"Come on, Latias!"

Latias arched her brow and stared at Rayquaza.

When she had woken up that morning, her counterpart had been the first thing she noticed; wide awake and examining the Secret Garden, like a designer for a manmade home. Before she could ask questions, though, he had ushered her out the door and into the waking streets of Alto Mare.

"What's the rush, Ray?" she asked. She floated up from the Garden's doorway and toward her counterpart, who already hovered above her.

He smirked. "We have to report to Arceus, remember? We didn't do it last night."

Latias looked at his face. She blinked at the fact that he almost seemed enthusiastic.

"Yes, but why are you-"

Rayquaza cut her off when he flew behind her and nudged her forward with his claw. She grunted and moved forward, while Rayquaza hummed thoughtfully and shot one last look at Alto Mare, its buildings decorated for the Dance of the Sun and Moon that night.

"Is something wrong, Ray?" Latias asked when she and her counterpart took off into the clouds seconds later.

"Nope."

Rayquaza forced a frown, and Latias shrugged as she pushed the matter aside.

The two dragons soon made it to the Hall of Legends, where they flew into the meeting room. The other legendaries had just begun to take their seats, and Rayquaza sighed with relief that he and Latias weren't late this time. Right as Latias grinned at him, he nudged her again with his claw and gestured to her seat. Once she was seated, he took the empty place right beside her, silent.

Arceus stepped onto his pedestal. He sailed his eyes over the other legendaries as he took attendance. His brows rose when he caught sight of Rayquaza and Latias, in which Latias waved at him happily from her seat. Impressed with how they had made it on time, Arceus nodded at her.

Then, he opened his mouth and began the meeting.

"I see," Arceus said with a hum.

With the meeting over, the legendaries had lined up to speak with Arceus about the missions he had given them the previous day. Rayquaza and Latias had been last, but when they finally came up, they told of the positive success of their mission, while keeping any off-topic details to themselves.

"So," Latias said. "Did we meet your expectations?"

Arceus smiled. "Of course you did. You saved the members of the tribe from danger, and you did it with teamwork."

Latias grinned.

Rayquaza smirked as surprised looks crossed the other legendaries.

"I have no assignments that need to be done today," Arceus announced to the whole room. "Therefore, you may all spend the rest of the day as you like."

As cheers filled the air, Arceus turned back to Rayquaza and Latias.

"You both have already been counterparts for three days," he said. "And, so far, you seem to be working well together. I'm proud of the both of you. Continue with what you're doing. With teamwork comes an easier way to open up doors with bigger opportunities."

With that, he stepped down from his pedestal and headed into the back rooms - to enjoy his own free time.

Latias faced the crowd of legendaries before her. She looked at Rayquaza. "What do you want to do now, Ray?"

Rayquaza met her eyes. He had to start on his plan now if he wanted it to be ready by tonight. Latias had to be away from him until he could finish it. Away from the Secret Garden in Alto Mare, to be exact. He looked behind him and tried to think of a way to distract her. He would be gone for the next few hours, and he didn't want to risk that Latias would stumble into the Garden before everything was complete and in place.

He saw Deoxys as she talked with Mewtwo toward the corner of the room. He remembered the conversation they had shared before he and Latias had taken off to do their mission. As Latias continued to sail her gaze around the other legendaries, Rayquaza silently made his way over to Deoxys, who turned her bluish-green eyes to him. She paused Mewtwo in the middle of his sentence with a gesture of her hand.

"What's up, Rayquaza?" she asked. She looked at Latias. "Is something wrong?"

"Do you think you can do something for me?" Rayquaza said. He moved to the side and blocked her view of his counterpart.

She met his eyes. "What, exactly?"

Rayquaza glanced behind him and at Latias, and he lowered his voice into a whisper: "Can you keep Latias here for a few hours? I need to…go somewhere. Alone. Without her."

"A few hours?"

"It's not like you have anything else to do today!" Rayquaza rolled his eyes. "Besides, I really need your help here."

"Can I ask why?"

Rayquaza snorted. "Just do what I say, okay? I don't have that much time as it is. I'll tell you about it later."

Deoxys ran a hand down her face. "Okay, okay. Just…don't make it too long."

"Thanks, Deoxys."

With that, Rayquaza disappeared into the crowd.

Deoxys stared at Latias, who then turned, noticed her counterpart's absence, and glanced around in search of him. Bidding Mewtwo farewell, Deoxys approached the smaller dragon.

"What's wrong, Latias?" she asked.

"Have you seen Rayquaza?"

Deoxys raised her finger. "Uh, he said he was going out for a fly. You know, to think about things a little."

"Why didn't he ask me to come?"

"…Well, you know him. He was used to being alone before all of this began. He probably just wanted one of those 'alone times' again. Don't worry. He'll be back soon."

Latias frowned, but nodded.

"And I'll keep you company until he gets back," Deoxys said, as she wrapped an arm around Latias in a friendly manner.

Latias smiled. "Thanks, Deoxys."

As the feathery dragon floated forward, Deoxys paused. She wondered how she could find enough ways to keep Latias distracted all by herself. She looked around.

Mew floated by seconds later.

Perfect.

"Hey, Mew?" Deoxys whispered out.

Mew's ears twitched with curiosity. She floated toward the space virus. "Deoxys?"

"Rayquaza needs us to distract Latias and keep her here," Deoxys said. "I think I'm going to need your help on this."

Mew nodded eagerly. "Okay! I'll help!" She paused. "But, what for?"

Deoxys shook her head as she led Mew toward Latias.

"Not a clue, Mew. Not a clue..."

Ugh…my head…

Khan Temujin groaned. He felt dizzy, and the light that filled his eyes as soon as he opened them practically made him hiss. Slowly, he leaned forward and rubbed his sore head. He looked around, his vision still blurry, as he tried to identify where he was.

Genghis. Houndoom. Running. When Khan had ordered his rhyperior to attack, something had gone wrong. Darkness had overtaken him. He couldn't remember anything else but the smell and taste of water.

He gazed around and noticed that he was in a bedroom. The light of the afternoon sun streamed in through the open windows and created a warm and deep glow, which illuminated the wooden floor. He clenched his hand and felt a soft material gather in his fist. He looked down to realize that he was in a bed. Sheets and towels cushioned his back, while a large comforter covered him and warmed him up.

Where am I?

How did I get here?

Despite how comfortable he felt, he couldn't help but ask these questions to himself. He looked around some more. An easel sat in the corner of the room. An unfinished painting of Rayquaza covered its canvas. At that, Khan realized that pictures of all sorts of pokemon and humans hung from the walls, attached by pieces of tape, to where they moved in the light breezes that passed through the opened windows.

Khan's eyebrows rose. The paintings were beautiful-

The nearby door opened. Khan squeaked and pulled the comforter over his head. He still wondered who had rescued him from the water and brought him to this place. Though he felt grateful, he felt even more anxious.

A woman stepped in through the door.

Khan saw her face. He lost his hold on the comforter.

Bianca…

Bianca carried a tray with a mug of tea and a small plate of cookies. She blinked when she noticed that Khan stared back at her, and she quickly put the tray down and rushed to the door.

"Grandpa!" she called out. "He's awake!"

She came back and made her way over to the bed.

"How are you doing?" she asked, eyes bright. "Are you okay?"

Khan swallowed hard and forced a nod. He stifled the blood that tried to rush to his face.

A short, round man entered the room, dressed in clothes that made him look like some sort of carpenter. A white-colored beard covered his jaw. He ran his fingers through it as he walked over to the bed and stopped beside Bianca, who then pulled back to meet his eyes.

"It's nice to see you're awake, son," the man said. A faint smile tugged at his lips. "Bianca thought that you hit your head and you were in a coma."

Bianca chuckled sheepishly. "Okay, so I jump to conclusions a little too fast. Who doesn't sometimes?"

Khan didn't say anything. He didn't know what to say.

"Well," the man added, "I might as well do the introductions. I'm Lorenzo. This is my granddaughter, Bianca."

"I'm…" Khan trailed off. "I'm Kha-"

He stopped, shook his head, and sighed.

"Jim," he then said. "My name's Jim."

"Jim, eh?" Lorenzo hummed. "Okay. Well, Jim, do you have any idea what happened last night?"

Khan paused. "I…I don't know."

Lorenzo frowned. "You must've really hit your head then."

"I was taking a walk through the streets," Bianca said, "when I saw you floating in the water of a canal. You were unconscious, so I thought I'd bring you here. Alto Mare does have a clinic, but it's on the other side of the main plaza and my house was closer."

Khan widened his eyes. He looked beneath his comforter.

"Don't worry," Bianca said with a laugh. "Your clothes were wet, but I thought it would be awkward to change you out of them when...you know. So, I just put some towels under you."

Khan sighed in relief.

"Are you hungry?" she asked. She turned around and reached for the tray she had put down earlier. "I made you some tea, and I brought you some cookies."

Khan had to smile at that. "Thanks."

"I need to head back to the shop," Lorenzo said. "Do you think you'll be okay here, Jim? If anything serious comes up, we have no problem taking you to the clinic."

"I think I'm fine now."

"Yeah," Bianca said. "Besides, I'll stay with him. Having went through what he just went through, he could probably use the company."

Khan's face fell. He opened his mouth to refuse her kind offer, but he couldn't get the words to come out.

Lorenzo nodded. "Alright. I'll be back later."

After Lorenzo left, Bianca pulled up the chair by the easel, placed it beside the bed and sat down. She handed the food tray to Khan, who took it and quickly grabbed a cookie. His stomach growled with hunger.

"So, where're you from?" Bianca asked. "By the look of your clothes, you don't come from here."

"I…I'm not," Khan said. "I'm from…uh…somewhere else."

Bianca blinked, but then shrugged her shoulders. "Well, do you have any family? Someone I can call to let you know that you're alright?"

"Uh. No."

"Hmm? You have no family?"

"I do, but they're not close by. I'm on vacation."

"Oh. That would explain a lot. I guess you're not used to the 'living rules of Alto Mare', then?"

Khan frowned, bewildered. "What are those?"

Bianca laughed. Khan wanted to smile. Her laugh - it was so warm.

"Just basic non-official rules that apply to all residents here," she said. "Rule Number One: Keep a firm footing when walking on the bridges that cross over canals, or you might very well slip and fall off." She shook her head, amused. "It's happened before with other visitors, so don't feel bad."

"Thanks," Khan said, chuckling himself; "now I know I'm not an idiot. Or, at least in this case."

"Glad I could help."

Khan looked at the easel with a thoughtful hum. "Did you make that?"

"Yup."

"It's really good," he said. "It's Rayquaza, right?"

Bianca nodded.

Khan looked at the finished paintings that hung from the walls. "Did you make all of those, too?"

"I like to paint in my free time. I know, they're not super great..."

"Are you kidding? You're amazing!"

Khan paused as those words fell from his lips. He quickly turned his face away from hers.

Bianca swallowed hard, as if embarrassed. Then, she smiled. "Um. Thank you, Jim. That's really nice!"

Khan slowly brought his eyes back to her. She still had that smile on her face. She looked beautiful. He sighed and shook the thought from his head. What kind of Rocket grunt was he? If Genghis was here…

His eyes widened.

Genghis!

He had nearly forgotten about his brother! Gritting his teeth, he wondered what had happened to him. Was he looking for him?

Did he even care?

A frown crossed Khan's face. Genghis probably didn't care…

"Something wrong?"

"N-no," Khan quickly said. He put the tray down beside him and shifted himself to get out of the bed. Whether his brother cared or not, they were still on a mission. "I…I have to go."

Bianca got up from her seat. "What? Why do you have to leave so fast?"

"I-I just do."

As soon as Khan stood, he stumbled over. Bianca caught him before he hit the floor. She wrapped her arms around him to keep him steady.

His heartbeat increased. Meanwhile, Bianca didn't seem fazed by their close contact.

"I know that you're going to have to leave eventually," she said, her voice firm, "but I don't think it's a good idea to do so right at this very instant. You're not done recovering yet, so I think you should get another hour or two of rest."

Khan swallowed, but didn't protest. Gently, Bianca helped him get back into his bed.

"Just take another nap," she said with a smile. "Your body will heal itself faster when you're not up and about ordering it to do stuff." She made her way to the door. "I'm going to go prepare myself for the Dance of the Sun and Moon tonight, so I'll check on you later."

Khan's eyes flashed. He remembered how Genghis had mentioned such a thing earlier – a 'Dance of the Sun and Moon'. Before he could stop himself, he asked, "What's that? The Dance, I mean."

"You don't know?" Bianca backtracked. "Well, I guess that makes sense – you just visiting and all. Alright, it's like this…"

Professionally, she explained the concepts of the Dance and what Alto Mare did whenever it came up.

When she finished, Khan blinked. "Wow," he said. "Sounds like some party."

"It's really fun to go to!"

A pause.

"Wait," Bianca added, "you're just visiting, so that means you've never attended a celebration of the Dance, right?"

Khan nodded.

Bianca laughed. "Well, that doesn't seem right. How about if you're feeling better tonight, you can come out and celebrate with me? I'll show you everything you need to do."

"I…" Khan trailed off.

He had his mission to think about. He had to find his brother. What if Bianca discovered who he really was?

But, at the same time - when did he get the chance to relax with someone? Definitely with how his career as a Team Rocket member prevented him from making connections with people outside of the organization?

He wouldn't mind spending a few more hours with Bianca, either. He wouldn't mind at all.

Before his brain could catch up, his heart answered for him: "That sounds…good." He smiled. "Really good!"

Bianca returned the smile. "Great! It doesn't start until tonight, so get some more rest and I'll wake you when it's time to leave."

With that, she left.

Khan sunk back into the bed and closed his eyes.

Rayquaza stopped when Alto Mare came into view. He gazed at it as it glowed in the afternoon sun.

"You want the Dance?" he said to himself - to the image of Latias in his head. "I'll make sure that you'll get your Dance."

And he flew forward, a smirk on his face.