Chapter Eight: Clash of the Elements, Part 1

Location: Slateport Contest Hall, Slateport City, Hoenn

"Kris' log, day 54 in Hoenn. It has been a strange – not to mention really hot, considering it's, like, fall - morning full of omens. Last night, I dreamed that I was sealed in a glass box, yet somehow able to breathe. I watched helplessly as the ones who I cherish the most – both of them – were drowned by a massive tidal wave. In the end I was left all alone at the bottom of a dark, endless ocean."

"A good sign for a bright new day, don't you think?"

"Though my brief three-day training period with the Kimono Girls back in Johto had drained me of all my energy, it was practically an extended vacation at the Sevii Islands compared to week we spent at Norman's. It wasn't enough that whenever I was training my Pokémon, he had to scream into my ear like that guy from that cooking show, but he also whipped us into shape, almost literally. May had little problem with the physical training while me and Brendan were almost ready to retire and live the rest of our lives as berry farmers. This Pokémon business is hard work!"

"Even for all of May's bravado, though, she was unable to beat Norman, though he had been right, she did last longer than Brendan. I'm not surprised. Swish! May got a chance to see her family in Littleroot, but after that, both she and Brendan seemed to be awfully obsessed with getting somewhere fast. Much as Brendan's complained, though, he joined us when we traveled around northeast mainland Hoenn and May got a badge from Winona, the gym leader of some freaky town where people live in trees. As for myself... well, see, it's not like getting badges is everything that matters in life. May caught a Wailmer near the Safari Zone and I managed to make my sweetie-pie Ralts evolve into a fancy Kirlia. Now, it's finally time for Brendan to earn his Hyper Rank ribbo-"

"Nailed it!"

"Wow, Brendan, you didn't even leave me enough time to complete my sentence!"

Kris and Brendan high-fived as Brendan showed off his Tough Contest Ribbon that he attached to his Swampert, who had evolved from Marshtomp during the training with Norman. May's Combusken had also evolved into a feisty Blaziken during the battle against Winona. Kris would pay to see those two work off their constant tension.

With a Pokémon battle – obviously. Just a shame Brendan would never agree to it.

During Brendan's Contest, May was leaning against a wall, eyes closed and looking annoyed, even talking through gritted teeth.

"Don't you feel any shame, Brendan?" May asked, to which Brendan just looked confused and oblivious. "You're making a powerful Pokémon like that doll up, forcing it to prance and showboat in front of people. That's against their true nature!"

"I suppose their 'true nature' is fighting anyone their trainer orders them to?" Brendan countered.

"Yes!" May snapped. "Well, maybe not the 'trainer orders them to'-part, but... yeah, it so is their true nature! My dad's a scientist on Pokémon behavior, I ought to know!"

"Real convincing argument there, May."

"Yeah, well – your hat looks stupid!"

As May stomped off, Kris rolled her eyes at the lame insult, though Brendan held his chest and looked extremely offended. Kris glanced at his hat.

"I don't think it looks stupid," Kris comforted, "though I don't think I've seen you without it. I think you'd look good if-"

But as Kris reached to take Brendan's hat off, Brendan yelled and practically slapped her hand away. Kris raised her eyebrows at this behavior while Brendan blushed.

"Sorry," he said awkwardly. "I just... rather wouldn't."

Kris sighed as Brendan turned to stare after May. How much longer would she have to put up with this silly drama?

However, Brendan did a complete one-eighty and practically snapped his head back when he heard excited Contest Fans squealing about something, pointing in their general direction.

"There they are!" one of them screamed.

"My reputation has reached all the way over here," Brendan said smugly. "Oh, well, I love my fans – I'll sign until my hand is sore if I need to."

"What did they mean by 'they'?" Kris asked hopefully.

"Me and my Swampert, of course!"

"Oh."

But as Brendan prepared himself, the contest fans rushed right past him and towards the Contest Hall's entrance. As Kris and Brendan turned to look, they spotted a reporter woman from Hoenn TV and a cameraman talking with someone Kris couldn't see, the contest fans swarming around them blocking them from sight even further.

"Hey!" Brendan complained. "What gives?!"

"Was there another contest going on?" Kris asked.

"Yeah, the Beauty Contest was on at the same time," Brendan said. "Most of the crowds went to watch that," he added bitterly. "I was supposed to try getting that ribbon tomorrow."

"...you wanna eavesdrop?"

"Damn right I do!"

Brendan thanked Swampert for a good contest and withdrew it. Then, he and Kris walked casually towards the crowd, listening intently to what they were talking about. This wasn't too hard, as the Contest fans were grave silent, as if they weren't even breathing, as they listened to whomever it was being interviewed.

"...many deeds around Hoenn," the interviewer, Gabby, spoke into her microphone. "Now you and your Typhlosion have successfully managed to get a Hyper Rank Beauty Contest Ribbon and you're making a name for yourself in Coordinator circles, yet you still call yourself an amateur, right? Amazing – heroic and modest. Tell me, how do you do it?"

"Oh, I'm nothing special," said a voice so eerily familiar it made the hair on Kris' neck stand up. "Well, okay, maybe a little special. It takes hard work to train a Pokémon team to its peak like I do, and my earlier experience in Johto – I'm sure everyone remembers me from the Silver Conference – really helped. But you must have something special as well. Take me, for instance – I know the hearts of the Pokémon, I can read the feelings of my team. Together, we're an unstoppable juggernaut of a team!"

"Amazing," Gabby said again, though she sounded a bit strained. "Well, we... what's that?"

Gabby held her finger against her earpiece. Kris couldn't see her expression past the crowd, but her voice suddenly became a lot more enthusiastic.

"Ty, wrap it up – we'll edit this into a filler piece later!" she said. "We've got a real scoop by the harbor!"

"Hey, hold on!" the interviewee complained. "What about me?"

"You didn't think it'd last forever, did you?" Gabby said cruelly. "We've been making you look good for weeks. Just face it, honey – your fifteen minutes are over. Come on, Ty, move it!"

With that, the crowd dispersed, losing interest the moment the TV people left. With the crowd gone, Kris could plainly see the interviewee: Lyra, standing in the same spot looking confused and dejected. Even her big marshmallow-y hat looked deflated. All this amused Kris greatly, and she was about to point and laugh when Brendan ran past her and almost tackled Lyra as he hugged her.

"Ly!" Brendan squealed.

"Whatnow?" Kris wondered.

"Oh, hi, Bren," Lyra said lifelessly (Kris continued to be confused), not really responding to Brendan's hug. "Sorry, this is really not a good time..."

"But I want you to meet a new friend of mine!" Brendan insisted as he let go of her. "Lyra, this is-"

"Kris?!" Lyra exclaimed in surprise and annoyance.

"Lyra," Kris muttered.

Brendan looked between both of them in confusion.

"Um," he said uncertainly. "So you two already-"

"We're neighbors," both Kris and Lyra said at the same time.

"Well this is wonderful~!" Brendan singsonged, ignoring the tension entirely. "My two best friends know each other!"

"Um, just be glad May isn't around to hear that," Kris pointed out. "And what about that Wilbur kid?"

"Oh, Wally," Brendan pondered. "Yeah, well, uh, what I meant was, two of my best friends..."

"Anyway, what are you doing here, Lyra?" Kris asked, ignoring Brendan's musings. "I'm sure there's some toothpaste commercial running in Pacifidlog Town where you haven't crammed your mug into yet."

Lyra scoffed. "You can't just make up a town to insult me," she snorted. "Anyway, for your information, I'm entering the Hoenn League. Even if I already had all the badges I needed, I traveled around the place and easily got badges from Wattson and Winona."

Kris was stung by her loss at Winona – and she hadn't even had the chance to fight Wattson. That meant she was still one badge short of the eight needed. But it was okay – all she had to was get a witty response in and Lyra would totally feel embarrassed!

"Um..." Kris muttered. "Yeah, well, um... yeah!"

Okay, not one of my best.

"And what are you doing in Hoenn?" Lyra asked. "Not planning to compete in the league, are you? Sorry, Kris, but the level of the trainers here is above Johto's, and I don't think they look kindly on people who only got to compete last time on a technicality. You're welcome to watch me from audience, though!"

Kris ground her teeth together, feeling a forehead vein about to pop, trying as hard as she could to avoid screeching at Lyra. The weirdest thing was that Lyra didn't say it in a mean, condescending way – she had a completely earnest expression on her face as she spoke.

"Uh... so, I wonder where May went," Brendan said awkwardly.

"Eh, probably to the harbor as well," Kris shrugged. "I was supposed to... oh, crud! Iris! I was supposed to meet up with her there!"

"Who?" Brendan wondered.

"Never mind, it doesn't concern you!" Kris snapped. "Let's just go!"

But as Kris and Brendan started heading towards the harbor, they stopped to see Lyra following suit as well.

"What?" Kris asked harshly.

"I can come with you guys, right?" Lyra asked cheerfully, as if there wasn't any tension in the air.

"Of course you can!" Brendan said.

"Yeah, what he said, I guess, but without the 'of course'," Kris grumbled. "Why would you want to, though?"

"Hey, maybe I want to see Iris, too!" Lyra said perkily, though she quietly added: "And I guess I have to see what there is so much more important than me..."

~o~O~o~

Location: Slateport Harbor, Slateport City, Hoenn

A crowd of people had gathered around the harbor, and the explanation for it was quickly found. Three people stood at the entrance of the building, with Captain Stern at the front being interviewed by Gabby. He looked like he was sweating and generally not having a good time, but he still answered the questions dutifully. Behind him were his assistant, Dock, and to Kris' surprise, Mr. Briney, with Peeko the Wingull sitting on his shoulder.

As Kris tried to navigate her way through the crowd, hearing Brendan and Lyra chatting happily about what they had been up to behind her, something suddenly tugged her arm. It almost gave Kris a heart attack, but it only turned out to be May, who said something which Kris couldn't hear over the prattle of the crowd, so she followed her away from the crowd, Lyra and Brendan in tow.

Finally, away from the crowds, Kris spotted a familiar face sitting on a bench by the sea, chatting with Professor Ivy. And indeed, as May called out to her, Kris saw someone with lots of long, curly purple hair turn around from her conversation. Her face lighting up, Iris immediately abandoned Ivy and rushed over to glomp Kris, all the while yelling her name. As happy as Kris was to see her again, this was something she did not appreciate.

"Yeah, nice to see you, too," Kris grunted as Iris helped her back up.

"Oh my goodness, I have to show you something awesome," Iris prattled so quickly that Kris was amazed she didn't bite her tongue. "Professor Ivy helped me get the awesomemest Pokémon ever, like, a friend from Kalos sent it to her and you've got to see it and-"

"Hi, Iris!" Lyra greeted pleasantly.

Iris was shocked to see her at first, and then, as Kris predicted, attack-hugged her in the same way as Kris, knocking Lyra to the ground.

"People really like doing that to me today," Lyra laughed as she and Iris got up. "How've you been?"

"Oh, amazing!" Iris squealed. "But what about you?! I mean, is it true you fought Team Aqua all by yourself at the Weather Institute?"

"Well, with my Pokémon," Lyra amended. "And I'm not saying that they went down in less than fifteen minutes, but... well, let's just say they went down real fast. Like, in less than ten minutes!"

Kris wondered if there was a bucket close by she could throw up into.

"You've got to see this cool Pokémon, too, Lyra!" Iris beamed, then seemed to notice Brendan standing awkwardly in the background. "Um... hi?"

"Hi!" Brendan greeted, glad to be noticed. "Uh, I'm Brendan. Nice to meet you, Iris!"

Iris glanced at May. "That Brendan?"

May nodded, while Brendan looked confused. Iris decided to just politely smile and nod at Brendan before running over to the railing at the edge of the shore. Kris, Lyra, May and Brendan gathered close to her and watched as she whistled into the sea, seemingly at something that wasn't there.

However, mere seconds later, something emerged from the sea and swam scarily quickly at the group. It was a big, dragon-like Pokémon that looked like it could kill you with a deadly neurotoxin in three seconds. It was mostly brown and purple with a long, thin body and a red, leaf-like crest on top of its head.

Kris was about to yell at Iris to take cover, but the Pokémon just swam to her affectionately and allowed Iris to pat its head like it was a friendly Growlithe. Relieved, she scanned the thing.

"Dragalge," SkrillDex informed her. "The Mock Kelp Pokémon, Dragon- and Poison-type, the evolved form of Skrelp. Its poison is strong enough to eat through the hull of a tanker, and they spit it indiscriminately at anything that enters their territory. Tales are told of ships that wander where Dragalge live, never to return."

"Cool," Kris said appreciatively. "Nice touch."

"Indeed. Tales of dead humans amuse me so."

"Me too," Kris chuckled before realizing something. "Hey, you didn't say 'meatbag' this time!"

"...going into standby mode."

"Love you too," Kris remarked at the PokéDex, happy to one-up the thing for once.

"I raised Dragalge from a tiny Skrelp, and only about two weeks after I got it, it evolved!" Iris narrated to everyone, Lyra taking a picture of it. "Isn't it cute?"

"Eugh, no," Brendan said, prompting May to slap him on the head. "Ow! I mean, well, from a certain perspective..."

"You've trained it well," Lyra observed. "And that might be the fastest I've heard anyone evolve a dragon-type. Have you bottled any of its poison to use against your enemies?"

"Um, well, not yet, anyway..."

"What's going on with Stern?" Kris asked Ivy, who was relaxing on the bench slightly away from everyone, a cigarette in her mouth and eyes fixed at staring the sea, having most likely seen the Dragalge a million times by now.

"He's a real big shot now, even to people outside Slateport," Ivy said, still staring at the sea for some reason. "The submarine and the pod are just about ready, so no doubt they'll be putting him into the news around the whole country. Feel free to go see him if you want – I think the interview is about to wrap up."

"Oh, I definitely wanna see the submarine!" May said enthusiastically.

Iris withdrew Dragalge, and together, the five left Ivy to smoke and apparently contemplate her life as they headed back to the harbor's entrance. There was still a crowd around the harbor, but not as big as before. Kris and the group inches as close as possible to hear the interview without butting in the way.

"...yes, indeed," they heard Stern say nervously. "We intend to, um, move ahead with our exploration."

"Amazing, Captain Stern," Gabby said in fake fascination. "Well, I'm sure the nation wants to know, what do you intend to find with this amazing new submarine?"

"Well, that's the interesting part," Stern said dryly, prompting Gabby to roll her eyes, clearly expecting more crowd-pleasing answers, "it's not actually a submarine but a submersible, but I digress. Now, as for what we want to f-"

"HELLO? IS THIS ON? COME ON, YOU ALL CAN HEAR ME OUT THERE, RIGHT? I WANT SOME GOOD, PANICKED REACTIONS, PEOPLE!"

Everyone looked around them wildly, looking for the source of the suddenly blaring voice addressing them. It was very rough, static-y and ear-splitting, seeming to come from a very old and badly wired but also very massive loudspeaker.

"THAT'S MORE LIKE IT! ATTENTION, WORTHLESS SCUM! FROM THIS DAY ONWARD, YOUR SUBMARINE BELONGS TO TEAM AQUA! DO NOT WORRY, IT WILL BE USED FOR SOMETHING FAR BEYOND ANYTHING YOU PEONS COULD ACCOMPLISH. BEFORE THE DAY IS THROUGH, YOU ALL WILL SEE A NEW, BETTER WORLD. WELL, THOSE OF YOU WHO MANAGE TO AVOID DROWNING, THAT IS. TA!"

"Oh, not this crap again," Kris grumbled.

"Team Aqua?!" Gabby exclaimed. "Ty, keep rolling, this is far more interesting than that nerd stuff!"

"Hey!" Stern protested. "Well, on second thought..."

"Hold on a second, it's Lyra!" Gabby yelled and pointed at the girl in question, who wasn't to keen when Ty turned the camera at her. "She'll save us from Team Aqua! Go on ahead, hero from Johto! We're counting on you!"

Lyra looked like a panicked kid who had just been caught drawing on the walls or something. Kris, however, relished in the situation.

"Well, go on, 'hero from Johto'", she said cruelly as she pushed Lyra towards the harbor. "We'll be right behind you!"

Lyra let out a nervous laughter, but with the camera pointed at her and a crowd of people cheering for her and chanting her name, she had little choice.

"Well, come on gang!" Lyra boasted. "Let's head inside and drive those evildoers out of there!"

"Yes, let's get in!" said Captain Stern, who followed Lyra, Kris and the others inside. "If they've done anything to my submarine..."

Lyra let her Typhlosion, Scorch, out of its Poké Ball the moment she entered, Kris doing the same with Croc and May with Blaziken. Indeed, inside, Team Aqua grunts were packing inside the completed submarine that sat in the pool of water, ready to head off towards the ocean.

A bearded man wearing a blue bandanna stood in the middle of the room, talking into a headset that amplified his voice to an unbearable degree.

"YOU'RE TOO LATE TO STOP US!" his voice boomed even though he only stood a few yards away. "I AM ARCHIE, THE LEADER OF TEAM AQUA, AND YES, MY CHEST IS REALLY DAMN BUFF! ALSO, I WANT YOUR SUB!"

"We can hear you without that!" Kris yelled at him, hands on her ears. "Stop it!"

"STOP IT? WHY? YOU DO REALIZE I'M FRICKIN' EVIL, RIGHT?"

But Archie apparently grew weary of it, and tossed the headset away as he started retreating towards the sub.

"Oh, well, might as well," he gloated. "Let no one say I'm not cordial!"

"Well, I'm not!" May yelled at him. "Blaziken, get that creep! Use Blaze Kick!"

May's Blaziken charged at Archie, the ends of its feet set ablaze as it jumped towards Archie, only to be rebuffed when something emerged from the pool of water: a Sharpedo, who took the hit like it was nothing and knocked Blaziken backwards with a Skull Bash attack.

Archie cackled maniacally and jumped on top of the submarine, closing the hatch behind him while his Sharpedo jumped back into the water. Apparently they knew how to operate the sub, as it seemed to be already running, and submerged before anyone could stop it, disappearing as it sped away from the harbor and to the seas.

"Damn it!" Stern wailed. "The second submarine down the drain! Now we have to start again from scratch, those ************!"

"Language!" Brendan scolded. "You're on TV!"

Indeed, Gabby and Ty rushed into the harbor, followed by Dock and Mr. Briney, Peeko flying in tow as usual. Lyra decided to play it to the cameras.

"Oh, curse it, they got away!" she said and patted a confused Scorch on the back. "Oh, well, good effort, Scorch. We drove them out real nice!"

"This is great!" Gabby said oddly cheerily as she turned to face the camera. "Moments ago, the Submarine Explorer 2 was stolen by the criminal organization that has long plagued our great region, Team Aqua! But the fears of sea-nerds and stockholders everywhere can be put to rest, as the hero from Johto, the one who shall pull us out of this darkness, Lyra, has promised to retrieve the submarine and give Team Aqua what for!"

"What?!" Lyra exclaimed, her voice rising a few octaves as she said it. "I have?!"

Seeing her opportunity, Kris stepped in.

"Yes, she has!" Kris assured the news crew. "And we'll support her the best we can! Go, Lyra, the hero from Johto and... all that. Tell your viewers that – but could you leave us be for now, Lyra has to formulate a plan for us!"

"Kris," Iris hissed.

When Kris didn't listen, Iris pulled Kris slightly away from the others, letting Lyra, May and Brendan worry about placating Gabby and Ty.

"What are you doing?" Iris whispered.

"This is a golden opportunity," Kris countered, her mind running wild with scenarios, each one of them working for her favor. "We'll go in and take on that gang, and when Lyra utterly fails to do anything against them, it's time for us to step in. This could be my ticket to cash and glory!"

"Yours?" Iris wondered.

"Yeah, I said ours, you heard me," Kris whispered quickly. "Just leave it to me."

As Kris turned away from Iris, who still didn't look satisfied, Gabby and Ty had left while Captain Stern looked at the gang, desperation in his eyes.

"You'd really do that for us?" he asked, focusing mostly on Lyra. "Thank you, you heroic people! Thank you so much! Dock! Go run off and inform the navy about this, but tell them not to worry too much – Lyra's got this one, after all."

"Um, no," Lyra said meekly. "No need to tell them that..."

Dock saluted Stern and ran out of the harbor before Lyra got a chance to stop him, though. As he was gone, May suddenly yelled out and pointed at something in the corner.

A lone Team Aqua grunt had been hiding behind some boxes, but as the group spotted him, he tried to scurry away. He didn't get far, though, as something emerged from seemingly out of nowhere: a person, it seemed, who stopped the grunt's advance and pinned him to the ground.

The group ran to this person, and Kris recognized the tall, athletic brunette immediately.

"Oh, hi guys!" Hilda said casually like she wrestled down people all the time, the Aqua Grunt struggling in vain under her. "We heard about what happened – lot of chatter about it around the town."

"'We'?" Kris wondered.

Someone else rushed into the harbor, too, using a rear entrance, apparently. It was Wes, badly out of breath as he dashed into the room.

"Hilda, I think I saw that guy!" he yelled. "He was getting into a bus heading to Fallarbor – oh. Hi, everyone!"

"Do shut up, Wes," Hilda snapped, to which Kris was grateful for. "Yeah, we've been trying to find Team Aqua's lair ever since I screwed the Poochyena on a mission. We searched for weeks, until we finally found it early this morning outside Lilycove. Too bad it was empty by then, but we did manage to find a convenient note by their fridge – and then this guy right outside the city."

Hilda twisted the hapless man's arm up, almost popping his shoulder out of its socket.

"I'll talk!" the Aqua Grunt wailed. "I never said I would resist, anyway!"

"I know," Hilda said nonchalantly. "Where were you guys planning on heading?"

"I don't know that!" the grunt cried. "My alarm didn't work that morning and that note only said that the lair had been evacuated and that the 'moment of triumph' would go down in Slateport! That's all I know!"

"Well didn't you guys talk about your plans before that?" May asked.

"Yeah – I think," the grunt groaned. "I forgot to attend the big speech Archie had a few weeks ago. But, uh, I know Team Aqua is dedicated to expanding the world's seas and making this planet a better place – OW!"

"We wanted more than just the party line!" Hilda said ruthlessly as she twisted the man's arm some more.

"Didn't Archie say something about 'those who manage to avoid drowning'?" Iris pondered. "Are they going to flood Hoenn or something? Can they actually do that?" she asked Captain Stern.

Stern contemplated the question. "Well we are an island," he said thoughtfully. "But to actually bury the whole region underwater... I suppose they could do something to that effect by detonating an extremely powerful explosive underwater near the coast, but why would they do that? And how'd they get their hands on something that powerful? Besides, even that couldn't flood the whole region."

"Here's another theory," Kris suggested. "They're deluded and crazy."

"Hey!" the grunt complained, but Hilda put her knee on the man's neck, blocking his airways to stop him from talking.

"The most likely case is that they just stole the submarine to draw attention to their screwball cause," Kris theorized. "We've taken them on before, haven't we? And what did they accomplish at the Granite Cave? Or by trying to steal the Devon package? Or at the Weather Institute?"

"Back there, they were trying to steal some Pokémon who could predict the weather," Lyra said. "How that would aid their cause is up to anyone's guess..."

"Well, Alder seemed to take them seriously enough to allow me to guard the Blue Orb in case they stole it," Hilda said, "but besides that, I'm with Kris here. I want to stop those freaks!"

"Hey, whoa, hold on a minute!" Brendan spoke up, having been more concerned with posing for the camera before. "These guys are sort of the like the guys we fought at the Meteor Falls, right?"

"Yeah, and we beat them, what's your problem?" May wondered.

"This is bigger than that time," Brendan insisted. "Kris, didn't that Steven guy leave you information on how to contact him in case of, oh, I don't know, stuff like this happens?!"

May slapped Brendan on the cheek.

"Calm down!" she yelled.

"Wow, you really enjoy smacking him," Iris commented.

"Yyyeeaaah, he did," Kris said evasively, trying to think of something to say to that. "But, see, with everything we've done against Team Aqua, there really can't be that many left active, right? We don't need to bother ol' Stevie with something like this."

"Kris," Iris said, "you really should-"

"That's the spirit, lass!" Mr. Briney spoke up, making the others flinch – they'd forgotten he was even there. "We shouldn't waste time arguin' about it, we should be in hot pursuit! And since our hero Lyra has volunteered so bravely, what do you say me and Peeko take you to them with my ship?"

"Thank you!" Kris said. "We're in your debt!"

"I still don't think this is a good idea," Iris commented, "but something tells me things are about to get real nasty if I don't come along..."

"Well, I think this is a terrible idea," Brendan commented, "and I don't want to come along at-"

"You're coming," May said as she pulled Brendan by the ear, "and I'm right with you. I've had enough of these Team Aqua freaks."

Hilda let go of the Aqua Grunt, who looked completely lost and unsure of what to do.

"No way you're going without me," Hilda said. "You'd get your stupid asses killed without me there, anyway."

Kris looked at Wes expectantly, and Wes replied with an uncharacteristically somber nod and a slight smile.

"Right behind you, Kris," he said.

Everyone looked at Lyra for guidance. Put on the spot, Lyra started sweating, her eyes shifting between everyone in the group, but with Captain Stern looking at her in a particularly begging way, she sighed in resignation.

"Let's go, then," she moaned.

~o~O~o~

Location: Route 128, Hoenn

A while later...

An armada of ships was posted not too far from Ever Grande City. Sailors as well as water- and fighting-type Pokémon ran around the decks, everyone seeming to prepare for a big battle.

Captain Cutter, the man in command of the armada, stood on the bridge of the largest ship, staring through the window silently as he leaned against his sword. The old captain had assumed he'd never take place in a battle again, yet he was the first they called during his vacation in Hoenn.

A sailor ran to him, whispering something to his hear, which he just simply nodded to and looked out the window, to the side of the ship. Indeed, as he had been told, a tall, blue-haired man in a fancy white suit was riding a Milotic and heading towards the ship, waving at it cheerfully.

Wallace, the Hoenn League Champion, was accepted aboard the ship and taken to the bridge to talk with Cutter. The captain passed Wallace a pair of binoculars so he could assess the situation on the border of sea routes 128 and 127.

"Whoa, nice going!" he praised. "You sank quite a few of their ships already."

"Those are our ships, I'm afraid," Cutter said dryly. "The ones farthest from us are Team Aqua's."

"Really?" Wallace wondered, though he sounded more curious than disapproving. "But there's only three of them."

"We originally had to stop because a cluster of Wailmer and Wailord had blocked the bay," Cutter explained, and Wallace nodded approvingly. "Turns out Team Aqua had them set there for us. Once we were trapped, this thing swooped in from the sky and attacked our ships. Eventually we had to retreat, and at the moment, they have us locked in a stalemate. Same with our ships at Sootopolis, Mossdeep, Lilycove and even Slateport, according to a report I received ten minutes ago. Whatever it is that Team Aqua's doing, looks like they'll have complete privacy for it."

"Hmm, not necessarily," Wallace commented. "If one or two small vessels left Slateport before they blocked their harbor, they could have gotten through. What's this thing you spoke of?"

"Take a look," Cutter harumphed and pointed at the horizon.

Wallace zoomed in closer with the binoculars until he finally saw what Cutter was talking about. A large Pokémon shaped like a red and white plane was flying around, shooting blue spheres of energy around seemingly at random, destroying rocks and shipwrecks on its path as if it didn't realize it had already done the worst it could.

"Oh myyy," Wallace mused. "Who'd a thunk it?"

"You know that thing?"

"Yes, and I know someone who'd very much like to see it in the flesh. A few people, actually. Do you need me for anything more, or can I go make a call?"

Cutter nodded, allowing Wallace to leave. It didn't take long for the captain to leave the bridge as well, leaving his second-in-command in charge and retreating to his cabin. He wasn't at all surprised to see someone waiting for him in his chair, however.

"Captain Cutter," remarked Cheren, feet carelessly up on the captain's table. "I have an assignment for you."

~o~O~o~

Location: Around Route 129, Hoenn

Mr. Briney's boat shot across the waves, and in one hour, had already passed Pacifidlog Town, a little one-Horsea village constructed entirely on wooden rafts, built on top of a colony of Corsola. There, the group stocked up on supplies and continued towards where the locals had seen some of Team Aqua's ships head to. While Iris was explaining the specifics of her precious new Dragalge to a vaguely interested Wes, Hilda's Emboar was sparring with May's Blaziken on the deck despite Briney's protests and Lyra stared nervously at the horizon, not discussing or associating with the others.

To escape the oddly harsh sunlight that had seemed to just intensify throughout the day, Kris and Brendan went below the deck, Brendan being much more subdued than usual. Below deck, Shrew was running around, playing with Peeko, its claws unintentionally causing great damage on the furniture

"Thanks for coming along," Kris said sincerely while wiping some sweat off her forehead. "Ugh, you'd think the wind would help level this heat a little, but no, it's still bad. How do you people deal with this?"

"Well I usually just stay inside," Brendan muttered. "You know, sewing, studying new Contest moves, reading, that kind of stuff. And it's not a problem – I doubt May would have let me stay in Slateport, anyway. I don't know what she expects me to do, though."

Kris decided not to say anything to that. She just had to marvel at Brendan's cluelessness. They had traveled together over a month (thought it felt more like three months) and Kris hadn't seen Brendan pick up any signals.

"Yeah, speaking of," Kris said delicately. "I know you guys are... close friends, but she really does seem to like smacking you around. And she has this weird issue with Coordinators."

Brendan sighed. "Yeah, she's probably still mad about the time we've met."

"Oh, when you offered to make her clothes?" Kris asked, then realized her mistake as Brendan raised his eyebrows at her. "Oh, uh, May mentioned something about that when I asked her about her shirt... and stuff... I think... go on!"

"Well, my dad wasn't doing well with the Pokémon Association, as he had originally failed one of their aptitude tests in Johto years ago," Brendan explained. "You could say things got even more out of hand when a wild Salamence attacked me and May that day. I was taking care one of my dad's Pokémon and had no choice but to use it to fight Salamence off – though May kind of beat me in that regard as she was fighting that thing with rocks and a sharp stick."

Again, nothing could surprise Kris at this point.

"We managed to ward it off together, but I was careless. It was one of the first times I've ever battled, and I'd been studying about it before, and I did pretty well, but it still got my dad's Linoone as well as myself hurt. Dad got in some hot water with the Association and almost lost his job, so I wanted to forget the whole thing, but May insisted I became a Pokémon Trainer and tried to keep reminding me of this. I just... wanted to forget it ever happened."

"You fought a Salamence off with a Linoone?!" Kris said, impressed, not really interested in the other parts. "You?! That's amazing!"

Brendan shook his head. "No it wasn't. Did you miss the part where we got hurt? And May almost... no. I hate fighting."

Kris felt even worse for having Brendan dragged along for this. But that feeling didn't last long. Instead, Kris just became annoyed at their stupid drama. Unable to think of anything to comment on, Kris switched on her PokéGear radio:

"...to be the hottest day in Hoenn in years. The cause for today's heat-wave is still unspecified, but has already been reported to be an issue of concern by the Hoenn Weather Institute. Aaand this just in... continuing our special report on the crisis in east Hoenn. The Hoenn Maritime Self-Defense Force and the Coast Guard have reportedly issued a warning to all civilian ships in the area to evacuate immediately. Ports in Slateport, Mossdeep, Sootopolis, Lilycove and Ever Grande have been entirely sealed off."

Kris and Brendan flinched and Kris turned the radio off as they heard Mr. Briney shout from something from above deck:

"Young'uns, you might want to gather on deck to take a look at this!"

Kris whistled at Shrew, who followed her and Brendan above deck, where Iris, Lyra, Wes, May and Hilda were all gazing at something in the horizon. They had apparently crossed to the western portion of Route 128, according to Kris' map, and were very close to Sootopolis City, in an area difficult to navigate due to a thick cluster of small islands and tall rocks sticking out of the water.

Mr. Briney was at the helm, Peeko flying on his shoulder again. He was watching at something in the distance with a telescope.

"I see four ships gathered around a flat, barren island," Briney announced. "Either that's them or a particularly persistent bunch of Unovan tourists on a fun cruise... who apparently like to dress up as pirates."

"It's them," Kris said grimly and turned to face the others. "Okay, gang, I heard from the radio that we have the navy and the coast guard on our side, so there's no need to fear. But if we strike now, we'll look like heroes, and we'll get statues built for us, streets named after us and our faces will be plastered in worthless merchandise for decades even after we're gone!"

"You think about this way too much," Iris said. "Did you call Steven?"

"Hm? Oh... the line was busy. My PokéGear phone doesn't work way out here. It went to his voicemail. Something like that – just look! We don't need him. We're us! We fought them and Team Magma and many of us fought Team Rocket and Arceus knows what else. We took on the frickin' Masked Man!"

"Who's that?" May muttered at Brendan, who could only shrug.

"I mean, just look at them!" Kris continued to rant. "Look at their clothes! Look at their plans! They suck! We don't! Are we the prey? No! We are the hunters! And every time we run into them, it's usually them interrupting our fun times. Well not anymore! We're going on the offensive! Didn't any of you watch episode 78 of Proteam Omega?"

"No," said Iris.

"No," said May.

"Nuh-uh," said Brendan.

"Nope," said Wes.

"Caw!" offered Peeko.

"Yes," said Lyra. "Uh, I mean, no."

"What is that, anyway?" wondered Briney.

"Who cares?!" snapped Hilda. "You're right, Kris, now sit down, be still and get out there!"

"What?"

"I mean, let's get going!" Hilda ranted, took out one of the three Poké Balls attached to her vest and tossed it in the water.

Hilda's Samurott was quick to come out, and without looking back, Hilda jumped on its back and started sailing towards the island and Team Aqua. Not wanting to be left in Hilda's shadow, May did the same with Wailmer, forcing a reluctant Brendan to follow suit with Swampert. Wes opened a Poké Ball of his own, letting out his Pidgeot, who allowed Wes to climb on its back. Before kicking off to the sky, Wes glanced at Iris.

"You want a lift?" he asked. "It won't bite."

"Yeah, but he probably will," Kris warned Iris, but Wes brushed it off.

"Aww, that's nice, but no thanks," Iris said cheerfully. "I'm about to put Dragalge to the test!"

"That thing?" Kris wondered. "Iris, you do know it's really poisonous, is it a good idea to ride on its-"

But Iris had already let Dragalge out into the water and jumped carelessly on its back. Kris winced as Iris touched the weird, leaf-like things sticking out of the Dragalge's back, but Iris didn't seem bothered at all, she and Dragalge just rode confidently after the others. Wes gave Kris a brief, annoying thumbs up and followed suit with Pidgeot, flying above the other four.

As Kris let Croc out, Lyra slapped her forehead in an exaggerated way.

"Oh, dear me!" she exclaimed. "To make some room for Hoenn Pokémon, I left Starmie and Braviary back in New Bark Town. How thoughtless of me! Guess I should stay on the ship, heh..."

Kris sighed.

"Guess that means you're riding with me," she said.

Lyra looked confused. "Huh?"

"As in on Croc," Kris said impatiently. "I mean – ah, damn it! Just don't think about slipping out of this one like you did on Mt. Silver! I don't remember seeing you help me fight the Masked Man!"

"Uh, I was busy with Team Rocket at Ilex Forest, remember?" Lyra said obnoxiously in a 'duh' kind of way. "You know, doing what you bragged you did. Plus I got to see Celebi – does that mean I win?"

"Are you coming or what, 'hero from Johto'?" Kris asked exasperatedly.

"All right," Lyra said and followed Kris as they both jumped on Croc's back – the Feraligatr didn't mind the extra weight, but was clearly confused as to why Lyra was there. "Hey, maybe it'll be fun!" she said in a suddenly perky voice. "When was the last time we did anything together?"

Kris grumbled something under her breath. However, when Shrew climbed on the boat's railing and was about to jump down after its owner, Kris quickly yelled at it to stop.

"Sorry," she told the little ground-type. "But I just thought... I don't think you'll do too well in an aquatic environment. Maybe you should stay with Mr. Briney."

Seeing that, however, made Mr. Briney say something to his Wingull. Peeko nodded at Briney, flew towards Shrew and picked the Pokémon, carrying it around effortlessly.

"It's not much, but I'm sending Peeko out with you!" Briney yelled up from the helm. "Good luck!"

"Thanks!" Kris yelled back. "Just drop the anchor here – we'll be fine!"

"Oh, we will?" Lyra asked nervously, sitting behind Kris and holding on to her uncomfortably tightly. "Well, I guess I don't have anything to worry about, then..."

Kris, Lyra and Croc sailed over to the others along with the Shrew-carrying Peeko. They hid behind a large rock, all whisper-quiet, staring at the island full of Aquas on the horizon.

"Any plans?" Iris whispered. "Because I think they'll see us no matter what direction we come from."

"We fight," Hilda said simply.

"Kind of foolhardy, don't you think?" Brendan asked nervously. "I mean, we really should come up with a-"

"We fight," Hilda repeated. "Because they're coming."

Indeed, it seems they had been spotted, as three Aqua Grunts, two of them riding a Carvanha and one of the standing on a Wailmer like it was a surfboard, were speeding their way. Without thinking of warning the others, Hilda and Samurott charged at them.

"Razor Shell!" Hilda ordered.

Before the Aqua Grunts could come up with moves of their own, they were greeted with the sight of a young woman riding a samurai otter screaming at them as the Samurott pulled a sword from the scabbard on its foreleg, slashing at the opposing Pokémon with them. If that wasn't enough, Hilda herself jumped off Samurott and tackled the Aqua Grunts into the sea, wrestling them down one by one. The others could just stare at this display.

"Wow," Lyra said. "Just who is she?"

"Um, everyone," Brendan said weakly. "What do we do about them?"

As Kris looked behind her, past the cowering Lyra, she saw two more Carvanha-riding Aqua Grunts trying to flank the group.

"Well use your damn imagination!" May scolded. "Wailmer, use Surf!"

"Uh, right... Swampert, what she said!"

Both Wailmer's and Swampert's eyes briefly glowed blue as they both summoned a giant wave that crashed on the Aqua Grunts, knocking both the Pokémon and their trainers off-balance and sent them drifting about a hundred feet away.

"Nice one!" Kris praised, then let out a panicked scream and ducked as something whizzed past her ear and crashed into the water, making a big splash.

The explanation was soon found: one of the Aqua boats had broken off from formation and was now making its way towards them, its cannon pointed at them. Kris was at loss of what to do, but Iris smiled at her reassuringly as she and Dragalge charged at the ship without regard.

"All right, Dragalge, do your thing!" she yelled.

Swimming so quickly Iris had trouble keeping her grip, Dragalge dodged another cannon shell and opened its mouth, blasting the boat with a big glob of purple slime. It exploded upon contact with the boat's hull and quickly ate its way into the boat, making a massive hole. As the grunts jumped out, Hilda and Samurott were quick to deal with them, knocking them unconscious and tossing them on one of the many flat rocks around them.

About four more Wailmer-riding Aquas had approached the group under the boat's cover and tried to attack Iris and Hilda, but didn't spot Wes and Pidgeot until it was too late: Wes commanded Pidgeot to use Whirlwind, blowing the Aquas off their Pokémon, allowing Dragalge and Samurott to finish off the confused Wailmer.

However, another ship and several other Aqua Grunts were already making their way towards them, and the group was quickly outnumbered.

"Kris!" Iris yelled. "You and Lyra go on ahead! We'll draw the heat off you!"

"Sounds good to me!" Lyra remarked.

Kris didn't feel right leaving the others like this, but with more Team Aqua coming from every direction, it was not like there were any other options.

And when Lyra chickens out... that's my time to shine.

Using the rocks as cover, Kris, Lyra and Croc sailed towards the island in the distance, now free of Team Aqua boats. They popped from one cover to the next, but Kris soon noticed that Wes was following them, not doing any of the sort but flying along with his Pidgeot in plain sight. As annoyed as Kris was at Wes, now was not the time to yell at him. Peeko and Shrew were also following, though they flew low enough to stay under the radar.

Eventually, they reached the island - or more like a big, flat rock - where Archie, Shelly and a few Aqua Grunts remained, Archie not even looking at annoyed when Kris and Lyra disembarked from Croc's back and stepped on dry land. The submarine was there and the one-person submersible pod had been detached and lifted on the edge of the water. As Croc stepped on the land, it immediately growled at Shelly, who had procured another spear from somewhere.

"Oi!" she yelled and readied the spear. "Keep that thing away from me or I'll stab it through the neck, I swear on me mum!"

"Well, you know those Feraligatr," Kris said as she leaned against the big water-type confidently. "Processed meat just isn't gonna do for long. Croc hasn't eaten anything raw and moving in a loooong time."

"So," Archie said cheerfully. "What brings you here?"

"Could you maybe first answer what you're doing here?" Kris retorted. "Like, what was the big plan? Come out here and say 'neener-neener, we've got your submarine'?"

"Submersible," Archie corrected.

"Whatever!" Kris snapped. "And you do realize they've completely trapped you here and you're outnumbered, like, ten-to-one, even if you brought all of your members here."

"Really?" Archie asked cheerfully and grinned. "They all came to see us perform? How adorable!"

"Wow, you really are crazy," Lyra said, sounding much less worried now. "You were right, Kris, these people won't last long if we work together! And by that I mean, stand back, watch and help me if needed!"

"Ah, I take it you're the one who caused us trouble at the Weather Institute," Archie told Lyra like he was having a cup of tea with her.

"That's right," Lyra said confidently. "And you're right to feel that fear creeping in," she continued as she grabbed a Poké Ball. "'Cause it's time to b-b-b-battle-"

Lyra couldn't even finish her sentence as a Crawdaunt emerged from the water, grabbed her leg with its pincers and pulled her into the sea so quickly that all Kris could hear was a surprised shriek before Lyra was underwater.

"Holy crap!" Kris exclaimed in panic. "Uh, Croc, go help her!"

Croc glanced in Shelly's direction, its stomach practically rumbling at the thought of a good meal, but obeyed and dived into the sea. Kris quickly grabbed another Poké Ball and sent out her Chandelure before she suffered the same fate. Archie took a step back, allowing Shelly to send out her Sealeo.

"Ice Ball!" Shelly yelled.

"Flamethrower!" Kris ordered.

As Kris and Shelly battled, Archie addressed Tabitha, who was just finishing up loading all the remaining Aqua Grunts into the submarine.

"Get down there," Archie ordered as Tabitha himself was climbing in. "Take good care of this."

Archie was about to hand Tabitha the Blue Orb when Wes and Pidgeot swooped in. However, Archie could see them coming from the corner of his eye and ducked just in time, Wes' extended hand only able to grab air.

"Aww, dammit!" Wes cursed and quickly flew out of range as Archie's Sharpedo emerged from the water and fired an Ice Beam at Pidgeot.

"Take two!" Archie exclaimed cheerfully and handed the Blue Orb to Tabitha.

The henchman saluted and closed the hatch behind him as he entered the submarine. Soon enough, it submerged and disappeared from sight. As Archie turned back to the fight, Chandelure had knocked Sealeo out with a well-placed Energy Ball attack.

"Oh, Shelly!" Archie admonished. "You couldn't last for at least five minutes?"

"She had a type advantage, sir!" Shelly complained. "I couldn't do sod!"

"Oh, well, never mind," Archie smirked as he gazed up at the sky. "Our friend is coming back."

Kris looked too – and had to a double take to make sure she wasn't dreaming. A Pokémon unlike she had ever seen before was approaching the island, flying away from the brightly shining sun, which caused Kris some problems. It looked like a silent jet plane was flying towards them, but Kris couldn't see any of its other features due to the light, so she called SkrillDex for help.

However, all SkrillDex could get was static. Even its normally sassy speech was just a garbled, incoherent mess.

"What is that?!" Kris asked Archie.

But Archie crossed his arms and just laughed. This time, he didn't even notice Peeko and Shrew flying directly towards him, Shrew managing to swipe him across the face. Kris tried to warn them to get away, but Archie was quicker and backhanded Peeko, sending the little Wingull flying away and causing it to drop Shrew. Kris managed to catch the Sandshrew just before it hit the water, and as soon as Shrew saw what was approaching, it hid behind Kris' leg, shivering.

Kris didn't get it. It had been a scaredycat before, but considering Shrew had faced the likes of Mewtwo and lived to tell the tale, this one couldn't be too-

Why is everything shaking?

Alongside the plane-like Pokémon, something else was coming, but from below instead of from above. The island shook as it rose from the sea, causing everything to rumble and quake. And it was big. Its red, armor-covered body reminded Kris of the kaiju from the movies she used to watch day and night with Lyra. As it finally stood at full height, apparently having risen along with a gigantic rock that kept its body above the water, it was around forty feet in height, with massive white spikes all over its body and claws about as long as Kris' legs, four in each massive hand. It even had a wide, equally spiky tail that was bigger than Kris herself was. Kris was reduced to a shivering mess just like Shrew as she looked in the Pokémon's empty yellow eyes that stared down, as if Kris and the others were just insects for it to squish.

Even Shelly looked terrified, but Archie just laughed at the sight of it.

"I'd like you to meet my friend," he told Kris. "Filthy meddling kid, meet Groudon! And boy am I glad to drop this stupid politeness act. Groudon! Hear my words! Obliterate these nuisances for me!"

Kris was too scared to ponder her options, not even able to think about jumping into the water and swimming away as she just stared at Groudon's eyes. Surprisingly, Groudon didn't budge, just remained absolutely still, almost like a statue, in one place.

"What gives?!" Archie yelled. "Destroy them, you big mountain of useless rubble!"

"Don't strain your voice, Archie. It will only obey my commands."

Kris wondered where the voice was coming from – it seemed to echo inside her head instead of coming from a specific direction. But she soon caught the source: the plane-like Pokémon, who was now floating around Groudon's head. It was half-white and half-red, with a somewhat malnourished appearance and milky white pupil-less eyes. From underneath its wide wings, Kris could see small arms, the Pokémon holding a shiny red orb in one of them.

Curiously, Archie and Shelly fell on their knees at the sight of this Pokémon.

"Of course, oh powerful Latias!" Archie said sneakily as he groveled before the Pokémon. "We have confirmation that Kyogre is in a cavern directly below us! It shouldn't be long until its rise from the depths!"

"And who are these?"

"Undeserving humans and the Pokémon they have enslaved!" Archie said instantly. "They attempt to stop your plan, to maintain the status quo with them at the top!"

"I see."

With that, the plane-like Pokémon, Latias, tucked its arms in and charged at Kris with blinding speed. Chandelure floated in the way and attacked with a Shadow Ball attack, but Latias easily blocked it by enveloping its body in a protecting bubble. Then, it launched its own attack, a stream of purple fire that instantly KO'd Chandelure, forcing Kris to recall it before it fell in the ocean.

"Kris!" Wes shouted. "Pidgeot, use Body Slam!"

But Latias noticed him, and instantly shot him down with another Dragonbreath attack. It hit and knocked out Pidgeot, causing both it and Wes to fall into the ocean. As Kris watched him fall, she didn't notice Shelly sneaking up behind her. With one hit from the handle of her spear, Kris felt herself losing consciousness, first feeling her body hit the cold, hard ground before everything went dark.

Noting the fall of its trainer, Shrew tried to attack Shelly, but the Aqua Admin easily took care of the little Pokémon with a well-aimed kick that sent Shrew flying into the sea. The Sandshrew flailed around on the surface for a while, squealing in terror, before its weight dragged it underwater.

"Good job," Archie praised casually.

"Not an issue, skip," Shelly said. "What should we do with the bird?"

Archie pondered the question until his eyes hit the submersible pod just sitting uselessly nearby.

"Oh, we'll allow her to see the sights for a while," he said. "Throw her in there – should be enough air for about ten to fifteen minutes."

Shelly did as ordered, tossing Kris roughly into the pod, sealing it tightly. Next, Archie whistled at his Sharpedo. At his command, the Brutal Pokémon slammed into the pod, sending it flying for a while until it hit water again, only upside-down, sinking like a rock.

With Kris trapped helplessly inside, the pod sank into the crushing, dark depths of the ocean.

TO BE CONTINUED