Disclaimer: I don't control Pokémon. If I did, then we'd put really subtle clues in the series (yes, just like fnaf)
"Speech"
'Thought'
'That girl. Just what is she up to?' Questioned Brendan in his thoughts.
Wally watched his friend pondering the complexity of the situation and wondered himself what was going on.
"Brendan, do you know something about this?" Asked the green-haired boy.
"Well, I did run into her earlier." Answered the brunette. "But I didn't know that she had your keystone."
Adding in that last part about the lack of knowledge was a good move on Brendan's part. His kouhai wouldn't become angry enough to hyper-interrogate.
"I feel really ashamed." Admitted Wally as he looked to the ground.
Hearing this prompted a curious response from Brendan, which was made evident by him looking over to Natsumi. But she didn't have much of a good response to this inquiry.
"Why is that?"
"Altaria and I tried to stop her, but she used an Altaria too. The gap was so great..." He trailed off and continued to gaze at the ground as if it would give him something.
It was obvious that his Altaria also felt shame at being defeated so easily by another dragon.
Dissonance rang in Brendan's head as he continued to watch this. That red-eyed girl appeared so nice earlier. Even going so far as to apologize for her actions. But seeing good friends depressed because of her actions was disheartening, to say the least.
'I'm gonna find that girl. But maybe this was a mistake too...' Brendan's decisions wouldn't be so easy to make.
However, while the dissonance and lack of answers was attractive, the protagonist had to help his friend first. Once again, he turned to Natsumi for an answer.
Seeing his fire fox reminded him of all the adversities that they had overcome together, even the ones that didn't seem possible.
"Don't let it get to you Wally." Reassured Brendan with a straight face.
"Easier said than done." Answered the green-haired boy.
"Well, there'll always be new challenges on the horizon. You'll just have to accept that there is always somebody better than you." Assured Brendan. "And, just between you and me, Erica and her pokemon have always beaten us." Admittedly he whispered that last bit of information.
The ears of his kouhai popped up after hearing that piece of information. "Really!? They always beat you?"
"Yeah, and I'm pretty sure that it took a long while for her to beat her teachers too." Admitted the protagonist as he started to laugh a little.
Even though he wasn't a psychologist in the least of manners, Brendan seemed to do well in giving his friend the reassurance he needed. It earned him a smile from Natsumi.
Unbeknownst to him though, Steven approached from behind. Wally had no trouble catching sight of the geologist and was going to announce his arrival. But a hand gesture from said geologist acted as a delay. He seemed interested in this information.
"So try not to get down about losing to a random person. I mean, I've been with Erica for weeks and I've never beaten her before." Said Brendan.
"Alright then, I'll make sure that we get even stronger." Answered Wally with newfound confidence.
"Oh, so Erica is even better than you?" Said Steven which caused Brendan and Natsumi to flinch profusely. "And I was under the assumption that you two were rivals."
"How long were you there?" Asked Brendan with surprise still in his body while his Ninetails growled lowly at Steven.
Steven couldn't help but chuckle at his successor's quirky behavior, despite the angry fox. But he had an important errand to attend to, so enjoyment was limited to a minimum.
"Only long enough. But that aside, I need you and Erica to come with me." Demanded the silver-haired man, discarding his humored expression for a focused tone.
Although Brendan was focused on chasing after Zinnia at the moment, he couldn't get past this sudden change in tone from Steven. It was enough to be convincing for him.
"Well alright, but Erica's in Littleroot Town." Explained Brendan.
"Then we'll just have to go get her." Insisted Steven.
Just as usual for the main protagonist, he wasn't given much room to argue. While Steven's tone didn't come off as demanding but not coercive either.
Adding that to the history of events in which Steven needed his aide to save the world made the demand much more accepting.
"Alright, but I've gotta take care of something quickly first." Answered Brendan.
Steven perked an eyebrow at this. "Ok, but I implore that you don't take too long."
Brendan was implicitly aware of the fact that Team Magma and Team Aqua were causing trouble again, and he could only assume that this was related to that. But there was something to fix before leaving.
"Hey Wally, you're gonna get your keystone back." Promised the brunette. This promise was expected and unexpected.
Wally's Altaria also showed this surprise. They both expected that the keystone would be returned, but neither thought that Brendan would go after it.
"What do you mean? Are you going to hunt down Zinnia?" Asked Wally, partially hoping that his senpai wasn't letting anger take full control.
Brendan couldn't help but chuckle after hearing that solution. "No, but I get the feeling that I'm going to run into her again. And when I do, I'll demand her for the keystone."
Humor was expressed from Wally in the manner of a quick laugh. The brunette might've been the senpai, but he still had some quirky behavior.
"Alright, but I'm going to hold you to it." Promised Wally in return.
A nod and a slap of hands was given in return before Brendan and Natsumi left the scene.
The earlier behavior in battle made Erica suspicious of Zinnia, but learning of her intentional theft of a keystone confirmed that she wasn't to be trusted. And hearing that May was attacked by this very girl only succeeded in making the blonde even angrier.
Her eyebrows furrowed in anger and frustration, but she was calmed by Hanatoro. The pokemon didn't like seeing his trainer upset.
Sighing, Erica decided to take the calm approach to this predicament.
"So she assaulted you and stole the keystone?" Asked Erica.
"Yeah, it all happened so fast that I literally couldn't react in time." May's face was mixed between being anger and shame. "Her power was so much that I was paralyzed."
Placing her thumb under her chin, Erica began to ponder why a keystone alone was stolen. If it was already known that May could mega-evolve her Sceptile, then it was also true that the knowledge of her possessing Sceptilite could be widespread as well.
After dealing with Archie and confronting Zinnia before, she had a feeling that there must've been some level of reason behind that enigmatic heist. The answer remained elusive.
'I just don't understand...keystones are rare, but she already has one. Each mega-stone is even more rare so-'
The brainstorm ceased with Erica donning a face of utter surprise. Such an expression didn't go unnoticed by May.
'Could it be? Can a keystone be used for more than Mega Evolution?' Pondered the blonde.
"Erica, what's wrong?" Asked May with some level of confusion and worry.
Pulling herself out of the shock and predicament of wonder, Erica managed to come up with a lie. She didn't want to drag May into it.
"I'm just a little worried about some other people with keystones, that's all." Hanatoro could easily tell that it was a complete lie, but he understood that his trainer was serious.
Such an easy excuse didn't sell to the brunette girl. Apparently, her intuition could detect more than just the romantic feelings of others.
Prying into the matter further to get a truthful answer was a casual response.
Luckily for Erica though Brendan arrived on the scene alongside Steven. The sudden arrival would be a good excuse to change the subject.
"Brendan-kun, is Wally ok?" Asked the blonde.
"He's fine, but-"
"Pardon my rudeness, but I need you two to come with me." Interrupted Steven before straightening his tie.
Of course the others were all more concerned with the matter of missing keystones. So their cooperation would be a little hard for the former champion to win over.
"Are you sure Steven? If it is about Magma and Aqua, they shouldn't be as hard to deal with." Insisted Brendan.
"Well, it isn't about them. Actually, it mostly concerns The Devon Corporation." Explained Steven.
Dismissing any amount of danger that could possibly be attributed to Magma and Aqua was both intriguing and irritating. Intrigue was found in Brendan as he expected there to be some act driven by radical actions.
Annoyance was with Erica because she was far more concerned with the matter of Zinnia's aggressive actions. Her interests lied in exacting her own brand of justice.
'But then again, Steven Stone isn't one to simply ask ridiculous errands.' Thought Erica, giving the silver-haired geologist some credit.
"Erica-chan, I think that this is some serious business. Maybe we should go with Steven." Said Brendan.
The opinion of her boyfriend was one that wouldn't be rejected now. She relented to the demand.
"Alright, we'll come along." Answered the blonde before turning over to May. "Just try to keep going about your daily life."
It was undeniable that May's skill with pokemon wasn't nearly as good as Brendan's or Erica's, but she still took some offense to this. After all, it was her keystone that was stolen.
"I appreciate your concern for me on this Erica, but I need to go find my keystone." Argued the brunette girl.
Brendan's ears perked up after hearing that. His assumption and rare tactical thinking had been proven true. Due to previous events, he could only guess that Zinnia was the culprit.
"I'm well aware, but still-"
"Don't worry about it May; I promise you that your keystone will be returned." Said Brendan as he cut off Erica's sentence.
Oddly enough, the gray eyes of the brunette showed no intentions of even remotely letting that promise fail. He was displaying an unusual level of passion.
"Well...ok then..." May abandoned her previous thoughts.
While the Kalos Champion remained surprised about the sudden change of heart, she wasn't one to look a gift Rapidash in the mouth.
"Ok then, please come with me to Rustboro." Demanded Steven as he released his Skarmory and mounted it.
He received cooperating nods from the heroes before they released Latios and Latias and mounted them. The latter had since regained her strength for a short fly.
May watched on from the ground as the three flew away. She couldn't help but feel confusion and surprise at her own actions. Just like Erica, she personally felt resentment towards Zinnia and wanted justice.
Isolating her emotions led her to believe that Brendan's passion was somewhat influential.
'That or I really trust him...It's probably that one.'
Flying towards Rustboro City took much longer than the protagonists would've preferred. Though no signs of irritation arose due to the anonymity of the situation.
"If I am to be truthful about the situation; not even I know what the President wants with you two." Admitted the geologist.
Surprise adorned the brunette's face. "So you just did what he asked without any questions?"
"Well, I trust that my father wouldn't just ask me to do something stupid." Steven shrugged his shoulders as he explained.
"Huh? He is your father?" Asked Erica in surprise.
Though truthfully she should've noticed from a while ago. Similarities and connections were apparent in the form of their hair color and Devon Corp.'s obvious connections with stones.
The pedestals of stones outside the building started to make some sense to the blonde.
"Yes, I probably should've mentioned earlier." Humbly admitted Steven.
Erica graciously accepted the pseudo-apology and chose to avoid mentally slapping herself. Seeing as Keith was incredibly smart and she learned from him. Probably a good choice.
With the knowledge of Steven's relations to the company made known, Brendan and Erica followed him into the building. Arrival to the President's office didn't take long after a brisk ascent of the stairs.
Both heroes remembered Mr. Stone appearing as kind and warm. So seeing his serious expression that demanded great results to be offsetting.
"You did your job well Steven." Congratulated the elderly man without losing his face.
"All in a day's work sir." Steven's tone remained calm and playful.
A tone that displayed a calm nature in a business room wasn't exactly hospitable to Brendan. He knew that Steven was by no chance an ambitious villain.
'But the way he is talking...'
Mr. Stone had no intentions of lightening up upon his expression as he got up from the desk to explain.
"I understand that you two are the adventurous types, which is why I must implore you assistance." Requested the elderly man.
Without much thought Brendan was ready to respond to this unusual request. Though a hand on the shoulder stopped him from doing so, Erica had a sympathetic look that he could easily read.
'Yeah, Erica-chan, I know. You're better at talking about these kinds of things...' Berated Brendan.
"Under normal circumstances, that is what we would be doing. But we have very important errands. Which is why we need a good reason to help out."
A sigh arose from the president. Children could be so persistent. Well, they were children to him.
"Time is against us, so I'll be brief." Began Mr. Stone. "Devon Corp. is partnered with several different organizations in the Hoenn region and one of those is the Mossdeep Space Program."
Brendan had little trouble remembering that Mossdeep city had a center for space research. But seeing a giant space shuttle is one thing that is hard to forget.
"Earlier today, they were observing a set of asteroids that were positioned to move across the Earth's atmosphere. But one unusually large asteroid has altered it's course."
Surprise decorated Brendan, Erica, and Steven when they heard that. Such a claim was hard to accept (yes even in the Pokémon Universe...one of them, at least).
Though logic wouldn't make this statement too hard to swallow.
"But Father why does Devon Corp. need to assist in this manner? Isn't it possible that the asteroid could have been hit by debris?" Suggested Steven.
"Yes, and that may well be the explanation, but the true problem lies in where the object is pointed towards."
The younger audience couldn't help but lean in a little, eager to hear the rest of this explanation. It was obvious that this man was nervous to disclose this situation.
"It is calculated to impact at Mt. Pyre."
An involuntary flinch took Erica back when she heard that. Its impact is the same location where Groudon and Kyogre were being imprisoned.
'There's no way...that can't be a coincidence...' Her face started to grow pale as she imagined the worse possible outcomes.
There was no solid evidence, but it was entirely possible that the Magma and Aqua pokeballs could be destroyed and release the two titans. Their freedom would be accompanied by the resuming of their battle.
Just thinking about that made the girl feel a little sick.
"Erica-chan? What's wrong?" She turned over to see the concerned face of her boyfriend. "Are you sick? Do you need to go outside?"
Though his concern was touching, she had to turn it down for a bit and swallow the sick feeling. It felt shameful to be a champion and succumb to such problems.
"Don't worry Brendan-kun, I'm alright." Reassured the girl with a smile.
"I would hope so child." Said President Stone. "Because I've yet to tell you-"
"There is no need sir, I believe that I already understand the seriousness of this." Interrupted Brendan as he caught everyone off guard.
"Do you, Brendan?" Asked Steven with a hint of nervous disbelief.
"Yeah, I do. I mean, if it was enough to make Erica-chan sick and drain the color from her face, then this is a real issue." Answered the brunette.
Both shame for her weakened state and affection for her partner's care dotted Erica's mind. After all, she hadn't even told him what happened to Groudon and Kyogre. This was a good sign that their relationship was healthy.
Mr. Stone was slightly irritated at being interrupted, but any help that could avert this crisis would be appreciated.
"Very well then. I have a task that the three of you should embark on." Stated the old man. "The Space Center research has concluded that a meteorite should have a level of energy that could power our machine."
The demand and explanation sounded ludicrous to Brendan. Even though he had seen it first hand, it was still hard to believe that a machine would be powered by a rock.
'Seriously though, I'm not a smart guy but that doesn't make much sense at all.' Thought the protagonist.
As he thought that, he remembered that there was a meteorite that Erica had on her along with the shard that Zinnia gave him.
Couples must think alike as the blonde girl had the same idea in mind.
"Sir, would this work?" Asked Erica as she pulled out the rock from her bag.
"I'm afraid not. Our associates said that a specific amount is required." Explained Mr. Stone. "A smaller sample would be required for this task."
"You mean like this?"
Everyone present turned their attention towards Brendan as he pointed to the shard in his hand. Needless to say there was quick shock.
'Oh yeah! Zinnia gave that to him.' The blonde champion had been preoccupied with being angry at Zinnia and a second impending crisis.
"Brendan! You had that on you this whole time?" Asked Steven in utter surprise, to which the brunette nodded.
For the first time since the meeting had begun, Mr. Stone sighed in relief and cracked a smile. There was no guarantee that the solution would actually work. But there was now hope for them.
Perhaps in addition to running into trouble Brendan and Erica seemed to get their fair share of luck.
"So what do we do with this thing?" Asked the brunette.
"You'll need to deliver it to Mossdeep Space Center; they'll know what to do with it."
Under his normal behavior, Brendan would just do what he was told in these situations. But his claim earlier about the absurd energy in a meteorite made him curious.
And for good reason as he didn't even know what kind of machine they would be using. For that matter, they didn't even know what kind of method was planned to remedy the predicament.
The brunette's curiosity got the better of him and pressed him to ask. "Just so we know, how are we going to deal with this asteroid?"
While seemingly innocent in nature, the question posed by Brendan brought silence to the room.
"That is a good question Brendan-kun. What method will the machine use?" Asked Erica, but she too was met with no verbal response.
"Hey c'mon and tell us. Our pokemon are going to be stressed and we don't like doing that to them." Noted the brunette, trying to enact some guilt.
Steven felt some unease as well. He knew that his father didn't like this predicament from the start, but this distrust and refusal to cooperate wasn't appealing.
"I admit that I have doubts about the procedure, which is why I don't like talking about it..." Mr. Stone retained his serious and distrusting face.
Admittedly, this made it even harder for Brendan to trust and cooperate with the mission. After all, Archie tried to use the power of a meteorite to render a volcano dead.
'But still...if it's heading towards Mt. Pyre and it made Erica-chan sick...' The brunette gripped his fist in irritation, but he quickly gave in. "Alright, we'll do it."
Being eager to save the region, again, Brendan quickly exited the office. He was quickly pursued by his girlfriend to prevent him from falling on his butt down the stairs.
"I'll go with them. I think it would be best to accompany them and represent Devon Corp. there." Suggested Steven before he calmly exited the room as well.
With all of them gone, President Stone was left in his office by himself again. An exhausted sigh escaped from him. It truly was irritating that his son chose to do that for his corporation.
'The children shouldn't have to defend this region, that is the job of the adults.' His attention was shifted to a picture that depicted a younger Steven with a shiny Beldum.
Standing up from his desk, eyesight was shifted towards the ocean in the distance.
'At least we won't rely solely on the power of pokemon either...they all deserve better than that.'
The couple wasted no time in getting towards the exit of the tall building and didn't even have a second thought before pulling out the pokeballs of their dragons.
"Hold on there you two!" Yelled Steven before he caught up to them. "I know that there is an impending crisis on the horizon, but we're in no need to exhaust Latios and Latias."
Normally Erica would be the first to respond in this situation, but Brendan beat her to the punch.
"Yeah, I understand that too. Personally I don't want to, but I'm positive that Latios understands." Retorted the boy, taking a position for argument.
"Well, that is a good point. But there is ample time to arrive at Mossdeep city. I'd say at least ten hours." Speculated the geologist.
"How long will it take for them to prepare the machine?"
Steven cupped his chin and pondered the answer for a few moments. Despite not being an astronomer himself, the lady-killer was able to give a good enough estimate.
"Well, I'm only a geologist, but I'd say about four hours." Answered Steven.
"Well, let's hurry then!" Yelled Brendan to the sky, probably catching the attention of bystanders. He was too eager to protect Hoenn to take his time.
Doing her best to ignore the quirky behavior of her boyfriend, Erica tried to come up with a good transportation method. The eon twins would be ready to fly again soon, because there was little doubt for the legendaries' ability to recover.
Obviously, crossing the ocean was the only other option.
'Wait a minute, maybe we could ask Mr. Briney for a ride to Mossdeep.' Thought the girl. "Hey Brendan-kun, maybe we could ask Mr. Briney for a lift."
Although it had been a some time since they had met with the Sailor and his companion Wingull, it would be nice to meet with them again.
"Alright then, though I'm not sure though about asking him for a free ride." Noted the brunette.
His girlfriend simply chose to wave it off and pull something out of the her bag. It was a blue gem shaped like a sparkle. "Don't worry about it. I can pay him."
Steven became speechless when he saw the gem that Erica had pulled out, but her boyfriend remained oblivious. It was probably a good thing that Brendan didn't notice that it was a comet shard.
Settling on taking a boat towards Mossdeep city, the three left the scene.
In Lilycove City, Zinnia stood along the coastline with her Noivern and Aster. Despite her earlier prevalent actions, she made no effort to disguise herself from the public eye.
Even more bold than that was the two keystones that she held in her hand. Satisfaction spread across her face in the form of a smile. Aster seemed to beg for her attention from the ground.
"No, we don't need to do that. About five or so should do the trick. But the more the merrier." Said Zinnia.
She turned over to her Noivern and scratched the side of its muzzle, and the gesture was appreciated.
"Sorry to make you fly everywhere for us." Apologized the girl, though her dragon didn't really seem to mind.
Her expression grew serious as it shifted to the sky. Both of her pokemon watched her from behind and were too nervous to do anything at all.
"That tragedy...it won't happen again..."
16 Hours, 57 minutes, and 12 seconds until impact...
Thanks for reading this chapter; I hope you guys liked it. Sorry that it took a little while to get out, but the holidays are important. But as always, please leave me a review if there is anything that you've got to say.