Disclaimer: Pokémon is still owned by The Pokémon Company, which in turn is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, and probably others I forgot. The following fanfiction is me playing around in their sandbox, using characters they envisioned and created, except for the odd character that wasn't. I own nothing of this.

Chapter 21: The Feelings Within

Swampert and exploud charged another Ice Beam up, but this attempt fizzled at medium range for both of them. Impressive for exploud, who had only expressed interest in learning Ice-type moves a week ago, but for Danny's starter, it felt a bit disappointing. He'd known Icy Wind for ages, but the translation to Ice Beam seemed a difficult one. "It's not working for you, is it?" Danny asked as he put a hand on the calloused hide of the Water-type. "Should I try and find a TM to help you?"

It was not something swampert liked, Danny could tell from the way he tensed before giving him a shrug. "Pert," he exhaled, and a look down revealed that a white-and-blue aura had appeared on demand around swampert's right fist. "Swa?"

"Was that the first time you tried that?" Danny asked as he held a hand near swampert's. It was fairly cold, but more importantly, his starter seemed to be okay holding it for several seconds. And consistency had been the issue in the Ice Beams. "Let's switch to Ice Punch then." He turned to exploud. "And you seem to be taking well to it."

The purple Pokémon danced in place happily, clearly satisfied with the progress so far. "Ex! Ex!"

"Yeah, it's going to be a great help," Danny said after interpreting his Pokémon's statement. "But don't just focus on hitting the opponent. Sometimes it's better to create some ice and then try to use that as a projectile. I know you've got the control for that with your sound attacks. Think Ice Shard."

In response, exploud immediately built an overhanging pillar of ice, but stopped after Danny held up a hand. "Ploud?"

"No sending around sharp things. Others are training too. Stick to Ice Beam for now."

Satisfied that she understood, Danny moved to where froslass and swinub were busy. Mostly swinub, with froslass now hovering around here in her tutoring of Ice-type moves across both his and Max's teams. It was Ice Beam here as well, but swinub also had problems with making it extend far.

Unlike swampert and exploud, though, there was a twist that Danny saw in action as he approached. Once a certain distance had been reached, the Ice Beam didn't disintegrate, instead exploding and creating a small area of intense frost if the icy crystals on the ground were anything to go by. They immediately started melting, but there were more than a few puddles of water around.

Actually… That looked familiar somewhere. "Swinub?" Danny asked as the furry Pokémon went in for another Ice Beam. The attack vanished without a trace, and swinub turned towards Danny. "Are you deliberately doing that?"

The fourteen year old had no idea how you could do that, but he wasn't a Pokémon. He was able to read body language, and swinub's looked a lot like someone who'd been caught out, startled first, and then going back to a more neutral pose with a bit of shuffling, and a bit of cautious sniffing at the bag Danny was holding. Cautious, because he had been told off about that at least twice in the last month.

Froslass, on the other hand, signalled that it was indeed the case. "You know the goal is to use it from far away, right? You're fine up close."

The Pig Pokémon snorted disdainfully, building up what seemed to be a fairly standard Ice Beam that he sent into the distance, where it did… Barely anything at all. Even to Danny's eye, the power decrease was visible once the attack got beyond the line of puddles and ice. "Nu-nub!"

"Right, so you're making it explode like that before it peters out," Danny stated, just to make sure he was completely correct. It got him an enthusiastic nod. "You're really committed to that style, aren't you." He turned to froslass as swinub snorted happily. "I know you're still working on your move, but are you okay not practising it today?"

The Ghost-type swayed on some non-existent wind, giving him the same enigmatic smile she always gave when she was okay with something.

He left the Pokémon to their work, looking around to find out where the other Pokémon had ended up. They were in town, which meant that there was always a bit of puzzling involved on how to train using their full team. The sole full field had already been in use by the time they had arrived, which meant trying to find another place. Luckily not too far away, and more luckily, pretty much right across the street from a bakery.

Danny had asked if the land they were on now was used for anything or if it was dangerous, but the proprietor had just smiled and said that it was the unofficial second arena of Enion before asking for Danny's order.

Doublade and diggersby came into view at the same time as Danny located most of the rest. They were the only ones really moving around, and there was a flash of dark energy on the blades of the Ghost-type as he tried to land a mid-air Night Slash on the jumping rabbit-like Pokémon.

Diggersby was able to block it with one ear glowing vivid white – the Hammer Arm used defensively; its Fighting-type energy helpful against the Dark-type move as well – but the landing wasn't particularly great as the other ear went to the ground just to make sure he didn't tip over.

Doublade didn't follow up, waiting for recovery, and then the swords went back into the sheath as Danny came closer. "Do you know what you did wrong there, diggersby?" Ears pointed at the obstacle – a patch of raised land that Danny knew was sheer at the other end – and the Ground-type looked annoyed with himself. "Okay. Don't strain yourself too hard – Max and I are going to eat something and then it's your turn."

Diggersby saluted, but as he did so, doublade already came in, swords this time glowing the blue of Sacred Sword. It was a newer move, but the cheap shot attack was exactly what Danny had asked doublade to do. Attacks could come at all times, after all.

The block wasn't great, but since doublade's mastery of the move wasn't anywhere near that of his Night Slash, it was good enough for diggersby. Something to keep an eye on, perhaps, and Danny made a mental note.

He walked over to Max, still finding his friend sitting down and looking at his arm. "What did you do this time," he asked, figuring that there was some reason for Max to be sitting down.

"I, eh, might have been grazed by that combination move I was teaching ferroseed earlier," Max said, looking a bit sheepish.. "And only now noticed that it's kinda, well… This," he added, raising an arm and showing Danny that there was a shallow graze. One that had bled a good bit across Max's lower arm to boot. "But I have an idea! And it won't take long."

"I'm guessing the combination worked and that it avoided clefairy's Gravity?" Danny asked, placing the bag on the ground before crossing his arms. "That's what you were working on, right?"

Clefairy nodded in response to Danny's question, before exaggeratedly turning to Max and trying for an intimidating and motherly glare. "Fa-fairy!"

Somehow, it gave him enough knowledge to know what Max was going to say before it was said. Or maybe it was just knowing Max. "I didn't dodge well enough. Asked clefairy to not use it once, and, well… It didn't hurt!"

Okay, most of what Max was going to say. The older teenager pinched the bridge of his nose. Admittedly, the perseverance was impressive, and probably ferroseed had been more focused on trying to make it work than to do it at full strength, but still. "Don't do it again, okay?" he ended up saying, hoping he could pull off admonishing someone only a month younger. "And what's your plan?"

"Does Healing Wish work on humans?"

Danny blinked at the question. "It… It should?" he ventured carefully. "Don't know a reason why not. You never found out with clefairy?"

"It's not like it's used that often," Max said, shrugging. "Three times, I think? Roxanne, Geosenge, and that time I forgot that we needed xatu to get back. But I was thinking… What if clefairy didn't put everything into it? What happens then?"

"It's probably already been tested," Danny observed drily, fishing for his Pokédex and finding he didn't have it on him. "Er, your Pokédex."

Max looked a bit ashamed that he had forgotten about that, but the encyclopedia did hold the answers. Healing Wish did work on humans, except not as effectively as on Pokémon, and it was possible to not put everything into the healing energy, but it was also a move that became more efficient as more energy was put into it, so two smaller Healing Wishes would result in less net benefit than a singular big Healing Wish.

Even with those downsides, clefairy was still able to clean the wound up to the point it looked several days old instead of under an hour old. "So, how did you get ferroseed to do that trick? In under an hour?" Which was pretty impressive, all things considered.

The Steel-type had moved when hearing his name, going into a soft roll and settling against Danny's leg carefully, getting a rub on the metallic shell with Danny's free hand as a reward.

Max nibbled on his curry bread first. "I started with making him spin and then using Pin Missile. He had some problems with that, mostly to stay upright for long, but then he started throwing in Gyro Ball himself for stability." The blue-haired teenager shrugged. "It's not as powerful as a normal Pin Missile yet, but I think we can work on that easily. Spent most of the time thinking up a new Gravity use after that."

"Oh?"

"Think of Gravity as an invisible cube, okay?" Max started, and Danny easily envisioned that. "Now take out a small area in the middle. You can have gravity be normal there, but not elsewhere. It could be a defensive tool in Doubles or something. Clefairy is pretty certain she can get it working with a bit of practice."

"Ry!" the Fairy-type added emphatically, but then the sound of something exploding came from behind all of them, where the last two Pokémon in their roster were training. "Fa-fa."

"Yeah, they're loud. Can you go tell them it's nearly lunch time?" Max asked, and the pink Pokémon rose, jumping away. Both of them took a bite out of their lunch, reaching the curry inside – deliciously spicy in Danny's opinion. "Gardevoir and Echoed Voice are getting on like a house on fire. He's got power and concentration to spare. Spritzee's even been using Sweet Kiss on him, but that didn't seem to faze him too much."

"As if he needed more powerful attacks," Danny said, snorting. "Shoring up that Dark-type weakness of hi seems about done then."

"Not without Dazzling Gleam or Moonblast, and we know he's pretty bad at the Fairy side of things. It's a good start, though."

~~§~~§~~

"Haven't heard from Hugo in a while," Danny told Max, glancing at the letter propped up against the pitcher of orange juice at their breakfast table in the first Pokémon Center north of Enion. They had gotten in late the night before, and a regular call to Professor Oak's laboratory had revealed that there'd been a letter dropped off the day before. "Wasn't the last one when we were still travelling with Evan?"

Max thought for a moment. "Sounds right. He did say he was going to take it slow and just stick around one spot for a few weeks." Which had been spurred on by barely sneaking in a badge and having tons of time to get three more badges for a League in December. "Maybe capture a new Pokémon too."

"Do you think he's got a gardevoir by now?"

A shake of Max's head – now thankfully without getting too much hair in front of his glasses – was the answer. "Probably not. It's possible," he allowed, "but the average trained Kirlia spends just under a year as one before evolving." And Hugo's kirlia had evolved not too long before the Kalos League; about three weeks or so. "It'd be good for him if she did."

"Ralts was already fast on evolving, right?"

Max shrugged, then drained his glass. "She wasn't exactly a newborn. Bonding like they did helped, though." He ignored the slight pang by thinking of the bond he had made instead. "Want to read along?"

"Just give me the letter after you're done," Danny said, motioning towards his breakfast. "Gives me time to finish this off."

Not that Max was finished with his breakfast, but he could wait a bit. He slid a finger under the envelope's flap; opening it without any issue.

As per almost usual, there were two colours in the letter, Max saw as he unfolded the paper.

Hey Max!

It's been a few busy weeks! I was really lucky to stay where I was, because there was this big weekend tournament happening. I trained a lot for that, and I won three times before losing. Kirlia did a lot of work, but talonflame evolved! And he learned Brave Bird too. Even the zebstrika didn't like that.

I still got a prize because I was second in my age group. There was one girl that got a round further, but she was nearly fourteen and I was just thirteen and three months. So I think I did pretty okay.

Max couldn't resist a grin. Hugo's writing was still as infectious as ever, and he could almost hear the boy say those words, down to the tone of voice.

I got a choice of an evolution stone for that, and you can probably guess which one I took already. Roselia isn't ready yet, she told me, but when she is, I've got what she needs to become a roserade. I think the fact that I asked really surprised her too. Don't get why because I try to talk to my Pokémon a lot, like you taught me.

No new Pokémon. There aren't a lot of good ones around in a city. I did miss catching a trubbish after it let out this big fart. I could barely breathe, that's how bad it was. Kirlia wasn't much better, and it's not like you can just turn your nose off. Maybe I'll have more luck travelling: I'm leaving tomorrow!

The penmanship changed at this point; from blue ink to green ink, and also to a much shakier hand; Max could tell that even without reading the words themselves. Intrigued, his eyes slid downwards.

I'm back in Aelius. And will be for a while. It's two days after what I wrote earlier, but it feels like a week at least. I just got back from the hospital after an attack from a wild tyranitar.

"Max?" Danny interrupted the reading, sounding worried. "What is it?"

He was certain he hadn't gasped, but Danny was good at reading expressions, so that was probably it. "Hugo got on the wrong end of a wild rampaging tyranitar," he said, and Danny's spoon fell, clattering on the floor. "It's the second part of the letter. He says it's only been two days, so maybe it's not too serious."

Danny gave him a look that he didn't believe that one bit; not that Max did himself. A chair scraped across the tiles, and Max tilted the letter to let his friend read along.

There are mountains east of here that I was hiking through. Then I heard a bunch of Pokémon cry out. I went towards the sound and found a group of Psychic Pokémon being attacked by that tyranitar. I think they were the younger ones. There were bodies off to the side, and it was really angry, but not really focused on the Pokémon.

Kirlia wanted to get them out. She called for the Pokémon somehow. And they nearly made it, too, but then the tyranitar noticed us, and it used Hyper Beam.

All the Psychic Pokémon tried to stop it. And they nearly did. But they didn't, and we all went flying. I broke my left wrist and right pinky. I think one of the young Pokémon died. I don't even know. It's kinda blurry.

But I remember kirlia evolving into gardevoir and attacking the tyranitar with Dazzling Gleam. And she somehow won. I still don't know how, but she did. And then she helped me call, and well, I'm here now. With a gardevoir and broken bones. And three new Psychic-types.

A drowzee, a solosis, and an inkay all really wanted to stay with me. Caused a bit of an issue in the hospital, they told me. But they're my new Pokémon now. I couldn't say no to them. Not after what the tyranitar did.

There was a lot of scribbled-out text on the rest of the page, as if Hugo had been trying to put something into words but felt he didn't do it right. In the end, it seemed the Kalosian teenager had gone with just ending the letter there, fitting a small Hugo in the bottom right corner.

"Arceus..." Danny swore softly as he finished the letter. "He's lucky to be alive. And he knows it too, I think." He grabbed the envelope. "Posted four days ago." He put a hand on Max's shoulder. "You need to talk to him. Tonight."

Truth be told, Max had already been calculating the time difference between Johto and Prudan. It was late there now, though. "Not you too?"

"No," was the resolute statement, followed by Danny looking around and leaning in. "You've seen much more. He needs your perspective. Just like Evan needed Serena's. I know I'm not the right person for this," he added.

'But I want to help,' was easily heard in Danny's tone. And in general, he had been really stupidly good at keeping Max from being too preoccupied with things recently. It was worth a shot, and if Hugo wanted Danny to be there… That could be fixed anyway. "You still want to travel today? After..."

"I don't think I want to train today or just sit around here and think about everything."

Put like that, travelling was the only real option.

The sun had long set when gardevoir delivered Max back to the Center, surprising the Nurse Joy on duty. "I thought my sister said you left?" She glanced to the equally tall – give or take – Pokémon by his side. "Easy to see how you returned, though."

"Got a call to make," Max told her as he took his wallet from his pocket, as well as a pair of Danny's pokéballs. He put them down alongside three of his own. "International. Might be a while, too."

The nurse's eyebrows went even higher, even as she put the five capsules on a tray. "Don't get a lot of those. Why?"

No real sense in keeping it secret. "Someone I know saved a few Pokémon from a wild tyranitar and got injured himself."

Nurse Joy winced, as did the blissey by her side. "Hope your friend didn't get injured too badly."

"Broken wrist and pinky. On different hands," Max added, and he thought of a question. "How long's that going to keep him in one place?"

"Depends on the break. If it's a clean wrist fracture, and if he's got Pokémon that can help him, he'll probably be allowed to leave in a week if he's capable of showing he can make it to a Center before nightfall," Nurse Joy explained, seeming to be in her element. "The pinky… That's a complicating factor because now both of your friend's hands aren't fully okay."

That was a bit understandable. Having both your hands injured meant you couldn't even compensate. "Thank you."

"No problem. Just come find me when you're done. Assuming these Pokémon aren't too injured?"

"Just regular fatigue," Max answered, and Nurse Joy lifted the tray, heading back to where she made her magic happen.

He went to one of the videophones, dialling the specific number that he had found online earlier that day. It wasn't long before another Nurse Joy – paler, but otherwise completely the same – accepted the call. "Aelius Pokémon Center, Nurse Joy speaking," she said, voice accented in a strange way. Something with the vowels? "Oh, hello. D'ya want to talk to Hugo?"

What? How had she figured that out? "Er… Yes?"

"I posted the letters he sent and I know my country codes," she explained. "I'll go find him."

It was a very surprised – and much changed – Hugo that sat down in the chair a few minutes later. The red hair was very short now, and it made him look a lot older. Almost Max's age. A grin would've taken a year off, but he didn't manage that. Instead, he donned a wan smile, and said a soft "Hey Max," in a voice that was definitely deeper than it had been. "Boy, wasn't expecting you."

Gardevoir slid Max off to the side a bit, sitting down also in view of the camera. "After that letter you sent, can't not. How bad is the wrist?"

The Kalosian teenager held it up while fiddling with his belt. His own gardevoir was released a moment later, and Max's Psychic-type didn't quite hold back a wave of surprise. "Simple break on both bones. Didn't hurt as much as I thought, but still using some painkillers at night." Hugo went through the same as Max had moments earlier. "Going to get a new cast tomorrow. One that's less big."

This cast looked like it made Hugo's arm nearly twice as large as it was. "Swelling is going down then? That's good."

"Nurse Joy said the same," Hugo admitted. "I get to choose a colour for the other cast. Guess which one."

"Gardevoir green," Max answered instantly, because he knew Hugo well enough for that. It still surprised Hugo's Pokémon, judging by the look she sent him. "You feeling okay being one, by the way, gardevoir?"

He knew she was before she uttered anything, and her arm on Hugo's shoulder said enough that there was no other possible interpretation. "She's been great. Helping me with a lot of things. Even stuff like making my bed."

A sensation of fleeting embarrassment reminded Max of one incident not too long after he'd won the Zephyr Badge. "Mine was pretty terrible at that. Let him do it once, didn't try again."

"Why was he making your bed?"

"Gardevoir had problems with control. He's really powerful," Max said matter-of-factly, "but he was just doing everything at full strength. Like a radio that's stuck on way too loud. So when he tried to make the bed, the mattress flew off." The Psychic-type had caught it before it had slammed into something else, so at least Nurse Joy hadn't been angry with them. "There's upsides and downsides to everything. He's still pretty wasteful."

"How do you know he's really powerful? Because she, well..."

"When gardevoir defend those they love, they're capable of doing a lot," Max answered. A pang of unease shot through him as he remembered a time it hadn't been enough, and instantly, his hand had a gardevoir's arm in it. "Some of the Pokédex entries say they start warping reality. But mine? Well… He held off a dragonite coming in at full speed for about forty seconds. After already stopping a firestorm and returning it."

"Returning it? Like Psychic?"

Max shook his head. "Bit different. First he captures it between two layers of barriers while only redirecting the attack instead of blocking it, closing the hole in the barriers once the attack stops, and then opening it back up in the direction he wants." He waited for a bit for Hugo to get it, and got a careful nod. "It's still pretty hard to use, but easier now. Definitely not something you can do when just evolved."

The gardevoir in Prudan shifted uncomfortably, maybe at being caught out, but the fact was that Max had seen her look wistfully at the description. "It's not your fault," Hugo said consolingly, putting his right hand on her shoulder. "You did everything you could. More than I did. I just sat there," he added, the last words dark.

"Nearly everyone would have frozen in that situation," Max cut across before there could be more self-loathing. He felt a sound barrier go up. "And I know you want to reply with something about yveltal, but I was scared, Hugo. I saw its cocoon, from a distance, behind glass, and it terrified me. And I went on because I had to try and stop Lysandre. And then the second time, it took Mega manectric to bring me back. And I have seen a lot more than just yveltal." Though that was hands down the worst, he felt.

"Yeah, as..."

"I promise," Max intoned, cutting across once again, interrupting Hugo's disbelieving words that would've never come out of his mouth before all of this. The mention of promises shut him up, as Max knew it would. "I have met over a dozen Legendaries. Look up groudon and kyogre in Hoenn, nearly four years ago. I was there. The destruction in Forina at the time of the Millennium Comet. I was there. Without Pokémon, with only my friends and May to protect me. I know what it is like to feel helpless; to be helpless. It's the second worst feeling I've felt in all my life, and I don't ever want to be like that ever again. I don't want anyone to be helpless like that. At all."

Hugo made to say something, but gardevoir stopped him. "De-voir?" she asked, inflecting it in a very strange way.

But it was a way that Max understood. Maybe it was that sensitivity thing, maybe it was just years of being around Pokémon, but she was asking why it was the second worst feeling. "Because the first is ralts – his younger brother – dying in my arms. Two years ago last week."

That caused both Hugo and his gardevoir to blanch and shiver, and a shared look between them told of synchronised thoughts. "Wow. Er… Wow," the teenager said, stumbling over his words, and Max didn't comment on it, instead giving space. "Kinda makes what happened to me look stupid."

In that moment, Max knew that Hugo's gardevoir had a lot more control over her emotions than Max's, but the look she gave across the screen despaired of the Kalosian teenager not getting the point. Max shrugged minutely in return; going down that path was probably not going to lead anywhere good for now. There were other calls for that. "A rampaging tyranitar is pretty high on the list, but you said something in your letter… You caught three new Pokémon?"

If Hugo noticed it was a blatant change of topic, he didn't show it, instead breaking into the first genuine, albeit lesser than before, smile Max had seen him use all call. "Yeah! Inkay's a really weird Pokémon, but funny. Topsy-Turvy seems really useful. Solosis is a bit shy, and drowzee has been really useful already."

Useful? While there was a gardevoir always on the team and Hugo was stuck in the Pokémon Center and around it because of the injury? "How has it? He? She? Been useful?"

"He. And he knows Hypnosis, and, well, this is really annoying at night even through the painkillers," the redhead said, holding his left arm up. "So drowzee makes me drowsy enough to sleep."

There was a moment of stunned silence as everyone filtered those words. Then, Hugo started to chuckle, and Max followed softly, feeling the barrier fall at the same time.

If that kind of pun could come out on accident, everything was probably going to be okay in the end.

~~§~~§~~

Max had left for his call with Hugo, leaving Danny alone in their makeshift camp, about a halfway from Enion to Mount Silver, which would loom in the distance if he felt like climbing the dense trees that they had made their camp under. There were no thunderstorms predicted, and even if there were, manectric and magneton were always eager enough to deal with deflecting lightning strikes.

Pokémon made travelling a lot easier in ways Danny had never even thought of before and considered completely natural now.

Knowing Max and knowing the topic at hand, it was probably going to be a while before the entire group was going to be here again, and so Danny was left with just litwick for company. He could send out more Pokémon, but a bit of peace and quiet felt like a good thing after everything that had happened that day.

There had been discussion about the tyranitar on the road, in between endless Trainer battles. The Silver Conference location was only fifteen miles north of the Center they'd left from. That was within one day's walk for them these days, but thirteen Trainers, nine solo and two pairs, had made travel slow and had also made sure that swampert and exploud both needed a bit of care that Nurse Joy was best able to provide.

Sure, they would've been fine by morning, and completely healthy by this time tomorrow, but since Max was already going, it was wasteful to not use the time. More time to train for the Silver Conference, or more Pokémon he could use if tomorrow was as bad as today.

Speaking of today. "You're getting better at using Trick Room, litwick. That furret didn't know what to do with it at all."

The Ghost-type chattered happily at the compliment, carefully leaning against Danny's hand. The flame was a bit warmer, but he had been very diligent in keeping it away from anyone else out of battle. He did try, on occasion, to entrance them with it, but by now, everyone who'd been around litwick for a while was resistant to that if he didn't use it at full strength.

At which point it became a lot harder, but still not impossible. "Guess we'll have to start teaching you Shadow Ball now. Can't just rely on burning people and making them hit themselves."

Litwick formed a bit of Ghost-type energy, but it fizzled out after a moment, visible in the light of the fire he had helped start. "Wiiiiick."

"Don't worry. It'll be fine. I'll get dusclops to help. She's taught half our teams," Danny said, smiling down at the small Ghost-type. "And then you'll be—"

A mighty roar from nearby drowned out the rest of Danny's comment, and aggron, spritzee, and klefki all appeared in blinding flashes, and even litwick shot away from him to take up defensive posture.

His heart beat hard in his chest, and Danny was extremely aware of both the fact that he was alone and that he was missing Pokémon. Peering into the darkness around the shadows aggron cast was hard, but even so, he saw nothing in the direction the roar had come from. Not even the leaves on the trees moved, as if time had stopped.

Then, with a dismissive and resonant snort, a Pokémon leapt into view from over a fallen tree and a drop-off. It landed with a thud, not strong enough to shake the earth, but noticeable nevertheless. A ball of flame went up into the air, casting unnaturally bright light into the evening and fully illuminating the Pokémon standing before them: an instantly-recognisable leonine shape that filled Danny with fear and awe alike.

Entei. The Legendary Beast of Fire.

A deafening roar slammed into Danny and his Pokémon, staggering him, only aggron's arm stopping a full-on drop to his knees. Red light suffused the area; spritzee, litwick, klefki all forced to return themselves.

Aggron shifted, itching to Mega Evolve, and the Key Stone on Danny's chest had never been more noticeable, but with a tremendous wrench of his thoughts, the Trainer shifted his thoughts away. He drew himself up, regarding the intimidating Pokémon in full.

He beheld, and felt, power and destruction. The force of a thousand erupting volcanoes echoed within Danny, beautiful and indiscriminate, terrifying and yet life-giving. Harnessing it in full would be folly, for fire burnt those who failed to respect it, yet touching the source was intoxicating and glorious, addictive and radiant. It was his, yet it wasn't.

Danny came to on his knees, uncertain of when he had fallen down, but instantly raising his head towards the Beast of Fire. Red eyes pierced his soul, stripping him down to the barest of being.

And then entei broke the connection with a deliberate turn of its head. His head? It didn't matter. The ball that had been summoned dropped lower, hovering in place equidistant between the two of them, and a snort sent it moving at a snail's pace, towards Danny.

Aggron stirred, but Danny stopped him with a single word. "No," he spoke as he rose, slowly ambling towards the flame himself. With every step, though, he felt stronger, more powerful, alive, until at last the fire was within arm's reach, where it and he stopped. It was too hot, uncomfortable, but it was the right place to be.

Darkness overtook his vision as entei snuffed the globe like an adult might snuff a candle's light. It took several seconds before Danny could see the clearing, but one thing was immediately apparent. The Legendary had vanished.

As he realised that, a roar echoed on the trees, carrying an emotion.

Respect. Of Danny towards entei, and the Pokémon towards the human. Where what started and ended, he knew not.

And then the spell was broken in full, and Danny's knees gave out. The Pokémon that had been returned burst out, crying and tittering and chattering and wondering if he was okay, and no grumbles from aggron could dissuade them.

How could anyone who hadn't been there understand?

Was this what it had been like for Max? Faced with power beyond understanding, might beyond measure? Had he felt as terrified and humbled in the face of xerneas and yveltal, groudon and kyogre, rayquaza, deoxys? Even the Legendary Golems? Or was this different beyond vague similarities?

He had no answers to any of those questions. But perhaps Max could be coaxed.

~~§~~§~~

The test concluded, and with it, silence descended upon the range that they had used. Mostly: two of the three dummies that had been there at the start did have a fifteen foot drop to overcome at the end of it, but the subject had stopped as ordered the instant the whistle had gone. "It appears there are no more inhibitions. Obedience is also instantaneous and complete."

"Too bad it required her to submit under duress first," his colleague lamented with a sigh. "That will curtail its effectiveness."

A shrug. "We are limited by production of the devices already. They are devilishly hard to manufacture, I am told. It didn't help we blew up five of them on unwilling subjects either." It had set them back the better part of two months, but luckily, the higher-ups had been extremely understanding. There was progress, and there was faith in his team's ability to make everything work out. "The only weakness remaining is the need for a control unit nearby. That will hinder any insertion operations."

"Should we try to iterate?"

"Improvement is always important," a third voice arrived, one neither of them had even heard coming. The source was unmistakable though, and they inclined their heads in deference as the man walked up. "However, for a first successful foray, this is extremely fortuitously timed. The skills this subject has are going to be crucial."

There was only one skill that their superior could be talking about. "We estimate that she is able to transport three average weight humans at least ninety miles at a time. Possibly more, but we didn't test extensively. This is a good guess of a lower boundary that will also allow a return."

"And it is able to do so off of impersonal data, like pictures and coordinates?"

"Yes,' his colleague spoke up, having been more involved with that testing. "It puts more strain on the subject, but within acceptable parameters. The journey itself also felt rougher, though that could be my imagination."

"Excellent. My thanks for your thoroughness and your perseverance despite other parties being particularly peeved about the initial lack of results." The aristocrat chuckled at the surprised look that the scientist – scientists? - gave him. "Oh, you had not heard. Some wondered why there was no return, and they floated the idea of cutting this off and using the subject for regular, albeit outsized, disruption. A waste, in my opinion, and it seems this was a valid assessment. You have greatly simplified several salient issues with this." The man regarded the gardevoir. "The usual caveats apply, I shall assume."

"Pokéballs and the device don't mix." They had found that out on the second iteration. "The material is an alloy with a steel base, trading some durability for less weight, with the relevant technology inside the shell. Direct hits with rocks or Ace-level Pokémon punches are to be discouraged, but it will sustain through most anything that isn't specifically aimed at it."

"Hence the choice for an upper arm band, being out of the centre of mass."

"The relative vulnerability is a limitation slightly lamented, but trade-offs are a necessity in engineering and design. It is your recommendation then that Pokémon that seek to fight at range are best suited for these?"

He nodded. "With the exception of Ghost-types and their intangibility, yes. But for more powerful Pokémon, as mentioned, it needs to be willing. Whether that's truly willing or coerced… That matters not."

The choice of watching a juvenile of her kind be tortured or to don the armband had done this subject in. Rather fast, oddly, but they were sentimental Pokémon.

He was not going to look a gift ponyta in the mouth, that much was certain.

~~§~~§~~

There was a rugged beauty to the northern end of Route 210, and waking up from a gentle morning sun shining down on them, most of the way up one of the many foothills in the area? The view was spectacular, and he quickly got out a camera to take a few pictures, just so that Jane could have inspiration for nature drawings down the line.

After that was done and he'd gotten dressed, he also found his girlfriend slowly waking up. "Morning to you too," Keith said as he pulled some of the easy food out of his pack and finding that there wasn't a lot left. "We're going to need to go to town today."

"D'we have to?" Jane complained, still half asleep, not doing much about her messy hair. It looked cute. "Beautiful here."

Keith sat down next to her, providing his girlfriend with a shoulder to lean into, which she gladly did. He also put his arm around her, and she responded by snuggling up even more, making Keith's heart jump. He loved this, and he loved her. "Well, we're running sort of low on food."

"Hm, food," Jane muttered, and even her quilladin looked up, bleary-eyed from the watch, at the mention of something wanted. "Gimme."

The grab was half-hearted, but even so, pretty accurate, and Keith barely got her wrist in his in time. "Not in the sleeping bag. You always end up regretting tha-aaaat!"

Jane, undeterred, tried for a sneaky tickle ambush to get by Keith, but she was weak from sleep, and he could keep it together just long enough to lock her in a tight hug, making sure her arms were nowhere near his sides. "Lemme go," she said into his chest, muffled a bit.

"If you promise to get ready for the day first," Keith said, resisting the urge to rest his head on hers – that was something she didn't like except when she was in the mood. "Okay?"

"'kay, fine."

Keith let her go, rising and making to leave so his girlfriend could change in peace. He took most of the food, leaving one energy bar behind, and walked over to the cliff's edge, about twenty feet away. He also released his eevee, who yawned as well as he was released, but let out an appreciative "Vui..." as he took note of the sights.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Keith asked his Normal-type. He'd found her abandoned near Lumiose, close to the Kalos League, and it had taken a long time for the small Pokémon to get used to first having a Trainer and then battling. He was the only Pokémon Keith had that had never participated in any Gym Battle yet, though he had some nasty tricks up his fur. "Do you want to be in my arms so you can see better?"

Eevee needed no excuses for that, but he waited for Keith to put the rest of the food down before jumping up into Keith's arms. The fur tickled a bit, but it was soothing as well as the morning sun shone on him.

The Evolution Pokémon shuddered in his arms, causing Keith to look down and see eevee visibly suppressing something. A flash of white, and then… Nothing. Was that… "Eevee? Did you just..."

"Vui," was the satisfied answer. "Ee?" he added as Keith sat down and shifted him around so they faced each other.

"Do you want to see if we can find an Everstone for you?" Keith asked, looking straight into the big brown eyes. "So you can't evolve at all, I mean." Eevee shook his head. "Is it just espeon, then?"

That got him a happy nod and a quick flick of the tail over his arms. "Vui!" the Pokémon added, pawing at Keith's arms, being let go and patting the right jeans pocket. "Ee?"

It was where both he and Jane usually kept their Pokédexes, and Keith fished it out of the other pocket, where he had put it because his right hand had been full of food earlier. "Okay, so I'm guessing you want to see your other evolutions?" he said as he put the device on the ground after locating eevee in the entries.

Eevee went one further, pressing the button that would get him to the next evolution by himself. Keith had no idea how he had picked up that trick, but he saw and heard his Pokémon react disapprovingly of both vaporeon and jolteon before hovering over flareon. "Ee…?"

"Maybe?" Keith said, guessing at the translation and getting it right, judging by his eevee's reaction. "Okay. So, you didn't want espeon, so..." he said, tapping twice. "What about umbreon?"

The reaction to umbreon was very negative, but leafeon up next wasn't. Eevee pressed the button that would give a short definition of the Pokémon before Keith could stop him and the mechanical tones of the 'dex echoed on the hills.

Leafeon, the Verdant Pokémon. It uses photosynthesis to produce clean air in an area around itself.

That description, for some reason, made eevee really happy, and she yipped and yapped and would've probably jumped around if they hadn't been fairly close to a cliff. Not that Keith was ever going to let him fall. "I think that's a winner, then?"

"There is a Moss Rock in the Eterna Forest," Jane said from a bit behind them, and Keith turned around to see her walk up, still fiddling with her hair to put it in a tail. It was just easier for travelling. "Maybe the Gym Leader knows where it is." She sat down next to Keith, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Why are you talking about this?"

"Eevee didn't want to evolve into espeon," Keith said, and eevee agreed as he jumped back into Keith's lap, curling up in the morning sunlight. "Suppressed it in my arms."

"Guess there's two of us here who really love you, then," Jane said, a twinkle in her eyes. Keith was expecting another kiss – usually there was one after one of those comments, but none came. "But I'm out of kisses. I need food to refill."

And then sometimes she was like that. "Energy bars equal kisses? Should I buy a gross?"

"Limited time offer," Jane retorted. "But I could be convinced to make it permanent."

~~§~~§~~§~~§~~

Name: Max Maple

Age: 14

Region: Hoenn

Trainer Class: Expert/Ace

Style: Strength, Speedster

Odds: 21-1

Notes: Buoyed by the ability to use Mega Evolution as the youngest on record, Maple brings a brutal mix of strength and speed to most battles, with acumen belying his age. There may be depth issues for his team beyond the best eight or so, but several of those will force any opponent into a tight spot if given the chance, and Maple is quite capable of identifying the right conditions or forcing them. He may be too young to win a full tournament, but upsets are definitely within his reach, even against high Ace-tier Trainers.

Pokémon to watch: Sceptile, manectric (Mega), shelgon.

From: Pokébet's profile of Max Maple, retrieved prior to the start of the Silver Conference

Author's Note: First of two chapters while we await the beginning of the Silver Conference, with a bit from what feels like half the cast. Expect a bit more of the same next chapter.