AN: One more chapter!


Chapter 29. In Which Everything Comes Together


Brendan sighed as he walked down yet another walkway, trying not to admit that he was bored out of his mind. Pacifidlog was a nice town to rest in, but now that Brendan had to be there, it felt suffocating. Shaking his head, the boy leapt from one walkway to another that ran parallel, making his way to Mr. Mirago's house on the edge of the town.

Mr. Mirago was a somewhat crazed 80-something year old loony, but he'd allowed Brendan to stay with him while the boy waited for May and her company. The old Pacifidlog native was a good friend of Brendan's father, which perhaps had contributed to the offer. Brendan doubted either of them would have agreed had they not already known each other.

"I'm back. Again." Brendan muttered, letting himself into the house. Mr. Mirago, as usual, was seated in front of the eastern window, staring out at the water intently, and didn't respond to the boy. Another voice did however.

'Hello child.' Xatu called psychically. Brendan's eyes quickly sought out and found the psychic Pokemon standing in the north-western corner of the house, staring into the corner. Brendan nodded absently to the Pokemon before making his way to the dining table and collapsing in one of the chairs, sighing heavily. That seemed to get Mirago's attention. The old man stood up carefully, mindful of his old back, and wandered over to join the boy at the table, grinning.

"What's wrong kiddo?" He grinned. Brendan rolled his eyes.

"I'm bored. As usual. I wish May would hurry up and come." He smiled fondly at the thought of seeing his neighbour again. He frowned however as he glanced in the direction he knew May and the others would have to come. "I hope they don't get caught in that storm around Sootopolis."

'The storm will not stop the one who must come.' Xatu commented enigmatically. Before Brendan could ask the Pokemon to clarify however, there was a pained yelp as something large struck the roof, followed by the sound of that something rolling off the roof and into the water with a great splash outside the northern wall.

"What in heaven's name was that?" Mr. Mirago asked, staring at the wall the sound had come from.

"Maybe a Pelliper got too tired to fly and tried to land." Brendan muttered flatly, but Mr. Mirago shook his head.

"The splash was too large. The shout sounded human as well..."

"You can tell all that by three seconds of noise?" Brendan asked, raising an eyebrow at the old man. Mr. Mirago chuckled.

"When you've lived as long as I have, and been on the sea as long as I have, you start to pick these things up." Brendan rolled his eyes and stood up, making his way out of the house, with Mirago and Xatu on his heels. The boy found it surprising that the Pokemon was coming as well, but he never could get a proper understanding of the future-seer. As Brendan rounded the corner of the house, he spotted the familiar blue hair of May's friend clinging to the dock, eyes wide in what seemed like shock and face rather pale. He was panting slightly, and looking at a small Ralts that knelt on the wooden platform he clung to.

"Let's not do that again." He said breathlessly to the Pokemon, who simply nodded, seeming to be rather exhausted herself. Mirago blinked a few times before coming up around Brendan and hauling the boy out of the water. Brendan frowned as he realised that he couldn't remember the other boy's name. Oh, he knew he knew it, but for some reason, he couldn't remember it right this minute. Whoops.

"That was quite a fall boy." Mirago laughed heartily, reaching down and catching the boy's arm, helping him get his upper body onto the dock. Darius, yes that was his name. Brendan grinned inwardly as he remembered the other boy's name. He knew he knew it.

"Where's May? And that rude dude?" Brendan demanded, crouching down next to his neighbour's friend, who was now laying on his back with his feet still in the water. Darius stared at Brendan incredulously.

"R-Rude dude?" He stammered.

"Yeah, the other guy that was on the phone with you and May when you were in Mossdeep? Started telling me to do stuff without even giving his name. Acted like he was in charge or something. That rude dude." Darius shook his head, a grin forming slowly on his face.

"I left them in Sootopolis. Too much effort to carry us all here." He snorted and his small grin broke out into a wide smile. "I'm not sure who's going to be more angry at being left behind; May or Steven." He started to laugh, but quickly stopped as he pressed a palm to his temple, wincing from what appeared to be a nasty headache.

"Steven's the name of the rude dude?" Brendan asked, not sure why Darius was laughing so hard. The other boy shook his head, still struggling to contain his laughter. As they had spoken though, Mr. Mirago had begun frowning.

"You called from Mossdeep, and you said you left your friends in Sootopolis, but how could you have travelled between these three towns with the storm?" Darius's laughter immediately calmed at the mention of the storm and the boy frowned.

"We'd left Mossdeep before the storm had started, and we ended up crashing in Sootopolis. That's why I had Ayashii Teleport me here, I need to stop that storm from spreading any further."

"I don't get what that monster storm has to do with the big Pokemon I saw in the sky though." Brendan complained. Darius sighed and sat up, scooting backwards as he pulled his feet out of the water.

"I called an, acquaintance," Darius said, tripping slightly on the word acquaintance, as though he wanted to use a different word for the person he contacted. "And from the description you gave, that Pokemon is known as Rayquaza. The storm around Sootopolis is being caused by two legendary Pokemon called Groudon and Kyogre clashing. It's said that Rayquaza is the only thing that can stop them once they've started at each other. Which is why I have to find it." With that, Darius lifted his Ralts up to his shoulder and rolled to his feet, swaying slightly before catching his balance and quickly striding off down the dock. Brendan watched him go, a frown slowly forming on his face as a thought occurred to him. Darius seemed to come to the same realization and quickly turned on his heel, striding back to the group with a slight dusting of red across his face.

"Where'd you see Rayquaza land?" He asked Brendan sheepishly, rubbing a hand against the back of his neck.

"The one you seek rests atop the Sky Tower to the north." Xatu said telepathically, startling Brendan once again. It was rare for the Pokemon to say one thing a day, so this was chatty for him. Darius simply nodded towards the Pokemon in acknowledgement.

"Thank you." He turned and was about to walk away before Xatu spoke again.

"Be wary god-fighter; there is much pain in your future." At the strange name, Darius froze, turning slowly to stare at the Pokemon. Brendan stared at Xatu as well before deciding to stare at Darius instead.

"Why do you call me god-fighter?" Darius asked cautiously.

"You do not hesitate to do what you must to protect that which is precious to you, even if that means throwing yourself to the fury of the gods. The fates have recognized you." Brendan was now alternating his stare between Xatu and Darius, who seemed to be locked in a staring contest with the unblinking Pokemon. "You still have a long road ahead of you. Good luck, god-fighter. You will need it." With that cryptic sentence, Xatu turned away and began slowly walking back towards Mr. Mirago's house. Darius stared after him before shaking his head and turning back once more, jogging now down the dock. Brendan briefly considered following him, but when Darius reached the water, he pulled out a Pokeball and released an Altaria. The blue-haired boy leapt upon the dragon's back and they sped across the water, and Brendan knew that he wouldn't be able to catch up.


Darius winced as his head throbbed once more, and black spots danced across his vision. He'd already been climbing for well over an hour, but he was sure he was close to the top of the Sky Tower. His headache from earlier had only gotten stronger, and the higher he got, the harder he was finding it to breathe. He rounded yet another corner, and finally, he spotted a glimmer of sunlight. Darius allowed a grin to spread across his face as he hurried up the crumbling steps, collapsing as soon as he was out of the darkness, panting heavily. A thick, pale blue mist eddied around him, swirling and settling around him. Darius squeezed his eyes shut against the drumming of his head, trying to focus on breathing. When he felt somewhat steadier, Darius opened his eyes once again and rose to his feet, carefully making his way along the crumbling wall he'd fallen against. The further he walked, the thicker the blue mist became. He almost tripped on the stairs when they appeared, but he continued on, stumbling and crawling his way up the stairs. He felt his head bobbing with his heartbeat and he gulped, trying to steady himself. Once he reached the top of the stairs, his eyes were immediately drawn to the enormous creature lying before him.

Rayquaza's emerald serpentine form was coiled before him, the enormous eyes closed in rest. Darius's eyes skittered along the emerald scales, the golden stripes that seemed almost to glow, and the small arms pressed against the slowly rising and falling chest. A great blast of blue mist shot out from Rayquaza's nose as the legendary Pokemon heaved a deep sigh. Darius simply stood, watching the Pokemon sleep. If legends were true and Rayquaza really did fly through the sky without rest, he must have been exhausted.

"You should not be here little human." A deep voice growled, startling Darius, who suddenly realized he'd been standing motionless, staring at Rayquaza for several minutes. Rayquaza's lips parted slightly to expose the serrated red teeth within his mouth, but the Pokemon did not open his eyes. As he spoke, even more of the blue mist drifted out of his mouth, and Darius felt his knees waver and buckle, dropping him unceremoniously to the ground as he breathed in yet more of the strange mist.

"I've come to ask for your help." Darius muttered, trying to catch his breath but finding the task harder and harder. He couldn't seem to get enough oxygen into his lungs. He had a feeling the blue mist Rayquaza was exuding had something to do with it. Rayquaza's eyelid lifted and the large yellow orb regarded Darius with casual interest.

"Why?" Darius blinked at the Pokemon's simple retort. And that's what it had been. A retort. Sharp, and clipped. Darius however was not deterred.

"Groudon and Kyogre have awoken, and if they continue to fight, the world will be thrown into chaos." Darius said, frowning at the lack of reaction from Rayquaza. The thick green eyelid slid shut once more and Rayquaza huffed.

"Something you humans have undoubtedly brought upon yourself once more." The Pokemon said indifferently. "I am lord of the sky, matters of the land give me no issue." At the Pokemon's casual words, Darius felt his anger peak, despite his fading coherency. As he struggled back to his feet, Rayquaza once more opened his eye, regarding Darius calmly once more.

"What must I do to convince you?" Darius tried to shout, but his voice was strangely brittle and muted. The Pokemon of the Sky finally lifted his head, turning to regard the boy with both eyes as his mouth curved in a predatory grin.

"Prove to me how willing you are." He said, and that was all the warning Darius received before he felt the incredible weight of Rayquaza's mind pressing heavily against his own. It was literally a battle of wills.


The first thing May thought upon swimming back to consciousness was that she had had a wonderful nap. The second thing she thought was that Metagross had become strangely warm and soft. The third thought that came to her mind was that that couldn't have been the sound of a door opening because she was in the air. Realising that most of her thoughts didn't make sense for some reason, May opened her eyes. Metagross certainly didn't have a ceiling last time she checked.

"Perfect timing." A voice said from beside where May lay in what appeared to be a bed. The girl quickly sprung up, eyes staring at the newcomer in surprise. He looked distinctly familiar, but May couldn't place where she'd seen him before.

"Where am I?" She demanded. The man smiled, blithely ignoring the sharp tone of her voice.

"In Sootopolis, in my guest bedroom." The man said. "Steven's commandeered my kitchen if you're hungry." May nodded, and quickly asked the next question that immediately came to her mind.

"Where's Darius?" The man's easy grin didn't falter, but it did freeze in a way that instantly had May's attention.

"I was hoping you'd hold off on that question until later." He said with a sigh. May narrowed her eyes and glared as darkly as she could.

"We were caught up in a storm, and Darius guided Metang and Metagross towards Sootopolis." Steven's voice came from the doorway, and May spotted him leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed, looking somewhat annoyed. "He then had his Ralts Teleport him the rest of the way to Pacifidlog. Weather's too violent now to follow, unless you have a Pokemon that can Teleport?" May shook her head and stood on her knees atop the bed to peer out the window. Not believing her eyes, May rolled off the bed and exited the room, quickly locating and opening the front door. She had to squint against the harsh light of the sun as she stepped onto the dry and cracked ground. The girl stared in a mixture of awe and fear at the terrible wall off swirling clouds that surrounded the city, and slowly her eyes scanned the city until they landed upon the two enormous Pokemon in the center of the city. She knew these must have been the two Pokemon they'd tried to keep from meeting, together at last. And then her eyes landed on the two men that stood at the water's edge, and she sprinted towards them, fury bubbling in her chest. Before she reached them though, someone else got to them. The man was wearing a crisp brown suit and a longcoat thrown over it, and he had short-cropped, spiky black hair, with the first touches of gray appearing at his temples. He was accompanied by an Alakazam and another Pokemon that resembled a Magneton, but being one large solid body instead of three joined. The man stopped before Maxie and Archie, and their conversation stopped as they eyed the newcomer. May also came up behind them, watching carefully.

"You two are the respective leaders of Team Aqua and Team Magma, correct?" May noted with interest that both mens' eyes seemed to be drooping, as if they were saddened by something. Perhaps they'd finally realized what they'd caused? At their nods, the newcomer reached into his coat and pulled out a badge.

"You're both hereby under arrest for acts of thievery, kidnapping, endangerment, etcetera etcetera. You will both come quietly." As the two men hesitated, May made her presence known, releasing Swampert, Swellow, and Manectric from their Pokeballs as she approached the men.

"I'm not in a good mood." She told them matter-of-factly. "If you resist this officer-what's-his-face, I'll take out all my pent-up frustration on you two." She shot a dark glare at Maxie. "Again." Maxie looked her in the eyes before nodding calmly.

"I realize now that you children had more sense than I, and that I should have heeded your numerous warnings. I am terribly sorry for the destruction my actions have wrought." And he truly did look sorry. May glared at him for a few more seconds, just for good measure, before turning her glare on Archie. The leader of Team Aqua was staring longingly towards the ancient Pokemon he'd released into the world, and May had to snap her fingers to draw his attention back to herself.

"Why wouldn't Kyogre listen to my commands?" He mused, simply glancing at May before looking back to Kyogre.

"Archie, listen to yourself!" Maxie yelped, looking to his fellow leader incredulously. "Despite the power of the orbs, we couldn't control Kyogre or Groudon! There is nothing left to be done." Archie shifted a brief glare towards Maxie.

"Perhaps you could not control Groudon, but I will hold power over Kyogre." Before May or the long-coat wearing officer could stop him, Archie ran to the edge of the water, calling forth a Sharpedo and standing upon the Pokemon's back, surfing the turbulent waters and out of reach. May considered chasing after him before something occurred to her.

"What did you two do with the Blue and Red orbs you stole?" She demanded, turning to glare at Maxie. The man held up the palms of his hands in a passive gesture.

"When I tried to force control over Groudon, the Blue orb sunk into my hand. I can still feel it inside of me; I don't know how to get it out. I can only assume the same happened to Archie." May huffed and crossed her arms, glaring up at the sky.

"Until that idiot gets back from Pacifidlog, you're not going anywhere, just in case we still need the orb's help." The officer looked like he was about to protest before seeming to change his mind, crossing his arms and watching May curiously.

"I understand." Maixe said with a slight nod. "I will do all I can to help reverse my mistakes." He seemed to hesitate for a second before continuing on. "Marge told me about what Mitch did in Meteor Falls." May tensed at the mention of the cave system, and the memory they held. "I will admit he was being a tad too rough with you."

"Rough?" May demanded incredulously, turning to stare open-mouthed at Maxie. "The bastard dropped him off a cliff! And you say he was 'a tad too rough!?"

"What's this about dropping people off cliffs?" The officer asked in alarm, blinking rapidly as he tried to catch up with the conversation.

"Nothing to do with you, long-coat." May snapped, not even bothering to look at the man. Maxie took several steps away from the furious May, holding up his hands once more.

"She also said something about Petalburg woods!" He yelped quickly. At that, May froze.

"What about Petalburg woods?" She demanded lowly. "What does the bubble-blower know about what happened there?" When Maxie hesitated, May darted forward and grabbed a fistful of his suit, dragging the tall man down until they were face to face. "What did she say?" May demanded again. Maxie carefully pried the girl off his suit before answering.

"She said he should watch out for the black suit with the red R."

"That's Team Rocket's design." The officer muttered thoughtfully. May turned to glare at him. "They disbanded 3 years ago however." He added shortly, matching her glare.

"Marge wouldn't elaborate further." Maxie said quickly as May's glare turned back towards him. "She told me to tell that to the boy when I was caught, but seeing as you're here and he's not, and I'm about to be arrested, I suppose you can pass the message on." Neither May nor Maxie noticed the officer perking up at the mention of a 'boy', and May spoke again as she turned back to glare at the sky once more.

"He'll be back. He's certainly not getting away without a good reminder on how I feel about being left behind." Her fists clenched at her sides and she grinned darkly.

"What happened in Petalburg forest?" the officer demanded, annoyed at being left out of the loop. May just shrugged, not even bothering to look at him.

"Dunno; but if Team Ridiculous or whoever they are have anything to do with it, they're in for a beating." May watched as a wall of rain charged its way across the ground, and suddenly she found herself drenched to the bone. Her eyes narrowed at the two fighting deities before her, taking several deep breaths to calm herself. Darius would come. She had a message to give him, afterall.


Haha, that was supposed to be a local cop, but the little Looker in my head stamped his foot and threw a mini temper-tantrum about how this was his case and he wasn't doing anything, so I let him in. So, here you see hints about a sequel, but no actual answers. Heh, I just realised, the premise of the story was; a) stopping usual in-game events, b) Darius remembering who he was, and c) figuring out how Darius lost his memory in the first place. I got all the way to the last chapter when I realised that I hadn't answered C. Oops! I'll edit the epilogue together and post that later on (since the original epilogue was completely trashed by the sequel I started, I have to re-write it). Anyway, I'll get the last chapter up now. Hope you enjoy!