Chapter Nine: Clash of the Elements, Part 2
"Kriiis... Kriiis..."
Kris didn't want to wake up, but somehow her eyes were open, anyway. She found herself standing, or floating, as it were, on top of nothing, surrounded by what seemed to be a vast sea, the surface too far to be seen. And yet somehow, Kris was able to breathe.
And was also getting a feeling of Déjà vu.
"Kris!"
Also, someone was calling her name. At first, Kris didn't see who – or how, considering she was supposed to be floating in some weird, vast sea. A Tentacool and a Carvanha could be occasionally seen swimming by, some light from the unseen surface making it to where Kris was, but the fish Pokémon didn't seem to pay any attention to Kris at all.
Kris was quickly distracted by what appeared next: something big materialized from thin air (or water) before Kris, who couldn't believe what she was seeing. It looked vaguely like a gigantic black bird with a red underside facing Kris, with humongous wings and a wing-like tail that were all positioned as if they were ready to grab something, as were its powerful-looking talons. As it spread its wings and tail wide open, the bird looked vaguely like a giant letter 'Y'.
"Kris!" the Pokémon spoke in a voice Kris couldn't pinpoint as either feminine or masculine, high or low. It just was. "I'm here to reclaim you. Your time has come."
"M-my time?" Kris stuttered. "What do you mean?"
"You should know."
"Right," Kris said quietly. "My time. Sure. But, you see... that's not fair!"
"But it is. It doesn't discriminate. And don't think for a second that you didn't bring this upon yourself. Your friends will soon follow suit. They could at least make a claim for unfairness, but they only have you to blame."
"N-no!" Kris argued weakly. "I didn't mean to-"
"And soon enough, this whole region and its 13 million inhabitants will be mine. I should be grateful to you."
Kris grabbed her head with her hands. She kept slapping herself to try and wake up, but it didn't seem to work. She didn't even feel the impact. And the massive Y-shaped bird kept coming closer, its talons extended.
"No!" Kris argued. "You can't just worm your way inside my head and claim that I let my friends die! There's always a way out! And I... I know I screwed up, okay? But I can fix things! I can correct my mistakes! Do you hear me, you stupid, hideous crow?!"
A vision flashed before Kris' eyes: Captain Stern and all the inhabitants of Slateport, putting all their hopes in the group, only to be greeted by a massive tidal wave that crushed everything in its path.
No. It's not real. They're still alive, and I can make sure they stay that way.
Now it changed to the red and white dragon, Latias, blowing up Iris and everyone else in a blink of an eye.
I don't care what they have planned. I will stop it.
Kris saw Croc fighting Shelly's Crawdaunt futilely underwater, Lyra's pale, lifeless body floating nearby, Croc eventually succumbing to the Rogue's Pokémon's pincers that wrapped around its neck and snapped.
We will stop it.
Shrew sinking and making one last futile gasp for air.
"I'M SORRY!"
~o~O~o~
Even though it was surprisingly cold where Kris ended up in, she woke up sweating, able to hear her heart beat painfully quickly. Opening her eyes, she saw no trace of wherever she had just been or the weird, red and black bird. Slowly, she sat up, rubbing the bump in her head where Shelly had hit her.
After blinking a few times, Kris could see she was in a cave of some sort, probably a thousand feet underwater, if not even deeper. It was pleasantly cool there, compared to the scorching sunlight on the surface. As Kris stood up and grabbed whatever was close by for support, she noticed she was touching the submersible pod.
Those jerks tried to drown me. Huh.
But the pod hadn't been "opened" in the conventional sense. It looked more like something sharp had cut it open.
Okay, I'm alive. New plan. Uhh... okay, item number one: get out. I'll come up with the rest later.
Kris' inner monologue was interrupted by a squeak coming from around Kris' knee level. As she looked down, Kris flinched at the sight of a little Pokémon staring up at her, but quickly recovered and just had to marvel at how cute the Pokémon was. It was small and black with a cone-shaped body. It had tiny, light blue eyes but a big, wide mouth with a row of sharp teeth. It looked like it was wearing a yellow cloak of some kind, and its hands and feet were small and completely smooth and spherical, lacking in any digits.
"Uh... hi there, little one," Kris said uncertainly, to which the Pokémon responded with a smile.
Since it seemed harmless, Kris went through her bag. Miraculously, everything was still there – apparently they hadn't expected her to make it. Even Chandelure's, Honchkrow's and Kirlia's Poké Balls were still there, though Croc and Shrew's were open, the Pokémon themselves missing. Kris hoped to whatever good there was left in the world that her visions hadn't been accurate. Grabbing her PokéDex, Kris scanned the little thing. SkrillDex's speech parts were apparently still messed up from whatever had caused it to go haywire before, but at least Kris could read the text now.
"Snorunt, the Snow Hat Pokémon," Kris read out loud. "Type: Ice. Their diet consists entirely of snow and ice and are the subject of several folktales in regions with snowfall, though they also inhabit remote areas hidden from the sunlight around the world. They are very social creatures and usually move in groups of five."
Kris looked at the Snorunt, who smiled at her. Those teeth were really sharp indeed, as was the tip of its... head? Body? Something like that.
"Did you get me out of that pod?" Kris asked, and the Snorunt jumped in the air in joy, so Kris decided to interpret the answer in the best way. "Thank you!" she told the Pokémon.
Suddenly, there was another tremor, causing tiny pebbles to fall from the cave's ceiling. Snorunt ran closer to Kris in fear and hugged her leg in a way that reminded Kris of Shrew – only it felt like a cold glass bottle of soda was pressing itself against her leg.
"It's alright" Kris said reassuringly, though she wasn't sure if she was being honest, so she added: "I hope. I guess you were hiding from the badness going on up there, huh? But why are you alone instead of in a group of... what was it again? Oh, right, five."
Snorunt didn't seem to quite understand that question. Instead, it jumped on a nearby rock and pointed at the ceiling with its ball-like hands. Kris looked up: there seemed to be a big hole in the cave's ceiling, only blocked with a thick layer of ice. Now that Kris looked around her, there were puddles of water all over the place. The hole looked to be about the size of the submersible pod. Kris looked at the Snorunt.
"Did you do that?" she asked, and the Snorunt tilted its body forward in a way she assumed to be a nod – apparently it had dealt with humans before. "Thank you so much! You saved my li-"
Another tremor made Kris almost lose her balance. The machinery inside the pod was making a racket.
"And I guess it's time for me to repay the favor," Kris said. "What do you say, buddy?" she asked and held out her arms.
Snorunt didn't have to think twice: it jumped on Kris' arms, which made Kris wince a little – it was like carrying a box of ice cream around. The cloak protected Kris' hands from the worst cold, but the Snorunt was still pretty chilly.
And so Kris, carrying the Snorunt around, made her way deeper into the cave. There was light coming from somewhere, which meant Kris didn't have to force the undoubtedly exhausted Chandelure out. But after a couple of minutes of walking in silence, Kris heard footsteps from around the corner. They were easy to hear, the person walking not even trying to avoid the puddles of water, making splashy sounds with every step. Kris flattened herself against the wall, though with no cover anywhere and nowhere to turn, she would be spotted anyway. Looking at Snorunt, Kris wondered if she could stab whoever was coming with the ice-type's sharp head.
As whoever was coming cast their shadow on the wall, Kris charged around the corner, grabbing Snorunt and readying it like a spear, yelling all the while – only to stop as she noticed who was coming.
Though the man was wearing a Team Aqua uniform, Kris recognized the long, dark hair and big, bright blue eyes.
"Kris!" Lunick gasped. "I thought I heard someone... how did you...?"
Kris didn't attack, but didn't let go of Snorunt either. Snorunt seemed mildly confused as to why Kris was holding it like this, though.
"It's all right, Snorunt," Kris said, eyes fixed at Lunick, "but we might be in for a battle."
Lunick shook his head.
"You're not," he said simply and put his hands in the air. "I'm unarmed and I don't want to fight you!"
"I kind of lost whatever trust I had for you or anyone in your gang since your boss almost drowned me!"
Lunick cringed and clenched his fists, almost shaking as he spoke.
"Archie did that?" Lunick said with a scowl. "I should have known... I've been such an idiot!"
"Yeah, I think so," Kris said bluntly. "But why this time?"
"Time is running short, so I'll give you the bridge version."
"Abridged," Kris corrected.
"What?"
"It's what you were trying to say. It means shortened – yeah, whatever, go on."
"I no longer wish to work for Team Aqua," Lunick said. "Not after all I've seen and heard, both from them and... you. Especially not after they aligned with that murdering, insane dragon Pokémon."
"You know what it is?" Kris asked. "That La... Laos..."
"Latias," Lunick said, "the Eon Pokémon. Dragon- and Psychic-type... and possibly something even more in this case. Exclusively female, less than ten existed in the world in my time, and the numbers are probably even smaller today. Highly intelligent and powerful creatures who protect nature and Pokémon. They can use telepathy, manipulate light to make themselves invisible and live for hundreds, maybe even thousands of years. Why such a Pokémon would go on a killing spree and ally with these insane people eludes me."
"You sound like a PokéDex," Kris commented.
Lunick frowned. "Is that some kind of new Unovan food? A breakfast cereal of some sort?"
"Forget about that," Kris said. "But I'm beginning to understand now... somewhat. Why are you here?"
"I can operate the submarine," Lunick said. "The Rangers taught me how to use a similar vehicle. But I can't take Tabitha and all of them on my own, so I came here to try to think of a plan. And... I was kind of hoping to meet you."
"That's new for me," Kris muttered.
"I had a feeling you'd try to stop Team Aqua," Lunick said with a slight smile. "You didn't disappoint. For a while I wondered if things such as honor existed anymore."
"I doubt they do," Kris sighed. "But you're with me here and I've still got a few fight-worthy Pokémon. I don't know if I can trust you, but I have better chances if I at least give it a shot, so... lead on!"
So Kris, still carrying Snorunt, which Lunick clearly found peculiar but didn't comment on, followed Lunick as they started walking through the tunnel, towards the direction Lunick came from. Chandelure wasn't necessary, as Lunick illuminated the place with a piece of newfangled technology he called a 'flameless torch'. Kris walked slightly behind Lunick so as to avoid any nasty surprises, but found herself becoming less and less worried about him and more and more anxious about what was happening on the surface. Every once in a while, the tunnel shook slightly and she could hear loud booms from above, though Lunick seemed to be used to them.
"Is something the matter, Kris?" he asked suddenly. "You're not saying anything."
"Apart from the cataclysmic disaster going on?"
"Yes."
Kris sighed. "I can't help but to think all of this is my fault..."
"Team Aqua has been planning this thing for months," Lunick said immediately. "Maybe even years. Well before I even joined, anyway. What could you have done?"
"Well, maybe not that, but... I brought my friends and my sorta-friends here just so I could..."
Kris didn't even want to say it. Just thinking about it made her nauseous enough.
"Lunick!" she said suddenly. "You haven't seen a girl around my age and height here, have you? Brunette, dressed like a corporate mascot, kind of annoying?"
Lunick shook his head, which made Kris even more nauseous.
"Shelly's Crawdaunt grabbed her and pulled her underwater," Kris muttered. "I think the same may have happened to Croc. And I have no idea what happened to my Sandshrew. I mean, if they killed him and I wasn't there to help it... damn it."
Kris had to look away from Lunick and quickly wipe her eyes on her sleeve.
"Listen to me, Kris," Lunick said firmly, all the while keeping his eyes straight ahead and focused on the tunnel. "You came here to try to fix things even though no one told you to. Nobody is paying you for this, and yet you confronted things that even I couldn't have dreamed about back home, before the invasion, anyway. I was among those responsible for my people's safety and even I couldn't have faced an enemy as bravely as you did!"
Kris didn't say anything. Lunick hadn't seen her almost soil herself at the sight of Groudon, nor did he know anything about her motivations to do all this. His words just made her feel worse.
"And let me tell you something," Lunick continued. "You're the chief reason I rebelled against Team Aqua. Talking with you in Dewford and Slateport opened my eyes: I had lost my way as a defender of the people. I was helping people who were obviously criminal while you and your friends – or whoever they are to you – were risking your neck out there, fighting us for no real reward, for no other reason other than doing the right thing. That, if anything, is being a hero."
"I don't know," Kris muttered.
"Well, soon you will," Lunick said. "As for your friend and your Pokémon, you don't know if they're dead, which means there's a good chance they're not. If you have to pity yourself, at least do it after this is all done. But right now, that isn't doing anything to help them."
"Pity myself?!" Kris snapped. "Don't talk to me like you know... just, shut up and lead the way!"
"There's the fire you need!" Lunick commented.
"Just keep walking," Kris said, but cracked her first smile in a while.
After several minutes of more walking in silence, the group finally arrived to a place where the tunnel split into several different directions. Kris and Lunick didn't have to think about where to go for long, having to take cover as three Aqua Grunts, chatting mostly about the things they would do once their 'new world' became a reality, walked towards them from another tunnel.
At the crossroads, the grunts turned left, so Kris and Lunick followed. It didn't take long for the tunnel to turn into a wide, open cavern that was completely lit; at the very top of the cave, higher than Kris could properly see, there was a large hole. Apparently the cave was an underwater mountain, the very tip of it visible as one of the many supposedly small rocks on the surface.
The three Aqua Grunts joined the rest, two more grunts and Aqua Admin Tabitha, in the middle of the cave. Sneaking in as close as they could, Kris and Lunick hid behind a rock to eavesdrop. The grunts had gathered to the shore of a large pond, like a very deep pool, right in the middle of the cave, the sunlight coming from above sparkling on its surface.
"Find him?" Tabitha asked the three grunts.
"Nah," one of them said. "He only said he was going out for a whiz – I'm not even sure that guy knows what it means."
Kris could hear Lunick trying to suppress a giggle.
"Ah, well," Tabitha shrugged. "He served his purpose, I think. If he's not out here within the next five minutes, we're leaving him down here, anyway. Not like anything can stop us at this point."
"But what about the sub?" another grunt asked.
"Pfft, I can drive it!" Tabitha boasted. "I mean, I've seen what that guy did, it ain't too hard. Now shut up and watch – this is history in the making!"
"They're going to do it," Lunick whispered.
"Do what?" Kris wondered quietly.
"I'm sure you didn't miss Groudon up there, and now they're about to summon its rival," Lunick said tensely. "Look, I'll explain later, but we have to get that thing off him!"
Kris didn't have to ask what Lunick meant as she saw Tabitha take a glowing blue sphere from his pocket. It was just like the one Latias had been carrying in terms of shape and size, just... blue. And it wasn't too hard to do the math here.
"Right," Kris said. "I have to do it. My responsibility. So here goes..."
Meanwhile, at the pond, the five Aqua Grunts retreated to a safe distance as Tabitha walked over to the edge of the water, held the Blue Orb up above his head and said what were apparently the magic words:
"With this Blue Orb, I command you, Kyogre! Rise from your slumb- what the crap!"
Kris' Honchkrow flew past him just in time to grab the Blue Orb away in its beak. As it circled around the Aquas trying to grab the bird and throw rocks at it, it eventually headed back to Kris and Lunick, whom Tabitha spotted immediately.
"Oh no you didn't!" he groaned. "You..."
"Here it comes," Kris muttered and nudged Lunick with her elbow.
"...want to hog all the credit for awakening Kyogre!" Tabitha snarled. "Well that ain't happening."
"What," Kris said flatly.
As Honchkrow soared back to Kris, it dropped the Blue Orb in her hands. The five Aqua Grunts all sent out a Pokémon each, two Golbat and three Corphish. But Lunick didn't seem too bothered as he calmly grabbed a Poké Ball and sent out his Sceptile.
"Sceptile," Lunick said as he crossed his arms confidently. "Leaf Storm, please."
And Kris watched as the seeds on Sceptile's back glowed and the grass-type released a barrage of sharp, glowing leaves from seemingly out of nothing, hitting everything around them, including the Aqua Grunts, the leaves cutting through their clothing and leaving them with scratch marks and cuts all over. The three Corphish were immediately knocked out while the Golbat had to retreat, only for Sceptile to jump on one of them and wrestle them down. Kris ordered Honchkrow to help, unleashing it on the other Golbat. With all the Aquas down and Tabitha nowhere to be seen, Kris decided to make a break for it, putting Snorunt carefully on the ground.
"I guess this is where we split up," Kris told it. "You better get to safety – I gotta hide this thing somewhere."
But Snorunt stayed still and continued to stare after Kris as she turned around and made a run towards the tunnels, hoping to find a hole to stash the Blue Orb in.
I'm gonna make it. Just a few more steps and there'll be no more destruct-
"AHH!"
Something big pounced on Kris, causing her to lose her balance and drop the Blue Orb. For a second, Kris thought it'd smash upon hitting the ground, but instead it rolled away harmlessly. The one who tripped Kris, a Mightyena, ignored her and went after the orb, allowing Kris to get back on her feet.
With no thought on the stupidity of her idea, Kris grabbed the nearest rock she could get her hands on and threw it at Mightyena. To her surprise, it hit, prompting a pained squeal from the dark-type. Unfortunately, the Mightyena stopped running and turned around to growl at Kris.
"That's it!" Kris heard Tabitha yell from behind her, hearing him run towards them. "Get 'er in the throat!"
Kris took a few clumsy steps backwards, falling on her backside trying to escape just as Mightyena leaned backwards, ready to jump at Kris again, teeth exposed and-
-was flash-frozen by an Ice Beam from behind Kris. As she looked behind her, Kris was greeted with Snorunt jumping back in her lap. The frozen Mightyena didn't move at all, still stuck in the position of being about to lunge at Kris.
"You just can't help being an awesome Pokémon," Kris smirked at Snorunt. "Thanks – again. Hey!"
This distraction, however, cost a great deal. Kris saw Tabitha picking up the Blue Orb from the ground, completely ignoring the abrupt shift of his Pokémon's body temperature. Before Kris could stop him, Tabitha tossed the Blue Orb towards the pond, where one of the Aqua Grunts, also having avoided the worst excess of the Leaf Storm, was hiding behind a rock.
As the grunt caught the orb just barely, Tabitha managed to belt out: "Say the words!"
"I-have-a-blue-thingy-wake-up-Kyogre!" the grunt prattled quickly.
Kris scoffed; as if that could ever work. But then, the blue orb started glowing brighter than ever before, its light almost blinding the grunt holding it and bathing the entire cave in blue light. Another tremor caused the entire cave to shake violently, everyone losing their balance and covering their heads as more debris fell from the ceiling. The water in the pond was splashing over the edges and making tremendous waves as something very big emerged from it.
Though only half as tall as Groudon (meaning it still left everything else in the cave in its shadow) the big sea creature beat even Groudon's height with its width, barely even fitting in the pond that had to be at least fifty feet wide. Predictably, the massive Pokémon was blue, its two gigantic pectoral fins making more most of its width. Its body proper had a white underside, and just like Groudon was covered in black stripes running along the faults between its plates, Kyogre's body was covered in red stripes.
As Kyogre slowly opened its mouth, it let out a deep, guttural growl that, to everyone in the room, felt like being swept away by a tornado. Then, as the stripes around its body glowed bright red, massive geyser appeared from the pond, shooting up a massive amount of water and Kyogre itself, propelling it towards the surface. Everyone dropped what they were doing, Kris hastily withdrawing Honchkrow and grabbing Snorunt with both arms as she ran away to escape the crushing wave that Kyogre left behind.
~o~O~o~
Meanwhile, back on the surface...
For a few seconds, Wes believed he would drown there. Whatever had just come from below had caused a wave that threw everything off-balance. As Wes had struggled underwater in the ensuing twister, he had no idea which way was the surface and which way was the bottom. However, miraculously, he had managed to plop back up as soon as the waves settled. Exhausted and barely staying up, Wes had floated towards the nearest heap of dry land, not caring even if there Team Aqua standing there.
His fears were put to rest when a familiar voice called out to him, though it was all a blur to him. Wes could just feel someone grabbing his hand and pulling him on a craggy rock.
"Wes!"
Wes opened his eyes, and as he finally got his eyesight back to normal, he saw a completely soaked Iris shake him, eyes wide with concern.
"Sup?" Wes asked weakly, followed by a coughing fit.
Iris sighed in relief. "Thank goodness you're... oh no! Shrew!"
Wes wasn't sure what to feel when Iris sounded much more worried as she spotted the Pokémon Wes was holding under his other arm. May, Brendan and Brendan's Swampert were also on the rock, Brendan thinking quickly and taking off his jacket so Iris could wrap it around the unconscious, but still-breathing Shrew.
"I think he coughed the excess water off his lungs when I pulled him out," Wes muttered, "before he tried to scratch my ears off, I guess, but he wore himself out pretty quickly."
"The poor thing," Brendan said as he took Shrew from Iris.
Her hands free, Iris helped Wes sit up and hit him hard in the back, prompting another coughing fit that got the rest of the water off Wes' throat.
"'Preciate it," Wes mumbled.
"What about Kris and Lyra?" Iris asked. "Why was Shrew all alone there?"
Wes shook his head.
"Something bad happened to Lyra," he said quietly. "I was focusing on staying alive and in the air so I didn't see the whole thing, but one second she was there and then all of a sudden... she wasn't. I got blown away by that damn dragon thing before I could see what they did to Kris. I did see Shrew slowly sinking just before that huge wave appeared... what even was that thing?"
"Which one?" May asked cynically after inspecting Shrew thoroughly. "Take a look at that."
Wes turned his head, which felt like great effort in his state. A couple hundred yards from them, though still visible from even a greater distance away, two colossal Pokémon were facing off. Groudon and the big blue whale thing that had caused the tumultuous wave.
"Kyogre," Iris said, prompting Wes to look at her. "Professor Ivy told me about it. It appears in a lot of Hoenn mythology as the leviathan who created the oceans, locked in eternal struggle with its rival, Groudon, the behemoth, who created the continents. I don't have my notes with me now, but something tells me that if they face off-"
"All I have to know is that we'll be in the crossfire!" May snapped. "We have to get back to the ship and hightail it!"
"You were all for coming out here in the first place," Brendan reminded.
"This is not what I agreed to!" May yelled at Brendan, gesturing at Groudon and Kyogre, who continued to stare at each other.
Wes looked at the group. He had a feeling someone was missing as he hadn't heard a familiar voice yelling at him yet. There were Iris, May, Brendan, Brendan's Swampert, even Peeko was flying in circles above them, but...
"Where's Hilda?" Wes asked quickly.
Iris bit her lip nervously.
"No clue," she said. "We were doing well against Team Aqua, but when we saw that dragon coming, we had to retreat. Hilda disagreed-"
"Of course she did," Wes grunted.
"-but that thing packs way too much power. Last we saw her, she and Samurott were fighting it, then Kyogre showed up and all we cared about was sticking together. I'm sorry, Wes, but I couldn't-"
"Iris! No one's blaming you!" May was quick to stay.
"Yeah, without Dragalge, Team Aqua's cannons would have turned us into Remoraid food," Brendan said grimly, though still smiling.
"Listen to 'em," Wes told Iris, "and I think May's right. We have to-"
But Wes was cut off by an echoing, ear-shatteringly loud sound that made everyone shudder. It took the group a while to realize it was laughter, emanating from Latias, who was flying above Kyogre and Groudon in a figure-eight pattern.
"Yes! YES!" they heard her 'shout' – or however one shouted telepathically. "Gaze upon the colossal super-ancient Pokémon one last time, humans. It won't be long before their battle wipes out this region and all the humans and treacherous Pokémon within!"
Meanwhile, in a different part of the area, Archie and Shelly had fled the great wave into the last Team Aqua ship still intact, three Aqua Grunts still having stuck around, despite everything that had happened. They witnessed Latias, still holding the Red Orb, order Groudon to advance on Kyogre. The behemoth slashed Kyogre with its massive claws, but Kyogre was quick to retaliate with a Hydro Pump. Groudon had to back down, creating a large rock formation around it out of nothing to shield it from the attack. Everyone in the ship gazed at the two colossal Pokémon in a mix of fear and awe, except for Archie, whose insane grin was wider than ever.
"Yes..." he whispered to himself. "I want it... I want it... it won't be long now..."
"Oi, sir!" Shelly yelled and tugged Archie's sleeve. "The lads are coming back, they are!"
Indeed, the water around the ship was bubbling, and with a mighty splash, the submarine popped back up on the surface. As the hatch opened, however, there wasn't a group of victorious Aqua Grunts, just a heavily breathing and coughing Tabitha, whom two of the Aqua Grunts pulled aboard. The third one, a tall one with his face covered by a cloak, did nothing to help, just stood and watched the situation.
"Mission..." he panted as he got clumsily on his knees. "...successful, sir!"
"We can see that," Archie said nonchalantly.
"Oi, Tabitha, you complete and utter bastard!" Shelly yelled at the other admin. "Where the bleedin' 'ell are your troops?"
Tabitha pointed at Kyogre, who managed to hit Groudon with a stream of high-pressure water. The harsh sunlight that had scorched the area all day had finally subsided and it got noticeably darker as the sky was covered in thick, dark gray clouds. It was also getting windier, causing the now-abandoned submarine to slowly drift away along with the waves.
"Well..." Shelly said awkwardly. "Their sacrifices won't be forgotten, then."
"Oh, who cares," Archie scoffed. "Tabitha, do you have the thing with you?"
Tabitha quickly took the Blue Orb from his pocket and showed it to Archie – it was glowing brighter than ever now that Kyogre had been awakened.
"Brilliant!" Shelly exclaimed. "Now we can use it to control Kyogre and scarper! Tell it to obey you, then! Go on, get cracking!"
Tabitha shook his head. "I wasn't actually the one who summoned it..."
"Then who was?"
"One of the troops who are still down there," Tabitha mumbled.
"WHAT?!" Shelly screamed. "Why didn't you bring him along? You useless git!"
"Because I was busy trying to retrieve this stupid ball!" Tabitha growled.
"It doesn't matter," Archie said smoothly. "Tabitha, keep that thing in your pocket and don't let anyone or anything see you have it. Shelly, you come with me."
"Uh... right-o, gaffer!"
Archie let his Sharpedo, one of the only usable Pokémon Team Aqua had left, out into the water and jumped out of the boat and on its back. Shelly followed suit, unsure what to hold on to.
"I have a feeling our alliance with our friend, the magical psychic dragon, may turn a bit sour," Archie told Tabitha. "You are to stay here while we draw its attention, understood?"
Tabitha saluted while Archie and Shelly headed off on Archie's Sharpedo.
Back on the rock with Iris' group, May was using a pair of binoculars Mr. Briney had given her to scan the area. There was no sight of Kris, Lyra or Hilda. However, May let out a surprised exclamation as she saw something flying towards them in the distance. As May zoomed in closer and whatever was flying approached, May noticed that it was a Skarmory, with a familiar man with steel-blue hair riding on its back. May jumped up and down and waved at him, happy to notice he waved back.
"It's him!" May said enthusiastically. "Steven is coming!"
"Oh, goody," Wes grumbled.
The rock the group had ended on was small, but they nonetheless tried to clear some space in the middle for Steven Stone to land. Instead of landing, though, Steven flew a few feet above the rock, recalled Skarmory and then jumped effortlessly down on the rock, landing gracefully without hurting himself at all.
"Careful, there's water everywhere!" Iris said.
Steven smiled. "I heard from Captain Stern that you were here," he said calmly, completely ignoring the thunderous battle between Groudon and Kyogre on the background. "I would like to know why, though."
"Did Kris call you after all, then?" Brendan asked hopefully.
Steven frowned and pondered Brendan's question for a while. "No, I haven't heard anything from her," he said. "Wallace called me here and I flew straight to Slateport, then here."
Steven glanced at Iris, who didn't make eye contact with Steven and wrung her hands in embarrassment.
"Um, don't be mad at us for this, Steven," Iris said sheepishly, "but we kind of assumed we could handle it, um, on our own..."
"Why should he be mad at us?!" May snapped. "I'm not pointing fingers or anything, but... Kris is the one who dragged us out here!"
"Again, you volunteered," Brendan pointed out.
"Yeah, but... see, I came here to fight Team Aqua! Not the some world-destroying creatures from old fairy tales and that Laotian dragon thing!"
"Latias," Steven muttered. "She's supposed to be a peaceful Pokémon, yet according to Wallace, she was working with Team Aqua. Can I borrow those?" he asked, gesturing at May's binoculars.
May was quick to hand them over, and Steven used them to gaze at the sky, at the little dot circling around Groudon and Kyogre that was presumably Latias.
"All my life, I would have given my left leg to see either her or her brother Latios," Steven said in awe as he stared at the dragon-type. "Even a glimpse would have done it for me. But under circumstances like this... well, at least I can put my investigations to rest."
"What does that mean?" Iris wondered.
"I guess there's no point in keeping this a secret anymore," Steven sighed as he gave the binoculars back to May and looked at the group. "The Legendary Pokémon Society had been investigating the trail of Pokémon-caused murders recently. One of the dead was Sage Broderick, a member of our organization – and an attack on one of us, blah blah blah, etcetera. I really don't like using violence against a Pokémon, especially one that is supposedly a pacifistic protector of others, but something bad must have happened to her."
Steven looked around, as if expecting to see someone.
"Where is your friend, anyway?" he asked. "That Kris I gave my contact information to, I mean."
Iris looked bothered. "I have a feeling Team Aqua did something to her," she said quietly. "We haven't seen her on the surface in a while – that Sandshrew," Iris pointed at Shrew, who was sleeping, still wrapped in Brendan's jacket, "is all that's left. We haven't seen our friends Lyra and Hilda here, either. You don't suppose they-"
"If they went down there," Steven said as he turned to look at the sea, "there's a good chance they haven't drowned. There's a complex network of caverns underneath us, right at the ocean floor. The only known entrances are too deep, though, so they haven't been mapped, but it's possible there are others, as well. That's why I came here."
Steven grabbed something from his pocket and showed it to everyone: a CD case?
"Wow, that's retro," Brendan commented.
"This is the Hidden Machine for a move that they just developed at Slateport University," Steven explained. "It's called Dive. It enables a Pokémon and a human accompanying it reach even the most crushing of depths. I was hoping either Wallace or Lance would be here to use it and prevent Team Aqua from summoning Kyogre-"
"Well you're too late for that!" Wes yelled, prompting Iris to glare at her. "Sorry," he added quickly. "Guy thinks he's such a big shot, coming here to save the day..." he mumbled under his breath.
"But we can use it to save your friends," Steven said. "It's a long-shot, I know, but it's pretty much all we can do now. We need everyone that's capable of battling if we are to even have a hope of stopping Kyogre and Groudon."
"Um, what happens if we can't stop them?" Iris asked meekly.
Steven was about to answer, as he got startled by a drop of water landing on his head. As he and the others looked up, more and more started dripping, and in a few seconds, the slight rainfall turned into a heavy downpour. The wind got also stronger, Iris having to grab Shrew before it was blown back into the water.
"Oh, no," Brendan wailed. "I was just about to get dry!"
"I think you can see for yourself what will happen," Steven said. "Now, I don't have any water-type Pokémon – what about you?"
Iris and Wes shook their heads.
"I have Wailmer, but Team Aqua's Pokémon beat it pretty bad," May lamented.
Slowly, everyone turned to look at Swampert and Brendan. Swampert looked cheerful as always, while Brendan's eyes widened in terror as he pointed at himself.
"M-me?" he stuttered. "You have to be kidding! I can't do it – I'm the worst of everyone here! I-I'm not even really a trainer!"
May grabbed Brendan's hand, causing him to look at her nervously. But for once, May didn't try to smack him around until he came to his senses.
"I'll go with you," she said simply. She turned to look at Steven. "That Dive can be used by two people, right?"
"I think it can," Steven said. "It all depends on the Pokémon using it, and considering how small you two are, I'm fairly sure your Swampert can handle it. I have to warn you, though. Kyogre and Groudon's battle may trigger, or has already possibly triggered, a seismic event. The caverns could be on the verge of collapsing, so if you can't find Kris or anyone else, get out of there and fast."
"Sure thing!" May replied cheerfully.
"And another thing," Steven said gravely. "Swampert might be able to carry you two there, but even one extra person will definitely be too much. Once you go down there – there's no guarantee you'll come back."
May nodded. "I understand the risks."
"May..." Brendan said quietly.
"Hey, all you have to do is tell your Pokémon what to do," May told him, smiling cheekily. "And if you can't come along, well, I'm going to force you to trade with me, take Swampert and just get down there on my own. I have no idea if it will obey me or not, but those are pretty much our options."
Brendan still didn't look too sure.
"In fact..." May said oddly quietly, staring at her feet. "That might actually be the right thing to do now."
"W-why's that?" Brendan asked, surprised by the sudden somberness of her tone.
"I know I dragged you out here," May said. "Pretty much pressured you to come. There's no need to take anymore risks."
Brendan took a deep, quivering breath, then marched over to Steven, grabbed the CD case from him and took the blue disc out of the case and held it in the air.
"Um..." Brendan said and turned to look at May. "I actually haven't used these before. Do I need to yell out something? Like, 'disc slash' or 'Poké-modify' or something?"
"No need, just... use it on it or something," May said, smiling at Brendan's actions.
"Right," Brendan said and inhaled again. "Swampert!" he yelled boisterously. "I want you to learn... Dive!"
A flash of light occurred, and a beam of blue light left the disc and hit Swampert in the head. It didn't seem to cause anything out of the ordinary, though, but Swampert looked pretty happy.
Shrugging, Brendan yelled out: "Now use Dive!"
May held Brendan's hand with hers, and together, they jumped on the Swampert's back. At first, nothing seemed to happen, but then a transparent, soft bubble appeared around them. With that, Swampert went underwater. May and Brendan prepared to hold their breaths... only to find themselves breathing just fine. They glanced at each other in surprise, then nodded determinedly as Swampert descended into further depths.
~o~O~o~
Location: Seafloor Cavern, deep beneath the seas of Route 128, Hoenn
Kris was swiftly escaping the steadily rising water through the complex tunnels, desperately hoping to find an exit. She would have moved faster, but not only was Snorunt still hanging on her back, Kris was carrying an unconscious Lunick by the legs. Lunick's Sceptile was running behind her, carrying its owner from the head.
After Kyogre had blasted its way to the surface, causing another violent tremor and a crushing wall of water, Kris was about to run without a second thought, especially after seeing some of the Aqua Grunts get dragged underwater. But the wails of Lunick's Sceptile had alerted her to the fact that Lunick had gotten himself knocked unconscious. And as much as she had wanted to just leave her there, reasoning that he had chosen to join Team Aqua, she still found herself helping Sceptile carry him to safety. Well, relative safety. Stopping to help him, however, meant that Tabitha had dashed past her, and Kris was now attempting to memorize the direction he ran off to, even though she knew full well he and the submarine had to be gone by now.
Though a fortuitous rock slide had blocked the mass of water from getting away from the cave and into the tunnels, water was still flowing in from millions of holes around the tunnels, which Kris was sure were about to collapse at any moment. Though the water around them had only made her socks wet just a minute ago, she was now ankle-deep in water, and the level still kept rising.
"We're gonna make it," Kris muttered desperately to herself. "We're gonna make it!"
She repeated this mantra over and over, even though a part of her had stopped believing in it. The complex network of tunnels just kept going, Kris having no clue where she was and even if the caverns didn't collapse, a drowning would be inevitable.
The water as to her knees now.
The worst part about it all was that Kris wasn't sure if she deserved to be saved. With Kyogre, Groudon and Latias up there, not to mention Team Aqua, chances that any of her friends were still alive were slim. Even if no one had said it, a voice at the back of her head kept accusing her, yelling at her for dragging all those people who had no reason to ever travel with her to their deaths.
It almost brought tears to her eyes just thinking about it, but Kris ground her tooth together and kept going. Even if she would drown by the end, she wouldn't let anyone say that she gave up or that she didn't fight to the last ounce of strength in her body.
Too bad the water was now to her waist – and Lunick was half-submerged already.
"くそ!" Kris screamed at the top of her lungs.
That made her feel better. For a few seconds, anyway. She hastily grabbed an empty Poké Ball from her bag and turned to look at Snorunt, almost hurting her neck in the process.
"Listen, you can do whatever you want," she told the ice-type Pokémon quickly. "And I don't want to force you to anything. I'm really grateful that you saved my life, but if I keep carrying you around like this, we're not gonna make it."
Kris brought the empty Poké Ball close to it.
"I would be honored if you became a part of my team," Kris said, "but you don't have to-"
To Kris' surprise, though, Snorunt happily pushed the button in the Poké Ball and was sucked inside The Poké Ball didn't shake or struggle in any way – the red light at the middle was turned off almost immediately. And with that, Kris had a new Pokémon.
Yay, I guess.
Putting Snorunt in her bag, Kris was able to lift Lunick's legs on her shoulders, Sceptile also adjusting accordingly. Kris had to admire how the grass-type kept itself cool despite everything, though from the fact that it followed Kris without protest made her believe that it didn't have any choice in the matter, either.
"We're getting out of here!" Kris promised to it. "Let's keep moving!"
The water was now up to her navel. Kris felt like swearing some more, but decided to save the air – she would probably need it – and kept moving forward.
But as the tunnel came to an end, they only ended up in another cave with the ceiling somewhat higher, but which didn't lead anywhere else – a dead-end. Kris felt like screaming, but the cave in question was being flooded, too, water flowing in from every direction, and another tremor almost made Kris lose her balance.
"Guess we have to run – well, wade – back the way we came," Kris groaned at Sceptile. "Best get movAHH!"
Turning around, Kris' foot hit a rock underwater, causing Kris to fall and lose her grip of Lunick, whose legs went underwater. Kris recovered her balance, but the water was up to her chest, making any attempts to turn back pretty much futile. Sceptile hoisted Lunick up on its back and glanced at Kris for direction, but Kris had nothing to offer. She was through. She was done.
This was the end. On the plus side, the ceiling in the cave they were in was pretty high, so it would at least take longer for them to drown. Kris wondered if she should let her Pokémon out of their balls, give them a chance to make a run for it, but then she remembered that Chandelure had been KO'd, Honchkrow was exhausted and Kirlia and Snorunt couldn't swim.
"I'm sorry," Kris mumbled. "I'm sorry... please, forgive me..."
This was it.
But then something practically exploded up high. A Breloom burst its way through the ceiling, punching through the solid rock like it was nothing. What soon followed, along with a stream of water, were May, Brendan and Brendan's Swampert, all of them plummeting into the water near Kris.
May recalled Breloom and was quick to spot Kris, who didn't even have the energy to lift her arm and wave at them. She could just stare as the Swampert carrying May and Brendan swam quickly to her, barely hearing what May and Brendan were yelling at her.
"...und you!"
"...'re alive...!"
"...me on!"
Kris shook her head clear. No time for the whys and the hows. All that mattered was getting out.
Arceus, it felt good to be wrong.
"Kris!" May snapped suddenly. "Why are Sceptile-boy and his Pokémon with you?!"
"I couldn't leave him there," Kris said. "Most of those Aqua Grunts got absolutely wrecked by Kyogre. What's going on at the surface any-"
"Bad things," May said quickly. "But seriously, why? Did you forget that Team Aqua is the reason all this is happening?"
Kris had to fight the urge to respond sarcastically – it wasn't the smartest thing to do when people were pulling your worthless butt from the fire. Water. Whatever.
"He's working against them," Kris said firmly. "He got knocked out while trying to stop them from summoning Kyogre. He failed, yes," Kris said quickly as May was about to interrupt, "but he tried. He's on our side. We have to take him along."
Brendan glanced at May, nodding warily. May was obviously against it, but knew she had lost the vote. Kris grabbed a hold of whatever space Swampert had left and nodded at Sceptile, who, while still carrying Lunick, grabbed a hold of Swampert's big tail fin.
"Any ideas on how we're supposed to get out?" Brendan asked as the water level was now up to their necks.
"I have one, but it's gonna take a while to get there," Kris said hastily. "We have to swim through that tunnel. I'll give directions. We'll get out the same way Kyogre did!"
May glanced at Sceptile and Lunick in annoyance.
"If we die because of them, I'm killing both them and you, Kris!" she yelled. "Let's go, hayaku!"
"I don't even know what I'm doing," Brendan complained. "Onwards, Swampert! Just go where Kris instructs!"
Kris had to tighten her grip as Swampert launched itself towards the tunnel, moving at an incredible speed through the same path it took Kris ages to get through. Turning and dodging debris falling from the ceiling every time Kris ordered it to, Swampert got the group through the rising water in no time. However, the path back to where Kyogre had been was still blocked by the rocks.
"Oh you can't be serious!" May complained.
"Yeah, that," Kris said, cringing at her lack of foresight.
However, Kris quickly opened one of her Poké Balls, letting out Honchkrow, who was clearly surprised to see out again, in a narrow tunnel almost flooded. It was also clearly tired by the battle and flapping its wings much more slowly than usual.
"I know you're tired, but I just need your help for a little while!" Kris promised. "I want you to get us through those rocks, then get us out of here! Can you do that?"
Though Kris almost sense Honchkrow's annoyance at the idea, it faithfully nodded at Kris. Its entire body became surrounded by a blue aura as it powered up, then flew at an amazing speed through the rocks blocking the entrance, smashing them into tiny bits. Swampert, along with everyone clinging on to it, dashed quickly through the ensuing hole before the entire tunnel became flooded.
The group was now back in the large cave where Kyoge had resided, though the water level had risen so high that it was unrecognizable. Kris could see the opening high above them, though instead of sunlight, the only thing it let in now was rain, raising the water level even faster. Kris wondered if they could just wait for the cave to be filled with water and let it lift them to the surface, but soon woke up into reality thanks to the constant crumbling of everything around them following another large tremor.
"It's raining out there?!" Kris exclaimed in surprise.
"Later!" Brendan yelled. "How we get out?!"
"Use your Altaria, for Kamisama's sake!" Kris yelled back.
"Oh, right, forgot I had that..."
Kris let go of Swampert and helped Sceptile get Lunick off its back. Pressing the button on the closest Poké Ball on Lunick's belt she could find, Kris manage to withdraw Lunick's Sceptile. Brendan did the same with his Swampert after praising it for saving their lives, then sent out Altaria.
After getting adjusted to the havoc happening around it, Altaria allowed Brendan to climb on its back. He then helped May do the same, and finally, though May clearly hated every second of it, May and Kris dragged the still-unconscious Lunick on Altaria's back, forcing May to hold him with her other hand while gripping Altaria's fluffy feathers with the other.
Hoping Honchkrow had it in it, Kris grabbed on the flying-type's legs. As Altaria soared up high and towards the exit hole Kyogre had made, Honchkrow struggled to follow it while carrying Kris. Slowly but surely they rose as bigger and bigger chunks of the cave's walls crumbled and fell down, letting more and more water in.
Finally, they reached the surface, only to be greeted with heavy rain and violent wind, the gusts whipping the raindrops painfully on Kris' face and hampering her visibility. Kris couldn't tell Honchkrow what to do, so she just had to close her eyes and hope it would take her wherever Altaria would land.
Mercifully, and after what felt like the longest time, Kris felt her feet touch solid ground. Hoping it wasn't in her head, Kris let go of Honchkrow and opened her eyes. At that exact moment, Honchkrow collapsed out of sheer exhaustion, so Kris was quick to withdraw it.
However, Kris couldn't see May, Brendan, Lunick and Altaria anywhere, not that she could see anything else of note, either, the storm constantly whipping water on her face. Even then, she could pick up the distant but clearly visible giant figures of Groudon and Kyogre, locked in their struggle. It looked like Kyogre was coming out on top, blasting at Groudon point-blank with an Ice Beam that clearly hurt the ground-type. However, Groudon was still quick to retaliate, advancing on Kyogre and grabbing it to prevent it from using its attacks, eventually leaving the two locked in a wrestling match.
Trying to figure out where she was, Kris looked down, only to then hope she hadn't and backing up fearfully. She was standing on one of the many enormous, rocky islets in the area, only inches away from falling on a cluster of jagged rocks below.
What she heard next almost made her fall again.
"Humans. Reliable only in how utterly unreliable they are."
The voice seemed to come from inside Kris' head, blaring and echoing it so loudly that it was almost unrecognizable, though there was at least something feminine to it. Turning around, Kris saw Latias floating only about ten feet away from her, seeing her milky white, pupil-less eyes clearly, along with the chunks of its down-like feathers missing all around its body.
"I might be wrong, seeing as all you humans look the same to me," Latias said, "but I thought I had Team Aqua kill you already."
Kris shielded her face with her arm desperately, trying to think of which direction to run to – but could barely see ahead of her, with only Latias in front of her and a thirty-feet fall into jagged rocks behind her.
"It's funny, isn't it. You have the capacity to do so much harm, so much evil, and yet, when it comes to destroying you – it only takes so little. Like a little, harmless breeze."
Before Kris could say anything, Latias flew past her, creating a gust too powerful for Kris to struggle against, causing her to tumble towards the rocks below, arms flailing helplessly.
But a warm hand gripped hers just as she was about to fall. As Kris looked up, she saw Iris standing on the edge of the cliff. Kris' weight should have logically pulled her down, but her other hand was held by Wes, who himself was held back from falling, to Kris' utter shock, by Shrew. Together, the three pulled Kris back up and firmly on her feet while Latias looked on from above.
Kris tried to say something in thanks, but between her heart pounding painfully against her ribs and her lungs gasping for air, the words got kind of stuck. Iris, also breathing heavily, just smiled, brushed her long hair aside and waved her hand at Kris. This alone made Kris want to cry from happiness.
"So many of you," Latias boomed from above, prompting everyone to look up. "Good. Vermin are easier to squish when you've rounded them up in a nice, big pile."
Kris was desperately reaching for a Poké Ball, hearing Iris and Wes do the same next to her, but before they could do anything, it was Shrew who dashed past them, stood up on its hind legs and spread its little arms in a desperate attempt to shield them.
Kris tried to pick the Sandshrew up or to yell at it to move aside before it got blown up, only to realize that she was still in one piece as well. Latias still hadn't made her move, she just stared down at them, or at Shrew, specifically, while Shrew stood determined, not moving an inch as it stared back at Latias.
"You," Latias said oddly quietly, though everyone could still hear her even through the storm. "How can you... you're the same as me, aren't you?"
Kris had no idea what Latias was talking about, but Shrew just nodded frantically.
"Then you know what it's like," Latias said, sounding completely lost. "You've suffered in the hands of these creatures like I have. Experiments, abuse, torture and worse. How can you not see what these things have done to us?!"
Shrew just stood still and did nothing, letting the rain fall on everyone as they gazed up at Latias. Kris, however, seemed to finally understand and slowly crouched to pick Sandshrew up. Though she couldn't see it, she could feel the little Pokémon's entire body shivering as she held him. Kris hugged the Sandshrew tightly, while Shrew, not wanting to slice Kris' jugular open with its claws, licked her cheek once like a Growlithe instead.
Latias didn't attack or do anything. Just stared at the ensuing scene, prompting Kris to finally address it directly.
"Shrew was one of the countless Pokémon they had imprisoned and brutally experimented on at the Navel Rock research facility," Kris told Latias, not bothering to raise her voice. "You're right, the people there did do horrible things to Pokémon in the name of questionable goals. Even I once forced him to fight when he was injured, just for personal glory. But he's saved my undeserving life more than once, and I've done the same to him. It's stupid, it's insane, and it's illogical, but hey... that's life for ya."
As Kyogre managed to whack Groudon with one of its enormous wings, lightning struck very close by at the same time, the sound of thunder nearly deafening everyone there, though Kris and Latias continued to stare down.
"I can see humans have been cruel to you," Kris continued. "I can't even imagine the pain you went through, but I can see the end result clearly: a Pokémon that dedicated her life protecting others, reduced to this. But as much as it makes me sad... if you hurt this Sandshrew, then I will end you myself. I don't even care what your sob story is. And he'd do the same for me."
Latias turned its head away – Kris could almost feel a long, weary sigh emanating from her.
"Why bother," she said. "You're all gonna die soon enough anyway..."
And with that, she flew away.
Leaving Kris, Iris, Wes and Shrew, Latias flew into a different part of the area, quickly tracking down Archie and Shelly, who were still riding on Archie's Sharpedo and hiding near a cluster of cliffs on the other side of the Groudon-Kyogre conflict. Seeing Latias suddenly appear above them made Archie to yell at Sharpedo to stop, causing both of them to turn and stare.
"You've completed your purpose, humans of Team Aqua," Latias told the duo. "There's no reason to keep you around. But you can at least delay your fates if you give me the Blue Orb, now."
"Oh, terribly sorry to make you fly all the way out here," Archie told her smarmily, "but we don't have it. However, you'll notice there's a ship anchored near the epicenter of the battle, at that little island we previously spoke at. The one with four of our people in it? Yeah, go over there, go kill them, the big, burly one should have it."
Latias let out an enraged cry, but didn't stick around and propelled itself back to Team Aqua's ship.
"Skip!" Shelly exclaimed in shock. "What are you- what about Kyogre?"
"Oh, who even cares?" Archie laughed. "Kyogre and Groudon are just means to an end. I mean, did you really buy that 'expanding the oceans' crap? I mean, come on!"
Shelly just stared at her boss in confusion as he let out his most insane laughter yet, eyes wide open and drool dripping from the side of his mouth.
"But," Shelly said weakly, "then why-"
"I want something completely different," he growled at Shelly. "I want Rayquaza! I want to be the most powerful thing on the planet once this pathetic region and a whole lot of others are wiped out! And what I want you to do..."
Archie shoved Shelly ruthlessly off Sharpedo's back, sending her tumbling into the water.
"...is find yourself a new job. So long, and thanks for all the fish!"
Laughing all the way, Archie zoomed away, leaving Shelly swimming for her life.
Back at the Team Aqua ship, Tabitha was already on the verge of soiling himself as he heard Latias' wail of rage getting closer, eventually seeing the red blur making its way towards him.
"Aww, fudgicles!" he groaned. "The boss and Shelly failed! She's coming for me now! Someone tell me what to do now! I can't decide without my superiors!"
"I have a suggestion," the tall, cloaked Aqua Grunt said calmly.
"Thank the almighty Kyogre – or, maybe not in this case," Tabitha sighed. "What is it?"
"Just don't think about it too much and give me the orb."
"What?! Why?"
"Because then you'll get to live."
"Sounds good to me," Tabitha squealed and quickly handed the Blue Orb to the grunt. "But how are you going to survive?"
"Like this."
The grunt pulled off his cloak, revealing the face of the red-haired Indigo League Champion. Before Tabitha could wrap his mind around where he knew this guy from, Lance headbutted him unconscious. The other grunts tried to attack him, but an elbow and a knee to the gut later, they were soon writhing on the floor. As Latias continued to approach the ship, opening her mouth and preparing to obliterate it with a Mist Ball attack, Lance whistled loudly.
Even Latias was temporarily dazed by a Hyper Beam attack from seemingly out of nowhere. The attacker, a Gyarados with red scales, emerged from the water and stopped right next to the Team Aqua ship. The floored Aqua Grunts watched helplessly as Lance jumped on the Red Gyarados' back and fled, the Blue Orb still with him.
~o~O~o~
In a different corner of the area, farther away from Groudon and Kyogre but with the two battling titans still in full view, Lyra, having lost her puffy white hat and with a bleeding wound in her ankle, finally came to. As she slowly opened her eyes and tried to make sense of what was happening, only slightly aware that it was raining heavily, she did figure out that she was being held in the arms of another person.
"Kri-"
But as Lyra's brain caught up with her speech, she realized Kris wasn't strong enough to carry her. As she opened her eyes all the way, Lyra saw she was being held by Hilda, having also lost her hat and just as soaking wet as she was, raising her eyebrows at Lyra.
"I'm just going to ignore that one," Hilda told a confused Lyra. "Can you walk? Not that I care, my arms are getting tired so I'm gonna drop you in a few seconds anyway."
Lyra just nodded meekly and Hilda let go of her feet, allowing her to slowly regain her balance. Lyra's mind still felt fuzzy after everything and it hurt to breathe. She turned to watch the first thing that caught her attention, the Groudon and Kyogre conflict, Groudon managing to use Rock Slide to finally hurt Kyogre and break free of the water-type's grip, though it was still clear that it was losing. Watching the two battle and continue to hurt each other without pause made Lyra cringe.
"Yeah, it's a mess up here," Hilda remarked casually – Lyra just noticed that Hilda's Samurott was resting a few feet away from them. "I kinda got knocked out of the loop myself when that big blue thing emerged, but when I came to, I noticed you floating around and did the best with the little CPR I know. Turns out I could have become a medic – show's what Bianca knows. Knew."
"A-are the others okay?" Lyra asked hoarsely, finding it difficult to talk.
Hilda shrugged.
"Well, then," Lyra muttered in confusion, "what do we do?"
"Yeah, this is a tad bigger than I expected," Hilda said calmly, "but we'll do whatever we have to, even if we're the only ones left.
Meanwhile, a couple hundred yards away, Shelly was swimming towards the nearest piece of land she could actually climb on, the ones she had passed so far being tall cliffs that were impossible to climb on. Between every stroke, she erupted into a litany of swears and grumbled about Archie.
"Sodding-arse-bollocks," Shelly grumbled as she swam. "Bloody Archie. I'll show him what for. I'll form me own bloody team. And I'm through with water! Gonna call it... 'the Electric Soldier Squad'. Or the 'Grasshoppers'. Or the 'Earthbenders'... blimey, what is that?!"
Shelly noticed a dark shadow swimming beneath her. This whole area was probably full of wild Pokémon. Shelly wished she hadn't watch the entire 'Crunch' film series featuring that mutant Sharpedo before leaving on the mission – but when it happened to other people, it was fun! She had left her spear back at the ship, but she still carried something with even more kick: a harpoon gun. It was a pistol that fired small harpoons that could be even reeled back in case she would miss – not that she would, of course.
Yeah, just one shot and whatever's down there will be bunking with Basculin tonight. One... Two... Thr-
Before Shelly could pull the trigger, she was suddenly pulled underwater.
~o~O~o~
Kris, Iris, Wes and Steven had taken shelter in Mr. Briney's ship. Though the storm hadn't quite capsized it, the ship had still ended up on one of the many flat rocks around the area and was now precariously dangling on the islet's edge, though still pretty much stuck. The unconscious Lunick was there, too, May and Brendan having dropped him with Steven before flying off somewhere. With the storm raging outside, it was impossible to tell where they were, and looking for them would be foolish, as much as Kris had insisted going after them. They had risked their lives to save her, someone they'd known less than two months, and yet here she was, sitting semi-comfortably inside a shelter, tending to Shrew and Honckrow while they were probably cold and tired.
Kris had explained the situation with Lunick to everyone, and though Steven was reluctant, he decided not to do anything about him. In return, Kris had been told about what happened while she was under, as well as about Hilda having disappeared, too. But Kris promised to herself that she wouldn't leave the area without making sure everyone who came there with her were on board.
As they were about to decide on a plan, Mr. Briney and Peeko yelled something from above:
"Young'uns, you might not believe this, but – there's a red Gyarados swimming towards us. And there's a ginger guy on its back!"
Steven prepared to greet the arrival, and soon enough, Lance, in full Team Aqua uniform and carrying the Blue Orb came below deck to greet the others. Well, not really "greet"...
"I got it," he told Steven stoically, holding up the Blue Orb.
"Good," Steven replied taciturnly and took the sphere from him. "Then this might just work..."
"Um, Lance..." Kris spoke up, feeling nauseous at the prospect of having to explain herself to him. "I'm sor-"
"This is far beyond your influence now," Lance said simply. "I'd suggest you people to leave and let us handle the rest."
"We can't do that!" Iris protested. "Some of our friends are still missing!"
"The Legendary Pokémon Society doesn't have the time or the resources to deal with that now," Lance said coldly. "The monster trying to destroy the Hoenn region kind of takes priority."
"Lance," Steven said. "I've already discussed this with them. They can help. I know they're outsiders, but considering everything they've been through – they can be of use."
Lance sighed, but didn't protest, just stood in the shadows, crossed his arms and started waiting. Steven, holding the Blue Orb delicately, walked over to the others.
"Are you familiar of the details involving the legends behind Groudon and Kyogre?" he asked, to which Kris, Iris and Wes all shook their heads. "Well, as they created the continents and the oceans, initially everything was well – until the two met and clashed, that is. The writings are a bit fuzzy on the details, so their battle could have lasted months, maybe even years. By the end of it, they had almost destroyed the very world they helped create, until the mythical Ziz, the giant guardian of the sky, appeared and stopped them, putting the two titans to sleep... until now. It seems that unless the sky titan is summoned, Groudon and Kyogre will fight for, well, ever."
"Is the sky thing a Pokémon as well?" Iris asked curiously, raising her hand like an eager student. "And does it have its own Orb?"
"We believe it's a Pokémon called Rayquaza," Steven said. "And yes, legends speak of something called the 'Jade Orb', but its locations is utterly unknown. These texts are always pretty vague, but we believe Rayquaza itself created the Red and Blue Orbs in case they were needed, and created a mechanism that ensured it wouldn't be bothered with the Jade Orb unless the world truly needed it. With the Red and Blue Orbs together, I think the Jade Orb will appear as well."
"Wait, wait, wait," Wes said, rubbing his forehead in thought. "First of all, 'in case they were needed'? What does that even mean? Also, I may not know a lot about stuff like this-"
"Or stuff in general," Kris muttered.
"-but, 'jade' means green, right? Red plus blue doesn't equal green, but purple! Now that don't make the slightest bit of sense."
"This isn't first grade art class, we're dealing with powerful ancient forces here!" Lance snapped from the shadows. "Something none of you understand a thing about, by the way."
"Don't mind him," Steven said calmly. "But I implore you, keep the Blue Orb safe."
He considered giving the Blue Orb to Kris, pondered it for a second, then gave it to Iris instead. Kris was actually kind of relieved, while Iris looked absolutely terrified to be holding it.
"But-" she mumbled. "What if-"
"Latias has the Red Orb, and me and Lance will try to retrieve it," Steven said simply. "As long as we have Latias busy, you should be safe. Team Aqua may try to retrieve it, but I doubt they'll be able to give you much trouble."
"I'll leave Gyarados here, just in case," Lance muttered. "Let's go."
The others weren't in a position to argue: Steven got on his Skarmory while Lance hopped on his Dragonite. Together, the two soared into the sky, quickly making Latias aware of their presence. Kris, Iris and Wes rushed above deck to see the fight with their own eyes.
At first, Latias was taken by surprise. A barrage of rocks shot by Skarmory made her flinch, allowing Lance's Dragonite to strike it with Dragon Claw. But these attacks seemed to just mildly inconvenience Latias, and her retaliation was quick and brutal – a Psywave attack that almost knocked both of them into the ocean. Steven opened a Poké Ball and let out his Metagross, a big, blue bulky Pokémon that materialized on a nearby cliff. Metagross attacked Latias with Flash Cannon, a silver beam of energy that Latias blocked effortlessly by raising another protective bubble around it.
Steven and Lance's efforts to attack were quickly rendered useless as Latias unleashed its most devastating attack yet. Waves of dark purple rings erupted from its body, knocking out Skarmory, Dragonite and Metagross with one fell swoop. Lance and Steven also hit by the attack, even if their Pokémon took the brunt of it, crashed on the cliff near Steven's Metagross, unable to get back up.
"We gotta get them out of there!" Iris yelled. "Gyarados, can you take us help your trainer?"
The red Gyarados obliged, allowing Iris to jump on its back. Wes followed suit, but as Kris was about to do the same, Iris stopped her.
"What?" Kris wondered.
"Um... maybe it would be better if you stayed here," Iris said delicately. "Someone has to look after Lunick. And your Pokémon! Oh, and I almost forgot... here!"
Iris carelessly tossed the Blue Orb to Kris, who had to focus all her energy to catching it, getting a hold of it just as it was about to fall into the water. Before Kris could do anything else, the red Gyarados was already on its way to help the fallen Champions.
Latias was absolutely ecstatic, however – it seemed like she had surprised herself with the power of her Dark Pulse attack. She erupted into another fit of insane, echoing laughter as she watched Steven and Lance weakly withdraw their Pokémon, unable to move any more than that.
"You failed! Even the strongest fighters of humanity can't stop me! You won't even get the privilege of watching your world turn into a barren, featureless wasteland!"
As Latias spotted Iris, Wes and the red Gyarados coming her way, she prepared for another attack.
"And it seems the rest of you just couldn't wait your turns. I tried to give you more time, but if that's the way you want it, I'll be happy to accommodate you! DIE!"
But the anticipated attack never came. A blue ball of energy appeared from the sky, hitting Latias with tremendous speed and knocking her into the water. Iris and Wes didn't waste time wondering, but quickly helped Steven and Lance on the Gyarados' back.
As they headed back towards the ship, Latias re-emerged and faced whatever had launched the Aura Sphere. The attacker descended from the sky, floating slowly towards her, a pale blue glow surrounding it. Iris and Wes quickly recognized the purple and gray colors, the feline appearance and a large, purple tail.
"W-wes," Iris whispered in awe. "Is that Mewtwo?"
"I guess," Wes replied, "only it's been lifting. Like, a lot."
Mewtwo's limbs were now much thicker and more muscular, and its whole body looked different, more bulky. Large purple growths were sticking from its shoulder, giving the impression that it was wearing armor, while the 'horns' sticking out of its head were also bigger. Neither Iris nor Wes couldn't understand what was happening, while Latias seemed enraged.
"You're still alive?!" she shrieked at Mewtwo. "And you've... you couldn't have!"
As Mewtwo floated to Latias' level, it put its hands together and formed another, albeit brighter and much larger orb of pale blue energy between them. Latias tried to respond with a Mist Ball, but as Mewtwo's eyes flashed blue, the Mist Ball forming around Latias' mouth suddenly vanished, while Mewtwo hurled its Focus Blast attack at Latias. The orb moved slower than the Aura Sphere, but the damage it did was tremendous, engulfing Latias in a massive explosion. As the smoke cleared, Latias was still okay, although with ash and soot all over its body and missing even bigger chunks of its feathers.
"You're trying to destroy me now?" she asked cheekily. "What happened to attempting to win me over, practically lying to me for weeks on end, thinking you could 'reach to my heart' or something stupid like that?!"
Mewtwo crossed its arms and didn't respond, enraging Latias even more.
"How did you do that?! Answer me! My brother spent years trying to achieve that form!"
"Practice," Mewtwo responded calmly.
"And why are you trying to stop me?! I don't understand! You and that stupid Sandshrew! You both owe your suffering to these humans! Why are you defending them?!"
"I have no love lost for humanity," Mewtwo said. "Everything I've seen since I got out of that laboratory has only confirmed me of the atrocities they're capable of. But you wish to exact your revenge on millions of humans and Pokémon who had nothing to do with you. You wish to take away their right to determine their own lives. And that makes you as bad as them. You're a disgrace to your brother, Latias."
This pushed her over the edge. Latias let out an enraged roar that drowned even the sounds of Groudon and Kyogre's fight, its whole body surrounded by a crimson aura. A pink and crimson force field of energy then expanded from Latias' body, concentrating into a powerful beam that Latias launched towards Mewtwo. When Mewtwo had previously been hit by Latias' Night Daze attack, it had almost been knocked out or worse. This time, Mewtwo made a blue barrier appear around it, deflecting the attack. The Night Daze attack hit a nearby rock instead, obliterating it into dust.
"Why?" Latias groaned, aghast at the sight of her strongest attack not even touching Mewtwo. "I don't understand... if you were never on my side, why did you help me in destroying those other humans?"
"I didn't want to," Mewtwo said. "It's a crime I must atone for. I limited my victims to criminals and the like, but I soon realized that even then, I was not doing what was right. I had hoped to make you see the error of your ways by getting to your good side – essentially, I was manipulating you, and I'm sorry for that. But the humans you tried to kill here today are not your enemies! To tell you the truth... it was a human who set me free in the first place."
"What?! You said you escaped on your own!"
"I did. That wasn't what I meant. But you tried to kill her here today, and as much as I'd rather not to... there's only one way to make sure you don't try that again!"
Mewtwo surrounded itself with the blue barrier again, while Latias quickly raised her own shield. The two then charged, continuously hitting each other, slowly weakening each other's shields.
Below this fight, Brendan's Altaria was hiding at the foot of another cliff. May and Brendan were taking cover underneath its fluffy wings, unable to get anywhere with their water Pokémon exhausted and the storm making it hard for Altaria to get around. May lifted Altaria's wing to take a look at the situation, seeing Latias and Mewtwo attack each other.
"Brendan," she said. "Do you know what that is?"
"No, but it's on our side, so I'm satisfied," Brendan whimpered as he took a look himself. "Come on, get back to cover!"
"We can't hide out here forever!" May snapped. "You can't force your Altaria to just sit here in the rain while you're all comfy and warm under there!"
Brendan stared at the ground. "I'm not that comfy and warm," he muttered quietly.
May was so through with him that she didn't even have the energy to yell at him. She just sat down next to him, leaning against her knees.
"Even with that thing keeping Latias busy," she said quietly, "I don't know if I see an end to this. There's a chance we might... oh, Arceus, we probably might not make it."
Brendan turned to look at May. He had a hard time believing what he was hearing.
"In..." May stopped to gulp nervously. "In case we don't, this might be my last chance to say this. I kind of... I don't mind at all that you're a Coordinator. I don't really even care what Norman thinks – you like doing it, and honestly, from everything I've seen, you're really good at it. Probably better than I am at battling. So I'm sorry for all that stuff I said."
Brendan blinked at her in confusion.
"Well, that's not really all I wanted to say," May continued so quietly that Brendan had to struggle to hear her. "Ever since we were young, I kind of... well-"
"I know," Brendan said quickly. "I kind of... wait, I hope we're talking about the same thing here, because this will get real awkward in the future if we're not."
"You do too?" May asked slowly and turned to look at Brendan.
Sighing, but still smiling comfortingly, Brendan removed his hat. His black hair was sticking up slightly from all that time Brendan had his hat on, but May was most surprised to see a big scar on his forehead, slightly above his eyebrows.
"This came from the battle with Salamence," Brendan reminisced. "I haven't forgotten anything. I was too brutal, almost getting me, you and my dad's Linoone killed. I promised myself I wouldn't fight anyone after that."
May smiled back at him. "And I vowed I'd become strong enough to never have to rely on anyone's help – and to never let anyone get hurt because of me."
"What do you say, May?" Brendan asked as he put his hat back on and grabbed a random Poké Ball from his pocket. "I'm not exactly happy about this, but sometimes, there comes a time when you have to step up and fight. Too bad that I kind of, well, suck at it."
"I know," May said and helped Brendan stand up, dragging him away from under Altaria's comfy wing and back into the rain. "Good thing I'm here. Let's do this!"
~o~O~o~
Back at the ship, Lunick had woken up, and was observing the seemingly never-ending battle between Groudon and Kyogre. He didn't mind the heavy rain or the wind blowing painfully on his face – sitting below deck with the others was far more painful than this.
Below deck, Lance had stubbornly insisted any help Mr. Briney had offered him and just stared outside through the window. Steven was tending to his Skarmory, whose joints weren't really built for flying in the rain. Meanwhile, Kris had injected some medicine into Shrew and Honchkrow, who were both fighting fit and also staring at the battle, for some reason.
"So that's it then?" Kris asked Steven. "We're not gonna do anything else?"
"Perhaps this Pokémon you seem to know – Mewtwo, was it?" Steven asked and Kris nodded. "Maybe it can defeat Latias for us, but every minute we waste here, the storm keeps getting worse."
"Only an idiot would try to take Latias on," Lance said coldly as he stared out of the window. "Even after Mega Evolution, it looks like Mewtwo's evenly matched with her."
"I can't believe Dr. Blaine never told us it could Mega-Evolve!" Iris pouted. "I mean, in a different situation, this would be pretty cool!"
"But why can't it beat Latias?" wondered Wes. "I mean, that thing was created to be this unstoppable juggernaut of destruction, wasn't it? With a friggin' Mega Evolution and everything!"
"We've been looking into explanations on how Latias ended up this way," Steven started explaining.
With everyone paying attention to Steven, Kris walked up the stairs to get above deck. Shrew and Honchkrow noticed this and followed her up.
"We found an abandoned, mostly destroyed research facility on an island about fifty miles south of Ever Grande City," Kris heard Steven explain. "We recovered traces of DNA belonging to a Pokémon that we presume-"
Above deck, all Kris could hear was the wind, the thunderous sounds caused by Groudon and Kyogre's conflict in one place and Mewtwo and Latias' battle in another. Kris walked next to Lunick and joined him in staring at the conflict.
"Makes you feel sort of small, doesn't it?" Lunick asked. "When giants like these face off, what are we but specks of dust to them, huh?"
"I don't think philosophy will pull us out of this one," Kris commented.
Lunick shrugged. "Will anything?" he wondered. "I just wish I could have done something. I was so close to Archie, I could have stolen the Blue Orb from him, hidden it somewhere... but no, I actually believed in some of the things he had said and tried to talk it out with him."
"Not your brightest move," Kris said brutally, "but hey, at least you tried, right? If I hadn't been an idiot, I wouldn't have dragged my friends out here, but would have instead watched this from the news back in a warm, comfy Pokémon Center in Slateport with a cup of hot chocolate... ah, damn it, saying that out loud did not make me feel any better."
"Well," Lunick said, "at least you tried."
"Yeah," Kris said seriously. "And I'm going to try again."
"Indeed. Wait, what?"
"Honchkrow, are you feeling okay?" Kris asked, and the bird Pokémon nodded enthusiastically and jumped on the ship's railing. "Shrew, I want you to stay here. Don't you think I'm treating you like you're weak!" she said quickly as the ground-type looked dejected. "What you did back there with Latias was amazing. You saved my life again there without hesitation, and I owe you one. But you can't come with me for this one."
"For what?!" Lunick wondered in panic. "Kris, this isn't funny, you almost drowned down there and now you're thinking of-"
"Imma go get the Red Orb," Kris said simply. "I have the blue one already, don't I? I'd appreciate it if you didn't try to stop me."
"You're crazy," Lunick said.
"Yup."
"...but dang it, that was the best thing I've heard all day," Lunick finished his sentence. "Don't die out there."
"Not gonna happen anytime soon," Kris promised.
Lunick took a few steps back, and in a mix of concern and almost worshiping awe, watched Honchkrow swoop past Kris, who grabbed the flying-type's legs and soared into the sky, towards the eye of the storm.
Meanwhile, as Mewtwo and Latias' barriers collided once more, they eventually petered out, turning off at the same time, leaving the fighters defenseless. Team Aqua's ship was sailing directly below them now, Tabitha and the two other grunts having gotten back in control, and was now firing its cannon at Mewtwo, who blocked the shells effortlessly.
"Destroy that thing!" Tabitha yelled at the grunts. "It stands in the way of our utopia!"
"Stay out of this!" Latias snapped and fired a Mist Ball at the ship.
"Wait, Latias, no!" Tabitha wailed. "We're on your si-"
Mewtwo didn't bother trying to block that one – these particular humans weren't really worth the effort – and just watched the ship and presumably its passengers explode. Perhaps one or two of them got out and managed to swim away, but Mewtwo didn't really care one way or the other.
Another cannonball whizzed past it, but this one was coming from a different direction and hit Latias instead. The legendary Pokémon wasn't hurt at all, but was clearly surprised at being shot. Ships of different shape and size were appearing from every possible direction, none of them sailing under Team Aqua's colors. In fact, a ship crewed entirely by Team Magma was among them.
"This is for Maxie, you monster!" Magma Admin Courtney yelled through a megaphone from the ship.
"Attention, Team Aqua and the dragon-type Pokémon co-operating with them," another, more official voice announced. "We are within range to use our most destructive weapons within minutes. Surrender now, or feel the full wrath of our entire fleet!"
"It looks like the entire region is coming out to get you," Mewtwo remarked. "It's still not too late to stop, you know."
Latias had no idea what to do. The perfect, beautiful world without humans or Pokémon conspiring with them had been right in her reach. And the Enigma Stone still hadn't reacted.
Except now. Latias ignored Mewtwo and the advancing ships entirely as she slowly took the Enigma Stone out of the little space under her wing and held it on her hand. The crystalline stone fragments cracked and gave in at the exact same time when Kyogre attacked Groudon with another Ice Beam, this one beginning to freeze the behemoth solid and prevent it from moving. With the balance tipped permanently in Kyogre's favor, the Enigma Stone broke, revealing the object stored inside: the Soul Dew.
It was a small, transparent crystal orb with a bright blue ball of light shimmering inside it. The tone of blue reminded Latias of her brother.
"Sis. It's me."
No, Latias thought. It can't be. I only imagined it because I was just thinking about him.
But Mewtwo stopped what it was doing, too. Its mouth was slighly open as it stared at the Soul Dew, having definitely heard the voice as well.
"If you're hearing this, it's because I'm dead," the extremely familiar voice echoing from the Soul Dew said. "I had gathered many enemies in my day, so I used a technique our species has used for thousands of years to leave something behind. I hope it helps you until another pair of Eon Pokémon take our place."
"Latios," Latias whispered. "Please..."
"Thanks to this, I can always be a part of you."
Before Latias could plead the voice to stay, the Soul Dew acted on its own accord. It floated away from Latias and transformed into a bright, ball of light, like a miniature blue sun spreading throughout the area. The light seemed to pour into Latias, joining with her, and Latias could feel herself regaining her strength, as if the battle with Mewtwo had never happened. As the light finally subsided, Latias could see Mewtwo before her clear as day, hesitant to attack.
"Latias," it said, "I'm so sorry for-"
"Luster Purge!" Latias screamed.
As white sparkles gathered around her, Latias was able to fire at Mewtwo with a massive pink beam of energy. The beam hit almost instantly, sending Mewtwo flying on one of the many rocky cliffs in the area. As Mewtwo crashed and carved a large crater in the rock, its entire body glowed briefly, eventually sinking in size and becoming a regular Mewtwo again. Though still alive, Mewtwo was unable to get up – it didn't remember when it was last hit that hard.
"YES!" Latias roared, holding the Red Orb up triumphantly. "I am now the strongest being around! I don't care if this entire region takes up arms and tries to stop me! Bring it on!"
And that they did. Latias reacted a second too late as Kris and Honchkrow zoomed past her. Kris didn't hesitate or think about the insanity of what she was doing for a second as she grabbed the red sphere from Latias' extended hand, flying away before the dragon-type could respond in kind.
At last, Kris had both orbs. The downside was that she had no idea how to use them, and Latias was still hot in her trail. Honchkrow was clearly getting exhausted from having to carry Kris again and was losing speed while Latias approached, opening its mouth and preparing for another Luster Purge.
But it never came as an Altaria flew in and tackled Latias. Kris looked behind her to see Altaria use Dragonbreath against Latias while a Breloom jumped from the Altaria's back and punched Latias right in the jaw before its trainer recalled it. May and Brendan waved at Kris enthusiastically from Altaria's back, but Latias was quick to leave them behind and approach Kris again.
What followed next made Kris even happier, though: something from the cliffs below blasted Latias with a Hydro Pump attack, slowing it down some more, but what fully caused it to stop was the massive pink orb of energy Latias got hit with immediately after.
Kris looked down and grinned: Hilda and her Samurott were there, giving her a thumbs up, as was a Sylveon who had fired a Moonblast, and next to it, in full strength, Lyra.
"You can do it, Kris!" Lyra yelled from below, putting all the energy she had left into that cheer.
Latias stopped pursuing Kris and turned her focus on Lyra and Hilda, but couldn't attack them as she was hit by a massive ball of water to the back and lost her balance, falling several feet before she regained it again.
Kris looked wildly around her to see who had launched the attack. Hilda's Samurott was in a completely different direction, but all else Kris could see around her was cliffs and water.
Getting back up to the sky, Latias opened her mouth again, her aim pointed squarely at Kris and Honchkrow this time – but was again knocked off-balance by a Shadow Ball attack. Its caster, Mewtwo, clearly exhausted and back in its normal form, had floated above Latias, and while Kris couldn't see Mewtwo clearly, she could have sworn it nodded at her.
That was all the sign Kris needed. With the Red Orb firmly in one hand, Kris nodded at Honchkrow and released her grip.
Kris could hear Lyra screaming something, but didn't feel any fear as she started to fall, quickly grabbing the Blue Orb from her pocket with her other hand. With no clue about the proper procedure, all Kris managed to do was force the two orbs to touch and close her eyes before she hit the water.
"KRIS!" Lyra yelled as she descended the cliffs she had just spent the last half an hour climbing, Hilda, Samurott and Sylveon following reluctantly behind.
But Lyra stopped running as she noticed something happening at the spot Kris had fallen into: a gigantic green column of light shot up from the water and towards the sky. Latias and Mewtwo stopped fighting again to witness the light show, and bizarrely enough, even Kyogre stopped as it was about to deal another blow at Groudon and instead turned its yellow eyes to the sky.
A limp and barely conscious, but still-breathing Kris emerged from the foot of the green beam of light, being carried by none other than Croc. Lyra and Hilda waited at the shore, Lyra jumping up and down and waving as Croc swam to them, Lyra and Hilda pulling Kris on her feet.
Then, so many things happened that it was hard to focus on anything else.
The rain stopped abruptly. Groudon began to thaw out, but it didn't attack Kyogre, but turned to stare at the sky, too. And with good reason, because something at least the size of Groudon started coming down from the sky. The green pillar of light parted the clouds and let the sun shine again, casting its light on the arrival. The Pokémon that descended was green and had an incredibly long, serpentine body. Red, rudder-like wings were sticking from many parts of its body, with a fin on the tip of its tail. Two long, flat horn-like structures stuck from its head, and its eyes were small and yellow, just like Groudon and Kyogre's. It also had two short limbs with three claws in each hand. And just like Groudon and Kyogre, its body was covered in strange patterns, these being yellow.
Rayquaza had also been spotted by someone climbing up another hill in the distance: Archie. An insane smirk appeared to his face as Rayquaza's massive head grew ever closer.
"FINALLY!" he yelled. "Rayquaza! The unconquerable, primal master of the sky! I want your power! Be mine!"
Archie kissed his Master Ball for luck before chucking it towards Rayquaza like a baseball player. His entire body trembled at the thought of soon owning a Pokémon who dwarfed even the combined might of Groudon and Kyogre with its power. Soon, the Master Ball would hit its body and suck Rayquaza in...
...except that it didn't. Seeing the Master Ball coming towards it, Rayquaza didn't even stop and just turned its head lazily in Archie's direction, opened its mouth and fired a Hyper Beam at him. The Master Ball evaporated immediately as it hit its path, while the beam destroyed parts of the cliff Archie had been standing on, sending him plummeting towards his doom on the jagged rocks below.
Eventually Rayquaza stopped, letting the green beam of light grow even wider until its entire body was illuminated by it. Floating above everything with its tail slightly coiled, Rayquaza stared down on Groudon and Kyogre, who slowly began to retreat. Kyogre dived back into the sea while Groudon just simply let itself sank, finding a new place to sleep in the many caves around the ocean floor.
Seeing the sky clearing entirely and the two massive Pokémon retreat made Latias lose it for good. She abandoned Mewtwo and flew towards Rayquaza instead.
"You may have ruined my plan," Latias yelled at it, "but I'm still the most powerful Pokémon around! Now taste my Luster Purge and DI-"
Rayquaza opened its mouth again, this time blasting an orange beam into the sky, where it turned into a shower of smaller energy spheres. These spheres rained down on Latias like meteors, each one of them hitting her and sending her plummeting down. She managed to pull up just before hitting the water and turned to stare up at Rayquaza, not in blinding anger, but fear. The way Rayquaza stared down at her, its message was clear: 'if I want to destroy you, I will'.
With no recourse and every part of her body in pain, Latias flew away, practically disappearing in a red flash of light as it moved at supersonic speed.
Everyone still stared, as if frozen still, as Rayquaza started to rise again. The green pillar of light began to fade as Rayquaza rose back to the heavens, returning to slumber in the stratosphere.
It took a while for everyone to register what had happened, but the first thing Kris did after she stopped staring at the sky was rush at her Feraligatr and hug it.
"I was so worried!" she said. "Thanks! I didn't even know you could use Hydro Can – what's that?"
Kris pointed at the piece of blue fabric hanging from Croc's teeth. The Feraligatr picked its teeth carelessly with its claws and tossed the fabric away.
Before anyone could erupt into cheers of celebration, an ear-piercing, high-pitched wail echoed throughout the area. It seemed to come from far away, yet Kris shuddered at the sound anyway, having to listen to it for several seconds.
"Sheesh, was that Latias?" Kris wondered. "I guess we finally drove her out, then."
But Lyra looked concerned, holding her arms close to her chest as she stared at wherever the sound came from.
"That poor thing," she muttered.
Kris wondered if Lyra had hit her head or something, but to her surprise, Hilda didn't look too cheery either.
"The hardest part is living with it," Hilda said quietly. "I wonder if she wanted to destroy everything to just get it over with..."
Kris did remember her conversation with Latias, but just couldn't make herself feel melancholy, especially when she saw the others making their way towards them, riding on Lance's Dragonite, Steven's Skarmory, Brendan's Altaria and Wes' Pidgeot. She did, however, wonder what became of the orbs. As she had pushed them together, they had fused into one, and the next thing Kris remembered was a blinding green light.
Oh well.
~o~O~o~
"The weather phenomena that have plagued our region today seemed to have passed without any larger damage to people or property. The state of emergency in east Hoenn has been lifted and all harbors have been re-opened. Neither the Hoenn League Champion or representatives from the coast guard or navy have offered any comments. The Weather Institute hasn't yet issued any official announcements, but are said to be investigating the possible cause for the unprecedented heat wave, followed by a catastrophic storm. In other news, Slateport City's Captain Stern has confirmed that the thieves of the Submarine Explorer 2 have been apprehended and the craft has been returned to its owners..."
~o~O~o~
Location: Mossdeep City, Hoenn
Lance and Steven were quick to disappear after making the group promise not to take any info about Latias, Rayquaza or anything else public, though with hundreds of others having seen it, it was doubtful that the incident would stay under wraps for long. Mewtwo vanished as well, without even a quick hello to Kris, who wasn't sure how she felt about that. Mr. Briney dropped Kris, Iris, Lyra, Wes, May, Brendan, Hilda and Lunick to Mossdeep City, where Lunick wanted to talk to Kris slightly away from the others. Wes glared at the two as they walked to someplace more quiet, but when asked by Iris what was wrong, he didn't say anything.
What Lunick had to say was no surprise, but still saddened Kris.
"So where will you go?" she asked.
"I'll find a place," Lunick said. "Maybe I'll visit those ruins you mentioned. Either way, I wanted to thank you for giving me a chance."
"Don't make me regret it," Kris said pointedly.
"I won't," Lunick promised. "Not after what I've seen you do. That was incredible! I thought I'd seen it all back at Alph Valley, but what you did was simply amazing!"
"Well, I dunno," Kris said, rubbing her neck awkwardly. "There was like a couple dozen other parties helping out."
"No, I mean it!" Lunick insisted. "At first, I thought Team Aqua was the only thing that could make my life in this time meaningful. But seeing you do something like that made me think I should stay after all, like maybe there's good in this time as well."
Kris wasn't sure why she was suddenly blushing uncontrollably. Though this was the first time someone had given her such sincere praise without adding something diminutive.
"Well, it's not like the old days were that good," Kris muttered and found herself looking at Lunick's feet, nervously brushing her hair aside. "I mean, today we have the Internet and much less diseases and stuff..."
"I hope we meet again soon, Kris," Lunick said and bowed at Kris. "Don't hesitate to call me for help once we do."
Kris didn't even notice that she was staring after Lunick much longer than was appropriate as he headed to the harbor. She also didn't want to move anywhere until she made sure she wasn't red in the face anymore.
Yup. This turned out to be a pretty good day.
A/N: First of all, to anyone who is reading: ありがとう ございます!
As long as it is, I think it turned out well. There's one chapter of Hoenn left, but this story is far from over - I'm thinking this will be around 26 chapters. Sorry I couldn't update faster. Big thanks to DoctorWhale for reading and giving me ideas. And reviews are always appreciated, even negative ones - this chapter may have some errors. Now, for some trivia:
- 13 million is the population of Kyushu, the region in Japan Hoenn is based on
- I made Groudon, Kyogre and Rayquaza much bigger than they are in the games, because the PokéDex info just seems wrong and I wanted to capture the kaiju-feeling. If anything, they're pretty small to be kaiju. Godzilla was like a hundred feet!
- Have you seen the new artwork for Archie, Maxie, Shelly and Courtney for the Generation III remakes? They're in Bulbapedia now and they look AWESOME! Their personalities will still probably be 'generic baddies', though, but I still wish I could have done more with them.
- I hope I didn't offend any British readers (if I have any). I know Shelly's accent is random and overblown, but hey, it's not like they have much canon personality besides 'Grr, I will destroy you, kid!'
Chapter 10 coming soon and will focus on the Hoenn League.
