Three days later

Sapphire patted Brook on the head, smiling at her. "Wonderful job, Brook!" The Pokémon nodded, crying out in excitement as she started to change form. Sapphire watched with a smile as her Marshtomp evolved right before her. The Evolution faded and Brook was a whole new Pokémon. May smiled, holding up her Pokédex as it read out an entry. "Swampert predicts storms by sensing subtle differences in the sounds of waves and tidal winds with its fins. If a storm is approaching, it piles up boulders to protect itself."

"How amazing!" Sapphire exclaimed, grinning up at Brook. The Swampert nodded, nudging Sapphire's face lovingly. "You did wonderful, Sapphire!" May said, patting her on the arm. "Thank you, May." Sapphire smiled, scratching under Brook's chin. She turned her attention to Ruby, smiling as she watched her pet her Pokémon. Stone approached Ruby, giving her a bracelet and a stone. She wasn't sure what the stone was for, but Nugget seemed curious as he turned it in his hand. Stone turned and walked towards Sapphire, smiling at her. "Wonderful job on Evolving your Pokémon, Sapphire. She's Evolved in Swampert. This is Mudkip's final form," Stone said as he pulled a stone and bracelet from his pocket. "With Swampert fully Evolved, you can use these."

Sapphire took the stone and bracelet, turning the items in her hand. The stone was light blue with an orange stripe in the center. "What is this, Mr. Stone?" Stone smiled, gesturing to the stone. "It's called Swampertite. It can help Swampert Mega Evolve. The stone was light blue with an orange stripe in the center. "What is this, Mr. Stone?" Stone smiled, gesturing to the stone. "It's called Swampertite. It can help Swampert Mega Evolve. Test it out when you get the chance." Sapphire nodded, putting the bracelet on her left arm as she held the stone up to Brook. "Look at that, Brook. With this, you'll be able to Mega Evolve." Brook took the stone in her hands, staring down at it as she tried to cradle the tiny item carefully. May smiled, taking Brook's arm and placing a matching bracelet on. "Here. It'll hold the stone for you, Brook."

"Oh, thank you, May..! It looks wonderful on her..!" May nodded, helping Brook place the Swampertite in the tiny hole on the bracelet. Brook stared at the new bracelet, nudging May gently to thank her. "You're welcome, Brook." Sapphire grinned, patting Brook with a smile. She turned to look at Ruby, seeing her talk to the boy. It felt great to see her again, but she knew it wouldn't last long. They would have to head back to their Teams and they were running out of time. "May.. These past three days were quite fun, but I'm afraid I'll have to set out very soon."

"I understand, Sapphire. Hey, if you ever need to train some more, just contact me. Sorry for doubting you two earlier." Sapphire shook her head, smiling a little. "It's fine, May. You and your Swampert take care, alright?" May nodded, smiling back as she took Sapphire's hand and shook it. "We will. You take care as well." Sapphire nodded back, approaching the door as she turned to look to the right. Ruby stood beside her, looking back at her. "Well, I guess this is it. Until this is over." Sapphire nodded, turning to look at her. "You be safe out there, alright?" Ruby tried to nod, but couldn't move. She bit her lip as she held a sob before throwing her arms around Sapphire. "I'm afraid of leaving you again." Sapphire looked down, wrapping her arms around Ruby. "Don't worry about me. In time, it'll be over and we'll be together again. Now, go. Team Magma will be wondering where you are."

"I'm sure Team Aqua is thinking the same thing."

"Ruby, Sapphire! Wait!" The two gems looked up as Emeline approached, placing a hand on a Sceptile that looked much like Brendan's. "What is it, Emeline?" Emeline dug into her pockets, pulling out a few pieces of candy with bright blue wrappers. "I want you to have these. They're Rare Candies. They help your Pokémon level up to become stronger."

"Oh, thank you so much, Emeline." Sapphire watched Ruby take a few pieces for herself before taking the rest, placing them in her pocket. "I have some business to attend to, but if either of you need me, you'll find me near Pacifidlog Town." Ruby nodded, holding her arm out. Emeline smiled and hugged her first, then Sapphire. "Be safe, you two!"

"We will be! And thank you for the training, Mr. Stone!" Ruby shouted as she and Sapphire stepped out, holding hands when the door closed behind them. "That was so much fun..! I can't wait for Steven to finally visit the Regions himself." Sapphire nodded, turning to look at her. "Let's not forget why we are here, Ruby. We must check on the third gem, but before we do that, we must stop Aqua and Magma. I'm starting to fear that they will be on their way to awaken Groudon and Kyogre."

"I know, but don't you worry. I'll make sure Maxie doesn't wake up Groudon," Ruby said with a smile, kissing Sapphire on the forehead. "Just be sure Archie doesn't wake Kyogre." Sapphire nodded, returning the kiss to her beloved. "Good luck, Ruby." Ruby nodded, holding Sapphire in a hug before letting out and heading for the north of Mauville. Sapphire watched her go, giving a sad smile before hurrying off to the eastern wall. She hurried across the river separating the Routes, thanks to Brook learning Surf, which made it easier than floating across when nobody was looking. The two hurried through Fallarbor Town, Routes 120 and 121, arriving to Lilycove City. "We made it."

"Sapphire!" Sapphire looked up, seeing Shelly hurry over to her. "Shelly, is something wrong? You look worried." Shelly shook her head, pushing her bangs back as she tried to catch her breath. "Boss has been looking for you. That, and I was wondering if you had seen Matt. You were gone for three days and Matt said he would go out to look for you." Sapphire gulped, looking at Brook. "I haven't seen him. I-I've been training for a bit a-and…"

"Training? That's why you were gone for three days? You had the lot of us worried! And now Matt's missing!" Sapphire frowned, looking down. "I-I'm sorry.. Had I known it would've worried you, I wouldn't have gone off. Is there a way we can find him?" Shelly looked down, frowning a little as she tried to think. "I was going to contact him through my earpiece, but I found he left his in his room. Like he knew what he was doing." Sapphire bit her lip, placing a hand under her chin as she looked up at Shelly. "I can see him returning to the base. He should be here in just a moment."

"What do you mean? How do you know this?" Shelly questioned, raising a brow in confusion until a cry from above caught her attention. He tilted her head up, spotting a large purple bat with two sets of wings coming down. The Pokémon landed beside her, crying out as Matt hopped off with a grunt, turning to pat the Pokémon. "And where have YOU been, Matt?!" Matt held up a Pokéball, returning the Pokémon as he spoke. "I was out. Doing some personal errands."

"You said you would be looking for Sapphire!"

"And I was..!" Sapphire noticed a bright stone in his hand, pushing her bangs aside as she pointed. "Matt, where did you get that?" Matt looked at Sapphire, holding up the stone as Shelly quickly snatched it from his hand. "This is a Fire Stone.. The only place I know where you can get these are from the Fiery Path under Mt. Chimney and the house on Route 124 just east of here, but you need a few Red Shards to get them. Matt, were you by the Fiery Path?"

"Ahh, no! Don't be ridiculous, Shelly! I… I ran into this kid who was in trouble. He was stuck,so I helped him. He gave me the stone to thank me." Shelly sighed, shaking her head. "You always had a way with kids.. So, when you helped him, you couldn't find Sapphire and decided to come back." Matt nodded, taking the stone back. "It was starting to get late and the boss would've killed me if I stayed out much longer."

"I'm sorry I had you all worried," Sapphire muttered. "Had I known, I wouldn't have stayed too long to train." Shelly looked at Sapphire, frowning a little as she sighed. "No, no. It's fine. I'm treating you like a child here.. I'll go tell the boss the two of you are alright.. Next time, tell us where you are." Shelly turned and walked through Lilycove, muttering to herself as Matt looked down at the stone. "That was close…"

"You didn't get that from a kid, did you?" Matt shook his head, turning his attention to Sapphire. "No. I picked it up during my search. Where were you? I searched all over Hoenn for you." Sapphire fell silent, looking up at Brook. "I went out to train.. I didn't realize it would cause such a problem." Matt nodded, looking at Brook. "It caused a bit of a scene. I told my bro I'd be looking for you and… Ah, I let myself wander a bit. Sure, we get to go around Hoenn, but there are some places we're not supposed to go to."

"You need that stone for something, don't you?" Matt looked down, falling silent before sighing. "Can you keep a secret? I don't know you that well, but you seem like a trustworthy person." Sapphire nodded, sitting down by Brook with a small smile. "Tell me whatever you want." Matt sat down in front of her, holding out the Stone. "There's somebody I know. Somebody who I care about a lot. In a few days, their birthday is coming up and I want to make it their best birthday. The gift I had in mind required a Fire Stone and like Shelly said, there's only two places to get them. The Fiery Path and a small house off the coast of Lilycove. You had to give the man living there a Red Shard to get a Fire Stone. Thing is, I don't know where to find one and I don't have much time. The Fiery Path is right under Mt. Chimney for people who can't get through the desert path on Route 111."

"What's so special about the Fiery Path?"

"It's a good place to get Fire Stones, but Mt. Chimney is where Team Magma is hiding. I snuck in and got a Stone, but I was spotted. One of their Admins was out there, waiting for me. I ran as fast as I could. I shouldn't have gone. They'll be more alert this time." Sapphire nodded, placing a hand over the stone. "They couldn't have known you needed it for your gift. I'm sure an Aqua Admin grabbing Fire Stones is quite suspicious, but if they knew what you were doing, I'm sure they'd understand."

Matt frowned, closing his hand around the Stone. "They wouldn't… Aqua and Magma have their differences. They want to expand the landmass, but it'll ruin lives for people and Pokémon. I'd know. I've seen places where people were miserable and where Pokémon never roamed. It's awful. I know you're trying to see things from a good perspective, Sapphire. Things are different for you, I can tell. You're not used to see these things, I bet."

Sapphire looked down, her voice caught in her throat. She looked back up, frowning as Matt rubbed a hand over his face. "When you're put in a world where things are different, you're still you. You think differently from others, act differently from others. Hoenn is a very strange place. Any place that's far from home usually is." Matt chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck as he held the Stone close. "Look at that. The strongest and probably the most respected member of Team Aqua, babbling away like we're best friends."

Sapphire chuckled, standing up as Brook nudged her arm. "Your secret is safe with me, Matt. We should get back. Archie will be wondering where we are." Matt grinned, standing up as he held out a hand to her. "You're right..! Wouldn't want to miss out on the greatest moment in history, I'd say." Sapphire frowned a little as she took his hand, returning Brook to her Pokéball. "What do you mean, Matt?" The Admin looked down at her, brow raised. "You haven't gotten the word yet? It's time..!"

"Time for what..?"

"Time to awaken Kyogre."