Pokemon: Radiant Ruby and Shining Sapphire / Separation

Chapter 5

A.Z.O.T.H.

Ruby_1 Hour Later

When Ruby and Combusken made it back to the Team Magma Headquarters, Ruby immediately decided it was time to have an audience with Maxie. The two of them entered the leader's office without any warning to see him and Courtney having a chat of their own.

"I'm telling you Maxie, that little brat has no intention of doing anything for this organization." Courtney spouted out.

Maxie, adjusting his glasses, responded, "Ruby has his own reason to be here, and I've aloud him among our ranks for that purpose. I need not get your approval for anything, Courtney so I suggest you… Oh, speak of the devil…" He looked over at Ruby and Combusken, who both clearly had a reason for coming unannounced. He then said, "Courtney, leave us."

The purple haired girl growled, "What? No way in hell am I leaving just because he just decided to show up. We aren't done talking."

Ruby interjected, "Sorry, but for now, you are indeed done talking. I need to speak to Maxie alone. Unless of course, you wish to go against the leader's orders."

Courtney growled once again before turning and mumbling as she left the room, "How the hell did YOU turn out to be his favorite?"

Once the door closed behind her, Ruby looked to Maxie and got straight to the point, "Mind telling me what A.Z.O.T.H. is?"

Maxie's eyes widened in surprise and inquired, "How did you learn about that name? I thought you were meeting with Sapphire today."

Ruby nodded and confirmed, "I did meet with her. We both decided it was best to stay where we are for now, her being an undercover agent in Team Aqua, and me an Admin of Team Magma. But that aside, I came across someone else who gave me the hint to ask you about this secret project of yours."

Clearly distressed, Maxie started to pace and mumble, Ruby heard him whisper, "The only people who know about that project are Courney, Tabitha, and I… Wait no… Technically that grunt…"

Ruby interrupted the man's external thought process by asking, "Did this mystery grunt have short black hair and red eyes?"

Maxie then shot his gaze towards Ruby without a single word of response. The boy explained, "This secret agent that was helping Sapphire out turned out to be Zinnia Draconid herself. Seeing how she impersonated as a member of their ranks, I kind of guessed that she had done the same to Team Magma at some point."

The Leader of Team Magma then closed his eyes and sat down in his office chair and sighed. He said aloud, possibly still to himself, "That would make sense. We recruited her nearly a week after Zinnia had come up as missing. But why? Why would she tell us about the Legendary Pokemon?"

There was silence in the room for a few moments, but then Maxie took in a deep breath and asked, "So A.Z.O.T.H., correct? What do you want to know about it?"

Ruby answered, "Well I've got time. Why don't you give me the rundown on the whole thing."

Maxie then counter offered, "I'll tell you everything, but you have to agree to still help me with it regardless of what you hear."

Ruby shook his head and explained, "Maxie, you've done a lot for me. I will help you anyway I can. However, if I think this plan will do more harm than good, I can't support it."

Maxie sighed and said, "That's only fair I suppose. Please, take a seat. I'll fill you in on everything."

Ruby walked to a chair next to the right side wall and sat down. Combusken sat on the ground next to the boy.

Maxie then began, "Project A.Z.O.T.H. was originally the goal sought out by the members of the war that took place five hundred years ago. The A and Z stood for 'the beginning and the end' and the rest was 'Of This Hell'. Wars over territory had become commonplace, and this was going to be the war that ended these senseless conflicts. Both sides recruited their own Legendary Beasts, one of water and one of the earth. The goal was to revert all life to its original state. Essentially, they were trying to terraform the planet with this conflict and reset all of life as they knew it."

Ruby then asked, "So then it's your intention to do the same? If that's the case, you know that I have to stop you, right?"

Maxie gave a small chuckle and said, "If that was my plan I'd ask you to off me right now." Ruby looked at the man confused and relaxed a little, clearly expecting an explanation. Maxie delivered by saying, "That was the original A.Z,O,T.H.'s goal, but I've altered it a bit and have come up with a better solution. Instead of destroying this world with the Legendary Pokemon's power, what's stopping us from using it to expand upon civilization?"

Ruby, now rater intrigued, asked, "And how do you plan to do that? And what would this 'expansion' even entail?"

Team Magma's leader stated, "Imagine with me, a world where cities could be built underwater. A world that could harness the weather. A world where mankind can flourish and expand to its heart's desire. How wonderful of a world would that be?"

Ruby looked at the man for a moment in silence. But then a chuckle came out and it slowly grew into laughter. "You know (Hehe) for such an analytical and statistical man, you sure are idealistic."

Maxie sighed and said, "It's only human nature to have dreams Ruby. But I believe that this world that I dream of can be achieved!"

Ruby, after calming down a bit, asked, "Well then, go on. Explain to me how this will all work. I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't interested now."

Maxie explained, "Well, from what we've learned about the Legendary Pokemon in ancient texts is that Groudon, the Beast of the Earth, and Kyogre, the God of the Waters, have the ability to manipulate the weather. With that kind of power, we could alter landmasses, and regulate storms to expand the amount of land on the surface. Using their powers I calculate that we could increase the usable land of this world almost eighty percent more than what we can use now. Not to mention, we could essentially dam off the oceans to build underwater cities. The possibilities are endless!"

Ruby smiled and said, "Yeah, that wouldn't be too bad… for us humans anyway." The boy then stood up and sighed before pointing out, "But imagine all of the Pokemon we would displace, and all of the habitats we would destroy."

Maxie explained, "Have you forgotten that Team Magma's only concern is to benefit humanity? It's true that the Pokemon will be affected, but what does that concern us for?"

The boy chuckled at this before saying, "This is a soundproof room, with video only cameras. You don't have to keep up the act with only me around Maxie." His boss looked at him puzzled, but before he could ask anything, Ruby pointed at him and stated, "I've done a little bit of snooping around your story a bit Maxie. And to my surprise, it seems that you can use Mega Evolution with your Camerupt. And the only way to perform something like that is to have an Aura Bond with them. In conclusion, you do care about pokemon. You see them as your partners just like I do my own team!"

Slowly rising from his seat, Maxie started to clap. He explained, "Impressive detective work there Ruby. It seems that I completely underestimated you, which is rather extraordinary because I had already placed you ahead of me in intelligence when we first met." He grabbed a pokeball from his belt and sent out his partner, Camerupt. It was a camel like Pokemon that had two small volcanic geysers for it's 'humps' on its back. Both sides also had two blue rings of blue fur under each geyser. Maxie then said, "Yes, Camerupt and I do indeed share and aura bond. However, If the people knew about this, they wouldn't ever join my cause. I started Team Magma to use people with a made up ideal in order to better the world for both humanity as well as Pokemon."

Ruby smiled and nodded saying, "Regardless, this new A.Z.O.T.H. of yours seems to be benefiting humans way more than pokemon."

Maxie nodded and agreed, "Yes, I know that. However, it will only affect the pokemon in a sense of relocation, where as it will promote human expansion further than any other event in recent history. I don't like to say that it's worth it, but statistically speaking, it is."

The young admin then sighed and asked, "If that's your answer, then fine. But I have one last question. How will you control the Legendary Pokemon?"

Maxie shifted his gaze from the boy to his own partner, clearly communicating in though with her. He admitted reluctantly, "That's… still a work in progress. But once we find a way, this plan should be foolproof."

Ruby snapped his fingers and finally expressed, "And there it is! You have absolutely no way to be sure if you even CAN control these Legendary Beasts. So I've come up with my answer." Maxie looked up at his admin again and the boy stated, "I want one month to do whatever I want. In that month, I will be looking for a way to prove that either your plan won't work, or that it will be too unpredictable for me to support. If I don't find anything worth while, I'll help you with your plans. However, if I find something that proves with at least 85% certainty that this plan of yours is too dangerous, or that it won't benefit anyone in the long term, you're going to drop A.Z.O.T.H. and disband Team Magma!"

Team Magma's Leader just stood there for a moment, taking all of what Ruby said at face value. He then started to chuckle, and then laugh, and then fall to the floor in his laughter. Ruby looked on, never before seeing this side of Maxie. He asked, "Um, are you ok?"

Maxie laughed for a little while longer before sighing it off and asking, still in tears, "How long have you had me figured out for Ruby? That whole 85% thing? And the fact that of course I'd only allow you a month for this. You sure are something else. Never in my life have I been called out like this before."

Ruby scratched his head and chuckled before saying, "Well I'm not sure I had you completely pegged yet. This little breakout of yours proves at least that much. But as for the rest of it, I just kind of guessed the amount of time you'd allow given our agreement on me even working for you. And the 85% thing I just figured anything over 75 would do it for you, but I wanted to be sure. Guess it was just luck."

Maxie stood up from the ground and adjusted his glasses back to their normal position and smiled saying, "Oh come now Ruby. 'Luck' is just superficial nonsense. Deducted predictions are what I would call what you just put together."

Ruby shrugged and said, "Whatever you wanna go with. So I take it your approving my time off?"

Maxie sat back down in his chair and returned his partner back to her pokeball habitat. He nodded and said, "Yes, of course with an argument that convincing I'll approve it. However, I ask that you remain on call. With the recent activity of Team Aqua, when they'll strike and where next is a complete mystery. If your willing to act on standby, you may do as you like."

Ruby smiled and gave a thumbs up to his boss and said, "Thanks, I really appreciate this." He looked to his own partner and nodded.

Combusken chirped before thinking, "You act like this is over, I have a feeling that this is going to be much more difficult than you plan on it being."

Ruby responded in thought, "Oh please. Together I'm sure we'll figure something out."

His partner stated with false enthusiasm, "Yeah sure, we'll figure out how to fuck it all up in someway or another." Combusken then nodded, showing to Ruby that his pessimism was purely sarcastic.

The two then began to take their leave, but before reaching the door, Ruby asked aloud behind him, "Oh! One more thing. Is it alright if I can take my uniform with me? I'll need it for a few things I plan to do."

Maxie answered him, "Be my guest. Just know that I bet it'll do you more harm than good to bring it with you, but as long as you don't drag the name 'Team Magma' through the mud I don't mind."

Ruby held his hand up with a thumbs up and then left the room. Immediately outside, he saw Courtney. The girl approached him and asked in an upset tone, "You sure took your time there. Do you want me to kill you for wasting my time?"

Ruby laughed and said, "Don't worry, I won't be 'wasting your time' for a while. I'm heading out on the most important mission possible. Maxie couldn't trust someone so unreliable like you with it, so I guess I'm stuck going on it alone."

Courney lifted her skirt uniform slightly and pulled out one of the many knives that she hid on her at all times. She lunged for Ruby's neck, but before she could reach her target, Combusken grabbed her wrist, twisted the knife loose, and kicked her into the wall.

She coughed on the ground for a bit, before expressing, "That was a shit move, relying on a filthy pokemon to protect you."

Upon her saying this, Ruby realized that she was the complete embodiment of the aspects that he hated about Team Magma. She was hot headed, egotistical, and she looked on at pokemon as if they were nothing more than scum. Ruby felt himself reaching for his own blade, but stopped himself. He took a deep breath in and just decided to keep on walking. Combusken ran after his partner and followed him to his room.

Once inside their quarters, Combusken asked, "Why did you decide to hold back against her? It's not like anyone would've blamed you for killing her, she attacked you first after all."

Ruby, changing back into his Team Magma Uniform, answered, "Honestly, she's going to get what's coming to her in the end. She believes in the twisted ideals that this organization stands for completely and absolutely. So how do you think she'll be affected when I tear it all down right in front of her. Personally, I think watching her break will be thousands of times more satisfying than just killing her outright. Those are my thoughts on the matter at least."

Combusken chirped and thought, "Bro… that's pretty fucked up. I like it."

Ruby chuckled at this while finally slipping into his Team Magma jacket and throwing his cape around his neck. Finally, he put on his belt with his other two partner's pokeballs strapped to it. The boy nodded and said aloud, "Alright then. Here we go!" The two then left the Team Magma Headquarters on there quest to prove Maxie wrong.

Emerald_The Same Day

Emerald Draconid paced around his room, still completely infuriated about his mother's actions as of late. He said aloud while stomping on the ground, "I'm going to fucking kill her!" He twirled around and pointed at Grovyle and said, "And you know what? I'll do it with a fucking SMILE on my face too." He continued going off for about another ten minutes before collapsing onto his bed, letting out an aggravated sigh.

Grovyle asked sarcastically, "You done yet. Thissss issss getting rather old. An hour or ssso I can underssstand, but thisss isss too much."

Emerald groaned and sat back up, seemingly ready to go off on another tangent, but he shook his head and said, "I guess your right. There isn't really much use in throwing any more of a tantrum over this."

"Glad to hear it, then can I come in?" A man's voice rang from the other side of his bedroom door.

Emerald walked over to the door, not recognising the voice immediately and checked through the peephole. On the other side stood Ulo and a Metagross with a person sitting on top of its head. The boy opened the door and asked, "Steven? When did you get here?"

Steven, without making eye contact, explained, "Oh, only a few minutes. I didn't want to barge in though, it seemed like your fragile mental state would've blown up at me if I'd tried, so I decided to wait. Don't worry though, dear Ulo has made for wonderful company while I was stuck waiting."

The Team Skystorm Admin bowed and said, "Oh please, talking to you is always a delight Steven. The pleasure is all mine." She then looked to Emerald and said, "And with that, I'll take my leave Leader." She then walked down into a cave formation and vanished from sight.

Steven smiled and said, "What a lovely lady. It's a shame she let's her kinks get the best of her sometimes." The man then leapt off of his partner's head and walked into the boys room and took a seat in the only chair that Metagross could see from the outside.

Emerald turned to face him and asked, "So what brings you here Steven? It's pretty rare to see you away from an archeology site or Ever Grande."

Steven answered, "Well, you see. I was told you heard some news about your mother and wanted to hear it. If at all possible, I would like to help you find her as quickly as possible."

Emerald glared at the young silver haired man and questioned, "Why are you trying to find my mother as well. Someone of your status probably has a thousand things more worth your time than joining a search party."

Steven explained, "To keep it brief, the last thing Zinnia said to me before disappearing was asking me to help you find her, but only after she made some sort of contact with you. So, the first thing I have to know is, what exactly did you figure out about her?"

The Leader of Team Skystorm took a seat onto his bed and begrudgingly responded, "Well, apparently she's been acting spy in Team Aqua's ranks for at least a year now. Sapphire told me enough to convince me that it was her. A Whismur named Aster and red eyes, there's no doubt in my mind that it's her."

The young heir to the Devon Corporation sat there and put his hand to his chin in thought. He remained like this for a while and Emerald figured that he was communicating with Metagross. Eventually, Steven snapped his fingers and said, "I've got it! I'll go rescue her! I can infiltrate at least the first level of Team Aqua's base and fine her."

Emerald looked at the young man, no relatively confused. "Um Steven? She isn't in need of rescuing. And even if she was, she isn't there anymore, at least according to Sapphire."

Steven asked, "Why didn't you tell me that in the first place? If that's the case, then I still have a few ideas as to where she might be heading. I'll have to swing by Sootopolis and see if I can ask Wallace a few things."

Emerald asked, "Why are you trying to help me find her? I'm not asking you to, and my mother probably won't be anywhere that Wallace would find. She's hiding away, and I'm pretty sure she would know that he'd be the first person we'd ask about where she'd be."

Steven smiled and said, "Well, it couldn't hurt to ask. And I'm doing it for myself as well. The last time I saw her, she seemed like she was trying to hide something from me. I want to know what that secret is."

Emerald nodded and said, "Fair enough. Well then, you know everything I know now about her. If you could find her for me that would be much appreciated."

Steven stood un and said, "Well then, I guess I'm off. I'll report back here if I find anything." He began walking to the door, but then stopped himself short and asked, "Oh, I guess I have one more question…" Emerald turned to face him, and Steven asked, "I've been hearing rumors that our old friend Ruby has been taken in by Team Magma. Was that your doing? Or should I kill him before he becomes a problem?"

Emerald shook his head and explained, "I didn't order it or anything, but Ruby has made it very clear that he doesn't intend to play along with Team Magma's ambitions. For now at least, he should be fine. But if I ever need him put down, I'll come to you right away Steven."

Without any further communication, the silver haired man left the room and closed the door behind him.

Grovyle thought to Emerald, "Well that wassss an intenssse sssend off."

Emerald nodded and agreed, "Yeah, I don't think I've ever seen Steven act like that. I guess I get it though. Hoenn is his duty, and I guess if Ruby were a threat to it, he'd have no choice but to eliminate said threat. I understand his concern all too well." The boy then sat on his bed and thought, "Well, I'm going to get a little rest. Just because Zinnia is up and moving around doesn't mean Team Aqua's going to rest anytime soon. It's up to us to figure out what they're up to and stop it."

Grovyle curled itself up in a corner and thought, "Yessssir, until tomorrow then."

The two then closed their eyes and thought themselves to sleep.