Brendan woke up the next day with a bright smile, a feeling he had nearly forgotten. Just as he was about to stand up, he found himself sent back down onto the bed with a thud.

"L-Latias!" the young trainer complained as the red dragon cuddled up against him, cooing his name.

Well, tried to at least, but Brendan knew what her moans meant.

Petting her, the young trainer cooed back, "Are you as excited as I am Latias? We will be going to Unova soon!"

Latias nodded exuberantly, floating upwards, she joyfully danced around in circles.

Brendan couldn't help but laugh at the sight. "And to think the former Team Magma admin Courtney is willing to join me too!-

-Huh? What's wrong Latias?"

He could quite literally see all the cheerfulness evaporated from Latias' face. Flying down, her bright smile was turned upside down.

"Hey, what's wrong? Do you not like Courtney?"

Latias shook her head, fluttering her hands about, hoping to Arceus that her trainer understood what she meant.

But unfortunately for the red dragon, Brendan remained oblivious. She continued her dance of discontentment, but her trainer merely gestured her off. Moving past her, he went off to change in order prepare for the upcoming adventure.

Latias could only look on miserably as he disappeared behind the bathroom door.

But fortunately for the dragon Pokemon, Brendan did not take long to finish his preparation, he rushed out almost instantly; fully clothed in his adventure outfit, and with a minty breath to boot. It was clear that his excitement was unrivaled.

"Come on out Sceptile!" Brendan charismatically shouted, releasing his best friend from his confinement.

The green lizard stood tall and proud, giving a good roar, which sent all the nearby Tailow packing.

"Haha, that's great!" Brendan said, rubbing Sceptile's head with a smile. Although his favorite Pokemon made a face of annoyance, it was clear he enjoyed his trainer's embrace.

"Get your last breath of that Hoenn fresh air while you can. We won't be back for a long time."

Sceptile simply nodded, not showing any hints of care. Brendan chuckled a bit, even after fully evolving, his Treecko kept the same amount of bravado.

Hoping on to Latias' back, Brendan flew towards the designated meeting spot.

His heart raced faster and faster as he neared the volcanic ruins.

She will be here, he thought nervously, clearly unsure of how to react when he does see her.

Latias swirled around playfully before landing down with grace. Thanking her, Brendan jumped down to the sooty ground.

"Ha..ha~ You weren't lying…after all…"

"Why would I lie?" he instinctively replied defensively, causing him to wince with regret.

The beautiful violet haired girl however, did not respond, she simply stared at him with an unreadable smirk.

Gulping nervously, Brendan took out his Pokeball. "Groudon, you are free!" he called out as he tossed the Legendary Pokemon into the lava pit.

Courtney stared in awe as the creator of the lands was summoned forth. The very Pokemon she and Maxie nearly dedicated their entire life to capture is now standing in front of her with all its glory.

Groudon glared at Brendan wordlessly for countless minutes, before retreating into the lava of the giant volcano.

Latias proudly danced around her trainer, happy that he not only conquered one of Hoenn's strongest, but is heroic enough to release it.

"Well… that sets down a huge burden…" Brendan quietly mumbled to no one in particular. His gaze shifted back to Courtney, who was still awestricken by the display.

"Well then, shall we go?"

"…Y-yes…" Courtney replied absently. The taller woman followed behind Brendan.

Latias looked dumbfounded, almost insulted. She made cries of protest as Brendan mounted her. But her trainer did not pay her much mind; he extended his hand towards Courtney, who robotically accepted.

When the former Team Magma admin got on, Latias whimpered her final complaint, but all she received was a pat on her head.

"Come on, Latias, I trust her, why can't you?"

The legendary Pokemon returned his look with eyes of pity, it was clearly obvious her displeasure had nothing to do with Courtney's past, but Brendan remained clueless.

But seeing no other option but to comply, she flew off into the distance.

After countless hours, Brendan and Courtney finally landed in Unova. He could barely contain his excitement, but fortunately much of it was drowned out by his nervousness around Courtney.

He extended his hand to help the taller woman down, but seeing that she jumped off without his help made him mentally face palm with regret.

"How embarrassing…" he found himself absently mumbling.

"…What's… embarrassing… haha~?" she inquired with her patented singsong voice.

Flabbergasted, he quickly replied, "Nothing!" but his voice came out in a jumbled mess.

Brendan sighed with defeat; all he earned out of this humiliating debacle was a quizzical stare from Courtney and a big fat glare from Latias.

Deciding that he had enough of the awkward silence after the previous fiasco, Brendan nervously asked, "Hey Unova feels a lot more traditional and peaceful than Hoenn, don't you think?"

Courtney, however, did not respond she just kept turning left and right, her eyes glimmering with curiosity.

"Well… this is sure embarrassing…" he said in his usual confident voice. Brendan managed to find the bravery he lacked earlier. But alas, even confessing his embarrassment aloud did not garner him a response from the eccentric girl.

At least this gives me time to myself to consider how I should tackle the Gym Leaders of this region. Brendan thought, trying his best to remain optimistic.

"Hey you."

A light voice called out; dragging Brendan's disheveled mind back into reality.

Turning back, he found a young man, a bit older than him. He had long green hair tied to a bun topped with a white and black cap.

"Huh?" Brendan asked with wonder.

Walking over, the young man smiled, "My name is N, I happen to walk by and saw your Latias."

"Oh right…" Brendan absently replied, mentally scolding himself for allowing Latias to roam around so freely. She was far too rare and far too sought after to allow to be hanging out.

"Sorry Latias…" he whispered his most sincere apologies as he returned her to her Pokeball. Latias gave a cry of protest but could do nothing as she was returned to the spherical device.

N watched on with pity, before finally saying, "Even now I do not agree with trapping a Pokemon in Pokeballs when they clearly do not wish to be."

Brendan stared at the green haired man quizzically; he was acting strange in the mind of the young trainer. "I don't like to trap her in there myself but I don't want her to get attacked by criminals and the like."

N smiled softly, "Of course, I do not blame you… say trainer do you recognize me from anywhere before?"

"Huh..? Not partic-" Before Brendan could fully reply, Courtney stood forward, with a voice so serious, he couldn't believe that it came from her at all. But what made Brendan even more surprised, was not her sudden seriousness, but her now defensive posture over him; she had an arm in front of him protectively.

"You…are the King of Team Plasma."

N chuckled sarcastically before replying, "Maybe some years ago, but I am now a rogue."

Brendan pulled Courtney back, whispering in her ear, "Wait, you know this guy?"

In a deadpan manner, she turned to face him, brushing her nose against his…

…Then she nodded, which only served to repeatedly rub their noses together, Brendan nearly fainted.

"A-AHHH!?" Brendan stammered; his face painted a deep shade of pink.

"Yes…I was given the order to study criminal teams from other regions…" she whispered back, her lips centimeters away from his. Brendan nearly fainted when her soft breath tickled his face.

She smells really good up close… he thought with a dumb smile before falling down onto his behind. Shaking his head, he mentally cursed himself for having such creepy thoughts.

N stared at the two with amusement, "While I did not study up on you, I do know about you."

"What?" Brendan asked, shaking his head in a bid to cleanse his mind from impure thoughts.

N turned, looking around for a while, he smiled once more, "But not here, let's go somewhere where there are no people."

"Wait, what?" Brendan asked suspiciously. But before he could even entertain the thought of rejecting, he was already dragged towards the bushes.

"Gwahh..!" Brendan spat out the sticky webs of a Voltik out his mouth.

"Just what exactly are we doing…?" Brendan thought, but upon realizing it was the soft hands of Courtney that was pulling him, all his prior complaints died down.

His face remained beat red as the three trainers finally arrived to a river.

Turning to face the two Hoenn trainers, N removed his cap with a bow. "Allow me to begin by thanking you for saving the world from the meteor."

"Meteor…?"

"Indeed, it was an international event, the meteor that would destroy the world, and the trainer who would wield the legendary Pokemon Rayquaza."

"W-Well! Rayquaza only let me borrow its powers, nothing to do with me r-really!" Brendan stammered from embarrassment.

N softly smiled at the humility of chosen trainer.

"Yes, indeed. Just as you made the headlines of international news, so did I, and just as you were chosen by a Legendary Pokemon, so was I… But for completely opposite reasons."

"What?" Brendan asked, confused.

He didn't know who this guy was, but it would be too awkward to say so. Brendan once more cursed himself for not paying attention to the news more.

"You saved the world; while I almost ruined it…"

Brendan shot a glance at Courtney, hoping she could enlighten him on what exactly this strange man talking about. But alas, she was just as confused as he was.

"I purposely followed you here."

"What!?"

"Go Zoroark!" He shouted, and at that instant, the strange black Pokemon appeared, shape shifting to a human and then from a human to another Pokemon.

The realization slowly sank in to the white hatted trainer.

Brendan slowly backed away from the mysterious man. "D-Don't tell me you had that Pokemon stalk me!?" Instinctively Brendan reached for Latias' pokeball.

"Worry not, I did not do it out of ill will, I did not want to return to Unova myself but I had to, to meet you."

"Why?"

"To warn you."