Obligatory Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.
First, reviews.
Thank you for all of yours, J.F.C.! Hopefully I'll be able to continue as I have so far to inspire your comments. I didn't actually put Primeape into chapter nine, but rest assured that at least one of the two you mentioned will feature in the story later on. I won't say which one will play a prominent role just yet, though.
Thanks for catching the bit about Bayleef; it skipped my mind that I'd made the change to Ash's roster somehow, but I've edited the paragraph in chapter fifteen accordingly to put Bulbasaur in.
As for Jessie and James, I thought I'd give them a bit of a break from following Ash around partly for the reason that you offered, using the end of chapter eight to see them (and Meloetta) off – but I also thought that it would be good to add a little variety in the use of Team Rocket agents, given how little the anime seems to change things up. Team Rocket definitely has an important part to play in the rest of this story, so watch this space for more, I guess.
Again, thanks for all of your helpful comments and praise, I really do appreciate them all.
Second, for the purposes of the "timeline" I mentioned last time… This chapter (seventeen) takes place the same day as the end of chapter fifteen – effectively continuing on with the group's departure from Petalburg City. It therefore takes place in the second morning since Ash and Cynthia left Kanto for the other regions (at the end of chapter twelve), and coincides with the first proper day of the Kanto group's vacation – thus chronologically occurring four days before chapter sixteen.
(Ash, Cynthia, Hilda and May)
Ash was at first perplexed when Cynthia had directed the group eastwards through and out of Petalburg City. He had expected that that they would be returning to Rustboro City for their meeting with Wallace, which would require passing through the appropriate route and Petalburg Woods to get back to it. Instead, they left the city in the other direction, walking at a brisk pace to reach Oldale Town.
The Hoenn league apparently had a headquarters there, and so, given its comparative proximity to their previous location, it had been decided that their meeting should take place in the small checkpoint town.
Said revelation did at least make it clear to Ash how they would make it in time to see Wallace in less than one day of travel; the journey over the eastbound route could be completed in several hours, whereas heading towards Rustboro City had, as Ash recalled, taken several days on their first trek through the region.
Route one-oh-two – as everyone except for Hilda pronounced it, who drawled out the full "route one hundred and two" every time she said it – was unchanged from Ash's fleeting memory of its path.
The surrounding trees and shrubbery were clearly beginning to overgrow in the summer heat, and so he let out Bulbasaur to enjoy the fresh air. It trudged alongside them happily, vines swaying to-and-fro in the breeze as it held an extended conversation with Pikachu throughout the walk.
Bulbasaur's presence also sparked off another bout of excited behaviour from Hilda, and she recounted out loud what she knew of its performances in the Indigo and Johto leagues, snatching the opportunity to pick the Seed Pokémon up at one point and hug it, to its complete and utter bemusement.
May was tempted to reunite Bulbasaur with her Venasaur, but then she remembered just how much size her Pokémon had gained upon evolving, and thought better of the idea when she considered the narrowness of the open path through the trees.
They were halfway through the route when Ash finally realised that May had changed into a different outfit from the one that she had worn since visiting them in Sinnoh, an observation that she greeted with equal measures of delight and amusement.
She had opted for a blue and white variation on the clothes that she had donned throughout Hoenn and Kanto, once again wearing short sleeves and a bandana with one knot to the side.
Ash said that it suited her, noting that it matched the colour of her eyes. May blushed at the compliment, while Hilda glared daggers at her from behind.
All told, it only took the group two hours to reach Oldale Town. Cynthia led them to the Pokémon centre, and then directed them down a side street towards a shabby-looking building that, from outward appearance alone, seemed indistinguishable from any of its fellows.
"This is a Pokémon league building?" Ash looked dubiously at where Cynthia was pointing as she confidently walked towards it.
"They vary quite a lot." Cynthia replied. "You'd be surprised how many structures you've probably gone past that are actually owned by a regional league, when they just look like ordinary houses, shops or the like." She pushed the door open and beckoned them inside, then paused a moment to linger at the door, switching her gaze across the entirety of her field of vision before nodding to herself, satisfied that they were not being followed. "After you."
Despite how little they had been able to see of the interior from the outside, given the blinds that protected the few windows that adorned the walls, they were still caught by surprise at how bright it was in the reception area that they walked into. Ash in particular was caught unawares; given his similar experience of a league building in Sinnoh, he had expected to find similarly dimly-lit halls, and the brightly illuminated space jarred uncomfortably with his expectations.
In retrospect, it would have been wiser to have Cynthia enter first, as the trio were immediately accosted by the two security guards sitting at the desk inside, who were clearly eager for the distraction that their sudden arrival promised. Or any distraction at all, in fact.
"Halt! This is a Pokémon league operated building!" The first growled as he marched towards them.
"Access is restricted, and members of the public are not permitted on these premises." The other put in.
Evidently, neither recognised Hilda as Unova's champion; nor did they recognise Ash and May, not that it would have helped matters in this case.
"Hey, I'm the cha-" Hilda began, but her indignation was cut off by Cynthia's reappearance, chiefly heralded by the sound of her carefully closing the door behind her as she strode into the reception. The guards immediately snapped to attention, eyes facing straight forward.
"Champion Cynthia!"
"As you were; they're with me." She adopted the commanding tone that came so naturally to her once more. The guards stood at ease for a moment before backing away from the trio, seeming almost disappointed by the turn of events.
"Of course. We received advanced word of your arrival, ma'am."
"Is Wallace here yet?"
"Yes ma'am. He's waiting down the hall, in the first room on the right." The guard indicated through the doorway that he and his compatriot had the task of guarding.
"Thank you, that will be all."
"Yes ma'am." The guards resumed their posts. Cynthia walked up to the trio and motioned for them to wait.
"I haven't been very clear about the details of this meeting. For that, I apologise."
"Isn't it just us telling Wallace what happened?" Ash asked, his confusion emulated by both Hilda and May.
"Not just Wallace." Cynthia replied. "This is going to be more important than I've let on. From what he told me yesterday, Wallace has contacted as many champions and ex-champions as he has been able to overnight, and they will be in attendance via a communications satellite uplink."
"Hey, wait, I was standing right next to you when you were talking to Wallace yesterday, but I didn't know that." Hilda realised. "How'd he tell you without me hearing? Do you guys have some sort of secret code, or-"
"You were arguing with Zekrom at the time." Cynthia explained, now grinning.
"… Oh. Right."
The Sinnoh champion sighed, and then turned to regard May.
"May, I'm very sorry, but protocol dictates that those who have never held the rank of champion in any league are to be withheld permission to enter an official meeting of champions without an official vote taking place in said meeting first, and so-"
Oh boy. Ash winced. This isn't going to be pretty.
"You what?" May screeched, causing Hilda to jump back in shock. "You want me to wait outside?!"
Thought so.
Any lesser person might have withered under May's inevitable outrage, but the blonde champion was undaunted, and held her ground resolutely. Hilda recovered and simply shrugged at the other brunette's behaviour, walking through the doorway and into the hall ahead of them, apparently unconcerned that May could be forced to wait.
"Just for a little while." She adopted a soothing tone in an effort to placate the coordinator. "It won't be for long, I promise, and you won't exactly be alone either." She indicated the two security guards, one of whom had apparently fallen asleep by this point; the other was listening to their conversation unashamedly, but averted his gaze after accidentally catching May's eye and being subjected to a death glare.
"Well, this is just-"
"Wait, wait, hang on." Ash cut in, thinking that everyone was missing a rather obvious implication of Cynthia's "protocol". "You're forgetting about me, guys. I'm not a champion, so I can't go in without permission either. You won't be alone, May."
"Oh, right. Well, maybe it won't be so bad, then." May brightened up a little, but Cynthia shook her head.
"Ex-champions can enter freely too, Ash." She told him.
"How does that change anything? I've never been a champion."
Cynthia looked at him, bemused.
"Well, you defeated the Orange league champion, didn't you?"
"Well, yes, but… Wait, wait, wait, what?!" He stammered, having never thought about it like that before.
"Pika. Pika. Piiiii…" Pikachu looked at his trainer, dumbfounded and wearing an expression that screamed "even I knew that!".
"I didn't think… Nobody ever told me… I thought it was just like a conference… Uh…"
"Congratulations, Ash. You were a champion and you didn't even know it." She smirked as Ash stood there, gobsmacked, a million different thoughts and questions running through his head.
May's aggravation at the situation seemed to be returning, but her rage ended up being stymied by an interruption from one of the guards.
"Oh, ma'am, Wallace asked us to give you this when you arrived." He passed Cynthia a folded sheet of paper before returning to his desk.
Cynthia opened it, scanned it quickly, and then lightly smacked the palm of her hand against her forehead.
"Never mind what I said earlier, May. Looks like we're not adhering to protocol today."
"Huh?"
"Let's go." She moved behind the two trainers and began pushing them towards the inviting doorway. "This would've been helpful to know earlier." She muttered as they passed the guard, who lazily waved at them, uncaring. "Or he could've told me yesterday…"
Hilda was tapping her foot impatiently in the hall by the time that the others caught up with her, but she had at least waited for them before proceeding. Then they found out why…
"Which, uh, door was it, guys?" The Unovan champion blushed.
"First on the right." Cynthia said solidly, and walked past her to push the door open. The others needed no beckoning to follow her.
If any of the three who were clearly unfamiliar with league buildings – Ash, Hilda and May - had expected some kind of fancy, dramatic room for the meeting, they were left sorely disappointed. It was a surprisingly long room, which accounted for how far the building stretched out sideways, but was entirely plain apart from a few doors leading out into what were probably closets and a large conference table that took up the majority of said length, leaving little in the way of available space.
It was well-lit, continuing the trend set by the rest of the interior, and the small windows were, once again, shielded by thick, concealing blinds. Wallace sat at the end of the table and waved a hand in greeting as they entered. He was flanked by two others; one flanked in ruby red, the other in sapphire blue.
"Oh, I see." Cynthia spotted the surprise first, but the others quickly noticed the unusual nature of those who sat next to Wallace – and Ash, May and Pikachu swiftly recognised them, too.
"Chu pika!" Ash had tighten his hold on the Mouse Pokémon as he attempted to jump clear of his trainer's arms and edge closer towards the two figures, clearly not happy at their presence.
So that's why he abandoned protocol…
"Ah, everyone, thank you for coming! You're right on time." The Hoenn champion's smile was deep and genuine as he rose, acknowledging their presence more directly this time.
"Archie and Maxie?" May blurted.
"May! Darling, it's wonderful to see you again. It's been too long since we met in Sinnoh." Wallace greeted her warmly, and the coordinator nodded mutely, stunned at the sight of the two former criminals in the room before her. "Ash, excellent to see you again too." Like May, Ash's eyes were fixed on to the scowling visages leaders of Team Aqua and Magma. "Cynthia, always a pleasure… And you must be Hilda!"
"Yeah, nice to meet you." Unlike the others, Hilda had neither personal experiences nor second hand stories to colour her opinion of the two strangers on the other side of the room, and so was undaunted by them – and rather more occupied with meeting and greeting her Hoenn-based equal.
"Take a picture, kid, it'll last longer." Archie grunted at Ash, his arms folded across his barrel-like chest. Their expressions now matched Pikachu as they glared at each other. Maxie met May's stare impassively.
Neither had changed much in the four years – four years? So much time went by so fast… - since the coordinator, the prospective Pokémon master and his starter had seen them. The former's hair was slightly shorter, while the latter had more lines of age etched across his face.
Both still radiated something at their core, though.
For Archie, it was a sort of primal strength, threatening to break composure at any moment.
For Maxie, it was a kind of haughty superiority.
Even so, these attitudes seemed diminished from the level that they had been at in the past, when the two had been at the prime of their conflict. Now, they seemed to be able to tolerate each other, and even Archie's ire towards the newcomers was half-hearted.
Wallace caught on to the tension immediately, and rapidly made an effort to dispel it.
"This is Archie, and this is Maxie." He explained to Hilda, who had turned to look at Ash, Cynthia and May, confused at their hesitancy towards them. "They are-"
"The leaders of Team Aqua and Magma, respectively." Maxie finished for him.
"Criminal organisations-" Ash started.
"Former criminal organisations, and even then I know a lot of people who'd debate that with you for days, kid…" Archie grumbled testily, muttering the last part under his breath.
"We now operate our organisations as environmental agencies, working together with the league and each other to look after the well-being of the region." His Magma counterpart added unprompted.
"Which is exactly why they're here. They're reformed, now. We're all friends here." Wallace injected a tone of command, of persuasion, similar to the one that Cynthia had used before. Slowly, Ash and May nodded, while Cynthia's feelings were unreadable beyond her poker face, which Wallace accepted as the best he would get. Smiling, he continued on. "Please, take your seats… We have much to discuss."
With a similar lack of alacrity – the exception being Hilda once again – the newcomers took their seats.
"Now, for the others…" Wallace too returned to his seat and tapped away briefly at a small computer before him, gesturing in an off-handed manner at what appeared to be five holographic projectors built into the table around them. "They will join us, if they can… Now." He finished typing with a final flourish, and two of the five erupted in a cascade of light, crackling harshly with static for a moment before coming into a much clearer focus and revealing the identities of those who used them – from the torso up, at least. The other three projectors remained inert.
"Two out of five isn't bad, given that you had such short notice." Cynthia remarked.
"True…" Wallace sighed. "I just wish Drake would reply sometimes, but we'll work with what we've got."
One of the holographic figures raised a hand.
"Testin' the link." Lance was easily distinguishable by the shock of hair that adorned the top of his head. "Seems fine. Hey, Wallace, Cynthia, Ash. How's it going? Oh, and May, too. Nice to see you again."
"Works clear on this end, too." This figure was harder for Ash and May to recognise straight away, but the voice helped brought them quickly to the right conclusion. "Greetings, all."
"Steven!"
"Quite a party you've got going today Wallace. Only missing Alder, who I'm guessing is busy or still recovering; Cameron – the same, and Drake, who'd never answer anyway." Lance grinned widely. "So, What's the occasion?"
"Right on both counts, my friend." Wallace said, affirming the Kanto champion's initial comments before pausing; partly to consider his words, but partly for dramatic effect, too. "It is about time that I enlightened you all as to the cause for this meeting, so that we can better pool our resources for the coming storm."
No-one at the table, in the flesh or via hologram, felt particularly encouraged by his tone, top of discussion – veiled in colourful language as much as it might have been - or sudden change of mood, from contentedness to utter seriousness.
"Which would be?"
"Why, a conspiracy, of course." Wallace replied, resting his chin on his steepled fingers. "Yes... A conspiracy of Brobdingnagian proportions."
Before expanding on his disturbing statement, the Hoenn champion had insisted upon properly introducing his Unovan counterpart to Lance and Steven, who welcomed her into the fold as they would normally have done weeks ago, if it were not for the upheaval in Unova after the crisis at the regional league.
Hilda's attitude to her fellow champions landed squarely between her fanatical worship of Ash and the attitude that she had showed to Cameron the day before. Having never interacted with these figures of legend before, and having not had the dampening experience of meeting one's actual idol at the same time – as had occurred with Cynthia in the tunnels below mid-western Hoenn – Hilda was respectful, somewhat quiet, but not enough to be accused of shyness.
In short… Cynthia realised as she watched from the side. Exactly how I was when I first became champion.
The conversation then briefly turned towards the three absences at the table.
There were a number of plausible reasons for the lack of presence from Alder and Cameron, ranging, as Hilda was quick to point out, from the difference in time-zone between the regions, to the gruelling schedule of raids that the two had been conducting on Team Plasma's territory for some time.
The matter of the other absentee was quickly dismissed, but the area of the conversation quickly evolved into an explanation – primarily for Ash's benefit – about the politics and drama over the Orange Islands league.
As it turned out, the status of the regional league as part of the overall system was constantly in doubt, and therefore so too was the legitimacy of the title of champion for said region. The Orange league paid far less in official membership fees than it was supposed to, citing various factors for its supposed inability to do so, all simply too long or too bureaucratic to be actually worth mentioning.
That, however, was not the reason that Ash's status as champion – or former champion, rather - had never been made clear to him, whether it was official or otherwise.
As the chat now moved on to encompass Drake, champion of the Orange league, Ash noticed Cynthia, Lance and even Steven and Wallace trying – and failing – to suppress grins as the crimson-haired champion began to explain.
Essentially, Drake had been extremely careful about his assertion and application of the league rules about succession, but rather liberal in his subsequent explanation of them to Ash.
That is to say, he hadn't said a word to him about them, and had simply congratulated him and handed him the trophy.
A trophy which his mom, as he recalled, had started using as an off-hand dumbbell practically the moment that he had triumphantly presented it to her.
In any case, once Ash had left the Orange Islands for Kanto he had unwittingly relinquished his throne, as per league rules, to the former holder, assuming that they still resided in the region themselves. Which Drake did indeed happen to do so.
Ash said a number of rather uncharitable things about Drake after that, receiving hasty apologies from those who were still stifling giggles, as they had not known about Drake's duplicity until only two years ago, and it had slipped their mind since then to make him aware of it.
Five minutes consisting of nothing but such banal chatter passed before Archie had had enough. He had declared that if Wallace didn't hurry up and get on with it, he would find himself with one less man around the table – two less, Maxie then added in solidarity with his former foe.
That quieted everyone else down, and so Wallace returned to his original point.
The champion of Hoenn would always be seen by the adoring public – as he had been seen before taking over from Steven – as a calm, collected, dramatic, noble hero.
Most of those adjectives applied themselves easily to the words that he proceeded to speak, but if one, just one descriptive word was lacking during that time, it would ironically be his sense of drama.
Some knew portions of the events that Wallace proceeded to reveal and expand upon, primarily as they had told him themselves, but only he knew them all.
Only he had the full picture.
Until now.
Increased activity by the criminal organisation Team Rocket in Kanto and Johto, this titbit provided by Lance…
The existence of an amazing tunnel linking Hoenn and Unova – operated by Team Plasma - discovered by Ash and the others just the day before…
The incredible destruction of said tunnel by the time Hoenn league agents had swooped upon its location, confirmed by Wallace himself…
Team Rocket's actions in Unova concerning Meloetta, witnessed and prevented by Ash, Cameron, Cilan, Cynthia, Iris and Dawn…
A rise in unresolved kidnappings across Hoenn, apparently in the same style as had been done to May, correlated from police reports by Wallace…
The discovery and subsequent unexplainable demolition of a secret base in the northern mountains of Hoenn, run by an unknown group, first discovered by Cameron and Steven barely two weeks before…
Finally, and most disturbingly of all, was the most recent piece of news that Wallace had received from Alder and Cameron barely an hour ago.
That Ghetsis, leader of Team Plasma, had somehow escaped Unova league custody and was on the run, his future mad intentions and plans unknown…
Hilda seemed to be the most horrified at Wallace's last offering, and for good reason; she trembled with rage as she described her encounter with said enemy at the Unova league, and his cruel, power-hungry treatment of his Pokémon that had caused N to reject his teachings and flee with Reshiram.
Ash could've sworn at this time that he had noticed Zekrom's Poké ball shake ever so slightly as she mentioned the name of the Vast White Pokémon, but thought nothing of it as he saw how upset she was at hearing of his freedom.
Instead, feeling that it was the right thing to do, Ash scooted over to put his arm around the Unovan champion as she told her tale. Apparently overcome already by the story, she simply smiled at him to show her appreciation instead of speaking with higher volume, pitch or intensity, and he smiled back.
On Ash's left side, it was May's turn to hold back the urge to glare at the other brunette, though she was also torn by the sympathy that she felt after hearing the story of the events at the Unova league.
Wallace dropped every single bombshell of information down onto them without the slightest hint of flair, recounting who, what, where, when and why in quick succession, so that, by the end of it, a flustered Archie insisted upon at least opening a damn window if the blinds could not be drawn back, because it's getting too stuffy in here.
In an effort to cut off any incoming objections that he was drawing false conclusions from a bunch of unconnected events – truth be told, it was most likely to be Cynthia that would end up objecting in such a manner – he pointed out that never before in world history had so many crises, so much strife, so much of the kind of thing that was very much going on right now ever taken place before in any time period.
Something had been set in motion, he suspected. Perhaps for as long as ten years, he added, reeling off a list of just a few of the incidents throughout that period of time; the awakening of Lugia in the Orange archipelago, of Groudon and Kyogre in Hoenn – Archie and Maxie averted their eyes, embarrassed at their inclusion – and of Dialga, Palkia, Giratina and Arceus in Sinnoh.
All events that I've been a part of… Ash realised, but kept the thought to himself.
Wallace called a ten minute recess at that point, eager to allow everyone to collect their thoughts for the hard part.
The hard part… Actually figuring out how to deal with it all. Some kind of solution to a problem that they could hardly even be sure how to quantify.
Something.
Ultimately, though the majority of people in that room that day were champions or at least leaders of some kind. Even Ash and May had amassed a great deal of experience on dealing with dangerous threats, together and apart.
Confidence began to return to them, slowly at first, then more quickly as the dam on their collective intelligence burst, ideas playing off ideas to create a solution.
Creating a plan. A plan for fighting against an enemy that they not could be sure existed, and they certainly had very little idea what form that enemy might take.
The plan that they had to make therefore had to be flexible. It had to be strong and forceful enough to counter the obvious dangers that lurked above – the threat of Plasma, particularly if it was spreading to Hoenn, and of Team Rocket, as they gained influence in the Indigo league regions – but still had to be intangible enough to detect and reveal threats of the more esoteric nature – threats that even they could not foresee.
Assuming that their foe had some overall plan, however, their best approach was to focus on dismantling what they could, and yet remain alert and watchful for the slightest sign that they might be playing into a trap of some kind.
Towards the goal of dismantling the operations of their foes, therefore, they decided to focus on Plasma first.
Lance assured that the situation in Kanto and Johto was not yet openly serious to warrant any kind of serious intervention. If Plasma had spread to Hoenn – as the tunnel suggested it had – then it could spread to Sinnoh too, or go even further afield.
Nobody wanted that.
If the Indigo league situation did escalate, he would make sure to give them plenty of warning about it.
Meanwhile, then, they would focus on Plasma in Hoenn, while keeping an eye on Sinnoh and allowing Alder and Cameron to finish dealing with Plasma holdouts in the region that had spawned the group in the first place; Hilda informed them that, as far as the Unova league was aware, the last known strongpoint would be cleared in two days' time.
The two main absentees would be informed of said decision by Wallace as soon as was possible; he gave his word.
After a short debate, they chose not to involve Drake unless evidence pointed towards the possibility that the Orange archipelago was under threat. There was no need to complicate the issue with another, likely vociferous participant… If he would even deign to reply at all.
They made much more specific plans for Hoenn, as it seemed to be the region most-threatened at the present time.
It was decided that they would aim to investigate and rescue anyone who had been taken prisoner in similar circumstances as May had been; even if those leads proved to be useless, they might uncover more important intricacies in the process.
Ash volunteered for that task almost straight away pausing only briefly to consult with Pikachu, and once he was in the presence of Hilda and May was guaranteed too.
The two even practically fell over each other to agree first.
Cynthia offered to go with them again, recompleting the quartet that had been forged in Hoenn's dark underbelly, and it was quickly agreed that it was the best course of action for the four to take.
Lance noted privately that Cynthia seemed to have far less reservations about Ash and the others being at all involved in this kind of conspiracy hunting - though it was hard to tell through the distortion and static necessitated by the thousands of miles that separated him and the others
Suppressing a smirk, he wondered if it had anything to do with the newly-assured presence of Zekrom in the group, and how much the Deep Black Pokémon likely contributed to their overall safety.
Following on from that, Wallace chose to stay inside his regular duties as Hoenn's champion, hoping to calm the public mood while coordinating this private war. Steven, meanwhile, offered to go back out into the field and do some snooping; see what he could find, separate from Ash's group.
Archie and Maxie argued strongly that their talents and resources that they could command from their respective organisations were best served by providing auxiliary support. Like Wallace, they would continue to carry out their public activities as they had done in the years since the incident with Groudon and Kyogre – acting as environmental groups, while attempting to sniff out more clues that might lead to Plasma.
After some time, everyone was eventually in agreement that this was the best way forward.
Ash still wasn't sure that he could trust the reformed men, but if Wallace was sure...
The holograms winked out first, Lance and Steven having given their best wishes and goodbyes before departing. The rest left in stages; Archie first, then Maxie five minutes later. Ash's group went next, leaving Wallace alone in the room. He wished them good luck, and said that he would be in touch at times to talk about more frivolous things than their current problems; contests, for instance, a prospect which May greeted with the most enthusiasm.
The quartet found the guards at the front desk to be asleep again as they made their way back out into the early afternoon sun, stretching hard and nursing sore, unused muscles after nearly three hours of sitting nearly still.
The first disappearance that they intended to investigate took place in Mauville City, only two days ago. They had a late lunch at the Pokémon centre, then decided to make an early start on their task and went on their way, leaving Oldale Town behind.
Instead of taking the long way around, as Ash and May had on their first time around Hoenn, they instead travelled north, intending to cross the water eastwards and proceed even further up to Mauville Town, a journey that could be completed in less than two days.
Route one-oh-three ("One hundred and three!" Hilda eventually shouted after May began to hum the number over and over again) seemed barely larger than the connecting route between Oldale and Petalburg City… On the map, at least.
In reality, it seemed that the electronic map that Cynthia had been using had simply failed in some way, recording it as being far shorter than it actually was. Having left the town behind at just past three o'clock in the afternoon, it took them five hours to reach the river's edge that they would need to cross to be on the road to Mauville City.
They decided to stop there for the night, and carry on the next day. They weren't physically exhausted – although Pikachu did seem a little tired - but all could tell that a good night's sleep would do wonders for their peace of mind.
Cynthia did most of the cooking that night, with some input from Hilda, who professed that she had some skill in the culinary arts; she had made food for herself on her own journey throughout Unova, after all.
Ash and May were relegated to the task of finding firewood after recounting anecdotes over their mishaps with poffins and Pokéblock.
None used tents that night, eschewing the kind that Dawn generally preferred to sleep outside of for the slightly more rugged comfort of sleeping bags.
May drifted off quickly and started snoring, beaten to the land of dreams only by Ash, though if Pokémon are to be considered as well, Pikachu definitely won.
Hilda was next, succumbing to the lure of her own listlessness while muttering incessantly about how annoying May's snoring was, before ironically doing much the same herself.
How the two avoided waking Ash up that night is beyond explanation.
That left only Cynthia, kept awake mainly by her own thoughts.
The snoring played a part too, to be fair.
She thought back over the events of the day, over what they had heard, discussed; what they had planned and decided.
It's good that we've now got some kind of focus, some way of fighting for what we believe in...
I'm still not sure about Ash and May being dragged into all of this, but I guess they can handle themselves all right, and, after all, there is Zekrom…
Almost all of us involved now are champions. It's good that we're doing something productive for once to protect our regions.
Lance, Lance, Lance…
Her eyes snapped open, then narrowed as she thought about the Kanto champion, recalling his mannerisms throughout the day. Or, at least, the mannerisms that she had been able to discern through the distortion of the communications hologram. She'd been distracted at the time by the news, but she could still see his sometimes smirking, sometimes serious face in her mind's eye, and she didn't like what she remembered of how he had seemed.
A little off, maybe, a little distracted? Or even reluctant, pained?
Was he lying? Was he keeping something from us? She cursed herself for not paying enough attention to something so potentially obvious. Fighting for sleep against regrets and the obnoxious sound of two snoring teenage girls, she resolved to be more careful next time.
We can't afford mistakes if Wallace is anywhere near correct about this whole conspiracy…
"Fair? At what point in our negotiations did you convince yourself my goal was to be fair?"
- Vedalken Plotter, Guildpact
More Zekrom, more Pokémon, a little less drama next time, guys. I promise. Keeping the story flowing and find some balance where I can.