Chapter 1 – Old friends

Lady Merewyn gracefully slid into her chair at the table with Steven, Brendan and May. She smiled at them; it had been a long time since they last saw each other. After Brendan had managed to snatch the title of Pokémon League Champion from Steven, it hadn't been long until May challenged him. Their battle, however, resulted in a tie. They battled three times and still came to a tie, and that is when Lady Merewyn was called in. As the Queen of the Pokémon Leagues, she had a last saying in all things that didn't have clear rules in the League Codex. Having watched the fourth and final battle of Brendan and May, she declared them both Champions of Hoenn. Since then, she hadn't seen either of them, nor had she seen Steven. The years had just flown by.

"It is good seeing all of you." Lady Merewyn said, still smiling.

"It's an honor and a pleasure having you here with us today, milady, taking time off your busy schedule to enjoy a cup of coffee." Steven smiled back. Brendan and May smiled and nodded. Merewyn let out a small chuckle.

"I cannot say my schedule has been busy, there are not many challengers around at the moment, to be honest. Instead, my Pokémon and I have been putting in a lot of energy on training lately, so I believe they are just as happy to have a day off as I am."

"I can only imagine, milady." Steven nodded and took a sip of his coffee.

The reason for Lady Merewyn's lack of challengers was simple: it was not easy to get to the point of challenging the Queen of the Pokémon Leagues. You had to beat all the Elite Four members in all the regions to be given the chance, or claim title as Champion in one region or more. Mostly she was challenged by the Champions, but from time to time came a challenger that had managed to beat the Elite Fours, but not necessarily the Champions. Personally she also accepted trainers who didn't manage to beat the Elite Fours, but had managed to beat every single gym in the six regions. Had they beat the Orange Islands, it was a mere bonus.

Lady Merewyn turned to the two Champions of Hoenn.

"So tell me, Brendan, May, are you adjusting to your lives as Champions? Are you coping with the two of you holding the title?" She asked. She was curious, of course, since this situation had never before occurred in the history of the Pokémon Leagues. Brendan and May smiled at each other, and then looked at her.

"It actually became much better after May came into the picture, milady." Brendan said. "I was getting quite frustrated with the low challenger rate, and yet I couldn't just go wherever I wanted whenever I wanted, since there were challengers almost every day, although only a handful made it past the Elite Four. Having May around has made it easier, because one of us can stay if the other one has other matters to attend to."

"We have also been giving the challengers options, milady, if we're both present." May continued. "They may choose to battle one of us, six on six, or both of us, in which case it's two battles with three on three, with a deciding third battle if the challenger wins one and loses the other. Then he or she battles the person who originally lost the next day. So far, we have had request of one double battle as well, when a couple together got through the Elite Four with three Pokémon each. So we accepted, because it only made sense." Merewyn nodded in approval.

"Sounds like you're handling the situation pretty well, considering you've been Champions together now for… is it seven years, by any chance?"

"Six, actually, but I claimed the title seven years ago, just after the incident with Groudon, Kyogre and Rayquaza." Brendan corrected.

"Speaking of which…" May said slowly. "What became of Team Magma and Team Aqua?"

"They went underground." Steven answered. "The leaders returned the Orbs to Mt. Pyre, dismissed all the members of their organizations and pretty much disappeared, leaving their bases all together. As far as I know, only their closest followers decided to stay with them."

"You mean to say no one has seen them since the incident with Rayquaza?" May asked in disbelief.

"No, they have been seen. Or, at least, Archie has." Steven corrected. "Remember the Sea Resort in Unova? He's restoring it to its former glory now, working together with the same architect who built Battle Chateau in Kalos."

"And Maxie?" Brendan pushed on.

"He's said to still be around here in Hoenn." Steven continued. "I haven't seen him myself, but apparently he's back on researching volcanoes. If that is true, he should be around this area somewhere, near Mt. Chimney and Team Magma's former HQ in Jagged Pass."

Lady Merewyn felt herself tense for a brief moment.

"You mean to say, Steven…" she said slowly, as Steven turned to look at her. "…that Maxie very well might be somewhere around this very area? In Lavaridge Town?" Steven suddenly looked a bit uneasy and nodded slowly.

"Yes, milady." Lady Merewyn met his gaze with her piercing emeralds, contemplating the situation. Steven was unsure about what to do, so he asked: "Is… is something the matter, milady?" She quickly snapped out of her thoughts.

"Well… so as not to leave you in the dark, let us say that Maxie and I… have history." She responded, taking a sip of her coffee. "Not an all too pleasant history, for that matter." She stood up, giving them a sad smile. "I will return to you here soon, I merely need go to my room to attend to my travelling companions' hungry bellies, some PokéPuffs should do the trick. Please excuse me, my dears."

"Of course, milady." Steven bowed, Brendan and May following his gesture. She swept up the stairs, her jet black hair waving down her back and her green dress flowing at every step. When she was out of sight, May turned to the two men.

"What did she mean by that?" Before anyone could answer her, however, a cloaked figure sat down in the now empty chair lady Merewyn had sat in and swiftly answered.

"Exactly what she said: a not too pleasant history." The cloaked figure took off the hood, revealing a pale man with fiery red hair and stone grey eyes, piercing through a pair of glasses. May clasped her hand over her mouth and Brendan's mouth fell open, but Steven didn't look at all taken aback.

"…so, what exactly brings you here, Maxie?" he asked calmly instead. Maxie turned his gaze to Steven.

"Mt. Chimney, just as you so correctly predicted." he answered in a low voice. "But that's not what you meant, am I right, boy? You meant what brings me here to this small inn. Why, isn't it obvious?" he snorted. "You're not stupid, boy, you know very well without even asking. You know we have history..." He leaned over the table, closer, as his voice went even lower. "…so tell me, boy, why is she here when you very well know I am too?" Brendan and May looked from Maxie to Steven and back again, like they were watching a fast paced battle. Steven didn't let Maxie get to him, however.

"The choice of meeting point was hers, not mine. I had no intentions of bringing her lady here." He replied calmly. Maxie huffed.

"And yet, you didn't tell her lady I was around before she was already settled down at the inn." He said coldly. To this, Steven didn't have a reply. Maxie snorted again, put the hood back on his head and stood up. "And you two kids: think twice before challenging that woman, if you haven't been foolish enough to do so already. You might have tamed Groudon and Kyogre with the Orbs, but she's not going to be that easy. Never was, never will be." With that, he swept out of the inn. Steven kept his gaze at the door, deep in thought. Brendan and May looked at each other, too baffled to say anything.

"May, Brendan," Steven said, finally turning towards them. "I know you probably think we shouldn't mention this incident to Lady Merewyn, but I believe we have to. She'll see right through us. She always does." Brendan opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again, nodding.

"I didn't think it was a question in the first place." May stated. "We have to tell her." She stood up. "And we will, right away."