If anyone had asked, Lance would state that it had started simply. First thing that morning, Red and Wes had seemingly forgotten their promise of battle. Wes was distracted by the arrival of Rui, who was busy having fun in this new region. It was a far cry from Orre's desert, even if Kyogre's rampage two years ago had created a large pool of water along the south-western edge of the region. It was almost enough to be called a sea.

Either way, wild Pokémon were a novelty to her, and Wes had his hands full keeping her from charging off wildly. Red had let the matter drop quite nicely, Lance had thought. After all, they were talking about a champion who had mucked off to the middle of nowhere. Red maybe didn't want to fight anymore?

Well, it wasn't Lance's place to judge, though once upon a time, he would've. Just like he had scoffed at the idea of a single ten-year-old taking down a powerful criminal organization. But it had happened. And Red had paid a price for it.

So perhaps huge challenges weren't on his to-do list anymore.

Lance held onto the thin, frail thought. He wasn't sure if it was hopeful, or disgusted.

He had no right to talk. Lance had watched as Team Rocket had swept across Kanto and Johto, and done nothing. Giovanni had challenged him, once. Lance sneered, and easily defeated the man. It hadn't even crossed his mind to bring down Team Rocket. His mind was filled instead with the Championship, and how he kept the two regions reigning number one. Everyone knew of Kanto and Johto as the region of the strongest.

Each region had its own charm, but the region of the strongest had always seemed safe, peaceful. It was shattered when the Champion was beaten, and the second champion was beaten, and the third champion had disappeared off the face of the planet. Suddenly, Lance found that even if there wasn't any outside influences trying to destroy his regions, there was plenty of inside influences.

That was why he had helped Gold. Why he turned a blind eye to the fact that Silver was Giovanni's son. He didn't have the right to judge. He had helped Team Rocket through idly standing by. That's why he couldn't ignore the faint stirrings of Team Rocket, even when it was in another Champions region.

But, he was getting distracted. Lance's cape rippled in the wind, as a compressed blast of air ripped past him. Dragonite roared. The trainer who had stolen his Pokémon (and something important of Red's?) smirked. "Well, this is a fun battle, isn't it Red?"

Red's back, straight, stiff and uncomfortable spoke just how uncomfortable he was with keeping his back to his enemy even with two people as his shields. Rui was identifying Shadow Pokémon right and left. A couple of signs to Venosaur, and the Shadow Pokémon were tossed out to the side for Wes to catch in-between bouts of fighting Dragonite.

Anyways, he was getting off topic. This situation- right? Lance was thinking about how they had landed in this situation. Where Wes didn't have enough pokéballs, Red was stuffed off to the side because he was a polite boy despite being strong and had let Wes tell him what to do, and Lance…

Lance touched the growing stain on his side. Dragonite really did not recognize him. "Call out to him Lance. His heart is not so closed as to not recognize you- and the bonds you hold should be stronger then any machine can cut." Wes's words were quiet, as he stared up at the Pokémon that rumbled threateningly.

"Dragonite! Come back to your senses! Remember our training at the Dragon's Den! Just how do you believe my sister and Grandfather would feel to see you acting so shamefully?" Lance shouted the words, and Dragonite's wings stuttered for a moment.

The other's smirk disappeared in that moment. "Looks like I should return-"

Vines whipped out, snagging Dragonite. Red glanced back, crimson eyes evaluating the battlefield in a split second. Lance smirked slightly as he felt the overwhelming presence of a Champion sweep across the wide-open field.

Even if Red had accidentally stumbled upon this situation when he had found a little girl wandering the forest looking for her stolen Pokémon, he was a dependable ally. Lance just wished that Red would've told them first. Rather they had to come running when the colossal boom of a Charizard and a Dragonite of Champion Class had clashed.

Dragonite called out, and Lance's heart clenched. His strong, beautiful Pokémon was in pain. He couldn't help Dragonite either. Only by shouting, calling out- "Don't you remember, Dragonite? How I first found you as a Dragonaire in the Dragon's Den. You were the runt of the litter! No one believed you would live, but I was absolutely certain you would become one of the best fighters among all the others!"

Dragonite stopped struggling slightly, head cocked towards the voice. Wes smirked, "Thanks Lance. I think I might be able to catch him now."

The Great Ball whirled through the air. Venosaur's vines relaxed in that moment, as the other man started to recall Dragonite. The two beams of light dueled in mid-air, fighting for supremacy. Dragonite disappeared, and two pokéballs fell to the ground. There was a moment of silence, as breaths were unconsciously held, except for the roars and rumbles of Red's Pokémon holding back a army of grunts from approaching.

The snag ball rocked. One.

It rocked again- Wes and the other lunged for it at the same time. Lance tried to convince the graying world that he needed to move. To get to that rocking ball to claim Dragonite as his once more. Two.

Three- Wes wasn't going to make it. Lance could tell. He wasn't going to make it, and Lance wasn't going to be able to stay on his feet for much longer-

Pikachu snatched up the pokéball in his mouth, and took off running faster then any human movement. Wes fingers fell short the few precious inches needed. Lance smiled at the sight, as the pokéball dulled, signifying a caught Pokémon.

Dragonite was safe.

The Champion wavered on his feet, strength giving out now that the adrenaline was wearing off. Red whirled, crimsion eyes on him. He signed something quickly, and Pikachu moved in response to the command. Lance blinked blearily as the snag ball was deposited in his hand.

Inside, Dragonite looked at him. There was a very dim recognition in the Pokémon's eyes. Lance smiled, and let the consciousness flow through him. He didn't see his Dragonite begin screaming in fury and rage as he fell, or hear Pikachu's stunned cry. He missed the way Red's eyes went wide in a twelve-year-old panic at seeing blood. He missed Wes's snarl of recognition and Rui's determined look.

His Pokémon were safe, and that was all that mattered.

Lucas regarded Ralts and Wingull carefully. The two Pokémon didn't look back at him, looking at the ground instead. "We did a good job today you guys. I mean, it's not like we don't know what losing feels like."

The two Pokémon didn't look reassured. Ralts touched his knee, beaming softly, Loosing is bad, we should win, make you proud.

"No. I know what futile battles are like." When he had curled into a ball, sobbing, refusing to attack despite the Player's urging, and the Player trying desperately to keep him alive. "I guess I should've known not too go into it." But futile battles could be won as well.

"It's kinda like the Magypsies I guess." Lucas's mind rolled with the odd thought. "You know, there were two I felt close with- Ionia and Doria. I think Doria raised Kumatora, but she never said anything. But she urged me to empty the pond, and Ionia taught me PK Love." Lucas grinned.

"I know what to call you two now. Ralts, you're Ionia, and Wingull, you're Doria. I'm sure they would've liked that."

Ionia glowed brightly in response.

The door slammed open. "Hey, Lucas! I see you failed your second gym battle?"

"Y-Yeah, unfortunately."

"That's okay! Me and Aaron and Tailow have failed five times now!" There was a massive grin and two thumbs up. Lucas was pretty sure that Stephen should not be this happy over loosing. "It's too bad we can't double-battle."

"Wh-Why not? I mean, there was a double battle in the gym…"

"You're right!" Stephen charged to his feet. "We should ask!"

Double battles were allowed as it turned out. Hoenn was quite proud of its double battles. Stephen was practically vibrating with excitement as he dragged Lucas out of the Center to go practice. The cave up north of Dewford was soon filled with the sounds of battling.

That night, under Nurse Joy's urging, Lucas wrote a short text to Red.

Hey Red,

Today I faced my second gym alone. I failed unfortunately, but my new friend Stephen said that we're going to double-battle our way to victory. I hope that we'll make it! How are things going on your end?

Lucas's fingers hovered over the send button for a long minute. Should he tell Red about Mewtwo's visit? About Mewtwo's statement of Lucas loosing his powers if he stayed? Did he want to leave this world?

Lucas hit the send button, reasoning that he could tell Red about the visit later. It didn't matter right now. Lucas tucked the pokegear underneath his pillow, watching Stephen breathe in his nest of blankets.

It was nice, not to be alone. It was nice, not to be babbled on about destiny, and how he had to kill for the sake of it. Stephen rolled over, a snot bubble forming. Aaron shifted, burrowing his head underneath the crook of Stephen's arm. "It's really nice." Lucas whispered out loud.

Ionia and Doria snuggled into his side, filling the small bed. Lucas's eyes closed. I wonder how Ness is doing. I should apologize to him at least…

The thought disappeared beneath the heavy blanket of sleep. Lucas dreamed of sunflowers and blue skies. There was nothing but sunflowers and skies. No ghosts- just him and the feeling of complete contentment.

"Lucas? Lucas, time to wake up. We need to be early if we don't want to wait in line again." Stephen rocked back onto his heels as Lucas sat up, yawning. "Okay, let's go ahead and go."

"M'kay." Lucas blearily dragged himself out of bed, and followed Stephen as the pre-teen disappeared out the door. His backpack was sitting by the side, already freshly packed with a short trip to the Pokemart. Stephen had prepped carefully, and Lucas had learned all sorts of cool things like PP restore items (only berries sadly- the actual sprays wouldn't be available until later)

There were two people ahead of them this time, but the two sat in the sand, creating sand drawings and playing stupid games. At least, Stephen called them stupid, but Lucas treasured them. Ness had shown similar games to him, but he just automatically assumed that Lucas knew them. Lucas hadn't played with any kids his age for three years.

As their time came up, Lucas's pokegear buzzed with a short message.

Good luck.

Lucas grinned at the short message, and tucked the gear away in his pocket. He wasn't going in on luck- he was going to win with his friend. Stephen glanced at him as they stepped into the gym, their twin flashlights lighting up the dark pathways. "What's got you smiling so much?"

"I think that we're going to win!"

"Of course! We're going to become like the Legendary duo of Ruby and Sapphire- the best Double-Team the world has ever seen!" Stephen bounded ahead, familiar with the twists and turns. Lucas followed along, Ionia gliding by his side. Doria flew overhead, long wings barely touching a wall. "I feel sorry for all the people who had to fight the trainers. Luckily I'm smart so I avoided them all."

"How?!"

"Easy, look at the ground. You can tell the most commonly used pathways by the footprints. I'm guessing they don't clean very often."

Lucas glanced down- sure enough, the pathway to Brawly was the cleanest, most used path. "I'm amazed you thought of this Stephen."

"It's no problem for my genius!"

Stephen flexed imaginary muscles before laughing. Lucas grinned at Ness- No, this isn't Ness. Keep it together Lucas. This is Stephen.

"Well, well, a double battle today?"

Brawly tossed two pokéballs into the air, the light's flashing. "Let's go, Machop, Makuhita."

Stephen winced, "Ouch, you're not holding back are you? That's fine with me- Let's go, Tailow!"

"Doria!" Doria flew next to Taillow, the two's wing beats beating in time with each other. "Doria, use combo attack one!"

"You too Taillow!"

The two Pokémon shifted, spinning around each other in a deadly dance, and flying forward as one. Brawly shouted, "Machop, avoid!"

Machop jumped back- the two flying-types shot right past Machop, and slammed directly into Makuhita. Makuhita flew backwards, before digging his feet into the ground and arresting his flight. "Makuhita! Return!"

"Oh no you don't! Combo attack 2 again!"

The red light caught Makuhita before the two Pokémon could turn in time. Taillow and Doria flew through empty air. Meditite appeared, serene and calm in its lotus position. "Meditite, use Reflect! Machop- Karate chop!"

Machop, already in a crouching position for fighting, shot forward. The Pokémon jumped, one flat palm striking against Taillow. Taillow cried out in pain, fluttering towards the ground. "C'mon Taillow, hang in there and strike back with another Wing Attack!"

Taillow forced its wings to stabilizing, catching itself from going into a tailspin. "Taillow!" The Pokémon cried, as wings slammed into Machop.

Machop, already wisely jumping away, was lightly nicked by the wings. "Meditite, Focus Punch on Taillow. Machop-"

"Doria! Wing Attack!" Doria slammed into Machop, in a more of a tackle-like move then a wing attack. It still did the trick- Machop fainted in the same moment Taillow did.

Red light automatically recalled the Pokémon. "Okay Taillow, thank you for fighting. Let's go- Aaron!"

The steel Pokémon roared loudly. "Aaron, don't let a single strike get to Wingull, got it?"

Aaron's steel-type moves meant that he couldn't do much damage to the fighting types- but he could take damage extremely well. Even if Steel types were weak to fighting-type moves, Aaron had an extremely high defense.

"Doria! Take out Makuhita!" Makuhita was the strongest Pokémon of them all, right?"

"Aaron, blind Machop!"

Aaron shot mud towards Machop's face, making the Pokémon stumble back. "Follow up with a Headbutt!"

Aaron charged, head connecting with the Machop with a solid thud. Doria sliced through the air, slamming into Makuhita. Makuhita staggered, as Aaron jumped back from Machop. Machop flinched, unwilling to pull itself together for another attack. "Machop! Do not be afraid! Use Low Kick on Aaron."

Uh-oh- Stephen squeezed his shoulder. Lucas took a slightly calming breath, forcing out, "Doria! Focus on Makuhita! Use confusion!"

The yellow beam shot out, followed swiftly by another wing attack. "Makuhita- Vital Throw!"

Doria was sent flying towards the other side of the room. He hit with a loud thud, making Lucas wince. The Pokémon's wings fluttered for a moment. "I switch Wingull with Ralts. Let's go, Ionia!"

The green and white Pokémon stepped forward, horns glowing. Stephen shouted, "Headbutt again Aaron! Don't let up on Machop!"

"Machop, use low kick-"

Aaron blindly charged, head down. Machop's feet separated from the ground, sending the Pokémon flying. Red light automatically recalled Machop. "Alright! One Pokémon left!"

Makuhita said nothing, fists up in a fighting pose. "O-Okay! Ionia! Use Confusion!"

Makuhita twirled, moving away from the attack at high speed. "Aaron! Mud-slap! Don't let Makuhita faint Ralts!"

Aaron bravely whirled, stubby legs tossing mud as fast as it could. Makuhita gracefully dodged each of the mud pies, until- Ralts shot another beam of confusion, deliberately targeting right before Makuhita. The Pokémon paused for a split-second.

"No, Makuhita, don't stop!"

Too late. Makuhita stumbled as a mud-pie hit him in the face. "Ionia! Now!"

Ionia shot another beam of confusion. This time it connected properly, and Makuhita whirled, still on its feet. That was- until it threw a punch at itself.

Makuhita collapsed onto the ground, moaning.

Brawly clapped. "Whoah, wow! You made a much bigger splash then I expected. You both utterly swamped me and made me wipe-out. Here you go- two Knuckle Badges. Oh, and since you won, take these TM's as well. It's TM08 Bulk Up."

The two stared at him for a long, long moment. Stephen broke out into a wild whoop. "YES! Finally!"

Lucas flinched slightly, stunned by the sudden outburst. "Ah- Stephe-"

Stephen picked up his Aaron, hugging it close. "Told you we would do it. Told ya so." Aaron nuzzled back.

Ionia looked up at him, eyes hidden by the green fringe of the bowl. "Good job Ionia. We did it as well."

Brawly smirked as he waited for the celebrations to die down a little.

When Stephen finally seemed to notice him, the tall man held out his hand. There, two badges glinted. "Congratulations. Keep it up you two." Brawley stretched in his position. "Ahhh, I think I'll close the gym at noon. I really want to hit the waves. You two should have fun in the rest of your time while here."

Lucas and Stephen nodded- "C'mon Lucas! We should go and eat at a restaurant and just laze the rest of the day away! Tomorrow we'll think about the third gym!"

"Y-Yeah, let's go!"

"If you guys are going to find a ground-type, the cave up North is the best place, though you can check the desert." Brawly tipped off the two. "But don't forget to visit the Pokémon Center."

Stephen dragged Lucas out after Lucas successfully gathered Wingull into his arms. Stephen was vibrating in excitement as they set foot on the sandy ground. "We did it, we did it, we did it! This is great Lucas! Thank you so much!"

The boy impulsively hugged him- Lucas hugged back. Those in the line clapped- they could recognize a victory hug when they saw one. "Good job boys!" A girl said, eyes half-laughing. "Any tips?"

"Watch out for Makuhita! C'mon, let's go the Pokémon center Lucas." Stephen briskly tugged him off.

Lucas followed after him, "Okay Ness- Oh, wait- I-I'm sorry. Stephen."

Stephen gave him an odd look- "It's okay Lucas. This Ness person must be a very important friend, right?"

"I-I think so. I mean, I hope he still considers me as a friend…" How was Ness doing- along with Toon Link, Nana and Popo? The four 'kids' of Smash Manor had always played together whenever possible, in-between matches and such. But there was never much time- there was always so much to do, and Lucas liked Red's peaceful bedroom. There never seemed to be any trouble in Red's room.

"Why, what happened?" Stephen sounded as curious and genuinely concerned as Nurse Joy.

"I- We got into a bit of a fight, so I kinda… ran away with my friend to come here. I just know I'm going to be in soooo much trouble when I go back…"

"Is that why that one Pokémon visited you a few days ago?" Stephen inquired curiously, "I mean, you don't have to tell me if you don't want too. I won't pry."

"It is… a little related to that, yeah."

"Well, Hoenn is a peaceful region- I mean, two years ago there was all sorts of crazy stuff going on, but it's not happening anymore. Ruby and Sapphire put an end to that by beating the leaders of the two teams that fought each other." The two stepped into the cool, air-conditioned Pokecenter, handing over Pokémon to be healed. "That's why I gotta become a good trainer! I'm going to help my cousin Wally find them."

"Oh. Should I help out a bit too?"

"It's okay- Me and Wally are sure to find them!"

Lucas nodded quietly, before his face lit up as Nurse Joy handed him back his Pokémon. Taillow chirruped, looking at Stephen with a beady eye. When the two held out their badges, the two bird-type Pokémon whistled in joy. "Thanks Doria, we couldn't of done it without you."

Ionia scowled. "You too Ionia. All four of you did really well." Stephen surveyed the group. "Let's go eat! There's a restaurant nearby that serves both people and Pokémon, and they have really good food! Let's blow some of the money we just won from that battle!"

Lucas nodded eagerly. He followed Stephen, mind turning back to Ness. Did Ness even know he was gone? Ness was his best friend beyond Red, so it would hurt to think Ness didn't care…

It didn't take much to get down the mountain. Ness and Toon Link kept their mouths shut and followed after Nana and Popo. The two Ice Climbers moved with grace and skill on the ice and snow, not bothered by the blizzard perpetually blowing. They didn't see anyone on the outside of the mountain, but occasionally, through breaks in the blowing snow, Popo claimed he could see a building.

The two climbers stated that it would normally take three-four days to get down this mountain, but they knew ways to speed up the process. "Okay, we're going to slide down from here."

"Huh?"

"Toon Link, we need your shield. It should be able to hold up."

"Oh cool!"

Ness seemed to understand what was going on- Toon Link was a bit confused as he unslung the shield from his back. Nana took it, and lay it down on the snow like a plate. "What's going on?" All Link knew were the always-warm tropical islands of his home.

"Have you ever heard of surfing?"

"Yes."

"This is snow surfing."

Nana sat in the front, Link and Ness squished inbetween, and Popo in the back. It was probably a good thing that the shield was a Toon shield, and could stretch. "Alright, shoving off in three- two- one- let's go!"

Toon Link realized they were pointed at a cliff. "Oh no, no more barrel rides, no more barrel rides- AHHHHHHHHH!"

Ness whooped wildly as they found themselves in air, far above the ground. Too far. Toon Link couldn't tear his gaze away as the snow and sleet caught them in a gray void. "Everyone lean right!"

Everyone leaned, as Nana swung her hammer. It cracked off of some hidden piece of rock that Link couldn't see. "Good steering Nana!"

"Keep us going Popo!"

Popo pointed ahead- "Land is coming up!"

Toon Link couldn't see anything in the snow, but for them, this blizzard was just a light snow flurry. They had weathered worse storms with only for each other for company. "Okay Popo! Let's do this! Straight on to the building-"

"BIRD!"

Popo's screech brought an accompanying duck from all those on the shield. The bird's claws brushed overhead, before the giant bird (Almost as big as the one that kidnapped his sister, where was his sword did he need to fight no one else could be kidnapped here, not while he was on watch) flew on, feathers as blue as ice, and just as cold. "Land! Brace yourselves!"

With a bump, they were on land again, and Toon Link's breath was caught and swirled away by the icy wind. Nana and Popo were laughing in joy as they flew down the mountain, bypassing Pokémon faster and faster. Even he and Ness could see the red building that was build a little bit away from the Mountain's feet. Tall grass, no longer covered by snow and ice, but instead a gentle rain as they traveled further down, waved. The wild Pokémon there stared at the humans that went screeching past, too much speed to be slowed by the loose dirt and tough grass.

A wild Pokémon that looked like a horse with flames instead of hair galloped next to them for a short time. Toon Link tried to whistle at it, like what Older Link (Real Link? But he was real too) would do to horses. He couldn't force it out past dry lips.

Eventually, the Pokémon galloped away, as they slid to a halt right before the red building that read 'Pokémon Center'. Nana and Popo jumped to their feet. "We're going in to ask the front lady about Lucas. Ness, you should come with us. You know Lucas's full name, right?"

"Yep!"

The three went inside, leaving Toon Link to just sit on his abused shield. Slowly Link climbed to his feet, and picked up his shield. There were a few new nicks, but nothing much- the metal was durable.

He set it on his back, aware of a few peeking wild Pokémon. "Anyone out there? Hello there, I won't hurt you."

Link didn't want to hurt anyone.

A small purple Pokémon crept out, nose nuzzling against the palm of his hand. "Hey there little guy." Pokémon were really friendly, weren't they? Gloved fingers lightly scratched behind ears.

The Pokémon purred, or growled. Link withdrew his hand slowly, and stood to his full height. The soft, slightly warming sunlight made the outside a little less cold. "It's beautiful here."

A hand tapped him on the shoulder. "We got the info! We know where Lucas is, and where we are. See, a map!"

The large map, full of different lands and not just ocean, rustled softly as it was placed down in front of him. "We're here, next to Mount Silver. Lucas is over here, in Hoenn. We need a boat."

"That's fine. I'm sure we can find one."

"But none of have any money to rent one out…"

"No, if we can find any boat, then I know how to sail it." It was a bit of a reckless promise, since he hadn't gone sailing without the Red Baron helping, but he knew the basics, when the ship would pretend he was just a plain ship and say nothing.

"Okay!"

Getting out of the Mountain area was a bit of a problem- when the guard threw a hissy fit over them crossing over the mountain, the four had decided to just run through. Ness had used his PKI to blast away any resistance, and the climbers helped them find the shortest path.

It took a few days to get down to the shore, and find a man who was willing to lend them his boat. It was a dump, but still sea-worthy. Link had lashed the helm into place, and set the sails. The man had laughed at that, until Link lifted his hands, waving a baton in the air.

There was a moment of silence. Link remained still- he could feel the magic pulsing, coaxing the wind…

Wind roared, filling the sails with a crisp snap. The boat smoothly sailed out. "We want to go due south. Nana, Popo, can you keep an eye out for rocks?"

"How do we do that?"

If ice and snow were Ice Climber's domain, then the ever-shifting sea was Toon Link's. "Look for darker patches in the water. Here, I'll show you."

Toon Link glanced up at the sun, noting the position it was in. Then, he went forward to where the two were. It was Ness who asked, "Do we have any food?"

There was a long moment of silence, and a general scrabble. There was only one cabin in the ship, and in that cabin was a single fishing rod. Nana and Popo were happy enough to see it. "Oh, good! We can catch enough food with this!"

"What about water?"

"We can distill some. I know how." Link reassured him. Traveling long distances on the sea was his forte.

"How long is it going to take to get there?"

"About a week and a half, if I can keep up this wind. And if everything in the map is drawn to scale." Link looked down at the map thoughtfully. "We'll have to explore a bit to find Lucas, but once we do, we'll find where the portal back is."

"And what about Lucas?" Ness asked softly, "Are we going to leave him behind?"

By now, Lucas had to of heard the news that if he didn't leave in five months, his powers would be gone forever. "It doesn't matter. His decisions are his."

Ness nodded slowly, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"I don't really want our friend to disappear Link." Nana said softly, twirling her mallet. The fishing rod line ran into the water, trailing after the boat. "If he chooses to stay then…"

Popo patted her shoulder consolingly. "We'll talk to him." Ness promised, eyes locking with Link's. "We'll tell him we want him to come back with us. But you're right Link. Lucas gets to decide last."

It just didn't seem fair.

a/n: So much angst! But don't worry, this story is still up and going! I hope you guys are ready for the next chapter :) It promises to be a doozy! Also, these kids are smart. And the Brawl Mansion is going to panic. It's a good thing that time differences exist, right? Thank you all for your reviews.