Update: Feb, 2016 This story will hopefully get its continuation. Sooner or later, at least. For now, I am going to revise and correct some found mistakes in the existing chapters and move on to Brotherly love, part 2. As you might have noticed in the older version of this chapter, I was following the Japanese release of the fifth movie, which mentioned that an unidentified force (some kind of monster and not some crazy evil trainer) threatened Alto Mare back in the prologue of the film. The Japanese release also supports the idea that there is more than just one Latias and Latios, which I am going to develop in the future chapters.

So enjoy and please leave reviews =^_^=

Chapter 3 - Brotherly love (prelude)

A morning sun slowly peeked over the cloudless horizon, its rays reflecting over the glass surfaces of skyscrapers and creating a truly magnificent sight of late summer dawn.

Most of the residents of Veilstone city, however, were still asleep unable to admire the amazing sight; yet one person was awake, but chose to ignore the sunrise in favor of working his pokemon to the bone in the backyard, while skimming through the file recorded on a mysterious hard drive left for him as a birthday present. To the great surprise of Paul's the only document on the hard drive contained the illustrated extract from the book called History of Alto Mare, which told the legend of the Water Capital:

"Alto Mare is an island all of its own. It used to be a great transport hub between Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh regions. Many famous traders and sailors contributed to the creation of this isolated world. The style, the way it was built, location, even what it is famous for, everything is unique in this city comprised upon the basis of water as transportation. The beauty and sites of Alto Mare gave it the title, "The Water Capital". But there's something else behind Alto Mare...

Once upon a time, an old couple, who lived on the island of Alto Mare found two injured children lying unconscious on the shore. By the gentle and skilled hands of the old man and woman the children became healthy again. However, these children seemed not to have parents of their own, so they grew close with the old couple. Unfortunately, this happy time did not last long. All of a sudden a dark cloud appeared over Alto Mare covering nearly all the sky plunging the city into the darkness. Soon thereafter it started raining down the dark crystals. Whatever was their their target - trees, buildings, humans, even pokemon - was turned into part of those dark crystals. One of these shards was about to hit the old couple, while they were outside with the two children. But before it hit, the two children glew, and the falling shards were instantly destroyed, as well as all the others that were raining down upon Alto Mare.

The pair floated upwards and revealed themselves to be the infinite pokemon, Latios and Latias. They summoned more of their kind from the sky, one of them carrying a strange blue orb. They brought with them the power to turn back the evil darkness. It was a jewel called the Soul Dew (A/N:in Japanese version it is called Heart Drop though). Piece returned to the island of Alto Mare. Afterward, on this island where the Soul Dew resides Latios and Latias began visiting quite often. As a token of gratitude for being nurtured by the citizens of Alto Mare, the two latis decided to become their guardians. The Soul Dew, which represents clear essence of latis kind, became the symbol of purity and peace, and so the secret garden was built to hide the dew from those who desired to use orb for their own selfish purposes. From that day on, no one has ever seen the eon dragons in public, but the legend lives today as the infinite pair protects the soul dew and Alto Mare itself from the crawling darkness."

Paul took a pause upon finishing reading. 'Great job, Tobias, for disclosing eon dragons to the public... And now I know where to find them. The dragon/psychic type shall prove to be a powerful asset in my team, and Tobias has already shown their power on the battlefield, so there is no doubt in their potential. But should I even consider catching the legendary pokemon? Am I ready for such challenge? Also, speaking of challenges…'

He glanced at the medicine capsule standing next to him. Inside of it was a gray egg with rare dots of red color on its upper hemisphere. His sister departed shortly after giving egg to Paul, so he had to make a quick internet search for any known owners of such pokemon and found the only one relevant match… one would have been now at least 175 years old, if he hadn't passed away long time ago. Reggie only commented that this type would be extremely hard to train, yet the implementation of such pokemon in a battle would be a bold move itself. Paul wasn't afraid of extraordinary strategies, but another glance at his training pokemon brought him back to reality.

'Pathetic' he commented to himself as he saw his Pokémon miss easy opportunities to bring down their sparing partners. They could have crushed each other, if they thought of themselves as rivals instead of friends. He required a disobedient execution of his commands, but still they couldn't hit each other. And yet there was that missing component… Paul shook his head before turning away from his Pokémon.

"I'm going to get a drink, if I get back and find out you've all been slaking off then you'll only work harder," Paul said coldly before he walked to the back door. On kitchen he yanked the white door of the fridge open, before his eyes darted back in forth between the fridges contents; there was no orange juice in sight.

"Reggie!" Paul snarled as his mind put two and two together before slamming the door shut with an almighty bang.

"What's gotten into you?" The annoyed sound of his brother's voice caused Paul to spin round on his heels and glare at his brother. Reggie just ignored his brother's usual sour expression. "Besides, do you have any idea what time it is now?"

"This…" he pointed at an empty shelf in the fridge where the orange juice was supposed to be.

"Oh, come on, Paul. I can't just be your nannie all the time. Besides, you have just ruined my phone call!" Reggie replied not hiding his annoyance.

"You stated yourself, who would have called you at such early time."

"There is going to be a party at the Gym next night, Maylene's now officially been the gym leader there for one year; her apprentices and I thought it was something worth celebrating," Reggie replied icily, his tone catching Paul by surprise; Maylene had always been a touchy subject between the two brothers.

"What? You still upset that I destroyed your little girlfriend and told her how pathetic she really is?" Paul jeered, but Reggie didn't rise to the bait.

"I've told you dozens of times, we're friends. Nothing more. Plus, I think if you were to battle her now you might take those words back." Paul snorted loudly and marched out into the back yard. "The loser is still just a loser. Dont make me prove my words once again."

Reggie sighed heavily as he pulled a chair out from the kitchen table and allowed himself to plop down onto the wooded chair.

"What's it gonna take to get Paul back to normal…?" he asked himself softly, wishing more than anything he knew the answer to his own question.

The buzz of the pokegear in his hand soon snapped Reggie out of his thoughts.

"A man's work is never done." he muttered to himself as he headed into the living room to answer the call.

The look of displeasure was written all over Paul's face, as Electivire tried - and failed - to use ice punch once again. The electric type, along with Weavile, had been working on perfecting the move for the last hour, and they had yet to make little to any headway at all. He suddenly remembered his last battle at the Lily conference and the words of Nurse Joy. 'Come to think of it, I haven't even studied the source of Electivire's resilience yet. Well, I could start from field tests right now…"

"That's enough." Paul stated coldly as he glared at Electivire. "This is not acceptable." his gaze shifted from the electric-type to the dual ice/dark-type. The bipedal feline Pokémon turned to face his master, standing tall and proud. "Weavile, show Electivire a real ice punch."

Weavile's head slowly turned back to look at Electivire; a small spark of sympathy flickered in the depths of his eyes for the electric-type before it disappeared in a flash.

"Are you deaf?! I said use ice punch on Electivire!" Paul spat, as his irritation at his Pokémon was overwhelming him; out of the corner of his eye he saw Electivire nod at Weavile before the ice/dark-type turned to face the electric pokémon.

The Sharp Claw Pokémon drew back his now ice coated claw and charged toward his friend; a mere second passed before his claw connected with its target - drawing an almighty groan from the electric-type as the attack collided with Electivire's midsection. The wind was knocked out of the motionless electric pokémon, sending him sprawling.

"Now that's just a taste of what will happen if you don't get this down soon, do you understand me, Electivire?" Paul asked rhetorically in an emotionless voice as Electivire held his side whilst nodding slowly to show his understanding on the matter at hand. "On the battlefield your opponent won't be your friend, so there is no point to show any mercy on the training session either."

"Paul!" Reggie barked from the back door watching Paul's training method. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"Training." Paul stated gruffly, choosing to keep his gaze fixed on his Pokémon.

"That's it," Reggie hissed and now Paul actually had to turn to face his older brother. "I was afraid this would happen, but if words don't make you see straight, then I guess I'll just have to beat it into you! We're going down to the Gym so we can have a proper battle, and I don't mean knock-out or three on three, I mean a proper full six on six! "

Paul's eye widened at the challenge for a split second before he was able to regain himself, he had never actually defeated Reggie in a full battle before; a fact he kept well hidden, but there was indeed a first time for everything.

"Fine," Paul as his eyes narrowed; glaring at his brother. "I'll see you at the Gym in an hour then." He then recalled Weavile and Electivire; he may have been in an emotionless shell but Paul wasn't stupid. He knew he would need both of them in their top shape to battle and crush his brother. The time had finally come to prove Reggie, who the real trainer was!


-three hours later-

Reggie pushed the doors to Veilstone city gym and scanned the lobby for any sign of the facility's owner and leader who also happened to be a good friend of his as well.

"Maylene, are you here?" Reggie called out as walked down the corridor towards Maylene's private training room. When he reached it, he found the sliding door to be open, Maylene was commanding her Pokémon during one of their many training sessions. He gently knocked into the dark wood of the door frame catching the gym leader's attention in the process.

"Reggie! I have to say it's nice to see you during the week-day! Maylene grinned as her pink eyes sparkled at the sight of her dear friend. "Do you need something or did you just come to check me? "

"Sorry to bother you, Maylene, but I was hoping if my brother and I could use your gym's field for a battle." he asked the pink haired Fighting-type lover.

"Wait, did I hear you right? You wanna battle Paul… here?" The pink haired seventeen year old remarked double checking she had indeed heard him correctly.

"In a nutshell? Yes." Reggie nodded and Maylene bobbed her head slowly as he spoke. "But, I mean… if we can't battle here then that's completely fine," Reggie spluttered, just realising how foolish he had been to unnounce the gym as a battlefield between him and his brother without a proper thought.

"Hey, hold on, Reggie." Maylene giggled slightly as she shook her head, enjoying the sight of her flustered friend. "I'm fine with it, after all it's a noon of Friday and there is a very little possibility that someone will come challenging me till the rest of the day," she clarified, causing a look of relief to wash over Reggie. "I can even be your referee, you just let me get changed. Hell, I miss such a fierce battle!" she announced placing her hands on her hips making her offer hard to decline.

Reggie just nodded before Maylene practically bounced off out of the room, having recalled her Hitmontop and leaving Lucario to meditate on one of the many mats scattered about the room.

In less than five minutes Maylene returned. Instead of her traditional training gear, she was wearing a pair of white jeans and casual blue t-shirt that hung of her slim figure, but still bare-footed.

"Come on, the field is this way." Maylene said, heading down the corridor, Reggie close behind her.

To their surprise the room had already been occupied, when they entered it. Paul was already sitting on one of the benches; the medicine capsule with an egg staying next to him. Upon Reggie's and Maylene's entry Paul rolled his eyes defiantly.

"About time," he stated as he stood up and marched to one side of the field and entered the trainers box situated across from Reggie's. "Let's get this over with."

"How… How did you get in here?" Maylene questioned, becoming irked about the fact Paul thought he was good enough to come and go as he pleased in her Gym.

"By using such invention called door. How else?" Paul sneered in a bored fashion as Maylene's temper shot through the roof. She was caught off guard when Reggie placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, Paul, I didn't actually expect you to follow Anabel's advice so vigorously." Reggie said in a friendly tone noticing a medical container sitting on the bench next to his younger brother.

"I-I just don't want to waste the moment to establish the contact with the pokemon." Paul replied averting his sight from Reggie and now giggling Maylene.

"Then I just hope it is ready for an upcoming trauma you're going to subject this poor thing to." the breeder responded with a false worry in his voice.

"If you can be a breeder, what makes me not to try and do the same for a while."

Paul's declaration sent both Reggie and Maylene laughing, while the younger brother gave them a dirty look. It was a rare sight, yet verbally confirmed by Paul himself stating that he would actually care for something more than just brute strength or powerful move in his team.

"If you're done laughing, I suggest we finally get the business done. I'm starting to feel sick of this low-life place." grumbled Paul, standing up from the bench and heading to the trainer box.

The gym leader hesitated, and then nodded sending an angry glare at Paul before walking over to the referee box.

"This is a full six on six battle between Reggie Evans and Paul Evans, there will be no substitutions allowed on either side and there will be no intermission, do you both understand?" Maylene announced; only to receive two small nods as her answer. "Very well, please select your first Pokémon!"

"Electivire, stand by for battle!" Paul stated as he threw forward pokéball and the electric type erupted forth from within its depths.

"Vire!" the electric-type roared as he stared at Reggie, his bravado momentarily shifting to astonishment. Still he didn't show any sign of disobedience. It was just like his master had said before: there was no place for friendship on the battlefield. Besides he was still focused on proving his master was indeed the stronger of the pair.

"Luxray, on your guard!" Reggie countered with his own electric-type, a confident look on his face. The black furred lion like pokémon roared as the flash of light faded and he stood there in all his glory.

"Very well, you may begin!" Maylene announced, and the hell broke loose.

"Luxray -" Reggie began only to be cut of by his younger brother.

"Electivire, use brick break, aim for the legs!" Paul spat the command quickly. A malovent smile was creeping on his face; it was time to unleash the full arsenal of moves and techniques he had prepared back for the Conference finals.

Electivire nodded before leaping into the air, its right fist and left leg glowing a dull white light before it came hurtling back to earth; fist raised above his head and leg ready to lash out given the chance.

"Dodge, Luxray, and then continue with fire fang!" Reggie countered simply. Luxray leaped backward to avoid Electivire's fist crashing down atop his head, only to be caught in the side by Electivire's left leg.

The gleam eyes pokémon cried out in surprise, as it was sent flying to the right hand side of the field by the brick break, although landing safely on his feet. The electric lion snarled at Electivire, whilst his front teeth became engulfed in small flames. With one mighty bound Luxray was upon the other electric-type, its fangs bared, ready to strike.

"Dodge it," Paul ordered flatly, but it was too late. Electivire screeched in agony as Luxray's jaws came down around his right wrist. Hopefully, Paul was ready for such turn of events.

"Ice Punch now, aim for the eyes!"

"What?! But I thought that Electivire hadn't mastered that move yet!" Reggie exclaimed aghast.

"Correct. Electivire still… misses quick targets, but when its foe is just waiting to be punched… it's a completely different story." Paul answered defiantly receiving negative looks both from Reggie and Maylene.

Meanwhile Electivire drew back his left fist as he tried to resist the urge to cry out in pain once more as Luxray's jaw remained firmly clamped around his wrist. The electric pokémon's fist became encased with a light layer and with one last cry of pain he slammed his ice coated fist into Luxray's eyes. The gleam eyes pokémon roared in pain, releasing Electivire's charred arm staggering back in pain.

Paul smirked coldly, when he saw his idea had worked, and Luxray's eyes had now been completely frozen over. He glanced at Reggie, and the disturbing feeling washed over him; his older brother seemed unfazed by the fact that his Pokémon was now completely blind.

"Luxray, crunch!" Reggie commanded in a calm voice.

Despite its eyesight blocked by the layer of ice Luxray snarled, baring its giant fangs before lunging straight at its foe.

"What?!" Paul barked in anger as the gleam eyes pokemon headed straight for his own pokémon. "Well, don't just stand there! Use protect!" He spat, as his anger began to rise; how could he forget? Luxray's special vision would allow him to see perfectly regardless of the ice over his eyes.

A quick reaction of his master saved Electivire from the nasty surprise as it quickly raised its bulky hands and conjured a green energy sphere. At the next moment Luxray slammed at the perfect barrier and bounced back on a safe distance.

"You really should read some of your pokédex entries, Paul, it might help you avoid stuff like that," Reggie remarked.

"Shut up! If you know so much how come you're stuck here in this stupid city instead of out there proving how strong you are? I think we both know the answer. You're just some pathetic coward, who even betrayed his own mother. Of course, when things got too much, you and sister just took the majority side – you both disgust me!" Paul sneered in a degrading manor, as he tried to enrage his older brother into making a mistake.

"You may dramatize upon the tragedy of our family, as much as you want, Paul, just don't bring Anabel into this mess. She is not to be blame for being born with telepathic powers and thus being recognised by the League in the early age. " Reggie stated calmly, his face telling another story however as his right eye twitched with suppressed rage. He than proceeded with a move. "Luxray, quick attack, then follow up with a night slash!"

"Dodge and respond with another brick break!" Paul countered bringing his anger back under control for the time being.

As Electivire was about to dive to the side, he felt a sharp pain in the burnt right wrist. This time gap was enough for Luxray to slam into the thunderbolt pokémon's gut, sending it crashing to the field floor with a heavy thud and another groan of pain.

The tip of scales was on Reggie's side, as Luxray was now standing over Electivire, preparing to launch the night slash attack. The electric lion raised a fur cover paw into the air, while he held his foe down on the ground with his other front paw. The raised paw began to glow with eerie dark purple color, when Paul came up with a counterattack.

"Grab it!" Paul cried out in a new burst of anger, as Luxray let lose his paw aiming at Electivire's face. Just when it was about to hit its target the thunderbolt pokemon caught the paw with his left giant arm, causing a growl of surprise to escape the electric lion. "Now get it off you and use brick break!"

Using his sheer size Electivire rolled himself and his opponent to his left hand-side in a process driving a powerful brick break kick into Luxray's stomach. The gleam eyes pokémon whimpered in pain and quickly shot on his feet before backing off from his foe. Electivire, wasn't in a better shape either still trying to recover from the previous quick attack.

"Luxray, howl." Reggie called out to his pokémon, who nodded in response as a plan began to form in his head.

"Brick break again, aim for the knees!" Paul growled as he grew suspicious about the last brother's command. 'It's not like him to order something like howl unless he's got an ace up his sleeves…'

Electivire dashed forward, its right fist glowing white, while Luxray unleashed a loud roar(a/n: howl attack, not be mistaken with a roar), baring its fangs and spiking its fur ready to counter the attack at the first master's word. With the distance between two electric pokemon quickly dropping the thunderbolt pokemon suddenly slid along the floor and in a Hitmonlee manner delivered a powerful chop to the gleam eyes pokémon's front left leg. Luxray ended his attack prematurely, crying out in pain but still managing to jump back to create safe distance.

"Luxray! Are you alright?" Reggie called out worried, as Luxray lowered its paw back onto the ground and allowed it to carry some weight. The lion winced at first but slowly nodded to show it was ready for a new command. "Okay then, another Quick Attack, Luxray."

"Electivire, Ice Punch on the ground in front of you." Paul commanded cruelly as he folded his arms. He obviously expected so much more from Reggie.

Luxray bulleted at his foe in a form of blue blur. Electivire winced once more as it raised its right chared fist over the ground, but pain soon dulled as it became encased in a thin layer of ice. With a loud battle cry the Electric-type rammed his right fist into the dirt floor, causing a thin layer of ice to spread out on the ground in front of him.

Luxray cried in surprise, as he slipped on the now icy floor and slipped just next to Electivire's giant feet. The thunderbolt pokemon couldn't help but chuckle at his opponent's misfortune.

"Electivire, get this missery out of my sight with break break." Paul grunted with a clear note of distaste in his voice.

"Luxray, use Crunch," Reggie countered swiftly. A clear smile on his face supposed to become his nasty surprise for younger brother. "Paul, haven't you forgotten, who had relied on element of recklessness in the first place to beat six frontier brains?"

"Oh, of course not, brother. I was just waiting for your old nature finally to kick in." sneered Paul. A triumphant smile plastered on his face now was a real shock for Reggie. "Electivire, please, show us your latest technique. Volt hammer!"

Paul's last words nearly drowned in Electivire's howl of pain mixed with rage and surprise, as Luxray managed to clump its jaws around the opponent's left ankle. Yet the thunderbolt pokemon heard his master's command and raised both arms in the air. Sparks of electricity began to surge between them quickly growing into thunder arcs.

"ELECTIVIIIIIIIIIIIREEEEEEEEEE!" the additional pain seemed only to stimulate Electivire to perform such monstrous attack, as the thunderbolt pokemon roared the loudest battle cry he had performed before bringing his charged arms down on his foe.

"Luxray, get away from Electivire, quick!" screamed Reggie not hiding his panic. The electric lion pokemon released its jaws from foe's ankle and with all four paws pushed itself against Electivire, when the thunderbolt pokemon rammed its arms against the frozen ground.

The gleam eyes pokemon barely escaped the impact of volt hammer, however the electric shockwave still reached its target making it yelp in pain.

"Electivire, finish this overgrown shinx with thunder!" roared Paul barely controlling himself after his pokemon failed to deliver the last move. He didnt want to go close with an electric pokemon once more only to be tricked by one of Reggie's ingenious commands.

'Luxray," Reggie called out in a calm voice, just when Electivire was about to unleash his attack. He shot a glance at Paul wanting to see the younger Evans' reaction to his next command. "Absorb that thunder with a charge!"

"What?!" Paul let out a furious shout shooting a venomous glare at his older brother.

"I hope your entire strategy was not built around only my former battles. Such boundaries really make it easy for your opponent to manipulate the whole tide of a battle." Reggie commented as a launched bolt of electrical energy was absorbed by a now crackling Luxray, sparks of energy jumped off its fur. "Now, Luxray, return Electivire his energy with hyper beam!"

Both Electivire's and Paul's eyes widened in unison at the command from Reggie; they had been played like some stupid fiddle, and were about to pay dearly for it. The electric lion pokemon drew his jaws wide open to form a ball of accumulated energy. The sphere appeared to be larger than normal thanks to the opponent's thunder, which it was about to return to its owner.

"Protect, NOW!" Paul roared, as Luxray unleashed a white energy ray leaving its opponent little time to react. Electivire crossed his arms in the defensive manner in order to conjure the barrier, when the beam smashed into the thunderbolt pokemon causing a small explosion filling the gym with a great cloud of pale grey smoke and drawing coughs from everyone present in the room as they shielded their eyes as best they could.