Taking small steps out of the Mauville Gym after his defeat, the young trainer instantly headed to the Pokémon Centre to heal his Pokémon. He took out his phone and scrolled through his contacts until it settled on one name. Debating whether to actually go through with the phone call took him more time than he thought and soon found himself outside the Pokémon Centre.
He closed his phone and quickly went to the front desk.
"Nurse Joy, can you heal my Pokémon?" He asked. "They took a beating at the Gym."
Nurse Joy smiled. "Of course I can."
"When my Sableye's healed, is there any chance I could get it right away? This was its first battle."
"Certainly." She replied. "If I might ask, how did Sableye get defeated anyway?"
"Wattson's Voltorb used Rollout and got a lucky hit." He sighed.
"Well, I'll see what I can do." She smiled as she took away his Pokémon.
He turned his head and looked around the centre. He was about to use the phone to call home when he saw a passing Chansey with a nurses hat on and approached it, asking if there was a large area of water for him to visit.
Chansey kindly showed him the pool area and luckily for him, it was large enough for the Pokémon he wanted and he was close enough that he could hear if Nurse Joy called him.
Holding out a Premier Ball, which was coloured all white with a red band around the middle, he pressed the button and a white light shot into the pool, and with a few sparkles, a sizeable light purple Pokémon emerged from the water and looked at his trainer. The Pokémon made a questioning sound.
"We lost." he answered. "Shedinja was caught by a Rollout and it just fell apart from there." The Pokémon sunk slightly. "Don't worry Wailmer. We'll think of something. Maybe find a way for Shedinja to learn Protect or something. This is nothing compared to what I had to go through when I was younger."
The young boy thought back to his travels. When he travelled with his sister, who had chosen a Torchic as her starter Pokémon. Despite what he wanted to deny, he knew that when he was younger, he thought he knew everything. But thanks to the small group he travelled with, he learned more about Pokémon than he thought was possible.
When it was time for him to start his journey, in homage to his surrogate brother, he chose the Wood Gecko Pokémon; Treecko.
Before challenging his first Gym, he trained for a day with his Treecko, resulting in her evolution into Grovyle. It was also a double blessing since after Treecko evolved, he saw a Nincada evolve, leaving behind its shell which took on life as a Shedinja which happily decided to travel with him. After a quick Dig attack, Shedinja won the final battle, rewarding a Stone Badge from Roxanne.
After winning his second badge at the Dewford Town Gym, he decided to train in Granite Cave where a Sableye had taken a liking to him. After a quick battle with Grovyle, Sableye was caught and instantly formed a friendship with Shedinja.
Travelling from Slateport City to Mauville, the young trainer had found a Wailmer in trouble. Since he couldn't think about what to do in the moment, he offered to take him to a Pokémon Centre to make him better. The only problem was that the easiest way to carry him was to capture him; with a promise to release the Wailmer afterwards.
As it happened, after healing, Wailmer had decided to stay for a while. And now here he was, waiting for his Pokémon to be healed.
"Excuse me? Max?" a voice interrupted his thoughts.
He turned around. "Yes Nurse Joy?"
"It turns out your Pokémon just needed a few potions with a Leppa Berry drink." Nurse Joy answered, handing back the Poké balls on a tray.
"Thank you." Max nodded.
Nurse Joy bowed her head and went back to her job. Max looked around and knowing there was enough space, let out his other three Pokémon.
Grovyle rubbed the back of her head while Sableye just sat down. Since Shedinja was literally just a shell, to show any emotion, Max had to know Shedinja. Since Shedinja tilted forward and sunk down, he knew that Shedinja was a little upset.
"Don't worry about it." Max smiled at his Pokémon. "We were bound to have a defeat like this at some time. It's just a learning curve."
His Pokémon seemed to brighten up at this. He let them stay around the pool for a little relaxation while he went to use the phone.
He quickly put in a number without even thinking and waited for her to answer. The screen lit up as a friendly face smiled at him.
"Max? What's going on?"
"I took my first Gym loss." He replied. "Just felt like I needed one of your pep talks."
"How can my pep talks help?" she wondered.
"Well, your advice helped me when I started."
The girl sighed and shook her head as a small light-blue Pokémon poked its head into the screen. "Out of the way Glaceon." She laughed slightly. "I was in the middle of brushing."
"Sorry May."
"Don't worry about it." May waved him off. "I asked Glaceon before I answered. How's Grovyle and Shedinja?"
"They're fine. I caught a Sableye and a Wailmer since we last talked." Max smiled. "Sableye and Shedinja seem to have a quick bond formed."
"Well, they are both part Ghost Type." May joked. "That's bound to bond them. So how bad did you lose?"
"Shedinja got hit by a Rollout and it just got stronger from there." Max answered. "I hoped Grovyle could defeat Voltorb but she was already tired from beating Wattson's Manectric."
"And you obviously didn't use Wailmer?" May asked unnecessarily.
"Type disadvantage." Max nodded.
"Look Max, there's nothing I can say that you probably don't already know. You know how I take defeat. I'm sure you remember how Ash took defeat, so just find out how you take defeat."
Max smiled. "Where are you anyway? What's with the pool?"
"I just came out here to give Wartortle a little exercise. Did you say you caught a Wailmer and lost against Wattson? He's the Mauville Gym Leader. Right?"
"Yes. Why?"
May gave him a knowing smile. "Well, you never said he was a shiny Wailmer." The image spun around, showing a surprised Max, his own Wailmer using an Aqua Ring which captured Shedinja's Silver Wind and made the thin rings of water sparkle and completely cover Wailmer but it was thin enough to see Wailmer and make it look like he was sparkling.
Max turned around and saw a familiar Wartortle playing with his Wailmer. He put the phone down and walked outside.
Grovyle quickly went to her trainer and pointed to Wartortle. Max walked to Wartortle and cleared his throat. Wartortle turned around and tilted its head. He knelt down and held out his hand. Wartortle sniffed his hand and looked at Max's face again.
"Yes Wartortle. You do know me." Max smiled. "It's Max. May's sister."
Wartortle smiled and waved before swimming back to Wailmer. Max turned around and looked around the pool. Even though he couldn't see May herself, he immediately walked towards the Venusaur resting by a Blaziken with its eyes closed.
Sensing an approach, Blaziken opened an eye and looked at him. Blaziken nodded and Max gave a small wave. Venusaur produced a vine and pointed it ahead of herself. Max looked where Venusaur was pointing and saw May brushing her Glaceon's fur.
"What are you doing here in Hoenn?" Max asked. "I thought you were going to try to get to Unova."
"I was." May answered. "But I wanted to have a little visit home."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Max asked his older sister.
May looked at her brother. "Well, I didn't know where you'd be. You could have easily been at Fallarbor Town or something."
"You still could have called. I would have come to see you." Max told her.
May nodded, patting Glaceon to signal the end of the grooming session. Glaceon walked to the pool edge as May put away her grooming kit. "And that's why I didn't tell you. You have your own journey to take and you can't stop just because your sister's back in the region."
Max understood instantly. It was true, but he still wanted to see his sister in person rather than just a few phone calls.
"What's happening over there?" May asked, noticing several people gathering in the Centre.
The two siblings walked into the Centre and joined the crowd. "What's going on?"
"A Pokémon Centre was blown up." A trainer told them. "Somewhere called Pewter City in Kanto."
May and Max tensed and looked at each other. They instantly recognised the name of Pewter City. They remembered it as being Brock's hometown.
"Do you remember his number?" Max asked his sister.
"It's on my speed dial." May said, handing Max her Poké balls. "Can you get my Pokémon?"
Max instantly nodded and took the four balls. He easily found Venusaur and Blaziken again and explained to them what was happening.
Wartortle was a little harder to convince but with help from Glaceon, Max was able to get Wartortle back into the ball.
Once he easily gathered his Pokémon, he returned to his sister. "Any luck?"
May shook her head. "He's not answering."
"Come on." Max said. "We'll get to Slateport City and we'll get a ferry to Kanto."
"It took us several days to get from there to here." May reminded him. "And you want us to get there instantly?"
Max smiled. "Not walking."
Arriving at the Mauville City border, Max showed May his idea. The Cycling Path. May looked at Max and smiled. Now she knew why he was the smarter sibling. But she'd never admit to that out loud.
One hour later, and they left their rental bikes at the Slateport side Cycling Path.
They rushed into Slateport City and quickly found the Ferry Terminal. May looked at a nearby timetable, seeing the next ferry to Kanto wasn't until the next day.
"What are we going to do Max?"
"We have to do something May." Max told her. "Try phoning Brock again."
"It keeps going to voicemail." May sighed. "He must have turned his phone off or something."
Max ran through his head for any ideas that may be useful. None of the Pokémon they had between them could fly them to Kanto. Even if they were large enough, the trip would tire them out long before they even reached Kanto's borders.
May looked at her brother. "Hey Max, could Wailmer take us part of the way by sea?"
Max shook his head. "I doubt it. Besides, he's just a recent capture. I don't even know his strengths really. I was going to work with him after I left the Pokémon Centre to help train my other Pokémon."
"All right everybody!" called a voice. "Nobody move."
May and Max turned around at the gruff call and looked through the crowd to see two men and two women in dark coloured uniforms. An elderly man in a purple robe that resembled a winter coat stepped forward and addressed the crowd on a wooden platform.
"Attention citizens of Slateport City. I bring you…a chance to redeem yourselves."
"What do you think he means?" May whispered.
"You have enslaved Pokémon for your own benefits." The man announced. "We simply ask you to release your Pokémon so they may have the freedom that has been unnecessarily taken from them."
The crowd began to murmur amongst themselves. May and Max were surprised to hear that some of the trainers were even thinking that they had forcibly enslaved their Pokémon.
"You don't think that for a second do you May?" Max questioned his sister.
May shook her head. "No way. If I thought for a second my friends weren't happy, I'd ask them about it."
Max nodded. "Same here. I even told Wailmer after he was healed, I'd release him if he wanted, but he wanted to stay with me."
"So I ask any and all trainers here today to release their Pokémon from their enforced confinement and be selfless in this decision." The elderly man requested.
Everyone hesitated, no-one wanting to release their Pokémon. Even if it was selfishness on their part.
There were a few gasps from the crowd as a trainer in his early teens stepped forward, holding a Poké ball. Another trainer rushed forward and grabbed the other trainer's arm. "Dude, what are you doing? You spent two months finding Solrock."
"I know." He said, throwing the ball into the air. His Solrock appeared in a flash of white light.
The speaker instantly frowned. "That was not the light of release."
"No it wasn't." came the reply. "There's no way I'm going to listen to someone from Team Plasma."
"Team Plasma?" the man questioned. "What is Team Plasma?"
"Give it up. I've got a cousin from Unova. Solrock, use Psychic!"
"The Pokémon shall be freed! So says Zinzolin of Plasma!" he called, throwing a Poké ball into the air. "Cryogonal! Solar Beam!"
A Pokémon resembling a snowflake with blue beads appeared and due to the sunny weather, Cryogonal's Solar Beam did not need time to charge. A beam of green and white energy erupted and shot to Solrock.
A second beam of white light intercepted the attack, the light washing over Solrock. Zinzolin gasped in shock. The light faded, revealing a Shedinja guarding Solrock. A stream of twirling fire erupted from the crowd and struck Cryogonal, instantly defeating it.
"Who did that?" Zinzolin demanded. Blaziken emerged from the crowd alongside May. Max stood bravely beside her. "And who are you two?"
"We're the ones who are going to stop you here and now." May confidently announced.
"You're a confident welp, aren't you?" Zinzolin asked.
"What can I say?" May asked, smirking. "I've fought people worse than you."
"But can you fight against Pokémon you haven't seen before?" Zinzolin smiled back. "Now!"
The men and women each threw three Poké balls, releasing six orange Pokémon with loose yellow skin on their legs resembling trousers and a red crest resembling a mohawk on their heads. Four of the other six Pokémon were two headed dragon Pokémon with dark fur covering most of their bodies. The remaining two looked like evolved versions of the two headed dragon Pokémon. These ones were floating in mid-air with bright red eyes and they both had a head for each claw.
"Max, what are those Pokémon?" May asked her brother.
"I don't know." Max said. "But I'd guess that they're dragon type."
May held up a Poké ball. "Then Glaceon is going to have to work hard." She threw the ball, releasing her ice-type. "Glaceon! Ice Beam!"
Glaceon sucked in some air and breathed out, releasing a bright blue beam of ice energy. Three of the orange Pokémon jumped in front of the assumed dragon Pokémon and created blue balls of energy. They threw the balls at Glaceon's Ice Beam, surpassing it in power and heading straight for Glaceon.
"Shedinja! Help Glaceon!" Max called.
Shedinja flew down to shield Glaceon but one of the flying dragons roared and fired a dark beam of interlacing circles.
"No!" May called.
Two metres before the beam would hit Shedinja, a pale pink wind intercepted the Dark Pulse, causing a small explosion but left Shedinja and Glaceon unharmed.
May and Max turned their heads, seeing a pink quadruped Pokémon with ribbons around its neck walking forward and standing by Glaceon's side.
"Who's that Pokémon?" Zinzolin asked, getting slightly annoyed at the interruptions.
"That would be my Sylveon." Said a sweet voice.
A girl around two years older than May stood in front of her and Max. "Now I don't know anything about Hoenn, but I'm sure that Scrafty, Zweilous and Hydreigon aren't native."
"So that's what they're called." May muttered.
"Sylveon! Use Fairy Wind!" the new girl called.
Sylveon's ribbons curled to its neck and immediately flicked out, releasing the same pink wind that stopped the Dark Pulse.
The wind tore past the Pokémon, dealing more damage than Max thought possible. The Team Plasma members stood in shock, trying to form words.
"Now, I suggest you leave before we get the police here."
Zinzolin lowered his head. "Perhaps we should depart. But first, Cryogonal! Haze!"
A second Cryogonal emerged from under Zinzolin's platform and created a large smokescreen. The smoke cleared, showing that the members of Team Plasma had disappeared.
"That was different." The girl smiled, turning towards May and Max. "Are your Pokémon alright?"
"Yes. Thank you." May smiled.
"How did your Pokémon defeat all those Pokémon with one move?" Max asked.
"Well, Sylveon is a Fairy Type Pokémon." The girl answered. "And Fairy Wind is a Fairy Type move that is strong against Dark, Dragon and Fighting Types. Just like those Scrafty, Zweilous and Hydreigon."
"Who are you?" May asked.
"My name is Serena."