Hello there, people. I plan to maybe write another chapter this week, and certainly another on the weekend. I hope you enjoy, and please review! They give me the inspiration to continue writing.

Cynthia Shirona knew that it was high time for the Pokémon League to start kissing some major ass when she heard that the Orrean leader had agreed to meet them for a peace talk.

The League had majorly fouled up what could be considered the most momentous military operation since the inception of the modern Pokémon League. She knew this – she'd helped to organize what was supposed to be a simple affair of eradicating a small sect of criminals in the middle of a desert.

They'd met instead a group of highly-trained trainers who fought just as viciously as the Pokémon they fought next to. The League trainers were not trained to do so; they were trained to keep out of the way of their Pokémon whilst they dealt with any threat.

Having enemies that specifically targeted enemy trainers to prevent such an action was jarring and disastrous to them, for when the trainers fell their Pokémon inevitably fell into a rage, trying to avenge their fallen friends. They were simple prey for the merciless Orreans after that.

When the Orreans had further invaded the League territories – taking nearly a third of the Indigo territories in the process – the League realized that they'd not only condemned hundreds to their deaths but may have also done the same for the citizens that were supposed to watch as the League scored a major victory for justice.

They'd instead seen more of their sons and daughters killed – actually seen them instead of just being informed of their deaths this time – and then had a regime forced upon them by the conquering trainers.

When they'd closed off the ports the rest of the League realized just how truly disastrous this could further prove if they didn't resolve this crisis as soon as possible.

Now she was flying to the island city of Altomare where she'd meet the ambassadors that Orre had sent to parlay. She'd do this with the other champions of each region, and they all held the knowledge that whatever actions they took from this point on for the next few days could decide the fates of their regions.

She was also interested in battling some of the Orreans herself, but that was mostly irrelevant.

Orreans prided themselves on strength. Not only that, but strength was something that they not only strove for but revered and respected. Should she earn their respect then that could go a long way towards the eventual peace between their countries.

So she intended to battle a few of them – and hopefully among them would be this vaunted leader of theirs. She'd seen the footage that Lance's lieutenant had broadcasted back to the League. From what she'd seen he had a scarred Ninetales and hid himself under a cloak himself.

Beside her, Lucian tapped her shoulder, "Cynthia, I've known you for years. You're thinking about the Orreans; don't. Our first goal is to get them to leave Indigo, and everything else is secondary." He told her.

Lucian and Bertha were both accompanying her to Altomare. Bertha had been on the elite four of Sinnoh for years and thus had a great deal of political experience that could only help her when dealing with the Orrean. Lucian was good at dealing with people; his psychic abilities gave him an extraordinary penchant for reading people.

"If we can earn their respect then they'll be more inclined to listen. You can't argue with that, Lucian. They live for strength!" Cynthia retorted.

Bertha frowned carefully, causing her to look even older as her wrinkled face took on even more lines, "Don't forget that we're dealing with the top of Orre here, Cynthia. He'll probably be more than a match for Lucian and I. He'd probably even be able to defeat you if he'd like. Some of the trainers could probably do the same after all, and he's the leader of them all." The older woman told her.

That was the crux of the matter; all of these people had the irritating trait of being far stronger than almost all of their own trainers. Save the elite four, it was unlikely that in a straight fight they could match them man for man, much less overwhelm them.

The only strength they had was in numbers, and those numbers had both proven to be unsufficient against them and had been cut down in the fighting.

Cynthia did not answer the elderly woman, choosing to remain silent as she watched the waves below her as the plane soared towards Altomare.

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Maron Hearthfyre didn't know it, but her thoughts mirrored that of champion Cynthia Shirona's. She knew that her efforts could decide the fate of a great many people for many decades to come.

If the Orreans lingered too long in the ports, then the cut off from trade could damage the world economy for years to come, which was unacceptable.

Orre needed that influx of trade itself; it was a desert country. It was devoid of good farmland and they had to import almost all of their goods from outside sources. The nearest and cheapest source of goods was the League, so their gambit of cutting off trade in retaliation for the invasion would only last so long before they'd be shooting themselves in the foot.

So while Maron had no plans for being especially merciful to the League, she knew that some politeness and decorum was needed.

Ashton already had plans for what was going to happen anyways. She and Bryce would keep the champions satisfied until Ashton arrived in Altomare – giving them sufficient time to start feeling nervous – and then he'd arrive and they'd settle the whole affair down.

Hopefully they'd also settle the issue of the continuous deaths that plagued the Orrean deserts. It was a source of great annoyance and regret for the long-term residences of the Orrean desert. They certainly didn't want to continue killing the naïve trainers that swaggered their way to an early grave out there.

The problem was that the desert was far too big to close off, and if they did that anyways it would destroy the entire point anyways.

People travelled to the desert to become stronger. You survived and grew stronger, or you did not. Most people left soon after arriving and finding out how rough a lifestyle they were committing to, but some did not and they were killed in battle, or of thirst and starvation.

Maron had fought for her position – that of second in command of the entire Orre region, next to Bryce – alongside her Pokémon by dint of sweat, blood and tears. She'd lost two of her companions to the desert, but those that had survived honored their memory and continued fighting for the goal they'd worked so hard towards.

They were content with the part they played in the world now. Pushing for more would be folly; they'd all watched as Ashton and Willow had defeated Moltres –albeit barely – and they knew the strength that they possessed.

She had become friends with the reclusive pair and had tended to their injuries later when they'd fought the titan of Fire itself. Maron could still remember the horrible burns that they'd both suffered. Ashton had nearly died to his, and remained permanently scarred.

Maron had encouraged him to visit a hospital sometime in the future to check his throat; they'd probably have a treatment for the damaged tissues that had robbed him of his naturally pleasant voice.

And Willow was almost terrifying to work on. Maron knew well the strength of the mysterious Ninetales. Stories were still told of the enormously powerful psychic abilities the Ninetales had utilized.

But seeing her lain so low; bleeding out on the ground from a gash that had scraped the bone below, was terrifying. Ninetales were also naturally resistant to fire and burns. Its ability to take any flame thrown at it and turn it into raw power to throw back at the attacker was well known to many trainers.

Willow had second degree burns that had singed her gorgeous, normally silky smooth fur. To see such injuries bespoke of the incredible power that Moltres had used against them. That they'd survived – much less triumphed – was incredible.

As a result though, she'd refused to work on Moltres. It was a legendary Pokémon anyways; it would soon heal from the relatively minor injuries it had sustained. Unlike Ashton and Willow it had merely been knocked out instead of truly injured.

After that day neither she nor any other in Orre questioned that the pair was truly powerful. They'd never match the unstoppable pair that they'd once been – their injuries had left them crippled even if they could still destroy any opponent they went up against – but Orre respected them.

Maron and Bryce, who had taken his territory soon after she'd split the last alliance that had surrounded the mountains into shreds, were Ashton's left and right hands. They worked with the trainers who were lower on the hierarchy to maintain Orre. Ashton made sure that Orre remained stable and prosperous on the political field; they managed the home territories.

Ashton also had another responsibility that was nearly sacred to the Orreans.

When the land was first created, life had only started after Fire and Ice combined to create the waters of the world, and Lightning provided the first sparks of life.

This left the tallest mesas that survived the flooding to serve as the land where the non-aquatic life would live.

Orre was not one of those areas, originally.

Orre came afterwards; after Kyogre had been created and had its titanic battle with the legendary titan of the Earth, Groudon. After Rayquaza had separated the two, Groudon left its traditional home in the Hoenn desert and walked through the oceans until it came upon the place where Orre would be.

It was told in legends that Groudon raised the land all the way from the ocean floor and created the island of Orre. Due to its presence the land remained a desert instead of blooming with life from the surrounding waters, and it took its home in the mountain range in the south of the island.

Of course, that was legend, but few realized that it had its own merit.

Years ago, Team Magma had followed the obscure legend to the mountains – sneaking all the way in order to prevent their immediate annihilation – and had lured the titan of the Earth away from that area.

By the time that Groudon was again freed from Team Magma, it returned to the mountain range where it fell back into its slumber. It had remained only in an uneasy sleep though, and stirred on a yearly basis.

The leader of Orre was tasked with ensuring that Groudon did not awaken again and run rampant all over the continent and cause untold destruction.

Before Ashton and Willow, this had required a full five trainers and their teams to ensure Groudon's slumber. They'd barrage it with attacks to make sure that it did not escape the caldera that it had slept in until it gave up again for the year.

Ashton and Willow simply utilized Willow's immense psychic abilities to ensure that Groudon did not wake up in the first place. It was a simple solution, but one that only a master psychic could ever hope to attain.

The leader of Orre therefore had the respect of their people not only because of the sheer difficulty of attaining the position, but also to maintain it. They quite literally had the fate of the Orreans in their hands, so the system of incredibly hardship was as much a means of ensuring only those able to take the position and all of the responsibility it commanded were able to ascend to the mountains.

Strength was survival in Orre. Strength was sacred to them, so they would not tolerate a country of outsiders forcing their opinion on them.

So Maron would play diplomat, but she wouldn't play nice. The League would regret hurting her home and endangering countless people with their ignorance.

'Well it seems that everything is going to begin now.' She thought as she spotted a dark shape speeding towards the island city of Altomare from the air.

She smirked at it and began walking towards the small airport nearby. All planes arriving at Altomare had to land in the waters – there was no space otherwise – so they were all pontoon planes. Thus Altomare had both an abundance of boat docks and a dock filled with planes.

'Arceus help me to not challenge one of them to a battle immediately' she though wryly. Knowing herself as she did, it wasn't a question of if a battle was coming, it was when it would be.