"Well, at least the Numel were easy to handle," Max said.

"Speak for yourself..." Brock muttered. "I had to treat one with a cold."

"Yeah, I was wondering why your eyebrows were scorched," May giggled. "Did one sneeze while you were picking it up?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"How long is this cable car going to take to get here?" Ash asked, looking up the slope of Mt. Chimney.

"It's not the busy season," Brock pointed out. "So I guess they just don't need to be as prompt. Wait – there we go!"

He pointed, and they looked up to see a cable car descending the mountainside.

"Great!" Ash said. "Not long now before we get to Lavaridge!"

Don't forget we may need to wait on Mt. Chimney, in case Team Magma and Team Aqua show up a bit later than us, Dexter noted.

"What were they after again?" Brock asked. "A meteorite, right?"

Correct. The meteorite was tracked coming in, so it's not been affected by what's happened so far... it landed somewhere near the top of Mt. Chimney.

"Right," Brock nodded. "So, basically, if we grab that then there's no problem?"

Well, apart from two groups of well-armed criminals.


"Right, me hearties!" Matt called back through the Sea King. "We all ready?"

"Aye!" the Aqua agents agreed, saluting.

"Remember, our first priority be to find that Meteorite," he said, as they rose over a small ridge and began to rise towards the top of Chimney itself. "An' to stop any interfering Magma types, o' course."

He pointed. "You, you, you. Starboard side. You and you – larboard side. An' these four brave lads and lasses with me, we be fightin' Magma if they show their faces."

Some blank faces looked at him.

Matt sighed. "There be no love for the classics. Right – you, you and you are headed to the north side of Chimney, and you two are headed to the south. And I'm taking you four with me in case Magma turns up."

"What about me, sir?" asked one of the new grunts.

"You – and those two – are keepin' our helicopters in one piece," Matt instructed. "The scientists have their own guard, but you're keeping the Sea Kings safe."

"Right," the grunt said, looking relieved.

"First mission, lass?" he asked, and got a nod. "Don't worry, it ain't so bad once you're in the thick of things."

"Two minutes!" the pilot called back.

"All right!" Matt shouted, standing up and clinging onto one of the rails over a door. "Everyone get their Pokémon ready, we be goin' in fast!"


"The view's pretty incredible," May said, looking out over quite a large sweep of central Hoenn.

Hundreds of feet into the air, there was almost nothing to impede their view of anything in any direction except for straight towards Mt. Chimney, and it was quite a view.

"You can see so much! Look – there's Lavaridge, where we're headed..." May smiled, remembering. "Wow, you can see the hot springs from here!"

"Oh, yeah!" Max agreed. "Man, those look good..."

Ash looked down at Lavaridge as well, but had eyes mainly for a different place – the Gym. "So, Max, how do you think you'll do against Flannery?"

"Huh, I'm not sure..." Max admitted. "Guy's not really the best to use, but... well, I guess it depends if Delta's ready for it. Apart from that, Arc and Cinder are pretty much the best choices."

Ash nodded. "Makes sense to me. But actually, Guy could be better than you think – remember, with that Toxic Orb he can't be set on fire..."

Max frowned. "Why not?"

"...not sure," Ash admitted. "But I've never seen a Pokémon poisoned and burned at the same time."

May shrugged. "I'd just use Blaziken."

"Or there's that," Ash said. "What about you, Brock?"

"Marshtomp and Geodude, for a start," Brock said. "Then Ninetales."

"Makes sense," Ash agreed. He looked down at Absol. "So... uh, this is a volcano – do you feel anything about it?"

"A certain foreboding," Absol admitted. "It's not just the potential of an eruption, either, or even the chance that those we are here to stop might intervene. There's something... more localized."

She concentrated, and her eyes lit up – then she growled.

"What is it?" Brock asked.

"We need to get out of here! Now!"

The cable car trembled.

"What was that?" Ash asked, hand already reaching for a Pokéball.

Absol pointed up the mountainside with a paw. "The cable!"

A moment later, the steel cable went slack.


An almighty wham heralded the destruction of the cable car, as it exploded into hundreds of pieces.

The four friends – along with Absol and Lucario, who'd destroyed the car – came tumbling out of the wreckage, and the moment they were clear Pokéballs began to flash open.

Brock sent out Flygon, who took a moment to assess the situation and then caught him by the shoulders.

"We're making a habit of this!" he said, transferring Brock to his back.

Ash had the good fortune to have two flying Pokémon available, and he sent both out at once. Latias materialized in a flash and caught May, who began to shout in surprise before realizing what had happened and that she was safe, and Pidgeot appeared in a flash of light before coming up underneath Ash and saving him and Pikachu from the long drop.

"Get us close enough to grab Max!" Ash said urgently, and she banked around hard before diving at speed.


"Jirachi!" Max shouted. "Help!"

His bag opened, and Jirachi looked out sleepily. What is it, Max – whoah!

Now thoroughly awake, the Psychic-type tried to work out what to do in a hurry. Uh... Psychic?

The glow slowed Max's fall – a bit – but not enough to really help out.

One of Max's Pokéballs opened in a burst of white light, and Delta emerged. "Max, hold on!"

"But you can't lift me!" Max called back, as Delta's fins tilted and pressed him against his trainer.

"I'm a Flying-type! I... can... try!"

I wish Max doesn't go splat! Jirachi said as fast as he could.

His tags began to glow, and then so did Max and Delta.

Then Delta's glow outshone the others.


"...okay, maybe we don't need to help Max!" Ash said, looking up as the glow faded.

Delta spread his fins – his big fins – and began to flap them. As he did, he pulled up and away from the drop... with Max safely on his back.

"Delta!" Max said, audible at this distance. "You evolved!"

"...I guess I did!" Delta agreed, flapping his fin-wings less intensely now that they were out of danger. "Thanks, Jirachi!"

I can't make Pokémon evolve, Jirachi replied. I was just catching Max – that was all you.

As Pidgeot beat her wings, rising from her hover to join the others, a steady rushing sound of water became gradually louder.

"I caught Absol!" Keldeo reported, hooves blasting away with the full force of his Hydro Pump as he joined them.

Sure enough, Absol was – somewhat nervously – draped across his back.

A wham from below made them all look down.

Lucario rose from his crouch and waved.

"...I guess we forgot to catch him," Pidgeot noted. "Whoops..."

"He's tough, he can take it," Pikachu waved off.


Matt sent out his first Pokémon, a big tough Carracosta he'd gotten special from Unova. "Scurvy landlovers got here before us!"

A series of flashes heralded the emergence of other Pokémon – such as a pair of Crawdaunt, and a burly Whiscash.

"Hey!" someone said. "Where'd my Pokémon go?"

"Use yer backup, you sea-dog," Matt ordered.

The grunt blushed. "Really?"

"No, you can just sit this one out – of course send your backup out!" Matt snapped. "What do you think?"

"Sorry!" the grunt squeaked, and raised his Pokéball.

A Luvdisc came out.

Matt sighed. "Lad, you need a better backup."

"I didn't expect to lose her!" the grunt defended himself, as Luvdisc looked around in bafflement. "And he's not trained for battle!"

"It'll have ta do," Matt decided. "All right, lads, you know your places!"

He checked that they did – making sure there were enough Pokémon, and that the Wingull scouts were in the air, as well as making sure the team defending the helicopters were ready.

Spotting the graceful Milotic that new Grunt had sent out, he gave her an approving nod. "Right – everyone, charge!"

"Aqua!" they called in near-chorus, and went on the attack.


"Well?" Tabitha asked.

"Cables cut, sir!" the grunt reported. "We should be secure against anyone trying to interfere."

"Good – stay here, in case there's any further problems," the admin instructed. Getting a salute, he went on. "The rest of you – come with me. We just got word – the meteorite's been found."

"Aqua!" someone shouted, running towards the group with a Croconaw by his side.

Tabitha sent out a Pokémon, a fully-grown Camerupt, and it snorted before beginning to gather energy in both its craters.

"Use Hydro Pump!" the Aqua grunt ordered, and a blast of water crashed out at Camerupt.

There was a long hiss and a cloud of steam.

When it faded, however, the Camerupt was all but unfazed.

Startled, the Aqua grunt took an involuntary step back. "But... how?"

"Solarbeam!" Tabitha instructed, and green light shone from Camerupt's nostrils. He aimed, then opened his mouth, and a blast of yellow-green energy shot across to strike the Croconaw and knock it skidding backwards.

"Vulpix!" another Magma agent said. "Finish it off with an Energy Ball!"

The Grass-type attack flashed out, and Croconaw muttered something before slumping.

"Uh – you're not going to..." the grunt improvised, and grabbed his other Pokéball. "Pelipper!"

"Rock Slide," Tabitha ordered.

Camerupt's craters both went off with a bang, and chunks of basalt came raining down on the hapless Pelipper.

"Let's get going," Tabitha said, striding forwards. "Aqua could be an inconvenience."


"That meteorite is ours!" the Magma grunt said.

"No, it's ours!" his Aqua opponent rebutted, pulling on it.

The Magma agent pulled back. "Ours!"

Their Pokémon – both Poochyena – looked at one another and exchanged sighs.

"So..." one said. "Humans, eh?"

"Word," the other replied.


"The machine's set up!" a scientist reported. "But we're still waiting for the meteorite."

Tabitha nodded. "I see. I'll make sure you get it."

Below, the lava lake of Mt. Chimney bubbled.

"Sir?" one of the scientists asked, as Tabitha turned away.

"What is it?"

"Well... if we're going to make Mt. Chimney erupt... aren't we on Mt. Chimney?"

Tabitha chuckled. "I see the cause for your confusion. No, we're going to set the eruption going and then get clear in the helicopters."

"I see!" the scientist nodded. "For Groudon!"

"For Groudon!" Tabitha replied with a nod.

"Uh..." the other scientist began. "I saw this film, once, and a helicopter tried to get away from a volcanic eruption but couldn't."

"Propaganda," Tabitha dismissed.

He frowned. "Where is that meteorite?"


"Good work!" Matt said, holding the meteorite up. "Now all we needs to do is set the machine goin', and then get the charges ready!"

"Charges?" someone asked.

"Why, it be simple!" Matt told him. "We needs to start it rainin', extinguish Mt. Chimney, and then fill the caldera with water... then blow the side off the mountain! Down goes the water, an' washes Mauville out to sea!"

"Cool!" someone said.

"Isn't it just," Matt chuckled. "Now, where's that machine..."

"Sir!" called a grunt. "Magma's set up a machine too!"

"Landlubberly copycats!"

With a sigh, the Admin gestured. "Right, let's go stop 'em!"


"It's not like anyone can even get up here," the grunt muttered, looking again at the destroyed winch mechanism. "And if they did have a Flying-type, why'd they come here?"

He glanced down at his Houndour, who shrugged.

Then a squeaky voice came from behind him. Startled, he looked – and saw nothing.

His Houndour blinked, and barked something that sounded like a confirmation.

"What is it, boy?" the grunt asked, crouching down to the Fire-type.

Something tapped him on the shoulder.

"What?" he asked, looking, and Blaziken punched him.


"Hey!" Houndour said, growling, as Blaziken eased the unconscious Magma agent down. "That was my trainer! You hurt my trainer!"

"Your trainer nearly killed my brother," May replied, sliding down from Latias' back.

Houndour's eyes widened, and he whined. "...really? But... it wasn't supposed to hurt anyone..."

"You do realize that Team Magma's trying to make the volcano erupt, right?" Brock asked.

Houndour looked confused. "But... that shouldn't hurt anyone... I mean, lava's kind of warm and sticky, but it's not really dangerous..."

"I see," Blaziken said solemnly. "Do you know that not all Pokémon have Flash Fire?"

"They don't?"

Keldeo landed in a clatter of hooves, and Absol jumped gratefully down from his back.

"What now?" Ash asked, as Pidgeot landed with the rest of them on the lip of the volcano peak.

"I'm not sure..." Brock frowned. "I-"

He stopped, and his gaze turned to look back the way they'd come.

"Why is there an Octillery on Max's face?"

Delta's fins worked frantically as he steered towards a landing, and flopped down with a last-minute burst of Surf to help the landing go smoothly.

"I don't think I can carry you a very long way..." he said, panting.

May hurried over and helped to pull the Octillery off her brothers' face. "Where did this come from?"

"Mffmfff – ah!" Max gasped as the Pokémon finally popped off. "I don't know! It was in my bag!"

"Wait..." Brock frowned. "Don't Mantyke need Remoraid to evolve into Mantine? Maybe that's... why..."

The Octillery launched itself out of May's grasp and began hurrying across the battlefield at speed, heading for some intense fighting going on between Magma and Aqua agents.

"Well, now we know where Jirachi got it from," Brock observed.

Oh, yeah, I guess that must be what happened!

Distantly, the Octillery fired into the combat – knocking a Growlithe off a Luvdisc, by the looks of it.

"It looks like the best thing is if I just go after that Meteorite!" Ash decided. "Anyone got any reasons that might not work?"

None were forthcoming, though Lucario did arrive a few seconds later.

"That run was bracing," he said.

After a few more seconds, Pidgeot took off with Ash in a rush of wind, and Latias followed her to help out where she could.


"This crazy scheme of yours be flawed in all kinds o' ways!" Matt said. "How exactly do y' plan to stop the eruption flattenin' Mauville?"

"Well... we don't?" Tabitha replied, as their Pokémon faced off.

Carracosta and Camerupt slammed heavy physical blows into one another, neither making much impression on the other.

"Sacrifices must be made," Tabitha went on.

"But ain't your plan t' make more land for humans?"

"You're one to talk," Tabitha said, shaking his head. "Won't all the silt make it much harder for Pokémon to live in the bays?"

Matt shrugged. "There's Barboach too."

"Anyway!" Tabitha went on. "Now!"

A Honchkrow snagged the Meteorite from Matt's hand, avoided the attacks from his Golbat, and deposited it in Tabitha's own hand.

"Now that I have the meteorite, I can-"

A brown-cream blur shot past, and Tabitha didn't have the meteorite any more.

"...what just-" Matt asked, blinking, and looked.

Out over the magma, Pidgeot slowed to an easy, stiff-winged hover in the updrafts from the lava lake.

Ash waved, and put the Meteorite in his bag.

"...well, that's annoying," Tabitha sighed. "At least I still have the machine..."

There was a whoomp.

"Some scurvy invisible Pokémon just tipped it in the lava," Matt supplied helpfully. "An' now it's doin' the same with mine."

Tabitha rubbed his temples. "Right. Retreat!"

"Don't mind if I do!" Matt agreed, and both ran for their helicopters.


"Well, I guess they got away," Max said. "Some of them, anyway."

"Yeah," Brock agreed, looking at the half-dozen or so team members from each faction who hadn't managed to make the helicopters.

In at least one case that had been because Mega Steelix had physically interposed himself, and in two more Geodude had built hasty prisons out of earth-manipulation.

May was frowning. "Did either of you see the Aqua agents protecting their helicopter?"

"No," Brock said. "I was focused on Magma."

"I didn't see anything," Max said. "Why?"

"Oh, just... one of them looked familiar," May shrugged. "Not sure why, I certainly didn't recognize the Pokémon..."


Several minutes later, the police finally arrived.

"Hi!" the head Jenny said, wincing, as she slid off the back of the Pokémon she was riding. "Sorry about the delay – the cable car was cut..."

"Yeah," May agreed. "We were in it."

She gaped. "But – how did you..."

"Lucario has very fast reactions, and we had just enough flying Pokémon," Ash told her. "Good thing you had some Dodrio, though."

"Yeah, they're my sisters'," the Jenny said, indicating another one of the police officers. "She has five – they ran straight up the side of the volcano!"

"Impressive," Lucario noted. "Incidentally, there's some prisoners over there."

"Oh, that's good," the officer smiled. "I wondered whether they'd all got away."

"At least half of them did," Brock told her. "Some heavy lift helicopters left before we could stop them."

"Well, you did your best," the Jenny smiled. "So... hm."

She turned. "Hey, sis! You got a Wailord too? We've got a lot of prisoners to transport!"

"Give me a minute!" the sister called back, giving one of the Dodrio a rub. "I'll call in a chopper!"

"Right!"

Turning back, the Jenny smiled. "Sorry about that..."

"No problem," Brock assured her. "What's going to happen to the Pokémon?"

"Well, we usually try to rehabilitate them," she told him. "The service can assimilate a few Fire-types fairly easily, we have some good trainers back at the main station... as for the others, well, it was Team Magma and Team Aqua?"

Ash nodded.

"Hm, they don't usually work together..."

"No, they turned up at the same time by coincidence," Max said. "I think."

"That does explain it," she nodded. "Well, that means there's Fire-types, Water-types and Dark-types... well, I'm pretty sure that Wallace can help to handle the Water-types, and Sidney's always a good help with Dark-types."

"It sounds like you've got it under control," Ash said. "We know someone in the Elite Four up in Kanto and Johto, but if you don't need their help with the Water-types that's fine."

The policewoman nodded, and turned to get to work – then frowned.

"Is that one of theirs you missed?"

Ash looked over. "The Corphish? No, he's mine."

He took out the Pokéball, and returned Corphish from the middle of his circle of defeated enemy Pokémon.

"That crawfish has a lot of anger to work out," Pikachu observed.


A few minutes after that, as the friends were preparing to fly back down the mountain to Lavaridge, another of the policewomen approached them.

"Excuse me?" she asked. "Well... I was wondering. How many Legendaries were there here?"

"Three," Ash told her. "Jirachi, Latias and Keldeo."

"Thank you," the Jenny smiled. "We've been asked to keep track, when you're around..."

"Well, I guess it's one kind of reputation," Brock chuckled.


That sounds pretty dangerous, Latios sent to his sister.

She smiled, amusement coming across their bond. It's okay, really... they never even saw me until I wanted them to.

I know. And I know you're so much stronger than you were a couple of months ago. Just... stay safe, Latias, Latios said softly.

I will, brother, she replied. And you. Fly safe.

The mental link faded, and Latios let out a happy sigh.

It was good that his sister was okay, even after a run in with a volcano...

He had to admit, these days it really felt like they were legendaries. They did heroic things, saved people, and fought powerful enemies.

It felt good. And the Soul Dew was still as safe as ever.

"Hey, Latias?" a voice asked, faintly.

Latios was instantly on guard. That wasn't Bianca, or Misty – so it had to be an intruder.

He whirled, cloaking, and began to store power as a prelude to an attack. After last time, Latios refused to be caught by surprise in his own home!

A woman stepped through the shimmering veil, and Latios readied himself to pounce.

Then a Latias drifted through the portal behind her.

Latios did the psychic equivalent of a spit-take, and blew a divot out of the grass.

"What was that?" the Latias asked, zooming down to hover protectively in front of the human. "Who's there? Latias, are you okay?"

"What do you mean?" Latios asked, moving to a new position. "What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here? I'm visiting a friend – what are you doing here?"

"This is my home!"

"What's going on, Latias?" the human asked, baffled.

Latios heard a giggle through his link with his sister. Oh, yeah... I forgot to mention my new friend. She's a Latias!

Sister, how could you forget this? Latios demanded, gesticulating.

He missed the approach of the other Latias until she barely avoided bumping into him.

"That's where you are!" she said, poking him, and his cloak dropped from sheer surprise.

"...oh, so you're Latias' brother!" she added. "Nice to meet you!"

"Uh, nice to meet you," Latios replied. "She told you about me?"

"Well, yeah!" the Latias said.

"She didn't tell me about you..."

"I can't understand you, you know!" the human called. "Why don't you two come down here so I can at least pretend I know what's going on?"

"Sorry!" Latias called, zooming back to her trainer.

Somewhat confused, Latios followed.

Stop giggling, please, he asked his sister.


"You've got a what?" Gary asked, yawning.

"A meteorite!" Ash repeated, holding it up to Dexter's camera.

"And why are you showing me at four in the morning?" Gary pressed.

"Four in the – whoops," Ash winced. "Sorry, Gary, I keep forgetting about the time difference..."

"Right," Gary said, and yawned again.

"Look," he sighed, once his yawn was over. "Meteorites might be interesting, but as far as I know they don't do anything special. I'll send you some papers about it later this morning."

"Okay, no need for that," Ash protested. "Thanks anyway, Gary. Sleep well!"

Dee ended the call, and Gary lay back in bed.

Three seconds later he bolted upright.


"Well, it was worth a-" Ash began.

Incoming call, Dexter announced. It's Dee again.

"...what, already?" Max blinked.

Ash hit the answer button.

"Why didn't you tell me you had an Absol!?" Gary demanded, sounding very awake now.

"...pardon?" Ash asked weakly.

Behind him, Absol waved – having just worked out she was in view of the camera.

"Ash, I've had an Absolite for over a year!" Gary told him. "I told you about it! How come you haven't-"

"I forgot!" Ash protested.

"How can you forget something like that?"

"I'm not the geologist!"

Absol raised a paw. "...does this mean that I might be able to Mega Evolve?"

"I guess it might," Brock said.


Ritchie Getem walked out of the Pokémon Centre, and smelled the sea air.

"Pacifidlog is a pretty cool place," he said.

"Yeah!" Sparky agreed, bounding along behind with his long tail lashing. "I never knew you could have a floating town!"

Ritchie nodded.

"Oh, I was thinking we should do Brawly next," he added. "Any thoughts?"

"I guess that Cid gets to do most of the fighting?" Sparky asked.

"Well..." Ritchie shrugged. "Don't most of you have psychic powers? Any of you would be pretty good..."

"Yeah, but he's really good at it," Sparky shrugged. "I guess maybe Fortune could have the other half of the battle, though..."

"That sounds like a plan," Ritchie agreed, as they walked along the wooden walkways between one raft and the next.

It was pretty deserted, this time of day – everyone was having lunch, which was fine by Ritchie.

He looked up. "So... hm, wonder what's the best way to get there?"

Sparky thought about it too.

"You could just-"

The air tore open in front of them with a shimmer of green light, and Ritchie threw up a hand reflexively.

As he lowered it, he couldn't help but stare.

"What the heck?" Sparky asked. "Celebi?"

"Oh, so this is where you are!" Celebi said, hands on hips.

"What?" Ritchie asked, confused. "Why shouldn't we be?"

"You're due in Marion Town!" Celebi informed them. "Yesterday. And yes, that's literally the day before this one!"

Ritchie blinked, nonplussed. "Where's Marion Town?"

"Johto!" Celebi informed him, and her hands began to glow. "Don't worry, you'll be back here in time to do whatever it was you were going to."

"Don't we get a say in this?" Sparky asked plaintively.

"Nope!" Celebi smiled, and they vanished.


Ritchie landed behind a tree, inside what looked like quite a big city.

"Okay, what's the big idea?" he asked, looking around – and seeing no Celebi.

"Ritchie?" Sparky asked. "Do you have any idea what's going on?"

"Not really," Ritchie admitted.

"Oh. What a pity..."

Ritchie chuckled at Sparky's tone of voice, then frowned.

"Did you hear that?"


They looked around the tree.

"You can't destroy the Pokémon Centre!" an elderly woman said, standing in front of a bulldozer. "It's a historical site!"

"It's on prime land," someone in a hard hat replied. "I'm sorry, ma'am, but there's not enough Pokémon Centres in the city to serve it – even with the other one much newer than this old relic – and the new designs would let this one take up the slack."

Trainer and Raichu exchanged glances.

"This is private property!" said a younger woman. "Part owned by our family. You can't demolish it!"

The hard-hatted man sighed.

"Right, if you're going to make this difficult... I'll go get the compulsory purchase order and come back tomorrow."

"No!" the older woman gasped – she looked like a Joy, as did the younger one. "This has been my home for decades!"

"I'm sorry," the foreman said, sounding like he meant it. "If it matters, I made sure you got a good price – very good."

He waved his hand. "Okay, everyone! Leave the dozers outside the grounds, we'll come back tomorrow. It's nearly the end of the day anyway..."

At that comment, Ritchie blinked – and looked skywards.

The sun was sinking below the horizon.

But... it had been lunch back in Pacifidlog...

Oh, yeah... Celebi did say we were needed yesterday...


"This used to be such a nice little town," the old woman said, emphasizing the little. "But poor Marion has lost its history as it grew. Now people care more about building better buildings than they do taking care of the past!"

"It's not the Johto way," her granddaughter said. "We like to hang onto the past – it's important to remember where we came from."

"I agree," Ritchie nodded. "This building looks like a real treasure – it could be a museum."

"We tried applying," the younger Joy told him. "But the Mayor wouldn't have any of it."

Ritchie winced.

The girl looked over at her elderly relative. "Grandmother?"

"Sorry, love," she apologized. "Just lost in memories... back when this building was opened. When my dear friend Nick died in a landslide... it put a terribly sad face on the proceedings, but at the same time – well, it means this building's the main way I remember him."

She sighed. "It's a pity he didn't come to my party – he might have survived."

Ritchie exchanged a look with Sparky. Now that sounded potentially significant.


That night, Ritchie found himself unable to sleep.

If he'd been brought here to help with the Pokémon Centre... then how could he do what he was supposed to?

Would he have to speak to the mayor? Argue passionately about the value of the past?

This was much simpler when we were up in Almia...

"Hey!"

Ritchie sat up. "Wha-?"

"Sssh!" Celebi said, putting her finger to her lips, and Ritchie obediently shushed. "Get your Pokémon, we've got to be quick."

Not willing to argue with the Psychic-type Legendary, Ritchie shook his Raichu awake and grabbed his belt before following Celebi.


Celebi led him downstairs, into the main room, and then pulled open a drawer on a dresser.

"We're having to do this really quickly, since you're already time-displaced just to be here," she told him. "See this?"

Ritchie caught the carving she threw him. "This... is a Celebi?"

"And a pretty good one, too..." Sparky said, admiring it.

"Good."

A flash of green light, and they vanished.


This time, Ritchie materialized into the middle of a thunderstorm.

"Agh!" he said, startled, and then began projecting a weak psionic shield to make the rain slide off him. "What's the big idea?"

"I said we were in a hurry!" Celebi told him. "There's an unconscious Joy – it's the one you met today – near one of my shrines just that way. Chop chop!"

She vanished in a twinkle of light.

"...okay," Sparky blinked.

Ritchie sent out his Gallade. "Cid, can you tell if there's anyone around here? Any humans?"

"Two", Cid told him without preamble. "One over there – and one approaching quickly from that direction. On a Ponyta."

"We'd better get to that Joy," Ritchie decided. "Lead the way!"


Fortunately, there was only a short way to go before they found the Joy in question – clearly the (much) younger version of the elderly woman they'd met in the Pokémon Centre.

"How is she?" Ritchie asked, glancing up at Cid. "You can tell this stuff, right?"

Cid nodded, and bent down. His hand hovered just over her forehead, and a flicker of light played over it for a moment.

"She's okay, just out cold," Cid reported.

"So, I guess Celebi was right," Ritchie agreed. "What do we do now?"

Sparky shrugged. "Make sure she's okay – whoah!"

His cheeks sparkled, and he fired a blast of electricity to the sky.

Ritchie tracked it, and watched as the Thunder attack batted away an incoming lightning bolt.

"Where was that going?" he asked, blinking away the flash.

"I'm pretty sure it was about to hit that guy Cid sensed," Sparky explained.

A few seconds later, a Ponyta cantered into the clearing with a young man on her back.

"Whoa!" the boy called, and the Fire-type halted in a shower of sparks from her hooves.

"Is she here?" he asked, sliding down from Ponyta's back and recalling her. "Have you seen Joy?"

"She's right here!" Ritchie replied.

Diving past Ritchie into the shelter of the copse around Celebi's shrine, he crouched down and examined her.

"Good," he said, feeling her forehead. "She seems fine."

"Yeah, we thought so," Ritchie confirmed. "My Gallade checked."

"He did? Thank goodness – oh, sorry, I don't know your name."

"Ritchie," Ritchie said. "What's yours?"

"Nick," the boy replied. "We – my father and I – we travel around quite a lot, but we've been in Marion Town for longer than usual..."

"Right," Ritchie agreed. "I get what you-"

Sparky sent another bolt of lightning skywards.

"That one could have set the copse on fire!" Sparky told him, glancing over his shoulder. "The trees here are too tall, they're attracting all the lightning!"

"We've got to get to safety," Ritchie said. "Can we-"

"She'd never leave the shrine!" Nick replied. "It's her favourite thing in the world – I'll do anything to protect it for her!"

There was the ionic crackle of a Thunderbolt from Sparky, and a moment later Cid's arm-blade snapped up to block a second bolt.

"It's getting worse," he said, clinically. "Now would be a very good time to leave."

Joy's eyes fluttered open.

"Nick?" she asked, then shook her head and became more alert. "Wait – what's-"

Cracka-cracka-BOOM!

"Sparky!" Ritchie called, looking up.

"I missed one!"Sparky told him, sounding panicked. "The tree's on fire!"

Then Celebi appeared in a flash of green light, spreading her arms, and a green glow enveloped the shrine – and, as the chunks of flaming tree came crashing down, they hit the shield and skittered off.

"Celebi," Joy said, softly. "I... wow."

Celebi turned her head slightly and winked at Ritchie.


"I'm decided," the Joy said, once the danger had passed and the storm was subsiding. "I'm going to stay here and become a proper nurse!"

"Sounds like a plan," Nick agreed, before sighing. "It's a pity you can't come with me, though..."

Joy blushed.

"Hmmm..." Sparky said, softly. "So that's not what we came back here to change... I wonder what was?"

"You'll find out!"

"Wait-" Ritchie tried to say, but another green flash whipped them away again.

"What was that?" Joy asked, looking around. "Huh. He left."

"Wonder why?" Nick frowned.


Ritchie, Cid, Sparky and Celebi appeared on a dusty track, still soaked from the rain.

"-what... are you..." Ritchie began, and sighed. "I was going to ask what it is you want us to do..."

"Oh, you're nearly there," Celebi told him.

Another Celebi flew overhead, and dropped a wooden carving.

"Ah, that's right!" Celebi said, and vanished.

The one who'd dropped the carving flew down to them. "Now, you need to get Nick to go back and give this to Joy."

"But..." Ritchie pointed at where the Celebi had been, then at the Celebi floating down to them, and then at the wooden Celebi carving she'd dropped. "Where'd the other one go?"

"I'm the other one, just on the other side of two very short time-space jumps," Celebi said. "You get the hang of it eventually."

A shrug. "Or go nuts. Either or."

"I really hope my own preferred Legendary is more sensible than this," Sparky muttered.

"Oh, I can tell you! Who is it?" Celebi asked, lying back on thin air.

"Well... I kind of like Thundurus..."

Celebi pursed her lips and waved a hand. "Eh, depends which one. Anyway, you'd better get going!"

She pointed. "They went thataway! Hurry!"

With that, Celebi vanished. Again.

"Fortune!" Ritchie called, releasing his Rapidash. "We'd better hurry!"

Sparky jumped up onto Fortune's croup as Ritchie returned Cid. "Right, let's go!"


With the powerful Fire-type's help, they sped down the track at a brisk pace.

"You're damp," Fortune complained as his legs ate up the distance.

"We were in a thunderstorm five minutes ago," Ritchie explained. "Wait – there they are!"

He tapped Fortune's mane, and the Rapidash slowed to a canter and then a trot as they came up to the two travellers and their Tauros cart.

"Nick!" he said, waving.

"Aren't you that kid from last night?" Nick asked, frowning. "Ritchie? Wait... your clothes are still wet. How's that-"

Ritchie tossed the carving to Nick. "Here!"

Nick caught it, and turned it over slowly. "This is the Celebi carving I made Joy..."

"And you should go back and give it to her!" Ritchie told him.

"I should?" Nick repeated. "But... we're already on the road... I don't understand..."

"If you walk away from her you'll be making the biggest mistake of your life," Ritchie said. "So don't! You should-"

The ground trembled.

"What was that?" Nick's father asked, looking around as the shaking increased in strength.

"Up there!" Nick gasped. "Landslide!"

Nick's father pulled his son onto the back of the Tauros, and cut the reins connecting him to the cart. "Run, boy!"

Ritchie could see at a glance that they weren't going to make it. Not quite.

That decides things, then.

He grabbed at his belt, releasing all the Pokémon he had on hand. "Zippo, Cid, Rose, Cruise, do something about this landslide!"

Zippo roared, wings hammering, and charged up-slope. Picking one of the bigger boulders on the right-hand edge of the slide, he slammed an Iron Tail into it and made it shatter into pieces.

Cid ran up behind, blades glowing, and slashed at another boulder, and Cruise projected himself forwards in a blast of compressed air.

The Pupitar dodged away from a small rock, matched speeds with a large one, and began to push it to the side.

Rose – being a Taillow – mainly provided moral support.

And Fortune galloped up behind the Tauros, and began shoving him forwards with powerful pushes of his muzzle. The shock of the flame scared the Tauros even more than the oncoming landslide, and he found an extra gear somewhere.

They ran for perhaps twenty seconds. Then there was a roar, and dust, and a shower of gravel and larger stones.


When the dust settled, both Nick and his father – and their Tauros – and Ritchie and Fortune were, somehow, safe.

"That was close..." Nick said, sounding deeply shocked. "If we hadn't had you here..."

He touched the Celebi carving. "I guess – wait!"

Turning, he looked back at the huge pile of rocks. "All our things were in that cart..."

"Any Pokémon?" Ritchie asked.

"No, Ponyta's here, and..." Nick sighed.

"We're ruined," his father commented. "I don't know what we'll do now..."

"Wait!" Nick said, filled with a sudden hope. "We can ask Joy for help! She wouldn't let us down!"

He turned. "Thank you for the help, Rit...chie?"

The young trainer was nowhere in sight.


"There we go!" Celebi said, smugly, as Cruise and Zippo popped in. "Got all of them! Good work, by the way!"

"So, I guess we did what we had to?" Ritchie asked, looking around at their latest landing spot. "I guess we're back in the present?"

"Nearly!" Celebi winked. "Look over there!"

Ritchie did.

He saw a little presentation ceremony taking place, complete with ribbon and big scissors.

"And it gives me great pleasure, as Mayor of Marion Town," an elderly man was saying, "to formally open this museum of Marion Town Life!"

"This is Marion Town in the present?" Ritchie asked, startled.

He looked around.

No skyscrapers in sight. Just a sprawl of landscape and traditional Johto small-town buildings.

"And," the mayor went on – in front of what looked a lot like the same Pokémon Centre from before, now Ritchie looked – "to name as the curator – my wife!"

Ritchie stared. "That's the Joy we met – so that must be Nick!"

"Like I say, good job!" Celebi nodded. "Now, back to Pacifidlog!"

Another green flash, and they were gone.


"...well, that was... different?" Ritchie asked, some minutes later.

"Yeah," Sparky agreed.

The trainer frowned suddenly, and sighed. "Oh, no – I should have asked her to drop us off in Dewford!"


AN:


The Meteorite Thing.

Also some other stuff, like Ritchie showing up again, or Latias meeting Latios.

(They can't all be two-chapter double-bills.)