Obligatory Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.

It's that time of the week again! First up, reviews.

Thanks again for the review, J.F.C! I'm glad that you like the inclusion of Aqua and Magma; they'll be appearing more as the story progresses - albeit perhaps not today – but who can say where they'll fit in to the conflict?

Thanks too for your two reviews, Nauran. I've considered adding a proper intro – i.e., an author's note - to the story just before prologue #1, but I certainly wouldn't want people to just skip it; irrelevant and outside the plot of the story as it might seem now, I'm sure that you're aware that it'll be important later. If others don't see that and are turned off by it, well, that's a shame, but I've no intention of changing the content itself.

Finally, thanks for the guest review, anon. For the most part, I'm not really too sure how to write regarding the canonicity of the movies, and, for the most part, I'd rather keep them out of sight, out of mind unless the events that they portray directly reference or resemble a certain plot point. This paragraph, incidentally, may seem rather paradoxical if seen from a future perspective, assuming the story ends up playing out how I currently intend it…

For the moment, then, I'd consider any movie that has been confirmed by the show as canon, such as The Rise of Darkrai (M10), to be canon. This story is, after all, merely a forked canon following on from BW089, albeit with some minor artistic license on events that never directly involved Ash's circle of friends (best shown in chapter two). I suppose that all I can offer at the moment about this issue is that I'll be clearer on it in time.

Speaking of canonicity, yes… This is going to be the first chapter to directly consider the issue of the ages of the group involved (i.e. Ash/May/etc.). As you will shortly see, the approach that I am taking will slightly jar with said official canon, but only because of the nonsensical necessity that the creators have to apply when making Ash and company never-aging characters. I've put off and flat-out avoided it, making only reference to time and years passing without specifying age, but that will change now.

You'll see what I mean.

For the purposes of chronology, this chapter (eighteen) is set the day after chapter seventeen, directly following on from it. It thus takes place on the second day of the Kanto group's vacation, three days before chapter sixteen, and during the third morning since Ash and Cynthia left Kanto.

(Ash, Cynthia, Hilda and May)

Cynthia was the only one to remain completely dry on that first morning.

Having set up camp on one side of the watery divide that split route one hundred and three ("That's one-oh-three!"; Hilda's repeat objections to their pronunciation were duly ignored), they woke the next day in anticipation of crossing it.

Having never passed this way before, the four were taken completely by surprise at the sheer size of the natural obstacle that they faced. The darkness had also worked against them the previous night, preventing them from recognising scale of the expanse before them until the next morning.

"Well, we're not swimming across that." Cynthia wouldn't hear any sort of that talk. "We can't even see the other side from here, and I'm not about to let any of you catch pneumonia from swimming in water that cold for an extended period of time. Who knows how long it would take to cross?"

Hilda added that she couldn't swim anyway. There was that, too.

This wasn't a water feature that was regularly crossed by those who lived nearby, so there was nowhere that they could buy a commercial journey from. Borrowing, renting or buying a boat would require the expenditure of too much time and money for any of them to be an efficient solution to their problem…

Particularly, as Hilda was quick to point out, when they had a mode of transportation that was completely free and could be carried out in a fraction of the time that returning to Oldale Town and finding a boat would inevitably consume.

Their decision-making process promptly turned, then, to which Pokémon would be best-suited for the job.

Ash was quick to admit that he had none on hand that would be of any real help in this scenario. Out of the water- and flying-type Pokémon that he had with him, Swellow was too small to carry even one person across, and Totodile had even more of the same problem.

He noted blithely, after Swellow had a meagre attempt at lifting a protesting May merely towards the water, let alone over it, that it was of little use including a flying-type Pokémon in your team for the auxiliary purpose of travel if said flying-type could not actually carry a human at all.

May was next to shrug off responsibility. Only Wartortle was even slightly suitable for the task at hand, and, while it was bigger than Totodile, it would find the work far too strenuous to be a viable candidate.

That left Cynthia and Hilda to save the day, and both were able to call upon Pokémon who could fly them across the water.

Cynthia asked Braviary for its helpful service, and promised the others that it would be able to carry two of them on its back with no trouble.

Hilda, meanwhile, let out the Deep Black Pokémon. It took a little convincing…

+Because this is such a worthwhile use of my abilities. Assuredly so.+ Zekrom bent down slightly, arching its back to let them climb on. The message that it psychically sent immediately had Ash, Cynthia and May clutching their heads, while the Unovan champion carried on as normal. She was used to it, apparently.

"Oh, shush." Hilda patted it on the back as it did as she requested.

Neither did Pikachu feel any negative impact. If anything, Ash's starter seemed to be chatting to Zekrom as the humans talked around them. The legendary said nothing in return, occasionally nodding its head, but to the onlookers – given the Mouse Pokémon's mannerisms – it hardly seemed like a one-sided conversation.

No matter how many times he experienced it, Ash didn't think that he would ever get used to the "wonders" of telepathy.

Then there was the rather contentious matter of who would go over the water with whom, in the necessary groups of two.

Ash realised, in retrospect, that sending Hilda and May over the river together had not been the best course of action that they could have taken.

Not that it was really his fault. Hilda and May had objected to the other crossing the river with Ash, for reasons that he couldn't even begin to fathom, and so he had suggested - as a compromise - that they should go together while he went with Cynthia.

Thus, the coordinator climbed onto the dragon next to Hilda, while Ash sat behind the Sinnoh champion on Braviary.

In terms of speed, there was no real contest. As fast as Braviary was, it was no match for the legendary, and Hilda and May disappeared over the horizon on the back of the Deep Black Pokémon. Both girls were screaming as they were carried away on its back; the latter in fear and surprise; the former in joyous exhilaration.

It took the flying-type ten minutes to make the crossing with its powerful wings, in comparison to the two minutes that Zekrom covered the distance in. The trainer, his starter and the champion simply silently admired the view as they flew over the water, sparkling as it reflected the fledgling, early morning sun, and felt the cool breeze that carried the smell of wet soil and grass around them.

The problem arose from this difference in flight time between the briefly separated groups.

The first hint of trouble came when they came back into Zekrom's normal telepathic broadcasting range – while still flying - and began to pick up its side of a very confusing conversation.

+No, I do not think that it would be appropriate for me to attack her with a DragonBreath.+

"Huh?"

"Hit who? What? Why?" Ash gaped, and Cynthia had no answers for him at the time. They simply flew on, hoping that they wouldn't be arriving in a battle zone when they landed. Again.

+No, Hilda, I do not think that using Bolt Strike would be acceptable either.

Somewhere in the eight-minute gap, the coordinator and the champion of Unova managed to have a disagreement over something that, by the time Braviary reached the river bank opposite from where it had started, had evolved into a full-blown shouting match.

"I still can't believe that you would do that to me!"

"Me? I can't believe that you would drag me in!"

"If you hadn't pushed me in then I wouldn't have tried to grab you and hold on!"

"Pushed you? How dare you accuse me of that! You fell in!"

They dismounted to view the drama unfolding in front of their them, though Cynthia dallied in returning her flying-type to its Poké ball; Braviary was just as bemused as everyone else.

Hilda stood to the left as they looked outward from the river; May to the right. The two girls had a lot in common at this precise moment, far more than just their hair colour; their expressions of indignation also matched, and both were also drenched from head-to-toe, their clothing soaked through. May's bandana had been abandoned for the moment, left by the river's edge, while Hilda held – but did not wear – her cap, and was waving it around aggresively as she remonstrated with the coordinator. Even so, it still appeared to be full of water… Was she saving it for a sneak attack?

Zekrom remained out of its Poké ball, standing close to the bank with the barest touch of the water caressing its heels. Its head was bowed, its eyes were closed; an arm raised to cover one side of its face suggested that it was both deeply annoyed and somewhat overwhelmed by the situation.

+Help.+

Okay, a legendary asking for help over something like this is really not what I thought I'd see when I woke up this morning.

"Pika?"

"Why are you guys fighting?" Ash shouted at the girls, but remained unheard over their shouting.

"What happened between them?" Cynthia asked Zekrom, and had a little more luck.

+May…+ The dragon seemed to halt for a moment before continuing, and Ash realised that it was probably seeking confirmation that it had got the coordinator's name right. +She slipped off my back into the water just before we reached solid ground and… Dragged my trainer in with her.+

"Oh…"

+They have been shouting like this for nearly eight minutes now, arguing in circles, in spite of my attempts to placate them.+ Zekrom informed them.

"Oh, yeah, I'm sure… I mean, I know you don't like me, but really-" They paused to listen in on the fight between the two brunettes, May getting the pick of the best passive-aggressive statements… From Cynthia's unbiased adjudication, anyway.

"Do you know how long it'll take to dry my hair after that?" Hilda despaired, raising her hands up high.

"Oh, I'm not surprised that you'd care about something as shallow as that…"

"Shallow? You'recalling me shallow?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

It was like watching a tennis game, the barbed insults flying back and forth in the same manner as an airborne tennis ball.

"I remember that Max, May's brother, accidentally pushed her into a puddle of mud once when we were all travelling together with Brock." Ash told the others quietly. "It took nearly an hour to convince her that it was actually an accident. She didn't stop shouting or pouting nearly the entire time."

"I doubt Hilda's going to back down any time soon either…"

"Pika..."

+I am a legendary Pokémon, scion of the might of ideals, defender of the Unova region, and I have faced down and defeated countless terrifying threats in the past.+ Zekrom sent, and there was almost a hint of resignation to his telepathic voice as he continued. +I was not prepared for this.+

"Come on, girls, it was just an accident." Cynthia tried to take charge, walking forward with her hands out, adopting the most soothing tone of voice that she could. "Let's just calm down and-"

"Butt out!" Hilda screeched, her rage momentarily overcoming her good sense at who she was talking to. She whirled around and her cap whirled with her, the contents soaring out freely as she moved.

With reflexes honed by years in the field, the Sinnoh champion deftly dodged the harmless payload.

Ash wasn't so lucky.

Hilda and May gasped and immediately shut up, faces going beetroot red from embarrassment rather than anger.

He didn't say anything, stunned by the abrupt ending of the fight that had finished with the unexpected outcome of him joining the ranks of the soaking wet.

The short walk out of the remainder of route one hundred and three was conducted in complete silence.

They were highly fortunate that the weather remained as pleasant as it was, as time passed and midday arrived. Ash dried quickly, and even Hilda and May could hardly complain after an hour in the sun; only Hilda's hair was even still slightly wet when the time for lunch was realised.

The temperature would never again that year approach heights quite so scorching as Ash and Cynthia had experienced in Unova; given its geographical location, Hoenn simply couldn't compete in that department. Even so, there was still plenty of summer left to be enjoyed, and their current location gave them ample opportunity to do so.

Route one hundred and ten – Hilda had finally given up, at this point – was a winding path that fell directly under a scenic, seaside cycling route. A strong barrier fence separated land and sea along the route, with the overhanging portions of cycling road above providing brief bouts of shade as a contrast to the exposed path.

Due to a number of budget cuts over the years, and a recent dispute between the local councils of Slateport City and Mauville City, the bottom road was beginning to overgrow, and they spotted the occasional family of wild Pokémon, including an abundant number of Zigzagoon, eking out an existence, scurrying away at the slightest provocation from the humans that they saw to be trespassing on their land.

The crux of the political dispute was found in the diminishing budget that each council possessed; neither local authority wanted to claim the intermediate road as their own, for the unfortunate need to spend money on it would become pressing. Thus, both were attempting to wash their hands of it; having a disastrous impact on its safety as a connection for human passage. Let alone the wild Pokémon that were beginning to flourish across the route; without proper maintenance, the very ground that the road was built on would eventually become unstable.

Cynthia recounted this information as she prepared the food for them, and continued as they settled down to eat, explaining that Wallace had given her the details at a meeting six months ago. While she was therefore not up to date on the issues involved, it was clear that nothing had been done in the meantime to resolve them. They ate in the shadow of one of the supporting pillars of the cycling road above, gaining a brief respite from the warmth above.

Ash and May paid attention mostly out of courtesy, but neither had a particular love for the political intricacies of running and maintaining a region. Hilda, on the other hand, listened raptly, constantly asking questions and making comments. The champion of Unova had a particular head for the financial sides of these discussions, which continued after they had packed up and moved on; at Cynthia's urging she told them that she had helped out with her mother's business since the age of ten, and had only become a Pokémon trainer just over a year before, at fifteen years old.

Ash had been caught off guard by this revelation, but on reflection realised that it was not actually that surprising. Bianca and Trip were fifteen, and had been completely new to being Pokémon trainers when they had started their journey almost a year ago. It seemed to be a custom of Unova – in contrast to the Indigo, Hoenn and Sinnoh leagues – to have trainers begin later in life, rather than start as soon as they reached ten.

He wasn't sure which way he preferred. Neither seemed to be a bad way to go about things, and it certainly hadn't harmed Hilda's competence to only have one year of experience in comparison to his six; she had reached the Pokémon league, after all, faced down Victory Road, defeated the Elite Four and captured Zekrom.

Still, Ash mused, if he hadn't started off back in Pallet Town all those years ago at ten years of age…

He wouldn't have had anywhere near as many amazing adventures…

He wouldn't have met anywhere near as many brilliant people, including the three with him now… Even if he was still a little peeved at Hilda for the water volley earlier…

And, most important of all, He finished. I wouldn't have met Pikachu. Where would I be without you, buddy? He reached up to scratch the Mouse Pokémon's ear affectionately; his starter had been snoozing on his shoulders, but hardly minded the wake-up call.

"You know what's weird?" May asked aloud, apparently to no-one in particular. They had just started walking again after eating, careful to leave nothing behind that could damage their surroundings.

Cynthia noticed Hilda twitch slightly at the near-rhetorical question, seemingly biting back a snappy response. Ever since the river incident, the two brunettes had managed to refrain from snapping or glaring at each other at all, even during lunch; an impressive achievement, considering the fact that they had been sitting opposite each other at the time.

She wondered if the two were doing so to avoid embarrassing themselves further in front of Ash, but suspected that the raven-haired trainer wouldn't have noticed even if they hadn't declared something of a truce.

"What's weird?"

"I haven't seen or heard a single bike go over us since we started walking down here."

"Pika?"

"Oh…"

"Huh…"

They paused for a moment, thinking this over.

"Isn't this supposed to be a popular bike route or something?" Ash added, unsure solely because his previous trip to Mauville City had been dominated by the need to win a third badge more than anything else.

It still felt weird, now that he thought about it again, that he was on a fairly-substantial journey that didn't involve collecting some kind of badge or symbol.

He wasn't sure which type he preferred.

"Maybe it's just closed?" Hilda opined.

"Wouldn't be closed today." Cynthia shook her head.

"Maybe they've finally started doing some kind of maintenance on it?" The brunette pressed.

"Could be."

"I guess we should just keep going, then." Ash said, resuming his pace from before. The others fell into step behind him, but Cynthia began to keep a closer eye on their surroundings, put on guard by yet another strange event.

What was also weird – though no-one raised it at the time – was that they had encountered no-one on the route so far. Sure, it was a little dilapidated and overgrown, but was still scenic.

It was even the kind of scenic you had to make an effort for, like Unova's route fifteen had been. That was characterised by steep paths, waterfalls, rough ground.

This was a walk in the park, by comparison.

So where is everyone?

Hilda ended up being the first to recognise the obvious in this case, but only after they actually ran into someone.

"Oh, hello there!" They practically did run into the woman, given how slowly she was walking, though she saw them coming. "Nice to meet you! My name's Rose." They greeted her in return as they approached.

She was older than Cynthia, but not much older; mid-thirties, at most, with an absent-minded expression stretched across her face. She certainly seemed to be capable of walking faster, but was apparently determined to enjoy the scenery at its fullest.

She also seemed determined to engage them – or, at least, Cynthia – in conversation, and began relentlessly chatting to the blonde champion barely seconds after she had introduced herself.

The woman didn't recognise Cynthia, even after the champion gave her name, and so certainly didn't recognise the rest of the group. She was just happy to engage complete strangers in banal conversation. This, coupled with the fact the Cynthia was reluctant to hurt such a person's feelings, and thus made little attempt to speed up – ultimately contributing to Hilda's rapidly diminishing patience.

The brunette champion commented to Ash that it had been far too long since she had had a proper battle – then dreamily commented that she'd love to battle with or against him - and Ash realised that he had been thinking the same thing.

Well, the first thing that she had said, anyway. And maybe the second too, hm…

He found that thought rather amusing with the gift of hindsight in the hours to come.

"Absolutely lovely weather we're having, dear!"

"Erm, yes, I suppose it is."

"I do like to take a walk along this route every now and then. I suppose I should more often, really. Not very nice to see it in this condition, though."

"Mmm."

"I haven't seen any of you before; are you new to the area?" Rose was proving to be an inquisitive person – whether she realised it, or not. Cynthia half-expected to see her glancing back suspiciously at the others in this rag-tag band, but the other woman kept her vision straight ahead.

"Sort of. We're just passing through."

"Ah. Shame. We could use more people in Slateport City. We've got some very interesting projects going on, now. Very interesting indeed."

"That's… Nice." Cynthia didn't enjoy one-sided conversations much… Especially when she was on the side that wasn't really talking.

They were approaching – slowly – a bend in the path, leading properly north again.

"Anyone hear the sound of someone cycling?" May asked to the group again, straining her ears to hear over the chatter.

"If this carries on I might just let Zee out and see what she thinks of it." Hilda muttered to Ash, rolling her eyes at their new acquaintance's babbling.

"Probably not a good idea, really." Ash counselled quietly.

Wow. Am I playing the voice of reason, here?

"Seriously, can't anybody else hear that?" May persisted.

"I thought that was the wind." Ash tilted his head. "No, you're right, that's not the wind. That does sound like wheels."

"And we've got some lovely exhibits in the museum this time of the year; I really do recommend that you see them!" The woman carried on.

"Just need to push one button and she'd be gone." Hilda whispered, cradling Zekrom's Poké ball across her hands gently, a wicked grin forming across her face.

"Seriously, just listen you guys! That sounds like a lot of bikes!" May hissed, and Hilda fell silent too.

"Hard to hear over that woman." She grumbled, but then heard it too. "No, you're right. Maybe it's just them going over above? Maybe it finally opened up."

"Maybe…"

"No, it sounds like it's coming this way." Ash said. "Cynthia-"

Before they knew it, they were surrounded.

It all happened so fast, far too quickly for any of the group to react before they were encircled.

Whooping, snickering and catcalls joined the sound of grinding wheels as at least ten bikers rounded the oncoming corner and sped past them, forming the circle that began growing tighter as they rushed around, pushing the five surprised people – the bikers considered them "victims", really – away from the fence and into the centre of the path, backs together.

"The hell is this?" Hilda spat, her natural indignation overcoming her shock.

The bikers slowed, then the circling became static and the group was left to look at the grim, false visages adorning their helmets as they howled and laughed, the clear intention being to intimidate their "prey". All were dressed in matching black and gunmetal leather, the only individualisation being the helmet and bike designs.

Oh, how foolish they were.

Cynthia recovered her composure first, seeing off attempts to resist on the parts of Ash and Hilda with quickly placed, calming hands on their shoulders.

"Not yet." She whispered.

She had no need to do the same for May, who had stiffened her face into an annoyed pout that she had discovered came so naturally to her. It was far easier to maintain that expression when she was scared than a neutral one; in this situation, she was worried, but not terrified. She had every confidence in her friends.

Pikachu was reluctant to stay on Ash's shoulder, generating sparks from his cheeks constantly in a threatening display and frowning alternately at various members of the biker gang.

Rose on the other hand was completely speechless, almost certainly unused to this kind of adventure. Her mouth was opening and closing in a constant motion reminiscent of that of a fish, and she clung close to Cynthia, alternating between faces of terror and confusion.

Zekrom's ball began to shake ever so slightly of its own volition in Hilda's hand.

"Well, well. What do we have here?" One of the bikers spoke up, his helmet sporting stylised devil horns and gold trim.

That's the leader. Cynthia decided.

"Couple of live ones, boss." One of the others replied, and all of the outer circle chuckled. No-one inside it did.

"You should know not to walk down here today." The lead biker said, addressing the five this time. "Those days it's our road."

""Your road"?" Hilda asked. "Who the hell are you?"

"You lot must be new around here if you don't know who we are." The leader said, removing his helmet to reveal a shock of blonde hair against a young, rugged face. "We're the Emerald Biker Gang, and I'm the leader, Darrell. We own this road. Those corporate peons in the local "authorities" gave it up a long time ago. It's our turf now."

"Nice bikes." Hilda admitted, and Darrell showed a very toothy smile.

"I'd say thanks, but judging by the company you keep I'll bet you're not very big on the biker scene…"

Hilda crossed her arms while the others tried to work out whether to be offended or not.

"I had a bike once." May noted. "He destroyed it." She jerked a thumb right, glaring towards Ash – and/or Pikachu, it was hard to tell, really – at her side.

"I thought I paid you back for it by travelling with you!"

"Oh, so that's the only reason you travelled with me, is it Ash Ketchum?"

"That's all very nice, but it's time for you to go now. You've had your free warning, now get out." Darrell said, pointing out the way his bikers had come, leading towards Mauville City. His bikers opened a circle to let them out, but the intimidating aura didn't cease, offering a stark contrast to the still-shining, bright sun above.

They weren't planning on taking the free ride out just yet, though.

"Why not just use that?" May stated the obvious, still not understanding.

"Blame the government." Darrell growled. "The authorities. Whoever hasn't bothered to come and fix that dangerous weakening in the first set of pillars on the cycling road. Not us. We're just riding with the chaos."

Several of the bikers gave a cheer, and Cynthia rolled her eyes at their bravado.

"There are so many things wrong with that I'm not sure where to start." She shook her head. "Why not just go lobby them directly, in Slateport or Mauville if the situation's so bad?"

If Darrell had a commanding presence, it was nothing compared to what Cynthia could exhibit – and she certainly was at this very moment, and he knew it.

"I'd love to debate politics all day, but I haven't got the time – or patience – to do it with someone as naïve as you, sweetheart." She narrowed her eyes. "Now go."

She began to respond, but was beaten to it.

"As a representative of the council of Slateport City, I can tell you that that's complete rubbish!" Rose had found her voice, and had chosen to use it now. "There have been delays, certainly, but only because of the legal wrangles with Mauville! Why, that's why I'm here at all, to inspect the damage to both this route and the cycling path!"

So that's why she was walking so slowly. Cynthia mused.

Later, Cynthia would point out that Rose had probably acted with the most courage out of all of them that day; not for what she had said, but because she had done so without knowing anything about the strength of those she had accidentally found herself with.

It takes a great deal more courage to stand up for something you believe in when you don't think that you have an army behind you.

Her pronouncement stopped Darrell for a moment, but his eyes quickly jumped in understanding and excitement, and, somehow, he grinned even wider than ever before.

"Councillor Rose Talbot?" The other bikers had stopped chuckling.

"Y-yes?" She stammered, surprised at his recognition.

"Excellent. So you're the kind of bureaucratic scum who rule over this world, but don't live in it. What kind of life do you have, whiling away your time in front of records and papers, as you're so clearly famed for doing?"

"I-" She balled up her fists, but he wouldn't let her respond.

"No. It's people like you who've allowed this to happen. My offer of a free pass out has been rescinded. You're going to see some of the damage you came to observe, all right, councillor." He rolled her title contemptuously off the tip of his tongue. "And more."

The councillor was shaking now, a mix of fear and anger consuming her emotions.

"Is that a threat?" Cynthia whispered softly, drawing attention back to her.

"It can be." The lead biker replied. His tone was the antithesis of mild.

"How about a Pokémon battle to settle this properly then?" Hilda cut in.

"Why should we play fair? We outnumber you enough not to bother."

"Then all get involved, if you want. Use as many Pokémon as you have. We'll use one each." Hilda proposed, and the others agreed without question. The councillor looked at them as if they were mad.

"Twenty, no, thirty to four? You're either crazy or stupid." Darrell spat. "I'm not going to back down from a reckless challenge like that, kid. Send 'em out, boys and girls!"

The bikers spread out a little, widening the circle and moving the bikes to a safe distance, before proceeding to let out their Pokémon one at a time. Various poison-type and steel-type Pokémon emerged from their Poké balls; Grimer, Koffing, Magnetite, even a Magneton and Weezing here and there.

Darrell himself revealed a tough-looking Magnezone, a scarred Weezing and an angry-looking Muk as his choices.

The bikers leered down at the group that they surrounded, waiting for them to choose.

"Oh, you're all so badly outclassed and you don't even know it…" Hilda whispered. "It's not a proper battle but it'll do… For now."

Ash surprised the others by not picking Pikachu.

"Take a rest, buddy, let someone else have this one." His starter was a little annoyed at having to sit out a fight, but knew how long it had been for the others, and didn't complain.

He tossed the ball up into the air, releasing the pack leader of his Tauros onto the road. It snorted and bellowed a roar at the opposition.

"Bo-ring." Darrell dragged the word out and his gang laughed heartily in response. "You'll need to do better than that."

May chose next.

"Blaziken, on stage!" Her starter burst onto the road with a threatening cry, then assumed a fighting stance.

"Meh, better, but not going to be enough, hon."

"Me first." Cynthia stopped Hilda from going next. "Surprise them later. Spiritomb, battle dance!"

"Creepy!" May shuddered as the Forbidden Pokémon danced and popped around the limited space it had available, rolling its head around off its keystone before settling to floating in a circle above the other two Pokémon.

"Never seen that Pokémon before." The biker leader was impressed, but not rattled, as his gang stared at Cynthia's choice in fascination, then focused his gaze on Hilda. "All right, wannabe, you're the last. Better make it a good choice…"

"Wannabe? Me?! Ohhhh, you didn't just say that!"

"I did."

"Fine, you asked for it. Zee, you're up." She lazily tossed the Poké ball up and to the left, straight into the path of the sun. The flash of light from the ball mingled with the sun's glare to shield Zekrom from being properly observed as it came out.

In the time it took for the bikers to blink and clear their vision, it was gone.

"Huh?"

"What was that?"

"You playing us, kid?"

She didn't need to answer that question. Zekrom did it for her.

The dragon had swooped away, soaring high into the sky, silent as a passing cloud, before erupting in a thunderous roar as he descended back to the road, stabilising himself to hover next to Spiritomb above the four trainers and Councillor Rose, who was trying to work out whether to be more terrified of the dragon or the situation they were in.

All of the bikers – unprompted – took a step back as Zekrom regarded them.

"That's – that's not fair!" Darrell stuttered. Out of all the Pokémon that he had expected to see his angry adversary pull out, it wasn't anything like this.

"You want us to handicap us even more?" May shook her head.

"All right, fine. Zee, don't go on the offense. Play with anything that gets too close."

+As you wish.+

The dragon restricted its telepathic contact to those it knew.

"Do you have any Pokémon except Zekrom, Hilda?" May asked blithely, but still actively curious.

"Well, I did have to fight my way to him…"

"Meh. It's a bit unfair, though, if you think about it..."

"Get in there, lads!" Darrell pointed at the group.

Later, at the Pokémon centre, the quartet would debate as to who's Pokémon scored the most damage in the fight. Hilda conceded that the others had done an admirable job in ensuring that Zee had very little to do in the battle, aside from swatting away the occasional bold Magnemite or Koffing that ventured too close. His presence was enough, really.

Ash claimed victory for his Tauros' excellent work at defeating all three of Darrell's Pokémon, utilising its Take Down, Fissure and newly learned Zen Headbutt to get the job done. Evidently its long absence from his team had done nothing to diminish its potency in combat.

May also at first claimed victory for her Blaziken's efforts in dealing with many of the grounded poison-type Pokémon, especially the abundant Grimer, which could have posed a big problem for the trainers had Blaze Kick not cut through them so efficiently.

Ultimately, though, they too conceded the contest in favour of Spiritomb. The ghost/dark dual type gave an admirable repeat performance of its actions in the white forest in Unova, raining down havoc with Dark Pulse and Shadow Ball from above, flying higher than any of the bikers' Pokémon could manage.

While not a proper battle, it was still a crushing victory, and they were more than satisfied with the outcome. Especially how they were able to help after.

"My gang…" Darrell slumped down as he looked out dejectedly across the defeated members of his gang comforting their wounded Pokémon. The sunlight didn't match his mood at all, but suited Hilda just fine.

"Them's the breaks. Better luck next time. Let's roll." The others stayed put, and after about twenty seconds after walking up the path, she sighed and turned back to join them.

"Do you normally make a habit of attacking people like this?" Cynthia asked.

"Not really." He admitted, seeing no reason to be difficult in defeat. "We love this route. We really do. And everything that she represents…" He nodded at Rose, who was hanging back; his words caused the councillor's eyes to narrow. "She and her "authorities" are the reason nothing ever gets done. We're sick of it all."

"That's not true at all!" Rose barked, marching up to him. "I and my colleagues joined the council to serve the citizens of our local community, and we take our job very seriously!"

"You say that, sure." He scoffed. "But-"

"No, and I'll prove it to you. I'm going to head to Mauville City and submit my report to the council via e-mail tonight." She snapped. "Come with me if you like. I'll prove you wrong."

Darrell stared at her.

"Even if you do this, how do we have any guarantee that you'll carry on with this? That you won't just give up? Or that it'll take another year to even begin?"

"Maybe an act made in good faith might help?" Cynthia suggested.

"Huh?"

"Show us where your cycling road is damaged." She ordered him.

He complied, taking them up the path to the last of the overlapping areas of the route below and the bike-only area above. The pillars clearly were damaged and very unsafe, both for those passing high and low; barely structurally stable after years of rust and decay.

"No way will you be able to fix this so easily." Darrell stated disbelievingly. "You'd need proper equipment to reinforce the pillars, and it's not like we have it on hand, or we'd have done it ourself."

"Maybe we just need a substitute for the equipment…"

"Come again?"

"Got any spare metal that would be good enough for the pillar?"

Darrell affirmed this, sending a few of his bikers to collect the scrap.

Cynthia then turned to Hilda and May.

"I'm going to need your help."

"What's up?"

"What do you need?"

"May, could you send out Blaziken again please? We'll need a fire-type to heat up the metal so that it can be shaped."

"Sure, no problem."

"Hilda, have you got a psychic-type in your party? I know that Ash, May and I don't…" Ash had talked a lot about May's Pokémon the night before, but Hilda's party was still a mystery to the Sinnoh champion.

"How's this?" She offered. "Go, Yuna!"

Hilda's Reuniclus emerged, blinking and stretching in the sun, and greeted its trainer with a lengthy wave of its right arm.

"Perfect." Cynthia grinned. "Just perfect."

The Emerald Gang returned with the scrap metal and their work truly began.

Blaziken heated the metal, Reuniclus bent it with its psychic might, then both fitted the strips to the pillar to reinforce and strengthen it, with helm where appropriate from the gang members.

It was a bit of a patch-job, but given the time that they put into the work, it would certainly suffice for at least a year.

By which time Rose promised to have construction teams working on both paths, being careful to respect the needs of the wild Pokémon living in the area at the same time, but assuredly accelerating the process from its current standstill.

It was nearly dark by the time that they finished.

Darrell apologised to the group for attacking them, and thanking them for their understanding and their help, time and effort, promising to look at politicians – like Rose – in a new light, and that his gang would cause no more trouble in the area. The quartet waved goodbye to the councillor and the lead biker at the doors of the Pokémon centre, heading inside to get some food and some rest.

Cynthia thought over the events of the day that night as they dived into bed in the centre, exhausted by the work that they had performed.

It had become something of a ritual for her to do so; it helped her focus her mind, look for what she might have missed in situations that could prove useful later, that sort of thing. Also, even when this tired, it was hard for her active mind to sleep.

It was especially important given the size of the conspiracy that they were embroiled in, although the days' events had certainly been calm on that front for once.

Hilda snored loudly in the bed opposite – they had been required to pair together because of a lack of space – and the Sinnoh champion found her thoughts turning to her Unovan counterpart.

In terms of fitting into the group, she was a bit of a handful.

Maybe I'll need to have a talk with both her and May at some point. Could be for the best. She considered the thought, and then decided to drop it. No, far too awkward. They'll just have to get used to each other.

One other thing about Hilda was of "concern" to Cynthia. Zekrom.

The legendary Pokémon's very presence had helped to turn the tide today, and she wondered how many more times it might do so in the future.

She also wondered how it might fit into the conspiracy.

What actually concerned her though was Hilda's – and Zekrom's – past.

Hilda had barely said a word about the events at the Elite Four. Cynthia realised that she'd managed to get more out about it from Cameron, and that spoke volumes.

The others – Ash and May – weren't enigmas like Hilda. They recounted anecdotes all the time, revelling in the past and their shared memories in particular.

Short of expressing her fanaticism of Ash and showing off her might – and getting into the occasional argument with May – the brunette champion hadn't told them much of anything about herself.

Still, she seems trustworthy, and Cameron trusts her, of all people.

Why do I feel so worried, though?

Hilda snored again, much louder this time, and Cynthia surpressed an impulsive giggle.

Or maybe I'm becoming the paranoid one…

A single seed unleashes a flurry of growth.

- Echoing Courage, Darksteel

Tell me what you think about Zekrom's portrayal here, please. He's a legendary and I wanted to portray the impact his presence alone would have on the fight, without actually having him do all the work and start a trend out of it. Not sure if that's the right approach, but your comments are welcome, of course.