There weren't many things you could say with confidence, but…

The Rosen brothers, in charge of Rosen's Rental Vans, could truly say they'd had the second weirdest working day of their career. No exaggeration needed.

23 customers came in on Tuesday, 34 came on Wednesday, 43 Thursday, 65 Friday, one hundred on Saturday - Jeff Rosen had gotten so tired of repeating the same small talk like a Chatot - "So, where are you headed?" "Ohhh, sounds fun!" "Early holiday?"

They never rented much. Just the van. They just took the bare essentials and sometimes never came back with them. The brothers were only just breaking even, even if the entire lobby had been packed wall-to-wall a few days ago with grumbling travellers, wailing babies and growling Pokemon of all shapes and sizes.

And he knew full well no-one actually took his vans on a holiday, because they always said the exact. Same. Thing. Every. Single. Time.

"It's the recent weather...thing here, made me realise how crap this region is…"
"Oh, it's the sun! I can't stand it now."
"My husband hates the rain and I get reaaaally easily sunburned…"
"I'm just worried it's gonna happen again…"

Anyone would up and leave the region if they'd had to live through a whole week of burning sunlight and heavy rain, taking their turn at ruining gardens, weather forecasts and families.

The two local gangs, Team Aqua and Magma full of...probably teenagers, vandals, and adults with nothing else to do, one headed by a fish-lover pirate, and an arrogant professor wannabe heading the other, had done...that. Not painted their mark on the side of Mauville Mall, held another rally.

No, they'd almost brought about the end of days.

It was almost amusing to watch them swear to wake up Groudon because of Kyogre, and wake up Kyogre because of Groudon - like kids playing shotgun infinity infinity against shotgun infinity.
Only not many people expected them to actually do it.
One thing led to another. Another thing got out of control, quickly.

The days were split between scorching sun and rolling storms. Patchworks of weather, almost like some kind of fight. People overlooked it as more of Hoenn's mad weather patterns - until it kept going. It didn't pass over, it didn't fix itself.

The world realised Maxie and Archie meant business.
So did Maxie and Archie, in fact - but it wasn't like they could fix what they'd done.

The days were patchworks of national emergencies, massive emigration, full hospitals, people charging into the Rosen's Rental Vans for the sake of a drink, then hiding there for the whole night when the floodwaters started to rise again. The Rosen brothers watched as the leaders of Aqua and Magma tried as hard as they could to keep their pathos, stay logical and calm, on live television.

The highlight of their nights was when someone threw a beer bottle at Maxie. He didn't come out from under the lectern for about a minute.

And then, two ten-year-old children captured the huge beasts seen in Sootopolis.
As though it never happened, the weather...reset.

Which meant that two ten-year-old children ended up on public television, after a week of absolute chaos, getting oversized medals hung around their necks while police made vague statements about what would happen to those responsible.
It was cute, yes. Everyone agreed - they were the national darlings.

But the 'Week of Wild Weather', as everyone from Kanto to Sinnoh called it, was the national embarrassment of the century.

The other Rosen brother lay down in his office chair for the night, confident that surely, no-one would come in when there were stars in the sky and the lights inside were dim. Munching on a packet of chips, he squinted at the glare of his computer.

It felt kind of satisfying to Jeff, even though all he'd lost were hours of sleep, when the police released their report on what they would do about the culprits. The members, the grunts of Team Magma and Aqua would only get convicted if they committed any actual crimes like theft or assault.

But, for the ringleaders...

Scrolling slowly down his social media feed, he saw another website muscling in on the newest story.

"Calls for arrest of Team Aqua and Magma leaders Archie Smith and Maximillian Wentforth, as well as their four admins, Tabitha, 'Shelly' Kelly, and Matthew, for acts of ecological terrorism, robbery, and other charges. The new Public Enemies Number One?..."

- - -

That evening, the final two customers that Mitchell and Jeff would see arrived.

Pulling into the drive of Rosen's Rental Vans in a crowded airport shuttle, three people wrapped in long, flowing outfits stepped out into the empty parking lot. They eyed up the advertisement outside, the bright grins on the posters up above. Everything seemed ideal. Even if it wasn't, this was the closest rental place they could find.
"Come on, Courtney - Tabitha. We'll be in, and out." the figure in the huge, black, hooded cape said, trying to sound...not ominous.
"You got the cash, sir?"
"Yes, Tabby - " Maxie replied, holding up a briefcase stuffed to the seams with hundred-dollar notes, "Also, you...might want to break that habit of calling me 'sir.' Call me…'buddy' or something else like that. It'll look suspicious otherwise."

Tabitha chose not to say anything about the bills sticking out of the case.

- - -

Pulling into the other drive of Rosen's Rental Vans on three mountain bikes tied to a small trailer, three people dressed up to the nines in hoodies and shorts came to a stop in the nearly empty parking lot. Checking again that the small hill of fuel cans hadn't shed some cargo all over the roads, like a trail leading directly here, they slowly, deliberately, casually strolled into the second entrance.

"Matt? Shelly? You good?..." the figure in the hoodie, airplane pants and sleep mask over his scar asked, trying to hide his Sevii accent, "It, ah...might be a bit hard to act casual after biking all this way. Try your best."
"I could do that for a week!" the man behind him declared, "I could probably go from one side of Hoenn to the other like this,"
"Bro, don't make me regret doing this again…" Archie chuckled, looking cautiously back at the tempting-looking mountain bikes, "You think I thought this through well enough?"
"Yeah, yeah! Totally!"

- - -

"Calls have been made for anyone that sees them to call the police immed - "
And then the door slammed.
Mitchell Rosen sat up in his seat, snapping to attention into his normal, back-straight, wide-smile, attempt-at-casual position, watching the two parties as they came in. Quickly, he made a motion to his brother to go and handle them as he called over the party on the right in the gothic vampire outfits.
"Hello, Rosen's Rental Vans, how can I help you?" he and his brother repeated out of sync, doing the signature head tilt.

"I would like...one van, and I'll rent it for...three weeks," the man dressed in the black cape requested, planting his hands on the counter firmly.
"Ooooo-kay. Let me get that up for you…Driver's license, please."
Maxie silently handed over a fake one. The picture was faked - just another man with similar hair colour and facial structure.
Again, and again when Mitch turned away, he re-adjusted the cape.

- - -

"Oh, ah...just the van, thanks," the man in the hoodie and sleep mask asked, "For...three weeks."
"Cool. Let me get that sorted. Just the van?"
"Just the van, yeah…"
"Driver's license, please."
"Here," Archie said, handing him another fake one. The picture was real, at least - him with a decent bunch of makeup on his scar, the beard was less...Kyogre-ey.
He hoped no-one here knew him from college.

Around then Jeff gave the first knowing look to his brother, while Mitchell pointed frantically at his lit-up computer screen.

"Just gotten off the plane, huh?"
"...Yeah, actually!" Archie replied, cautiously, "We just flew here from...Unova. Honestly, those really long flights just take it out of you completely -"
"Oh, I knooow," Jeff sighed, typing away.
"Thought I might try and get some sleep in the back seat," Archie continued, motioning towards the sleep mask, "hopefully get on Hoenn time."
"I thought you were driving?"

"No, my…" Archie began, turning back to Matt, "...my bro just couldn't get a hotel room with 3 beds." He yawned to try and prove he was sleep-deprived.
"Ah."

- - -

"Names?" Mitchell asked the cloaked figures in front of him, expecting some variation on Gandalf.

"Richard L. ...Grant." started the man in the cloak.

"Uh, Katie Grant," mumbled the girl with the purple hair behind him, lightly.

"Wait, why - " started the other man behind him, "Oh. Yeah. Michael Doe."

"Names, please?" Jeff asked the group in front of him.

"Oh! Yeah," the leader began, "I'm Cam, she's Marie, he's Bartholemew."

"What?" asked the big, burly man at the back, as flatly as possible.

"Preferred name, Mew."

"So...if you don't mind me asking," Mitchell asked, tapping slowly on his computer screen, "What's with the...uh, cool capes?"
Maxie paused for a moment, checking if the thrown-together fabric pile looked convincing
"Oh, it's traditio - "
"We're larpi - "
"We're very nervous about getting sunburned," Maxie explained, somehow shutting up Tabitha and Courtney with two confused looks, "And it's...traditional in my family, but they - my friends - they do it for a larp - sorry. Lark."
"Aaah," Mitchell sighed, "Don't feel self-conscious."
"Oh, I wasn't."
"There was a guy coming in the other day," Mitchell explained, leaning back in his chair - "Looked exactly like you guys do, but the cape was white..."

- - -

"Alright, we've got you one van for three weeks," Jeff confirmed, fishing out a pair of keys and taking out some brochures, "For three people?"
"Yep. Three people," Archie confirmed, grinning now from ear to ear. "Sounds great - hey, thanks for getting us this at, like...9 in the evening, I know you just wanna go back home…"
"It's my pleasure."

- - -

"There is one problem, though…" both Jeff and Mitchell told Maxie and Archie in perfect unison -

"There's only one van, and it didn't come back, uh...completely refueled, so you might have to...come back tomorrow…" Jeff explained, twirling his pen in his hand.

"What?" Maxie gasped, "Well, I suppose we can take it then - can I have the keys? I'm sure it's alright if someone returns theirs tomorrow - "

"Does that mean...you have to keep it?" Archie questioned, "Is it your van? ...No, I'm kidding. What, is something wrong with it?"

"The guy over there also wants it."
Calmly, Mitchell pointed over at the crowd of travellers a few feet away.

The party in the huge black capes turned to see a group of tired, bundled up tourists, raising their eyebrows and trying not to stare at each other's faces.
For a few seconds, Archie tried to be a frequent flyer who'd just sat in an economy seat, not sleeping, not eating, for twenty hours. Maybe, if he squinted, whatever bags under his eyes would get a little bigger.

Maxie, standing nonchalantly a few feet away, watched Archie's eyes shoot open.
Silently, he mouthed: holy crap.

Casually, this not-so-mysterious figure flicked the lock of red hair back into his hood.
In and out, he reminded himself, in and out.

He had a plan, he had ideas now.

"I'll take the trailer, and the insurance," whispered Maxie, smirking and handing over some extra money from the briefcase. A little bit fluttered onto the floor behind the counter.
"Oh," Shelly groaned quietly, "Great."

Maxie simply let Mitchell pick it up, letting him feel it in his hand for a few seconds before he quietly slipped it into his pocket.
It was real, all right - he'd recognise a fake note better now than ever.

"Keep it."
"Oh, it's fine - we don't really do tips in Hoenn…"
"Well - I do."

"Alright, I'LL take the trailer, the insurance, and the fluffy car seats!" Matt offered bombastically, slamming his credit card on the counter, "Why not?"
"That'd be $420 in total," Jeff confirmed, watching his brother mime frantically to him at the other desk.

"I suppose I'd better take the insurance, the fluffy car seats - " Tabitha offered, straining to see the list of addons.

"Can I have a map as well?" Shelly offered, handing over twenty dollars and giving Tabitha a look of mild annoyance.
"Actually, we just use a GPS -"
"A GPS, too!" both admins ordered.
"And the air freshener...how cheap is...is that?...!"

"And the train tickets!"

"And more insurance!"

"They have a bus pass as well." Courtney noticed, tall enough to see and loud enough to hear. Matt frantically, before she even finished her sentence, snatched the brochure off the table -

"The bus pass!" he and Tabitha cried, only getting a small head shake from the brothers.

"Hah," Courtney remarked flatly, "There aren't any. Maxie just ordered the twenty-dollar magazine while you were distracted!"

"We'll order the - "

"AUGH! MY FOOT!"

A loud crash in the background as Maxie dropped the huge sun-roof on display.

A small flutter of paper, as the distinctly full magazine stand hit the ground too.

"We'll order the, uh, dispatchable sunroof," Tabitha finished, watching Maxie throw his entire briefcase to Tabitha, hopping around on one foot. Courtney, completely silent, grabbed the entire stand of magazines.

"The sunroof - "

Jeff, groaning loudly, shoved a hand in Shelly's face before she could finish.

"Alright! Fine! The caped...wizard guys get the van. You other guys get a really, really big discount tomorrow."

Kicking the briefcase under the desk, Mitchell practically threw the keys to the van at Maxie. "Here. Just go."
He tried waving them out, but the caped man still stood there. For...the first time, now that he thought about it, they smirked.

"I will," Maxie replied, "and thank-you very much for your service." The group quickly made a beeline for the door, not turning to look at the other little crowd. The leading man in the sleep-mask and hoodie shot him a confused stare.

In and out, Maxie reminded himself. Looking into the glaring moon, he tossed the key in his hands with a satisfying jingle.

"No need," he whispered, watching Courtney jabbing at the 'exit door' button.

"Now, Tabitha, did you end up ordering the sun-roof or no - "

"Hey, you."

A hand on his back.

A swivel back around.

The cape fell apart, the single button popping off, under the touch of someone slightly more strong than a gust of wind, and fell onto the floor.

And whoever just did that stared at his same old waistcoat-and-stockings setup, the completely unchanged zigzag haircut and chuckling as always.

"I thought you said you were gonna stay in Hoenn to fix your own mess," Archie questioned the man he'd just caught, "And more importantly...not screw me over again?"

"I…"

"Would it have hurt you to go somewhere else or something when you saw me?" he continued in a hushed, quiet voice, backing him away from the door, "It's not like it matters to 'y whether I get...put away or not, and most of these places 'round here don't shut 'till ten…"

"Please, break it up..." Mitchell called loudly, refusing to get more involved.

His brother hastily looked up what the leader of Team Magma looked like, but he just found far shots of them alongside the leader of Team Aqua - mostly in some kind of screaming match or older, happier, less accurate ones.

The details were faint, but he noticed mostly the bright red…
Hair. Shaped exactly like a zigzag.

"Oh, my god."

"You see what I'm saying?" Archie finished, "...Maxie?"

"First of all, I think this counts as screwing each other over, Archie."

And with that, Maxie flicked the sleep mask and hoodie off of Archie's head.

"Oh, you bastard."

There it was. The X-shaped scar on his forehead. Cringing as both the owners gasped, he slapped a hand over his forehead, fumbling to get the hoodie back over his hair.
Click, click, the security cameras switched on.

"Aren't you the guy in charge of Team Aqua?"
"Uhhh…" Archie began, "No?"
He grabbed Shelly and Matt by the scruffs of their necks - and left the store. Dashing across the tarmac, he didn't turn to look. Like that - he was gone.

"You're kidding me," Mitch groaned.
"THEY'LL BE BACK! GET UNDER THE DESK!"

He forced the doors shut as he watched the owners duck behind the counter, quietly ordering his friends to get out while he frantically tried to shove the hoodie back over his hair again. The sleep mask flew off hit the tarmac silently, but there wasn't any point in picking it back up.

"Run, Matt, get on the bike! We'll have to try pedalling!"
How fast could he go? How long could he go?
"Shelly, get the fuel trailer! We'll leave it near the gas station!"
"Uh - "
"We'll leave it!"

Meanwhile, Maxie had wrapped what was left of the cloak around his head and shoulders, shuffling around the side of the building, holding the keys close to his chest and running over any gap wide enough for it to fall down.
"There's the van! Right there, see?"

Courtney broke cover, dashing to the side of the huge black peoplemover. Everyone turned to hear the thunk, thunk, ka-thunk of her trying to get the door open - no use. The keys lightly jingled as Maxie tossed them to Tabitha, who tossed them to Courtney, who herded the three inside the car - practically shoving them into their respective seats.

The car doors slammed in sync.

Sitting at the driver's seat, Maxie rolled down the window to look at the unluckier ones.

He had faith in Archie that he'd be able to bicycle all the way to the next rental place before the police came, but even so…
"Well, Archie, I don't suppose I'll be seeing you again," Maxie remarked calmly as Archie fixed his chains, "Goodbye, thank-you for all the 'good' times, and...stuff like that…"
Archie turned around with his foot on the pedal and gave him a look he couldn't quite make out. He kept that look on while Maxie rolled up the window back up - he gave up halfway through and started to cycle away. The gravel wasn't letting him speed up, and he kept almost falling down.

This bike was...slower than he'd been promised.

What was that again about it being able to out...bike a car?
"Maxie," Tabitha said, poking the driver as he turned the key and revved the engine, "Maxie, you might wanna look at this…"
The three passengers all leaned over the dashboard.
A small, nervous squeak came from the driver's seat.

And the window rolled straight back down.

"What kind of prick returns a van with low fuel?" Tabitha snapped, gesturing wildly at the meter so close to 'empty' - "Are you - are you seeing this right?"

Archie...backpedalled a bit.

"That's enough to take us approximately…" Courtney mumbled, counting on her fingers, "...uh, not very many distance, yeah..."

Shelly, on foot, tugged again and again on Archie's arm, until she saw the little lightbulb form in his eyes - "Alright, what idea'd you get this time?"

"Never mind that!" Maxie blurted out, "We're going - "
The van lurched forward out the driveway, crushing a recycling bin, engine coughing with a bang - and rolled to a stop in the middle, leaving the mangled plastic to blow away.
The driver's foot was off the accelerator, and shaking too much to go back on.

"Do you...need something by any chance?" Archie asked, "I heard you guys talking about how you have no fuel left…"
Shelly and Matt, walked over to the small trailer full of fuel, pointing it out silently. About a hundred, piled in a mountain and held there with some line of rope. Kind of a fire hazard, but still, enough to last Archie and his gang for weeks without stopping at a gas station.

That is, it...would have.

"We thought this through and thought we'd bring some...backup," he continued, raising an eyebrow at Maxie, "but since we got...out-bidded by you guys - "
"Yes! Yes, I know we did..." Maxie snapped, getting out of the van and marching up to the man giving him a condescending look, "What's…" he continued, slowly starting to realise why they'd bothered, "...what's the point you're making here?"

"I know - I know we're not meant to be messing with each other now - " Archie clarified, "But I want to make a deal with you. We give you our fuel…"
"A...And?" Maxie interrupted, trying to make himself look taller.
"And you take us in the van."

"What?" Maxie stated, chuckling a little.
"You can fit us in there - that thing has six or so seats, eight if you count the middle ones…"
"They don't count."
"We'd still be able to fit, then. So you take us in, you get to actually move -"
"And then we drop you at the nearest rental place," Maxie clarified, "And then we drive off in seperate directions."
"So it's a yes?" Archie finished, tempting him with one fuel can.
"Wait, I haven't decided yet!" the other man snapped, turning back to the van for a team talk, "I wouldn't just go and...give you half of our van after a few seconds of thinking…"

Tabitha and Courtney leaned out the front window, glancing back and forth at the other admins - still showing off the pile of fuel, mind you - and not having anything to say.
"Do you think it's some kind of trick?" Tabitha wondered aloud, "Maybe it's diesel and they want us to blow up the...never mind…"
Before Courtney's ears pricked up, and she tapped Maxie on the shoulder - "I don't think - " she whispered, waiting for the sounds of sirens in the distance becoming barely audible before shutting off again - "I don't think we have more than...a few seconds…"

All six heard the chorus of feet in the building - Jeff and Mitchell had come out, waiting eagerly for the sirens to start again.

And a nearby screeching of tyres on tarmac.
"DON'T YOU MOVE!" Mitchell yelled from far off, "I SEE YOU GUYS OUT THERE!"

It took a few seconds for Maxie to shoot back against the van, trying to make himself as invisible as possible. Frantically, he fumbled to get the cap on the fuel tank open, taking a long five seconds before gesturing for Archie to put the fuel in.

"Alright!...Fine, but just to be clear, this isn't going to be a long-term thing, you understand?"

He put his hand out, keeping it still.
...And watched as Archie calmly walked straight past him and put the fuel in the tank himself.

"Right! We're good to go," he exclaimed after he was done, throwing the empty can in a nearby bin, "Matt! Shelly! Hook up the trailer and get the dogs somewhere nice to sit!"

Swiftly, Matt shunted the trailer onto the back of the van, Shelly tossed their suitcases into the boot and Archie hung the bikes on the back - Maxie felt every bump and clatter as he sat, unmoving in the driver's seat. He opened up the maps for reading material, but they weren't any good. As maps or as distraction.
The doors all opened at once and Matt practically tossed himself into the back row seats, followed by Shelly with her backpack. Their Poochyenas -

Well, Maxie didn't want to know where they ended up. He flicked the mirror where he couldn't see it, trying to focus on not losing his cool -
Was that a tail on his elbow or just him imagining?
And finally, Archie pulled open the car door on the other side of the driver's seat, tossing his small bag under the dashboard and fastening the seat belt - "Are you gonna be fine with me sitting here, or are you gonna get snarky once we start moving?" he asked, glancing at his friends in the back seat.
There was definitely a spot for him.
"Yes. I'm fine," Maxie groaned, "Fine, fine."

Turning the wheel and lightly pressing accelerate, he was surprised to find it actually worked this time - the car was silent, Archie hadn't duped him or anything - and the van was pulling out onto the open road. What was the speed limit here? Fifty miles an hour? Eighty? One hundred?

"Well, it's not like you...can go and pour the fuel out now, can you?" he mumbled under his breath, before hitting the gas and shooting onto his personal highway at the speed of an annoyed Zangoose, shoving everyone into their seats. Gravel scattered everywhere, and so did the birds.
"Wait - wh - SLOW DOWN!"
Dust trailed behind them, and there was a straight path ahead.
"Dude," Shelly began, "We're fine - "
"MAXIE, SERIOUSLY - " Archie snapped, trying to nudge Maxie's foot off the accelerator, but it wasn't any use, "Is this you trying to get us out of here ASAP?!"
"You think so?"
"It'll get you into the next life, that's what it is!" he hissed, getting thrown against the other side of the car. As Maxie pushed up the speed again, the van shot around the corner and continued on.
"Did you forget we're on the run for a second there?" he asked cheekily, "And you always talk about me not being... " - he did a screeching turn onto another small road - "...adaptable."

"Don't worry, bro!" Matt offered, barely able to speak because of the car jumping on the gravel road, "If we crash, I'll pull ya out of the wreck!"
"NOT THE TIME, BRO!"

The road signs ahead were all for one place: the Pelipper Ferry.
One hundred, hundred and fifty or so kilometres left, and then the first leg was over.
Nearly there, Maxie noted.
If we just go a little bit faster, then...

- - -

They were going to be safe.

One car drew up to the entrance of Rosen's Rental Vans. The two brothers watched it nervously, expecting to tell yet another customer that they were all out.
But the person that stepped out wasn't normal.
And the machine, the contraption on top looked familiar.

It was only when the owner of the vehicle flicked a small switch inside, and the whole parking lot started flashing red and blue, and red and blue, and red and blue again, that Jeff and Mitch realised they were going to be okay.

It was over. No team Magma and Aqua gang was going to come as revenge...or anything.

The policeman walked inside, unthreatening and calm. Making no sudden movements, he rang the bell at the desk and watched as the two owners came out from under their burrow of desk chairs and cardboard boxes.
"Are you Jeffrey and Mitchell Rosen?" he asked, knowing full well this question was pointless. His notepad was already out.
"Yes! Yes! We are - you're here to ask us about Archie and Maxie, aren't you?"
"We've got security footage, transactions, everything - "

"One question at a time," the policeman ordered, escorting the brothers outside and to a police car, "I'm afraid you'll have to answer them at the police station."
"That's fine!"
"Yeah, that's - that's okay!"
One of the officers cried out in laughter, rippling through the whole building, echoing through the night. Another ran out the door holding a USB stick with the security footage on it, still trying to keep a straight face after what he saw on the screens.
"Christ," Mitchell remarked, "I hope they're not laughing at our nice shelter."

More and more police cars turned up at the scene, and they left as quickly as they came. Locals where showing up, the talk was spreading like wildfire -
Quicker than he'd expected -

"Well - you're safe now," the police officer confirmed as the brothers were shut in the car, and the door clicked closed, "Thank-you for cooperating with us."

They heard nothing but muffled, discordant cheering.