"Steven!"
The crash of a colossal wave crashing down against the rocks was nearly deafening, and May winced back. Her words were being whipped away on the wind, but if she couldn't get herself heard, the entire plan was about to come tumbling down around them. She kept treading water, turning helplessly this way and that. He had to be here somewhere.
"Ste-"
The behemoth brought its flipper down onto the water. For a second, her eyes widened - and then she was forced under, the huge wall of water threatening to break her if she didn't dive at that moment.
Things would be worse, she knew, if her Wailord wasn't currently engaging Kyogre in a very one-sided battle. They'd tried to lure it back to some semblance of dry land - somewhere she could use her Breloom for a type advantage - but the ancient Pokémon was stronger than any of them had fathomed. Unless the Champion could turn things around, things were looking grim.
May heard a distant crash, and forced herself to open her eyes despite the sting of the salt water. The dark shape of a Claydol sank past her. Alarmed, she struck out for the surface, and emerged gasping into the torrential rain.
"Steven!"
"He can't hear you," came a gruff voice from somewhere to her right. May turned to face the Aqua Leader as he sped towards her, clinging to his Sharpedo. "Stone is still airborne, he's too far away - grab hold of Sharpedo! We'll take you to that island - maybe you can turn the tide of this battle yet!"
"But - Steven's stronger than I am!" May spluttered, clinging to the Pokémon like her life depended on it (and maybe it did). "I - I thought I could do this, but - if Steven can't-"
"None of that!" Archie pushed himself ashore and grabbed her arm, lifting her easily out of the water and standing her beside him. Even the rowdy Aqua Leader had to shout to be heard above the gale. "If any of the old Hoenn legends are right, it's never been about who fights best! It's all about heart!" He prodded her in the chest with his spare hand, leaving a stinging feeling just below her collarbones. "And you have a lot of that, scampo! Don't give up!"
As if to contest the man's thunderous claims, another huge wave rammed into them both.
When it receded, May realised Archie hadn't let go of her arm - it was probably the only reason she'd stayed upright. She let out a cough and took a step away from the edge, shaking her head.
"I can't! My Pokémon aren't strong enough!"
"Your Wailord's still out there, isn't it?"
"Y-yes, but-"
"Then you've still got a fighting chance!"
"We can't beat Kyogre! It's barely strong enough to leave a scratch!"
"Then it's buying you time to cook up something else!" Archie roared.
And he was right, in a way. May knew there had to be something. Some big, obvious thing she was missing. As she stared out at the thrashing Legendary, May quickly ran through the facts.
They couldn't defeat it by fighting it head-on. The Red Orb didn't work any more, not now that Kyogre had regressed into its Primal form. There was no way to get it on land, and no way to trap it in a smaller space without herding it back to Sootopolis - and the fallout from a battle there would be unforgivable...
Too late, she realised Archie was shouting something else, and trying to lift and run with her, but the beams of energy hurtled towards them too fast, there was no way -
Wailord leapt from the water with a mighty call, and for a moment, the thousands of glistening water droplets seemed to hang in the air around it. Time felt like it stood still, in that moment, and May heard herself take a ragged breath in.
Then the Origin Pulse hit, and Wailord was flung like a ragdoll over their heads, slamming into the water some vast distance behind them. The other beams of energy sliced into the rocks beside them, sending huge chunks of stone crashing down into the sand. Archie scooped her up and tore her away from the danger zone, managing to leap into the water at the other end of the tiny island right as a boulder thudded down just inches behind them.
Things went almost silent again. Everything sounded far away under the water, and May supposed she should be used to it by now, but when Sharpedo jetted up to them as quiet as the grave, she still flinched.
Archie held her to him with one arm, clinging to Sharpedo with the other, and the two held their breath. The longer they dared to stay under, the less likely it was Kyogre would see them. Right?
A huge, menacing shape loomed ahead of them.
Something hit it from above, a flash of silver and a faraway screech - Steven and Skarmory, somehow, were still fighting - but Kyogre ignored the damage from the Steel Wing attack and opened its mouth to screech. The sound waves travelled through the water like a high-speed quake, and despite herself, May opened her mouth to scream, a cloud of precious air bubbles racing away to trail harmlessly over Kyogre's tombstone-like teeth. It was opening its mouth to charge something, and May recognised the gathering blue glow as the same thing that had been fired at them just moments ago.
This was it - they were going to be killed by a Pokémon. A Pokémon was going to end the world. A Pokémon -
This world is widely inhabited by creatures known as Pokémon, some distant voice in her head echoed, its tone calm and friendly. We humans live alongside Pokémon, at times playing together as friends, and at times helping one another out.
The stream of bubbles from her mouth stopped as she forced herself to grit her teeth together. She'd wasted so much air - and Archie was holding onto her so tightly, she felt like she might break. The blue light intensified, blinding her. They'd stopped swimming, Sharpedo too terrified to move, and somewhere in the back of her mind she registered that they were sinking, and that Kyogre was still coming towards them.
If you catch a Pokémon in the wild and battle together with it for a while, it will grow stronger for you! A younger voice, more excitable, a white hat... May, you should use those Pokéballs I gave you earlier to do a bit of catching, too!
A Poochyena in the grass. Sharpedo's rough skin against her palm.
Pokémon hide in tall grass like this, don't they? He'd looked so fragile. P-please stay there to watch and see if I can catch one properly.
Her lungs were burning. Kyogre was almost upon them, and its Origin Pulse was almost charged, and they were going to be vaporised.
And that's why you'll get the honour of meeting my new partner before anyone else living in this world! Archie's voice this time, strong and proud and confident. The super-ancient Pokémon, Kyogre!
The super-ancient Pokémon.
But still just a Pokémon.
May struggled to free her hand, reaching for one of the empty Pokéballs still clipped to her waist - her subconscious guided her hand towards the memory of the blue one, because blue means water and Kyogre is water and water means good odds - and ripped it from its clip.
Archie, either seeing what she was trying to do or perhaps just unable to hold on, let go of her arm. She wound it back freely, feeling her heart pound in her chest and her lungs struggle against her ribs.
And then she flung it forwards and up, into the blinding blue light.
Everything stilled as the tiny sphere just barely connected with Kyogre's nose, so slowed by the water and by May's weakening strength. The dark shape was gone, and the energy buildup with it.
The tiny sphere sank towards her.
Struggled. Once, twice.
(She could hear her own heartbeat in perfect sync.)
Three times.
Click.
May awoke under a blinding light, and given the circumstances before she'd lost consciousness, a surge of panic jolted her upright. Her head collided with something soft and pink, and she instantly fell back again with a groan.
"Ch-Chansey..."
Rubbing its face, where a faint bruise would surely form later, the kindly Pokemon placed its other paw on her shoulder and peered at her again.
"Mnn... I'm... wh..." She recalled waking before, just briefly. On the sand. Her head was pounding, her body was waterlogged - had she thrown up on Steven's shoes? Oh, no. "Where's..." Her voice failed her. She'd woken a second time, too - maybe. There had been tubes. And worried parents. She'd gone back to sleep in a hurry.
"Chansey-Chansey!" the Pokémon cried happily. One full word counted as a definite positive. Maybe the nurse could extract a few more of them. "Cha-Chanseyy!"
"You're awake!" The Pokémon Centre nurse hurried over, her signature loops of pink hair bouncing at her shoulders, and instantly began performing checks. Temperature, a light in the eyes, listening to her breathing. "Now, don't you try to rush off just yet. You're still in recovery! I should be scolding you for being so careless, but given the circumstances, I think you all did your best..."
Oh, right. The circumstances.
May tried to push herself upright again, finding the going much less swift now that it wasn't fuelled by a rush of adrenaline. "...My Pokémon..."
"Don't you move a muscle!" The nurse pushed her back down, gently but firmly, and with the kind of tone May suspected could keep a Salamence in its bed. She didn't move again. "They're in the waiting room near the Pokémon ward, with everyone else - except for your Wailord, it's waiting in its Pokéball. And the other one, of course. I'll go and fetch your parents since you're so full of energy, but don't you even think about moving!"
Other one? Everyone else?
May wasn't given much time to think about it.
"Darling!"
Putting on a brave (if weak) smile, because she knew her parents would only worry more if she didn't, May reached for her father's hand as her mother planted a kiss on her cheek, and braced herself for the volley of questions that would surely come next. And the scolding. Oh, Arceus, the scolding...
As it happened, there was far less scolding and far more open weeping from her mother (and stoic tears from her father), and despite all of her mental preparation, May couldn't avoid joining them - just for a while. Her chest ached when she cried, but it didn't last long. Truthfully, she was simply glad to be alive - and gladder, if it were possible, to see her parents.
Amongst the tears and her mother's wet sniffing, Norman just kept saying how proud he was. Of his little girl. His strong, brave little girl. His little champion.
Okay, Dad.
"...And you must promise to be more careful. None of this - this battling Legendary Pokémon business! Oh, honey, I know you're strong, but I worry... we both worry. You must call us more often, sweetheart. We love you so, so much."
Okay, Mom.
"Now, dear... maybe our little star needs some time to rest. After all, we can't keep everyone else from-"
"We're her parents, Norman!"
"Oh - no, I know that, dear, but May might like to see the others, too..."
"Oh... of course. Of course she would. I'm sorry, May, it's just... we were so worried about you..." Her mother took a long, shaky breath, and landed another kiss on her cheek. "I love you, sweetheart. Get well soon."
Naturally, it was another five minutes of well-wishery before either of them could actually tear themselves away, and that was only because Brendan came rushing in at that moment. He was followed swiftly by Wally, and then by her own Blaziken - who, by the looks of things, had been trying to get them both to play nice with the nurse's wishes. Fat chance of that.
"We heard you woke up, and-"
"W-we came as soon as the nurse would let us-"
"-said, come back in visiting hours, so we just stayed-"
"-Steven said you'd make a full recovery-"
"-and then Blaziken almost set fire to the front desk-"
May laughed, faint and wheezy but completely genuine, and managed to ease herself into a sitting position. This seemed to silence her two friends, if only for a moment, and then they launched themselves into a sobbing, heartfelt three-way hug. The Chansey who had been keeping a nervous eye on them, and her Blaziken, began chattering in distress and trying frantically to discourage this behaviour - she needed room, after all, and after such a close call...
The nurse seemed to appear out of nowhere, and she loomed over them ominously, her eyes twinkling. An unpleasant crack of her knuckles broke through the noise of the reunion.
Gulping, Brendan and Wally let go and took a cautious step backwards.
The nurse stayed where she was, though the terrifying glint in her eyes was gone. Perhaps they'd imagined it.
"...Um..." Brendan recovered quickly, thrusting a comically oversized envelope into her hands. "...Anyway, we brought you a card! Everyone signed it." He caught May eyeing the size of the thing dubiously, and leaned in conspiratorially. "Everyone."
"And some fruitcake," Wally added, looking a little sheepish as he held out a box tied with a green ribbon. "My parents always said sweets aren't good to give to people who are sick, b-but Brendan said that was lame, so I compromised... I-I hope that's okay..."
May grinned, placing the box on her lap and tearing carefully into the envelope. "It's perfect," she said, and she meant it.
Brendan managed to stay quiet for all of three seconds, and then the card opened, and he was instantly talking her through every single signature. And he hadn't exaggerated - there were a lot.
"...And that's Brawly's, and Roxanne's, and that big loopy one is Winston's - I accidentally spilled his fancy ink on his sleeve right after and started yelling - and that's Mr. Briney's, and that little footprint underneath is Peeko's! And this one-"
"Is... um... Is this all of them?" She'd already read the whole card, despite Brendan only being halfway through. He'd kept getting distracted.
He blinked at her. "Uh... like who?"
"I think we got everybody," Wally offered after a moment. He'd been fairly quiet, but May noted that he hadn't let go of her hand in the past ten minutes. "Um - but we can go track down Steven, if-"
"No, no! Don't be silly! You guys are the best," she insisted, "I was just... Do any of you have an idea what happened to..."
"Oh." Brendan looked relieved. "You mean Archie."
"Yeah," she said, looking even more relieved. If anything was wrong, Brendan would have looked far less relaxed. He wasn't particularly good at hiding his expressions, and May had always maintained that that was a good thing. "Is he..."
"He's fine," Wally added brightly. "He fell asleep waiting for you to wak-mmph!"
"Wally! He told us not to tell her!"
Struggling away from Brendan's hand (but not with all that much determination, or he'd have let go of May's), Wally huffed. "I-I know, but... I thought we were going to tell her anyway?"
"Right, duh - but not yet!"
As Brendan continued to ineffectually grill him, and Wally responded only with quiet, logical replies (maybe suggesting that he was secretly enjoying riling up the more rambunctious trainer), May relaxed back in her bed and let out a quiet, contented sigh.
Seeing the two get along so well was just as much of a relief as it had been to hear that the Aqua Leader had made it out of the affair unscathed, and May found that despite so narrowly escaping a simultaneous double-whammy of drowning and being Origin Pulsed in the face, she was hard-pressed to think of a time she'd felt safer or happier than right now.
"-And if May caught the Legendary Pokémon, May gets to name it!"
"I... I don't know if-"
"May!" Brendan plopped his hands down on her bed, earning himself a warning glare from the nurse that he promptly ignored. "What are you gonna name your Kyogre?"
May stared blankly at him.
"My Kyogre?"
Wally and Brendan exchanged glances.
A/N: Hi this is happening apparently? I didn't mean to have two fics on the go at once but apparently I don't learn from my past mistakes, so, here is another multi-chaptered mess coming at you live from the Sootopolis human ward, which I decided sort of has to be a thing since Pokémon Centres are visibly the only medically-oriented building in any town in the Pokémon universe ever.
Let me know what you think! And also tell me off. Bad me. Stop taking on multiple projects at once.
Thanks for reading! I'll probably update again soon, because the plot Bunearys won't stop coming.
