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 47: Flood Of Emotion

Norman was not surprised in the slightest to find Sidney on his doorstep. The timing could have been a little better at about half past three, but it was what it was. Caroline was out regardless, and wouldn't return until late that night. "Come in," he said, stepping aside to let the Elite Four member in.

The younger man did just that, favouring one leg a tiny bit. "Been a while, Norman. You keeping up alright here in Petalburg?"

"Mostly," the Gym Leader said as he closed the door, heading towards their living room. "There was that explosion a while back, but apart from that, it's been business as usual around here. Got called in for an attack north of here, but it was just clean-up."

"Sounds quieter than most; a fact appreciated no doubt."

"Yes. Drink?" He had some gin somewhere…

"Orange juice," was not the expected reply, and the lopsided grin revealed Sidney knew that. "Quit before summer, friends and Pokémon been keeping me straight."

Knowing the eclectic bunch of Pokémon that made up the Dark-type Master's extended roster only caused Norman to wonder the methods with which they did so. Probably through copious reminders and the occasional attack. "Good on you."

"Figured a crisis'd be a good time; mind's needed and all that."

Norman couldn't suppress the sigh of exasperation, and he knew full well that it had been heard. Sidney lived for these weird statements, alcohol or no. "Any headway into that, as far as you know?"

The answer only came after the Gym Leader had sat down. "Plenty."

"What!?"

"Any proof needs to be more solid than a steelix using Iron Defence; harder than diamond," Sidney said, evasively as usual.

"Sidney, this thing has been going on for too long. If you know how to stop it—"

"I do not, Norman. Matters are complex; changing, powerful forces arrayed. I cannot—"

The sound of the doorbell was an unwelcome interruption. One that had happened before at worse times, but this ranked up there. "Stay here," Norman told his guest, who hadn't made any indication of moving, but could and would anyway.

Opening the door revealed a… An umbreon darting inside, but more importantly… There was a teenage girl on the doorstep. One he had never met, but recognised after a short moment. She did look a bit different from the pictures and the recent Conference. "Serena? What are you..." The Gym Leader stopped himself. It was a stupid question. "I've got a visitor over right now. Is waiting okay with you?"

"Uh, sure," the Kalosian said. "Sorry if I..."

"If it isn't Miss Galbena," Sidney said from behind them, and Norman shifted to see the Dark-type Master lean against the wall, arms folded, a smirk on his face. The umbreon was at his feet. "Giving the Hoenn government someone to keep an eye on?"

"Serena, meet Sidne..."

"I know," the girl said softly, but firmly. "And don't they have better things to do?"

That caused a bark of laughter. "Skewed priorities are normal; a fact that follows from who they are." The reply made no real sense, and Norman was given no time to think it through. "Come in. We have much to talk about."

He had no idea what this was about, but Sidney's ways rarely made sense until they were revealed. Still… "Are you certain?"

"Certainty is an illusion, Norman. We play the hand dealt; hoping to outwit our opponents."

With that, the younger man went back to the living room, the umbreon walking past Norman's feet into the house as he did so. The Gym Leader and Coordinator exchanged a glance before Serena walked in. "Is he…"

"Not really," Norman finished, assuming the missing word was something along the lines of 'crazy'. "But his mind works differently from yours and mine."

"That's clear alright..."

It was something Max could have said, but before he could remark on it, Serena went on to the living room, and the host closed the door and followed.

Two minutes – as both men waited for the teenager to check the photographs on the wall; something that Norman wasn't going to call out because arceus knew he'd done the same a few times – later, everyone was seated, and with a drink supplied as well. "I'd ask what brought you here, but I think that question was answered," the oldest one present said to break the silence. "Are you doing a round here in Hoenn?"

"No. I just… I wanted to visit the Grand Festival here, and..."

The way her voice trailed off set Norman on edge a bit. There was something going on here, something around his son.

Before he could speak up, however, Sidney cut in. "Ms. Galbena, a question, if I may. How much does Kalos know of what is happening here in Hoenn? And how much do you know?"

"The consulate told me to be careful, and advised to leave any Dark, Ghost, and Psychic-types I have on me out of my team for the time being," Serena answered. She tapped a pokéball, and a braixen appeared in the living room, not at all surprised at being called out. The Fire-type was wearing an Everstone necklace. "I don't think there's been an attack recently?"

"A minor one last week, but you wouldn't know it; stopped before it affected most anyone."

"How do you know about it then?"

"I know the Trainers who stopped it." The Dark-type Master stretched his arms. "Excuse me."

He left the room, and Norman watched him go with a frown on his face. Then, he noticed Serena watching him. "Sorry about that, Serena. Like I said, Sidney's mind doesn't work like yours or mine."

"It's okay," the girl said. "I got used to some weird jumps in thinking a while ago."

"Were they that bad?"

"Just very different, you know. Here's me, from a small town and with no confidence and… They told you about what happened to me, right?"

Norman could make out the surgical scars near the girl's knee from where he sat. "They did. Pretty early on. Pumped Elizabeth for a lot of information."

"It helped for sure. But I wasn't used to boys, or to confident boys, or… Everything, really." The Kalosian smiled fondly. "I think it's called a culture shock? All the secrets that kept coming out didn't help..."

"I can see how that would be a factor," Norman replied neutrally, trying to keep the slight amount of hurt he felt out of his voice. He wasn't sure if it was because Serena knew before he did, or if it was because Max – and May too – hadn't wanted to tell him. "How is he, Serena? And Danny too."

"They… You know them: they're good at battles. Didn't let what happened affect them in the League."

It wasn't a lie, but there was something going on. Years of raising his children and being a Gym Leader made this just show up somewhere on the radar of falsehoods most parents developed after a while. "And what about the Battle Frontier? I heard they were invited?"

"They fought just one before life interrupted," Sidney said as he returned, quiet as anything. "From what I was told, they worked together as one to defeat Anabel soundly."

Just one? Anabel was reasonably close to Mount Silver too. Surely they could have gotten more done by now – it had been two months. "Life interrupted, Sidney?"

"For the past eight weeks, neither of them have been interested in the Battle Frontier; a feat made possible by a dreadful imposition. Do you wish to know, Norman?" Eyes met, and there was no trace of flippancy in them. "Do you wish to bear this curse, as few others do?"

He ran a hand through his hair before glancing over at Serena, who seemed a bit confused, but not too much. She probably knew some of what Sidney was teasing, then. "Okay then. What took my son away from what he dearly loves doing."

"Do you remember the news about the Tree of Beginning?"

"That someone tried to poach Pokémon there?" It had merited some mention on the news. Mercenaries who didn't want to give up their employer. Typical stuff, and the golems had made quick work of them, and Bruno had eventually picked them up after nearby Rota had alerted him. "End of August? Yes."

"It was not the full story. No Pokémon were taken, but someone was taken regardless. Your son."

~~§~~§~~

Danny didn't get it. First Sidney said that he'd go to the Gym alone. Then, when he probably hadn't been there for five minutes, he called, saying that Danny needed to come over and to not ring the front door bell?

Even by Dark-type trickster standards, this was weird.

So far, however, Sidney hadn't led them astray, and after a moment of deliberation, Danny started to head over from the nearby park where he'd been supposed to wait. It wasn't far from the Gym, and the streets hadn't changed a bit in the last year. He could walk this blindfolded.

When he reached the street that the Gym was on, he saw some kind of commotion up ahead, but he didn't care. Maybe that was why Sidney had told him to take another entrance: someone fainted or something. There wasn't anything he was going to be able to do about it, so he took a left and headed for the back entrance to the Maple garden.

Where one of the vigoroth was waiting. "Roth?" it challenged, getting into a ready stance that could see it jump at him with surprising velocity.

"It's me, vigoroth," he replied, taking the cap he was wearing off. He saw the white Pokémon recognise him, and the Normal-type walked over, opening arms for a hug, all of the tension gone now. "I know. It's been a year alright."

"Vi, ro-ro?"

"He's not here. Very long story. That time we left was only the start of it."

His guess that Norman had told his Pokémon what had happened was proven right when the Wild Monkey Pokémon nodded, before demonstratively taking a step up the garden path.

Something came out of the house as Danny started moving, and he recognised it as Sidney's umbreon, who took one look and headed back inside.

Strangely, the Dark-type wasn't in the room when the teenager entered the house. Nothing much had changed inside, and Danny took his shoes off in silence before heading deeper into the house, while the vigoroth went back to the garden to soak up some more October sunshine.

He made it to the main hallway before someone came out of the living room.

There was a moment of stunned silence as the two teenagers saw each other for the first time in about two months. Then, Serena let out a squeal – and he probably made some sound too – and there was a mighty hug. "You… What?"

"I… I'd like to know that myself," said the Gym Leader of Petalburg, standing in the nearby doorway, and he looked shocked. "What… Please… Sidney, explain?"

"It is a tale short and long both; best told seated," said the Dark-type Master from the living room. Danny imagined he was probably leaning against something with arms folded, as he did often when saying something like that. "Rest assured I do not have your son or someone else coming."

"Like that's an assurance," Serena muttered, and Danny grinned despite himself; despite everything.

Two minutes later, they were all seated, Danny and Serena having provided them with drinks after he had seen that Norman was probably still reeling. She had followed him. "Okay. Timeline," Norman started after he had drunk deeply from his glass. "Max is kidnapped. Reginald basically guesses where he is, and set up a rescue mission with himself and you, Danny." Fingers massaged temples. "You rescued him, right?"

"Yes." For a moment, the teenager toyed with the idea of revealing May's presence. He decided against it. It wasn't important. Something else was, though. "Sidney… How much..."

"Everything."

"Everything?" Norman said, looking confused. "What's this about?"

"We found Max with gardevoir's help. Teleporting to a person, but keeping distance," Danny said, looking at Serena, who understood. "We made a plan. Reginald would distract. I would go in with gardevoir to rescue. It worked, but there was a problem. A small disruptor machine, like the one that was used at the… You explained this, right?"

"I did, and time it took."

"Right. A disruptor machine was used, but… There was another gardevoir there. One that wasn't affected. It nearly got us, but then… I had gotten a gardevoirite. It was in my pocket. We were all tumbled together and Max had my Key Stone because we attempted to Mega Evolve manectric."

"No..." Serena gasped. "But you said…"

"He was in agony. But he was also enraged and trying to protect his Trainer." He remembered the nearly bottomless wellspring of rage that had flooded the room. "Somehow, it worked."

"Hold up," Norman said. "You're going way too fast. You found Max with… Teleporting to a person, but at a distance?"

Danny nodded. "Yeah. If the bond between a Pokémon who can Teleport and peo… someone else is strong enough, they get the ability to do that. Keeping distance was needed because we feared a trap."

The Gym Leader seemed to accept that explanation. "Okay. Then there's the disruptor – that just sounds like some technology that thieves sometimes use, right?"

It took a moment to recognise that Norman was probably referring to Team Rocket. They had shown up in Petalburg before… "Close enough."

"So, what ended up working? Mega Evolving manectric?"

"No. The gardevoir," Sidney answered Norman. "Born of protectiveness, fuelled by rage; sustained by desperation. Reginald later told me of it. In that moment; in that state, a gardevoir's power is at its peak, and it was frighteningly high."

"It was scary alright. Everything took its toll on Max soon, though."

"Everything?"

Danny bit his lip, before looking at Sidney, who gave a nod, and moved a hand slightly, signalling he should answer this still. "Max… The one responsible for kidnapping him also used that gardevoir to do stuff. Nothing mental, but… Forced stretching. That sort of stuff."

"Torture," Serena said, and her braixen put a calming hand on her arm. Or tried to calm anyway. "For a week? Five days? And that dirty son of a whore is still out there!?"

"You know who did it?" Danny and Norman said at the same time. For different reasons, maybe?

"I am impressed, Ms. Galbena," Sidney said. "Did the Kalos consulate tell you?"

"No. Figured it out myself, with a friend's help. She's trustworthy," the blonde girl said, and she looked ready to go find the politician and probably do unspeakable things to him by herself. "And in Johto, and not talking about this."

"Excuse me. Who did..." All of them waited as the Gym Leader evidently came to the same conclusion, face moving from puzzled to trying to convince himself it wasn't true, to anger. "Paulson?"

"Indeed."

"A national politician kidnapped my son, tortured him, and he's still out there?! While you know of it?!"

"Oh, it gets worse."

"Try me, Sidney," Norman dared.

As the Dark-type Master did just that, explaining exactly how screwed up everything was, Serena got up, leaving the room. Danny took one look at the adults, and figured he'd help his friend.

He wasn't expecting the sound of the stairs, though, but he followed to the obvious place. Max's bedroom: smaller than his own, but very much like his male best friend. She had sat down on the bed, and he did the same.

It wasn't long before she spoke up. "Is this what you felt like? In August?"

He saw her shake slightly as she said it, and he could tell she was trying to not yell at him. "Anger and rage so potent it would gorge a shuppet into a stupor?" Danny replied. "Yes. Might have yelled at Professor Oak, Bruno, Brock, Gary." That caused Serena's mouth to fall open for a moment. "Then got put to sleep via a Yawn cheap shot. Then got fed sleeping pills. Then got woken up and had that whole shuppet episode. And it was nothing compared to gardevoir."

"And Max."

"And Max. Especially with, you know."

"Does Sidney know?"

"Yeah. But I'm not telling Norman," he decided right there and then. "Arceus knows that's a complication."

"He's also affected by the machines, isn't he," Serena said. "So if he gets into trouble..."

Danny shook his head sadly. "Already happened. Some attack, couple weeks back. Psychic-type psychosis cut short and a destroyed lorry. Coincidence, maybe, but with our luck?"

"It'd be more surprising if he didn't." They shared a look, memories of Kalos going through Danny's mind, and probably Serena's too. "So… What are you doing, what is Max doing, and why aren't you two together?"

He didn't answer immediately, instead looking around the room. There were some medals and other prizes on a shelf, next to a lot of Pokémon books. A binder Danny remembered from school laid on the desk; opening it revealed some of Max's schoolwork and a final report. A few pictures lined the edges, and one of them was… Was a still from Johto's Conference.

This had Caroline's hands all over it, but there was no way Norman didn't agree with it.

"You can give me the one line summary if you want."

He turned back to Serena, whose anger was mixing with concern for him. "The Mt. Pyre ninetales tricked him into leaving with my Key Stone. Sidney found me a day later, we beat the ninetales into telling us what happened, and now we're convincing Gym Leaders of what's happening. Most of them anyway." They were supposed to head to Rustboro next, and neither of them were looking forward to it. "That short enough for you?"

"Now I've got even more questions..."

As Danny had expected, and intended. "Well, ask. Sidney'll find us if he needs us."

~~§~~§~~

"So, Reginald and Sidney both are going around the region alerting Gym Leaders?" Professor Oak said in a secure room in the laboratory. They'd just heard back from Misty via letter. "Lance, you know this better than I do. Which are receptive?"

"Three Gyms are closed due to restrictions. One is closed for personal reasons. Of the rest, four are hostile, five or six are receptive, and the rest is neutral. A hand, Professor?"

"Of course." A few button presses later, and a list of Hoenn Gym Leaders appeared on one of the walls.

"Roxanne, David, Dray, Shaun are hostile," Lance said, pointing at the four pictures in turn. Ash didn't recognise three of them, but they were the Bug, Dragon, and Ice-type Gym Leaders, and all of them were on the islands they hadn't gone to. "Winona, LeeAnn, Flannery, Brawly, Juan are considered receptive, and presumably Norman as well."

"But he is closer to the whole situation. Could be compromised or something," Gary pointed out, and Ash rolled his eyes. "Just saying it as it is, Ash."

Ash bit back his response. "What about Wattson? He's neutral?"

"Mauville is the seat of the Hoenn government. He, more than any other Gym Leader, has stood up for both the city's protection and the rights of protesters," Lance replied as he sat back down. "Should things escalate, it is likely he would be on our side, but that is not a situation I would like to see. It means there is open fighting on the streets of Mauville."

That was something Ash understood intimately from his time in Unova, and it had been limited to smaller cities there. Mauville would be a nightmare. Heck, the one time they'd been caught in the middle of the night had already been a nightmare. They'd been in a small city north of Icirrus, only half controlled by Team Plasma. Some grunt had spotted them and had immediately ordered an attack.

From a simisear and lampent.

Trying to not burn the town and beat the Pokémon had been a challenge, even before reinforcements. This would be way worse. "It'll probably happen," he predicted. "People like that don't go quietly."

"I quite agree," the Professor added. "With both of you. A group as entrenched as this won't give up power without a fight." He pressed more buttons. "The problem is that they have the government's power behind them, and Hoenn is… Different from Kanto, Johto, and Sinnoh." The projection turned to images of the three Legendary golems. They looked like Brandon's, Ash thought. The background seemed like the Pyramid. "At some point in the past, a Hoenn Prime Minister brought one set of them under his control. At the time, Hoenn was a pirate's heaven with all of its islands, and Kanto, Johto, and Sinnoh were all unhappy about it, but the threat of the golems being unleashed was too much in that era."

"Big Pokémon diplomacy, huh."

"Quite. Nowadays, that threat is lessened. Pokéball technology has become widely available. Pokémon training is at a far higher level. Legendaries like the golems and the birds are beatable. But one problem exists now that did not exist before."

Ash and Gary exchanged a look. Both of them were drawing blanks on what it could be, that much was clear, but the Frontier Brain knew the scientist was probably better at guessing. "Is it because there's a police force and everything now?"

"No, but that is a good point," Professor Oak said. "I was thinking of the urban nature of Mauville. We've seen what happens if Pokémon go on a rampage. Now imagine a Legendary trio being ordered to take out enemies."

"That is something we must try to avoid at all costs. It is why Reginald and Sidney are trying to drum up support," Lance said. "Reginald's hope is that with Gym Leader pressure, the government will fold."

"That's a stupid hope. We just said they were going to do everything in their power to stay in power. How's a dozen Gym Leaders going to swing things, if you can even convince them to break the law?" Gary looked up, probably rolling his eyes. "Apart from Roxanne who flouts it at every opportunity she gets."

"You are not wrong, but a popular uprising could well be worse. Most people do not have the Pokémon to protect them, let alone from Legendaries. And if, as Professor Oak suggests, that happens in Mauville, we have a humanitarian crisis on our hands."

The four of them fell silent for a bit, until Gary broke it. "So, stuck between a geodude and a steelix, are we? What about, y'know, us, but in Hoenn? Our counterparts."

As one, they looked at the Professor. "Maxim can't do anything overtly, though obviously, he's well aware of what's happening. In the event of things going horribly awry, he will help," the older man said. "And I have no idea what Steven Stone thinks of all this."

"Much the same as us, but without our knowledge and also bound by Hoenn laws," Lance confirmed for them. "Last I heard, he, too, was trying to figure out how they were controlling the Pokémon, but I have not dared send him a missive."

A sound of frustration came from Gary. "Ugh. I could've tried to tell him when I was in Hoenn."

"Perhaps," Lance offered. "But what is done is done, and he is resourceful."

"Well, yeah, so are the ones doing this," Gary retorted.

"You're not wrong. Glacia is on the side of the government, with Terry neutral and Phoebe obviously on our side." Lance sighed deeply. "They chose well, with just enough elite Trainer support to keep inertia intact. Hoenn is failing under the weight of its own traditions, and I struggle to think how we can stop it."

~~§~~§~~

Rustboro City was the same as it had been the previous times Max had been there. Bustling, mostly, but also with that strange feeling of being not-really-a-city despite really being one. Lots of people talking to each other on the streets about everything, and it didn't sound like there was any real reason for it.

He'd come there after several days of thinking and Mega Evolution practice. He needed answers, and the best shot he had was to get them from Roxanne. The hare-brained idea of trying to force it out of her after a Gym Battle had been thrown out, though, not after he'd heard something one town north.

Apparently, Roxanne took to the park every two weeks to engage with people and teach them a little. Biased stuff, Max thought, but it was an opening he could at least use to try and find some things out.

Too bad that he had to wear a basic pair of glasses that didn't fit his prescription at all, but if anyone would recognise him, it would be a Gym Leader. The rest of Hoenn might not look twice, but Roxanne had seen more of him than most of Hoenn. Dad had probably shared tons of pictures of him while travelling with Ash: the two of them and Brawly were the only three Gym Leaders in this area, so they flocked together a lot. Or used to, anyway.

He checked into the Pokémon Center on the east side of town, though his Pokémon didn't need healing at all, but it was a good place to get some food for cheap before heading out, and he needed to post a bunch of letters anyway.

He needed to tell some others that he was okay. Hugo, Evan, Keith and Jane, Alice and Linda… They probably wouldn't have heard back yet. Or maybe they would have. Sidney seemed like the type who'd let Danny write a letter like this. Better to add one though, and by the time the letters arrived at their destination and could be tracked – however theoretically – Max would be long gone.

He planned on heading over to Dewford after this, just to hide away for a bit, then to use the traffic from the Grand Festival to sneak into Slateport. Not because of May, but because he knew Phoebe would be there. It had been over the news, and even a bit of a scandal for some reason he couldn't understand, but the Elite Four member had been helpful to him and he needed all the help he could get.

And she was the only one who understood what he wanted outside of his Pokémon, so there was that.

Writing the letters wasn't too hard. Deciding what to tell them was pretty easy: he knew from Danny that they all knew he'd been kidnapped – though only Keith and Jane knew where. Working around that wasn't too hard, though.

He told everyone that he was now safe, that he'd recovered from some injuries he'd gotten while being kidnapped. He put in an apology for not writing to them sooner, figuring that everyone could draw their own conclusions from that anyway. Keith and Jane would probably read it the right way by seeing he was in Hoenn – if one of them noticed the location – and the others would probably just think he was busy recovering.

After a bit of small talk, he put in a personal comment to each of them. Hugo he told to keep tight with his gardevoir, telling the Kalosian boy truthfully that his own had been a great help while recovering. Evan got a similar comment about canine loyalty and being friends for life. Keith and Jane got a comment about hopefully not freezing their butts off in cold Sinnoh, and after a moment of thought, he gave Alice and Linda a similar one. The two girls were quite close, so the snuggle up together comment still made sense.

He gave all of them to Nurse Joy, who might have recognised him based on the look she gave him. Then he headed out, towards the park that Roxanne was going to hold her lesson in.

It was a pretty nice day, thankfully. Rustboro was coastal, so the weather could be pretty bad at some points in the year, but at this point in late October. A short-sleeved shirt was probably too much, but Max still rolled the sleeves of his long-sleeved shirt up as he got into the park, where a handful of people were already gathered. There weren't any children yet, and a look at a clock revealed why: it was barely before two in the afternoon, and that was when the nearby Trainer's School let out.

He sat down on the grass and waited for people to arrive, and over the next ten or so minutes, they did, sitting down around the small stage that hadn't been there the last time he was in Rustboro. Most of the others coming were younger than he was by a good margin, too, although there was a group of Trainers – four of them – who sauntered in and sat down a bit further up. They were also pretty loud, wondering if this could help them beat Roxanne in an upcoming Gym Challenge.

They sounded like the average Trainer his age. Which, frankly, meant Max was far beyond them. Even without the Key Stone hanging from the necklace he'd stolen from Danny, he was just a far better Trainer than most.

And he was going to need it for sure.

Someone sat down right next to him, on his blind side. He glanced right, seeing brown trousers and a pair of generic shoes a couple sizes larger than his. He turned back, but then there was a soft patter of fingers on a leather belt.

"Hello there, my friend. Good to see you again."

It was all Max could do to not jump up in surprise. Or to yell the name on his tongue. Especially since he saw the sunglasses and realised that Brock was at least making an attempt to stay somewhat incognito. Or it was because there was a good amount of sun around. "What're you doing here?"

"Could ask the same of you. Kept injury-free?"

"No," Max said truthfully. "Wrong stretch somewhere a while back. Took me a bit to recover." The look he got from behind the sunglasses was eerily reminiscent of when they'd been travelling and he had been a bratty ten year old who didn't want to go to bed. Sure, the eyes were invisible, but the idea was the same. "That doesn't work on me any longer."

"Pity," Brock said, sounding closer to anger than to anything else. "You..." he started, but something caught his attention. "Tonight. South Center. We need to talk."

The reason for the sudden statement became clear as Roxanne and a second person took to the small stage. After a moment, and before the Rock-type Gym Leader spoke up, Max recognised the man beside her, and he kicked himself for not doing it sooner. Probably the glasses and the different hair.

Whatever Roxanne was going to talk about, if it involved Steven Stone, it should at least be good.

"Hello everyone, welcome back," the Gym Leader said, a small microphone helping her to reach everyone in the park. Max cast a quick eye around. Probably about sixty people there all in all, mostly his age or younger. "Or welcome here if this is your first time. Today, we're going to be talking about two Pokémon types that are often talked about in the same breath, and if you recognise my guest, you can probably guess which ones."

"Rock and Steel-types!" a young boy shouted from somewhere up front, sounding exuberant as only young boys could be.

"Did me being here give it away?" Steven asked, mirth in his voice, and it caught on with the crowd as a wave of chuckles passed through the park. "It is good to be here. Thank you for inviting me."

"Well, you were in town and I couldn't let you be stuck inside with your father's company all day," Roxanne replied. "Perhaps I should have announced it, though… I bet there would be a larger crowd for the Champion."

"Oh no, it's fine. I—"

Whatever Steven was about to say was never said as a loud explosion rocked something nearby. As one, Max and Brock shot to their feet, turning around to see black smoke billowing from an electricity substation. Some flames also shot from it, but most were obscured. "Swampert, douse that fire."

Brock's throw deposited the evolved starter halfway there, but before any water could be used, a second explosion sounded in the distance.

And then the headache hit, blinding in intensity, but without any rage filling him. Disruption. He'd survive this. The rest, he wasn't as sure about. "Brock? We're in trouble."

"Why's that?"

"There's an attack happening. Right now."

"How do you know that?" came an unwelcome voice, and he turned around to see his accuser. Roxanne. Of course. "You sound too certain."

He was struck silent for a moment, between the headache and the need to keep things secret. He looked around, hoping to find the words, and caught the eye of Steven.

Whose eyes widened when their eyes met. In recognition. "I think he's right, Roxanne," the Champion said as he started tying his jacket around his waist. "A substation cascade failure isn't unheard of, but explosions are rare and this size looks deliberate. And—"

A Pokénav rang. Steven's. He took the call, and in an instant, any sense of amiability vanished. "What is it?"

"They're attacking Devon Corp. At least ten Trainers, thirty Pokémon." They all turned due west, where the tower was, out of sight for now because of trees. "This is a distraction. For chaos." A pair of pokéballs was readied. "Can I count on you?"

Declining was never an option.

~~§~~§~~§~~§~~

Talked with Juan. Main ways to prepare, according to him, are to keep eyes and ears out for anything suspicious, and constantly check incoming cargo. Helpful for the Orange Islands and Cinnabar, I'll pass it on to Blaine. More difficult on the land, where most of the attacks seem to happen. Shared the lorry detail, he wasn't surprised, so either he knew already or he suspected. Probably the latter.

Reginald was also there. He's going around to try and drum up support, mainly working on some of the neutrals and getting Tate and Liza to do something. He was pretty evasive about what. Confirmed for me that Danny and Max are split up, Danny with Sidney now. Suspects Phoebe to know more than she tells him, but contact between the two seems to be pretty spotty.

Both of them suspect Hoenn is headed for a flashpoint in the near future. I agree. People on the street are worried. Some disgusting propaganda going on too, but not too many people seem to believe it. Maybe a quarter.