skyla squeaking in surprise at the sudden embrace.

"Don't be sad." Elesa demanded, burrowing her head into the crook of Skyla's neck as she gripped her closely, almost possessively. "I don't want you to be sad. If you're sad, than how can anyone be happy?"

"I… I didn't know if you still wanted to…. To be my friend." Skyla whimpered, sinking into Elesa's hug in search of any and all reassurance. "I thought… that maybe you were scared-"

"Don't say that." Elesa replies, leaning back so she can look her directly in the eyes, so she can see exactly how much she means what she is saying. "You're my best friend. You'll always be my best friend. Nothing will change that. Does that make sense? You're my best friend, forever and ever. Okay?"

Skyla seems too surprised to respond, but then her mouth starts to twitch, her eyes start to brighten, and she gives a weak little smile: "Okay. You're my best friend too. I'm sorry for-"

"It wasn't your fault. I shouldn't have followed you. But it's all good now, Skyla. Alright? It's all good."

Skyla slowly nods, accepting her friend's rationale, her smile strengthening in relief at this acceptance: "Yeah. Yeah it's all good."

"Don't be sad." Elesa says, nuzzling the other girl reassuringly, smiling brightly for her. "No matter what, you'll always be my best friend. Let's go play with your planes, shall we?"

With that, the blonde turns and dashes for the stairs, excitedly gesturing for Skyla to follow her and feeling utterly elated that the revelation has not been as damaging as she may have feared. The red-head was ready to dash after her, before pausing when Elesa's father gestured for her to stop, a strange contemplative look in his eyes. For a second, she's briefly intimidated by the look, but then it warms up somewhat, his eyes soften, and he gives the smallest of smiles.

"You know, she's always at her happiest when she's with you. I've never seen her smile so much than when she's with you." Elesa's father mutters, awkwardly but kindly patting Skyla on the head. "I think… you're good for her."

She's too delighted at his kind words to consider why he might seem hesitant and darts off after her best friend forever.

Elesa is seventeen when they make their relationship official.

It had been a long time coming, her father would tell her later, that she and Skyla would cement their relationship. She's honestly surprised at how acceptant he is, considering the mistrust he has developed in humanity in his long years, but he acknowledges that Skyla, at least, is worthy enough to keep his daughter's heart.

Glad to have his approval, Elesa is soon calling Skyla and requesting they meet at the fairground that night. Skyla accepts, quite happily at that; she's always been quite childish in her fondness's, and fairgrounds are no exception to that.

And what a night it was; there was a celebration going on, apparently for a famous Pokemon Champion from another region partaking in the Nimbasa Musical, and fireworks light the night sky as the girls dash from ride to ride, from attraction to attraction. The local Gym boasts of an impressive rollercoaster, which had Skyla laughing and Elesa fighting the urge to vomit. There are bumper cars set up, and Skyla wins any and all bumping matches the two have. One stand offers prizes to those who could knock the targets down, and Elesa finds it quite easy to win, easily taking down target after target and presenting an overjoyed Skyla with all manner of stuffed toys.

Later, Skyla will admit that Elesa is in fact a lousy shot and that she only got the targets via the help of some select aerokinesis.

Eventually, they find themselves on the Ferris Wheel, a slow and calm ride to settle down from the more exuberant attractions. Skyla gazes out the pod's window, awed by the fireworks, and she murmurs: "It's really beautiful, isn't it?"

"It is." Elesa agrees, and has to restrain herself from being cliché and adding 'but not as beautiful as you'.

"I've had a lot of fun tonight, you know." Skyla states, turning now to smile widely at the blonde. "It's been so great! You really know how to show me a good time, Elesa."

"I'm glad I do." Elesa murmurs, tentatively resting her hand over the other girl's, who responds by wrapping her fingers around it gently. "There's nothing better to me than making you happy, you know."

Skyla giggles a bit, blushing slightly: "You're so sappy, you know that?"

"I know." Elesa chuckles, as the red-head slides a bit closer to her, her other hand now reaching around to gently stroke at her thigh. "But heck, where would you be without me and all my sentimental crap?"

"Somewhere boring, methinks." Skyla replies, her blush deepening now. "Somewhere without the smartest, prettiest, most wonderful girl in the whole world…"

The fireworks happily carry on the background, and Elesa takes a deep breath, a blush of her own now starting to form, rendering normally pale cheeks a rather cute pink. Now was her time, now was the defining moment: "You know… I had another reason for taking you out tonight."

"Oh?" Skyla murmurs. "And what might that be?"

"Because I just wanted to tell you that I… I wanted to tell you that I love you." The blonde murmurs, taking Skyla's head in her hands and leaning in close, lips brushing the other girl's as she continues: "I love you more than any description I could think of. There's nothing in this world that I could love more than you. You're my everything, Skyla."

"Wow… you really are sappy." Skyla giggles gently, her sky-blue eyes gleaming in happiness, reflecting the glow of fireworks, as she smiles softly, her own hands gripping Elesa's shoulders. "But I've always loved that about you, Elesa. I love lots of things about you. Heck, I just love you in general."

"Good to know." Elesa breathes, her heart swelling in joy as she and Skyla press together, arms curling around each other tightly. "Be my girlfriend?"

"Only if you be mine too."

"Always."

And then they share their second kiss, a kiss that is much deeper, more passionate, more devoted than their first, the duo lost in their little bubble atop the Ferris Wheel on a clear night dotted with stars and fireworks. And the kiss certainly wouldn't be their last.

Elesa is nineteen when her father's identity as the Dark Ion is finally revealed. The woman who uncovered the thirty-year long mystery of the Dark Ion's identity is known as the Greatest Detective of Unova, a tall and no-nonsense woman called Lenora, otherwise known as the Persistent Herdier for her unrelenting persistence in hunting down the corrupt. It had taken her merely three years once put on the case to find out the truth, where others had taken decades.

For that reason, Elesa has always been ever so slightly fearful of Lenora; she who could unravel her father's deception so easily may well deduce the same of her. So far, that has not come to pass, but it's still a worry in the back of her head.

With Lenora having made her deduction, Special Forces designed for the apprehending of superpowers storm their house and incapacitate the Dark Ion; insulated suits deny his electrical retaliation any potency and tranquilisers soon have him unconscious on the floor. Elesa pleads with them to stop, to let him go, that her father couldn't possibly be a supervillain, until Lenora is in front of her, displaying the brutal truth clear in printed paper. Elesa breaks down before the detective's blunt reveal, disbelieving and horrified and terrified and incapable of comprehending this revelation, capable only of crying her heart out for the father who had lied to her for so many years.

As the media swarms over the incident, how the honest and hard-working head of Kamitsure Industries was one of the most infamous thieves in all of Unova, Elesa acts appropriately horrified tear-struck and pained throughout it all. She plays the role she'd always feared she may one day have to play, an innocent girl who found out a deadly secret about her only family, and she plays it well.

Unova's heart goes out to her, people across the region lamenting how the poor girl had been deceived for so long, how her father had cruelly exploited her trust over the years, how her only family had turned out to be just another super-criminal. Elesa puts on a brave face for cameras and news feeds and interviews, telling them of how she'd never known the Dark Ion lived under her roof, never known the darkness in her precious father's heart. She's hurt and lonely, but she will be strong and carry on. She's old enough to manage the mansion at least, she has support from her staff and her father's business partners and she's a smart girl.

If anyone can survive the tragedy of learning the depths of villainy's deception, it would be Elesa.

She goes to Skyla's house once all the interviews and investigations are over, false tears streaming down her cheeks. Skyla's heard about it by now and she greets Elesa by the front door, crying herself as she sweeps her beloved girlfriend into her arms, ready to comfort and help her in any way she can. Part of Elesa feels a tad guilty in lying to the person she loved more than anything else, but part of her is too content in selfishly welcoming her girlfriend's selfless hospitality and affection.

Kamitsure Industries powers on despite the loss of its head and the threat to its reputation; Elesa, to the public, is a brave young woman determined to make up for her father's mistakes and do the best she can in grave circumstances. There is no surprise that she takes up the mantle as the corporation's leader; despite her youth, she was always a smart and well-educated girl, intelligent and intuitive and possessing a strong work ethic. Where her father failed, she would not. She promises to root out any and all depraved connections her father may have set up, to continue to supply Unova with honest and advanced technological marvels and to ensure at least some positive aspect of her father could remain intact.

Publically, she condemns her father as a liar and a thief, a degenerate of a man who had flaunted his villainy for years without her ever being the wiser, and she declares that it'll be a long time before she could ever accept him as her father again. But he and she, they know the truth; even with his destiny stopped short, her destiny will power on in his place.

Their plan won't be foiled by this setback. Not at all.

Elesa breathes in deeply several days later after her takeover of the company, her eyes examining the Nimbasa cityscape from the expansive window of the main office that was now hers, in the building that held her name and held her power, in a region that was supporting her through tough times. It is all hers now, and there is but one destiny now lying ahead of her.

Well, two, counting the life she will live with Skyla, who has since moved in with her. Her girlfriend has been nothing short of holy, standing proudly and supportively by her side every step of the way, relaying to the whole world that Elesa still had her closest ally and confidant by her side. Truly, her heart was the purest in all of Unova, and Elesa was blessed to have it as her own.

Her thinking done, she returns to the desk and activates the internal systems, bringing up the plans and blueprints and innovations Kamitsure Industries had lying in wait in its database, and she begins to pick out selected data points and files.

As she expected, the data she amassed corresponds to the fail-safe she and her father had gone over in the event of his being exposed. Highlighting it and displaying it as a hologram, she idly shifts blueprints of mechanical devices and proposed technologies around, assembling them into a specific form. Individually, they are indiscriminate, all relaying insignificant little details. But this certain combination of files, when put together in a certain way as a hologram, bore potent fruit.

She smiles softly when it all comes together as a suit of powered armour, with a single name resounding in her head-

Storm Steel.

Elesa is twenty when Skyla tells her she wants to be a superhero.

"I've thought about it since I was a kid, to be honest." Skyla admits, twirling a sphere of concentrated air in her hands as she talks to her girlfriend. "I mean, I have the powers to do it, right? I'm strong, I'm tough, I'm fast and the entire sky does what I want, really. But I never really put it into play much, because I didn't want to…. Well, my family didn't want me to reveal it."

"How come?" Elesa asks. Given her own father had nurtured her skills for years, it's odd to comprehend someone who wouldn't wish for their child to unlock their full potential.

Skyla sighed and tossed the sphere away, the ball dissipating into nothing as she elaborated: "I guess… maybe they were scared. You saw what happened that day, remember? If I didn't know how to… handle it, bad things could happen. I guess they just didn't want to risk it."

"So now you want to make up for lost time?"

"I guess so. But even so, there's still a little part of me that's… unsure, I suppose. Maybe part of me that thinks it can't work, that I'd mess it up somehow. But still, if I had the chance to help people, to save people, to stop bad things from happening, shouldn't I take it?"

"I think that's a good sentiment to have. If there was anyone who could do it, it'd be you."

Skyla blushes a bit and replies: "Thanks. Still, it depends if I'm good at it-"

"I think you would be good at it. Great at it. You'd make a great superhero, Skyla. You've always had the kindest heart I've ever seen, you always loved helping people." Elesa murmurs softly, sidling over and putting her arms around Skyla and holding her close, reassuring her. "You have the talent and you have the goodness. I really think you can be the hero you've always wanted to be."

"You… you really think so?" Skyla squeaks, squirming excitedly in her girlfriend's grasp.

"I know so. You can do great things, Skyla. You can help make the world a better place." Elesa promises her. And it is a promise. She knows what she has set out to do, what her father has set out to do, and with Skyla at her side, there is no limit to what they can accomplish.

Skyla is flustered at the intensity of her girlfriend's response, but she smiles widely and says: "Okay then! So, um… where does a superhero start, do you think?"

Elesa grins.

Now, Elesa is filthy rich, one should know; Kamitsure Industries had gotten stronger since she'd taken over and earned her father's inheritance and his place as its head, had easily overcome any doubts in it since the revelation of its previous owner's villainous identity, and had secured itself as the dominating electrical and technological powerhouse in Unova. If anyone had the resources to support an up-and-coming superhero, it would be her.

The first thing she does on an off-day is to design a suit. If Skyla is to live her new dream as a protector of the innocent, then she'll need something glamorous yet functional, efficient and impressive, something that declares to all who she is yet hides her true identity. She goes through multiple designs before settling on a sleek navy-blue jumpsuit that emulates a pilot's outfit, with a curved aerodynamic helmet and a logo based upon propeller planes.

Admittedly, some of it is drawn from her father's own suit. In fairness, the Dark Ion's outfit was very efficient.

Obtaining the materials is easy. Subtly directing it across a multitude of tailors into a final product was easier. Making copies, in case of damage to the original, was just as easy. Easiest of all is hiding any and all connections to herself or her girlfriend or her company. When you had influence like Elesa's, many things were easy. Some days she wonders if money really is the true superpower of humanity. Regardless, it's accomplished quite quickly and she's ready and waiting to present Skyla with her new outfit.

Skyla loves it, of course, trying it on immediately and parading around the house with it in delight. And Elesa has to admit, her girlfriend looks very good in stylised leather. It hugs her tightly yet comfortably, emphasizing very nice places-

Let's not be distracted now.

"Have you figured out a name then?" Elesa asks, after strapping a specialised watch onto Skyla's wrist, a clever little device capable of receiving and transmitting any kind of emergency broadcast that would indicate a dilemma taking place. "What the thankful people will refer to their glorious saviour as?"

Skyla giggles a little, before replying: "I've been playing with some ideas. Something dramatic and cool, something based on airy stuff, like Stratos or Gale Girl, maybe Typhoon. But in the end, I figured I would keep it a bit simple, so I went with, bada bing-"

She pretends to do a drum roll, leading Elesa to grin at her dramatic act, before declaring: "Whirlwind! I love it! It's catchy, it's windy, it implies strength and speed, it's just all-around awesome!"

"Whirlwind." Elesa repeats, endeared by the red-head's enthusiasm. "That's not bad. Not bad at all. Whirlwind, my brave hero coming to rescue me from the cruel clutches of evil!"

She swoons dramatically and Skyla giggles again: "Don't worry, I'll make sure to add that to my resume! But in the meantime, maybe I should take a fly about and see if I could find any problem to solve or crime to stop or… or whatever rookie heroes do when looking for their niche!"

"Well then-" Elesa purrs, leaning in and pulling the surprised aerokinetic close to her, teasing her cheek with her lips. "Go out and save the world, my hero. Don't forget to sweep me off my feet when you get back."

Skyla's face is positively bright red when she dazedly darts off into the garden, pulling her helmet to hide both her rosy cheeks and her identity. She turns and waves at Elesa, before she gathers the wind around herself. With an impressive display of power, she blasts off into the sky, a blur of blue propelled by the air itself, and vanishes into the clouds.

Though she is nothing short of intensely proud of her girlfriend's never-ending compassion for others, part of Elesa feels worried, as she watches the newly christened Whirlwind soar off in search of heroism; if her girlfriend was now playing the role of hero, there was a chance she may end up conflicting with Elesa's own agenda. Another part assures her that it won't happen; Skyla won't ever find out what darker machinations lurked in her mind, will never realise what Elesa had planned for Unova.

There would be no problem at all.

Elesa is twenty-one when she proposes to Skyla. It's been a long time coming, but she's ready for it. She has the rings, she has a plan and all she needs now is to stand before her girlfriend, her superhero, her best friend forever, and muster the courage to ask her to accept her as her wife.

Sounds simple on paper, but real-life application tended to be a bit more… intimidating.

But before she faces that, she visits her father in prison. He's sullen as always, dejected, lost, with the energy-leeching device/restraint strapped around him. It's an impressive fail-safe, normally designed for harmlessly extracting power from Electric Pokemon, but it is also perfectly suited for restraining the energy of the Dark Ion.

Nevertheless, his eyes brighten ever so slightly when they see his daughter. Her visits are all the comfort he can get nowadays and he is very lucky that the police allow it. Fortunately, if there is one thing they can believe about him, it's that he truly did care for his daughter, regardless of the lies he may have told her.

"Father…" Elesa says slowly when she settles down on the chair opposite him, leaning her arms on the table between, a tad unsure, before breathing deeply: "I hate to be blunt, but I need to ask you something intensely personal."

"Anything, my dear."

"I'm planning to…. I'm planning…." Why is this so hard? Spit it out. She shudders and carries on: "I'm planning to… ask Skyla to marry me. I want to marry Skyla."

His expression isn't even surprised, and he winds up chuckling at her declaration. Elesa huffs a bit at how casual his reaction is, a tad affronted, and she mutters: "You could at least act surprised."

"No, no surprise at all." He chortled. "I figured you'd want to tie the knot with her. You and Skyla, you've always been close, closer than close. The only surprise I can think of now is that it took you so long to tell me you'd finally mustered the courage to ask her."

"There were… distractions."

"Oh, understandably." He replied, appropriately ashamed for what his downfall had caused her since it was exposed to the world. "You know I'm eternally sorry for-"

"I know. But let me ask my question." Elesa sighs. She leans in then, eyes hardening with potent intent, and she asks: "I know that, to some, there's not much worth to it, and maybe I agree with them, but regardless of what you are and what you've done, you're still my father, and thus I ask you…. Will you give me your blessing? To marry her and make her my wife and let me love her as my own forever?"

"You don't need to ask me that, Elesa." He replies simply. "I suppose, from the minute you introduced me to her, that I was always prepared to give you my blessing."

She darts around the table before he's even finished and he gives a huff of surprise when she wraps him into a tight hug, murmuring 'thank you' again and again as he awkwardly attempts to return it despite his restraints. The intercom blares and an irritated guard grumbles: "Please do not touch the prisoner."

She releases him then, a tad sheepish at her hastiness, and he says to her, smiling widely: "She's a good girl, Elesa. You chose well. I know it's not my place to ask anything of you, but I want you to promise me that you'll treasure that pure heart of hers forever, understand? Don't you ever forget to treasure her."

"I promise. No matter what happens, I will always love her."

"Good. That's all I can ask of you now."

Asking for her father's blessing is just one half of the puzzle, mind you. There is still the main piece to put into place. It has to be special, it has to be meaningful and it has to make Skyla happy. So, she takes a leaf from old habits and decides to take her to the fairground.

It's as fun as it always has been over their years together. The rollercoaster still makes her sick, Skyla still thrashes her at bumper cars and she's still a lousy shot that can't hit a single target without subtle little gusts aiding her. It's like so many other times spent here, from days as children to the cementing of their relationship to special events or treats. It's a time when all their worries, all their problems and pressures, can just vanish for a few hours. It is just Skyla and Elesa, the fun they will have and the memories they will share.

But what made this night different from so many others was that there was now a little box in Elesa's pocket, contained a very specialised little gift for a very important little question.

As with so many other nights before this one, they finish in the Ferris Wheel, climbing into a sky painted with beautiful stars and topped with the full moon, bloated in its silvery beauty.

"I love being in here." Elesa murmurs, she and her girlfriend curled up together as they gazed through the window at the stars. "Just you and I. Our own little world, just for us…"

"There's nothing like it." Skyla agrees. "I could sit here forever, you know. It's just so… nice."

They giggle a bit; the red-head was never quite as elegant as her girlfriend.

Skyla perks up a bit and chuckles: "Hey, can you see Kamitsure Industries over there? I never imagined we'd be sat here looking at it where you were the big boss of the place."

"You think I can't be a big boss?" Elesa scoffed.

"I didn't say that." Skyla sniggered. "I'm pointing out how funny the whole thing is."

Elesa just snorts a bit, and Skyla affectionately cuddles more deeply into her as a little apology. It is always funny to see Elesa get worked up over stuff. The two remain there contentedly for another moment, before the former finally decides that the time had come.

"But now that you mention it, it is pretty surreal how we're seeing it from here and knowing it's me who has to go in there and run the place. I've debated countless ideas in that big old company building since I took over." Elesa sighs, she and her girlfriend gazing out over the Nimbasa skyline towards the titanic Kamitsure Industries building, larger and so much more beautiful than the other skyscrapers around it. "All sorts of ideas for expansion, for improvement, for finances. But all of those were easy compared to this one problem I really been struggling with lately. I'd take a hundred business problems over this one; it's positively nerve-wracking."

Skyla is perplexed at the idea that her intelligent boffin of a girlfriend would be flummoxed on business: "Wow. That must be one heck of a problem. What is it, exactly?"

"I've debated it again and again." Elesa sighs dramatically, leaning over and nuzzling the red-head, whom responded with equal affection. "How I could solve it. How I could go about it. And I think I might have found the answer."

"Oh?" Skyla giggle. "And what answer is that?"

"I figured I'd just take you somewhere you liked and ask you point-blank." Elesa chortles, and then suddenly she is out of their embrace and on her knees and the box is in her hands and Skyla doesn't even have time to blink in astonishment when it opens to reveal twin rings, one blue and one gold, and Elesa asks her a question she'd always imagined yet never quite comprehended until this very moment:

"Skyla… will you marry me?"

Elesa is twenty-three years old when Skyla finds out she is Storm Steel.

Author's Notes: And the rest is history. Word of advice, up and coming supervillains; try and avoid encouraging loved ones into becoming superheroes. Might save a bit of hassle in the long run.