#hz092

It's really interesting how these scenes from Only One Story (Friede disappearing into the light, which hinted at his fate in the last episode of Rayquaza Rising, immediately followed by a scene of Amethio and Spinel) take on a new meaning in light of Amethio's current status revealed in HZ092.

Wow, okay, I’ve been pretty silent for a while, just didn’t know how to proceed with all that happened at the end of horizons and then Mega Voltage, but this has been brewing in my head for like a week so

Amethio. Is presumed dead?? Hello??? What!!!

I don’t believe he is, but he’s at least been missing for a full year(right before the timeskip to now)

I want to know HOW he went missing, especially because when we last saw him, he was flying off with Zirc and Onia, then apparently they don’t know where he is? Nor did they speak to Hamber for a full year? Help

Personally, I feel like Spinel did something to make him “disappear” after ep 89

Now stay with me here, I’ve had a sort of AU brewing in my head since about a bit over a year ago that I’ve never posted about, and horizons has basically followed the basic outline of it

Right when Spinel was introduced, I thought he was gonna try and kill Amethio, then he did(trapping him in that cave with Liko)(personally I though he was gonna try and stab him, but that’s a bit too dark for Pokemon I suppose)

Then I headcannoned him to change sides and side with Liko, and be at the Rakua to stop Spinel, and look at what happened(I had him more involved with it in the AU, but yet again, I’ve never posted about it, so I have no proof of that😭)

In any case, all this to say, if it continues to follow the outline of my AU/predictions for the series, I think Spinel is experimenting on Amethio

Stay with me again here, but why would Spinel make a cover story for Amethio’s disappearance unless he had a direct involvement with it?

I don’t believe Amethio would just run away like that, especially after being so touched by his grandfather’s words and actions before he died(giving Amethio his will and entrusting him to better the lives of people and pokemon), nor would he WILLINGLY hand over his position to someone like Spinel

I believe Spinel’s keeping him locked up somewhere in the Rakua, or maybe an Exceed laboratory, and testing the effects of the Rakurium on him

Spinel has always shown an interest in studying the Rakurium, even without the direct orders of Gibeon, even going so far to use it on his own Pokemon just to see its effects

If Spinel really wanted to inherit Gibeon’s will and better the lives of people and pokemon(which I don’t believe, but most likely he wants to make advancements in human technology through the power of the Rakurium), wouldn’t he need a human test subject to conduct said research?

And who better than his coworker he hates with every fiber of his being?

Morbid, I know, but he already tried to kill Amethio, who’s to say he won’t try and get some useful information out of our boy?

Also, Pokémon can be.. like that if they really wanted to. Take N’s whole story for example, or Lillie’s mom(in the games specifically, the anime mellowed her out sadly)

I kinda enjoy Uruto.

Gibeon is an obvious one. Spinel was chosen by Gibeon for his intellect and Spinel found someone he thought he could share an ideal with and seemed to genuinely respect him. Spinel mentioned in HZ089 that he thought he would be the one to inherit Gibeon's will, not Amethio, which implies that part of him hoped to be chosen. In Mega Voltage, Spinel fabricated a false narrative about Amethio dying together with Gibeon and took over both Exceed and the Explorers (the Explorers being something Gibeon wanted to leave up to Amethio eventually).. Spinel personally witnessed Gibeon entrusting the future to Amethio and telling him to follow his own path, yet he created a scenario in which he is the one who reigns as the heir and forces a narrative where he can act like he's been chosen, even though he knows he wasn't.

Friede is a bit different, but his direct ties and interactions with the Explorers are through his dynamics with both Amethio and Spinel and both of them inform us of how Friede reacts to someone he considers a threat/enemy, vs someone he can respect despite different alignments. Spinel grew to have an interest in Friede and regards him as someone "worth playing with" and followed him around and kept up with what he was doing in Terastal Debut.. At the very least, it seemed like he was affected by Friede on some level and acted on his interest. But it's not really the same thing for Friede. He does acknowledge Spinel as a threat, but it seems to be the sole space Spinel occupies on his mind.

Which contrasts to how Friede reacted to Amethio, because Amethio was someone who affected Friede to the point he was thinking about him while he wasn't around. We've had multiple instances through the first two chapters of Friede bringing up Amethio during his absence, or remembering things Amethio had said to him specifically and bringing up those words, acknowledging him as an opponent, etc.. The episode which cemented Spinel's interest in Friede (HZ044, which was Spinel locked him up in the tower) illustrates that too, because before their battle started, Spinel looked down on Cap and thought he was being underestimated and commented on that.. And Friede's reaction? is remembering Amethio's words from 42 episodes ago (a long time!), and going like "oh yeah, someone said that to me once", like it was natural that his mind would drift to that situation that happened once before.

Spinel metaphorically killing the last of Gibeon's bloodline, in an act of fratricide akin to Cain slaying Abel out of jealousy for not being chosen..