May made her way up to Mt. Chimney, since the only way to get to Lavaridge Town was apparently by heading up to the top of a dormant volcano and then heading down the side of it.

"Whose terrible idea of regional planning was this, anyway?" she muttered as she walked. "Shouldn't a town have more ways than one to reach it? What happens if the volcano erupts and the cable car gets destroyed?"

Dropping this lovely train of thought, she headed into the cable car station. Weird. Weren't there Team Aqua grunts here last time I passed by?

She shrugged and smiled at the cable car attendant, who sent her into the car and up the mountain.

When she arrived at the top and left the station, she was met with a completely unwelcome surprise – Teams Aqua and Magma were duking it out on the top of the volcano, and on a glass viewing platform stood Archie, working the controls to some strange-looking machine.

May rushed over towards Maxie, who was battling a hulking member of Team Aqua. Quickly, she let out Jace to give Maxie's Poochyena a break from battling.

"What's going on?"

"Team Aqua is hatching some hairbrained scheme to stop up the volcano," Maxie replied. "I'm a little tied up at the moment, but I can handle this brute – go and stop Archie, quickly!"

May nodded, calling to Jace and dashing past the battle, hoping her interruption hadn't cost Maxie anything.

Before she could reach Archie, a woman with dark hair with a blue streak stopped her. "Hey! What do you think you're doing up here?!"

"Stopping you guys," May yelled, sending Jace forward as the woman released a Poke ball from her belt.

A short battle left May victorious, and the woman wincing. "Fine! Guess I can't stop you! Talk to Archie!"

"What's this?" came Archie's voice as he stepped towards May. "May! Come to join us after all?"

"Hell no! I'm here to stop you!"

Archie shook his head. "You just don't get it, do ya? Team Aqua's got the best interests of all Pokemon at heart. Don't you?"

"Yeah! But..."

"But what?"

May shook her head. Archie chuckled. "You don't even know what we're doing up here, do ya? We're stopping up the volcano. If we stop the volcano from ever erupting, it'll be easier to expand the seas, which'll be good for Pokemon and people alike."

"That's stupid! Expanding the seas will destroy a lot of habitats and stuff – Pokemon and people will die!"

Archie shook his head again. "You just don't get it, scamp."

"I get it just fine. Archie – this isn't going to help anyone." She held her hand out to him. "Don't do this. Come with me, we can talk. We can find the best way to help Pokemon and people – together. As... as soulmates."

Archie's eyes softened for a second, then he shut them and shook his head violently. "No. You can't stop me from doing this. I know what's the best way to help Pokemon and people, and I'm gonna do it. If you're gonna stand in my way... I guess I can't stop ya."

He reached for a Poke ball on his belt, and May sent Jace forward once more.

A tense battle left May the victor. Archie chuckled, and that chuckle turned into a full-blown laugh. "You're not a bad trainer, scamp. Too bad you're on the wrong side." He turned to the woman. "Shelly. Pack it in. We're heading out. We've spent too much time here already." He looked back at May. "You can have the Meteorite, and you can feel like you've won all ya want. But you're not gonna stop us from achieving our plans." He hesitated, as though wanting to say more, then shook his head and walked away.


May told the police what had happened. They looked skeptical, but one of the officers promised to return the meteorite to Professor Cozmo, so May left it at that and headed for Lavaridge Town.

As she headed down the mountain path, Maxie caught up with her. "Thank you."

"I didn't really even stop him," May muttered. "Even the cops didn't believe me. I feel pretty useless right about now."

"As a volcanologist, Archie's plan was foolish and dangerous. Stopping up the volcano would have increased the pressure inside it and possibly caused an eruption. You stopped him from doing that – which is important."

"I guess." She stopped and looked at Maxie. "But we're always a step behind him. How are we going to stop him from expanding the oceans if we don't even know what his next move is?"

"Even simply dogging his steps can help. You stopped him here – you can stop him at the next junction."

"But that's not good enough!" Maxie recoiled slightly at her anger. "We need to stop him before he does something dangerous, not after. What if next time, we're too late and he's already done whatever he's planning to do?"

"Then we adapt. And if worse comes to worst, and he finds a way to expand the seas... then we help to evacuate the people up to the mountains."

Tears stung at May's eyes, and she reached out to Maxie for a hug. "I hope it doesn't come to that."

He placed his hands uncertainly on her back. "So do I."