Morning soon dawned in Hoenn. As the light shined into Meteor Village, Zinnia emerged from her room. As she stretched her arms and yawned, she looked around her living room, suddenly becoming confused. Where was Loch? Was it all just a dream?

Just then, she noticed the folded pile of blankets in the corner and felt a twinge of relief. So, it wasn't a dream, but where was he?

Zinnia looked around, but then Aster suddenly bolted towards the front door.

"Aster!" Zinnia yelled as she followed the Whismur. The pokemon burst out through the dog door, and Zinnia opened the door to follow her, and saw Loch sitting out on the ledge in front of her house, gazing up at the sky above. Next to him was what Zinnia assumed was another one of his pokemon: a two-headed dragon-type called Zweilous. Aster ran up next to the Zweilous and bobbed up and down, getting Loch's attention.

"Oh, hey Aster." Loch said to the pokemon before looking behind him to see Zinnia, waving a greeting.

Zinnia waved back as she walked u next to him. "How long have you been up?"

"Long enough to see the sun rise over the region" Loch replied, "and get a decent picture of it."

Zinnia raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "You take pictures of sunrises?"

Loch shrugged. "Only one for each new region I visit. I plan on getting a lot of pictures with each new discovery I make."

Zinnia smirked as she sat down next to him. "You really are dedicated to this whole exploring thing, huh? How far do you plan on going?"

Loch shook his head. "No idea. I just plan on going where the path takes me and seeing what happens. I might also watch the pokemon that live here."

"To catch?" Zinnia asked.

"Or to study." Loch replied, "The way I see it, the pokemon are the keys to finding the real secrets of each region."

Zinnia found Loch more and more interesting the more he talked, and it was all in a good way. He wasn't competitive or brash like the other trainers she had encountered; no, he was just a curious soul looking for his place in the world.

"Well" Zinnia finally said, "I could probably show you around some pretty cool places here, if that's ok with you."

Knowing she was a native, Loch heartily agreed, making both of them happy. Even Aster and the Zweilous, sensing their trainer's feelings, yipped and jumped around before running around the ledge in a game of tag.

Loch sighed in contentment as he looked back up to the crater opening in the cave ceiling. Suddenly, he noticed something around the inner edge. It was a cave drawing depicting a massive serpentine creature covered in spikes and had two jagged blades protruding from each side of its mouth as well as two more on its arms like weapons. Massive pincer-like baldes were on the tip of its tail. He recognized the pokemon, but there was something about this particular design he had never seen.

He decided to clarify things with Zinnia. "That creature depicted on the crater rim: is that Rayquaza?"

Zinnia followed his gaze and nodded. "Yup, that's him. Good eye."

Loch still had a question, however. "But that design, is that an alternate Mega form?"

Zinnia shook her head. "No. It's something far different." She then stood up, "Come on! I'll tell you over breakfast."

Loch felt his stomach growl at the mention of food and decided to follow her back into her home. A few minutes later, the two sat at the table in her kitchen eating plates of eggs and toast as Zinnia explained the cave picture to Loch.

"It's a Draconid legend" She began, "In the ancient times, my people worshipped Rayquaza as a god, not realizing Arceus, Palkia, and Dialga (whom we call the Celestials) already took that title. Giratina was also a common sight in the world, and it was extremely destructive."

Loch nodded in understanding. "It was banished to the Distortion World because of that."

Zinnia nodded in confirmation. "Yes. But what they don't tell you is that the Draconids called on Rayquaza to aid them. Their two most prominent figures: the Lorekeeper and the Dragon Rider, combined the power of their Mega Stones with Rayquaza hoping it would make the dragon stronger."

Loch had stopped eating and leaned forward in interest. "And did it?"

"It did, but it turned Rayquaza into…something else. It was brought to a power far beyond that of Mega Evolution. We call it the Primal Emperor."

As Zinnia continues, the scene flashes back to show Giratina battling Palkia and Dialga in the air. Shadows were beginning to creep over the land as Giratina's power grew.

"Giratina was reaching the height of his power, to the point where he would cover the entire land in shadow in his blind violence."

Palkia raked Giratina's face with his claws before firing a Dragon Pulse from its mouth. Giratina was pushed back, but it was clear that it was hardly damaged. Dialga and Palkia regrouped and faced Giratina together, both were tired out. Sensing their exhaustion, Giratina growled in glee and prepared to hit them both with Shadow Ball. Suddenly, a light appeared in the distance and closed in with blinding speed, slamming into Giratina with the force of a space shuttle.

Briefly stunned, Giratina whipped around to the source of the attack. Hovering before him was Rayquaza, now a black color with his eyes and markings flaring gold. He was coated in spikes and blades, and his horns were more angular in a crown-like fashion. Two figures were seen on top of Rayquaza's head.

Roaring in anger, Giratina fired a Shadow Ball, but Rayquaza shot to the side before retaliating with Dragon Pulse, catching the violent pokemon square in the chest, before shooting forward driving his arm blades into Giratina's chest.

Emboldened by the arrival of the newcomer, Dialga and Palkia shot forward to join Rayquaza, firing their own attacks at Giratina. Eventually, Dialga rammed his head into Giratina's face, stunning him. Palkia took the opportunity and waved his hand, opening a portal to the Distortion World behind Giratina. One of the figures patted Rayquaza's head and spoke a command, and Rayquaza then shot towards the sky, charging up its energy…and preparing to use Dragon Ascent.

"With Primal Emperor Rayquaza joining in, the fight was quickly over."

Sensing the coming attack, Dialga and Palkia darted out of the way. Just in time too as Rayquaza rocketed towards Giratina with lightning speed. Giratina only had time to see a white streak approaching before it slammed with Giratina. The resulting shockwave leveled the forest below them in a 100 foot radius and blasted Giratina backwards. As Giratina fell, screeching into the Distortion World, Palkia quickly closed the gateway, sealing the monster in.

The moment the portal closed, the shadows began to disappear, restoring light to the world.

"Giratina was sealed away, and the shadows retreated from the regions."

Dialga and Palkia looked to Rayquaza, and the three roared in acknowledgement of each other, showing their newly forged, mutual respect. Rayquaza then flew off into the distance as Dialga and Palkia disappeared in flashes of light. The scene switches back to the present day as Zinnia finishes her tale.

"The Primal Emperor hasn't been seen since. Rayquaza still appears fomr time to time, and he certainly can still Mega-Evolve, but only a bond with the Lorekeeper and Dragon Rider can unleash the same power that locked Giratina away."

Loch was in utter amazement, and just sat there, his mouth wide open.

Zinna chuckled in amusement. "I know it's a lot to think about. It's just a story though. There hasn't been a Dragon Rider in years. Only the Lorekeeper remains."

Loch took a few moments to regain his composure. "Where is the Lorekeeper now?"

Zinna gave Loch a playful smirk and raised an eyebrow. "You're looking at her."

Loch didn't think he could be more surprised. "You?"

"How do you think I know the story? It's the Lorekeeper's duty to preserve the stories of the Draconid people."

Loch still had one last question. "What about the Dragon Rider? What happened to him?"

"Rayquaza himself chooses the Rider. It's his job to ensure that order is kept among our people as well as the region. Unfortunately, Rayquaza has not chosen a Rider for some time, so all that remains of him is the stories."

Loch couldn't help but smile. "This is exactly why I want to explore the regions. All the other trainers focus so much on beating the gyms, they fail to see the different cultures and experience their stories. You Draconids are certainly amazing from what I've seen."

Zinnia smiled back. "I'm flattered. Now hurry up and eat, we won't be able to explore on an empty stomach now, are we?"

The two ate in silence the rest of the time. Once they had finished and taken care of their plates, Loch shouldered his backpack and followed Zinnia outside. She led him down the path thought Meteor Village, and Loch could see all kinds of Dragon-type pokemon wandering around.

The Draconids themselves were about, doing their usual business whether that be selling their various goods in stalls or taking their pokemon out to train them. Some of them waved or saluted in respect to Zinnia, who simply waved back. Loch carried his Zweilous on his shoulder, and a few other girls commented as they walked by, saying how "cute" it was. Personally, Zinnia couldn't quite tell if they were referring to the Zweilous or Loch, and it made her a tad jealous.

"They really do respect you." Loch said, noticing how the people greeted Zinnia.

Zinnia simply shrugged. "It wasn't always like this, but I'm ok with it. Ah, here we are."

The two then reached the cave exit and stepped out into the open air of the Hoenn region.

"So" Loch asked, snapping a picture of the open landscape, "Where to first?"

Zinnia thought for a few moments before getting an idea. "There's a safari zone just north of here that I like going to sometimes."

Loch gestured with his arm. "Lead on, then."

Zinnia nodded as the two set off. As they walked, Loch couldn't help but notice he was becoming more attached to Zinnia, though he wasn't sure what to make of it. He decided to keep this hidden until he figure more out. For now, he followed to Lorekeeper down the path as his journey through Hoenn finally began.

So, Basically think of Primal Emperor as Mega Rayquaza on steroids and with Wolverine claws on his arms.

Let me know what you think so far!