Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. If I did, Gold and Silver would've been announced as anime specials by now.
"Speech"
'Thought'
Brendan kept his eyes wide open as he and Erica were crossing the ocean on Aqua and Aquarius. At the moment their target was Mossdeep city. The blonde champion was surprisingly calm despite the pressing matter of a crisis.
Seeing her just survey the ocean tempted the brunette to ask.
"Erica?" She turned over to her companion. "Why are you so calm right now? Those super ancient pokemon could wake up anytime."
"Because Steven called me and asked us to meet with him at Mossdeep city. He might have something that could help." Answered the girl calmly.
Brendan wasn't fond of the idea of being outshined by Steven in front of the girl he liked. But if it could help, then he would take one in the sack. Especially in this situation.
The memory of the previous battle came to the teen as he looked down to his Swampert. Remembering the mega evolution process made him wonder about its time limit.
"Is mega evolution supposed to last for a minute?" Asked Brendan. Erica halted her search to answer him again.
"No, not really. There really is no set time limit. Did your first experience not last long?"
To answer Brendan nodded and he became more interested the subject. "What do you think went wrong?"
"Nothing went wrong, there are just several factors that determine the time limit."
Erica also showed interest on the subject as she looked over to Aqua and Brendan's mega bracelet. She took a few moments to ponder what could've hindered them.
"Hmm, I think that you just aren't experienced enough as a trainer yet." Answered the blonde.
"How long can you keep yours going?" Asked Brendan.
"About five minutes if I'm focused enough."
Brendan took that fact into consideration in comparison to his own level. Glancing down to his mega bracelet seemed to be a good way to think harder on the subject.
His method was broken when he heard some bubbles next to him. Curiosity took over as he leaned down to see what it was, and his answer wasn't going to be pleasant.
"Nani?" In a quick surprise, a water pokemon similar to a jellyfish jumped out and latched itself onto Brendan's shoulders.
His first impulse was to dislodge the wild pokemon and reach for a pokeball.
"Dokuro, use night shade!" The Duskull emitted her energy onto the jellyfish before it returned with a poison sting attack.
"Use pursuit!" Dokuro launched her entire body forward and slammed into the water type.
Ceasing of movement acted as a good indicator that it was fainted. Brendan and Aqua sighed as Erica and Aquarius swam over.
"Tentacool are annoying, aren't they?" Asked the girl.
"Yeah, and there is just so many of them! Good thing that they're not too strong."
Ten more minutes of cruising and dealing with an uncountable amount of Wingull and Tentacool led the two to the island city. There were two things that stood out to Brendan and Erica.
First, there were trees growing out of the sandbars.
And two, there was a massive space station. The station was easy to spot by the giant shuttle positioned vertically upward.
"That's so cool!" Exclaimed Brendan loudly.
"Yeah! Who would've thought that we'd find that here?" Said Erica.
Even though their were pressing matters at hand, the two of them decided to indulge them and their teams in a quick lunch. After all, the pokemon would need the energy even more than the trainers.
Next thing on the brunette's set of priorities was finding out where Steven was. Knowing that Team Magma and Team Aqua were making their moves, he wanted to do this quickly.
Erica was also looking around for the silver-haired geologist. Her attention was diverted when she spotted a nearby gym.
"A gym out here?" Inquired the blond.
Brendan instantly flinched over when he heard that word. But his interest was only half of what it would normally be.
"Yeah, that's cool and all. But don't you think that we should be going to Steven?" Asked the teen.
"Honestly I think if we could make you any stronger, it would help. Even last minute help can change the tide of battles."
The brunette wasn't sure of how to respond to that. Even though he wanted to take on the gym for the increase of skill, he still knew that a threat was looming on the horizion.
"Don't worry about it, I'll go find Steven and get you later." Reassured Erica as she left the scene.
Since she was now gone, Brendan sighed before walking over to the gym. Despite the fact that he knew that any experience would help, he was a little worried about Erica being swayed by Steven's appearance.
'After all, he has that kind of charm.' Thought Brendan.
"He does indeed-"
"-Have a charming effect on women."
Brendan instantly flinched as he was in front of two black haired twins with matching outfits. They seemed to have playful optimistic faces.
Their sudden choice of words had caught him off guard. It was as if they read his mind.
"Uh, who are you guys talking about?" Asked the brunette.
"Steven." Answered the two in unison.
It was all possible that they were reading his mind, but the protagonist simply chose to think otherwise on subject. Shrugging away from them seemed like a good idea.
But the twins jumped in the way of him. They both pulled out a pokeball and their faces grew even more playful.
"Come on now-"
"-Lets battle!"
That demand was enough to convince Brendan to stay. He pulled out two pokeballs and smirked excitedly.
"Alright then, I'll battle you both at the same time!" Answered the teen.
'After all, Erica will be impressed if I win a double battle on my own.' Thought the brunette excitedly. Both twins smirked after his thought.
"She-"
"-Might."
Brendan flinched again after hearing that. The possibility that they could read his mind became more likeable.
Erica's search for Steven and information to help against Team Aqua and Team Magma was important. But at the moment, she was getting the feeling that there was something important about her holo-caster.
While searching for the silver-haired geologist, she searched the device for anything new. However, nothing important came up.
"I guess I was just being paranoid." She put the device back in her pocket.
"It happens to the best of us."
Erica's attention was directed to a small house with the Steven standing right in front of it. His face wasn't as relaxed as it normally was.
"Thank you for responding to my call." Stated the young adult. "Please, come in."
"Oh, a gentlemen. Very well."
Once inside, Steven was careful to make sure that nobody suspicious was on the property. He locked the doors and checked outside the windows carefully.
These actions didn't exactly ease any worries that Erica had, so she was also on guard for anything unusual.
"Ok, I think we can talk safely about this now." Said Steven.
Brendan looked up with a bit of surprise when he saw the pokemon that the twins were using. Both were floating rocks, but they represented opposite things. One was shaped like the sun, and the other was shaped as a crescent moon.
The pokedex scanned and read them as Solrock and Lunatone respectively.
'Alright, these two are probably psychic types.' Thought Brendan.
"Yes, they are." Said the twins and unison.
"Stop that!" Yelled the upset brunette. A shared laugh came from the children at their opponent's expense.
Said opponent decided to abuse typing and sent out Dokuro with Rin.
"Alright! Rin, use crunch! Dokuro, use night shade!"
Following through with their trainer's command, the Mightyena charged forward to chomp down on Lunatone. Dokuro extended her energy towards Solrock.
"Hypnosis."
"Sunny day."
Right as Rin jumped up to attack, Lunatone sent hypnotic waves towards her eyes and put her to sleep. The dark hound fell down to the ground and missed her target.
Solrock still took damage from Dokuro's attack, but it wasn't nearly enough to leave a dent. After the attack, it raised itself higher in the air and intensified the sun's rays.
"Come on Rin, get up!" Yelled Brendan, but his pokemon was in too deep of a sleeping state.
He looked back over to his opponents to see that they hadn't lost their playful expressions.
"Solarbeam."
Solrock pointed itself towards Rin and began to gather up a large amount of solar energy. The process was being expedited by the intensified sunlight. Brendan picked up on this and quickly formed a counter.
"Dokuro, use night shade on Solrock!" Commanded the brunette in a panic.
The skull ghost nodded and extended her energy again. But the result was different this time as Lunatone got in the way and took the attack.
Brendan expected there to be more damage, but the floating rock was fine. A clear screen could be seen in front of both of them.
"Light screen." The girl was giving the peace sign while looking very pleased.
'Damn those two are good.' Thought the frustrated trainer.
Suddenly a yellow and green beam launched down towards Rin. The collision between the two caused an explosion.
When the smoke cleared, Rin was awake and barely standing from the previous attack. She limped back over to her trainer with a desire to still win.
'Rin, you're a true partner.' Thought Brendan as he pulled out a max potion that he got earlier and healed her.
"Dokuro, use will-o-wisp."
The Duskull nodded and launched a few flames that passively burnt Solrock. It seemed like the more powerful of the two. The burn successfully connected but the sun statue's rock exterior didn't allow for much of a set-back.
"I'll have to think of something else." Said Brendan under his breath. Despite Solrock's burned status, it showed great teamwork with Lunatone.
Dokuro looked over to Brendan and her partner that was just getting back up. She started to feel admiration for the efforts of her trainer and fellow comrades.
Brendan caught sight of a worried look on her face, he gave her a happy look that she used to give him.
"Don't worry Dokuro, we'll definitely win." Reassured the brunette.
Rin also gave a confident look to her battle partner. This double combination of reassurance really gave a good push forward.
Dokuro bobbed up and down happily, seeing this gave Brendan an idea.
'She can float on her own...wait, that could work!' The challenger's eyes widen as he came up with a strategy.
He stood up with a confident smirk; one that was reflected in his Mightyena. Dokuro took a few moments before she realized what was going on and danced happily.
"Alright, Rin jump up to Lunatone!"
The twins playfully smirked and prepared the same strategy. Rin jumped up high above her opponents.
"Hypnosis." Lunatone prepared to put her opponent in a sleep.
"Solarbeam." Solrock hid behind its partner to gather energy.
"Now Dokuro!"
Right as Lunatone was about to put Rin to sleep again, but the Duskull got in the way and moved her eye out of sight. Both twins shared the same look of slight surprise.
Solrock turned to attack with solarbeam, but Rin fell down and Dokuro moved out of the way. Neither pokemon was hit this time.
"Use snarl!" Commanded Brendan. And his pokemon emitted a deep growl that dealt a good amount of damage to both pokemon.
"Don't forget-"
"-About light screen."
"Yeah, I didn't forget about it. Try using shadow ball!"
Dokuro launched her spectral ball that immediately impacted on Lunatone and dealt super-effective damage.
"Moonblast."
"Rock slide."
This time both pokemon stayed close to the ground while they aimed for the targets, but Brendan quickly prepared himself for this one.
"Rin jump up, Dokuro dodge around the ground!"
Both pokemon trusted their trainer's strategy and attempted to avoid the attacks. But as Rin was in the air, she was targeted from Lunatone from the ground. She was about to be attacked but was first hit by the rocks from above.
Being pinned to the ground left her open to the fairy type attack.
"Rin, use fire fang on the attack!" Trusting her trainer, the Mightyena ignited her teeth and held the attack by biting down on it.
While Lunatone was busy trying to overpower her dark opponent, Solrock was gathering solar energy for another solarbeam attack.
The twins playfully smirked at their victory that seemed close to victory. But Brendan was displaying a similar smirk which confused them.
"Now Dokuro!" On command, the ghost popped out of the shadow of her opponents and assaulted them both at the same time.
The combination of the attack and the lowered guard was enough to defeat the psychic statues instantaneously.
"Yes, great job girls!" Cheered Brendan as he grabbed both his pokemon and hugged them.
Dokuro was so happy that she jumped up and down in her trainer's arms. When he let her go, she still bobbed up and down until her form started to glow. Her appearance grew hands, sprouted legs, and two long wispy cloths sprouted from her sides.
"You evolved? That's so awesome!" He pulled out his Pokedex, which scanned her as a Dusclops.
The ghost type was also happy as well. So much so that she grabbed her trainer and hugged him, hard.
Brendan was so happy about his pokemon's evolution that he didn't notice the badge being presented to him by the twins.
"Here, take it." Said the girl.
"You beat us after all." Said the boy.
When Brendan got out of his death grip he took the badge. A few more seconds had to pass before he figured out what had just happened.
'Wait, that means that-'
"Yep, we're the Mossdeep Gym leaders Tate & Liza." Proudly proclaimed the two as they struck a pose together.
The shear shock that these two, who were younger than him, were the gym leaders was more than enough for Brendan. But he chose to not pry into it so they wouldn't play mind games with him again.
"Well, then thanks for the match." He bowed respectively.
"Thank you." Said both the twins before going back to the gym.
After retrieving his pokemon, Brendan marveled at his victory. One more badge would mean that he would beat all of the gyms in Hoenn. A happy grin graced his face.
It didn't last long before he spotted a familiar looking face.
"Excuse me young man, I require your help." Said a voice from behind.
Brendan turned around to see Captain Stern from Slateport City. Brendan would've been happy to seem him, had the face not been a little sweaty.
"You're that Captain Stern from Slateport right? What's wrong?" Asked the protagonist as he tucked away his badge.
"I'll explain on the way if you can come with me." Stated the old man.
Brendan felt the urgent atmosphere and decided to follow along with this captain if there really was something wrong.
"I see, so you already know about the super ancient pokemon as well."
Erica and Steven had spent the time discussing what they each knew about the teams and the pokemon that were being searched for. Though unfortunately, they both knew about the same amount of stuff.
"Yes, Brendan and I learned about it from the old couple from Mt. Pyre." Explained Erica as she leaned against the wall. "But I want to know why."
Steven pondered for a few moments about it. "I have a theory."
He was about to explain before somebody started knocking on his door. Steven instantly became cautious and motioned for Erica to stay out of sight. Walking over to the door, he peaked out the eyehole to see who it was.
An instant sigh of relief came out when all he saw was Brendan and Captain Stern on the other side.
"Hello! Anybody home?" Asked the brunette from the other side.
Brendan was surprised when the door opened and he could see Steven and Erica already inside.
"Well, we were going to get you later but this works." Stated the geologist as he let them into his house.
"Now Steven, I still need to know when you are going to retrieve my submarine!" Demanded Stern in an upset tone. Both Erica and Brendan were surprised at this sudden attitude coming from the old man.
"Something troubling you?" Asked Erica, to which she was met with a passionately upset look.
"I'll tell you what's wrong! Some criminals in red stole my newly made submarine on the day that we were going to launch it! And the-"
"I can assure you that my friends and I will find it for you, Captian Stern. You just need patience." Interrupted Steven in a calm manner.
A few minutes of arguing convinced the old man to leave, but still upset at his loss. Steven calmly returned to the den to further discuss things with Brendan and Erica.
"So, you said that you have a theory?" Asked Erica. Steven straightened his tie before starting his explanation.
"You two are familiar with the goals of those teams?" They both nodded as they recalled the murals from the ruins.
"I thought so. Then you also remember how Kyogre has the power to expand the oceans indefinitely, and Groudon has the ability to raise the lands indefinitely."
"Yeah we know about that, where are you going with this?" Asked Brendan as his impatience was showing.
He was met with an intimidating, and serious glare from Steven. But it wasn't nearly enough to stop him from prying further into the situation.
"Look, we don't have time for this! Please tell us what you know so that we can get back to tracking down those guys." Demanded Brendan.
Erica was about to scold him for the rude behavior, but the silver haired geologist decided to continue regardless.
"I know that they are on the move, but what I am about to tell you might help out." Retorted Steven. Brendan decided to stop the argument, knowing full well that anything could help.
"This power, which is rumored all around Hoenn, is often debated about." When that statement was heard by the protagonists, they became intrigued.
"What do you mean by debated?" Asked the confused brunette.
To answer that question, Steven pulled out a set of photos from different places. All of the pictures depicted creatures similar to the ancient drawings of Kyogre, Groudon, and their battle. But the pictures varied in that some had the alpha and omega while others didn't.
"Many debate what the true power of these ancient beings is because these ancient murals depict different stories. Some depict stronger battles than others."
While Brendan caught sight of this and tried to make sense of it, Erica remembered what she had discovered earlier in the Aqua base.
She scratched the back of her head as she tried to recall what the document said.
"A form...more powerful...than mega evolution..." Whispered the blonde.
Brendan, who was closer to Erica, vaguely heard what she had said. "What was that?"
Steven also looked towards the blonde for anything that she had to say about the situation.
"I can't remember it too well, but I read a document in the base that detailed a form more powerful than modern mega evolution." Stated Erica.
When Steven heard this, his eyes were widened with shock. Knowing that there might be something more powerful than their ace wasn't exactly comforting.
"More powerful than mega evolution, how could we make it happen?" Asked Brendan.
"I don't remember. I also don't remember anything about a way to stop or end it." Stated Erica with a disappointed tone.
"If what you are saying is true, then I can make two assumptions from this." Said Steven as he regained their attention.
"First is that these forms must belong to Groudon and Kyogre, possibly making it that both versions of the story are the same. And the second is that Magma and Aqua intend to use these forms to change the entire world."
"Change the world how?" Asked Brendan. Steven took a few more moments to ponder, like he didn't want to believe it.
"My theory is that the teams will use Groudon and Kyogre against each other in hopes of eliminating the other."
"So it is war against legendaries." Suggested Brendan.
"More than that." He paused for a second, hoping that his next claim was wrong. "If Groudon wins all of the oceans will be dried out, and if Kyogre wins then lands of the world with be flooded."
Nothing could be said from either Brendan or Erica after hearing that. If that was true, then the pokemon they would be dealing with would be practical gods. Just the thought of a world where there was no ocean or land was beyond them.
But suddenly, a loud rumble could be heard erupting from the ground. Moments later, the ground started to shake violently.
Steven instantly panicked and looked out the window. Brendan followed to see what was going on outside and saw a giant green pillar of energy erupting from far away.
"What is that!?"
Erica fell to the ground and several of her items fell out. Her special jewel rolled out from her pocket and was in the path of a falling iron statue.
"No!" She jumped forward to catch it. Brendan heard this and panicked at what he saw happening.
"ERICA!"
Thank you for reading this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it. If there is anything that you want to say about, do the review (that almost rhymed). In the next chapter Erica and Brendan make one last move on their adversaries, and the countdown to crisis starts.
Brendan: Aqua (Swampert), Rin (Mightyena), Natsumi (Ninetails), Apato (Breloom), Latios, and Dokuro (Dusclops)
Erica: Amber (Blaziken), Tetsa (Aggron), Raishin (Manetric), Hanatoro (Roserade), Latias, and Aquarius (Milotic)