"Ever Grand"
Chapter One
Three
I was told it began with three. Three friends. Three Pokémon. Three Dreams. One World. One was a rock climber and was obsessed with geology, studying rocks and minerals wherever he went. One was a swimmer and was fascinated with marine Pokémon and the oceans. Finally, the other had a passion for flying and was captivated by flying Pokémon. They each lived in Sootopolis City, the city that inspired each of their interests. Maxwell Aidan, the geologist, Archibald Cain, the swimmer, and Obadiah Ambreen, the pilot. The three of them had their own Pokémon that they caught themselves. Maxwell cherished his Numel he found desperately trying to escape a rockslide on Jagged Pass. Archibald found his Carvanha while swimming around Slateport. Obadiah found his beloved Trapinch while trekking in the desert just north of Mauville.
Their friendship allowed them to go to new heights. Maxwell went to work at Devon Corps in Rustboro. He began the research that gave rise to the fossil-reviving technology. Archibald joined Captain Stern in the construction of the SS Tidal. Obadiah joined the Weather Institute to aide in the eventual taming of the weather. For a good while, the three friends rose in wealth, fame, and power. Their Pokémon grew with them too. However, their relationship began to weaken. Archibald developed an arrogant behavior after working closely to Capt. Stern, causing him to unknowingly hurt the feelings of both his friends, especially the insecure Maxwell. Eventually, Maxwell's hurt feelings turned into a violent hatred towards Archibald, who now goes by the name Archie. Maxwell also resorted to the shorter version of his name, Maxie. Maxie and Archie, meeting in Lilycove with Obadiah, finally got on each other's nerves and ended their friendship…for good. They swore that one day they'd outshine the other, and come out on top.
Then it all happened. Maxie went insane. Everything to him was simply: "LAND LAND LAND!" He confessed later that, "The only way to get back at Archie, the only way to make him pay was to take away what he loved more than anything-the water. This was never about power. This was never about reviving the super-ancient Pokémon to do my bidding. This was about revenge." Some pitied Archie because of his insane friend. But Archie wasn't the victim here. Archie had his own plans. He knew Maxie could not swim, he knew he absolutely despised the water. What better than to raise sea levels to get even with his friend? Through all of this, Obadiah remained silent, watching their moves. He was amused but enthralled that they formed their own "teams" to go about this, that they had brainwashed their teammates into believing they were doing this for a good cause. Finally having enough of his friends' immaturity, he left Hoenn when it needed him most, in hopes he'd come back to a new friendship.
"Now we're here. In Ever Grande. Yay," Helen says, putting down her hot tea and laughing. Her black hair gently blows against the sea breeze. Waves lap against the cliffs below us, creating a calming melody in the dusk silence.
After a moment of awkward silence, I shift the conversation to something else. "When are we due at Birch's lab?" Professor Birch and his family fled their home in Littleroot and arrived here in Ever Grande four years ago. Although he's adjusted to the circumstances, he itches to return to his lab and home. He knows my family very well; one of his assistants was my father. He knows Helen from May, his daughter. Birch promised both of us a Pokémon of our choosing so we can compete in the Hoenn League. Winning, or at least attempting, the Hoenn League gives us an Ozone-mandated passport to leave Hoenn for Unova or Kanto, so we can escape before things get too bad here.
Helen whips out her PokéNav and says, "Six thirty. Sharp. And its six twenty-five now. I guess we'd better go." We both stand and sprint towards Birch's lab. Team Ozone's Mission in Ever Grande City gave Birch and his family an apartment and also gave Birch his own laboratory. The Mission stands out in the streets of Ever Grande. It's a tall, glass building with green pillars and two green domes out to the side. Near the middle of the glass is the emblem of Ozone: An emerald green "O" with a triangular cut-out at the bottom. A tiny number three is visible on the right side of the "O," referencing the chemical formula of ozone, O3. Although obscure, the symbol makes the mission stand out from the rest of the city.
We stop in front of a glass door. It slides open to a large lobby-museum area, complete with a circular green desk in the middle and a few artifacts pillaged from Magma-Aqua Hoenn. We slowly walk in, the glass door sliding shut behind us. Two green flags with the Ozone symbol in the center are draped on the back wall, which is a dark purple. Two elevators, one going up and the other going down, I assume, are located at the back wall as well. We walk up to the receptionist. She looks up at us, her glasses reflecting the light above. She smiles and removes her glasses. Helen screams with excitement and shouts, "MAY?! IS THAT YOU?"
May nods and grins brightly, and almost jumps clear across the desk to embrace Helen. Helen, after a moment of reunion, backs up and asks, "What brings you here to Ever Grande?"
May sighs and says, "I tried going home, but obviously I can't. I got in contact with someone, and found out my family was here. And here I am." For some reason, I don't believe her, but I shove the doubt out of my head. May looks over at me and says, "Troy! I didn't know you were still here! What brought you to Ever Grande?"
I blush slightly, and say, "Well, a few years ago, my father decided to relocate us from Oldale to the Battle Frontier. He had this big dream on becoming a Frontier Brain, but he never made it. So he took his dreams here to Ever Grande to become a member of the Elite Four. Again, he still hasn't made it, but he trains fervently in Victory Road every day. I stayed here to get myself a living, since all the other major businesses are in Magma-Aqua Hoenn." I clear my throat and ask, "Where can we find Prof. Birch?"
Helen jumps and says, "Oh yeah! I almost forgot, your dad was gonna hook us up with a Pokémon. We both decided to compete in the Hoenn League, so we can at least see Hoenn before it's all destroyed. And so we c"
May, slightly perplexed, points to the left wall and says, "Through that door, you'll walk all the way down the hallway until you reach Dome A. You can't miss it. Dome A is his lab. All of it. He's so happy, but I can tell he's homesick. He's expecting you, so I'd go on. Hey Helen, we'll catch up later, kay?" Helen nods as we head towards the door. The door slides open, revealing a long, purple hallway, ending at another sliding door. We walk nervously down the hallway for what seems like an eternity until we reach Birch's lab. The door slides open, revealing the dome. To my surprise, the lab isn't that big, but it's not small either. The dome is three floors, the ground floor, which is actually underground, the second floor, the one we're on I assume, and the third, which looks like a storage area. The first floor has a lot of machinery and cords strewn about it, leaving hardly any room to walk. The floor we stand on is busy with assistants running about to bookshelves, computers, and other assistants for Arceus knows what. They seem to not notice us until someone comes in from a door on the other side of the room. He calls out, "HELEN! TROY! IT'S BIRCH! Come with me!" We both eagerly glance at each other, and then take off towards Birch.
Wasting no time, he guides us over to a fairly long table with…ten Poké Balls on it. Ten. I thought there were eighteen starters? Perhaps we're not getting starters… Anyway, Birch, almost frantic, his hands and forehead sweaty, begins naming off the Pokémon one-by-one. "From left-to-right; Riolu, Aron, Eevee, Larvitar, Ralts, Ghastly, Abra, Gible, Snover, and Mareep. Now, you'll notice that almost all of these Pokémon Mega-Evolve, with the exception of Eevee. The reason is, well, pick your Pokémon first." Birch is unnaturally nervous, as if he's trying to keep a dangerous secret from getting out. Helen scans the Poké balls expectantly, and finally picks one up-Ralts. Birch smiles slightly, but looks over at me quickly, prompting me to do the same, his fingers drumming on his thigh. I look over them carefully, trying to make my decision the right one. Riolu's a fighting type, but evolves into Fighting/Steel later on. Eevee has unlimited capabilities. Aron is brick tough. Abra is weak at first but becomes powerful at the end. Larvitar takes forever to train, but it's worth it…What shall I do? Finally, I decide to close my eyes and touch one, and whether I like it or not, the one at the end of my finger is the one I get. I close my eyes and randomly touch a Poké Ball, then quickly jerking open my eyes to see who I get. At the palm of my hand is a Poké Ball, not the typical red-on-white one, however. In my hand is a blue-on-black Poké Ball, with a decal on it resembling…Lucario's markings, which must mean I get Riolu. "Riolu, I'll take Riolu."
He nods slightly, and then quickly begins to explain our mission, if that's what it is. "Ok, so, you both know about Mega Evolutions, correct?" We nod. "I didn't expect anything less from graduates of Ever Grande University. Anyway, Ozone has tasked my division—the Pokémon Research and Utilization Division, or PRUD—with the task to fully understand the concept of Mega-Evolutions. We call it Project Mega. We've managed to figure out some things here in the lab, but we've concluded that we need more research, more information. So, we decided to divvy out ten Mega-Capable Pokémon to promising trainers and send them off into Hoenn, training and bonding with them. We've inserted a tiny microcomputer in each of these Pokémon to track their effort, individual, and dynamic values, along with a host of other things, like weaknesses, natures, strengths, experience, etc., in order to track the progression of the Pokémon towards Mega-Evolution. Essentially, we want to know why and how they Mega-Evolve, and what it takes to get them there." He's calmed down significantly, but still has a nervous step in his voice. He waits for us to reply. Helen seems absolutely bored, but I'm fairly interested. I'd thought about becoming a Pokémon Professor myself.
"Will we have access to this information? I think it'd be good to know it, you know, so we can further our knowledge of our Pokémon," Helen says.
"Ah, yes. Here, take these." Birch hands both of us a pair of black sunglasses and a watch looking thing. "The watch is a com-link that directly connects to your PokéNav and the microcomputer in your Pokémon. It gives you access to literally everything about them, their IVs, EVs, DVs, health, etc. And the sunglasses let you see it." Mesmerized, I put them on. They come to life, and ask to sync with my PokéNav. I agree, and immediately everything on it appears on the glasses. "These are the trainer-specific tools of Project Mega. They send data to us to clarify data we've received from the microcomputers." He goes on, but I decide to fiddle with my new items. "And take this bag." Birch hands us a blue-on-black backpack. It's heavy, but not burdening. "It's full of the essentials of a trainer. Poké Balls, Status Condition Healers, Potions, and a TM Case. You already have all the TMs, we have an abundance here in the Ozone Mission. You already have all the TMs, we have an abundance here in the Ozone Mission. You already have all the TMs, we have an abundance here in the Ozone Mission, but HMs you'll have to collect on your own. Ozone has HM02, Fly, but that's it." Something seems odd about this, however. Is there an ulterior motive behind lavishing us with these items? I almost ask, but then Birch leads us out into the Ozone Gardens, which is a big open field similar to the old Safari Zone on Route 121. He closes the door from the lab and locks it, then looking at us with a grave expression.
"Listen, you two. There is something afoot here in the Mission. Magma and Aqua are…well, let's just say they've got something big planned. Not like anything we've seen."
"Like what?" I ask, intrigued.
"That's the thing, Ozone's not saying anything. At all. They've simply told us not to be concerned with things that don't apply to us. But I'm almost sure whatever Magma and Aqua have planned, that it will apply to us whether they like it or not," Birch says. His tone is serious, like he's telling us that dangerous secret.
"What do you want us to do about it?" asks Helen.
"Well, I knew I could trust you two with this, so," he grabs two small packages and hands one to each of us. "Both of these packages go to two people in Hoenn. Troy, the one you're holding goes to the President of Devon Corps, President Stone. Helen, yours goes to the Cove Lily manager in Lilycove. And I need you two to deliver them to their owners."
"Wait, does that mean we can't travel Hoenn together?" I ask, slightly upset.
He sighs and says, "Unfortunately, yes. You will be heading to Magma Hoenn, while Helen'll be off to Aqua Hoenn. You can't leave Magma or Aqua Hoenn until all gyms in their area have been defeated. Helen, you have it a little easier, since all you have to do is Lilycove, Mossdeep, and Sootopolis. Troy, on the other hand, is going to be busy." He sighs, his mood dramatically changing, and then says, "I programmed a Hoenn Regional Map on your watches and glasses, but with some tweaks. I've marked off Ozone hideouts, Aqua and Magma Hideouts and Headquarters, and a bunch of other things that you'll find extremely useful. Magma and Aqua don't allow trans-Hoenn communication, but I've designed a super-secure line that both of you can use to communicate, sparingly."
"Why us, Birch?" Helen asks.
"Because, you two are the next Brendan and May. May…May's moved on. Arceus knows where Brendan is. But you two, Troy Steele and Helen Theta, are the next Brendan and May. You two can stop Magma and Aqua—and maybe even Ozone—from destroying Hoenn and the world. You both can take them down, but not alone. Riolu and Ralts are your greatest allies. Your greatest. Never forget that. Now go! There is a ship waiting for both of you. Say your good-byes and go, go before time runs out. Save Hoenn. Save us. Save yourselves." His words still echo in my head today.