~.~.~.

Chapter 7: Proof

Groaning painfully, Sea Mauville continued to tilt — not further backward, toward its already sunken rear, but onto one side. The port-side supports must have given out...

Or rather, they had been destroyed intentionally.

Steven had grabbed hold of an exposed beam to steady himself after the initial explosion, but he didn't have the chance to do anything else before the floor had already slanted too far for him to stand. Twisting with a curse, he managed to find purchase on the wall, just in time before the entire facility jerked and shuddered again as it hit the water broadside.

"Guh!" Steven groaned between clenched teeth as he was jarred by the impact. Rubble rained down from above, and there was a distant sound of some section giving way completely.

He coughed and shook his head, trying to shake off the ringing in his ears. The yellow lights put up by the nature preserve society were flickering, more and more of the floor disappearing every time they lit up the hallway. This corridor was a short inner one, but the sound of rushing water flooding through the facility was getting close.

'I need to get out of here,' Steven thought, 'before this area ends up underwater too.'

There wasn't any point in worrying about causing damage now. "Go, Metagross!" Steven called out, pulling out a Poke Ball. And immediately, before it had even fully materialized — "Mega Evolution!"

Metagross appeared in a burst of prism energy, just over Steven's position. The hallway wouldn't have fit it, but the power lashing out from its evolution caved the already weakened walls around it, creating a bubble of empty space.

"Hold still!" Steven ordered.

As Mega Metagross obediently hovered in place, even using its psychic power to bounce the falling rubble away from them, Steven quickly calculated the distance between them — and leaped.

He just made it, grabbing hold of Mega Metagross's rear legs. As he wrapped his arms more securely around the large claw, Metagross obligingly gripped back, its other claws shifting to close around him. "Blast out of here! Don't hold back!" Steven yelled.

It was a tall order, and he knew it. Metagross itself could tear through Sea Mauville easily, especially with the power of its Mega Evolved form. But with a passenger? Compared to Pokemon, humans were terribly fragile.

However, Steven trusted Metagross. It was his ace for a reason.

Water was already flooding the end of the corridor below them, and it wouldn't be long before this section ended up underwater. Without prompting, Mega Metagross rotated to face what had been the ceiling — the shortest path outside. Energy gathered around it, crackling over Steven's skin and making him wince at the sensation of almost numbness.

With a roar, Mega Metagross unleashed its Giga Impact. Its massive sharp claws, brought together in a point like a drill, tore easily through the ceiling and the upper floor of Sea Mauville and burst through into the open air outside.

They had just made it. The whole they'd created was swallowed up by the sea a moment later.

Most of Sea Mauville had already sunk beneath the waves, only the front starboard corner still jutting out into the air. The sea in the area was not terribly deep, so perhaps it would remain above water in the end, but for now the facility was still sinking further.

Many of the precious mangroves that had grown atop the facility's rear had been dragged under as well. Steven gritted his teeth, fury beginning to boil now that he was safe.

"Over there!" he called out, pointing toward a nearby sandbar.

The preserve society representative was already there, herding the terrified visitors with the help of a Pokemon ranger. A few of their Pokemon, Wailmer, a Corphish, and a pair of Illumise and Volbeat, circled around worriedly. Seeing his approach, they quickly cleared an empty spot, where Steven jumped down lightly.

"Did everyone get out alright?" Steven asked the ranger and the rep without preamble.

"Y-yes, I think so," the representative said, wringing her hands. "Counting you, I saw only five visitors arrive..." Him, the young couple, a sailor and a young boy with an inner tube — that was five. "No one went far in yet... But I might have missed someone. Visitors don't have to check in with me, and sometimes they come in from the other side..."

Steven nodded sharply. "I'll check around for anyone else."

"Thank you so much!" The rep bowed deeply. "I-I don't know what could have happened, the safety inspections said everything was stable..."

Unsure what to tell her, Steven turned back to Metagross. "Let's go," he ordered shortly, jumping on top of his Pokemon as it hovered down to his level. It felt like he was running away — which wasn't far off. Guilt gnawed at him. After all, he had been the target.

But to think they would go this far... For the first time, Steven admitted to himself that he might be in over his head.

~.~.~

Neither Armaldo, swimming down into the submerged sections, nor Skarmory, circling overhead, found anyone else at the Sea Mauville wreckage. Metagross too didn't sense anyone. That was the best Steven could hope for, in the situation.

While he had searched, several boats had arrived, gathering around the sandbar. A camera crew was among them, already filming away against the backdrop of Sea Mauville's few remaining surface sections. The camera turned toward him as soon as he landed to give the nature society rep and the ranger his report. Steven grimaced, knowing his face would be all over the news after this.

"Mr. Stone! You were helping search for anyone trapped by the sudden collapse at Sea Mauville — were you present when the incident occurred?" the reported shot off, rapid fire, jabbing her mic toward him like a weapon. "What was it like? And what brought you to Sea Mauville so early today?"

"Excuse me, I need to go," Steven declined, turning away hurriedly. "Skarmory!"

It was a blatant and suspicious escape, but he couldn't think of anything better. Not to mention that spending too long around others might very well put them in danger if his unknown enemies attacked again. It would be better to lie low, at least for now. That way, he'd only need to worry about protecting himself.

His cellphone began to ring furiously halfway back to the main island. Glancing at the display name, Steven felt a deep sense of dread.

"What the hell happened?! Are you alright?"

"Hello, Vice President," Steven replied blandly, his ear ringing a little. Then, only just registering her second question, he added, "I'm fine."

"Well, that's something at least," Carat sighed. The frustration in her voice probably meant she was already pinching the bridge of her nose to drive off her building headache. "I don't know how I'd face Joseph if something happened to you."

"Uh..." Steven floundered for a moment, having not expected this sentiment from her, before clearing his throat awkwardly. "You must have seen — Sea Mauville collapsed. I didn't see them, but I'm certain that it was caused intentionally to attack me. The attack on Stern's Shipyard must have been aimed at me as well."

"Attack on Stern's Shipyard..." the vice president muttered, sounding more annoyed than surprised. He hadn't mentioned it to her before.

"I don't think it's good idea for me to come back to Rustboro, given the situation," he went on. "I have a portable PC with me, so I'll find a place to set up a secret base for now and see if there's anything else I can follow up on."

"I don't like it," Carat said flatly. "Come back to headquarters, we can strengthen security here and maybe catch them if they try anything else."

Steven shook his head before remembering that she couldn't see him. "No," he amended. "I have my Pokemon, they've protected me well this far. You should do that anyway, they might come after you too. Are you a trainer?"

"...I'm not. I never had the time for it, most company leaders don't," she admitted, apparently realizing there was no point in arguing with him. She couldn't force him to obey her, after all. "Just... be careful."

"Um... yes," Steven agreed, the back of his neck itching in discomfort. He couldn't quite reconcile this sudden concern with her usual disdain. Didn't she hate his guts? This was why he preferred rocks and Pokemon to people. At least in battle, everything was clear. "You, uh, you too."

He hung up quickly, again.

~.~.~

To give himself a playing field advantage — and because it made him most comfortable, to some extent — Steven set up his temporary base in one of the many small caves off Route 111. Aggron stood guard by the entrance, seemingly dozing but perfectly aware of everything around it.

Steven was occupying his time quickly reading through everything he could about Great Mauville Holdings and everyone involved, but in truth he was stuck waiting — for Wattson to wake up, for Carat to find something, for a call back from his best remaining lead.

He almost wished that there would be another attack. At least, with no one else around to worry about, he could focus on catching the culprits. Of course, if they were really ninja, they probably wouldn't give up any information about their employer...

Sighing heavily, Steven reached up to rub at his eyes. It was getting late. He should at least get his sleeping bag ready, he supposed, and set up a rotation between his Pokemon for the night watch.

Was there anything else? It was hard to concentrate and think.

Steven jumped when his phone began to ring.

"Steven Stone here," he replied automatically, but he had recognized the number — it was a call he had been waiting for. "Roark? Did you find something already?"

"We haven't exactly had a lot of Odd Keystones pass through here," the voice from the other end chuckled lightly, "even going back thirty years. There was only one that was given away in the right timeframe."

"To Greater Mauville Holdings?" Steven demanded, his fingers tightening around his phone.

"Well, that's the interesting part," the Oreburgh Mine supervisor said. "The records are very unclear. I'm tempted to say that something not entirely above board was going on... But I did find something — a commemorative photo. I scanned it and sent it over. Did you get it?"

"Hang on," Steven twisted toward the portable PC, updating his mailbox. Indeed, there was new message there, with an image attachment. Double-clicking, he waited for it to load. "It's..."

An old, yellowed photograph of several people, and in the forefront, a man and a woman shaking hands as they smiled for the camera. He didn't recognize the man, bearded and dressed in the clothes of a miner, but the woman... she was familiar.

Even in the grainy, blurred photo, the resemblance was unmistakable. Hair all black, a woman's hakama and boots instead of just a kimono, but she looked almost exactly like Murasaki. There was even a Mawile next to her.

Steven swallowed heavily.

"...Thanks," he managed faintly. "This is... exactly what I needed."

The proof of what his father had seen, the one behind everything.

~.~.~

"—Speculation continues about the cause of Sea Mauville's sudden collapse early this morning," the news anchor reported, footage of the facility's remains playing next to her. "Devon Corporation has declined comment on any knowledge they may have of the situation, despite the presence of a representative on the scene."

The footage expanded to fill PokeNav's entire screen, shifting to zoom in on a trio of figures — two women and a young man, who turned to face the camera as the reporter on the scene approached quickly.

"Mr. Stone! You were helping search for anyone trapped by the sudden collapse at Sea Mauville — were you present when the incident occurred?" the reported asked, holding out her microphone. "What was it like? And what brought you to Sea Mauville so early today?"

The answer to her first question was fairly obvious. Steven himself hadn't noticed at the time, but his suit looked far worse for wear, the shoulders and pant legs ripped up quite badly by the falling debris and the dark material of the whole thing several shades lighter from the dust. Dry blood was matted in a dark streak through his hair and flaked from a shallow cut on his cheek.

"Excuse me, I need to go," Steven declined, already hurrying away.

The footage cut off, showing the studio and the anchor again.

"The nature preservation society has released a statement that the most recent safety inspection, two months prior, showed no imminent danger. An indepth investigation has been initiated—"

Murasaki snapped the PokeNav shut, cutting off the rest of the news report. "Do you understand, Joseph? Please don't underestimate how far I'm willing to go," she said. "I would prefer to keep this clean, but if you continue to be so obstinate... next time, he won't get away with just a few scratches."

In front of her, Mr. Stone stared back coldly.

While the only marks on him were a few yellowing bruises, the president of Devon had certainly seen better days. There were bags under his eyes and a gauntness to his face that spoke of recent, sharp weight loss. More than a light stubble bristled over his jaw.

However, his expression remained unwavering and hard.

Murasaki sighed, looking more exasperated than troubled. "You're making this unnecessarily difficult," she chided. "Or is the life of your only child worth that little to you?"

This time, even Mr. Stone couldn't hide a subtle twitch in his expression. He glared back defiantly. "Even if I wanted to tell you, I don't know the answer," he said.

"Oh? I doubt that. Alexander must have told you. He was that sort of man," Murasaki said. "Especially when he was on his last legs. He would have entrusted everything you, his grandson and successor. I will give you one more chance to reconsider. After this, I won't just threaten. Now, tell me — the secrets behind the origin of Infinity Energy."

Following her darkening tone, the two Pawniard that had accompanied her as guards stepped forward menacingly. Their arm blades gleamed in the dim yellow lights of the small room, jabbing toward him.

Nonetheless, Mr. Stone didn't waver or show any hint of weakness as he continued to meet her gaze. And, after a moment, Murasaki leaned back, her expression smoothing out again.

"If that's the way you want to play it..." she said, shrugging lightly. "But remember, you can put an end to this at any time."

With those parting words, she turned away and walked away, the Pawniard following obediently. As the automated door slid open, light from the corridor beyond flooded into the room. The electronic lock beeped as she passed a key card over it, and the door slid shut again, locked.

The room was left in silence, until Mr. Stone let out a heavy sigh, dropping his head in his hands. "Steven... I'm so sorry."

~.~.~

Notes: Thus, the villain. I mean, having the villain appear as an early NPC is tradition, right? Anyway, it might not be immediately obvious, but Steven is off on a few of his assumptions. But we're headed into the last stretch, so things'll get cleared up in the next chapter or two.

As always, please review!

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