"There's nothing complicated about us, or the concepts of the Dance."

Ulinawi led Rayquaza and Latias down the main pathways that consisted the grounds of the tribe. He pointed out various huts and pokemon as he toured them through his home.

"Family time," he said. "Brotherly time. It's what the Dance is all about." He picked up a berry, separated it into two, and gave one piece to a nearby tribe member, who accepted it with a grin. "Like sharing. It's one of the other ways of the Dance that strengthens the bonds between us all."

Latias smiled; she knew the Dance like the back of her claw, yet she had never heard it explained like this. "So, we're brothers to you guys right now?"

"Of course."

Rayquaza grunted. He watched Ulinawi, who picked up more berries from the ground and gave them to his 'brothers' as they passed by. Thoughts filled his head.

"Rayquaza?"

He blinked and met Ulinawi's curious eyes. He hadn't even noticed that he had looked at him. "Yeah? What is it?"

"Your bond with Latias," Ulinawi said, "it is something that truly reflects the concepts of the Dance, yes? But, I'm curious. You both are not natural counterparts, so would it be a burden if I were to ask how your partnership came to be?"

Rayquaza allowed his eyes to wander. He caught sight of Latias as young pokemon tugged her away. She laughed and followed; the children mirroring her excited smile, eager to meet a legendary in person. This left him alone with Ulinawi.

"Well," he then said, remembering his prior conversation with Deoxys, "you're not the only one who's been curious about me and Latias' deal."

Ulinawi nodded. "The bonds between the legendary counterparts are an inspiration to us. They were involved in the creation of the Dance, after all. Hearing about how you and Latias were able to form such a connection would be amazing to know." His brow quirked. "But, you said 'deal'. What do you mean by that?"

"Latias' brother died a while back. He was her counterpart, obviously, and she became depressed about it. So, I made a deal with her. We're being temporary counterparts for a week, until she cheers up."

"Ah," Ulinawi said, "I figured this had been started by something like that. Latios' death was indeed unfortunate. It hadn't taken long for the news of it to pass through the regions. A tragic thing, the death of a great god."

"The rest of the council didn't really like it either, you know."

Ulinawi hummed. "May I ask another question, Rayquaza? What of your bond with Groudon and Kyogre?"

Rayquaza waved a claw. "Erm, on hiatus. I was never close to them anyhow."

"Really?" Ulinawi paused. "That's something we never thought possible. To us, the bonds between all counterparts are strong."

"Like I said, I was never close to them. They were always tied into their business. I stayed true to my own."

"Then what brought you to make this deal with Latias?"

Rayquaza's frown tightened. "I…" He shook his head. "I was curious to see what it felt like to have an actual counterpart."

"Is that all?"

"Basically."

Ulinawi narrowed his eyes, a look of suspiciousness that seemed to fade quickly. "Well, 'temporary' doesn't have to matter."

Rayquaza stopped in place. "What?"

Ulinawi looked up at the sky. He watched as the sun slowly sailed across, a visible phantom of the moon not too far off. "Even if your bond with Latias is temporary, it is still a bond you two have formed. It is now something you share, and sharing is one of the main concepts of the Dance. It is something that should be cherished." He looked at Rayquaza and chuckled. "But, of course, you have an idea of all this, right?"

At that, Rayquaza met his eyes. He remembered how he had anticipated the week to be over. He gulped and dropped his gaze with a sense of guilt.

"Uh…well…"

Ulinawi tilted his head. "Is something wrong?"

Rayquaza pushed aside the feeling and shook his head. "Nope."

"Oh, okay." The squirtle stepped forward. "Come. We should probably see where the young ones took your counterpart."

Rayquaza nodded and followed.

"You see," Ulinawi said as he led Rayquaza in the direction Latias had gone, "there are many concepts to the Dance. Sharing is just one. Another is one I've mentioned before – doing things for your partner and not expecting anything in return." He pointed to a pidgey, who helped a poochyena that had tripped. "Something like that."

Rayquaza glanced at the scene.

Ulinawi suddenly laughed. "And again I explain to you something that you already know."

"Uh…?"

"Your bond with Latias. You have shared with her your wisdom and guidance, and you are doing something for her without really expecting a reward. That 'something' being this counterpart deal, I mean. Even if your previous bond with Groudon and Kyogre wasn't strong, the bond you have created with Latias holds a deeper power. You two are already following the concepts of the Dance pretty well."

Rayquaza opened his mouth to say something, but then he closed it. The chance to satiate his curiosity of having a counterpart didn't match up to what Latias received from this. In a way, he really didn't expect a reward.

"When you think about it," Ulinawi said, "the bond between two beings is like the bond between…" He looked around. A smile crossed his face as he spotted a rose growing on a bush not too far off. He walked over and picked it, making sure to watch out for its thorns. "…is like the bond between the petals and stem of this rose."

Rayquaza escaped his trance and stared at the rose in Ulinawi's hands. Its scarlet petals glowed in the sunlight; its green stem long, firm, and damp.

"One person is the top," Ulinawi said as he petted the rose's face, "and the other is the bottom. One represents the petals, and the other represents the stem." He picked a petal and held it up. "Alone, neither mean anything. They're but fragments of something much greater. However, when together…" He stuck the petal back in place. He then held up the entire flower, stem and all. "They equal to something beautiful and mystifying. Like the sun and moon. Like the bond between two beings."

He turned and offered the rose to Rayquaza.

Rayquaza stared at it with widened eyes. Somewhat hesitant, the dragon then reached forward and took the flower, where he rested it across his palm.

Ulinawi smiled softly. He reached for the bush he had picked the rose from and used both hands to push the shrubs aside.

It revealed a large field of roses, like a sea. The dew they had gathered sparkled in the sunlight. Their soft, luscious petals illuminated the air with fresh scents and hues of red. In the middle of the field was Latias, who stared at the scene around her with amazement. The children that had brought her here circled her with glee.

Ulinawi looked at Rayquaza. He smirked at how the dragon's jaw had slightly dropped. "Beautiful, isn't it? Every one of these roses were planted in honor of a bond between two members of our tribe. As you can see, there's quite a lot. There are as many roses as there are of us."

He stepped forward and into the field.

Rayquaza lingered behind and thought about the squirtle's words. He looked at Latias.

His counterpart.

Slowly, he raised the rose and aligned the shapes of its petals with the feathery dragon. Their scarlet hue blended well with her redness.

One represents the petals...

Rayquaza lowered his eyes and looked at the stem that protruded from the bottom of the flower. Long and green, like himself.

… and the other represents the stem.

"Ray?"

He met the gaze of Latias as she floated forward. He quickly hid the rose behind his back.

"Isn't it amazing?" she asked. She looked back at the roses. Her eyes grew warm. "What it all represents, too. It's awe-inspiring. This is why I love the Dance, the messages behind it and all that. It reminds me that my bond with Latios will never die…and that my bond with you is something deep and powerful. I'm glad you're my counterpart, Ray, even if it's just temporary."

Rayquaza paused at that.

Latias smiled at him. She turned around to head back toward Ulinawi and the children-

"Wait, Latias."

She stopped and blinked at Rayquaza. "Hmm?"

He swallowed hard. Then, he pulled his claws out from behind his back and revealed the rose. He held it out to his counterpart.

"Um...for you," he said. "For us, I mean. For what we represent, for what the bond we share represents."

Latias beamed. "Wow, Ray!" She reached forward and took the rose. "Thank you so much!"

Rayquaza shrugged and turned his head the other way. "Meh…don't worry about it."

His eyes widened when Latias leaned forward and nuzzled his cheek. A blush crossed his face as she pulled back, where the white parts of her cheeks seemed to also tinge red.

"Really," she murmured. "Thank you."

Rayquaza could only nod, his blush still present.

Latias gently tucked the rose behind her ear and headed out into the field.

Rayquaza stared at her as she went. Ulinawi's voice returned to his head:

Alone, neither mean anything. They're but fragments of something much greater.

He gently touched the spot where she had nuzzled him.

However, when together…They equal to something beautiful and mystifying.

He smiled.

Just like a rose.

Hours passed as Ulinawi showed Rayquaza and Latias more of the tribe. When twilight commenced across the skies over Hoenn, Rayquaza figured it was time to leave.

"A day well spent," Ulinawi said, as Latias and Rayquaza prepared themselves to head out. "And it was an honor spending it with you, Rayquaza and Latias. I hope you enjoyed staying with us."

Latias beamed. "It was great! Thanks so much!" She turned her eyes to the rest of the tribe, who all stood behind Ulinawi, waving. "Goodbye, everyone!"

Rayquaza bowed his head to the tribe, and then turned to his counterpart. "Come on, Latias."

They took off into the sky.

"So…" Latias looked at Rayquaza as they flew over Hoenn. "Should we return to the Hall of Legends to report back to Arceus?"

Rayquaza hummed. "Actually, it's getting kind of late. We'll report back to him at the meeting tomorrow morning."

"Oh, okay!" She grinned. "Well, this was a pretty fun day, right?"

Rayquaza turned his head to her. The rose he had given her still lay behind her ear, and he forgot what he wanted to say.

"Um...yeah, it was."

The two dragons made their way back to Alto Mare, which shined in the light of the setting sun, as it usually did. However, the streets were illuminated in colors of gold and silver; shops and houses that lined them covered in astrological decoration. Rayquaza gazed upon the scene with bewildered eyes as he and Latias approached the city's gate.

"The town must be getting ready for the Dance tomorrow," Latias said. She turned to her counterpart. "Latios and I, we would always head out into the streets during the Dance and celebrate it with the townspeople. Of course…" She frowned. "I haven't really done so since, you know, he passed."

Rayquaza arched a brow. "Would you want to do it this time?"

"Well…" Latias shrugged. "Only if you wanted to. I mean, if you don't, that's fine. I understand."

Rayquaza swallowed hard and turned back to Alto Mare. A part of him wanted to say no - the fraction of his personality that didn't like parties. But, his other side screamed something entirely different.

"Well…"

"Forget it," Latias said with a soft laugh. "Forget that I said anything. We don't have to celebrate it if you don't want to. I mean, we kind of already did with Ulinawi's tribe, anyhow, so I'm all set."

Rayquaza frowned. She respected his wishes, but he felt more guilty than flattered.

"Come on, Ray," she said, and she led him toward the Secret Garden.

They emerged into it a few minutes afterward. Dark and silent. The pokemon that resided there had turned in for the night; calmness filled the area, save the sounds of the water that ran from the ponds and fountains.

Latias floated toward the fountain that held the Soul Dew. She looked at it with memories of the Dance. Gently, she took the rose Rayquaza had given her from behind her ear and placed it beside the fountain. She backed away to admire how it looked.

Rayquaza came up beside her. His gold eyes glowed in the darkness.

"There," Latias said, gesturing to the rose, "now I have symbols of both my bond with Latios, and my bond with you."

Rayquaza only met her eyes.

Latias floated away from the fountain and headed toward the grassy areas of the Secret Garden, where she and Rayquaza had made their sleeping places. She yawned. "I suppose we should get some sleep." She looked at him. "We have to get up early tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah…"

Latias laid down and snuggled into the soft grass. She closed her eyes and sighed contently.

Rayquaza curled up near Latias. He laid his head down on the grass, though his eyes stayed open with thoughts. Latias had no motivation to celebrate the Dance with the townspeople, like she always did before Latios died. A sad sight, even to him. He silently raised his head so he could gaze at Latias, where more guilt strangled his gut. He didn't want to see her like this. The purpose of their deal was to cheer her up and turn her back into her normal self.

He sighed and laid his head back down. His eyes wandered over the surroundings; the grassy fields and pathways, the trees, and the moss-covered stone walls that consisted the Secret Garden. He imagined what the place would look like covered with those astrological decorations, like the streets of Alto Mare outside. It would glow in hues of silver and gold. It would look amazing.

Rayquaza blinked as he thought this over. He looked around at the scene before him.

An idea came to him.

A faint idea, but an idea nonetheless. He glanced at Latias, then glanced back at the Secret Garden. Anticipation shuddered across his muscles, as the idea developed itself inside of his mind. He lowered his head back to the ground and closed his eyes. He knew that he couldn't accomplish the idea tonight.

He smirked.

So, he would do it tomorrow.

"You're making a huge mistake keeping us locked up in here!"

The police officer switched his bored gaze to Genghis, who glared at him from behind the bars of his prison cell.

"If you don't get us out of here right now…" Genghis hissed. "I'll, I'll-"

"You'll what?" the cop asked as he leaned back in his chair.

"I'll do something!"

"You've been threatening to do something ever since I put you in there."

Genghis growled and turned to his brother, who sat on the cheap, stained mattress in the back of the cell. "Why aren't you doing anything?"

Khan jumped. "Huh, what?"

Genghis stepped forward and jabbed a finger toward him. "You've been sitting there all day staring at the four walls while I've been working hard to get our asses out of here!"

"Er…well…"

"Get your damn head out of the gutter!"

In reality, Khan could only think of Bianca – the beautiful woman he had seen in the town square. Her name, her looks; though they were all things that were new to Khan, they had still turned him into a lovesick fool. Genghis didn't know of his crush, and he preferred to keep it that way.

"Well," the police officer said as he checked his watch, "my shift's almost over. I think I'm going to head out and let the next person take charge."

Genghis snarled. "What? Aren't you going to release us? We've been in here for hours!"

The officer scoffed. "Not long enough, if you ask me. You two caused quite the trouble in the plaza. Though everything's fixed now, you're both staying here until we can figure out a proper verdict."

"This is cruel and unusual punishment," Genghis said.

"No, having to deal with two idiotic tourists like you is cruel and unusual punishment. Now, if you don't mind, stay here and be good. It's not like you can do much else anyway."

Genghis mumbled a series of curses.

The officer rose to his feet and headed toward the door. As soon as it shut behind him, Khan turned his eyes to his brother.

"Now what?" he asked.

Genghis smirked. "Now that that buffoon is finally gone, we get out of here, of course."

Khan arched an eyebrow. "What? How?"

Genghis tugged at his fake necklace. He broke the chain and slipped off a bead that was somewhat larger than the others. He then scratched at the brown paint that covered it, which revealed the red-and-white surface of a minimized pokeball. "With our pokemon," he said. "I hid them in our necklaces in case something like this happened."

Khan turned his eyes to his own fake necklace, and, following his brother, soon uncovered his own pokeball. "Wow, good thinking."

"Someone has to be the brains around here."

Khan frowned at that.

Genghis tossed the pokeball to the ground, releasing his pokemon – an electivire. Khan did the same and freed his rhyperior.

"Now," Genghis said, "let's get the hell out of here! Electivire, use thunder punch on the wall!"

Khan followed. "Rhyperior, do the same with rock smash!"

The two pokemon growled and used their attacks to smash their way through the cell's back wall. The dark alleyways of Alto Mare opened up to the two Rocket grunts.

"Come on!" Genghis said as he headed forward, his electivire not far behind.

Khan stumbled from the sudden command, but caught up seconds later with his rhyperior at his heels.

Meanwhile, another police officer entered the cell room. Her jaw dropped at the sight of a large gaping hole where the cell's back wall had once been.

"Jailbreak!"

She caught sight of the distant figures of Genghis and Khan. Quickly, she released her houndoom and sent it forward.

"Don't let them escape!"

The houndoom barked, jumped through the hole, and ran after Genghis and Khan.

"Crap!" Genghis hissed as he saw the approaching pokemon. "I'm really starting to hate houndoom!"

"Rhyperior!" Khan called out. "Stone edge!"

Rhyperior growled, raised his arms, and unleashed a wave of rocks toward the houndoom. It snarled, dodged each of the rock fragments, and headed toward Rhyperior with its jaws glowing black. It jumped forward and latched onto Rhyperior's arm, where he struggled to throw the pokemon off while keeping up with his master.

Khan, Genghis, and the three pokemon came across a small bridge that connected two alleyways split by a canal. Water rushed through it as the town performed its nightly waterway cleaning. Khan stopped when he reached the middle of the bridge, noticing how his rhyperior lagged behind in the midst of dealing with the attacking houndoom.

"Rhyperior!" he said. "Hyper beam!"

Rhyperior opened his jaw. The orange-colored energy of a hyper beam attack formed in the back of his throat.

The houndoom gritted its teeth anxiously and let go of the pokemon's arm. It backed off to avoid the attack.

Or, better yet, improvise.

It jumped up right before Rhyperior launched his hyper beam, where it fired a shadow ball from its mouth. The ball made contact with Rhyperior's jaw and threw his head back. His beam then shot out from his mouth and headed in the other direction.

Khan's face paled as he saw the beam approach. He moved out of the way in time, but the beam whizzed by him and hit the bridge beneath his feet. It crumbled under the power of the attack. Khan struggled to keep his balance, but he lost his footing and fell into the rushing water below.

He surfaced as fast as he could. He felt his body being dragged in the direction of the current - away from the destroyed bridge, away from his rhyperior and the opposing houndoom, and away from Genghis; who appeared at the edge of the canal, his eyes bright with fear.

The last thing Khan heard was his brother calling his name. Then, the water swallowed him up, and everything went black.