Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.

Bryce felt very much out of place as he walked along one of Dewford's sand roads, among the residents of the town. They were all in summer clothes, or even swimwear, and all of them were wearing sandals or flip-flops. Bryce, on the other hand, was in full Trainer's gear, with his sky-blue jacket, gray hiking pants, and red-orange hiking boots. He was seemingly the only person whose shins and feet were covered by clothing. Needless to say, he stood out.

He'd spent about an hour and a half in the Gym, and the tide was visibly lower now than it was before. There was now a bit of beach between the town and the sea, and people were already starting to take advantage of this. The road to Granite Cave went along this beach, so Bryce would get a nice view.

He'd first decided to check out the town hall, which looked like a giant circus tent. There were lots of people to trade Pokemon with there, but Bryce wasn't really interested. He liked Ralts and Bagon. The town hall didn't have much else to offer, seemingly.

So here Bryce was, headed along the road that led north out of town. The crowd of people thinned out almost immediately once he was outside of the town, and there was just him, the beach, the road, and Granite Cave waiting at the end of it.

There weren't as many people on this part of the beach, either. The Hoenn mainland was visible in the distance, as it always was. On the beach, Bryce could see what looked like seashells and scales. He saw a couple of Prism Scales there as well, washed up on the shore. Gloria would appreciate them. Knowing her, she wouldn't be too happy about him straight up giving her one, so he decided instead to tell her about them, should he meet her here.

Other than that, the walk to Granite Cave was surprisingly uneventful. No Pokemon jumped out at him, and he didn't come across any Trainers, either. Bryce supposed that he'd find more of both in the cave itself.

The cave was just around a corner, so that Dewford wasn't visible from its entrance, and vice versa. The entrance was quite large, about the size of the entrance to Rusturf Tunnel. Hopefully it wouldn't collapse, as Rusturf Tunnel had…

Having barely a clue as to what he'd find, Bryce walked into the cave.

After descending underground, the cave took a left turn, preventing the light from outside from getting this far. However, the cave was still dimly lit by...something. Bryce couldn't tell what exactly.

Managing to avoid Pokemon for the most part, Bryce soon encountered a fork in the path, and took a right. This led him down further underground, and through a windy, tall tunnel. Near the ceiling there seemed to be smaller pathways and ledges, because Bryce could hear and occasionally see Pokemon scurrying around above him.

After a while the cave opened up into a large cavern. Most of the cavern, however, was inaccessible, since he was surrounded mostly by sharp, jagged rocks, and a rock face to his right that was too steep and smooth to climb. It looked like a Mach Bike could ascend it easily, but he didn't have one of those. So this was unfortunately a dead end. It was quite beautiful, though. Bryce had never been in a natural cave before, and he looked around in awe at the stalactites and crystalline structures. Adding to the atmosphere were the noises of dripping water, distant Pokemon cries, and a certain ambience that Bryce couldn't quite place. In a way, it was creepy as hell, but it was so unique that he couldn't help but find it mesmerizing. He let Ralts and Bagon out briefly, so they could enjoy the scenery as well.

Bryce recalled Bagon, and was about to recall Ralts as well, when suddenly he heard another Pokemon cry – this time much closer, almost right behind him. He jumped and turned around to find what he recognized as an Aron. Said Aron leapt at him – or more accurately, his left hand – and Bryce was barely able to jump out of the way. Remembering that Ralts was still standing there next to him, Bryce ordered him to use Magical Leaf.

The attack landed, as it always did, and Aron turned to Ralts as though it hadn't noticed him there until now. It launched a Metal Claw attack at Ralts, who dodged it.

'Use Magical Leaf again!' said Bryce, and Ralts launched the attack again. The two attacks were able to do significant damage, and Aron looked like it would faint after one more. However, it used Metal Claw again. This time the attack landed, Ralts, being weak to Steel-type attacks, was nearly knocked out in a single hit.

Bryce was about to call for another Magical Leaf attack, but on impulse he instead pulled a Poke Ball from his bag and threw it at Aron. His aim was true, and it hit Aron and pulled the Pokemon in. After rocking back and forth a few times, a clicking noise indicated that the Ball had done its job successfully.

Bryce walked to the Poke Ball, containing his newly-caught Aron, and picked it up. He let Aron out and scanned it with his Pokedex. The device quickly displayed a profile for his new Pokemon:

Aron, the Iron Armor Pokemon. Aron has an impressive defense power and eats iron ore in order to build up the metal in its body.

Species: Aron

Gender: Male

Height: 0.4 m / 1'04"

Weight: 60.0 kg / 132.3 lbs

Type: Steel/Rock

Ability: Sturdy – It cannot be knocked out with one hit.

Moves:

-Tackle

-Metal Claw

-Rock Tomb

-Roar

And Bryce had thought Bagon was strangely heavy for his size. Aron was both heavier and much smaller. Though, it was obvious why: he was practically made of metal. And if it ate iron ore...did it eat other metals, too? Bryce looked at his left hand, which Aron had jumped at, and realized that it must have been trying to get at his shiny stainless-steel watch on his wrist. He pondered this as he recalled the Iron Armor Pokemon. He recalled Ralts as well, and after taking one more look at the cavern, burning it into his memory as best he could, he turned and headed back the way he came.

He was surprised with the lack of Trainers so far. Maybe Brawly was one of only a few people who frequented this place? But he'd freely told Bryce about it after giving him the Knuckle Badge, so wouldn't that mean he told everyone? The Dewford Gym wasn't exactly swarming with challengers, Bryce supposed…

He came across the fork in the path from earlier, and decided to check out the other way. It soon led him into a large-ish room, with a large mural visible on the far wall. There was another person in the room, looking at the mural...was that Steven Stone?!

The man, hearing Bryce's footsteps, turned around, and yes, it was the Hoenn League Champion, Steven Stone. Of all the places Bryce would have expected to find him, this would probably be at the very bottom of the list.

'Ah...Come to see the stones and the art as well?' he asked.

Bryce was about to say 'no', but then he realized that that was in fact exactly the reason he was here, so he said 'yep'.

'Your name?' said Steven.

'Bryce,' said Bryce. 'You're Steven Stone, right? The Champion?'

'Yes,' said Steven, 'that would be me. Pleasure to meet you, Bryce.'

'Nice to meet you too,' said Bryce, who gazed at the mural on the wall of the cavern. It depicted Groudon and Kyogre, the super-ancient Legendary Pokemon of Hoenn. Next to them was what Bryce identified as Rayquaza, another super-ancient Legendary Pokemon, whose existence was disputed.

'The super-ancient Legendary Pokemon of Hoenn, eh?' said Bryce.

'Yes,' said Steven, 'but look at them. They aren't depicted as they usually are. I've never seen Groudon or Kyogre glow bright yellow before…'

He was right. All three of them looked, for lack of a better word, cooler than how they were usually depicted. The gaps in Groudon's armor, and several spots on Kyogre's skin and fins, were glowing bright yellow. Their respective hues of red and blue were darker and shinier, and their eyes were glowing too. Rayquaza had strings of what looked like fire coming from its top horns, and it had black stripes along its body. These were notably different from the traditional depictions of these three Pokemon.

'I see what you mean,' said Bryce, 'but does this mean anything? Do the super-ancient Pokemon look different from what we thought?'

'I don't think so,' said Steven. 'This could be an idealized version of them...or it could be them in some alternate form…'

'Like Mega Evolution?' Bryce supplied.

'Yes...and no,' said Steven. 'Mega Evolution came into existence with Mega Stones, which were created by Xerneas and Yveltal, and this legend predates theirs. And Mega Evolution is only possible when a Pokemon shares a bond with a Trainer, which none of Hoenn's super-ancient Pokemon ever have. So I don't think we're looking at Mega Evolution. This must be something else...similar to Mega Evolution, but not quite the same.'

'Huh,' said Bryce. 'Interesting...do you think the Red and Blue Orbs from the legend have something to do with it?'

'Possibly,' said Steven. 'I've thought of that. There isn't much other explanation. But what about Rayquaza? It has no such Orb associated with it.'

'Maybe it has one, and we just haven't discovered it yet,' said Bryce.

'Maybe,' Steven agreed.

After a period of silence, Steven said, 'I'm waiting to receive a letter. That's another reason I'm waiting around here. I don't suppose you have it?'

'No,' said Bryce, 'I don't.'

'I enjoyed talking with you,' said Steven. 'Not many people I've talked to are interested in these legends.'

'Um, thanks,' said Bryce, not sure what else to say. Steven had been a surprisingly good conversationalist himself. He had a public image of being flamboyant and somewhat arrogant, but in person he seemed much calmer and wiser.

As Bryce was about to turn around and leave, he asked on a whim, 'Hey, can I please have your autograph?'

'Well, since you asked so nicely,' said Steven, showing some of that flamboyance, 'how could I refuse?'

Unsure of exactly what to have Steven sign, Bryce held out his Pokedex, and Steven happily signed the back of it. They exchanged their goodbyes, and Bryce headed out of the cave. He was quite happy with how this little adventure had went; he'd seen some beautiful sights, caught a new Pokemon, and even gotten Steven's autograph.

It took a few seconds to get used to how bright it was outside, after all that time spent in the dimly-lit cave. Given where the sun was, Bryce realized it was the afternoon. He checked his watch and… 4:00?! He'd spent that long in there? He hadn't been keeping track of the time at all. He looked around, and realized the tide was far lower than it had been when he was last out here. Which made sense, considering low tide would have been about an hour ago. It was only now that Bryce realized how hungry he was. He hadn't had anything to eat since that morning.

Bryce took the long walk back to Dewford. The road was still devoid of other people. The sound of the waves against the beach was a notable change from the cave ambience, and it was as relaxing as ever. He took in the atmosphere as he walked to Dewford.

After a stop at the Pokemon Center to heal his Pokemon, he headed back to the restaurant where he had had breakfast that morning. He ordered a random item on the menu, which turned out to be pasta with some herbs and spices. He ordered Poke Puffs for all three of his Pokemon, with an 'extra metallic' one for Aron.

Ralts and Bagon did their best to make Aron feel welcome as a new member of the team. Bryce, who didn't understand Pokemon speak, couldn't quite tell what they were talking about, but Aron seemed to cheer up as they kept talking and eating, so he trusted that it was going well.

When he'd last been here, the waterfront reached just behind the houses closest to the sea, but it was now almost a dozen meters back, creating a vast section of beach that hadn't been there before. Said beach was filled with people, who presumably got to enjoy this every single day. Bryce had never really seen anything like this before.

Once Bryce and his Pokemon had finished their meals and paid the bill, he recalled them and headed for the main harbor, in the hopes of catching a ferry to Slateport, his next destination. On the way, he passed by the town hall, from which Gloria walked out.

'Oh, hey! Bryce!' she said.

'Long time no see,' said Bryce.

'Bryce, it's been one day,' said Gloria. 'Anyway, check this out!' She took a Poke Ball from her belt, and sent out...Milotic?

'Wow, awesome!' said Bryce. 'You found a Prism Scale and everything?'

'Yeah,' said Gloria. 'The beach over there's got a few of them. And I found a guy in the town hall who was trying to trade-evolve his Electabuzz, so it just kinda worked out!'

'Nice!' said Bryce. 'I've got something to show you as well, I guess,' he said, and he sent out Aron.

'Oh, cool!' said Gloria. 'Where'd you find it?'

'In Granite Cave,' said Bryce. 'It's up that road over there,' he said, pointing to the road to the cave.

'Maybe I should check that out,' said Gloria, as the two recalled their Pokemon. 'Since the Gym probably won't be open until tomorrow…'

'Actually,' said Bryce, 'you could probably just walk in there right now and you'd be battling against Brawly within an hour. The Gym here doesn't get much traffic.'

'That's strange,' said Gloria, 'but I'll see if you're right. Anyway, I also have to deliver a letter to Steven Stone, if you'd believe it. His dad said he'd be around here.'

'Oh, I saw him in Granite Cave,' said Bryce. 'He said something about a letter, too.'

'I guess I should definitely check it out,' said Gloria with a chuckle. 'So that, and then the Gym for me. Where are you headed?'

'To Slateport,' said Bryce. 'I've already beaten Brawly,' he added, showing Gloria the Knuckle Badge.

'Yes, you're way ahead of me, I already know that,' said Gloria in mock sulkiness. Bryce chuckled.

'Anyway, I should get going,' said Gloria. Wouldn't want to keep the Champion waiting.'

'Alright then,' said Bryce. 'See you around, I guess.'

'You too,' said Gloria, and they headed their seperate ways.

Bryce headed to the harbor (which was more like a large wharf than a proper harbor) to find, to his relief, that the ferry was in fact operating, and that the ferry to Slateport would be arriving in a few minutes. He sat on a nearby bench and enjoyed the view while he waited.

He reflected on his time in Dewford. It was without a doubt one of the strangest and most interesting places Bryce had ever been. It felt safely within the bounds of civilization, but it felt like its own civilization, seperate from the rest. He looked out at the vast sea, and the Hoenn mainland in the distance. He'd be returning there. That thought felt weirder that it probably should have. From the mainland, the island on which Dewford was located was barely visible, completely inconsequential for the lives of most. Part of him wanted to spend more time here, and he had a feeling he'd miss this place. In a lot of ways, Dewford felt like an escape from reality, and returning to the mainland felt kind of like returning to the real world, back to people who hadn't come here with him, who had never been here and who didn't care about this place. Part of him almost didn't want to do that. But he knew he had to.

The ferry came into view. Bryce looked back at Dewford Town. The whole town was visible from the harbor. This exotic little bubble on what felt like the outer edge of civilization. Bryce gave a small wave and a mental goodbye.

The ferry arrived, and Bryce boarded it.

I never saw the appeal of listening to cave/beach ambience until I wrote this chapter. It just kinda fit perfectly.