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 37: An Unintended Event

Gardevoir sat down heavily, looking knackered after the afternoon's worth of Teleporting and one round of fighting off annoyed Ghost-types whose habitat he had accidentally dropped in on, somewhere off of Route 120. Danny had largely let him do that, only having froslass intercept a Night Shade at the very end.

It had been therapeutic, by the Embrace Pokémon's own account.

"He shouldn't be that tired," Reginald observed as he came into view. Danny didn't know what he'd been doing all day; the forty-something having waved off the questions with an evasive answer, but it probably had involved flying. Just judging by the windswept look. "Ran into trouble?"

"Nest of Ghost-types wasn't really happy to see him." The teenager stretched out, trying to get a muscle in his back to shift. "Might have been Grudge or something like it in there too. He had it under control, though."

"That'd do it." The adult sat down. "I'll need you to confirm the location tonight."

"Why shouldn't we save him at that time?"

It was a question that mirrored one Danny had asked near the end of the trip on the boat. "Two reasons. The lesser is that it's likely that your Trainer would be sedated, and of no use. The greater is that Paulson is a former intelligence officer; a spy. Like myself," Reginald reminded the Pokémon. "Our profession instils paranoia into us. A night-time break-out attempt would be expected. And yes, you could be out in a flash, but if they trap you, we lose everything."

A hint of emotion wafted by, like a sigh that you could somehow feel inside you. "Caution rules your actions, as you state. Let us hope it does not cost Max."

A slight shiver ran down Danny's spine at those words, and it wasn't the eerie setting around them. If he was any judge of the gardevoir's character – and he liked to think he was decent at that after months in which the Pokémon had become Max's confidant to rival himself – there was a definite hint at a threat in there.

Which made sense once you thought about it some more, he supposed. But it wouldn't help if the two of them were at each other's throats. "Reginald? Where did you go today? And where did Phoebe go?"

"I was making certain that we are not interrupted. We know that there is a Pokémon capable of Teleportation within Paulson's grasp, with unknown range. Reinforcements would be ruinous, especially considering who he would likely summon."

"Who?" Danny asked, uncertain of where this was heading.

"He could summon a Gym Leader, but the nearest ones are definitely on the out with the government, are taking part in the annual Sootopolis September celebrations, or are easy pickings for us. Not that I would expect LeeAnn to put up too much of a fight," Reginald said casually. "She is many things, but she is not as much of a fighter as others, and we have several Pokémon between us to negate a large area powder attack. Grass is not the problem. Ice is." The Gym Leader sobered a bit. "Glacia is as much an ally of the government in this as she is allowed to be. If she were to take the field, we would be routed."

"Your plan?" gardevoir interjected, still sounding a bit agitated.

For some reason, Reginald let a smirk appear on his face. "If she were occupied by a spar with one of her colleagues, that would buy us some time. She would have to switch out her Pokémon to fresher ones, she'd have to explain…"

"Hang on. You talked to..."

"Sidney. Who contacted us a month ago with information. He is on our side."

"Wouldn't they suspect him?"

"Of being against what they're doing? Yes," was the answer, leaving Danny certain there was a 'but' coming. "But they do not know that he knows about them. They suspect that the advantage in what we call information asymmetry is theirs, whereas in this scenario, it is ours."

That concept sounded familiar somewhere, just based on the individual words and the explanation. "Is this like when… Like when you've got a trick up your sleeve with a Pokémon or move you haven't used yet?"

"A succinct, if slightly simplistic, analogy," Reginald said, nodding approvingly despite that. "One that will do for our purposes. There are many more factors involved, but we do not have the resources, or more importantly, the time for that. Not if we want to save your friend." He left a short pause to allow Danny to understand. "As for Phoebe… She is currently with your uncle, offering her insights and expertise should the laboratory be attacked. Among other points discussed."

"Other points?" Danny asked, feeling suspicious. The spymaster said things for a reason. "What else is she discussing?"

"That we are in Hoenn. Why we are here."

It took him a few moments to recover from hearing that, and even gardevoir was looking surprised. "Why?"

"Because he deserves to know."

"And?" gardevoir cut in, calmly this time, but still demanding an answer: one Danny wasn't sure he would've demanded.

"He deserves to know, both as your uncle and close friend to the Maple family, and as one of the most powerful men in Hoenn," Reginald clarified, before sighing. "I must confess to another reason for being here."

"Which is?"

"I've suspected that either influential politicians or high-up civil servants were involved with the attacks for a long time; since before Geosenge." The man rose, starting to pace slowly. "But without proof, my words were meaningless. Understand that we G-men are a hidden organisation, Danny. This is by design: fears of any one region pushing to use the organisation's resources were high when it was founded. As such, few of us are public. I was not, until circumstances forced me to be.

"There is no need to be sorry for that," he added before Danny could reply. "It is what it is. We fled to Kanto, and while I told Lance and several others of my suspicions, I was told that they thought it possible, but that proof was required before anything could be done." Reginald paused, looking straight at the teenager sitting down. "And then you were attacked."

It wasn't hard to follow the reasoning. "They said something about taking us back to Hoenn, I think." It had been said to Max, and Danny had been in pain from getting his arm sliced open. He raised that limb, spotting the discoloured scar easily. It plain didn't tan. "Guess that's when you knew?"

"Mostly. Some inference was required, but plenty to convince others of my opinion. I also told Drake this. He told Phoebe and Sidney, as I had hoped." The Gym Leader sat down again, this time directly opposite the teenager. "Getting Max back is priority number one, this I promise. But afterwards, I intend on staying here and disseminating the truth as wide as I can."

This sounded… Way above Danny's level. It was politics and protesting and… He was probably going to get drawn into it because Max would likely be on board with it. Understandable after being kidnapped, but… "How are you going to do that?"

"I'll think of something, but I do not intend on involving you or Max if I can help it. You have gone through enough already."

Nothing more was said, and Reginald soon left for some fresh air. It was all that Danny needed. "Is he serious about us?"

"He would like it to be," gardevoir replied softly. "But I think he recognises the same that you do: that Max will not stand for this." Red eyes pierced his soul. "Are you with us?"

"Part of me… Part of me wants to run away. Go back to Kanto. Protect Max that way, have a normal life," Danny admitted softly. "Is that wrong?"

The eyes softened, and a gentle wave of apology and comfort washed over him. "Never. I believe Max knows this too, if he would stop to think about it."

"But he won't."

"But indeed he will not. Not unless forced by external means."

"You mean a broken leg," Danny shot back. "Can't think of anything less that would stop him." He sighed. "Let's hope he doesn't have one of those, regardless. And… And if he does, gardevoir, don't fry the brain of whoever did it."

The silence that followed was more than a bit telling.

~~§~~§~~

"I do not like having to do this," Birch told the former member of the Elite Four as they sat in his den. "Disturbing the natural habitats of Pokémon goes against everything I try to do. Sequestering these Types in either pokéballs or specified areas is..."

"I know, Professor," Phoebe interjected wearily. "I wish we didn't have to discuss this. But the sharpedo in the government are going to leave you no choice if you don't take steps like these now."

That had the ring of falsehood, or at least of something she didn't believe. Birch thought for a second, before assuming that she was moderating her true feelings towards the government for his sake. "They would see me lock all of them up in pokéballs all the time." Which would be safer, theoretically, but there was something about the entire situation that just did not add up. The talk with Gary Oak had only underlined that. "Regarding Ghost-types, do you think the plan for mitigating impact is good?"

"Mostly." Phoebe grabbed the loose map of the grounds that they'd used to discuss the locations of the three Types earlier. "This area is woodland, right?" she said, pointing at a spot south of where the Dark-types were likely going to end up. "Can you relocate some Pokémon resistant to fire to there? So the forest doesn't burn down?"

Birch shook his head. "No real need. If I have a dozen of Dark-Fire Types, it's busy. Most of them are with their Trainers constantly now, and more after the recent attack."

"Then I withdraw my suggestion," the woman in front of him said cheerfully, obviously happy that he'd already considered that angle. It didn't last, as a haunter appeared, and she concentrated for a moment. "Good. Nobody's trying to listen in on you. Or you found all of them."

Where was she going with this? "You'd better have a good reason, Phoebe."

"Yeah? How's this," the former Elite Four member said, wasting no time and producing a note from her pocket. "Your nephew's in Hoenn."

What? Belatedly, the Pokémon Professor realised he'd blurted that out. Phoebe didn't care, though, instead holding out the note like it would explain everything. "What on Earth… He wouldn't come here..." Unless it was an emergency. But what kind, he wondered, before checking the paper in his hands.

Birch, the note started, in familiar script he hadn't expected to read again.

Circumstances forced us to come here. Us two are safe and hidden, as is something you sent to Kanto recently. Stay safe under the new laws.

It was unsigned, but there was no doubting whose it was. He re-read it, focusing on two words. "Us two?"

The grimace that appeared on Phoebe's face boded ill. "Your nephew and his friend helped Bruno out, but Max was taken. Reginald believes the culprit is in Hoenn."

A whoosh announced the haunter summoning an exaggerated Will-O-Wisp, and Birch let the Ghost-type burn the note. Not even ashes remained, and he rose, walking to the dresser behind him and opening a specific drawer. He took out the envelope Oak had given him several months ago, and he soon found the picture he was looking for.

It was a picture with both his nephew and Max in it, as well as all their Pokémon. It wasn't a proper picture: the camera angle was slightly off and baltoy's use of telekinesis caused it to appear just a bit blurry, and it was clearly taken by accident. But it showed everyone – Pokémon and Trainers alike – interacting like pictures often didn't catch. Manectric was getting scratched, while sceptile and froslass were trying to not be in each other's way too much. Danny was smiling as helioptile was reaching for klefki while balancing on his shoulder, one hand at the ready.

In many ways, it was a surprise they even were that unguarded. Birch wouldn't blame them one bit for being paranoid like Reginald, or skittish like others who'd gone through the harsh trauma of facing life-threatening injury or worse multiple times. Somehow, though, they were coping. Together, no doubt.

He took a deep breath, biting down on his first response. "Do you know who is responsible?"

"Do you want to know who is?" Phoebe shot back.

"If there is a rescue attempt in the near future, I will hear of it. Reginald's Pokémon are not subtle. Danny can be like that as well," Birch replied, turning around and placing his hands on the back of his chair. "And if some of Max's Pokémon are involved – which logic dictates they might be, since you don't leave an Ace-level Trainer like him with his Pokémon anywhere near if you can help it – it's even more likely I'll hear of it." Through the whining of certain politicians, no doubt.

"It will change things forever, Maxim," the brown woman replied, returning her haunter blindly as she did. "This hole goes deep. Do you think you can know and not act?"

Why was she being so obtuse? "Tell me."

She did.

~~§~~§~~

Danny lowered the binoculars he was holding. A mile north of the hill he and Reginald were standing on was the house they were going to attack shortly. It looked like an old farm, but the land that probably came with it had been turned into a grassy field with two gazebos. The old barn looked like it didn't see much use at all, and overall, it just was a normal upscale house, except a bit more rural than the ones he usually saw while travelling. If he noticed them at all, that was. It was easy to walk past and not pay attention to.

It was strange to think that Max was in there somewhere, but gardevoir had confirmed it some time the past night, with Reginald's help. "How long did you want me to wait?"

"Until my Pokémon are engaged in battle," the Gym Leader answered, voice slightly muffled from the mask he was wearing. "You will know when that is. Just make sure that your Teleport back will be to here, so I can see that you're safe."

"Understood."

"Well. Good luck to us," Reginald said, and with a gentle jab of his foot, the salamence he was seated on rose into the air, alongside a lumbering drampa and a graceful dragonair. The lithe blue Pokémon rose higher than the other two, and overhead, the light cloud cover darkened into storm clouds in about ten seconds, if not less.

A soft crackle of static electricity jolted Danny's leg, but after all this time, the sting didn't last. "Soon," he told the on-edge canine waiting to be reunited with her Trainer. "Soon."

Reginald's plan for catching someone's attention was simple, if a little on the nose. A bolt of lightning to a large tree was the first step, followed by attacks on the old barn roof. The ruckus would cause someone to come and have a look – Paulson probably, though Reginald had said that politicians often had a protective detail. Regardless, he would keep whoever came out busy, which should allow gardevoir to go in, free Max, and then get out.

Danny touched the Mega Stone in his pocket. He'd been unwilling to leave it in Mt. Pyre after he'd caught a haunter looking at it weirdly. Gardevoir knew where it was and could summon it in an emergency, but both of them really hoped it wouldn't come to that, and that either aggron or manectric would take to the field.

The distraction proceeded as planned. Lightning to the tree, and a Hyper Beam to the barn roof and several people stormed out of the house and barn. More than either of them had expected: four in total, and flashes announced Pokémon.

Danny looked away just in time, before bolts tore through the sky, taking care of some flying Pokémon. Ground-to-air attacks followed, mostly rocks and Flamethrowers that were no match for the skilled Dragons.

He gave it thirty seconds more, during which the weather turned worse with a localised shower. Dragonair could do worse, but this held the middle ground between hindering attacks and keeping the opponents busy.

At the end of the half-minute, he turned to gardevoir, holding out a hand. Eagerness and anger flowed into him in equal measure, and his view changed to a dim grey room.

Manectric provided light, and several gasps happened.

Max looked terrible. Still wearing the same clothes as the week before, hair matted, sat in a corner on a mattress that had seen better decades. He tried to stand up, but he clearly got help in doing so: help that wasn't enough to stop the tremor from… Something.

Despite all that, he managed to smile, however weakly. "Knew you'd come."

Danny stepped forward, taking his necklace off with one hand and embracing Max in a one-armed hug with the other. His friend leaned into him as gardevoir joined in. "Use the bond to—"

A push nearly put him into the wall, with Max underneath, and blue energy flares tugged at everything as pain filled the room.

Not his. Gardevoir's.

"'ruptor," Max bit out near Danny's heart. Another flare slammed into his back, and he moved to shield as manectric barked loudly.

A burst of bright light blinded Danny for a moment, and he felt Max sag into his arms, as if his strength had left him. He looked down as a jolt of lightning nearby kept manectric safe – and saw his Key Stone go quiet again.

The Mega Evolution hadn't worked. How? "Max?"

"So much… Stop..." his best friend mumbled, sounding like he was halfway to falling asleep from exhaustion. A hand clutched Danny's pocket as he shoved an arm underneath Max's shoulder, to keep him propped up. "Need to go."

Right. Leaving the hard way, then. "Other pocket, return gardevoir," Danny said as he turned around, resisting the buffet and seeing gardevoir behave like Anabel's alakazam, clutching his hands to his head as power lashed out uncontrollably.

No, not uncontrollably. The wall on the other end was gouged, and something of that force would've hurt them a lot. Even now, he was protecting them.

Then, the door splintered into a million pieces. Manectric's lightning blinded Danny, and a moment later, something hit the wall with a loud thud.

It was the Electric-type, which caused Max to whimper, even as she got up, scratched heavily from what she'd been pelted with. But then, Danny saw another gardevoir move through the doorway. Unhindered by what was going on.

Max fidgeted in his grip before breaking loose. He dove for gardevoir – his, not the blank-looking one – and succeeded in knocking both of them to the ground as an attack wound up on the other end of the room: something pink.

That was all he could see before blood red blinded him from the middle of the room. From Max and gardevoir, who were hidden by it.

Rage slammed into him out of nowhere; the desire to tear something apart limb from limb. Make them pay. Make them suffer. Make them—no! He shook his head violently, trying to banish the foreign thoughts and succeeding a little bit as the Mega Evolution was revealed.

The other gardevoir had left, Danny noticed idly before rushing for Max. His friend was holding the necklace in one hand as he half-knelt on the floor, shaking. When Danny helped him up, though, he noticed it wasn't the same kind of shaking as before.

"Destroy."

Manectric returned herself as a wave of energy went out, and reality… convulsed for a second.

Then things started crashing down around them, but gardevoir didn't care, enveloping them in a protective blue-tinted bubble while also levitating all of them into the air – through the ceiling – and Danny caught a glimpse of a nice living room before an explosion from something rocked it. Water spurted out another place, and a familiar machine fell into view before exploding into nothing.

The feeling of rage subsided a tiny bit as they hit the outside air and the rain that dragonair had summoned earlier, and for a moment, vertigo overtook the teenager as he realised he was looking at the ground from at least twelve feet in the air and not feeling like it at all. It went away soon, and the trio landed on the ground, where Danny immediately took stock of the situation and prepared to send out froslass and dusclops to oppose the Pokémon coming for them.

"No need," two voices said in harmony, and with a simple gesture of an arm scooping upwards, the soil up ahead erupted, intercepting a charging typhlosion and herdier and sending them both up into the air, where a Hyper Beam took care of both of them.

Then gardevoir grabbed hold of the typhlosion alone and used it as a bludgeon to hit the skuntank that was trying to come closer, dodging the red lance of light that would've returned the Fire-type effortlessly.

A sound behind them caught Danny's attention, and he half-turned to see the building start to collapse in on itself. Immediately, an opaque shield sprung up, blocking his vision of it and protecting them from any debris, and when he looked back, he saw another red beam intercept typhlosion somewhere sixty feet up.

A Shadow Ball went straight for the group of Trainers, dipping down into the ground at their feet while slicing through a double attempt at blocking it. Two of them went flying, landing harshly, and an Ice Beam crossed the area a moment after as dragonair came in.

The salamence landed near them, and Reginald jumped off. "We've been spotted. Girl, two hundred yards that way," he said, pointing off to their left – vaguely north. Two beams went out, returning dragonair and drampa. "Let's leave."

"Not yet," gardevoir said, summoning another Shadow Ball and sending it into the remains of the house. Something exploded upon impact, but he kept everyone safe effortlessly before vanishing and returning a moment later, with someone else in tow.

Rage spiked as they disappeared.

~~§~~§~~

It was a great day, May thought. She'd gotten her fifth Ribbon in Purika yesterday, and after a slow start and a bit of buying stuff, she'd decided to leave today and travel to a place that just seemed to call to her for some reason.

It was all the way at the other end of the island, on the south side, but she had two months or so left. Sparing a few days to go there would be fine.

Maybe it was a bit sentimental, to go to the place that she knew her brother loved dearly: the place where he'd met ralts for the first time. After seeing him in the Silver Conference, though, she'd honestly started to miss him, despite what Gary had told her.

And perhaps, she had admitted in the dead of night, a few days before, it was the best way to go about it. Meeting him wasn't an option. She knew where he'd probably be, sure, but with that gardevoir and the xatu, she'd never be able to find him for long. He'd run away if he didn't want to see her, and if he did want to see her… She wasn't sure she wanted to in that case.

Their last face-to-face interaction was still fresh in May's mind. Teenage boys could be incredibly angry, and Max was definitely one in that regard. And that anger had festered for months. If she wanted to ever talk to him again, she needed to stay the hell away from him now.

She banished that train of thought from her mind, instead focusing on the trip. She wanted to get at least halfway to that place with the giant claydol today. She'd probably have to walk a bit after dinner for that, but honestly… She had become a bit lazy. Travelling a bit more would make her sleep better, and if she did it right, she wouldn't even feel it in the morning.

It was also a good day to travel. The sky was about half overcast, with a good amount of white cloud cover making sure that it never got too hot here, where she was only about ten miles inland. It'd be worse towards the south side of the island, where the forest was good at keeping the heat trapped, but out here in the open fields, between farms and upscale houses, May was perfectly happy with this weather.

Nothing happened for about an hour, excepting one Trainer challenging her to a battle. The girl was pretty good for her age, May thought, defeating ivysaur with her lopunny, but her jumpluff couldn't defeat munchlax thanks to Metronome hitting Icy Wind. There was a third fight as well, but that had ended in five seconds after the girl's togetic had also used Metronome and had summoned Healing Wish.

It had caused both of them to laugh, and the Grass-types had accepted the offering gratefully, so they'd just called it a draw before going their separate ways again. It was the risk of using the move: sometimes, you just hit something that you couldn't work with at all. That was part of the fun, though, but having this happen to her had caused May to stop using the move early on in battles for a while now.

At least if you got Healing Wish or Memento later on, munchlax had at least done something, instead of just starting with a one-on-two battle that was incredibly hard to win.

May had just eaten half a snack bar when she looked up, spotting the sky darkening entirely too rapidly up ahead, maybe half a mile out. It was local, too. "Rain Dance?" she wondered out loud.

It seemed a bit much, but the main road led that way, so she'd probably find out soon.

What she found was not what she'd expected.

Once she had crested the nearby hill, she saw exactly what was going on. Dragons flying around, attacking and exchanging blows with Pokémon on the ground. The salamence had a rider, too, though May couldn't see who exactly was on there. The dragonair was probably keeping the weather slightly rainy, while the drampa was just doing Dragon things.

She had just processed that when the nearby house exploded in a gulf of red-and-blue light, and out floated a Pokémon with two people by its side. It seemed to be destroying the house as it floated out, and once it landed, May could recognise it as a Mega gardevoir.

She moved a bit closer, making sure to stay well out of the way of the fight as several Pokémon tried – and failed worse than Team Rocket did whenever Ash, May, and Brock had been fed up with the idiots – to attack the gardevoir. She couldn't make out the ones with it, because they were on the far side of the Pokémon.

Then, just after the dragons landed, the gardevoir vanished.

She reappeared somewhere, then somewhere else again as the air shifted.

A forest. A lake.

The place she had intended to visit.

And then she was frozen. Couldn't move. Could barely breathe. Rage washed over her, stifling hot. Power crept into her skin, ready to be used. She could feel it.

"May Maple," an unfamiliar voice said, but as the man walked into view, she recognised who it was instantly. How could she not. The man who took her brother. "Of all the people to see, it was you. That was why you took her?"

"Why doesn't matter," said a very familiar and slightly scratchy voice, and May saw her brother and his best friend step into view.

He looked terrible. Matted hair, dirty face, shaking, clothes that looked like they'd been worn for a week, sunken eyes that seemed to almost reflect the glow of the Key Stone on the necklace he was holding in one hand. He was clearly leaning on Danny to just stay standing. "What happened?!" she blurted out, to her surprise.

"Doesn't matter," Max repeated slowly. "You're here. Want to know." Eyes looked past her.

Images flashed in front of her eyes, indistinct, fast, painful, memories. She tried to relax, but couldn't, and the pain kept building and building and building and…

She nearly fell into the lake. Her hair did. Her head was killing her.

"She didn't." That voice… Inside her head? "Told only one. A male, green hair. Recently." Some of the rage subsided. She was flipped around, lifted up, and made to look into the Mega Evolved Pokémon's eyes. Nothing was said, and nothing was done, but the cold gaze promised something.

If she did something wrong, he'd end her.

He set her down, under her own power, but before she could do anything else, Max wavered, shook, and then his legs gave out under him. The Key Stone stopped glowing, and Danny barely kept his head from hitting the ground hard.

He was out cold.

What had happened?

~~§~~§~~§~~§~~

Politician's Home Destroyed!

A coordinated attack by unknown terrorists destroyed the Izabe Island house of Raphael Paulson on Monday, around half past five in the afternoon. Paulson himself was unharmed, being elsewhere on the grounds surrounding the house, but several Pokémon belonging to his protective detail were admitted to the Purika Pokémon Center with extensive electrical and blunt force trauma injuries.

All Pokémon identified in the attack were Dragon-type, with a dragonair, a drampa, and a salamence all attacking and completely levelling the building. Moreover, Paulson reported seeing a rider atop the salamence, though he declined to confirm if perhaps it had been someone from one of the Dragon Clans of the Home Regions. "Anyone can train a bagon," he told the press outside the Pokémon Center. "An investigation will unearth those responsible."

[…]

Rumours have already started swirling about who would do this, and one name that an anonymous person close to the investigation offered was the one of disgraced Gym Leader Reginald, who fled Hoenn in November and is still wanted for various crimes. (See page 14.)

Author's Note: My heartfelt apologies for the schedule slip. My brain did not want to cooperate for basically a week, and then the chapter itself decided to be a pain in the arse to write. It is still shorter than I would like, but one scene was somewhat superfluous and did not want to come together at all, so... Here we are, with the rescue. And an obliterated house. And a Mega Evolution. And some outright morally wrong stuff, and I don't mean the torture of the previous chapters.

There's going to be fallout from this.