I probably should have realized that standing around in one of the Aqua Admins' rooms was going to get me caught eventually, but I couldn't help myself. The picture on the dresser had caught my eye, so I had stared at it for a while in amazement. I couldn't believe that Archie - big, imposing Archie - had ever been a little boy like that, nor that he could grin that way. I'd seen him grin, but it was always sort of... hungry. He only grinned, I thought, when he got something he wanted.

He had been a cute kid. I tried to remember that as the man grinned that hungry grin down at me, but I couldn't. It was too weird... And I needed to focus on what was going on, not on wondering if he had been nicer when he was little.

"So we've got a sneak in the Base, do we? I thought you'd show up eventually, scamp, but I didn't think you'd let yourself get captured by a couple grunts."

"I didn't either."

He accepted my belt from a grunt and ran a finger along the Poké balls hanging from it. "Where did you catch her, anyway?" he asked vaguely.

"She was snooping around in Shelly's quarters."

He frowned. "How'd you get in there?"

"I walked. The warp panels weren't locked or anything, so..." I shrugged. Deciding that if I was already a prisoner, there wasn't much else they could possibly do, I said, "I saw that picture on her dresser, of you. You were kind of cute as a kid."

He stared at me for a second - almost stunned, I thought - then tossed my belt back to the grunt. "Take her to the brig." He walked away, tossing over his shoulder, "Hope you enjoy our hospitality, scamp. You'll be in there for a while."

The grunts brought me in the opposite direction from Archie and tossed me in a heap into a cell hewn out of the stone walls, with bars over the tiny window outside and thick steel bars serving as a fourth wall and door. A classic cage.

I pushed myself up into a seated position in time to watch the grunts slam the heavy metal door and lock it with an electronic panel on the wall next to the cell. The panel was too far to reach from the cell, especially for me, with my short arms, and I didn't know the code even if I could reach it. I was trapped, and for the moment, at least, there was no way out.

A sudden burst of panic welled up inside me, not for myself, but for my parents and Pokémon. If Mom didn't get a call from me soon, she would start to worry, even though she knew full well that I was nineteen and could take care of myself. And my Pokémon were mostly used to staying in their Poké balls for long periods of time, except... I'd brought Latias with me to face Team Aqua, 'cause the little red dragon was a tough and clever fighter, but I usually let her roam free when I didn't need her help, so she didn't spend much time in her Poké ball. I hoped she wasn't claustrophobic. Maybe I could get someone to let her out... but I didn't want them to know I had Latias. I had saved her from them, after all, so Latias was probably a bit of a sore spot.

"Wait!" I called before the grunts left. "What are you going to do with my Pokémon?"

"The boss is gonna keep hold of them," one of them, a rather unpleasant older man, replied with a nasty smile. "Dunno what he wants with 'em, but I guess we'll find out, eh?" He let out a horrible laugh, and I felt worry choke my throat. Do not cry in front of them, I told myself sternly.

"He won't hurt them," one of the other grunts, a younger woman, said sharply with a glare at the man who had spoken. "He just doesn't want them to go missing or get out and help you escape. The boss loves Pokémon. He won't hurt them." With that, the grunts filed out of the area, and the lights flickered out so the only light source was the computer on the wall across the room.

I sighed and surveyed my cell to try and take my mind off my worries. I wanted to believe that my Pokémon would be safe with Archie, but a little part of me kept whispering that the woman had been wrong and Archie was going to let the rest of the team do something terrible to them. I shook my head to get rid of the thoughts and examined my cell.

It looked pretty much like one of the ones from a movie or TV show: a steel-framed futon pushed up against one wall, with a thin mattress and blanket; a tiny window far above me a few feet below the ceiling, with heavy steel bars to stop an escape by wall-climbing - not that I could climb very well, having lived in Goldenrod City my whole life, and there wasn't anything to climb in the city - and a little tin toilet in the corner, with a curtain hung from a curved rod on the ceiling to pull around for a bit of privacy. It didn't look too bad, all in all. A couple of potted plants and a good sweeping, and it would look a bit like a Secret Base carved into a dark cliff. Maybe I could make a makeshift mop out of an extra blanket or something, if I could get ahold of one of those.

I shook my head. What was I doing, making plans to clean this place up as though it was my actual Secret Base? I was getting out of here as soon as I could figure out how to unlock the door.

I stood at the corner of my cell nearest the lock panel, pressing myself to the bars and stretching my arm desperately to get at the panel. I pressed so hard against the bars that I thought they would leave marks in my face, but I just couldn't reach the lock panel.

I moved back into the middle of the floor and scowled in thought. So the spaces in between the bars were too thin to put any part of myself but my arm through, but what if I could find a stick? My cell was bare, so an actual stick was out of the question, but maybe...

They had to feed me sometime. Maybe I could find a way to keep my cutlery hidden, then attach a bunch of spoons together to make a stick to press the buttons with. And if that didn't work... I'd have to think of something else, I guess.

I wondered how long I had been in the Aqua Base and realized that the grunts had taken my Pokénav Plus with most of the rest of my stuff. Brendan had taught me how to tell approximate time from the sun and stars while we were on our way back to Petalburg from Fallarbor, so I looked up out the window to see if I could see the sun - or even stars - but there was nothing, just blue. So it was still daytime, at least.

I stared at the walls and twiddled my thumbs for a while, wondering what I was going to do every day while I was in here. I hadn't been this still since before we left Johto, since I had started traveling the day after our arrival. How could I fill my days if I wasn't traveling and I didn't have my Pokémon with me?

I supposed I could sleep nights and probably most of the day, but there would still be at least a few hours that I would have to kill. I wondered if Team Aqua had a library or anything in their base, and, if so, if they would let me borrow anything. Probably not, but I decided it couldn't hurt to ask if the alternative was death by boredom.

I shrugged and unfolded the blanket on the bed. For right now, I could sleep. I laid down on the thin mattress, pulled the blanket up over my shoulders, and closed my eyes.

I woke up a few hours later when the door opened and the lights came on. I groaned and pulled the blanket up over my eyes to block out the bright fluorescent lights.

"Come on, little prisoner! Dinner time!" It was the unpleasant grunt from earlier. I heard a metallic scraping sound, then a plastic tray slid across the stone floor. "Come on, the cooks worked hard on this. Get up and eat it."

I pulled the blanket down and sat up. I waited a moment for the light to stop burning, then bent, picked up the tray, and set it down beside me on the bed.

The meal looked pretty good: what appeared to be a filet of breaded, fried fish, a couple of raw carrots and celery stalks, a little bun and a cup of Sitrus Berry juice. Much better than wilderness stew, though not as good as Mom's home cooking. Unfortunately, I realized, there was no cutlery on the tray. This meant I would have to eat with my hands... and it meant I had to come up with a new escape plan. Oh well. I could figure something out. I cleaned the plate within a few minutes.

The grunt motioned for the tray and I placed it in front of the door. He pulled a little slit at the bottom open, took the tray, and left, turning off the lights again.

I went back to the bed, sat down, and pulled the blanket over my shoulders, but I didn't go back to sleep again. A quick glance at the window told me it was about eleven at night, and I felt tired, but I was also rather disappointed.

I had to find a way out of here, but the cutlery plan wasn't going to work and I couldn't think of anything else. How could I possibly get out of the cell without the help of a Pokémon?

On that thought, why were they keeping me captive anyway? I didn't have any secrets or anything I could tell them, I didn't know their plan well enough to have anyone I told really believe me... What did they want? I added it to my mental list of things to ask whoever I saw next, besides that creepy grunt. I wasn't about to ask him anything.

I was about to go to sleep again when the lights turned back on and the door opened. I sat up to start asking my questions, but Shelly walked in and my mouth switched tracks.

"What are you doing here?"

She looked at me like I had said something totally idiotic, which admittedly I had. "I'm a Team Aqua admin. I work here."

"Oh. Right." I shook my head. "I meant here specifically, like in this area of the base."

"I just couldn't believe we had actually captured the interfering kid. You'd think it was Christmas, the way Archie was acting, strutting around all victorious. At least he's in a good mood. It's something."

"I guess he would be excited, yeah. What's he done with my Pokémon?"

"Your belt's in his quarters. I heard he tried letting one of your Pokémon out, but when your Mightyena realized you weren't there... He's been in his room with Matt since."

I smiled. "Good girl, Hunter."

Shelly rolled her eyes at me.

"So, um... Can I ask one more question?"

"Ask whatever you want. I might even answer it."

"Why am I in a prison cell?"

She was silent for a few minutes, as though deciding whether to say anything. "We need you out of the way," she said finally. "If we let you run around out there, you'll just get in our way and stop our plans again. So you're staying here for at least the next little while." She turned to go.

"Are you still-?"

She looked back at me over her shoulder. "I tried to tell him... I'm still trying. But he won't listen." She turned again. "See you later, kid." And she was gone.

Unable to do anything else, I went back to sleep. I woke again when the sky was just starting to get light, needing to pee, then fell asleep again. When I woke up for the second time, the sky was mostly light, and seemed like the sun was up, though I couldn't see it from my window. I supposed that it probably wasn't facing east or west, but I couldn't tell if I was looking north or south out of it.

A few minutes later, after I had cleaned my hair up as best I could without a comb or a mirror, a grunt walked in carrying a tray of what had to be breakfast. It wasn't the same grunt as last night, which was a relief, but he didn't speak as he pushed the tray through the slit in the door.

When I was done and he went to leave, I blurted out, "Is there any way for me to get something to read or do in here? Sleeping all day's kind of boring, you know..."

He looked at me for a minute, then replied, "I'll put in a request with one of the Admins," and left.

"All right, then."

I decided that maybe I should keep a count of my days in the prison cell on the walls or something - make my life even more like a movie - but I couldn't figure out how I could do it without a piece of chalk or stone or something, so that was out.

I thought through some possible plans for escape instead. Maybe I could try and get the door unlock code from one of the grunts... but I still couldn't reach the panel, so that wouldn't work. I could try and befriend a grunt and get them to let me out... but that wouldn't work if they kept switching out who brought my meals so I didn't see the same person more than once in a while. Or I could try and force someone to bring me my Pokémon, but I didn't have anything to threaten anyone with... and Archie was definitely way more intimidating than any teenage girl. So I was totally stuck.

A few hours or so spent watching the walls and twiddling my thumbs later, another new grunt came in with a tray of lunch. Included with the tray were a newspaper - the Lilycove Journal - and a stubby little pencil.

"Oh, good. I was getting tired of twiddling my thumbs." I finished my lunch and went to pick up the paper when the grunt spoke.

"Boss wants to see you first."

I stood up in confusion and he produced a pair of handcuffs. "Stand facing the wall, hands out behind your back."

I complied - anything to get out of the cell - and the grunt came in and put the handcuffs on me. They were snug around my wrists, but not tight enough to cut off my circulation, and the chain was long enough that I could hold my arms almost at my sides but no further forward.

The grunt took hold of my arm and led me through the base, past other grunts - some sneered at me, while others looked at me with pity or didn't look at me at all - and too many warp panels for me to keep good track of directions. I vaguely wondered how I had ever thought I could get through this base without getting hopelessly lost, then remembered that I hadn't seen this area before and figured I would have been able to manage.

We finally ended up in Archie's quarters after a long time of walking and warping. I could tell it was Archie's quarters because the man himself stood at a big metal desk, staring down at a blueprint or something. He looked up and grinned when we entered.

"Yo, scamp!" He looked at the grunt beside me, who had let go of my arm. "She wasn't any trouble, was she?"

The grunt shook his head. "Good. This shouldn't be any trouble, then. You can go wait in the hall. Me an' the little scamp here need to have a talk."

The grunt left. Archie gestured for me to come closer, but I only took a little step forward, out of both nervousness and defiance. I didn't want to get closer to my captor; I wanted to get away from him.

"Come on, I won't bite. That's Sharpedo's job." He grinned a little.

"Amazingly, that doesn't make me feel much better." Immediately, I felt like slapping my hands over my mouth. Stupid, stupid...

Archie didn't react to my stupid snark, though. He just came out from behind his desk and looked down at me, studying my face. Of course, I was so short - only coming up to about his mid-chest area - that he had to bend his neck pretty far down. I could only meet his eyes for a few seconds before I had to break contact. I switched to staring at an anchor pendant hung on a chain around his neck. It had a rainbow stone embedded in it that looked a lot like the Key Stone in my Mega Bracelet, which the grunts had taken from me. Can Archie... Can he really Mega Evolve his Pokémon, or was he bluffing...?

Before I had the chance to think on that, he nodded and took a step back so he could look at me on more equal footing. "Alright. Let me explain to you how this is gonna work. Yes, you're a prisoner here. No, it's not permanent. I just need you out of my way for awhile so I can finish my plans without interference. I've got your Pokémon. They're here, they're safe, and I'm not gonna hurt them. I might even let you see them occasions if you're good and don't cause too much trouble for my people. Far as I can see, you'll only be in here for about three or four months at most. Sound okay to you, scamp?" He let out a laugh, a big booming chuckle that matched his personality. "I hope so, 'cause it's not optional."

I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out, so I dropped my eyes to my feet and nodded. Three months was a long time to be separated from my Pokémon... and my parents...

"Before you call that guy back in here," I blurted before he could do just that, "could I - is there a way I could call my parents? My mom - she worries about me, and I haven't talked to her since I left Fortree City a few weeks ago..." I cut off, my face heating up suddenly.

Archie laughed again. "How old are you, anyway? No teenager worries about their parents' approval."

I stared at the floor, certain my face was bright red. "It's not - I don't want her to approve, it doesn't matter if she knows what I'm doing all the time, but - I mean - I had a little brother, just two years younger - and we were just little - I was ten - and he was attacked by a wild Pokémon and - and - he -"

I felt a hand on my shoulder suddenly, and then I was looking at Archie's fractured face. I hadn't even realized I'd started crying. "Don't start blubbering on me, scamp," he said, but he was - not gentle, but not harsh, either. "I've got a phone. You can call your mom. Just one thing, though - I'm staying in the room, so I know you don't tell her about us or our plans or anything at all. I don't want her telling your dad and bringing the Hoenn League down on our heads - yeah, I know you're the Petalburg Leader's kid," he said in reply to my look of surprise. "It was all over the news when your dad brought the rest of his family over. Anyway, scamp, one word about Team Aqua and you're done. Got it?"

I nodded dumbly. Archie went over to his desk and picked up a phone from beside a stack of files. Like most everything else in the office, the phone was blue. I wonder what his favourite colour is? I thought sarcastically as he handed it to me.

I dialed my house quickly and held the phone to my ear, hoping that she would pick up despite the unknown number. I had only ever called her from a public phone in a Pokémon Center, which all showed up on caller ID displays as "Pokémon Center" with whatever town on it. She didn't often pick up calls from numbers she didn't recognize, for whatever reason, but I hoped that she would be desperate enough to hear from me that she would pick up.

The phone rang once, twice, three times, and I prayed that she would pick up. Halfway through the fourth ring, she did.

"Hello?"

"Mom," I whispered. "Hi, mom," I said, at a more normal volume.

"May? Is that you? Sweetheart, where are you?"

"I'm... I'm just outside of Lilycove. I borrowed an Ace Trainer's phone to call you."

"Why didn't you just call me from the Pokémon Center?"

"I wasn't in Lilycove very long, mom. I just sort of dashed through. There's no Gym or anything in Lilycove, so I just kept moving."

"You didn't even go into the Department Store?"

"I just checked out the Trainer's supply floor. I don't have a Secret Base or anything, and I don't go home often enough to really bother decorating my room. And TMs are too expensive."

"I wish you'd come home more often, sweetheart," Mom said. "I worry about you, you know."

"I know," I muttered, feeling tears prick at my eyes again. "I've gotta get going," I added, because Archie had rolled his eyes and was gesturing for me to hurry up. "I love you. I'll call you when I get a chance, okay?"

"Okay. Where are you going next, sweetie?"

"Mossdeep City is where the next Gym is, so I'm going there, but... I have to cross the sea, and it's a long way from here to there, you know, so... I might not get the chance to call you for a long time."

Mom was silent for a while, then she said, "Alright. Be careful out there, you hear me?"

"Of course, mom. I love you."

"I love you too, May. Good luck! I'll be cheering for you!" She hung up the phone and I mutely handed it beck to Archie.

"All right, scamp?" He said with a teasing grin, but I just shrugged. "Okay. Back to the cell, then. See you soon, scamp."

On my way back to the cell, my mind whirled around dizzyingly, but my main thought was gratitude. I wanted to thank Archie for not... acting like a normal villain, I guess... and letting me call my parents, and offering to let me see my Pokémon on occasion... Vaguely, I wondered why he had done these things when he could so easily have left me to sit in my cell with nothing to do but stare at the walls. I wondered if it had anything to do with my age, and wondered how young he thought I was, and what the rest of Team Aqua thought, actually.

So I sat in the cell staring at the crossword section of the newspaper with my mind on other things until dinner came, after which I decided to close the book on my second day of captivity and go to sleep. Maybe Archie's not-evil-villain behaviour would make sense after a good night's sleep.

It didn't, but sleep made it easier to take my mind off the way he had acted.

There was something nice, I decided, about a window that didn't face east or west, and that was not being stabbed in the eyes by the rising sun at dawn, or being unable to sleep because of the reflection of the sun or moon off the ocean - which, I assumed, was the only thing that would be visible outside my window, given the sound of waves and not people through my window. I did want to see the sunrise over the ocean - I'd heard that Lilycove City sees beautiful sunrises on the water and sunsets over the jungle - but I could live with not seeing them in exchange for decent sleep.

So, for the morning, rather than thinking of cons to my predicament, I thought of pros. One: fairly normal sleep cycle, or at least it could be normal as soon as I had more to do in the daytime than sleep. Two: regular meals that met a nutritional standard, versus wilderness stew or stereotypical prison slop. Three: a fairly definite time limit to my imprisonment. Four: shelter from wild Pokémon and the elements.

I couldn't think of anything else, so I scribbled these on a blank piece of the newspaper, carefully tore out the list, and tucked it under my blanket near my head. I'd add to it later if I thought of any other real bonuses to prison.

I looked out of the bars for a moment, wishing I could leave the cell if only for a moment. I hadn't pulled a prank on anyone in a very long time, but I really wanted to get out and put a bucket of water over a door for the next person who walked in or something. Though, from what I'd seen, the Aqua base didn't have any doors that opened like normal, just sliding ones, so that prank wouldn't work.

I found myself wondering what the Admins and Archie would say if I asked to booby trap the grunts' break room or something. Matt might laugh and maybe help, Shelley would probably say no in the open then help me plan good traps later, but Archie was a mystery. Probably no. Oh well. Maybe I could booby trap his quarters if I managed to escape and had some spare time.

I abandoned my pointless prank planning and picked up the newspaper. There weren't any comics, but the crossword was big and would take a lot of time, in all probability.

When the door opened, I didn't look up. Instead, I called, "What's a four-letter word that means strong and ends with an 'f'?"

"If it ends with an 'f' it can't be Matt, can it... How about 'buff'?" Shelly asked.

I glanced up with a grin. "That might work, thanks. Is that lunch?"

"Yes, it is. Enjoying the newspaper?"

"The crossword's tough. I'm only about halfway done, and I've been working on it for... Well, I don't know the time exactly, but a pretty long time." I scribbled 'buff' into its space, then took my lunch tray and started eating.

"The Journal always has good crosswords, but the Rustboro paper's almost as good."

"I wouldn't know. The Goldenrod paper just had little ones for kids on the comic pages, they were too easy."

"Johto girl, huh? Never seen the sea till you came to Hoenn, did you?"

"Olivine City's on the coast. I've seen the sea before, but Hoenn's oceans are so... calm and blue. The ocean in Johto is grey and choppy and... Well, it's not as nice as here."

Shelly grinned. "That's the ancient Pokémon's work. What kind of a powerful ancient Pokémon wants to live in a cold ocean?"

"People say that Lugia lives deep underwater near the Whirl Islands in Johto." I shrugged. "It doesn't seem to mind the cold."

"All water, when you get deep enough, is cold, but Hoenn's oceans are warm as far as an ordinary Pokémon can Dive."

I grinned teasingly. "So Hoenn's just weird, just like its people."

"You live here, don't you?" We shared a laugh, then I sighed.

"I don't get it. You guys are so... nice. Why are you so bent on waking up this ancient Pokémon and flooding the whole world? You know it'll just destroy everything."

Shelly sighed in return. "I know that, yes, and you do, but Archie won't listen to either of us. You because you're his enemy - or at least an opponent, 'cause he doesn't actually mind you that much - and me because... Well..." She grimaced. "When I told him what I had found out at the Weather Institute, he said I was trying to stop him so I could take over and steal all the glory." She rolled her eyes. "I'd tell him his sanity was slipping out with his brains, but that would just piss him off and not accomplish anything."

"So basically, unless we can do something to get his attention long enough to show him the facts, we and the whole world are screwed."

"That's pretty much it, kid."

"Well, fuck."

Shelly snorted. "Hey, watch your language," she teased. "It's not polite to swear."

"What makes you think I want to be polite?"

"The promise of books."

Immediately, I sat up straight in a reasonable parody of politeness. "I can totally be polite if books are on the line."

"Nerd."

"Every day of my life. Now, gimme!"

Shelly rolled her eyes. "I've been given permission to get you three books from the Lilycove Public Library. What do you want?"

"I don't know what they have, so... If they have anything on myths, or something like... Fairy tales?"

"Fairy tales? How old are you, anyway?"

"Nineteen, but fairy tales are cool," I said defensively.

"Keep telling yourself that," Shelly snorted. "Anything else?"

"A book of prison escape tactics?"

"Nope, nothing else, then. See you later, kid." She took my tray and left.

I went back to my crossword and finished it before dinner. I tried the Sudoku and word scramble puzzles, but I was terrible at Sudoku, so I gave that up quickly. I made slightly better progress on the scramble, but eventually I was left staring at the letters that were supposed to rearrange to make the solution.

Fortunately, a grunt came in with my dinner before my stare could burn a hole through the paper. When I was done, I handed my dinner tray back through the door, and the grunt handed me three books and left.

I looked over the books happily. All three were collections of myths and legends: one from Hoenn, one from Sinnoh, and one from Kalos. I opened the book of Hoenn legends and started reading.

There were two major myths in the book, in the form of epic poetry written by a man who identified himself as Eagus and claimed he had seen the legends described in each myth with his own eyes. I wasn't certain about that, but maybe he was right.

He seemed to know a lot about them, anyway. The first poem was 'The Song of Titans', about a pair of Pokémon, Kyogre and Groudon, who held power over the seas and land respectively. I wondered vaguely if the ancient Pokémon Team Aqua was looking for was maybe Kyogre, and I wondered I they knew the name of the Pokémon they were looking for or if they thought it was just a random ancient Pokémon.

I didn't get through much of the story before my cell went dark as the sun set - since Aqua apparently weren't fans of wasting electricity by leaving the lights on in the prisoner cells - but I got through some introduction before I had to stop, and what I learned was very interesting. The Pokémon of land and sea hated each other, and this hatred had major consequences for the people and Pokémon living on the planet - earthquakes, tsunamis, torrential downpours, droughts, forest fires, volcanoes, you name it, were common. At several points, the anger between the titans had broken into open combat... but I didn't get any farther than that.

I couldn't help comparing the situation to mine, though. Shelly and I both knew that Team Aqua's plans could lead to the destruction of Hoenn if they weren't stopped, just like the titans had destroyed a lot of stuff. I was suddenly reminded of the red-haired man I had met in Meteor Falls, after confronting Team Aqua about their theft of the Meteorite from Professor Cozmo. What was his name again? Maxie, I thought. Leader of Team Magma. Maybe if Team Aqua hadn't been blocking his progress, he would have been the one looking for the ancient Pokémon. Maybe Maxie and Archie were like the titans themselves. Maxie clearly hadn't liked the thought of Archie being ahead of him in anything, and Archie would probably feel the same way if Maxie beat him to anything.

Still wondering about the connections between the tale of the titans and Teams Aqua and Magma, I fell asleep.

It took me three days to read the Titans poem, it was so long, but it was really interesting and I didn't regret taking the time to read it... especially since there wasn't anything else I could have been doing.

The conflict between Kyogre and Groudon lasted for hundreds of years before the conflict finally reached its boiling point. The two titans clashed directly, in the caldera of an extinct volcano that had risen from the sea. The poem said that the battle raged for months, years, with no sign of stopping, until a young woman decided to do something. This woman, according to Eagus, was his wife, and she was amazing and had bonds with Pokémon that were powerful beyond all belief.

This woman climbed a tall mountain, one that had been there longer than Kyogre and Groudon, to find a way to end the fighting. At the top of the mountain, she found a great dragon Pokémon, coiled asleep in a deep cave. Bravely, she woke the great dragon, begging it for its help. Her begging awoke something in the dragon, and it began to glow and change form. I thought that sounded a bit like evolution, but apparently, when the dragon was finished quelling the titans' anger, it changed back to the way it had looked before the woman had woken it up, and took to the skies towards places unknown.

According to notes made by the person who had translated the poem, there had never been any more sightings - up close, at least, and nothing from afar that could be confirmed - of the Pokémon, and no mountain in the Hoenn region was tall enough to be the one Eagus had described. There was a shrine on a small mountain near Route 130 that had had great significance to an ancient group of people called the Draconids, but the translator didn't think that that could possibly be the right mountain, as it wasn't tall enough either.

I decided that the myth wasn't as close to my situation as I had initially thought. After all, if no one had ever seen this great dragon except for once, there was no way it could be called to help now... and besides, it might not even come out for only one of the ancient Pokémon. Assuming that the titans were real, and the same ancient Pokémon that Team Aqua was trying to wake up. And assuming that the dragon Pokémon existed. Probably not. Oh well.

I flipped to the second poem by Eagus, which was not as long. It was called 'The Song of Dragons', and it was about Latios and Latias. I got about a quarter of the way through it - up to a description of the two as "keepers of peace and defenders of heroes" or something like that - before the door opened and Matt came in, flanked by grunts and carrying a tray that looked tiny in his massive hands. "Heya, kid! Lunch time!"

"Hi, Matt. It's been a while."

"Yeah! We had that awesome battle at Mt. Pyre!" He let out a loud laugh. "That got my blood pumping! We should ask my bro if he'll let us battle sometime!"

I grinned. Matt's excitement was contagious. "That'd be great if he'd let us. We could always ask." I accepted my tray through the door slit and started eating. "So, any special reason you're here?"

"You're going to get to see your Pokémon after lunch. Archie's getting your Poké balls, and he'll be in in a few minutes." He pointed to my tray. "So you'd better eat fast, little sister."

I nodded and inhaled my lunch, excited and nervous. I wondered if I could maybe escape... but if both Archie and Matt, plus two grunts were here, not even all six of my team members were going to be able to overpower them. I'd just get them hurt, and probably lose my privileges to see them again. Once again, acting the good little Trainer seemed to be my best course of action. That was annoying.

Not two minutes after I finished my lunch and handed the tray back through the door to one of the grunts did Archie come in, carrying my belt of Poké balls in one hand.

"Hey, scamp," he said, coming over right in front of the bars to look at me and crossing his arms. "So I'm sure Matt's told you what's going on, but I'm gonna lay down some rules for ya."

"Okay, fine," I said, trying not to fidget. I really wanted to see my team.

Archie laughed. "Cool your heels, scampo. Alright. I'm gonna open your door, and you'll have free run of this room. Me and Matt'll be standing by the door. You can let out one of your Pokémon. Just one. But ya get an hour with 'em. Try to attack any of us, though, and you won't be able to see any of your crew for at least a month. Sound good to you, scamp?"

I froze. I could only see one of my Pokémon? But that wasn't fair - I hadn't seen any of them in over a week! I wasn't exactly worried about their physical well-being - none of them had been injured when we were captured, and even if they had, the Poké balls would mean that their injuries wouldn't get any worse - but I was sure that they were worried about me, and I didn't want to leave them cooped up in their Poké balls longer than I had to.

"Only one? Why?" Much to my chagrin, my voice sounded dangerously close to whining.

"Doesn't make sense to let you have more than that out at once. Your Pokémon are strong, and you're a good battler, scamp - consider it a compliment." He paused a moment, waiting to see if I had any more complaints, but I just nodded. He reached over and tapped in a code into the keypad on the wall, and my cell door slid open. He held my belt out, and I considered my six Poké balls for a moment before reaching out and taking Latias' ball.

Of all my Pokémon, I was most worried about how Latias was doing. She wasn't used to the ball, so the loss of her freedom must have been hitting her harder than the rest of my team. And while I wasn't totally comfortable with letting Team Aqua know I had her - considering I had stopped Matt from capturing her at Southern Island barely a month ago - I reasoned that making sure she was alright trumped keeping her a secret. They would have known I had her on my team if I hadn't been captured, anyway.

I pressed the button on the center of the ball to resize it back to normal, then tapped it again to release Latias. "Come out, Latias!"

She materialized in front of me with a loud trill, immediately butting her head into my chin. I stumbled back a half-step, then threw my arms around her and pressed my forehead to hers.

"So that's what happened to Latias after you got beat," I heard Archie remark to Matt. "You never told me she captured it, though."

"I didn't capture her," I protested. "Latias wanted to join me, so she's with me now."

Archie studied me carefully, and I was suddenly made aware that the Aqua leader was not a dumb pirate. I had always known at least vaguely that he couldn't be stupid - since I met him at Slateport City, at least - but now I was reminded that he had to be clever, if only to avoid anyone's attention thus far. I couldn't read his expression, but he looked like he was deciding I wasn't just some kid.

The moment was broken when he shrugged and moved toward the door. "Whatever. You've got an hour, scamp, so enjoy it."

I nodded and ignored him, pressing my face into the smooth down on Latias' neck, near her ear. "Are you okay? I didn't want you to be cooped up in your Poké ball so long... I didn't think this would happen... I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault we've been here," she said. One bonus of having a Psychic Pokémon was their telepathic abilities, which few lacked. Latias could speak with me and with the rest of my Pokémon, meaning that she could translate for them so I could understand them. I also had a Metagross, won as a Beldum in a contest from the Goldenrod Radio station when I was very young, that could do so.

"You were captured. You didn't want to leave us in our Poké balls, so it wasn't your fault. We're fine."

"Can you hear any of the others? Tell them I'm here."

Latias was quiet for a moment. "Hunter is glad to hear from you. She hopes you're happy that she bit the Aqua man in the arm before he could stop her."

I laughed, glancing over at Archie. One of his upper arms seemed bulkier than the other, and I could see white through a few little punctures in his wet suit. He caught my look and I grinned.

"What?"

"I heard Hunter got a piece of you."

"Is that what you call your Mightyena? She's well-trained. Woulda taken a big chunk outta me if I'd let her, I bet." He chuckled. "You're not a bad Trainer, scamp. Not a smart one, and not as good as me, of course, but not bad."

I stuck out my tongue at him and went back to my conversation with Latias. "Did anyone else say anything?"

"Jace is glad to hear you're safe. He wants me to tell you that you're careless and reckless, and you should have let one of us out at the first sign of trouble."

"Love him, too." My starter Pokémon, received from Professor Birch at the start of my journey, had started to take himself way too seriously since he had evolved into Blaziken, in my opinion.

"Metagross agrees with Jace, and adds that you should be very cautious around Aqua members, now that you're imprisoned. They don't want you getting hurt either. And Rain wants to get out and play soon."

I smiled at the thought of the newest member of my regular team. I had received the little Castform as a thank-you from the people at the Weather Institute for saving them from Team Aqua, and she had become a useful support battler and a good friend. She was young, though, and not very interested in battling - she just liked having fun.

"How about Lucius?" Lucius was my Pelipper, whose graceful name belied his clumsiness and awkwardness.

Latias was quiet for a moment, then let out a trill that sounded like a giggle. "He's asleep!"

Of course. There was nothing that bird liked better than a nap.

I sighed and rested my head against Latias'. "So what can we possibly do?" I wasn't just talking about the visit, of course. Latias let out a quiet, sad cry.

"There's not much we can do, at least right now."

"Thought not."

Latias giggled and bumped my legs with her back. "We can have fun, at least! I'm here, you're here, and we're all okay!" She bumped my legs again and I swung one leg over her back, like I had with Latios those few weeks ago to go to Southern Island. Latias trilled and lifted off.

The ceiling wasn't very high, so we couldn't go too far up, but Latias could float at least a little out of Archie's reach - not Matt's, but I doubted anything was out of the behemoth's reach - which was nice. We skimmed over his head and he ducked reflexively. I laughed.

"Very funny, scampo."

"I thought so."

I considered the possibility that I could probably snatch my Poké balls from him and let my whole team out from above his head, but there was no point in pissing him off if I couldn't escape anyway. I sighed. I wanted to mess with them - especially Archie - but everything was still too new, and I didn't know the limits yet.

"I'm just a coward," I sighed into Latias' head, directing her into my cell. She didn't reply.

I looked out the little window and learned I had an ocean view. As far as I could see, there was just water. Directly below the window, there was a short rock face that the gentle waves washed against. On the edge of the horizon, I thought I saw a shape - maybe an island? - but it was too small to make out.

We looked through the other cell windows as well. My cell was right in the middle of five - all of which were empty - along a curved wall, so each of the cells had slightly different views. One of the cells faced almost directly east, according to Latias, and I could see a large island that I thought must be Mossdeep City through that window.

"Looking to switch up, scampo?" Archie said.

"Not unless I can move to a cell outside the base, no."

"We could just throw ya out the window," he offered with a chuckle.

"Humans can't survive living in the open ocean, though." I looked right into his eyes. "Your plan for the world sucks. Everyone will just drown if you let the sea take over the land."

"You're so set in your ways, scamp." He shook his head sadly. "It's too bad you can't see all the good we'll do. Returning the world to its natural state is good for everyone, people and Pokemon alike."

"Maybe it would be better if lived closer to nature, but what you're doing and your ideals don't match up." He opened his mouth to cut me off, but I kept going. "The super-ancient Pokemon won't listen to you! If you wake it up, it'll cause a massive storm. It'll kill people, Archie! Just ask Shelly! She went to the Weather Institute! The people there know this, she knows it, everyone but you knows that your plan is stupid!" I realized I was yelling and steaming mad, but I couldn't bring myself to stop. "If you don't stop now, everyone in Hoenn - maybe the world - people are going to die, and it'll be all your fault!"

He stared at me for a few minutes, watching as I breathed hard, trying to calm myself back down. Latias turned her head around to nuzzle my neck, trilling softly while she did so.

Suddenly I felt drained, exhausted, like I had run a marathon in a few minutes. For the first time since the day I had been captured, I really felt helpless.

Through my whole journey, I had been the hero - to the Devon man in Petalburg Woods, to Professor Cozmo at Meteor Falls, to the old couple at Mt Pyre. I had been looked at as someone who could help, someone who could stop Team Aqua's plot, and that had gone to my head. Now, as I recovered from my sudden rage and waited for Archie to respond to me, I realized that I had just been lucky all those times. I hadn't won against the grunt in Petalburg Woods and Rusturf Tunnel because I was amazing, just because he had messed up. I had only managed at Meteor Falls because of Brendan. The old couple gave me the Red Orb because I had been the first person to show up to help. Now, I had nothing, and I could do nothing. If Team Aqua wanted to destroy the world, no one would stop them, because no one knew about the threat they posed except me and maybe Steven and Brendan, and Steven would assume that I could manage them and Brendan would probably be too late to do anything. The realization hurt.

"I'm sorry you think that," Archie said seriously. "But you're wrong. The people at the Weather Institute are wrong, and Shelly is wrong. I know it doesn't seem like it, but I know what I'm talking about. I will be able to control the super-ancient Pokemon, and I will bring about a better world for everyone. You can count on it."

I didn't say anything, didn't even look at him. He sighed.

"Think what you want. It doesn't matter anyway," he said, finally. "Time's up."

I guided Latias to the ground, stepped off her back, and whispered thanks before returning her to her Poké ball. Archie took the ball back and out it back on my belt, before signaling to the grunts to put me back in my cell.

After the door was locked, he met my eyes one more time. "I want you to remember one thing. I'm not the bad guy."

He left, shutting the door and turning off the lights behind him. The cell blocks were silent. I sat on my bed and buried my head into my hands.

The next few months passed in a blur, each day dragging forever but the weeks flying by far too fast. Each day, I was brought food by one of six grunts, cycled seemingly at random to me. Once every two weeks, I got an hour with one of my Pokémon, and once or twice a week, I could request up to three books from the library, and Shelly would come and bring them to me and talk for a while. She would update me on how their plan was progressing, and then we would talk about whatever. I grew to think of Shelly as a good friend.

One week, I told her a bit about my childhood in Goldenrod, about how my dad worked in Whitney's Gym as a trainer and the de facto leader if Whitney was sick or had to go away on business, and how he was rarely at home as a result. I told her about my brother and the wild Pokémon attack, and she let me cry into her shoulder for a while. She was like a big sister to me.

Matt and I did wind up having that Pokemon battle, under the watchful eye of Shelly and with most of the Aqua grunts at the base watching in awe. I had Jace go up against Matt's Sharpedo and won, despite a nasty Aqua Jet right at the beginning. It was a High Jump Kick that won the battle, though, and I was really glad for Dark's weakness to Fighting types and Jace's good defenses.

I grew a bit closer to Matt as well, but his hero-worship of Archie meant that he didn't want to listen to me or Shelly about Archie's plan either. I admired his loyalty, at least; Matt was so dedicated to Archie that he wouldn't even listen to a word against the man.

I didn't see Archie again after my rant, which I was fine with. Talking to him only made me feel useless, locked in captivity and powerless to stop his plan.

I settled into a routine and got used to prison over the next few months, and even got used to being in prison.

Which was why I was so shocked to hear, one Wednesday morning, that all the testing and preparation was finished and the cavern where the ancient Pokémon was sleeping had been found, and that the final stage of Team Aqua's plan was going ahead.

Archie came in personally to let me know, flanked by an excited Matt and a tense Shelly.

"Guess what, scampo? The prep's all done. We're heading out to find that ancient Pokémon today! Our plans will finally be completed, and the world will go back to the way it's supposed to be - back to the beginning!" He grinned. "You might even be able to see the beginning of the new world with your own eyes, even from here."

I was floored. I had been expecting this to happen eventually... but now that the day was finally here, I couldn't say anything. The weight of my failure crushed down on my chest, making it hard to breathe.

Archie raised an eyebrow at my silence. "Guess you're not as excited as I am, scamp. Oh well." He shrugged, still grinning. "You'll see soon enough. It's a good thing, scamp. It's a good thing for everyone." He turned to leave, Matt and Shelly following. Shelly caught my eye, looking apologetic, before she followed him out and left me alone.

I was wound up all day. I didn't eat breakfast, lunch or dinner. I couldn't. My stomach was tied up in knots and I felt queasy, and I knew if I tried to eat it wouldn't be down there long.

I stared out the window, waiting for a sign, something, anything. All day, there was nothing. The sky was a clear, bright blue, the sun shone manically through the little hole in the wall, and the sea waves sloshed against the rocks below just like they always did.

I wanted to run. I wanted to slam the bars, rattle them until someone heard and came in - to yell at me or help me, I didn't care what. I wanted to pace a hole in the floor. I wanted to curl up on my bed and cry, I wanted to call my mom and warn her, I wanted to call the Pokémon League so they could stop Archie, I wanted to see my Pokémon.

I just sat on the floor and stared at the window, waiting.

I must have fallen asleep at some point, though I don't remember doing so, because the next thing I was aware of was a drop of something wet hitting my face. I started into a sitting position, disoriented for a moment, then looked up at the window again in sudden realization.

It was pitch-dark outside. The sky was totally invisible, covered in black thunderheads. A torrential downpour was in progress, raindrops the size of my eyeballs slamming into the rock walls of the base and the floor of my cell beside me. The sea below my windows was smashing and hissing against the rocks, sending waves splashing even up to the bottom of my window.

Out of nowhere, Matt's voice came from a speaker in the ceiling. "Everyone, we gotta get outta here! Archie's just called with orders. Units one, two and three are going to head to Rustboro City, Dewford Town and Petalburg City, and the two little inland ones, and help as many people as you can get out of there. Units four and five, head to Mauville and Fallarbor. Six, Fortree. Seven, Mossdeep. Eight and Nine are coming with me to Lilycove, and Ten, go to Pacifidlog Town. Bring as many people as you can carry to Mt. Chimney, Mt. Pyre, or one of the other mountains near Chimney, right to the peak or as high as you can get. Everyone got it? Fly careful, stay safe. Meet you at Mt. Chimney."

As he signed off, I wondered at how much worse the weather must be than it looked. It was pretty bad, from what I could see out my window, but it must be really awful if it made Matt scared.

I heard footsteps thundering past my door the next second and I tried to call out, but they either didn't hear me or weren't listening. Twice more, a large group ran past the prison, but neither of them stopped either. After that, the base was silent.

I curled on my bed, watching the rain pour in through my window and swirl down the drain in the middle of the floor. I was terrified that Team Aqua had forgotten about me in the commotion. I tried to keep myself calm by reminding myself that the base was safe, and I was under shelter, but I couldn't stop picturing the drain in my floor clogging and the rain flooding my cell. It didn't help much, as my brain kept reminding me that my cell door was still locked and I couldn't get out if the room did flood.

A little while after Matt's announcement, the door to the rest of the base started leaking. At first it was just a little bit of water that immediately swirled down the centre drain, but soon the seals around the door failed and the water turned into a little river, then a slightly bigger river.

I huddled tighter into myself and stared at the door. I was hungry, and tired, and wet from the rain that was still coming in through the window and that I wasn't totally able to avoid, and terrified for my life.

And then the door started to creak.

It was just a little creak, but on edge as I was, it might as well have bent and snapped in half. I fixed my eyes on the door, desperately praying that it wouldn't cave, that it would stand strong against the water than my brain unhelpfully imagined must be up to my waist out there.

It did for a long time, enough time for the clouds outside to start flashing lightning every few seconds. I counted the seconds between flashes and thunder until I couldn't tell which crash corresponded to which flash, and I stared at the floor. A fairly big puddle had formed and was running into the drain in the middle of the room, as the water was coming too fast to drain out through the little hole in my floor.

Then there was another creak from the door and it suddenly slid halfway open before stalling and screeching the way abused metal does.

The partial opening of the door was enough to let in a wave from the hallway. The water quickly flooded the room, bringing the water level up to my knees all over the room. I screamed as a wave sloshed over my bed and completely soaked me. I spat some out of my mouth, grimacing at the salty taste. How high was the sea level outside the base?

How high would the water rise before the rain stopped? When would the rain stop?

I stopped thinking and sat huddled on my bed, nervously watching the water level rise around me and hoping that I would make it through this storm alive.