Under the Same Sky

by Zokolov

Kris, Iris, Lyra, Wes, Hilda and other young trainers seek the legendary Jirachi, which is said to grant them any wish they desire. They travel through less-explored regions like Fiore, Orre and the Sevii Islands and get to know the local cultures, while dealing with a Giratina-worshiping cult that is also after the Wish Pokémon.

7. Hoopa Confined

Chapter Seven: "Hoopa Confined"

Location: Ranger Union Airport, Almia

Kris, Wes and Lunick sat on the benches of the busy Ranger Union Airport, waiting for Hilda to arrange their flight to Orre. As they sat in silence, mostly ignored by the people rushing back and forward, Kris pondered the words Pryce had spoken to her.

Pryce said he'd destroy her. And yesterday, it had become clear what he meant. Lucas and the others would probably not be the last casualties in his efforts. Iris and Lyra had fortunately left and Pryce didn't know about them, but everyone else with Kris was most likely a target – yet Wes, Lunick and even Hilda had no qualms about traveling with her. Kris wondered if they understood the danger they were in, but she didn't exactly know how to phrase the news.

Hey, guys, traveling with me is kind of like walking around in a hat made of concrete – someone gives you a little push and you're history.

But please don't go 'cause I'm scared crapless of what might happen.

Still, as the others kept reminding her, Kris was safe now. Sure, Pryce had gotten past the security in the tournament, but this was the Union's largest airport. And Team Dim Sun was effectively gone. Everyone there had seen Pryce's face, which was currently plastered in posters all across the airport and visible on the TV screens every time there was a news broadcast. He was the most wanted man in the Ranger Union… which most likely meant he had skipped the country, and could now be almost anywhere.

No, Kris thought, don't think about it so much. They'll capture him and subdue him, and that's it.

Kris managed to get some reprieve from her thoughts as Hilda sauntered over to them, looking frustrated.

"I can't believe it!" she huffed. "I used all my contacts, tried intimidation, flattery, everything, but it can't be helped – there are no flights going to Orre in the near future. Damn your region sucks, Wes!"

"Hey!" Wes protested. "I mean, it's true, but you can't say it!"

"Are you all right?" Lunick asked Kris.

Kris turned to look at Lunick while Wes and Hilda were busy bickering. Would he really understand? Lunick wasn't there when Kris faced the Pryce on Mt. Silver, nor had he heard what Pryce had told her before fleeing.

"I'm good, considering," Kris lied. "I just wanna get back to business. When we get to Orre, we'll use Hastings' info and start really digging into this prophecy thing. Who knows, maybe I'll get to catch some new Pokémon too."

Wes snorted, Kris turning to glare at him.

"What?!"

"Didn't we talk about this before, Krissy?" Wes said mockingly. "There are no wild Pokémon in Orre. Or, in the rare case when they do appear, it's either in designated PokéSpots where there's a couple dozen other wannabe trainers with their eyes on the prize or they're stragglers that are soon caught by bounty hunters and the like."

"Such as you," Lunick pointed out.

Wes shrugged. "Eh, it's a living."

Kris sighed. "Well, maybe I'll get to participate in the local Pokémon League, then…"

Wes groaned awkwardly.

"Oh, come on!" Kris yelled at him. "Your region really does suck!"

"Well, they do hold the occasional tournament," Wes said defensively.

"I'm so over tournaments," Kris sighed.

"Anyway, while we think about this, I need to tell you three something," Hilda said. "I-"

"Excuse me, I couldn't help but to overhear!"

Kris, Wes, Lunick and Hilda turned to look at the man who had suddenly arrived: a short, rotund, pleasantly smiling man, probably in his late fifties or early sixties. He was mostly bald except for his mustache and tufts of spiky gray hair protruding from both sides of his head. He was wearing a fancy suit with a red jacket and blue pants.

I'm going to call him Mr. Moneybags, Kris thought.

"My name is Es Cade," the man introduced himself, handing out fancy cards to everyone. "I'm the mayor of Phenac City."

"The capital city of Orre," Wes remarked as he read the card.

"Exactly, and I can tell from your accent that you're Orrean, young man," Es Cade said. "And as for you, young lady," he told Kris, "I happened to be watching the Ranger tournament. I saw you battle against the madman who attacked us. For that, I'd say everyone present owes you a great debt. Ms. Erma informed me of your intentions of heading to Orre, and for that, I have something for you and your entourage…"

Mayor Es Cade handed Kris an envelope. Carefully opening it while eying the mayor suspiciously the whole time, Kris pulled out four plane tickets.

"My personal jet is departing towards Phenac City soon, so you won't find it in any publicly scheduled flights," Es Cade informed. "There are four available seats if you're interested. I'd be honored to have you fly with my other esteemed passengers."

"But not you yourself?" Hilda asked him suspiciously.

"Alas, there are still affairs I must see to here in Almia," Es Cade said. "Once my plane has dropped you off, it will return for me. But I'd be honored to invite you for dinner during your stay in Phenac!"

"Thanks, Mr. Mayor," Kris said smoothly. "We'll, uh, think about it and be in touch."

"Of course!" Es Cade said cheerfully and bowed. "My number is in the card. Excuse me."

As the jolly mayor walked away, Kris gestured at the others to come closer, as if they were discussing state secrets.

"What do you think?" she asked. "I don't buy that. There are people out there who want to hurt us. Boxing us into a private plan is a great way to do that, I'd say!"

"Kris, you're even paler than usual," Lunick remarked, "and you're sweating. Are you sure you're not just being paranoid? I know what happened yesterday might have, what's the word… rattled you?"

"Rattled?!"

"That's not the word I was seeking, then," Lunick muttered.

"Wes, you know something about this Es Cade guy, right?" Kris snapped.

"Sorry, Kris," Wes said with a shrug. "I don't follow politics or current event much. And I can't believe I'm saying this, but a ride on a private jet to Orre? Sign me up, even if it is charity from some rich douche!"

"I sort of agree with Kris," Hilda pondered, "but it's also a good deal. What troubled me is that he's not flying it himself…"

"Exactly!" Kris practically shouted.

"I'll look into it, there's still time before that plane leaves," Hilda said. "You three stay put and don't do anything stupid, I'll make sure we're not heading into a trap."

As Hilda left, Lunick put his hand on Kris' shoulder reassuringly.

"See, she's on the case," he said gently. "I haven't actually been on these machines before. This should be fun!"

~o~O~o~

Location: Mayor Es Cade's plane, in flight above Almia

"This isn't fun at all," Lunick groaned as he lifted his head from the brown paper bag he had been buried in for the last thirty minutes.

Completely surprising Kris, every little detail Hilda had inspected had turned out to be clear. Kris and company were not the only passengers, as the plane was also carrying dignitaries, Es Cade's staff members, a prestigious string quartet and a four-member rock band Wes seemed to know but refused to talk about and that he kept his eyes on the entire flight. Kris had also called Erma, and indeed gotten confirmation that Erma and Es Cade had spoken about arranging the flight.

On top of that, Hilda hadn't noticed any sabotage as she spied on the plane and had even personally roughed up the pilots and flight attendants for any suspicious information, coming up with nothing. So, reluctantly, Kris had agreed to get on the plane. However, for the first thirty minutes anyway, the flight went by in silence. As Kris was chewing on her nails nervously on her seat, Lunick couldn't bear open to his mouth due to nausea. On the benches opposite to the two, Wes kept staring at the loud-mouthed Almian rock band and Hilda, the only one who appeared completely calm, kept staring out of the window.

It was Hilda who was the first to speak up, gesturing at the others to lean in closer as well.

"I think it's about time I told you what's up," she said quietly, "no one is paying any attention to us anyway, and from what I can tell, this place isn't wiretapped. Still, I'll keep it general enough just in case."

"Enough with the secrecy, Hilda!" Kris snapped. "People are dying here, this is serious."

"That's why I'm doing this," Hilda said grimly. "First of all, a confession. Don't get all 'how could you' and 'I'm never trusting you again' or some of that crap on me, but… the Pokémon League isn't who I'm working for now. Mostly, anyway."

Kris, Wes and Lunick just stared at Hilda, waiting for her to continue. She certainly seemed to enjoy how all eyes were on her.

"I was sent by an organization that recruits powerful trainers who've proven their abilities," Hilda said. "An organization that aims to fight threats that normal people can't deal with. Our name is pretty much irrelevant, but the official title is 'Extranormal Operations', or EXO."

"I like BTS better," Kris remarked.

"Yeah, yeah, I've told them to reconsider the name several times, but the point is," Hilda said quickly, "that the threat that people like Pryce pose is exactly our caliber. Don't think you guys or those show-offs from the Legendary Pokémon Society are the only people aware of Giratina's influence in this world. Ever since the Masked Man appeared in Johto, we've known who he got his power from, and we've seen it time and time again, with Latias, Cyrus and now again with Pryce and these Circle-jerks."

"What's your point?" Wes asked.

Hilda rolled her eyes and looked at Kris. "I hope you're not as dense as Wesley here," she told her. "I'm saying, we're looking for people to join us, and we want someone who's shown us they've got what it takes. Like you."

Kris frowned, the things that Hilda was talking about making her remember something.

"Cheren told me something similar," she said as she frowned at Hilda. "He said he was also recruiting trainers."

"I'm sure he was, he's the one who originally got me this job," Hilda said tensely. "We haven't talked to each other in a while and our friendship has kinda soured over the years, but I'm still grateful to him. That said, he probably had his own interests in mind when he was trying to get you."

"And you don't?" Wes asked incredulously.

Hilda shrugged. "I don't have any particular stake in this. I'm doing this 'cause it's my job now. But if you want my personal opinion, Kris would fit right in. She's already pretty good. With our training, she could be great."

"Don't even consider it, Kris!" Wes said, leaning closer to the contemplating Kris. "You already know what a dirtbag Cheren is, and if she's working for the same people as he is-"

"Cheren has already been punished for being a selfish prick," Hilda interrupted. "And you didn't even let me finish. Kris isn't the only one we're interested in."

Wes scoffed and laughed darkly. "Yeah, sure, I'll get right back to you about that," he said in contempt. "Seriously, the one time I've worked on a case with the Pokémon League people, I got nearly killed."

"I'm confused," Lunick said. "So is she working for the League or not?"

Wes just grumbled something for an answer, but Kris tried her best to explain:

"The Pokémon League is controlled by the Pokémon Association, which is the main government that oversees most of the world's regions. Basically, almost every basic eight-gym, four-Elites, one-Champion region, plus a few others. And apparently the people Hilda works for are at least as high as that, if not even higher."

"There are layers and even more layers of secretive groups who pull the real strings behind the Pokémon Association," Wes said. "And don't look at me like that!" he barked at Lunick, who didn't seem to buy it. "I'm not some loony with a tinfoil hat, I've seen how they operate!"

"What purpose would a hat made of tin serve?" Lunick asked sincerely, making Wes groan.

"We're interested in you as well, Lunick," Hilda said. "I've seen your stuff many times over when we were fighting Team Aqua, Team Galactic and now Team Dim Sun. You're not only a skilled trainer, but your combat skills are just what we need."

"He's going to be punching evil Pokémon now?" Kris wondered.

"The EXO program doesn't just make great trainers," Hilda said proudly, "it molds people into fighters, tacticians – warriors, you could say. And combat is just one side of us. We also do extensive research and development, but every facet of our operations has the same end: to defeat powerful forces who seek our destruction. Forces like Giratina and its minions."

"So you've also been… molded?" Lunick asked carefully.

Hilda smiled. "I was pretty badass before that, of course," she said with as much modesty as she was capable of. "But yeah, after the Navel Rock incident, they began training me to make sure I wouldn't repeat my mistakes. I owe them a lot."

"I don't know what you think, Kris," Lunick said, "but to me, this sounds amazing. It sounds like the chance for all of us to become similar warriors that still existed in my time."

"Hey, there's plenty of 'em still left here, even without some shadowy government programs!" Wes protested. "Don't act so high and mighty just 'cause you're 300 years old!"

"Wes!" Kris snapped, causing Wes to fall awkwardly silent. "Hilda, I need more info before I can tell you anything," she said. "The three of us are the only people you've scouted, then?"

Hilda laughed. "Aww, worried you're less special, Kris?" she asked mockingly, annoying Kris. "Of course you're not. In fact, I only asked time traveler boy here 'cause two of your more interesting friends-"

"Hey!" Lunick protested.

"-already left," Hilda continued like she hadn't been interrupted. "And if I can help it, I'll still try to get Iris and Lyra to join-"

"Lyra too?!" Kris hissed indignantly. "Why is she so special?"

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but has she not been there every time you've fought against the forces of evil or whatever?"

"Well, you're wrong!" Kris said. "She wasn't with me on Mt. Silver running for my life from Pryce. She wasn't almost drowned by Team Aqua. She didn't join us during our first trip to fight Cyrus on Mt. Silver. And she bailed on us way too many times-"

"And she also saved your life once," Hilda said. "I've been paying attention."

Kris rubbed her forehead, a headache striking her. Hiding her face, she began to contemplate. The prophecies talked extensively about a possible successor to the legacy of Champion Red. And after everything she had done and experienced, she really wanted that successor to be her.

And not Lyra.

"Of course," Hilda continued, "if you're interested in joining, you still need to do something to prove your worth."

"What?!" Wes scoffed. "Even me? You know, if I even wanted to join."

"Especially you, Wes," Hilda said, "but especially especially you, Kris. We've taken the liberty of organizing another test for you. As for what it is, you'll see when we get to Orre."

The spiky-haired guitarist of the band Wes had been watching got up from his seat, heading to the front of the plane. Without a word, Wes got up and followed him. Kris didn't particularly care what he was doing, but as she didn't want him to cause trouble, she followed him.

And it was good she did, because at the entrance to the cockpit, Wes had grabbed the guitarist and smashed him against the wall.

"Okay, little Billy, start talking!" Wes snarled at him. "What are you and your band doing here? You hijacking this thing? You plan to take hostages? Tell me!"

"Get off me, man!" the guitarist complained and tried to shake himself loose. "We saw you on the plane, but we didn't want to say anything, 'cause it'd be, you know, awkward-"

"You almost killed me!"

"Like I said, awkward."

"What on earth are you doing?!" Kris cried, scaring Wes so much that he let go of Billy. "Have you lost it completely?"

"Kris, you don't understand!" Wes said quickly. "He and his band are ex-criminals!"

"You can't go accusing people of that because of your own insecurity issues, dude!" Kris said. "I knew that attitude was compensating for something..."

"Nah, it's true, we are," Billy said casually. "I think it makes our music more edgy, y'know. Like, we're down with the kids and stuff!"

"Oh," Kris said bemusedly. "Well… okay, keep up the good work. Though I gotta remind you that you're an ex-criminal, too, Wes!"

"I know," Wes sighed. "But these four are up to something! I knew trusting that massive mayor was a mistake!"

"We're up to nothing!" Billy protested. "Except good vibes and grooves, of course! We're sworn off our life of crime for good! We were invited by Mayor Es Cade to do a gig in Phenac City. He must have heard about how awesome our music is from Mr. Hall."

"Why were you going to the cockpit?" Kris asked the guitarist.

"Well, to thank Hall, of course!" Billy said like it was obvious. "By the way, it's pretty bogus that he gets to sit in there and catch the coolest view, I've never been in a plane before and I didn't even get a window seat!"

Kris and Wes glanced at each other. "Billy," Wes said slowly, "are you saying Blake Hall is in there, right now?"

Ca-chink!

"Right under your noses, in fact," a cold, smooth voice said.

Blake Hall, the middle aged Altru CEO with long black hair on a ponytail and pretty darn awesome sunglasses covering his eyes, stood behind Kris, Wes and Billy, having sneaked out of the cockpit, wielding an energy weapon similar to the one the Dim Sun Grunts used.

"Hands up," Hall said, Kris and Wes obeying immediately.

"Hey, Mr. Hall, chill out!" Billy told him. "I know you're mad about your company and all, dog, but you gotta get out of this game. We could be ex-criminal bros!"

"You too, Billy!" Hall snapped as he aimed his weapon at him.

"Is this because we didn't do that song you wrote in the Altru New Year's party?" Billy asked innocently. "'Cause no offense, but that song suck-"

Hall fired his weapon, a shock wave hitting Billy in the chest and sending him sprawled on the plane's floor, finally alerting the other passengers.

"My song does not suck!" Hall snapped, then addressed the other passengers. "Attention, everyone! From now on, I'm in charge of what happens in this plane! Everyone do as I say and no one gets blasted! He'll be fine in a few seconds," Hall told Billy's siblings who had rushed to him. "I only used the stunner setting. But I won't hesitate to fry anyone who tries to stop me!"

"All right, Hall," Wes told him defiantly, "I don't know what your game is, but you're obviously mad at me, so-"

"Shut up, you redneck!" Hall snapped at him. "I'm not after you! I'm after her!" Hall waved his gun precariously at Kris.

"Oh," Wes said, deflating visibly.

Kris frowned. "Why me?"

"That idiot Kincaid told me about you," Hall said, keeping his eyes on Kris but also making sure the other passengers staid still. "You're the last person who was with Isaac."

"Did Pryce send you here to finish the job?" Kris asked Hall defiantly.

But Hall just snorted in contempt, the question clearly upsetting him. "PRYCE?!" he ranted. "That lunatic is the Grand Master's new pet now. I used to run Team Dim Sun, but that freak made all of them, even Kincaid, work for him instead. I'm doing this for me! Where have you hidden the little twerp?"

Kris looked at Hall in the eyes (or tried to, anyway), trying to gauge if he was really telling the truth.

"Then you don't know that Pryce killed him already?" she asked.

Hall just stared at Kris for a while in silence before shaking his head. "Damn it," he muttered. "Well, you still spoke to him last. And now you're going to tell me everything he told you… and give me anything he gave you!"

"If you're not doing this for Pryce, then why?"

"Insurance policy!" Hall said as if it was obvious. "I'm a wanted man! I'm gonna need a bargaining chip to get a good deal. After Kincaid was caught red-handed with the Capture Stylers, I checked Altru's server logs – and it turns out Isaac had been copying all our sensitive data left and right, probably with the same intentions. I bet he put it all on his little Poké Ball flash drive, didn't he?"

"And who exactly are you gonna bargain with?" Wes asked Hall. "Your company's finished."

Hall chuckled. "You kids really have no idea," he said obnoxiously. "Altru Inc was just a small part in a much, much bigger puzzle. Our company's main purpose was to sell software, electronics, consumer goods, all kinds of things people would put their sensitive information to. Everything that happened in the Ranger Union, the company would know, and it would all be logged on our computers. And not only that, but thanks to our remote location, our servers were chosen to store info gathered from other regions as well! Every region with a Pokémon League wanted to dump their data on us! And Isaac cherry-picked the juiciest files!"

Kris had long since stopped keeping track of Hall's rambling and Wes seemed equally confused. Lunick was too busy being sick to help, but Hilda marched over to Hall without even caring about his weapon.

"Stop right there!" Hall shouted and aimed at Hilda. "I will shoot!"

"Yeah, I don't think you will," Hilda said casually, "because we have bigger problems."

~o~O~o~

In a back room of the plane, Hilda had opened a mysterious crate with no labels on it. And it became apparent why: there was a live bomb, complete with a cartoony timer ticking down, with about ten minutes left on the countdown. Hall, who had kept Kris and Hilda at gunpoint and forced them to go first, gasped when he saw that.

"Those bastards!" he snarled.

"You know something about this?" Hilda asked him.

"Yes, well… it's mine," Hall said sheepishly, "but it's not supposed to be live! I paid all of my remaining money to bribe it into the plane, and I was just supposed to use it as a deterrent! I'm not crazy enough to arm it while I'm in the plane!"

"I have to think of something to say to the passengers," Hilda said. "You two talk it out."

Hall didn't even seem to realize that his hostage situation had completely fallen out of his control. As Hilda left the room, he was alone with Kris, yet could do nothing but panic about the bomb.

"All right, you have a deal," Kris said tensely. "You just… disarm this thing and maybe we'll talk about what I heard from Isaac. You do know how to disarm this, right?"

"Of course!" Hall replied as he wiped sweat off his forehead. "But… then what?"

"...what?"

"I brought live explosives into this plane!" Hall panicked. "I've taken people hostage… and when the plane lands, the police will be there. I can't go to jail!"

"Well, you should have thought about that before you brought a bomb into a plane!" Kris snapped.

"No, you don't get it!" Hall ranted. "I can't go to jail because I'll never see the inside of a prison cell. I was trusted with the biggest secrets in the world and I lost them! They'll eat me alive – literally!"

"Who they?" Kris wondered, but the beeping of the bomb snapped her out of it. "Never mind! Can you just please disarm that thing?"

Hall stared at the bomb for a while, then slowly turned to look at Kris, weapon pointed at her.

"No," he just said, face pale and moist with sweat.

"Um… can you reconsider?" Kris asked awkwardly, raising her hands again. "Be cool, Blake!"

"No!" Hall yelled. "Forget it! This info isn't worth dying over! I'm out of here! There's parachutes on board, right?! I'll grab me one of them – better make it two or three, actually – and get the hell out! You people can stay here!"

"Don't be an idiot!" Kris snapped. "Weapon or not, everyone on this plane will take you out before you even get your hands on a parachute! Just put the gun down and-"

But Kris didn't get to finish her sentence as Blake Hall pulled the trigger. Kris' words got caught in her throat as she saw a bright flash of light, and as she felt the impact of an electric shock on her body, she was out cold in a second.

~o~O~o~

…

…

...

Huh?

I must have overslept. Arceus, I just want to stay at home. School's probably started already. And stupid Lyra will be there…

Kris got out of her bed, sweeping her disastrously messy hair off her face and somehow managed to stand up, even if everything was a bit hazy. Putting on the slippers next to her bed to avoid the cold floor of her basement, Kris shuffled over to her bathroom, hoping her mother would be at work already. She wasn't interested in hearing a lecture about how she was sleeping her future career away.

As she got to the bathroom sink to wash herself, though, she immediately realized something was off. Seeing herself in the mirror, she wasn't in her pajamas, and her black hair wasn't messy at all – well, not morning-messy, anyway, but tied on her usual pigtails. And she was wearing her usual yellow cap, pink top, jacket with sleeves that were a bit too long and worn-out jeans.

Welp, that's it, game over. I'm dead. I'm dead and back in the basement. Fitting as a purgatory, though still not the worst I could think of.

I wonder if it was just Hall's blast that did it and the others got to him… or did the bomb explode? How could I know?

Or am I just sleeping? Only one way to find out…

"Ouch!"

Kris rubbed her arm after pinching it painfully.

Okay, I'm not sleeping either. What the hell is this?

"Excellent question!"

Kris looked at mirror for the source of the voice and quickly backed away at what was suddenly staring at her: the face of, what she assumed to be, a Pokémon, albeit nothing like Kris had ever seen before. It was small and floating in mid-air, mostly pink and gray with yellow and green eyes and a wide grin on its face, like with a Gengar. Around the two gray horns on the side of its head were golden rings.

"That's it?!" the Pokémon asked her, talking in a way no Pokémon had done before. Mewtwo and Latias had been capable of speech, sure, but through telepathy. But this little impish Pokémon was clearly moving its mouth.

"Oh, come on, you've got to do better than that!" the Pokémon said as it literally emerged out of the mirror. "You're so darn jaded. Just because you've seen monsters capable of destroying continents you think you've seen it all!"

"'Cause something about this feels familiar," Kris muttered, realizing she was safe. "It's like… like when me, Lyra and Wes were absorbed by Darkrai."

As the words left her mouth, the bathroom, basement and everything else around her suddenly shattered into pieces, replaced by a white void in which only she and the mysterious Pokémon remained.

"The name's Hoopa," the Pokémon said. "Darkrai and I may not have been the closest allies, but we're on the same side – and we have a common enemy. The beast of the Distortion World, the Renegade Pokémon, banished to the Distortion World millions of years ago. The creature whose only objective for the past five thousand years has been an attempt to return from its prison and reshape the world as it sees fit, shed from the curse of humanity."

"Giratina," Kris said.

"Oh, good, I was afraid I'd be expositing for hours," Hoopa sighed, doing a little loop in the air. "You're not as dumb as you look."

"Th – hey!"

"I'm kidding!" Hoopa laughed as it circled around Kris. "To answer your obvious questions, no, you're not dead, my face is much prettier than the Grim Reaper's. As Blake Hall's stunner left you unconscious, I was able to pull your mind to my little pocket dimension. Not to brag, but traveling between dimensions is kinda my expertise. As soon as you go back, you'll wake up and everything will be as it was before. Well..."

Hoopa's face suddenly turned sinister. "...if I let you go back, that is."

As Kris shuddered, Hoopa suddenly laughed again.

"Got you again!" it giggled. "Lighten up! Of course I'll let you go. You're a pivotal piece in our plan now!"

Kris frowned. "And whose plan would that be? You don't mean-"

Hoopa extended its hands, floating separately from its body, stopping Kris' train of thought. "Whoa there!" it said. "Don't go thinking too highly of yourself, now. I'm not a direct line to the big A. But yeah, let's say that there are… beings out there who have the power to influence things. Some are friendly. Others, not so much. Lucky for you I'm on the good guy side."

"And how can I believe you?" Kris countered.

"Because I have the knowledge that will help you stop Giratina's return to this world," Hoopa said with a big smile on its face. "Not like before, but permanently. Don't just take my word for it, though – I'll show you!"

Colorful "pieces" suddenly seemed to rain down on Kris as the world rebuilt itself, the void replaced by an altar of some kind in a dark, ruined temple. Kris was standing on top of a triangular stage, with a colored symbol in every corner of the triangle, though Kris had no idea what they meant. The room seemed to be sealed entirely with no exit – no doors or windows. Yet there were torches hung around the room, lighting up the place and exposing the writing on the wall.

The writing was like on the Ruins of Alph – part Unown letters, part Braille and mostly symbols which Kris couldn't decipher. And it was literally all over the place, filling the surface area of all four walls and even the ceiling.

"These are the Sinjoh Ruins," Hoopa explained. "This is where the ancient peoples of the Johto and Sinnoh regions gathered to worship Arceus and write down the first saga of the ancient prophecy."

"You mean… it's there," Kris said shakily as she pointed at the walls. "All I need to know about my destiny?"

"Your destiny?!" Hoopa squawked and laughed again. "Oh, Kris, you crack me up. You're not some mythical Chosen One. We haven't looked down on you since your birth or some phooey like that. Your actions are the things that define you. And your latest encounter with Pryce was the last thing you needed to do to prove us that you were worth the effort. You've done enough to be noticed by us."

Kris turned to look at the walls again, tired of Hoopa's mocking tone. As she looked at the prophecy, the strange symbols, all the ones she didn't understand, suddenly began to reform, the pieces of the puzzle coming together. As she read it, Kris could suddenly hear a voice in her head speaking the words with perfect clarity:

"Near the end of the cycle, the sky shall be darkened by a rain of fire from another world. On the place where life began, so does the invasion. On the place where everything began, so shall it end."

"Everything has meaning. Existence has meaning. Being alive has meaning. Have dreams. Use power."

"Let the two glittering stones, one in red, one in blue, connect the past. Friends sharing power open a gateway to a new world that glows. The next world awaits for you."

"On the year of Ho-Oh, a child rise to lead as the Champion on the eastern mountains. The virtuous Champion shall be saved from a fate worse than death by a worthy successor, marked by the seed of darkness."

"And it was said that the one to succeed the Champion of the people shall become the Transcendent One. The one that masters the seven virtues, born on the year of Suicune in the sacred place, will suffer. Through suffering, they shall be reborn. And as they are reborn, a new legend of the Transcendent One begins."

Shaking her head, Kris turned to look at the grinning Hoopa.

"Did you just do that?" she asked, eyes wide from the experience. After so many months of hearing vaguely translated pieces of the prophecy, to hear it all so clearly was overwhelming.

"Perhaps," Hoopa said elusively. "I gave you a nudge in the right direction. It's all thanks to the fact that your plane was over the Sinjoh Ruins as you were knocked unconscious. This allowed me to project you here."

"The year of Suicune…" Kris muttered with a big smile on her face. "The holy place… it all makes sense. It's me! It really is me!"

"Whoa, whoa, what did I just say about this not being your destiny, kid?!" Hoopa chuckled snidely. "Tell me, do you know anyone else born on the same year and in the same area as you, hmm? One also marked by a 'seed of darkness', as the most accurate translation says. People who have also gone through suffering and adventures, in the name of battling against the forces of evil and so on?"

Kris' eyes went even wider, but her smile disappeared. "Silver… and… friggin' Lyra!"

Kris turned to look at Hoopa. "But it can't be either!" she protested. "Silver bailed on us and rejoined his father. And Lyra… well it just can't be Lyra! Have you met her?!"

"Didn't I just tell you that I represent forces that can see all?"

"Well… yeah, that was a rhetorical question! Then you know what she's like! I'm not a selfish, rude, cowardly b… oh crap."

Hoopa just stared at Kris quizzically. After a few seconds of silence, it suddenly opened its mouth:

"Let me show you something," it just said.

Then, it floated out of the ruins through the door, into the white void. Hesitantly, knowing full well of the implications of "walking into the light", Kris followed it. But as soon as she stepped into the void, the environment around her seemed to change. She was back in the basement, only it wasn't like before. It was full of loud noises coming from the TV, and the laughter of two young girls on the couch watching it.

Hoopa was floating next to Kris as she watched the scene unfold around her. Of course, she recognized the two girls instantly. Both girls had pigtails, pale skin, brown eyes and were of similar height. The other had black hair and clearly didn't give a damn what she was wearing, the other had brown hair and looked much cleaner but with fashion sense making it seem like her mom had dressed her.

It was Kris and Lyra, from maybe five or six years ago. Cynthia, looking just as beautiful and glamorous as Kris remembered her being now, was battling against the handsome Lucian of the Elite Four, and just as Kris knew her, Cynthia was on fire – her Togekiss alone was powerful enough to take out two of Lucian's Pokémon, and she hadn't even used Garchomp yet. Kris even remembered the very second when Garchomp finally came on the screen and Kris and Lyra yelled so hard that Kris' mom woke up from her drunken stupor. When Cynthia won the battle, as expected, Kris and Lyra stood up and started bouncing and yelling and hugging…

Good times, Kris thought.

"Yes, I do remember my own life, this isn't exactly new information," Kris told Hoopa in a deadpan voice. "Can we go?"

"Are you sure?" Hoopa asked. "Maybe you remember what happened… but do you remember the meaning behind the events?"

"What meaning?!" Kris wondered. "Just me and Lyra, watching TV… back when we were still best friends."

"And you aren't anymore, yes," Hoopa stated. "Why don't I show you something else…"

"What is it now?" Kris asked sarcastically. "That time I just put on my mom's perfume instead of showering?"

"No, we don't have time for all those," Hoopa remarked. "Instead, we'll look into a future that never was. The beginning of your journey was quite a rocky one, no?"

"What part of this journey hasn't been?!"

"Well, you must have wondered at some point, what would it have been like had you given up on your dream had you lost the gym battle in Violet City."

"…you can do that?"

Hoopa just smirked, and before Kris could even contemplate on her answer, reality around her shattered and rebuilt itself again. Although it was still the basement, Kris was the same age as she was now, only much worse dressed and dirty, like she hadn't left the room in days. There were no Pokémon to be seen, no sign of Shrew and Croc. Kris saw this shaggy version of herself lazily collapse on her bed and turn on her laptop, eyes half-closed and body limp. It was painful for Kris to watch.

But then, there was a knock on the door. Kris watched the alternate version of herself just lounging there, not reacting in any way. When the knocking got more impatient, this other-Kris sighed and lazily got off the bed and walked up the stairs to the front door. Observing, the real Kris and Hoopa followed them.

As the parallel Kris finally got to opening the door, she was greeted by a bright sunny day – not the end of the world Kris had been hoping for. This was contrasted by a scarred, tattered Lyra storming in holding a sword, her Typhlosion, equally scarred with one nasty cut over its right eye, following suit. The real Kris watched the ensuing scene.

"Oh, thank goodness you're home, Kris!" Lyra gasped as she grabbed Kris by the arm. "Listen, I know it's been a while, but I have to tell you something."

"I've been fine, by the way," Kris answered Lyra lazily and shook the other girl off.

"Sorry, but there's no time for that!" Lyra pleaded, Kris eyeing the sword she was carelessly waving around. "I know this sounds hard to believe, but there's an evil Pokémon attacking the world. Everyone's going around, trying to find ways to stop it! Even professor Elm is there!"

"Huh, was wondering where he had disappeared to," Kris said disinterestedly. "And?"

"And… we need more people!" Lyra cried. "I've been leading the charge to find these plates that can save us all, but we're stretched too thin! You know a lot about Pokémon and battles, you gotta help us!"

"Can't," Kris answered while yawning. "I gave Croc back to the breeding center after Violet City. It didn't obey me anyway. And Shrew… well, best no to talk about that one…"

"Then we'll get you one!" Lyra pleaded and her Typhlosion hissed at Kris. "Haven't you always wanted to be a trainer? We've got some real powerful trainers working with us, we even have Cy-"

"Yeah, don't care," Kris interrupted, barely even listening. "And tell your rat over there to calm down before I spray a fire hose at it!"

Typhlosion exposed her teeth at Lyra, but Lyra merely had to look at her to calm her down. Realizing that Kris was serious, Lyra led Typhlosion out of the house and went after the Pokémon, though she turned at the doorstep to make one last plead.

"Kris, please, I don't think you understand," she said desperately. "The fate of thousands, maybe even millions is at stake! If we don't act, there might not be a New Bark Town soon!"

"Good," Kris answered plainly and shut the door on Lyra's face.

The real Kris could just watch this scenario unfold in horror. It wasn't what she saw that scared her the most – it was the fact that she didn't doubt this possible reality for a second. Fortunately, this reality shattered as well and Kris and Hoopa merely stood on a featureless white void again.

Kris stared at Hoopa. "Why did you show me that?" she asked, trying to fight the burning sensation in her throat. "How is that supposed to help me? Or this cause of yours for that matter?"

"Only you can answer that question, Kris," Hoopa said infuriatingly. "But tell me this – what did you pursue when you first began your journey?"

"I wanted to compete in the Silver Conference," Kris said, annoyed of the question, since she believed Hoopa knew anyway. "So I had to take these tests the Legendary Pokémon Society had prepared. They were to test, um, virtues-"

"The eight virtues, yes," Hoopa said. "Those are the qualities that make the so-called 'Transcendent One', a person to be held as the paragon for all that is good, etcetera. Honesty, compassion, valor, justice, sacrifice, honor, spirituality and humility. And you think a self-centered whiner like you has any of those in her?"

This set Kris off. "Oh yeah?!" she snapped. "Well I'll show you! I don't care if the Legendary Pokémon Society will never accept me! I'm going to keep working those trials and prove I've got what it takes."

"And your, err, rival?"

"I will beat her!" Kris hissed, squeezing her hands into fists. "I will show her who's transistor-whatever around here! Because this is my destiny!"

Hoopa smiled at her. "Just what I wanted to hear. And just in time too."

Kris frowned. "What?"

"It's time to wake up."

~o~O~o~

"...she's coming to..."

"...worried that she'd..."

"...give her some space..."

Kris' eyelids slowly opened and she was immediately greeted by roaring of an engine and the wind hitting her face. She quickly realized she was in motion, on the back seat of a jeep. Lunick and Wes were sitting next to her, concerned looks on their faces, Lunick grabbing Kris for a strong hug when he saw that Kris was awake, though he quickly let go as well.

"I'm sorry," he said. "You must still be a bit shaken up."

Kris didn't answer, instead sitting upright on her seat and looking at the front seat. Hilda and a tied up and gagged Blake Hall were there, and driving the jeep they were in, was a tall, blonde-haired woman clad in black. Kris could see her piercing gray eyes as she glanced at Kris from the rear-view mirror.

"Cynthia!" Kris gasped.

"She was amazing!" Lunick raved. "The pilots got an emergency message out and Cynthia happened to be in the area, so she, her Togekiss and her Garchomp soared in to make sure Hall wouldn't try anything. She got him to defuse the bomb and then guided the plane to a safe landing."

"Yeah, you missed a lot, Kris," Wes commented. "But it all happened so fast, too, it was like a dream."

"Dream..." Kris muttered. "The Sinjoh Ruins..."

Cynthia glanced at Kris again. "You're still a bit disoriented," she commented. "There was talk of taking you to a hospital, but I know that the mystical energy of the ruins may have affected you somehow. It happens quite often – everything around those ruins is like the Bermuda Triangle."

"So we were flying above the ruins..." Kris said quietly. "And Cynthia helped us land safely? Then what?"

"Your friends told me you're going to Phenac City," Cynthia said plainly. "And that's where we're going. I'm afraid I can't tell you much more about the area, though," Cynthia added, guessing what Kris had in mind, "it's top secret Legendary Pokémon Society business for now. You understand, right?"

"Yeah," Kris sighed. "I understand."

Now wasn't the time to question what had happened when Kris was out. To Kris, what Hoopa had told her was far more important. She knew it wasn't a dream, as she vividly remembered every moment. It couldn't be a hallucination either. She now knew something she previously hadn't, and it was time to put this knowledge to the test.

---

A/N: Woo, updoot, hopefully more coming, peace my friends~