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 50: United In Fear

Not long now. Oldale was in sight. The winds kept Max awake, pidgeot helping a bit. He knew they could divert a lot of it. This was too much hitting his face, and it was good.

He was so tired.

He'd been near Petalburg before realising his stuff was still in Rustboro. It had been past Petalburg before he realised he could use xatu to get that instead of waiting for gardevoir to be healed. His head hurt, his muscles ached, his tendons were sore.

He hated that the disruptor did this to him. At least Sidney's idea had worked. Tired him badly, though.

Oldale's Center was easy to see, and he barely got a glance. Pidgeot landed, Max dismounted, and after his tired nod, the Flying-type flew off. Probably back to Rustboro. Max didn't know or care. He had other things to do.

The Nurse noticed him immediately. He was the only one in there too. "Chansey!" she called sharply, stepping out from behind the desk. She tried to guide him to a chair, but Max resisted. "You look dead on your feet!"

"Need to exchange a Pokémon." His voice barely sounded like his own, scratchy and deeper both. "Was in Rustboro. Got…"

"In a fight." Was that fondness? Gratefulness? "I know."

"How…" Max said as the menu for switching Pokémon popped up. He entered his Trainer ID and after a moment, put ralts up for being sent to Kanto. Xatu was easily found. He didn't have a lot of Pokémon.

"Pokémon Centers all around got a notice to take Pokémon if needed," the Nurse said. A cart rode up, rattling. "We're too small to take much. Isn't that why you came here?"

Xatu arrived, and Max grabbed the ball. Then, he put it down again on the console. Instead, he put the five other pokéballs onto the tray on the cart. "Just got told. Made sense." The world dimmed for a moment, but he managed to stay standing. Jirachi, he was tired. "Right… Forgot."

"When you're done, come through to the back. You look like you could do with a bit of help yourself."

The exhausted teen raised a hand as he moved to the videophone. Couldn't do this without talk. Machine would just refuse to take the metagross.

He got an assistant. She didn't recognise his voice, and he kept the camera off. She sounded incredulous, but accepted it anyway. Thieves weren't going to send Pokémon. She verified it was the metagross, and then Max cut the call. He knew barely anything.

A whispered order told xatu what to do. The Psychic-type left and returned ten seconds later. Max made to grab his pack, but it was floated out of his grasp. "Fine," he muttered, but maybe xatu was right.

The room in the back was calm. Soothing. Couple of healing machines at the far end, Pokémon bustling about. A wigglytuff gently pushed him to a comfortable chair. Then it pushed him up in the chair. "You wait there, okay?" Nurse Joy said from a distance. "I'm gonna need some time with one of your Pokémon first."

"That… That's fine," Max got out. He felt xatu make his voice carry. "Chair's comfy."

"I know. You just wait there."

He would. And maybe… He'd just… Close… His… Eyes…

Calm. Heavy. Fresh. Tickle.

Tickle? One eye opening. Green. Brown. Wha? Tree… Branch?

A tree branch?

Max jumped up. Tried to anyway. Everything hurt. He collapsed, muscles aching, not willing to do anything. He could count the blades of grass. Some anyway. It was weirdly silent. There was a Ghost-type in the ground.

Then, a giggle. A hearty giggle. A familiar hearty giggle. From behind him. "C'mon xatu, help him a bit."

The Psychic-type lifted Max, placing him against a tree in a sitting position, and someone walked into view from his left. Serena.

"You feeling better now?" she asked as her braixen also walked into view, carrying her twig and waving at him. "You've been out for a while."

"How…" He started, but his voice was so scratchy. He tried to clear his throat. "How did I… Get here?"

In response, Serena held out some paper, and though his arms complained, Max accepted it.

Max,

Some things happened while you were asleep. I had chansey check you for injuries. I do not know what happened, but I have to impress on you to take it easy for a few days. A lot of your muscles are in need of rest, and they do not match typical Trainer injuries. You likely know more.

I also had to send your gardevoir away. His energy was completely drained, and this location lacks the machinery needed to rapidly rejuvenate him. I don't know which Professor you keep your Pokémon at, but he is there. Even with that help, he will need at least a full day to recover enough for wakefulness, and it is my strict medical recommendation that he does not engage in any kind of light exertion for a week, and heavy exertion for two.

There is another reason for it, and that's also the reason you're waking up where you are. While you were asleep, the government called for a state of emergency. Anyone who owns a Psychic, Ghost, or Dark-type is to hand it over to the government on pain of a fine or imprisonment, in response to what happened in Rustboro and in Mead Town today. We Nurse Joys are in opposition, but our hands are bound. As soon as your other Pokémon were healed, I had your xatu relocate you to Route 103.

If you want healing for those Pokémon, come late at night. We will not turn you away.

A Pokémon Center stamp finished the letter, and Max fixed eyes on Serena. "Is this true? State of emergency?"

"Yeah," the Kalosian teen said, sitting down next to him. "Heard it after I found you. Or xatu found me, really. Either he saw me or he's learned that people Teleport trick, but I wasn't even two hundred feet away."

"Tu. Xaaaaa," the Mystic Pokémon decreed from the tree above them. "Xat."

Xatu wasn't capable of that to Serena, Max didn't think. He could guess how everything went down, though. "And I was pretty out of sight in a sound bubble?"

"Not really out of sight, but all of your Pokémon are around guarding." As she said that, doublade emerged from the ground in front of Max. "I turned the radio off after a bit. Too depressing, and I think you've got a better idea of what happened anyway."

He wasn't sure. Everything was a bit fuzzy after the disruptor had been turned on for the second time. Weird. He remembered remembering more. He made an effort, though, and it wasn't long before he reached the point that he straight up lost time. "Gardevoir had just flanked from above when… When the switch got flipped to…"

"To send every Psychic-type and you berserk," Serena finished for him, following it up with a surprise hug. A careful one, thankfully. "So what happened to gardevoir?"

The destruction was still pretty clear in his mind regardless, and he could fill in the blanks with a bit of thinking. "Probably felt it and somehow unleashed every bit of his power in two seconds. While avoiding me."

"And Brock? He's okay, right?"

"He was… He was there at the end, but I didn't… I wasn't really paying attention," Max admitted. A bit of shame crept into his neck and face. "I guess he at least avoided the worst." A shiver ran up his spine, slowly. "I hate feeling like that."

"Danny said it was pretty scary, the way gardevoir saved you on Izabe."

Max's head jerked left so fast he felt his neck and shoulder complain, and he winced. "You… Danny?" he said, gritting his teeth. "What? When?"

"A few days back," Serena replied. "At your Dad's place." She giggled for some reason. "You look adorable, so confused."

Confused? He guessed? "Why were you at my parents? And why are you in Hoenn anyway?" The plan had been Johto, right? Maybe… "Grand Festival?"

"That too," Serena said, as she signalled something with her left hand. Max didn't catch it. "But I wanted to be here. In case things go wrong. To help."

"Serena, it's…"

"I know it's the government. I know some politician kidnapped you. That's why I want to help. I don't want what happened in Kalos to happen here." She grabbed Max's hand. It was the one that was holding on to the letter. "Or maybe it happened. But then we have to stop them."

For some reason, some strange, almost unreal reason, Max felt laughter bubble up, and a moment later, he let it out. For a moment only – it hurt, everything hurt – but the feeling stayed, and he knew why he laughed. "Didn't I say that last year?"

That caused Serena to smile. "Maybe not exactly, but the idea, yeah." She gently squeezed the hand she was holding. "You were right then, and it's right now. And I'm coming with you." She looked at him, and Max had a sudden feeling he was being sized up. "At least until you're all healed. Probably longer too. Not sure you can be trusted to be alone."

"And why is that?" Max shot back, but he felt the grin form on his face.

"Well, for one, if you're alone and you get caught by one of those disruptors, you're in deep shit. And we know they want to capture you… But with me there… I can help your Pokémon. Help you." She stood up. "We'll talk later, okay. You stay here and catch up with your Pokémon."

And as Max turned his head straight on again, he saw the other three – sceptile, manectric, and ninjask perched on top of manectric's mane – waiting.

Three seconds later, he was carefully buried in Pokémon hugs.

~~§~~§~~

The pidgeot landed somewhere in the flatland area about a mile and a half out from the main Littleroot Laboratory. Danny dismounted, seeing several Pokémon look at him weirdly. Mostly regular Normal-types, ones that didn't really need any specific habitat except burrows or regular trees, and ones that weren't overly aggressive. Some wooloo and mareep were grazing off to the left behind a low fence that was mostly there as a general boundary than anything else: he remembered from the time he had spent here that the gate was usually left open.

"Thank you, pidgeot," he told the Flying-type Pokémon as he turned around. The bird lowered its head and accepted some gentle rubs, before craning its neck slightly. Danny found the cord and attached the pokéball without problems. "Hope you have a safe flight back."

Then, as his transportation flew off, he started the trek down the path he knew intimately, towards people he hadn't seen in nearly a year.

Unsurprisingly, he didn't make it halfway until something appeared over a small hill: a mudsdale carrying a rider. It was just too far off for Danny to be certain, but he was pretty sure he knew exactly who was on there.

He was right. Of course. "Fancy seeing you here, uncle."

In response, a second mudsdale appeared, and a saddle was slung onto its back. "No time to waste, Danny," his uncle said, uncharacteristically sombre. "You need to get inside. We have things to discuss."

It had been a while since he had been on the back of a land-bound Pokémon, but it came as easily as it had back then in Kalos. Or before, really. He'd been taught when he was half his current age on some very tame Pokémon, right where they were.

The pace at which the mudsdale moved wasn't a surprise, and the last mile or so passed in about six minutes at a rapid canter, especially for the heavy-set Pokémon. It was used to it though, not even breathing that heavily when Danny dismounted, and it let out a satisfied whinny when he fed it an apple from the bucket nearby. "Inside now."

The inside of the laboratory was busy, with assistants hurrying everywhere, barely glancing at uncle and nephew moving inwards. Shards of conversations that Danny caught involved Rustboro, a state of emergency, and some protocol that he didn't get the name of. His uncle instructed him to leave his pokéballs with someone, and so he did.

And then they were in a room Danny had never been in. The walls were lined with several state of the art computer screens currently idling, a single bookshelf with absolutely no Pokémon literature in it, and below the screens, some computers. No windows whatsoever. The centre of the room had a big table with five seats, none occupied. "What is going on?"

"The government is about to order a state of emergency, and demand everyone who owns a Dark, Ghost, or Psychic-type to hand it over," his uncle responded as he took a remote from somewhere. Screens fired up, but didn't show anything. "We're finalising our response protocol."

"You're sending all of them away? Isn't that…"

"Oh, no, we already did that a while ago." Despite everything, his uncle smiled. Smiled! "But that still meant Pokémon of that type got sent here if your registration was here. An in-between point. But now, we're forcing them to be redirected automatically. Don't ask me the details, too technical for my tastes."

"Oh." Danny thought it through for a few seconds, and while it made sense, the image of people moving around was… Off. "And everyone moving around like that? It's not the only thing, right?"

"It is related." One screen flicked on fully, showing a familiar image. The laboratory and its grounds. "This is the full area of what we're responsible for. You know that. It's a lot of space. We need to make sure that the Pokémon everywhere have room to go if things go… Badly." A tune rang through the room: low, ominous, three-toned. "Hold your questions for at least the first minute."

The map was replaced with a regular TV channel. Covering Rustboro, from the looks of it. But that wasn't what caught Danny's attention.

What caught that were the people on the other screens. Professor Oak, Gary, Ash were on the leftmost one, pikachu out of sight. Lance was one screen over. Professor Elm and Rowan were also there, sharing a split screen on the far right, next to the map screen. Dead centre was someone he did not immediately recognise, but a moment later, he did. Near-baldness didn't really suit Karen, but she looked okay enough for someone who'd visibly been attacked in the face by a Fire-type recently. "Maxim, Danny," Professor Oak greeted. "I'd ask for the occasion, but I suspect we all know."

"Yes, and no, Samuel. Within the next half an hour or so, the Hoenn government is taking their final step." His uncle sat down, and Danny followed suit. "Ostensibly, I shouldn't blame them. Rustboro on aerial shots looks like a warzone."

"And I would guess your nephew was there," Lance said. He didn't look like he was guessing. "How'd he get to Littleroot so fast?"

A gesture from his uncle. "Sidney – I guess you know I've been with him for a while – called a friend and borrowed some pidgeot. We split up. He went downtown, I went into the suburbs and ended up at the Trainers' School eventually."

"That was attacked," an unfamiliar voice said. It had to be Professor Rowan, then. "Sinnoh News reported damage to the building and ruined grounds. And several people arrested in pretty bad shape."

"It was them or us. Met up with someone in the alleyway behind the building, we defended the place," Danny said. Memories of orange and stacked green flashed, and phantom heat crawled across his back. "Someone ambushed me with an arcanine behind the building, Ed helped me stop that. We defended the School and nearly got hit by three Hyper Beams for it." He avoided his uncle's gaze on purpose. He didn't need to see himself in twenty-something years. The people on the screens were better to look at.

Karen was inscrutable, but she had a reputation for that: he remembered that much at least. Lance looked calm, but there was relief in his face as well. Professor Rowan seemed a bit surprised. Professor Elm had taken his glasses off and was shaking his head. Professor Oak seemed resigned, Ash was angry, and Gary… Gary was grinning. And it wasn't a happy grin. "You paid them back, didn't you?"

"Them or us. Had aggron bowl a graveler using Explosion into the Trainers."

"When you're back in Kanto, you're seeing one of our therapists," Lance said, and Danny knew there was no discussing it. "And I'll arrange for your ally to be offered similar help through an intermediary. Now, back to Hoenn as a whole. You are absolutely certain, Maxim?"

"Hoenn news is counting down to a statement by the government. If you wish to wait... fourteen minutes to find out, be my guest, but I am absolutely certain."

"You called us for a reason. I am assuming you are about to do something," Professor Oak stated. "Something that you'd rather we find out before than after."

Danny's uncle inclined his head, and there was a smile on his face despite everything. "They'll make a show of trying to get the Pokémon here. We've already dealt with that," he said, nodding in the direction of the two Professors on the right. "It's the logical move for them. We never really advertised that these types are now in Sinnoh, and there are a lot of them. Almost makes me wonder why they haven't tried here before."

"Presumably because of diversity of habitat and most of them being kept in a pokéball," Lance ventured. "That limits the scope by necessity."

He had to speak up. "I don't think that stops them any longer." Ignoring the gazes of eight people came easier than he thought as he took out the only pokéball he still had on him – the kadabra's. "One of the Pokémon I fought was a kadabra. A girl suggested I capture it, but I couldn't. This isn't my pokéball. Houndoom found it nearby. It wasn't anyone's nearby either. Probably."

"How did it get there?" Professor Elm asked. "Can we check who it's registered to?"

"I would be very surprised indeed if that revealed something," Lance replied. "I have no idea on the how except the old-fashioned way of someone dropping it off. Do you know how many Trainers were in Rustboro? Both sides, I suppose."

"Roxanne and Steven were going to do one of her open air lessons in the park," Danny's uncle replied. "And checking the database showed Max exchanged Pokémon this morning." A sigh. "He was the only name that really stood out in the database until six days ago."

"Brock should be there too."

Lance gave a nod at Ash's statement. "Two Gym Leaders, one Elite Four member, one Champion, and two admittedly skilled teenagers," he summed up. "And whoever else felt like helping."

"Sinnoh News didn't give details on the amount of attackers except at the School. They're saying six. Unknown number elsewhere, but all in the centre of town."

"Makes sense," Karen spoke up. "Divide attention with Psychic psychosis, strike at targets. They were prepared for Roxanne and Steven and slowed them down as much as possible. Holding off Elite Four members takes skill, numbers, or strategy. What fits best?"

It took Danny a moment to realise that he had been addressed. Probably. Everyone else remained silent. "Numbers. Numbers and maybe strategy?"

"Explain."

What was this, a test? Lance's command was eerily similar to a teacher's. "They put up disruptors to disable Psychic-types. That draws attention and maybe stops metagross too." He paused for a moment. "The ones we fought… They were just normal thugs. Strong Pokémon, yeah, but…"

"You'd think six could beat two, even if the amount of Pokémon is the same," Gary finished. "Standard criminal syndicate stuff."

"Indeed, and all the more worrying given who is responsible." The Kanto Grand Champion checked the time, and Danny did as well. It was just under eight minutes to the press conference. "Maxim, I do not suspect this comes to much, but if you or your nephew could run registration on that kadabra while we wait…"

~~§~~§~~

Night had fallen, and Serena had quickly whipped up a campfire with braixen's help. Max had also tried to help, but that had been nipped in the bud by combined forces who didn't feel like he should be doing anything more strenuous than slowly walking to the bushes to relieve himself.

And even then, Max knew xatu was near enough to spot him and catch him if he stumbled. Thankfully, he hadn't.

Serena had also made dinner: some kind of vegetable stew with lentils and a lot of spice, hot enough to burn Max's mouth twice over when he first tried it. It was filling, though. "That food something you make often?"

"Only when I need something heavier. You looked like you needed it." She glanced into the darkness, where half their teams were out guarding. "Thanks for being open with me. I know you don't like it. It's really obvious."

"No more secrets, right," Max half-joked, but Serena was right. Dredging up the memories and telling her about vulpix, about the second time gardevoir Mega Evolved, about his new ralts… All it was doing was evoking something within him, and he didn't like it. "Not sure why it's so hard."

"Maybe because of today?" Serena asked as braixen sat down beside her; the Fire-type immediately leaning in. There was something around her neck, too. "But you did tell us about, you know. Xerneas."

"It's… It's different. Actually different," he added softly. Jirachi, he missed that comforting bond now. "Xerneas had healed everyone, and the Mega bond with manectric… It was so much easier."

The small fire collapsed in on itself, but without a word, several branches flew in, and a gentle Ember from braixen completed xatu's work. "Maybe do that? Keeps you going as well."

"I can't." There it was. The last important thing he hadn't told her yet. Part of it anyway. "We're trying. All three of us. But since Izabe, I…"

"Let me guess," Serena interrupted him, and there was something in her voice he couldn't identify. "You're too angry, and now that you're trying to get away from that, you think you can't do it." She sighed, loudly, fake. "You know, Max, for someone so stupidly smart, you're awfully stupid at times."

Part of him – a large one too – wanted to reply back in anger. Max bit down on that response, swallowing. That was not the way. "How this time?"

"If I'm allowed to guess… You're still too stuck on what things felt like. With manectric or with gardevoir, doesn't really matter," Serena said, grabbing his wrist and opening the cover with a pop. "But that Max isn't who you are any more. So you need to adapt."

That… Made sense. A lot of it. "Who are you, and what the hell did you do with Serena?"

"What, I'm not allowed to be smart now?" came the reply. Max half-expected a slug to his arm. The patronising pat on his head was worse. "I had time to think while you were off in your own world after you told me a bunch before dinner. Reminded me of that time Danny told you what to do with manectric."

He remembered that. "Let me guess, he told you when I was in the shower or something."

"Food in Snowbelle, actually." She poked his arm, and he turned to look. "It's not gonna be easy, and I don't know what you need to focus on. But you need to adapt." She smiled. "And I know you will adapt. You're you, after all."

She made it sound so simple, but it was true. He always had so far. He had to now. On the run or not. "It'll take time to figure out.

"Because gardevoir isn't here?"

"And because of today." He got up, but he didn't exaggerate one bit when his movement was slow as hell, and leaning down to pick up a branch caused him to tense up as a muscle in his lower back protested. "See what I mean?" He walked back, noticing Serena's starter just holding off from helping him sit down. "Thanks braixen."

"What did she do?"

"She would've caught me if I screwed up sitting down." There was a moment of silence, and Max saw Serena look at him weirdly when he turned his head. "Er, what is it?"

The girl laughed softly, clearly amused. "Only you, Max. Do you think you would've sensed that three months ago from her?"

He saw what she was on about now, and joined in with a snort. "Okay. Guess that's a thing. Not hard to figure out a reason why I can now, though. Just not sure which is right."

"So, when are you gonna have Psychic powers of your own, huh."

"Funny you should say that," Max teased, and he could tell Serena was struggling to not roll her eyes or break into full-on laughter. "It's not really that, but Anabel thought I could learn how to communicate silently with my Pokémon. Were going to talk about it when the Tree got attacked."

"Will you tell… Will you tell me about what happened there? Danny told me a bit, but it was mostly other stuff."

"Sure."

He told her of the call, of the way they had split up, of the obstacles they encountered and of Bruno's ruthless taking down. He faltered when he reached the moment of the kidnapping, though.

But Serena, being Serena, didn't press, instead giving him a hug before telling him that they should probably get ready for bed. It was an hour before he would normally crawl into his sleeping bag, and he was pretty sure they'd generally gone to bed later in Kalos, but after doing the simple nightly ritual of cleaning teeth and mouth, using some bushes as a toilet, and changing into a comfy – and slightly small because he kept forgetting to buy new – set of pyjamas, he felt his muscles complain and ache for rest. "Night Serena."

When he woke up the next morning, he realised it had been the best night's sleep he'd had since Kanto.

~~§~~§~~

Danny was woken up at six thirty, and was given a chair at the morning briefing by seven fifteen, with every other scientist or assistant accepting him without a hitch, even asking for his opinion on something.

Granted, it was about the best way to care for diggersby, which was something he knew a good bit about, and apparently, Kalos was popular as a place to go, even as a starting Trainer. With bunnelby being as common as they were…

It was weird to find you'd inspired people like that, but after a moment's thought as the talk went to a different subject, he figured that it wasn't that much weirder than people wanting random autographs, and a whole lot better, probably. Best for them to start somewhere not Hoenn.

It was more informal than the few meetings like this he'd attended in Pallet Town. Mostly. Professor Oak was formal but cordial, accepting interruptions, but not really liking going off the topic at hand. His uncle, on the other hand, joked about someone making it in before twenty past seven for a change: something that would never have flown in the first place in Kanto. The topics discussed also veered into tangents a bit more, but nothing too bad. For the most part, he was content to listen and try to figure out who he could help and where.

He perked up when talk turned to Rustboro specifically, the topic of stuff to do in and around the laboratory closed. "Twenty-eight arrests were made in total yesterday relating to the attack," Professor Birch told the rest of the table. "Five and one more at the Trainer's School, twenty-two on the routes that Roxanne, Steven, and Brock of Pewter took, and two elsewhere. Predictably, none of those who were in any condition to be interrogated said anything."

"And how many of them were?" someone spoke up – an assistant, looking like she was in her twenties, with a black ponytail and a half-smile on her face. It got a chuckle from several others.

"At least seven, Rebecca," his uncle replied. "Roxanne confirmed that late last night when we spoke. She said that they weren't overly concerned with avoiding collateral damage after metagross had gone berserk, and that was before Sidney swept in."

"Do we know who was responsible for defending the Trainer's School?" another assistant asked. "My sister's colleague told her that the second Trainer wanted to stay anonymous."

Eyes met for a second, and Danny didn't really care about revealing it or not. The shrug was small enough, but his uncle probably picked up on it. Max would've.

"The public doesn't, and it'll likely stay that way, Ken. However, if you would look at the third person on your left…" Everyone's eyes slid over, but Danny kept his blush away. "As a quick summary for those who weren't here yesterday: my nephew has been travelling with Sidney for most of the past month and a half, and before yesterday, they were coming here to update us on several matters. Unfortunately, Sidney will not be able to join us in the near future. To that end, my nephew will be doing that two days from now. Attendance is mandatory."

This was news to Danny as well, and he sent a glare, which caused a few people to chuckle again. "I'll get you back for this," he shot back, and it was met with a smirk.

From there, the meeting soon wound down, with the small shift of scientists who'd been keeping everything running overnight heading home and the rest heading out, except for one. "You said you wanted to see me."

"Correct. I'd like you to teach Danny about the Pokémon storage system, Elias," his uncle said. "He cannot be seen outside, and I hesitate to involve him in some of the experiments until things become clearer."

"What do you mean by that?"

"If Sidney ends up taking you away in three days or whenever he shows up, we'll waste time informing you about them. The storage system isn't going to change too much between now and whenever you come here properly in a few years." A smirk appeared on his uncle's face; familiarity reminding Danny that it'd be something they'd probably both enjoy. "And maybe you can do some digging into who is where."

The hint, if it wasn't obvious enough yet, was finished off with a tap on the wrist before the Professor left the room, leaving only the thirty-something man – Elias – and Danny himself. "I can guess who the Professor is talking about. So, how much you know already?"

~~§~~§~~

He had been in Rustboro for two days more than he had planned by the time that Brock was able to meet up with Sidney, Roxanne, and Steven Stone again. He'd spent a lot of time around his counterpart – even helping some Trainers get a Gym Badge in an eighth badge challenge – but Steven had been busy with the Devon Corporation and Sidney…

If he hadn't been convinced of the Hoenn government's duplicity, he would have been hard-pressed to not be suspicious after Sidney's Pokémon had been forcibly confiscated and only returned after most of two days, with the Dark-type Trainer also stuck inside the police station for far longer than any of the other three had been. Assurances that it was only for safety only went so far when those Pokémon had been used to stop the attack.

It had taken Steven personally and forcefully intervening in public to return the Pokémon.

"Alright. How deep does this buneary burrow go, Sidney," Roxanne said, leaning forward. They were up in the Devon Corporation's boardroom, and the addressed man was lounging in a luxurious chair, having insisted on this location. "I have got a lot of questions."

The oldest Trainer present lazily sent out his umbreon, who encased them in a sound bubble. "So do I, Roxanne. How about we trade. You may go first."

"Fine. What have you been doing since you went on 'administrative leave', because if the rumours of you trying to stop attacks are correct, you're doing a poor job of it."

"Been travelling; seeing sights unseen for scores of years." Sidney sat up. "And I talked to people; requesting their silence. Silence, so we can be safe. Safe from the likes of you."

"Excuse me!?"

"Roxanne," Brock spoke up, injecting calm into his voice. "You were very vocal. If Sidney wanted secrecy, you needed to be kept out of the loop."

"Listen to me, Roxanne," the Dark-type Master said, standing up, but slouching slightly. "These psychoses are only in Hoenn; only on three Types; only in specific places. They are indiscriminate in who they strike: from newborn to the near infirm, and from untrained wild Pokémon to partners for decades. Peculiar, isn't it?"

"It could be a local dis…"

"No pathogen was ever found, no event ever triggered with Pokémon in foreign lands," Sidney interrupted, slicing through Roxanne's words. "Except twice."

Steven coughed gently. "Twice? When were these?"

"An attempt to kidnap; thwarted by fortuitous intelligence gathering. Early summer." Brock received a look that made clear who had been involved. "And an attack in Rota; familiar to you all. This was sent to me today."

From somewhere in his jacket, which didn't look like it had pockets large enough, Sidney produced an envelope, and he laid out the contents on the table, avoiding the carafe and glasses. Several pictures, two labelled, and a typed letter, bearing the official mark of the Oak Ranch. The signature was Gary's, Brock noted before Roxanne grabbed it. "What is… A machine?" the Rustboro Gym Leader said, clearly skimming. "So that's what you were all talking about..."

"I don't know how it works exactly, but the simple version is that it transmits energy that sends certain Pokémon crazy," Steven said. "It's what I am working on in my lab in the basement. A way to stop it from working." He glanced at the table. "The same lab they were trying to get into but couldn't."

"Wait. How do you kn…" Roxanne started, before spotting something in the letter. "Lance told you?"

"No. I came by this knowledge only circumstantially, but sources pointed out that a lorry kept being seen near where attacks took place. It stood to reason that there was some machine responsible, and after some thought and perusing information, I started looking into ways to disrupt such a machine. However, this is the first time I heard of them being this size." Steven looked at Sidney over his glass of water. "I was looking at using Gems as a countermeasure. It seems my thinking was on the right track."

"As ever, Champion, you are worthy of your position."

"No. I should have dug deeper." A flash of worry on the man's face. "But now is not the time for castigation. It seems that others know a lot more than I do, and it would be good to know what we are up against."

"Others know… Max?"

"The very one," came the reply with a careful nod at Brock. "For a teenager to know about this is one thing, though he does have a penchant for being in the right place." Steven looked up. "After all, he's got a long track record."

"And what about that thing he said? About sensing the machine?"

"I believe it," Steven replied, gently ignoring Roxanne's scepticism. "An empath bond between gardevoir and Trainer is rare, but there are recorded instances. Having access to a Mega gardevoir, as he claimed to have, supports that hypothesis as well. "He undid one button on his shirt, taking out the stick-pin on his necklace. "Mega Evolution is an emotional bond, even for me. Mine with metagross is analytical, but rooted in emotion nevertheless. I expect that I would have felt the effects through the bond, blunted and likely capable of functioning." A sad shake of the head. "A teenager with that Pokémon does not stand a chance and would descend into an emotional feedback loop until broken. Which, by his admission, already happened, leaving him vulnerable for the future. Like what happened."

"Mentioned Cross Hollow, didn't he. Figured that was him, me and my travelling companion did. Had all the marks."

"Okay, fine, fine, he's reliable," Roxanne interjected before Sidney could say anything more. Brock scrutinised her for a moment as they waited for her to continue. She looked… Shocked, but not in denial. She did mutter a bit about children running towards danger, but that was something Brock could understand. Teachers and parents or oldest siblings agreed on that. "Now what's this about this burrow, Sidney."

"Brock, could you tell Roxanne what happened in Rota; the spark that caused flight? Just a summary."

"Someone tried to kidnap the mew there, with that machine. It wasn't strong enough: mew still had control over the internal defences. Instead, seeing an opportunity, they kidnapped Max from under Bruno's nose and brought him to Hoenn. After a few days, Danny and Reginald went after him."

Glass shattered on the table, followed by a loud swear and Roxanne frantically checking if the shards hadn't cut her. Brock couldn't see anything, and he leant back in his chair. "Reginald?! The same one who allegedly…"

"What you should be asking is why that happened," Sidney interjected, still not back in his seat. There was a look on the man's face that was just unfamiliar enough to elude recognition. Arms were folded. "Take the knowledge you have, apply the logic you possess."

Roxanne gave Sidney a withering glare. "My city is in ruins. Would you stop playing games for one second?"

"Reginald attacked that house on Izabe because that was where the path led, didn't he." The Champion sounded both certain and mildly disbelieving. "The house of a former spy. Remote, too, but far inland. How were they not spotted?" A shake of the head. "Not important. Am I right, Sidney?"

"Wait, are we talking about Paulson's house? But… If he… What are they…" The Gym Leader stood up, crushing some glass underneath her shoes. "He said he was working with the First Minister to put a stop to this. Does that mean…"

"It does." The words hung incredibly heavy in the room. "And there is worse."

"Worse!? Is that even possible?"

"Regice. Regirock. Registeel. Golems of Hoenn. Peculiar that they have not been seen in half a century, no? Not even the second set, whose locations we Elite Four know." Another set of pictures from the deceptively roomy inner pockets. "This is regice's cave on Route 105, fifteen hours ago."

There was nothing visible on the picture Brock took, except for bones on the cavern floor. "There's nothing here."

"Precisely."

"Six Legendary golems… Not as much of an issue as before, but… They could do significant damage on any field of battle. It…"

A sharp tone interrupted them, followed by the sound of boots stomping as umbreon's bubble suddenly dropped. "Public Intelligence Agency," the speaker announced. "Champion Stone, open the door and allow us to arrest Elite Four member Sidney in connection with the attacks across Hoenn."

Before Steven could reply, or Brock could react, the window shattered, and when his eyes slid over, he saw the back of Sidney jumping out, landing on something – a pidgeot that beat its wings once, sending the shards of glass into the room and forcing everyone to throw up arms to protect their face.

Two seconds later, the door was kicked in, but the pidgeot was already out of reach for any kind of weapon or Pokémon.

~~§~~§~~§~~§~~

MAUVILLE – Elite Four Member Sidney fled from justice today, October 27th, as investigations revealed him to be linked to the attacks plaguing the region. Police forces tracked him to the Devon Corporation in Rustboro, where he had been talking with Gym Leaders Roxanne, Brock of Pewter, Kanto, and Champion Steven Stone, but before an arrest could be made, the man fled on the back of a pidgeot, destroying a window to make his escape.

Author's Note: The best way to deal with competent people? Put them somewhere they cannot apply it any longer. As far as you know, anyway.

Unfortunately, competent people tend to have minds of their own.