Chapter 10. This is a milestone for me. Which is… honestly rather sad. Ah well, you don't become J.R.R. Tolkien from writing fanfiction for a few weeks. Let's rock and roll.

Moves, Levels, and other traits
Ralts: Level 19
Type: Psychic
Gender: Female
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Synchronize
Primary Moves: Growl, Confusion, Double Team, Teleport
Secondary Moves: None

Combusken: Level 21
Type: Fire/Fighting
Gender: Male
Nature: Brave
Ability: Blaze
Primary Moves: Sand Attack, Ember, Peck, Double Kick
Secondary Moves: Growl, Focus Energy, Scratch

Tentacool: Level 19
Type: Water/Poison
Gender: Male
Nature: Relaxed
Ability: Clear Body
Primary Moves: Poison Sting, Supersonic, Constrict, Acid
Secondary Moves: None

Dialogue Key:
"Example." = Standard talking.
*Example.* = Thoughts/sound effect. (Note that I may sometimes state what a character is/was
thinking, or may make sound effects part of their standard dialogue.)
-(Example)- = Telepathy. (This is going to be Ralts' way of communication.)
(Example) = A shift in perspective, time, and/or location, or a side-note.

(Dewford Pokémon Center)

May waited as Nurse Joy healed all of her Pokémon. Ralts had lagged behind, but she eventually managed to catch up. Soon, the healing machine chimed, and Nurse Joy took out the Poké Balls and handed them back to May. May then walked outside, and then started towards the Granite Cave, where Steven (apparently) was. Now that she had the Knuckle Badge, she would be able to see in the darker areas of the cave.

(Granite Cave)

May entered the cave once more, with Combusken and Ralts close behind her. The Hiker from last time wasn't there anymore, but there was a young man in a white lab coat, sitting on one of the various rocks. Upon seeing them, he stood up and began walking over.
"Ah, perfekt timing. I am another of Professor Birch's Aides. If you vould kindly hand me your Pokédex, I shall upgrade it to ze latest version."
May hesitated for a second, but then handed over her Pokédex. The Aide turned around and began fiddling with it, much like the previous Aide she encountered.

"Ah, zere ve go… Come on, come on…" Suddenly, he began laughing maniacally. "Ahahahaha, ahahahahaha, AHAHAHAHAHAHA! AHAHA-oh, ze process is over."
He turned around and handed May her Pokédex. It now had a small box-shaped attachment on its back. The attachment had a slot on the bottom, and a button on its back.
"Ah, yes. Ze Pokédex vill now tell you whether or not a Pokémon can learn a specific TM or HM. Simply insert ze disc and point ze Pokédex at one of your Pokémon, and it vill tell you whether or not zat Pokémon can learn zat move. Aftervards, just press the button to eject the disc. Incidentally, you are going to Slateport City soon, ja?" May nodded.
"I see. Vell, please give my regards to meine sister, Ambrosia. She is ze Nurse Joy zere, you see. Ah, vould you look at ze time! I must be off. Auf wiedersehen, fräulein, and viel glück!" He then ran out of the cave.
After a few seconds, when they knew he was gone (and out of earshot), Ralts and May began talking.

-(Well that was… interesting.)-
"Yeah, his accent was really weird… Still, I can see this upgrade being really useful in the future. It'll help let me know when one of you can learn a TM or HM… Oh! That's right! I still have to teach one of you Flash!"
May put her bag down and pulled out the TM case. She took out the disc labeled HM04 and put it into her Pokédex. She then pointed her Pokédex at Combusken. The words "INCOMPATIBLE WITH HM04" flashed onto the screen. May then pointed it at Ralts. This time, the words "COMPATIBLE" appeared on the screen. May then pressed the button, and the HM popped out of the Pokédex. She then took the disc player and the headphones out of the TM case.

-(Wait, wait, wait. Are you doing what I think you're doing? Because if so, I'm not sure if I like this plan.)-
"C'mon, Ralts. It won't be that bad."
-(Fine, but if I get permanent mental damage, you're going to be to blame for it.)-
"Fair enough."
May placed the headphones on Ralts' head and connected the headphones to the disc player. She then set the HM into the disc player, closed the player's top, and it on. Soon, the disc was rotating, and Ralts appeared to be in a trance of sorts. After a few seconds, the player stopped, the top opened, and Ralts regained her senses.
-(Well, that was… an interesting experience. Not particularly painful, but not necessarily enjoyable, either.)-
"See? I told you it wouldn't be that bad. Anyways, you should know Flash now. Let's see what the Pokédex has to say."

She took her Pokédex out of her pocket and flipped it open. She then navigated to the Moves screen, and pointed her Pokédex at Ralts. As she had anticipated, it listed Flash in the list of her moves.
"Yep, it's there! Now, let's get going! We still need to deliver that letter!"
With that, they began walking further into the cave. Soon, they encountered a hole in the cave's floor. In it, a rickety wooden ladder was propped up onto the rim of the hole. May climbed down, followed by Ralts and Combusken. The ladder was rather tall, but they got down to the next level's floor eventually. This floor was much darker than the one above, to the point where May, Ralts, and Combusken could barely see. The only light was coming from above, through the hole.

"Okay, Ralts, let's see that Flash move!"
-(You got it, May!)-
Ralts' horns soon began glowing. The brightness continued growing, until finally, the entire room they were in was illuminated. May gasped. The room was huge in size, though it didn't appear so before. The walls were completely blanketed in various types of gems, much like the ones in the walls of the floor above. She saw various wild Pokémon running around, trying to hide from the bright light. Among them, she saw a few cream-colored Pokémon with what appeared to have large jaws attached to their heads, as well as several dark purple Pokémon with bodies covered with gems. Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a blue, round, levitating Pokémon moving deeper into the cave. It vaguely resembled a buckler shield, with round orbs around its circumference, as well as a plant-like pattern on it.
"Huh, that's weird. I wonder where it's going."
Just then, it turned around to face them. It was revealed, then, that the Pokémon had a face, with two large, yellow eyes. It then spun around, as if to invite them to follow it, and again began travelling deeper into the cave.
"I think it wants us to follow it, guys. Let's go!"
-(I just hope this isn't a trap…)-
Regardless of Ralts' concerns, they began chasing after the Pokémon. They went through several twists and turns, until finally, they caught sight of a light ahead of them. The Pokémon appeared to be heading towards the light, for some reason. The three of them began running even faster, determined on finding what lay at the end of the path…

(Deep in Granite Cave, a few minutes before May and her Pokémon saw the light)

Steven looked at his watch. According to his calculations, May would be with him soon. Suddenly, the Pokémon standing beside him, Aggron, roared and looked around agitatedly. Steven sighed.
"Aggron, calm down. I know that there have been many tremors around Hoenn lately, but I'm sure they're natural. There's no need for alarm."
His Aggron then calmed down, though it still seemed a bit on edge. Steven's mind raced. Despite what he had said, he knew that the armored Pokémon's worries might be justified. There had been many more tremors than usual lately. He had been given reports that Team Magma was active around Mt. Chimney, as well. Perhaps these two things weren't entirely unrelated. Suddenly, his Bronzor flew into the room, followed by three figures: a female Trainer, a Ralts, and a Combusken.

(POV switch)

May looked around the room. It was a medium-sized room, though small in comparison to the room from before. There was a small lantern hanging from the ceiling of the room, which was evidently the source of the light. The walls, as before, were completely covered in jewels. The gems twinkled in the light of the small lantern. She then looked at the elephants in the room: the man standing before her, as well as his Pokémon.

The man was wearing a businesslike black suit with purple stripes along with a red tie. Two purple-silver bracelets wrapped around his upper-arms, and his left hand was adorned with two rings, similar in design to the bracelets. His hair was rather messy, and yet had a very order-like feel to it. His eyes were whitish, steely, with a certain piercing trait to them. Overall, this man gave off a very professional, straightforward aura.
His Pokémon was a massive, armored, bipedal creature. It was covered in various silver plates, which covered its thighs, arms, back, and head. The rest of its body was made up of dark and smooth rock plates. Its head had two sharp horns protruding upwards, along with a sharp piece of plating jutting forward. Under said plating, there were two sharp, cyan eyes, as well as a rigid steel jawbone. All in all, this Pokémon was extremely intimidating.
The man sternly looked over May and her Pokémon for a few seconds, before beginning a conversation.

"I see you've found us. I am Steven, and this is one of my partners, Aggron. The Pokémon you followed, Bronzor, also happens to be mine. But enough about me. Why are you here?"
May was a bit scared, but still answered, "My name's May, and I came here to deliver this letter to you."
She pulled the letter out of her backpack and held it out to Steven. He took it from her, opened the envelope, and quickly read over the contents.
"I see… Well, thank you for delivering this to me. So, if you don't mind me asking, how far have you come at this point?"
"Well, I star-"

Suddenly, Aggron began roaring wildly.
"Aggron, calm down! You're going to-"
The ground began shaking just then. A few rocks began falling from the ceiling.
-(M-May, what's happening?!)-
"I don't know, Ralts, but-"
Out of nowhere, a drill broke through the wall, then retracted. A group of men in red outfits then jumped out of the newly-formed hole.
"There you are! Get ready for a pummeling!"
Steven acted quickly.
"Aggron, Hyper Beam!"
His Aggron then released a massive energy beam at the three men. Two of them deftly dodged the attack, but the third one took the full brunt of the blow. He was knocked back into the hole they had drilled.
"May, run! Get back to Dewford Town! Bronzor, show them the way!"
Bronzor then swiftly exited the room, and May, Combusken, and Ralts followed suit. As they ran, they could hear the sounds of battle behind them. They also could hear what sounded like more drills piercing through the cave's walls. However, they were too focused on their path to look back.

Soon, they had reached the room with the ladder. Before they could ascend, however, a group of Team Aqua Grunts jumped down into the room.
"Hey, you! Surrender to Team Aqua, or prepare to get beaten!"
"Fat chance! Ralts, Confusion!"
-(Way ahead of you, May!)-
The Grunts were levitated into the air and thrown into one of the walls. As soon as they were down, however, three more grunts jumped into the room.
"Crap! Ralts, Combusken, I have a plan! Get back into the tunnels!"
-(W-wait, what?!)-
Before Ralts could react, May, Combusken, and Bronzor were all running back towards the tunnel maze. Suddenly, one of the Team Aqua members, a female, grabbed Ralts and held her tightly.
"Hah! Gotcha!"
-(In your dreams!)-
She then used her powers to force one of the Grunt's teammates to tackle the woman. This caused the woman to let go of Ralts, and in the confusion, she was able to slip away and get back into the tunnel maze. She was able to catch up to May rather quickly, and then they attempted to find a place to hide.

Soon, they were able to find a hiding place within the maze. It was in a curved alcove, connected to the main path to the room Steven was in. They hid at the very end of it, where none of the Grunts could find them without going out of their way.
May peeked around the corner, at the "main" path. She saw a large group Team Aqua Grunts walking in the direction of Steven's room, followed by a woman who appeared to be in charge of the operation. She had red, puffy hair, as well as a black top. Her outfit was far more revealing in comparison to those of the standard Grunts, and the colors of her clothes were strikingly different. When she spoke, her voice was smooth, cold, and cruel.
"Get going, men. Team Magma may be trying to impede our noble goals, but we aren't going to let that happen. Steven is coming with us, no matter what-"
A huge blast of fire suddenly came from the other direction, scorching several of the Team Aqua members. While they ran back from where they came, the remaining Grunts, as well as their leader, sent out several Water-Type Pokémon to combat this threat. Most of the Grunts tossed out weaker Pokémon, such as Wingull, whereas their leader sent out an intimidating puffer fish-like Pokémon. May then heard another voice, female and enthusiastic, came from the direction of the attack.
"Get outta here, you Team Aqua bastards! Steven's ours, and you can't do anything about it!"
"My my, you are a testy little girl, aren't you? No matter. We'll just knock you out of the way, along with the rest of your misguided friends. Qwilfish, Water Gun!"
The puffer-fish Pokémon then fired a blast of water in the direction of the other voice. The effect was apparently devastating, as the other voice responded, "Gah! Team Magma, fighting retreat! Make them pay for every inch!" A flurry of fireballs followed, bombarding Team Aqua. The fighting went on for several minutes, until finally, Team Aqua was able to push hard enough to take the ground. As they front line moved towards Steven's room, more and more Team Aqua Grunts began appearing, most of them simply marching past the group.

Finally, May turned back and examined the state of their group. Steven's Bronzor was still with them, as it had been assigned to them by Steven, and at the moment, wasn't able to get back to its trainer. At the moment, it was producing a faint light, so they could see. Besides that, Ralts and Combusken were still at May's side. Ralts seemed a bit off, for some reason, but Combusken was willing and able to do battle. May grimaced as she realized the danger they were in. At the moment, conflict with one of the Teams (or possibly both) seemed inevitable. She then decided to peek around the corner again. At this point, Team Magma had redoubled its efforts, and now had control of the passageway. Suddenly, two of the Team Magma Grunts broke off from the main stream and began walking into the alcove. May recoiled, and quickly crept out of sight. One of them was a male, and the other a female. She heard their voices as they gradually drew closer.

"Ugh, why are we doing this, anyways? What does this one guy have anything to do with expanding the land? You're a girl, you probably know more about this than I do."
"As much as I'd like to say that I do know what's going on, I really don't. Also, don't stereotype like that. It's not going to make you very popular."
"Sorry. Still, I don't understand why Magma HQ's so hell-bent on getting one person. I mean, sure, he used to be Champion, but I don't see why that makes HQ want to capture him."
"One of the Admins, Tabitha, was blabbing off earlier. He said they were going after Steven because of all of the information in his head. I don't get it, though. What does he know that makes him so valuable?"
"I dunno. Say, you wanna check this passage for him? I mean, chances are he isn't at the end, but it never hurts to make sure."
"I guess so. It's not like we have anything else to do, what with Courtney and her entourage doing so well."

May gasped. If they discovered them, the four of them could be in major trouble. She then noticed that Ralts was acting very oddly – she appeared to sickly and tired. Combusken was sitting beside her, his claw on her forehead, and Bronzor was revolving around her. May crawled over to Ralts, and whispered, "Ralts, what's wrong?"
-(I don't know… I just feel… off… I mean, I don't feel bad, but I don't really feel good, either… it's weird…)-
May then noticed that the voices were getting closer. She closed her eyes for a second, as she thought of what to do, and then opened them, determined on fighting to the end. Even if she only had Tentacool and Combusken, she wouldn't stop fighting until she was dead.

"Combusken!" she whispered harshly. "Get ready! Win or lose, we're gonna fight 'till we drop!"
Combusken nodded, and then jumped up and ran over to May. She watched as the figures gradually got closer…
"Ember, now!"
Combusken then fired off a large flurry of fireballs at the two Grunts. Their clothes quickly caught fire, and they ran off, presumably to get help from the other Grunts. May then released Tentacool, who, though rather disoriented, quickly adapted and became prepared for battle. Bronzor also floated forward, prepared to fight as long as it could. Soon, a swarm of Team Magma Grunts was moving down the hallway, each with their own Pokémon, ready to defeat the enemies of Team Magma.
Combusken, Tentacool, and Bronzor rather easily held their own against the seemingly endless waves of Grunts. May directed them for most of the fight, occasionally taking breaks to check on Ralts. Ralts' condition wasn't improving, and she seemed even worse than before. She didn't even bother responding to May's queries via telepathy, only nodding her head. May was worried. Even if they somehow held off the Grunts, what was wrong with Ralts? She put this in the back of her mind for now, though, as she still needed to direct her Pokémon.

After several minutes of conflict, the tide of the battle went against Team Magma. Their numbers gradually dwindled, until they at last were defeated.
"Hehe, I guess we finally won…"
Unfortunately, the victory was short-lived, as Team Aqua soon took Team Magma's place in assaulting May's position. This time, though, they were led by their Admin.
"Well, what do we have here? I would normally think you would be part of Team Magma, due to your choice of clothes, but considering how you drove most of them off, I'd say you weren't particularly fond of them. You did well, too. If it weren't for the fact that we don't have any open spaces, I'd invite you to join our Team as an Admin and aid our noble cause."
"Sorry, lady, but I'm not gonna help your group! You're just a group of thugs and villains who prey on the weak!"
"I'm sorry you feel that way. Oh well, I suppose not everyone can immediately conform to our desires. And besides, it would be no fun if everyone just surrendered immediately. Grunts, get her!"
With that, they were once again assailed by a horde of Grunts, though this time, their affiliation was Team Aqua. By now, Bronzor, Tentacool, and even Combusken were beginning to tire, and the fact that Team Aqua often used Water-types didn't help matters. *At this rate,* May thought, *we're gonna get overwhelmed. And who knows what they'll do to us then…*

Suddenly, while she was directing her Pokémon, May heard a groan coming from where Ralts was. She quickly ran over to Ralts. May noticed that Ralts was clutching the sides of her head, as well as writhing a little.
"Ralts, what's happening?"
-(I don't know… I just feel… something… moving in my body… I don't know what's going on at all… I feel weird…)-
May picked up Ralts and carefully positioned her in her arms.
"Don't worry, everything's going to be fine… Just keep calm…"
All of the sudden, Ralts began glowing white. May gasped, as she realized Ralts was changing form. She was entirely enveloped by the light at this point, and her body gradually transformed into its new shape. Her horns shifted from the front and back of her head to the sides of her head, and turned to become horizontal instead of vertical. Her previous legs grew into what appeared to be a tutu of sorts, and a new pair of long, thin legs sprouted in their place. Her arms roughly doubled in size (though they became much thinner), and her hair grew out, with two large "bangs" growing out on the sides, and one small crest of hair slithering down her face and ending in a point. Gradually, the light subsided, revealing Ralts' evolved form, Kirlia.

-(Woah, that was… weird.)-
"Y-you could say that…"
Just then, Combusken was knocked back into the cave wall by a blast of water. It then slid to the ground, fainted.
"Um, I think we should act first, talk later."
-(That might be a decent plan, yeah.)-
Kirlia jumped out of May's arms and ran over to where the battle was raging. Tentacool and Bronzor were still there, but they were getting more and more winded. At this point, the Aqua Admin had sent her Qwilfish into the fray. It was doing a rather poor job, as its attacks weren't doing much damage at all, but it still kept fighting and fighting. An idea then popped into Kirlia's head. She levitated the Qwilfish, and then tossed it backwards at the crowd of Team Aqua Grunts. The effect was devastating; all of the Grunts, as well as their Pokémon, were completely blown over.
"Gah, you idiots! How do you plan on defeating Team Magma when you can't even defeat one pesky trainer? What are you going to do, make them laugh so hard that they'll die?!"
Just then, the ground began shaking again. Rocks began falling from the ceiling, and this time, they came down hard. Several large rocks landed on Team Aqua members, severely injuring them. A large group of rocks fell down in-between Team Aqua and May's group, rather conveniently blocking Team Aqua from attacking any more. May was confused by this, but the reason for the earthquake soon became apparent: a drill penetrated through one of the walls in the alcove, and then retracted, as it had during Team Magma's initial attack. This time, however, it was not Team Magma that popped out of the hole in the wall, but instead, it was Team Rocket.

James was the first to crawl out of the hole, followed by Jessie and Meowth.
"Aha, there you are! Using our incredible intellect, we were able to escape from the prison, and dig ourselves here! Now, Jessie, Meowth, and I, James, will de-"
His heroic speech was cut short by a large rock being psychically thrown into his stomach. He keeled over, paralyzed. Jessie and Meowth attempted to retaliate, but Jessie was also hit by a large rock, and Meowth was kicked in the face and knocked out. Kirlia grinned. "Hehe, it's good to know these chumps haven't improved at all from the last time we met them. Let's get going!"
She then started down into the hole Team Rocket had oh-so-kindly drilled. May recalled Combusken, and she too ran into the hole, followed by Tentacool and Bronzor. They weaved and wound through the tunnel, only stopping when the path was more vertical than it was horizontal, and even then, they were able to overcome the altitudes.
Back in the alcove, Jessie, James, and Meowth all lay on the ground.
"Jessie, I don't think our plan went so well…"
"That's putting it lightly, I think…"
"Oh well, we're used ta being tossed around like a buncha horseshoes…"
"Team Rocket's blasting off agaaaiiinnnn…"

Author's Note: Oh dear lord I am sorry for the hiatus. GAH. For those of you who need an explanation for the lack of updating, let's just say school + homework + videogames + internet = lack of any meaningful progress. Ah well. At least I update at all, I suppose. Still, it hurt me so so much not to update at all for so long. I apologize for sorta ending this chapter off abruptly, but I'm typing this at 11:50 PM, and I kinda just want to get this chapter over with. Hopefully the next chapter or two won't be so delayed. Also, I am sorta kinda maybe not really sorry for the terrible pun.