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 52: Heading Into Danger

The coordinates had jogged Danny's memory when he checked a general map of the area, and locating the right place to go hadn't been hard after that. The small forest, north-east of Rustboro, wedged in the corner between route 115, route 116, and the wilds of inner Hoenn, wasn't a place Trainers usually went when they first started out. Rumours swirled around it, of beginning Trainers getting turned back and around and, on occasion, being left in front of a Pokémon Centre sound asleep with no memory of how they'd gotten there in the first place.

His Uncle had cleared that right up, though, telling him that there were some Ghost-type Pokémon living there that liked their privacy. Mostly the usual Hoenn lot of shuppet, banette, duskull, and dusknoir, but it did not surprise him at all when a trevenant became visible in the flame of the torch houndoom had helpfully lit earlier.

Froslass, phasing into view, helpfully dissipated the Confuse Ray that the brown and green Pokémon sent out. Not that it looked like it would've scrambled Danny's brain for more than a few seconds: working with litwick had perks. Still, a few seconds was a few seconds against someone who could be hostile. "Not here to fight," he called out, knowing full well that the trevenant could understand him unless it was an enraged specimen. In which case it wouldn't have led with Confuse Ray, but probably with something less healthy for him. "If you can provide light, froslass can extinguish this."

A branch creaked above. "No need," Phoebe said, Danny seeing her perched when he held his torch up. "Good to see you again," she added, moving into a half-standing position, prompting the teenager to step to the side. The member of the Elite Four jumped down, landing a few feet away from where he'd been standing. She'd let her black hair grow out a bit, he saw up close, but it wasn't near as long as even Misty's or Anabel's. "I'd ask if you're keeping safe, but I heard about Rustboro. Your friend praised you a lot. Effusive, you could say."

Effusive? Probably meant something like 'excessive' or something. Danny swore he'd heard it before, somewhere. "Friend? You mean Ed?"

"The one. Lots of things you don't do without becoming friends. Defending a school like that's one of them, if you're alive after the fact." She started walking; trevenant nowhere to be seen and a haunter hovering overhead now. Probably had been there before. "I hope you took the time to talk about what happened while you were at your Uncle's."

"A bit," Danny replied truthfully. It had been an awkward conversation with someone who wanted to know if he was mentally okay, but there hadn't been a click. That had been the day before he'd left. Then again… "Does talking about it with my Pokémon count?"

The Elite Four member chuckled heartily. "Whatever helps. Ideal? No. But these are strange times. Talk with whoever you feel you can trust, and you will be fine." A chill passed by him, and he saw a banette hover near his shoulder. "Shoo. My guest."

The ghostly doll flew off with what Danny swore was the Pokémon version of muttering under your breath, but before he could comment on it, he saw something else. An eerie purple oval, in the middle of the path. It seemed to lead somewhere, but it was too hard to peer into in the darkness. "The heck is that?"

"Phantom Force. Thought to be derived from giratina's ability to cross over from its world into ours," Phoebe said, before chuckling. "I told Max the exact same. It's something a few Ghosts can learn, but people… Underestimate its range. Think it's limited to an arena."

"Or don't meet powerful Pokémon like yours."

"You flatter mismagius," Phoebe said, and a Ghostly laugh followed from above in the trees. "Your froslass is stronger. I don't need to commune to know that. A magnificent bond." She stepped into the oval, stopping halfway through. "Step through quickly. Froslass can fly straight up. Just follow haunter."

With that, she stepped through fully, vanishing to Danny's eyes after a moment. The purple glow didn't help; contrast showing the area where he was more than the other end of… The portal?

Danny held the torch high for a second, allowing froslass to snap freeze the cloth as he studied the portal next to a large tree. He'd never heard of this being possible, but at the same time… He'd seen too much stuff that really shouldn't be possible in the past few years, so he shrugged, took a deep breath, and confidently strode through the portal.

Something unnatural passed over him as he did. Combining things that shouldn't be combined; defying laws of physics. Not cold on the outside, but a blizzard's temperatures under his skin, for a fraction of a second. No extra resistance, but it felt like his arms were moving through deep water. Yet, a moment later, everything was normal, and after opening his eyes – when had he closed them anyway? – he saw where he had ended up.

It was a mix between a tree house and a platform; enough wood overhead and a simple rail on one side, but open on all other sides to make it be neither. It was larger than Danny had ever seen a tree house be: he could probably fit three of himself lengthwise in the width, and more in the length, so maybe twenty feet wide? "Huh," he said, spotting a sleeping bag in the corner. "You've been living here?"

"Waiting for a few days. For you, I guess." Phoebe sat down, and mismagius provided more light than there had been, allowing him to see her face again. "And to commune with the Ghosts here, of course."

"Wouldn't be you if you didn't," Danny agreed, also sitting down. "What do you mean 'I guess'?"

"I asked Maxim to send me help; a reliable person to help me with this." The Elite Four member snorted. "I'll admit, I wasn't expecting you specifically, but I can't think of a better or more reliable person for this. You've got motive, you've got smarts, and you know more than just about everyone else. Maxim probably also gave you a few Pokémon, right?"

"He did," Danny said. "Two tropius for transportation, a magnezone to deal with the alarm system, and a drowzee for coercion. Which I guess means forcing him to tell the truth."

"Well, we won't need the tropius. Party congress, he'll be in Mauville for a few days," Phoebe immediately added. "We're about twenty miles from his mansion, that should be doable with plenty of time to formulate the right kind of questions, scout the place, and also do some practice on the side. Any questions?"

"Plenty," Danny said, but then his stomach made a sudden sound. "But… Maybe later?"

The Elite Four member chuckled, and mismagius created another portal that Danny couldn't see through. "Teenage boys and their stomachs. Come, let's go eat, and talk about what's been going on."

~~§~~§~~

The place Max had chosen for his meeting with May was beautiful. No other word for it, Serena felt. It was rugged and ancient, pillars rising up into the sky all around them. No two were the same, but from a distance, it was hard to tell the difference between them nevertheless, and she made a note to not go off on her own. Being lost here would be easy, and she had a feeling there weren't many humans who came here because of that.

There were a lot of Pokémon tracks around. "That's trapinch. Tired ones, probably," Max said, pointing at a dragging track. "Those are linoone tracks. Easy to see here, but tracking one in the grass is hard. Dad made me do that once as… I guess sort of punishment, sort of chore? I'd been a bit bratty." He chuckled, before stopping suddenly, taking a few steps right. "That's… Absol footprints."

An absol had been important in the whole jirachi saga, Serena remembered, and Max had always spoken fondly of the Pokémon in general. Probably because of that. "Are we going to track it down, see if you can get one?"

Max laughed; the loudest sound around by a lot. "Nah. I'm not going to say no if one wants to join up, but I'm pretty happy with what I have right now. It's… Hey ralts," he changed the subject as the small Pokémon came out of her ball. "You want to hear about this place, too?"

Serena didn't say anything, instead just taking her distance. He noticed, she smiled and nodded her okay, and he started telling ralts all about what had happened here. "It all started with…"

She cast her mind to what was going to happen.

In ten minutes, May would arrive, and they'd finally get an answer to a bunch of questions that they'd had for a while. Mostly Max, but Serena had some questions of her own as well. She wasn't going to ask them unless Max approved, though. She wasn't going to get in between two angry siblings, even if she'd side with her friend every day.

She took up position about fifty, sixty feet away, watching the boy and his newest Pokémon interact. It was adorable, even from the distance. She soaked up everything about him, and he wasn't a half-bad storyteller.

Her watch read two minutes past the hour when May arrived, and with her appearance, a blaziken burst out of its pokéball.

She'd been Teleported in by xatu, in the literal blink of an eye, facing her brother. The older Maple sibling staggered, but recovered, and her blaziken stood down as well, Serena thought. It was a bit hard to tell, but she'd seen the Fire-type starter in action not long ago, in Slateport. Strong, fast, acrobatic, and one of the two that had brought May the trophy. "What's going on?!" she said, loudly, demanding an answer.

"Always so slow," Max replied, turning around, one hand raising ralts to his shoulder. Serena was too far away to see his expressions in detail. She didn't really need to. He'd worn similar expressions enough around her for whatever reason. Never aimed at her – she'd gotten that message loud and clear before his apology for it one night – but it was a reminder that Max was a broody teenage boy. For good reason. Sorta. "The new Grand Festival winner, and you still fall for a trick so old even Team Rocket wouldn't use it."

"Max?" May half-asked. Probably confused by the hair. Or the ralts. "You… How'd you know I…" She shook her head, clearly trying to understand everything. "I… What…"

"One question at a time might help, May. Ralts here can't read minds, just emotions. And certainly not from a distance." He took a step or two closer. "I'm not here to fight, blaziken, and being honest, we know how it would end anyway."

Serena wasn't quite as certain Max would come off completely unscathed in a fight, not six on five – ralts barely knew how to fight, and Max wasn't going to use her. But it was a good point to step in. "He's right, May."

"Se… Serena?" the Coordinator said as her Fire-type whirled around, relaxing into a neutral stance a moment later. Braixen did the same. "But… Didn't you say…"

"I sent a letter, but Serena was already on her way to Hoenn by the time it got to Professor Oak's," Max said, and May took a few steps back to be able to watch both of them without having to turn around. "We need to talk, May. About what's happening in Hoenn."

"About what happened to you?" the older Maple sibling asked. Serena got the sense that if it hadn't been for the distance, it would've been a whisper. "Does ralts know?"

The answer was a psychic flick by the small Pokémon on Max's shoulder. It wasn't strong, but it was enough of an answer. "Yes. She knows. Oh, she knows. You know where I found her, May? Guess."

Silence, for a moment, broken only by manectric coming out and forcing Max's hand onto her head. "Izabe? Went back after you recovered?"

A mirthless laugh. "Better guess than I thought you'd make. Wrong, but not far off in some ways." Max took a few steps forward, and Serena matched his, making sure to stay within easy hearing range. "I met her there. September second, two years ago. Two year anniversary of saving kirlia. She was very young and we played for a bit after I'd told the congregation of what happened to him." He stopped walking, now only a few feet away from May. "I found her in the same place I found him. Same treatment. Except she was alive. She was alive. A chance kirlia didn't ever get. And you dared accuse Ash of murdering him? WHY? Why did you do that? Answer me!"

The last came with a sudden Hypnosis attack, and braixen dispelled it easily. "I though… HEY!" May started in a monotone before her starter jostled her. "Why did you do that?!"

"Because he trusts you as far as he can throw you," Serena said, drawing attention from Coordinator and Pokémon. She walked around the older pair, ending up next to Max. The boy was trying to calm down, and succeeding. "But I think we know the answer anyway. You looked at what happened while you were with Ash and got scared. So when an excuse came along… You jumped at it."

"Says the girl who nearly died," May retorted, balling her fists exactly the same way Max did when he got angry. "Don't tell me you don't…"

"Have nightmares? A few. Not nearly as often as you, Max," she added for her companion. He'd been about to ask about it, no doubt. They weren't common anyway, having dropped off a lot after Geosenge. "It happened. Can't change the past."

"Not without celebi anyway," Max added in turn. "So, May? Were we right?"

It took a few moments, and both May and her blaziken sent glares at the teenagers in front of them, but eventually… "Yes. Essentially," she admitted, sourly. "I… When I went around in Johto, it was so calm. Like it should have been. And even you have to see Ash liked it."

That caused Max to scoff. "Yeah, like he liked having to get pikachu away from Team Rocket over and over. You're wrong, May, but go talk to Ash about that. If he lets you."

"Why did you bring me here? If you're gonna lecture me…"

"Oh, no, that's your department. I just want to know one thing… Why were you in Johto?"

"J.. Johto?" May said. She didn't look like she'd expected that question at all, but she recovered pretty quick. "What? When you were attacked and thought it was me?"

She knew about that? Huh. "You were pretty much following us. People noticed." Manectric licked Max's hand, and he returned a scratch in her fur. "Answer the question, May."

"I swear I didn't know you were there," May replied. "I just wanted to get to the Ice Path. See if I could find an Ice-type."

"You didn't use one in the Grand Festival," Serena pointed out. The only Ice-type move had been skitty's Blizzard. "Didn't find one?"

May shook her head. "I did. Found a smoochum, but I'm not stupid. She's safe with Professor Birch."

"A smoochum? Really? And you think you can just train one?"

"They can't take your Pokémon, Max. Nobody would accept it," May replied curtly. "Like I said. She's safely with Professor Birch now, and I'm not planning on retrieving her. We got on well before everything, though."

That, for some reason, caused the smallest bit of relief in ralts, Serena noticed. Which meant Max had been relieved. "Huh. You can learn new tricks. Bravo."

"I'm not stupid, Max. Not since I got taken to Mt. Pyre." The Coordinator looked around. "Where is gardevoir anyway. Xatu took me here."

"And he's been circling a hundred feet above us since, not that you noticed." A glance up confirmed that. Serena was mildly surprised. The Pokémon had Teleported them about thirty miles, and May more than that. Max probably knew the limits better than she did, though. "It's none of your business where gardevoir is."

That prompted a smile from May. 'So he's at Professor Oak's. And that probably means you were in Rustboro and he went berserk there." The smile widened. "I knew there was something familiar about that one Trainer at the Pokémon School."

Max shook his head. "That wasn't me. And gardevoir didn't go berserk. He got rid of all his energy before he could."

"Before he… What are you talking about?" May asked.

"It's a machine that triggers the attacks, May. Smaller ones are portable. Bigger ones hide in lorries or buildings," Max said. Serena noticed his hand had gone to his neck, where the stolen Mega Stone hung. "They use Pokémon or the Unovan Gems to emit a signal. Not sure what kind. Doesn't matter. You're in the range, whatever Pokémon's caught goes crazy."

The older Maple sibling looked like she wanted to believe it, but there was a nagging doubt on her mind, Serena thought. "Didn't… Didn't Team Rocket use all sorts of machines? They've got to have used some kind of stuff that disabled Pokémon, right?" the Kalosian asked. "I don't think it sounds that different."

"Think of the machine Butler used. What he wanted to do with it. What happened here." Max audibly took a deep breath, and the ralts jumped onto Serena's shoulder, suddenly, making her stumble. The small Psychic-type helped her stay standing. "Kirlia had been used for that. For months. For experiments. We found him, and it was… We were too late. Remember me telling you all this, May? Remember that!?"

The ralts whimpered a bit, and through her shoulder, Serena felt a vague echo of anger, of rage, of sorrow. Was that… Max?

"You… You said some of it in…"

"IN THE GREENHOUSE-E!" Max yelled, voice cracking. "I told you everything you needed to know. You di-didn't listen! You turned around an-and STILL said Ash killed kirlia! What the government said! Didn't trust me or Ash or ANYONE ELSE. YEARS OF TRAVEL, FIGHTING TEAM ROCKET, SAVING HOENN, YOU JUST THR-"

He vanished, and Serena realised she'd been humming an old tune from her childhood. Something her mother always sang. She stopped, and the ralts in her arms – her arms? – replied with a faint mix of… gratitude and sadness? The heck?

She shook her head. She'd figure this out later. Right now, she had other things to deal with. She took a look around, not seeing manectric either; undoubtedly taken along by xatu. That was good for Max. It just left May.

It was a minute or so until the Coordinator spoke up. "I… What just happened?"

That was something Serena didn't know, but she could guess. Unfortunately, that also included something Max wanted kept secret. "He hasn't been… It's been a rough time for him, May. He was tortured, freed, then left on his own, and found ralts, in maybe six weeks?" She tried to give the older teenager a stern look. "And then Rustboro happened. He's been under a lot of pressure. Everyone has a breaking point."

"If that… That's…" May started, cutting herself off in frustration. At herself, it looked like. "I've never seen him like this. Or anyone. Not even Ash when Team Rocket had pikachu. He seemed… He seemed like he was going to attack me."

"Ken, blazi, ken, zi," the starter by May's side said, also holding out a hand and lowering it, then raising it. To about Serena's height. "Zi?"

"Maybe. Don't think this is just growing up." May frowned as blaziken shook its head. "Something else?"

In response, the large Fire-type walked up to Serena, slowly. It stopped a few feet away from her, turning around to make sure May was looking. Then, he pointed at the ralts in Serena's arms, then at his own chest, and… Mimed something breaking, followed by the same hand gesture of earlier.

"He… Max said himself that he grew up. Because of kirlia," May said, seemingly understanding something. "You… You're saying he didn't?"

"He did," Serena replied. She knew childish, and whatever Max was, he was not childish. "Maybe… He never really got over it as much as he claimed?"

Blaziken nodded, looking satisfied. Serena guessed his message had been something like that.

"Not sure he ever claimed it, but… It makes sense. And maybe it's the ralts that… That caused it? Not like that!" May added quickly as vaguely soothing emotions in Serena's arms turned into dislike. "But if he saw the same thing happening to her as he did to ra-kirlia…"

The ralts's emotions shifted again, this time into sympathy. It became more muted when Serena adjusted the way she was holding the Pokémon; the sensitive horn no longer touching her arm. "Like a flashback?"

"I guess." May sighed deeply, and she sat down. "Look, Serena. I know it's going to sound weird, and you have no reason to trust me. But after I left Mt. Pyre, I thought for a long time. Talked to someone trustworthy as well. And… I want my brother back."

Serena did believe her. She wasn't sure why, but she did. That didn't mean anything, though. She wasn't the one May needed to convince. "You… You didn't exactly do a good job of that at the start, you know."

"So I got Teleported seventy miles or something. Can you blame me for being a bit off balance?" The Coordinator rummaged in her pack, but stopped. "Not as much as Max, I think."

Serena sat down as well as May resumed searching. "What makes you say that?'

"Don't play stupid. He—" May tossed something to blaziken. "He completely lost it. I told you, I've never seen him or any one of us like that. He chased that ralts out of his arms with negative emotions, and then xatu took him away." She found what she was searching for: some food, it seemed. She started fiddling with the packaging. "My brother is many things. This isn't normal for him at all."

It was a logical deduction, and Serena found herself impressed. A moment later, she wondered why. May was a skilled Trainer, and using information and thinking things through was needed at that level. She shook her head as the ralts hopped out of her arms. "Are you sure it's not normal? You haven't talked for a while."

Any hope she had of tricking May and not having to reveal Max's secrets vanished with a roll of eyes. "Please, Serena. The last three times I spoke with Max, he ended up angry, but he was always in control of himself and left before he could get to this. Including when he was two days out of being tortured for a week." May folded her arms underneath her breasts. "So yeah. There's something off here."

"Alright. He's not. He'd admit it too if it wasn't you he was talking to," Serena said, figuring there was no denying it any longer. "As it is, I don't think I can tell you why."

"And that's why he hasn't gone to Mauville yet to get back at that politician? Paulson, right?"

"Can't tell you," Serena repeated herself. Hopefully, she'd kept her surprise at May's statement hidden. Max had been planning to go somewhere, but Rustboro had put paid to that for a while. "Can we stop this? Maybe if Max comes back in a better mood, he might share, but I'm not betraying his trust."

"Of course. Sorry," May said, and it sounded like she meant it.

There was an awkward silence for a few minutes, during which Serena suddenly realised that the ralts had wandered off, away from where she was sitting. It wasn't hard to locate the small Pokémon, though: she had stayed way away from any rocks or something that'd put her out of sight. Instead, she was sitting near blaziken, not really doing anything, and the Fire-Fighting-type hybrid seemed to let her do that.

"Why did you leave me that note?" May suddenly said, startling Serena slightly. "It must have been you, right. Braixen put it in my bag?"

"Xen." Her starter sounded just a bit smug.

"Yeah. She did. And it was Max's idea. Said he…" she started, pausing to consider if she should share it. After a moment, she decided that it was probably the right thing to do. May deserved to know at least that much. "He said he needed to put this behind him properly." She shook her head. "I'm not sure he even believed himself. Or that he thought it'd end like this."

Then, a bunch of rocks shifted nearby. Everyone immediately jumped to their feet, ralts hiding behind blaziken's legs and braixen stepping in front of Serena, who tapped altaria's pokéball as she got up; the dragon emerging and flying up.

It only turned out to be a trapinch emerging from underground, and without looking at anything, starting to evolve.

Only when the vibrava was done did it notice them, but after a moment of looking, it flew off, heading to the east.

"You are way too paranoid," May said drily. "But I guess I can understand."

"Like blaziken wasn't ready to fight."

"He takes protecting me seriously, and we do have history here."

~~§~~§~~

"I wish I could join you," Anabel said as they walked through the front door, entering the comfortable house that she called home. Espeon and pikachu trailed them, and the Psychic-type held Ash back for a moment on the doormat. He wiped his feet in response. "Maybe then I could feel better."

"I know they don't blame you, and if Max was here, he'd tell you that," Ash replied, and pikachu agreed. "He's been in the same position far too often for him not to."

"Your travels, huh." She led them right, up the stairs. "I guess he didn't have a Pokémon."

"You do what you can. He did his share of sneaking." He made a show of looking around. Purple carpet on the landing, three doors – two identical, one clearly a bathroom door – and a few windows, and what looked like a storage attic. "Where are you taking me anyway?"

"Here," Anabel said, leading him to the left door. A blue glow appeared around the lock before she could open it herself. "And when did you learn that?"

"Peon," the graceful Pokémon said, darting past them. The room was sparse, but it looked like an office, complete with fancy wooden desk and old-fashioned filing cabinet. It glowed blue for a second, but it didn't open. "Pe?"

Anabel laughed, a light sound Ash had always liked. "Different lock. Guess we'll practice later." She took a key from her trouser pocket and opened the drawer after unlocking it. "This needs a little backstory. I was in Alola for holiday about four months after you beat me and some things happened that, well… Weren't normal. Weird portals appeared everywhere, and some very strong Pokémon poured out."

"I didn't hear anything about that when I was there," Ash replied. "Which island was this?"

"You wouldn't have heard anything about it," Anabel said in turn, taking something from the drawer. "I teamed up with someone else who was there, and together we managed to return the Pokémon through the portal. Thankfully, it appeared weak to my Psychic-types, but it also had Bug-type moves in its arsenal, and it was every bit a Legendary even if we didn't recognise it at all. Closer to a Greater one, too. The jungle took a lot of damage."

"On Akala?"

"That's the one. But as I said, you wouldn't have heard anything of it, because the next day, it was… It was as if things had never happened. Like the day had been erased. It was eve… What?"

"Was this on a Sunday? The thirteenth?"

"No. Saturday, the twelfth. Why?"

"Because I lived that day twice as well," Ash said, pikachu jumping onto his shoulder, nuzzling his cheek. The shock was welcome. "In Alamos Town, Sinnoh. There was… A fight between dialga, palkia, and darkrai. Reality got a little strange."

Anabel thought that through. "So those events are connected?" she asked, before shaking her head. "It's not important right now. I guess only a few people relived the day in Sinnoh as well?"

"Yeah." Just the three of them, and a bunch of their Pokémon. "Found that out when I told Misty. So what's this got to do with everything?"

A smile appeared on the Salon Maiden's face, for a moment. Something was weird about it. "The person I helped told me he and his organisation owed me a favour." She handed Ash a dossier, filled with several thin sheets of paper. Double-sided, small print. "I called it in."

Person of interest: Raphael Paulson; a map of Mauville's sewage system; Hoenn Office of First Minister… That last sheet was different. The others all had the same logo at the top, and though Ash had only had a few encounters with them, he recognised it in an instant. "International Police. Lance helped you with the names and stuff?" he asked as he put the sheets back in the dossier, before putting it in his backpack. He'd read it in more detail later, and when he'd memorised the important stuff, he could have charizard burn it.

"Bruno. With help from Lance, no doubt. Not much gets past that man, honestly." Anabel relocked the drawer and sat down on the edge of her desk. "And there's some extra information I did not get from them. You noticed that one page was different? Someone delivered that to me, via pelipper post. Four days ago, probably. Can you think of anyone?"

He couldn't come up with anyone who'd send it to Anabel of all people. Lance, himself, maybe Professor Oak, yes. But Anabel? "I can't. Don't suppose it was signed."

"It wasn't, but it must be someone with a very high security clearance. The details are terrifying," Anabel replied, and Ash gave her a closer look. Outwardly, she was calm, but there was something… Something that didn't feel right. She caught him looking. "Yes, I'm afraid, Ash. Afraid for what can happen in Hoenn. To the region. To Mauville. Even to you. You have a knack of finding yourself in the wrong spot. You just told me that yourself, even if you didn't say much."

"Huh?" Ash didn't follow.

"What happened in SInnoh is normal enough to you that you described a fight between three Greater Legendaries as 'reality got a little strange', Ash."

For some reason, he blushed. "It's only the truth. And they were more focused on each other anyway, and it's not like I go looking for them." That earned him a shock from pikachu, and an admonition. "Much."

"You do what you must, don't you, Ash," Anabel replied, fingers on her left temple. "Which Pokémon are you taking?"

"Pikachu, charizard, absol, tropius, sceptile, feraligatr." He hadn't been certain about the newly evolved Water-type, but with how much water there was in Hoenn, it made sense. "Maybe heracross instead of tropius later. Why?"

"Can they stand up against golems? Maybe multiple of them? The First Minister has six of them at his disposal, Ash."

"Six?!" he blurted out, only realising he'd done that after. "Three was bad enough to think about. They can probably level Mauville with that."

Anabel nodded. "And with their ways of stopping Psychic-types, it's all too easy to take the entire city hostage. Fear is powerful, and if Wattson isn't around… Who will stop them?" She smiled, despite her clear unease. "You, I guess. Or others. And I want to join you, I really do, but I don't think it'd be safe."

He had been there. Too often, when he was younger, when trying anyway had put him and his friends in danger, or worse. Or when he hadn't been able to do enough. And the first time he'd been able to do anything, he'd still been shoved out of the way.

He was not going to let anything happen to Mauville. To Hoenn. To his friends. Not if he had any say in it. "I'll fight for both of us."

~~§~~§~~§~~§~~

November 12

Information from Hoenn continues to be ever more dire. Someone relayed to Anabel that the First Minister was in control of six of the Legendary golems, and with that man's personality, that does not bode well. Every interaction I've had has left me wondering if he has any limits to his hunger for power, and so far, I've yet to identify any. If anything, thoughts I had previously have been invalidated. The only bright side is that they did not attempt an attack on the Grand Festival.

This is rapidly becoming too large to contain. I must impress upon the Kanto-Johto and Sinnoh government that this is a matter of urgency and that they must stand ready to either intervene or offer humanitarian aid if things go awry.

From: Journal of Lance, Grand Champion of Kanto (year 7)