{M}

The peak of Mt. Chimney is shrouded in a gray haze, the already-thin air filled with soot and smoke. A group of red-uniformed Magma grunts trails up the slope, looking identical in their hoods and respirators. Not everybody on the team had been up to the walk – the climb is long and steep, and due to the volcano's recent peak in activity, the air is filled with toxic gases. So the group this time is small, but the task is also small, so the team was well-suited for it. The more we ascend, the hotter and blurrier it grows, until finally it seems like we're wading through a dense fog. Many of the grunts nervously tighten their ventilators around their faces, as if to check whether the devices would still continue to work. They would. They'd be able to tell otherwise – anybody who tried to breathe here with their own lungs would be poisoned within minutes. The grunts know this as well, but especially in the case of the new ones, they're scared.

What concerns me, I've been doing this a long time.

At last, the summit comes into view. The rim of the volcano opens up to reveal a pool of bubbling magma below. I distance myself from the rest of the group and step over to the very edge of the ledge, where I can peer down and see the red molten liquid.

The rest of the team disperses and begins to go about their tasks without need for any further commands. Their red uniforms almost blend with the dry, reddish rock of the mountain. The land is utterly bare here. There are no plants, not even grass. To a regular person's eyes, it would seem lifeless.

But no…

I look back down at the pool of magma and feel a sense of might and heat emanating from it. In a sudden strange moment, I forget that the respirator is there, and imagine myself as one with the molten liquid, made of the same minerals and heat. I take a breath, seeing the wisps of smoke sift into the ventilator then disperse outwards, clearing a bit of the view of the magma pool.

This was life. This was the real world, the one beneath the orderly mask of nature and civilization, the raw materials that had given birth to everything humanity had ever known. And while the realm above rested in blissful ignorance, the original materials were still there, ever-churning beneath the surface, ready to burst forth at any moment. Their energy was the true source of energy for the entire world, the raw energy that could raise mountains and create continents. And that energy was embodied by a single being…

Right then, one of the uniformed men approaches. "Leader Maxie, the readings are in line with the pattern. The volcano's activity will peak in ten days."

I smile. Now, if we could just obtain that Meteorite…

It takes my grunts only a few days to get a hold of the stone, cornering a scientist in Meteor Falls. Unfortunately, they run into some trouble along the way – namely, Archie and his own team. I begin to harbor the slight worry that we might face some interference when we ascend to the peak again, but I decide that stationing a few dozen more grunts as security will be enough to neutralize any threat from Team Aqua.

At any rate, they're not the thing on my mind at the moment, as I sit in my office with a folder of files in front of me. I'm already thinking ahead to the second step of the plan once we're done with Mt. Chimney, namely obtaining the Blue Orb, which will be necessary to control the pokémon of the mountain. I sift through maps of the area south of Lilycove, copies of old articles and photographs, and notes that I've compiled over the months.

But then, about an hour into my work, the telephone rings.

I pick it up, and almost immediately, an all-too-familiar voice blares into my ear.

"Maxie!"

I take a pause, lifting an eyebrow. "Archie? I don't believe it. Did you really go out of your way to tap into our phone line?"

"Knock it off," Archie says. "I know you're trying to make the volcano erupt. You really think that destroying thousands of miles of human and pokémon habitats is worth it for a few inches of new land? Or did you give up trying to find Groudon already and decide to take things into your own hands?"

"As usual, you show that you don't have the slightest amount of knowledge about our team or our plans," I respond. "Why don't you go back to your little submarine and poke around some more underwater caves? Maybe you'll recover a sunken ship and contribute something useful for once to society."

Archie growls. "If you and your thugs set even a single foot on Mt. Chimney, we'll give you the beating of a lifetime! We'll knock you out so hard that you'll be the one sleeping for a thousand years!"

I laugh loudly. "Perhaps it really would be fair if I took Groudon's place in slumber after I awaken it. But we'll have to see, because with me rests the power of controlling it as well. I don't think you'd want Groudon to rampage and scorch the entire planet due to my absence, would you? I would rather use its powers in a controlled and constructive way."

"Yeah, right. I've seen what your idea of 'controlled' and 'constructive' looks like. I'm warning you a final time, Maxie – one move and you're done for!"

Rage flares inside of me. "And you can consider it my warning to you that if I catch even a single Aqua grunt trying to meddle in our plans again, we'll hunt down and exterminate your entire team!"

"We'll see who'll be doing the extermination when we have Kyogre! I'll tell it to save you and your team a special piece of land in the middle of the new world ocean!"

I freeze. Had that been a gloating edge in Archie's voice just now, or was I imagining it?

I'm silent for a brief while, then finally I narrow my eyes and set my jaw. "By the time you find Kyogre's cave, there'll be no water in that part of the world anymore!" I hang up.

I go back to my notes, my mind still spinning with anger and uncertainty. Was it just Archie's usual inflated ego talking up his meager achievements, or was Team Aqua closer to awakening Kyogre than I had thought? During my time researching Hoenn legends and the Blue Orb, it hadn't escaped my attention that there was a Red Orb as well, capable of controlling Kyogre. Perhaps I would take that one from Mt. Pyre as well, just as a precaution…

{W}

I place the Ganlon plant on the windowpane of my new bedroom, where the flowers would get a lot of sun and a fresh breeze every now and then. The rest of my things follow them into the room soon after, and by the end of the day, my surroundings are back to the way they were before. The air in Verdanturf is cleaner like my parents had promised, though the atmosphere is much like it had been in Petalburg, quiet and subdued.

Over the course of the week, I notice that I do feel stronger than usual and am less prone to coughing. But although I can breathe better, another part of me feels like it had just been stifled. Every time I look at the Ganlon plant, I think of what Rita had told me: different plants grew best in different climates. Technically, I had known this before; my mother could never grow tomatoes that well, but my aunt in Verdanturf could. But could people possibly be the same way?

During occasional walks to Mauville with my uncle, I would see the Gym, which buzzed with more sound and activity than I had experienced in a long time. Once again, I'd feel the same old pang of longing, which seemed to grow stronger each time I left. Finally, two weeks after I had settled into my new home, I asked my uncle if he would let me challenge the Gym with Ralts. I even ran into Brendan and tried to battle him to prove to Uncle that I was good enough.

But I lost. Ralts, tough though he was, couldn't stand a chance against Brendan's team.

Initially, it had crushed me. I had gone home feeling defeated, as if life and joy had rejected me and sent me back to stagnation, where I really belonged, and where I would stay for the rest of my life. But Ralts hadn't felt the same. He told me that he wanted to try again. The battle had stirred something within him, a desire to be as good as the pokémon he had met in the battle.

He lifted my spirits, and on my last day, he stood beside me as I knelt in my aunt and uncle's garden, planting some Rawst berries I had gotten from the Pretty Petal Flower Shop. I had decided against writing a note; I hadn't known how to explain everything to them, and was afraid that if I deliberated too much, some part of me would finally decide against it. So I hoped that the flowers would serve as a sufficient apology.

Once I finished planting, Ralts brushed his hand across the petals, then nodded. His thoughts emanated to me in a wordless essence. Smiling in agreement, I picked him up, and we both took a final look at the house before heading off.

That was the day I met Roselia. He had lived in Route 117 for all his life, before Ralts and I came along, quickening our pace towards Mauville. I had gone to pick some berries that had been growing by the path, and Ralts warned me suddenly that something was coming. Roselia had appeared, jumping out at us in fear. Remembering what Brendan had showed me, I engaged him in a battle, threw a spare pokéball, and captured him. He hadn't been too pleased at first, but after walking the rest of the way to Mauville with us, he realized he didn't want to go back to the route either.

Later, I realized that it could also be the case that someone had been placed into so many environments and situations, repotted like a plant, that they no longer knew where their real home was. That was what Skitty made me think of, when I saw her chewing on plants near Rusturf Tunnel. She had found the berries I had planted before reentering the city, and when I approached her, she had just finished tearing off the last of my Cheri and Pecha. But despite her franticness, she was fragile, as if she hadn't had a proper meal in a long time. Instead of challenging her, I had fed her more, and she became friendly.

The four of us kept going, and the more places we visited together, the more we absorbed from them, both in material items and in knowledge. By the end of my first month on my own, I had planted nearly every kind of berry I had received from the flower shop, and picked a dozen kinds more. It's only when I make my way through Jagged Pass to Lavaridge Town that I remember the only berries I haven't yet touched – the Ganlons.

I had picked them from the plant not long before leaving Verdanturf, and had let them rest at the bottom of my messenger bag as a memento. For most of my journey, I hadn't thought about them, but the thing that suddenly reminds me is the Jagged Pass. It happens as I step down from the northern exit, entering the ledged slope bordered by trees, and look around to find myself surrounded by ragged red rock. I descend halfway to the bottom, where there's more soil, and bunches of thin, green grass growing among the rocks. Looking at it, I remember the earthy color of the flower petals and what the berry lady, Rita, had told me: "It's the berry infused with the power of the land." Perhaps, then, it could find a home here.

I search for a fitting spot, and finally, I notice a tall boulder with a ring of soil surrounding it. I kneel down beside it and dig out some space for the seeds. Then I take out the pouch with the Ganlon berries and plant a few.

Right then, I hear the sound of footsteps.

"… and once we've dug deep enough, we should be able to reach its lair…"

I look up, just in time to notice two men come around from the other side of the boulder. They're both wearing red uniforms with hoods. Seeing me, they stop in their tracks, eyes widening in surprise.

"Who are you?" one of them asks.

"I'm a trainer," I reply.

"Well, the Gym's the other way," he says. "Get going!"

I lean back down to the soil. "No. I'm going to plant these flowers first."

The man scowls. "What're you planting flowers here for?"

"These are Ganlon plants; it's where they belong. Their power comes from the land, and in return they give the land beauty."

The second man steps forward. "We're expanding the land! That means more room for flowers! So scram and go find somewhere else to put them!"

I widen my eyes in alarm. "Expanding the land? How could you do that?"

"By controlling the forces of nature!" the man exclaims. "We'll harness the power of the land and end the tyranny of water!"

I frown. "What do you mean? Land depends on water. If all the lakes and rivers go dry, then there won't be enough rain, and all the plants will die. Then humans won't have enough food either."

"So you'd rather have a giant wave wash over everything like Team Aqua wants?"

"No. I don't think anything should change. Hoenn's fine the way it is!"

"Well, not for us!"

"Then move someplace else!"

The grunt clenches his fist. "Get out, kid!"

But just as he steps forward at me to threaten me away, the other one pulls him back. "No! Remember that trainer kid on Mt. Chimney? Leader Maxie said not to underestimate children anymore! We should eliminate the threat right here and now!"

"Right."

The two grunts step forward together. "We're taking you on!"

My breath catches in my throat, but I swallow, and manage to rise to my feet. I reach into my messenger bag and find Ralts's pokéball. "Bring it on!"

The Magma grunts send out two poochyenas. I send out Ralts, then remembering the rules for double battles, I send out Roselia. We do what we always do – we listen to each other, work off of each other. And within minutes, the grunts' poochyenas faint, and Roselia and Ralts are still standing beside me.

The two men stare at me in shock, and I step back with my pokémon, puffing out my chest. "Tell your Leader Maxie that his plan is stupid and dangerous!" I say. "And if I ever meet him, you can bet I'll try to stop him myself!" I take a few steps back with my pokémon, shake a finger at the grunts in a threatening way, then run off towards Lavaridge.

{M}

The next few months present no lasting obstacles. I take a small team of grunts and move out from the hideout as planned. We take an underground passageway to Mauville City, then cross the tiny slip of sea to Route 123, which will lead us to Mt. Pyre.

We march through Route 123. Finally, we reach the end trail that will take us to the coastline to Route 122. We pass by a house, where an old lady is tending to a garden. She looks askance at us as we pass by, her expression marked with surprise.

Finally we reach the coastline, where in the distance, I can see the peak of Mt. Pyre looming from a solitary island. I send a message to the underwater crew to pick us up and ferry us over. As I stand by the coastline awaiting their arrival, an old man appears from the bushes. He has a walking stick and a basket of flowers in his hands, the same ones that the old lady had been planting.

Upon seeing us, he stops. I inadvertently lock eyes with him, and for a moment we look at each other. His expression is a mixture of shock and contemplation. Part of me expects him to say something, perhaps to scold us, while another part suspects he's waiting for me to say something, to explain myself.

The submarine appears, and my grunts approach to board. I turn away to leave as well, but when I step up to the submarine to close the hatch, I get another glimpse of him, not shifted from his spot, looking at the giant steel submarine with the same unreadable expression.

They will see, I think to myself. I close the hatch and descend inside.

Before long, I am standing at the top of Mt. Pyre, looking at another old couple. Between them are two stone cradles, where the blue and red shine of the two orbs stares out at me through the mist.

They make no move to stop me, simply follow me with their gaze as I take the Blue Orb. I look down at it, and see my own reflection staring back. I smile.

"You're not helping the world," the old lady murmurs suddenly. "Nature's wisdom is far beyond anything you'll ever be able to comprehend. Much less control."

I lift an eyebrow, looking up at her. "Life has been manipulating and changing itself for as long as it has existed. Humans have harvested raw materials and reshaped them into cities and machines. We've managed the natural growth cycles of countless plant species to grow food and cultivate landscapes. In all cases, we've simply used the natural resources at hand to induce other natural phenomena. What Team Magma is doing is no different."

I turn away from the couple, pocketing the Blue Orb. I decide to leave the red one alone. Let Archie have a field day, I decide. He wouldn't get to use it anyway.

{R}

The Oran plants that Wally had planted in front of the store soon begin to flower, adding a touch of blue to our plain outside wall. But I decide to leave them alone, letting passerby wingull and poochyena pick at their berries. Even after their blooming phase ends, and the last petals drop off to leave the stems bare, I still stop to look at them when I pass by, my thoughts wandering back to the curious, skinny boy I had met all those weeks ago. I remember his hesitant voice, then the overwhelming curiosity that had filled his eyes when I had started telling him about the legends I didn't know and the regions I hadn't explored. In that moment, it had seemed that even if his body couldn't take him there, his mind would, and that he wouldn't rest until all those swirling dreams in his head became a reality. Even now, I still don't know why I keep thinking about him. The other trainers that come in always remind me of Brendan and his friend, the rookies and the experts. But strangely, none of them remind me of Wally.

The month crawls by, then towards the beginning of May, Captain Briney comes to the store again. He seems both relieved and angry. I sit him down for some tea, and he tells me the story of how a strange character with a blue bandanna had captured Peeko and run off into Rusturf Tunnel. But luckily, a trainer from Littleroot Town had been there to rescue her. Peeko had emerged from the ordeal healthy and chipper, but Briney had felt something more ominous stirring beneath the surface.

"Those scoundrels are up to something," he says. "Talking about expanding the sea, before some other team of goons expanded the land!"

I lift my eyebrows. "Expanding the land? How is that even possible?"

Briney shakes his head. "I don't know, but I don't like it. There's something fishy about them. And it's got nothing to do with them being called Team Aqua!"

I sink into thought. Through the back window, I can see the berry garden, empty for the time being of visitors. I couldn't deny that there had been an increase in criminal activity lately, all of which seemed to show an unsettling pattern. First the Devon Corporation had been robbed, then the shipyard in Slateport, followed by dozens of other little incidents in the past few weeks, all of which had involved suspects from one of two mysterious clans. Then, just two days ago, I had gotten a phone call from Grandpa, who said he had seen a team of red-uniformed people walking past his house towards the water route to Mt. Pyre. He had watched them leave in a submarine, then turn back up at the shore of the island, where just half an hour later, a team of blue-uniformed people appeared in pursuit. The fact that they had gotten so close to him and Grandma had given me chills.

In the middle of my tea with Captain Briney, the phone rings. When I answer, it's the cheerful voice of Sophie, the shop owner from Floaroma, that greets me.

"Hi, Rita! How's it going?"

"Great," I say, feigning an upbeat voice.

"So, any updates? You said you needed a little more time to think about the logistics of the seed exchange… Do you think Slateport will let you host it this year again?"

I purse my lips, and after breathing a sigh, I speak the words I've been dreading to say to her for days. "Actually, Sophie… I think I'll have to cancel this year. There's just been so much happening here that I don't think hosting a seed exchange in Slateport is a good idea right now. Why don't you guys host it again this year?"

Sophie pauses. "Well, if you're sure… But why don't you think Slateport will be a good idea? Did the city policy change or something?"

"There's just been a lot of crime and vandalism lately," I reply. "Both in Slateport and in Rustboro. I think it's best if my sisters and I stay here this year and focus on keeping things safe in the store."

"Oh." Sophie pauses. "Well, okay. I guess I can understand. I'll let you know how things work out on our side, then."

"Thanks."

We hang up.

I walk away from the phone and sigh. Missing out on the seed exchange would mean that I wouldn't get to see anything, and wouldn't get to have the annual reminder, however small, that I was doing something worthwhile. But after a minute, I push the thought aside. I did have something to be happy about – I had just managed to sprout four more Ganlon plants, and bagged over twenty seeds, which were now sitting cozily in my shed. Why should I worry about what the other shop owners thought, or what they were doing, when I had everything I needed underway here? Instead of rushing to assemble the same old plant assortment I brought every year, straining both myself and my sisters, I'd take just a little more time and prepare something extraordinary.

I let a small smile tug at the corners of my lips.

I think of how I would arrive at the seed exchange next year, with a wagon of Ganlon plants and all the knowledge of how to grow, care for, and use them. I wouldn't sit away my days in the store and wilt – I would take a year off, maybe two, and go out into the field, questing not for pokémon, but for berries, and perhaps uncovering even more rare species. I would write the most comprehensive berry encyclopedia in Hoenn to date, providing a thorough coverage of all the known berry species, but also breaking ground with new ones of my own finding. I'd be an academic authority. At the same time, I'd be perfectly accessible in the shop, providing expert knowledge to everyday people. A Berry Master in my own right. Maybe even a Berry Professor.

After Captain Briney leaves, I go back to the greenhouse, where my Ganlon plants are all growing, their blooms creating a cloud of brown and purple. As long as I have them, I figure, everything will be all right.

{M}

It's time.

I don't need anybody to tell me. I don't need my admins or the grunts or the energy readings to confirm it. I simply feel it. I've reached my goal. It's the thing I've been striving towards for years, the single thing I had focused all my attention and effort towards. And now the world would see that my work had not been in vain.

I stare at the stone-like figure of the legendary continent pokémon, which towers several meters above me, its head bowed and eyes closed, standing stoically in the pool of magma that forms the bottom-most pit of our hideout.

"Groudon…" I say. "Nothing could awaken you from your sleep bathed in magma… But I've brought you the Blue Orb. Let its shine awaken you! Show me the full extent of your power!"

I hold up the Blue Orb in my hand. It pulses, flashes, then lights up and fills the entire cave with a bright blue glow. The rock beneath my feet trembles, and Groudon opens its eyes. Even though the haze of color, I can see them – tiny, yellow, and sharp.

I step back, smiling, feeling my heart hammer in ecstatic excitement.

Moments later, the Orb's glow fades. Several rocks break off from the wall of the cave and splash down into the boiling-hot magma. Groudon's pupils focus on me for a moment, then suddenly, the pokémon dives into the pool of magma and vanishes without a single splash.

Silence settles in. I look down at the magma, but after several moments, Groudon does not reappear.

I ascend to the higher levels of the hideout, where my crew confirms that the energy readings have receded back to normal. That meant that Groudon had fled the cave.

My mind does a series of somersaults. What had I done wrong? Had there been some sort of procedure for using the Orb, which the elderly guardians at Mt. Pyre had purposely neglected to inform me of?

I ascend to the hideout's exit and emerge onto Jagged Pass, but find there is no change in weather or temperature. For a day on which the creator of land had awoken for a millennium-long slumber, things were awfully calm and nondescript.

My frustration mounts, and my thoughts spin into a frantic storm. There had to be a reason why Groudon had gone. Perhaps it needed an additional stimulator, something that would enable it to draw upon all its energy, and the mountain simply hadn't been the right location.

After some deliberation, I set my sights on the Mossdeep Space Center. If I could jettison the entire load of rocket fuel into Mt. Chimney to cause an eruption, then perhaps Groudon would recognize it and put its own hand into the process.

I storm the Space Center to steal the rocket fuel, but my plans are thwarted. I'm beaten in a battle again, by that same trainer in the white hair cap, who had chased me down at my hideout, and who had originally stopped my plan at Mt. Chimney. He had also crossed paths with Archie's team a few times, but for some reason it had always seemed like his most valiant resistance was directed against us, as if fate itself was trying to stand in our way.

I leave the Space Center with my admin and the other grunts and head for the coast of Mossdeep, where our own submarine is waiting. I pass the Mossdeep Gym, and right then, I notice some berry flowers growing in a clump near the building. I stop to look at them.

Immediately, I'm taken back to my early years studying geology. Back when I had been interested in the whole of nature, not just the land. How Archie and I used to agree in the core values of our philosophies, before the minor details had torn us apart.

For someone who worked so hard to expand the land, I realize that I was losing touch with how it actually worked. My thoughts had become so obsessed with Groudon that I had started to see everything through a Groudon-focused lens. And yet, what did a plant care about the being that had created the soil? Whether Groudon woke or slept, the flower kept growing on its own, existing in its own separate life cycle. The land participated just as much in the exchange of water as the sea did, and water was one of the things that helped shape the land, carving valleys out of plains.

It seems so trivial. And yet, as I continue to think about it, I realize something.

Immediately I tell the crew to change our planned course.

"Find Team Aqua," I say. "Search for their submarines. The nearest one, wherever it may be. We have little time!"

We manage to track down where Archie and his team are located. But by the time I descend to the sea cavern, I am too late. The horrified face of Brendan, the trainer who had arrived to stop him, tells me. Archie had already awakened Kyogre.

Minutes later, I hear a loud, distant boom. Our entire group hurries to the water's surface, and once we step out into a patch of land, we are met with the unthinkable. The sky had gone from a summer blue to an apocalyptic black, spurting cold, heavy rain droplets that fall so thickly that they create a silver haze. Seconds later, the churning clouds shrivel and part, a burst of sunlight forces itself through, hitting us with a wave of unimaginable heat, turning the rain into steam. The process repeats, the sun and rain battling each other for control of the skies.

The next few hours are a blur of panic and confusion. Brendan leaves with the Hoenn League Champion, while Archie and I head for Sootopolis City, where Groudon and Kyogre are battling in the city's enormous lagoon.

The members of our teams huddle together with the rest of the townspeople, forgetting the differences in uniforms, staring at the pokémon in awe and panic. I stand in front of the Sootopolis Gym beside Archie, watching the pokémon, waving the Blue Orb uselessly in front of me. The rain is falling so rapidly that the drops hit my face like needles.

"Groudon!" I call out. "Please stop! If you continue, the entire world will be destroyed!"

But the pokémon does not listen.

No, nature does not listen to humans.

{W}

It's a few minutes after lunch when I hear a clap of thunder coming from somewhere east of Slateport City. I leave the market in a hurry and head over to the harbor, where I see a clump of thick, black clouds moving in from the vicinity of Pacifidlog. The longer I stay there, the more I feel the wind picking up, carrying the smell of rain and salt. But I don't want to go inside just jet. My mind has been buzzing with lots of things lately – moves, type combinations, items – but right then, as I stare into the collection of clouds, something prompts me to stop and watch them.

I walk for a few minutes along the coastline, looking at the giant ships docked in the distance, watching people tie small fishing boats to piers. Finally, I reach the lighthouse. A lone sailor stands beside it, behind him a small flower garden. I figure it would be a good idea to plant a berry – that way, the rain would water them, and I could have enough for my next Gym battle in case I ran out of healing items.

I choose the spot and kneel down, opening up my berry pouch. Thunder rolls again, and as I'm choosing the berries I need, I hear the first drops of rain patter on the pavement. I feel their chill as they fall onto my face and hands, but I bite my lip and hurry to plant them.

Right then, the sailor notices me working and approaches.

"What are you doing planting those berries, kid? Go home! Can't you see what's going on out there?"

"I'm almost done," I say. "I'm going to need these for the Gym in Sootopolis. And the storm will give them water for me!"

"This ain't a regular storm kid! It's the end of the world! Pacifidlog Town's barely hanging on against the current and the storm surge has already reached Petalburg from the south! We're next!"

I rise to my feet, looking out at the blackened horizon. The sailor and I stand together as the wind picks up, and the trembling waves in the harbor slowly get stronger and taller. The storm clouds rush to cover us, then moments later, they part for a hot beam of light, as if someone had accidentally pushed the sun a bit too close to the sky.

The sailor reaches up to hold onto his cap, biting his lip. "Oh no… Public transport's probably shut down by now... How am I gonna get home?"

I ponder for a moment, then get an idea. I reach into my messenger bag for a pokéball. "Go, Gardevoir!"

I open the capsule, and Gardevoir emerges in full height, his two long arms spread out at the sides of his long white cloak. He towers well above my head now, but even as he looks down at me with his mystical red eye, I feel the same rapport and unity with him that had been there since we met.

"Gardevoir, see if you can make a force field!" I say. "Just like you did when we battled Liza and Tate. That way we'll be protected from the rain!"

Gardevoir presses his hands together, and moments later, a pink bubble appears around him, spreading out to encompass all three of us. The wind vanishes. The raindrops fall against the barrier and slip down, leaving us dry.

Beyond our bubble, the storm intensifies. The waves surge in height and lap at the edges of the harbor. Each time a bit of water spills over, the sailor and I take a step back, then go back to our original place. Through Gardevoir's force field is protecting us, the man is still looking up at the flashing, churning sky in horror. "Oh no… oh no… here it comes… Oh man… It's over... it's all over… Mom, I'm sorry for everything! Dad, I'm sorry!"

I check my PokéNav for a weather report, but the signal is gone. There's no trace of blue sky anywhere – the storm had covered Slateport completely, and by the looks of it, was now moving westward.

It seems to go on forever. But then, as suddenly as it had begun, the storm clears. Momentarily I see something green shoot up into the sky, then the sun comes out, not blisteringly hot like it used to be, but normal and warm.

As the sky settles back to a mellow blue, and I turn to the sailor and smile. "See? It wasn't the end of the world!"

The man huffs a breath and rubs his forehead. "On second thought, I think I could go for a walk too…" He snaps a single berry off the plant and hobbles in the direction of town.

Still smiling, I turn the other way and quicken my pace towards where I was heading before.

{M}

Cold fog shrouds the silent peak of Mt. Pyre. The air here is breathable, but it's misty and thick, sinking in with each breath like a heavy weight. There is also grass here, growing thinly around old, gray rock. Mountains, I surmise, had no interest for what lay beneath the surface of the earth. Their birth had been a long time ago; now they simply lived out eternity, existing in stillness. Theirs was one world, and the molten underworld the other. Just like land and sea themselves. And also, above them, sky…

I take a final look at the two colored orbs, lying side-by-side in their respective cradles, before finally stepping back from the pyre. I descend the steps and meet Archie, who is waiting for me, a bit further from the watchful gaze of the elderly couple.

Mine and Archie's exchange with them had been completely silent. We had simply emerged from the fog, myself holding the Blue Orb and Archie holding the Red, stepped up to the pyre, and placed them back where we had taken them. The couple had not said a word. They had simply bowed their heads in acknowledgment, before their gazes went impassive again, plunging inwards into some deep meditation.

Now, Archie and I walk together down the steps the way we had come. We had played plenty of the blame-game after the weather crisis had concluded, but in the end, as always, it just made the both of us irritated and solved nothing. So now we are silent, walking side-by-side until we reach the staircase that would lead us down from the summit, where the living world awaited.

At that point Archie stops, and after a moment, he turns to look at me. "Think you'll be going back to the Jagged Pass now?"

I look askance. "No. I don't think staying at that location would be good anymore, for us or for the people of Lavaridge." I lower my gaze. "Who would want such a treacherous, dangerous clan in their backyard…"

Archie rubs his chin. "Well, you've got a point."

I grumble. One could always count on him to put things bluntly. And yet… he was right.

Archie lets the silence hang for a little while, then shrugs it off. "But I say there's no point moping around. We did the right thing, didn't we? We put the Orbs back, no one can take them again, and we know we're not going to do anything stupid like that anymore."

"But the people don't," I say.

Archie shrugs again. "There's a point where you have to draw the line. We can change, but we can't change what other people think about us."

I sigh. "At any rate, we can't go back to the cave. Groudon destroyed some parts of it after fleeing, and I'm afraid the inside won't be completely stable anymore."

"If you want, your team could share the base with mine. We've got plenty of room. And I'm sure lots of people will want to quit after what happened, so that'll clear up some space..."

"But what will we do now, even if some people stay?" I ask.

"Don't know." Archie gives a chuckle. "I guess we could just focus on preserving things as they are. For all that happened, we still ended up uncovering an old legend that not many people knew about. So maybe now we should focus on putting its lessons into action."

"But certainly not through forceful intervention like last time."

"Well, of course."

We descend to the base, where some Aqua and Magma grunts are waiting for us. We pass a few people still standing at the headstones of their pokémon, not looking at us, lost in their own thoughts. One lady approaches a spot with flowers in her hands, kneeling down and placing them in front of the headstone. She leaves, and I look at them for a moment, two blooms of bright pink in the dreary mist.

Now, I know. The way to renew the world hadn't been to expand the seas. Nor was expanding the land the way to give it new life. Because the world renewed itself. It infused itself with the life it already had.

And the more I think about it, the more it seems that the regular people of Hoenn had been aware of this all along.

{W}

It's a long ride to Ever Grande City, but finally, I make it. I ascend the enormous waterfall on the back of my wailmer and step onto dry land. The fabled city of the Elite Four is astonishingly small – it has just one Pokémon Center standing before an enormous rock formation, which could only be Victory Road.

I had gotten all eight badges. Together with my team, we had defeated all the Gym leaders. Even Norman, Brendan's father, who had given me my first pokémon. When I had finished battling him all those weeks ago in Petalburg, he had looked at me in a strange way, then smiled. He said that I had grown. I had thanked him, though I had already known it on my own.

Now, as I step closer to the cave's entrance, I feel my heart begin to pound, my chest fill up as I take a breath. Now would be my chance. As I had progressed on my journey across Hoenn, I had grown increasingly aware that this was the thing that I had been running towards all along – the Hoenn Elite Four.

I plunge into the cave, and after a few hours of twists and turns, battles and puzzles, I step out from the exit and emerge into the sunlight of the other side. Up ahead, in the distance, is the Pokémon League Building.

I stand there for a moment, looking up at it, taking in the sight.

Then, I hear a beat of footsteps behind me. I turn to see who it is, and right as I recognize him, the name slips from my tongue.

"Brendan?"

He seems surprised to see me too. I can tell he's grown up a bit; he seems firmer and more resolved. But so was I.

A few moments pass, and after he understands my intention, I send out my team one by one – Gardevoir, Roselia, Delcatty, Altaria, Wailmer, and Magneton. They battle as brilliantly as always, their thoughts one with mine, their moves like an extension of my own energy being released into the battle.

But it isn't enough.

One by one, I watch them faint, as Brendan's pokémon emerge more powerful than mine.

Finally, as I watch my fainted Gardevoir fade away into the capsule, I feel something empty inside of me.

I lost.

The knowledge of this fills me with a wave of frustration and despair. After working so hard, after going through so much with my pokémon, it still wasn't enough? It still wasn't enough to beat the boy I had tried so hard to catch up with?

I look up, and see Brendan still standing there, having recalled his own first pokémon as well. It was Swampert, the one who had been at his side the whole time, just like Gardevoir had been for me. But our bond had come up short. Maybe I really had been doing something wrong this whole time…

But right then a breeze blows through. It carries a sweet scent, and for the first time, I notice my surroundings. The meadow we're standing in is quite a pretty one, and it's filled with red flowers that sway with the wind. Suddenly, I'm reminded of the berries I used to plant, taking little stops here and there on my journey through the towns. I had stopped for some reason after beating Flannery's Gym, after I had gotten caught up in excitement of the thought that I just might stand a chance against the Elite Four. But I remember how, at the start, I had just wanted to give each berry a home, to plant each one in a place where it could flourish. And in the process, I had found mine.

I look at Brendan's face again, which just moments ago had made me think of failure, of a goal I would never quite reach.

But the flowers.

The flowers tell me differently.

{R}

Groudon and Kyogre. That's who lived in Hoenn. Along with Rayquaza. Terrifying, legendary beasts, the forces of nature themselves. And there I was, trying to be Hoenn's Shaymin, telling people to go out of their way and plant flowers to help nature give itself beauty. But nature, it turned out, had a different face. Who would have thought that under its tame, pretty mask, that life was a force to be reckoned with?

Now I know why a lot of people keep flowers around. They're a distraction. They're pretty to look at, a hobby to occupy oneself with to get away from the harshness of reality. But one could only trap themselves in their own minds for so long. Sooner or later, they'd have to wake up.

I feel grim as I step into Route 104, looking out at what remained from the storm.

The coastline to the east had surged, so lots of routes around Petalburg and Rustboro had flooded, including this one. Many trees that had once bordered our neat path are now lying like leafy logs on the ground. Dirt and leaves are scattered all over the unpaved walkway. Our garden in the back resembles a swamp with leafless stems sticking out from the mud. Thankfully the main shop building is still in one piece, though some windows are broken and the walls are dirty. But the worst comes when I venture past the garden and see the greenhouse. A tree had fallen over it, shattering the glass and sending dozens of plants falling into an unintelligible heap on the tiles. The tree had also hit the storage shed, which now resembles a child's unfinished treehouse project. I wade through the mud and swing aside the broken door, glimpsing what's left of the interior. All of the seed bags had fallen to the floor. The mud from outside had seeped in, soaking and mixing them with the fertilizer and chemicals from the greenhouse. That included the Ganlons.

I dig them out and collect them all into a single box. I try to wash them, to revive them, but weeks pass and not a single one sprouts. In the meantime, Daphne and Natalie insist on dividing the labor to restore the shop. I'm to go to Grandma and Grandpa on Route 123 to help them with cleanup as well, and possibly collect any other seeds they still had from us.

Fortunately, both of them are okay. Their route is a bit flooded and many trees have fallen, but workers have cleaned up a good deal and made the path walkable again. Their garden is ruined, but their house had survived the winds and rain. After staying with them for a couple of days, I take a ferry to Lilycove. Unfortunately the ferry service to Slateport is closed, so I have to take the long route – first a tram to Fortree, then one to Lavaridge. From there, I'd go to Mauville, Verdanturf, and finally Rustboro.

Fortree had escaped flooding due to its high elevation, though a few houses had been damaged by the wind. Lavaridge had also been spared the worst, getting off with just slightly soggier sand and a temporary cool-off of its hot springs. By the time I get there, they're back in operation, as a banner hanging from the roof of the Pokémon Center announces in big, bright letters. Beside the building, a couple of old ladies are chatting and laughing, as if nothing had ever happened.

Still in a grim mood, I decide to take a brief walk around the town before my tram to Mauville. I wander around the eastern edge of the town for a moment, before an upward slope catches my eye and I walk towards it.

I find myself in a narrow thicket of trees, which widens and reveals a steep, staggered ledge, made entirely out of red rock. The ledges above are variously sized, and are covered in grass, rocks, and trees. Transfixed by the sight, I find a footpath leading upwards and follow it.

Despite the relatively vast expanse, the surroundings are dead quiet. But as I continue to ascend, I begin to hear distant voices rise up from the silence. I search a bit for the source, and finally, when I step onto the largest ledge yet, I see two people. They're facing a rather large boulder, one that towers nearly three times their height. One of them is dressed like a pirate, a blue bandanna tied around his head. The other one is kneeling, and is wearing a magma-red uniform, his head covered by a large hood with black horns. He appears to be doing something beside the base of the boulder, and as I draw closer, I realize he's planting flowers.

"See? Like that!" he says.

His pirate companion watches curiously, leaning over his shoulder.

"They grow so well that you can make a garden anywhere!" the magma-man continues. "So you can go berry-picking! But you gotta plant a berry every time you pick one."

"Why?"

"Because it leaves the pretty there! You can't be the only one to just enjoy the pretty in the world and take it all for yourself and not leave anything for the next person. That's called greed."

The pirate man scratches his chin. "Hm. That makes sense… Come to think of it, it's not so different from what we were doing, wanting to take the power of nature for ourselves."

The magma-man nods. "Yeah, but we're not gonna do that anymore. Leader Maxie said it's time for a change. We're going to start working to help protect the world as it is, and use our discoveries and research for the good of everyone. And to prove it, he made one of our first tasks to protect the plant and berry species of Hoenn and preserve their habitats."

The pirate seems confused. "Berries? Where'd he get that idea from?"

"His admin who talked to a grunt who talked to some other grunts. Said they saw a trainer kid planting flowers, and he started talking all this philosophy about beauty and interconnectedness. Then they found his plants again when we came to clear out the old hideout, and we thought that we might as well leave a little something to make this place prettier than it was before. These take a while, but if you get the soil combination right, they give lots of berries."

"Huh. Not every day you meet a kid like that..."

My heart begins to pound. I hide behind a tree before they can notice me, and once they're gone, I approach their makeshift garden. And there they are, my Ganlon plants, looking just as they did when I gave them to Wally.

My sadness lifts, and I feel a wave of warmth rush over me. I kneel down to the flowers, gazing at their deep-green leaves and purple throats, at the silvery berries branching out from the stems like buds.

The boy had made it out of Verdanturf after all. He had made it all the way to Jagged Pass, and possibly beyond.

I look at the flowers, my thoughts tearing back and forth for a moment from him to them.

And suddenly, I realize something.

Planting was triggering life and growth for something that couldn't have done it on its own, the mixing of vastly different ingredients – air, water, land – to create something that sustained itself with all three. It was the process of giving life, but it was also something more – it was a process of expressing and sharing the beauty one saw in it. And flowers weren't the only source of that beauty. Beauty could be found in many other things, just like life consisted of many other facets. And I could still discover them, any moment I wanted.

I pick some of the berries and put them in my pouch, just the right amount to get a steady supply going in the store again. Then I head down the slope, feeling uplifted at the knowledge that I had just a bit more now than when I started.