Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!

Pokemon Legends: Kanto Saga

Chapter Fifty Two

Catching Up

After finally meeting up with each other, the girls decided to discuss everything that had happened up until that point. Ashley and May recalled their pokemon and the group relocated to a private booth in the hotel restaurant. May and Rina sat on one side, with Melany and Ashley sitting across from them. Latias had to pull up a chair into the booth and sat at the end and Pippi sat in Rina's lap.

"Now explain why you're with Ashley and why you're dressed like that!" May angrily demanded once they had been seated.

"Why don't you explain why this is upsetting you so much?" Ashley suggested. "And why do you say that like we're together?"

"Yeah, I wonder where she might have gotten that idea?" Melany said, rolling her eyes.

"Don't think you're off the hook for what you said earlier." Ashley said to Melany with a mischevious glint in her eye.

"Before the end of the day, either Ashley or May are going to get to me I just know it." Melany thought nervously. "Any girl I've been around for an extended period of time has ended up trying to make my life miserable somehow, I hope this pattern won't continue..."

"What happened between me and Melany is none of your business." May said flatly, then shot Melany a glare. "Now explain what happened already!"

"Right...where should I start..." Melany scratched at the back of her head. "Well, it started when I challenged her to battle 'the greatest trainer in Hoenn', though I think she was on her way here already."

"You? The greatest trainer in Hoenn?" May hmphed and looked away. "Only because I wasn't in Hoenn at the time!"

"I was only saying that to get her attention anyway." Melany said to her.

"And with a challenge like that, I assumed she had something to do with the hunters back in Kanto." Ashley added. "I came straight here without replying to the challenge, which apparently caught her off guard. She still showed up for the battle, apparently planning to disguise herself then as well but she didn't have time to disguise herself completely. So she kept her distance instead to try to keep me from recognizing her."

"Not like it made any difference." Melany muttered bitterly.

"Sorry, I guess the Stone name just isn't that well known in the Kanto region." Ashley said apologetically.

"By the way, Duke and this Vito guy I battled mentioned something about a fake me, do either of you know anything about that?" Rina asked Melany and Ashley.

"Melany can answer this one." Ashley replied, leaning back in her seat. "I was busy exploring Hoenn and taking pictures, and she didn't tell me anything."

"Well...about that...that would be me, in another disguise." Melany explained. "I have an electric pokemon of my own called Minun, which bears a strong resemblance to Pikachu." She added, looking at Pippi. "So I had him disguise himself as a Pippi to make it seem more likely that I was you."

"Whaaa!? Why would you do something like that?!" Rina asked in disbelief, then blushing slightly in embarassment. "I...I'm not really that special..."

"Well, it seemed like the guys who captured a pokemon I was after had an interest in you." Melany said to her. "So I spread a rumor around the internet that you would be staying at my place for protection."

"HUH?! Why would anyone believe THAT?!"

"It might make sense if they knew I was in Hoenn." Ashley said with a shrug. "It hardly matters, they saw through her plan anyway."

"-Rina, ask how she knew so much about you.-" Pippi suggested, curious as to how Melany knew enough to have a fake Pikachu with her as well.

"She already told us that at the Battle Arena, remember?" Rina whispered back.

"That pokemon you were after was Rayquaza, wasn't it?" Latias asked out of curiousity. "You said they showed up with it and you lost the Emerald's power?"

"Ehehe..." Melany sank low in her seat, twiddling her fingers. "Yeah...its like Ashley and Latias said...they saw through my plan, and then caught me off guard to steal the Emerald's power for Rayquaza..."

"Wh-WHAT?!" May yelled in disbelief. She slammed her hands down on the table. "You mean Rayquaza is in their control AND has the same power Kyogre and Groudon had back at Sootopolis?!"

"That's right." Melany replied with a nod. "And back then, we used Rayquaza's power to steal it back from them to within an inch of their life. We don't have that luxury now."

"HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT SO CALMLY?!" May yelled at her.

"How can you keep blurting things out like that in a public restaurant?"

"Err...well..." May blushed and sat back down in her seat. "That is...you have a plan to get that power back, right?"

"Ah...I'll think of something." Melany replied with a shrug. May twitched, resisting the urge to yell at her again.

"My Groudon should get that power from the..."

"Don't. Even. Think. About. It." Aisha interrupted Ashley. "There's no telling if Groudon will even listen to you, let alone listen to you after becoming an unstoppable beast."

"Umm...nevermind actually." Ashley said, scratching the back of her head. "I was going to say we could do the same with Kyogre and Groudon and use them against Rayquaza, but I guess that's a bad idea."

"Very bad idea..." May muttered, nodding in agreement.

"I can't believe that careless wench allowed this to happen in the first place!" Haruka growled in May's mind. "If I had hands I would wring her neck."

"Now, now. There will be time for beating her up later." May assured her, clenching her fists tightly.

"What's the deal with all this crystal stuff anyway?" Rina asked. "This is the first I've heard of any of this..."

"You mean May never explained it?" Melany asked, then looked over at May questioningly.

"Hey! I didn't really think it was all that important!" May said, then turned to Rina. "Anyway, they're connected to the legendary pokemon. My sapphire is connected to Kyogre."

"You'd swear that was all the sapphire was." Haruka said bitterly.

"I didn't feel like making a lengthy explanation." May replied.

"There's a lot more to them than that, actually." Melany said to Rina. "They actually tools used by ancient humans. Apparently, back then, there were a bunch of them. Most were just used to control pokemon, like we do with pokeballs now, but the Emerald, Sapphire, and Ruby had more power and were symbols of the leaders of Hoenn, Kanto, and Johto, which were mere tribes of people back then rather than an entire region. Eventually, these ancient people had to deal with the threat of Kyogre and Groudon, and even Rayquaza's power caused some trouble. So much of their power over the weather was sealed in the crystals."

"Anyway, you still haven't explained why you and Ashley came here or why you're dressed like..." May gestured toward Melany's clothes and hat. "Like that!"

"Ah...well...before he ran off, Vito mentioned to check out the Battle Frontier for some reason." Melany shrugged. "We don't know why, but we assumed we'd find some clues."

"We haven't found a thing though." Ashley added with a sigh. "They're here, but they just seem to be doing here what they do everywhere else. Steal pokemon."

"As for my disguise...well..." Melany reached back and scratched her head. "Its the only way we could get in because I obtained all the badges as Alex..."

"And Scott thinking we were together is because I was messing with her by saying we were." Ashley added.

Rina smiled and looked over at May. "See, May? Neither of them were doing anything wrong so there's no reason to be mad at them."

"I'll be the judge of that." May muttered to herself. "Anyway, last question, why did you want to battle Ashley anyway?"

"Well, when I found out about her accomplishments in Kanto I figured there was an 85% chance she was the descendant of the ancient leader of the Kanto tribe, Aisha." Melany explained to her. "Battling her was just a way of testing her before I handed over the Ruby and Groudon."

"She believed there was a 15% chance you weren't my descendant? How did she figure that out?" Aisha asked, confused.

"I don't even know how someone assigns a percent to something like that." Ashley added, equally confused.

"Well that's it for us anyway, what about you two?" Melany asked May and Rina. "Why are you two together and how'd you end up coming here?"

"I tracked down and caught Entei and met up with Rina in Kanto, then went with her to Johto and caught Suicune. Then we went after Ho-Oh but Duke beat us there and caught it instead and then fled after telling us to go here." May explained to them, giving a very brief recount of their journies.

"Umm..." Rina blinked, then turned to Ashley and Melany and smiled sheepishly. "I can try to elaborate if you'd like."

"Well, I can figure out why May was after Entei and Suicune. That part is obvious enough. And we already know about the pokemon that attacked Celadon." Ashley replied. "Maybe you could explain why you went with May instead of staying with Lance."

"May needed a translator, and Lance seemed to think it was a good idea for me to be with someone as strong as May too." Rina smiled lightly. "I had no idea she was actually two years younger than me though..."

"That's an easy mistake to make." Melany replied, briefly eying May's chest.

"H-hey! What does my age have to do with anything!?" May asked angrily, then pointed a finger accusingly at Melany. "And you're just jealous because you're flatter than this table!"

"Urk!" Melany winced. "That's...that's hitting below the neck..."

"Wait, two years? I thought you told me you were 11?" Ashley asked Rina.

"I did. But that was then, and this is now." Rina replied.

"So then...while we were travelling Kanto...and you didn't even..." Ashley blinked. She then suddenly stood up and slammed her hands down on the table. "Rina! Why didn't you say anything?! You can't be miss out celebrating such an important day!"

"It kinda slipped my mind..." Rina replied sheepishly. "Anyway, I don't think its that big of a deal. I mean, once you're over the age of 10 it doesn't matter that much does it?"

"-What day? What's she talking about?-" Pippi asked her.

"My birthday." Rina said to her.

Ashley sighed and slumped back down in her seat. "I don't get that reasoning at all..." She shook her head, shifting her attention back to the matter at hand. "Anyway, so you went to Johto with her to help her find those pokemon I take it?"

Rina nodded. "Mmhmm! It was the best way for her to figure out where to go after."

"-I think we're forgetting to mention something important that happened in Johto but I can't remember what.-" Pippi said, resting her paw on her chin.

"So then you guys met up with Duke and after dealing with him he mentioned that you should come here, right?" Ashley asked them. Rina and May both nodded to her. "Did he specifically mention why?"

"Umm...let's see..." Rina closed her eyes and thought back to their encounter with Duke. "I think what he said was...'with these pokemon, we can finally take the Battle Frontier!'" Rina opened her eyes and blinked in confusion. "Wait, something doesn't seem right about that..."

"She's right! That doesn't add up!" Melany suddenly blurted out, slamming her hand into the table. "We know they've been here, we've seen them, but we've had the wrong idea all along! They don't have a hideout here! In fact, they're not even planning a takeover!"

"Huwha?! What makes you say that?" Rina asked her in disbelief.

"Think about it, if they wanted to take over the Battle Frontier, then why haven't they been doing anything towards that goal?" Melany said to them. "Like Ashley mentioned, they've been doing the same things here they've been doing in Kanto. Capturing pokemon. Their actions here would have initially suggested that maybe they already had set up here, but what Duke said contradicts that."

"So what are you saying then?" Ashley asked her. "You don't think we've been set up...do you?"

Melany nodded. "I think thats exactly it." She replied. "If they were really after something important at the Battle Frontier, they wouldn't have been so eager to point us here. They only made enough of a fuss here for us to think something was going on, but the whole time their real target was somewhere else. They've just been making sure we wouldn't be snooping around in the meantime..."

"...We should have noticed sooner." Ashley muttered, her gaze lowering to the floor.

"I...I never stopped to think about why Duke mentioned the Battle Frontier." May mumbled to herself. "I was too set on getting Ho-Oh back..."

"Well, hey! Its not like this was a total loss!" Latias suddenly announced, standing up so quickly she knocked her chair over. "Afterall, you guys still have me!" Everyone blinked and looked at her curiously.

"Eh...who are you anyway? Why are you even here?" May asked her.

"Well who else?! I'm the legendary pokemon, Latias, of course!" Latias replied, grinning from ear to ear.

"...Aren't you a human though?"

"Latias, I'll let you explain this one." Melany said with a sigh.

Latias nodded enthusiastically. "Ok!" She hummed thoughtfully to herself then nodded again. "Ok, well, I'm able to take the form of a human and communicate telepathically. In my true form, I'm a dragon-type pokemon. Me and my brother, Latios, were recently captured by those people with the collars but then Ashley showed up and freed me."

"If thats the case, why are you with Melany and not Ashley?" Rina asked her.

"W-well I kinda panicked...and fled..." Latias replied, twiddling her fingers and blushing slightly.

"O-oh..." Rina blinked. "So what about Melany then...?"

"Melany, well, I followed her around because I thought she looked familiar even though she was dressed like a male human." Latias explained. "But then she cornered me and put me on the spot like I was on trial for murder! She even used her sharp wit to trick me into giving her the vital clue that I was actually Latias in a human form!"

"You make it sound like Melany can actually be smart once in a while." May said while looking at Melany with a smirk on her lips.

"Even my overly elaborate plans work sometimes..." Melany thought, sinking back into her seat.

"Oh, she's definitely smart! You should see her grand plan for all of the legendary pokemon!" Latias said, beaming. Melany sunk lower in her seat as the other three girls looked at her suspiciously.

"Grand plan huh?"

"And why haven't you mentioned that plan before now?"

"C-could the real villain be sitting at this table?"

"Guess I have no choice but to explain now..." Melany thought with a sigh. "Fine. I'll get straight to the point then." She said to the three. "I want to make a safe island for legendary pokemon where people won't be able to come and abduct them."

After making her announcement the group, aside from Latias, fell silent for a moment and stared at her increduously.

"I can see why you'd think we could do that, with so many legendary pokemon to ourselves and Groudon and Kyogre especially, but I don't think even we could pull something like that off." Ashley said to her. "We'd need complete approval from each region's pokemon league, funds to start with and continued funding and..."

"I know that already." Melany said, cutting her off. "But even if we just have an island with maybe a housing unit or something to stay in and have the island completely cut off to anyone without a legendary pokemon then we can work on the rest over time."

"Wouldn't funding be easy enough for someone like you anyway?" May asked bitterly. "You're always throwing your money around so I bet you've got more than enough to cover it."

"Eh heh...actually...my allowance was kinda cut off..." Melany replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. "After what I did, I don't think my father or even my brother would offer much financial support for such a project..."

"I never noticed you throwing your money around in the first place." Ashley said to her.

"That'd kinda be why. But its not like I threw it around carelessly in the first place anyway." Melany shrugged. "I just ended up covering for May a lot..."

"That would make you a real gentleman...but you're...well..." Rina began, leaving her sentence hanging.

"L-like I care about that!" May growled, turning away. "So what if she covered for me! She was still a jerk! And a pervert!"

"A pervert?" Rina and Ashley repeated to themselves.

"Then Melany is..."

"Of course she is." Ashley said, cutting her off. "If she wasn't, she wouldn't get so flustered from my teasing."

"You...you're really ok with that?" Rina asked her. "I mean, if she is a pervert..."

"H-hey! Hold on! Don't I get a chance to defend myself?!" Melany pleaded.

"Oh, I don't mind." Ashley replied with a shrug. "It just means tonight will be extra fun." She added, shooting Melany a mischevious grin.

"...I'm going to die of embarassment tonight, aren't I?" Melany thought nervously.

"...That's what I'd like to say anyway, but actually I think we should swap." Ashley then said to the group. "May and I can share a room, and Rina and Melany. That way we can take the time to get to know each other better, since it seems we'll be working together from now on." Ashley smiled and looked at Rina. "What do you say, Rina?"

"Well...umm...I don't know..." Rina replied, glancing nervously at Melany. "Would I really be ok sharing a room with someone like her?"

"What? Even Rina now?" Melany thought.

"Don't worry about it, she's not as bad as May said she is." Ashley replied. "If no one came out and said it you probably wouldn't even notice."

Rina smiled and nodded. "Well if Ashley says it'll be ok then I'm ok with it."

"-I don't get what the problem was anyway.-" Pippi said, scratching the back of her head.

"Humans are complicated creatures. Thats why we dedicate entire millenia to studying them." Latias said, nodding sagely.

"Anyway, what if I'm not ok with it?" May interjected.

"Is there a problem with sharing a room with me?" Ashley asked her. "I mean, I think we kinda started off on the wrong foot here, so it'd be for the best if we had some time to get to know each other..."

"Well...when you put it that way..." May sighed. "I guess I can't argue with that reasoning."

"And here I was worried history would repeat itself. You handled that pretty well, Ashley. I think you'd be a great leader, given the chance." Aisha said to her.

"You know, since we're here, we should really order some food." Rina suggested. "And while we're eating, maybe Melany could go into a bit more detail about that island?"

"That sounds like a good idea." Melany replied, nodding in agreement. "Funny no one came to serve us while we were sitting here though..."

Ashley shrugged. "Well its not like we can't just get our own anyway. Let's go."

The girls got up from their table briefly to order some food. When they returned, they further discussed Melany's idea for an island refuge for legendary pokemon and then retired to their rooms for the night. As planned, Ashley and May stayed in one room while Rina and Melany stayed in another.


Ashley ended up staying in May's room, as the other room was in Melany's name as Alex. When they both got there, they sat down on opposite sides of the bed to chat.

"So you really beat the Kanto Elite Four? And the regional champion? That explains why you were so tough." May said to Ashley. "But why aren't you the regional champion yourself then?"

"Ah...it wasn't an official battle, so it didn't count. I'm not too worried about it anyway." Ashley replied, smiling lightly. "It's pretty amazing though that you're already a regional champion yourself and yet only ten years old..."

"I get that a lot actually..."

"By the way...do you really hate Melany that much?"

May sighed. "I...I don't know. I definitely can't forgive her, and I haven't hit her yet to get back at her for that because I wasn't around her much after finally figuring it out and when I was I was always preoccupied and..."

"So you were more upset that she was dressed as a guy again?" Ashley asked. May immediately clenched her fist.

"That should have been obvious." May muttered bitterly. "If no one had stopped me I would have gladly given her another bloody nose!"

"A-another one? She's really...violent." Ashley thought.

"And this is toward someone she apparently doesn't hate." Aisha added. "Getting on her bad side could potentially be hazardous to one's health."

"Anyway...I don't really want to talk about this." May mumbled.

"Hrm...quite a lot of interesting things happened between you two, didn't they?" Haruka said to May. "Yes, even knowing she was really a girl, I suppose all of that would be too hard to forget. And she obviously..."

"SHUT UP!" May yelled, clenching her fists. Realizing she blurted it out, she quickly covered her mouth.

"Huh? But I didn't say anything..." Ashley said, blinking in confusion.

"N-nevermind! I was just..."

"Oh, right, you have one of those crystals too, right?" Ashley asked her with a knowing smile. "So if I'm not mistaken, the voice of the one called 'Haruka' speaks to you, doesn't she?"

"Yeah..." May sighed. "She's a bit annoying at times..."

"I could say the same about you." Haruka said bitterly.

"By the way...what were you planning to do to Melany tonight anyway?" May asked her.

"Oh, I was just going to show off an outfit I happen to have with me." Ashley replied with a light giggle.

"An outfit? What kind of outfit?"

"Here, I'll show you..."


Meanwhile, in Melany's room, Rina sat down on the hotel room bed while Melany recalled Latias.

"Is it really ok for Latias to be in a pokeball?" Rina asked her.

"Well, she hasn't complained yet." Melany replied with a shrug. "Anyway, what about your Pikachu? You're just going to keep her out?" She then asked, pointing to Pippi who was sitting in Rina's lap as usual.

"I don't usually put her in a pokeball unless I have to." Rina replied, smiling lightly.

"Ah...here I assumed your Pikachu just didn't like pokeballs. I've heard of at least one case like that before." Melany replied.

"-I have nothing against them, but its better for me to be with Rina isn't it?-" Pippi said.

"Pippi says she doesn't hate pokeballs either." Rina translated for Melany. "She just prefers being with her trainer."

"...Being able to understand pokemon must be a useful ability, huh?"

"Yep!"

"Huh. But then again, I don't recall my pokemon ever being too talkative to begin with." Melany scratched her head. "Well, except Skarmory, but I know HE doesn't have anything nice to say..."

"By the way...you're definitely not going to hit on me, right?" Rina asked, tilting her head to the side. Her question was more out of curiosity than anything.

"-If she even tries to hit you I'll shock her!-" Pippi said, casting a menacing glare toward Melany with sparks emitting from her cheeks.

"Err...no, definitely not." Melany replied, rubbing the back of her neck. "Why would I? I mean, do you hit on every boy you like?"

"Have I?" Rina wondered, thinking back on the two boys in question. She could remember being somewhat flustered around them, but she was too shy to really say anything.

"So are you saying...you'd be too shy to say anything if you met a girl you liked?" Rina asked her.

"Of course not." Melany replied, chuckling quietly. "If I thought I had a chance, and it was a girl I liked, I'd come right out and say it."

"-Wait! Does this mean two human females can actually reproduce then?!-" Pippi asked, confused by Melany's comment.

"Umm...no, I'll explain later." Rina whispered to Pippi, then looked back at Melany. "So, umm, in the opinion of a girl interested in other girls, what do you think of me?" Rina asked her, blushing slightly.

"How should I put this?" Melany thought for a moment. "If I thought I had a chance with you, I would have left May and Ashley to talk amongst themselves while treating you to a private dinner..."

"R-really?" Rina blinked.

"Well of course." Melany replied, smiling lightly. "You're a cute, outgoing girl and I can tell you're a very kind hearted person."

"...I bet its easier for you to say that since you don't think it matters any though." Rina said, looking off to the side.

"Huh? I don't follow..."

"Well you're definitely not shy but you don't seem to be the kind of person to speak your mind." Rina said, turning to face her again. "Like, say, not telling someone you're really a guy. Or keeping plans secret even from individuals who might need to know it in order to help."

Melany sighed. "Can't argue with that I guess. Why do you bring that up anyway? Is there someone you're interested in?"

"Well...umm..." Rina found her mind immediately wandering to thoughts of Red. "Th-there is...but I have no idea what he thinks of me..."

"I see...but what makes you think I'd think of girls in the same way as a guy would?" Melany asked her. Rina smiled.

"Have you looked in the mirror recently?" She asked. Melany blinked and looked into the mirror on top of a nearby dresser. Still in her 'Alex' disguise, she had an appearance not unlike an androgynous teenage boy.

"...Touche." Melany muttered.

Suddenly, the girls heard a loud voice yelling from a nearby room. "YOU WERE REALLY GOING TO WEAR SOMETHING LIKE THAT?! WHERE DID YOU EVEN GET THAT OUTFIT?!"

"Wh-what was that?!" Rina wondered aloud.

"That sounded like May..." Melany noted, blinking. "I get the feeling that I dodged a dangerous situation somehow..."


Author's Notes: I think there was more dialogue I wanted to squeeze in here. I might have to have a breakfast scene at the start of the next chapter for a bit more talking. Thinking back, there's at least two things I'd want to have had them discuss at some point but don't think I could really squeeze them in.

Well, hope those conversations weren't boring anyway. I think the end of Rina's conversation with Melany is a bit more interesting if you keep in mind Rina is based on Yellow from the manga. Specifically, how she too was introduced as a boy.

Anyway, next chapter will definitely have some battles at least and probably get the 'partnerships' back to normal. By the way, if you've been paying attention, you probably know what naughty outfit Ashley had in store...