"Excuse me," I said.

The nurse looked up from her issue of Chansey Fancy, pink curls bobbing as she moved her head. "Yes? How can I help you?" She spoke with a bit of a twang.

"If I wanted to get to Pastoria City from here, what would be the quickest route?"

"Hmm." She dog-eared her page and closed her magazine in her lap. "You're actually pretty close. Just take 212 south and then east. It's right along the main road. Careful, though, it's pretty much straight swamp for most of the way." She looked down at my shoes. "You might get stuck, wearing those shoes."

"Thanks," I replied, "But I'm a little pressed for time."

The nurse shrugged, "Shouldn't be too bad, then, just don't go mucking around in the mud or anything like that. Have a nice day, honey." With that, she unfolded her magazine and buried her nose in it once again.

I let Missy out of her Poke Ball and started on my way down Route 212. We passed an old mansion surrounded by a gated brick wall. There must have been a party or ball or something, because people were lined up out front in sparkling dresses and expensive-looking suits. From there, the scenery transitioned into foggy swampland. This region had apparently been wetter in recent years, since the incident in Sootopolis City. Global climate had been interrupted by warring, ancient Pokémon that had been awakened by dueling eco-terrorist organizations. Thanks to the time zone difference between Sinnoh and Hoenn, I'd been asleep as it had happened. The climate had been knocked just a little off-kilter in some areas, including the Sinnoh region. Winters grew colder, the summers more mild. The southern parts became muggier and rainier, with the water level rising in Pastoria by a few inches. This harmed the people more than it did the Pokémon. Bug-Types found on Route 212 and in the Great Marsh had been growing slightly bigger, since the thicker atmosphere had come to accommodate them. As a result, Pokémon like Croagunk and Quagsire had more substantial meals and were beginning to grow larger themselves.

Rain started to fall not long into our journey east. Heavy, pelting rain. I pulled my jacket up over my head to shield myself from the downpour. The sky was dark, and I couldn't hear anything over the sound of rain pelting against the ground. My feet kept getting stuck in the mud and I could barely see a few feet ahead. I soon had to return Missy to her Poke Ball. In the wild, she'd have to take shelter in rain like this anyway, and she clearly wasn't enjoying herself.

I'm not sure how long I struggled through the bog before coming across a lone cabin in the middle of it all. I could barely make out the shape of the roof in the sheet of rain enveloping me. I took a moment to duck under the roof and dry off. I was no stranger to rainy weather, being from the Sevii Islands, but this rain was cold. I shivered on the porch of the cabin, hoping not to be chased off by whoever the cabin belonged to. I tried to dry myself off, but every inch of my clothing was soaked through.

I heard the door creak open beside me. I looked up to see a woman with a black bob haircut sticking her head out from behind the door.

"Hi there, traveler!" she shouted over the rain. "Wet out here, huh?"

I nodded miserably. "It's bad."

She tilted her head towards the wall, "Why don't you come in while this blows over?" She looked out at the rain, observing silently for a second. "It shouldn't go on much longer. I can get you a towel, help you dry off."

"I'd appreciate that," I said. "Thank you." I stood up and walked inside. My host was nowhere to be seen. She had a modest little place. One central room, with a bed in one corner, a TV in the opposite one. What caught my eye was the kitchen table, which had four jars standing in a row, filled to varying degrees with shards of a different color in each one: Red, green, blue, yellow. Behind the table, a shelf lined with Technical Machine cases of the same colors. I took a seat at the table and watched the TV while I waited for her.

The woman appeared from the bathroom a moment later with a towel in her arms. "Can I get you anything else while I'm up?"

"No, thank you," I said, taking the towel and running it over my hair. "I'm Lucas, by the way."

"Sharon," she said.

"What do you have going on here?" I asked. "With the jars?"

"Oh, it's a little side business of mine." Sharon sat down at the opposite end of the table, behind the jars. "People find these Shards and trade them in to me, I give them one of my TM's in exchange."

"That seems a little unfair on your end, doesn't it?"

"I have so many of these TM's." She rolled her eyes. "I helped develop these TM's back at my old job. Seriously, I can practically get them for free. And I make jewelry out of the Shards, so I'm making a profit."

"I see."

"Speaking of which…" she pushed the red jar towards me, "You don't happen to have any, do you?"

"Oh, no, I'm not really an adventurer. I'm just on my way to Pastoria to see some friends."

"Oh, okay. No worries." She pulled the jar back to its original position. "Do you get to Pastoria often?"

"I've never been," I said. "And really, the second farthest I've been from Sandgem since I moved here."

"Oh, you're not a native either?"

"No, I'm from the Sevii Islands. I moved here when I was ten."

"Ooh, it seems so lovely down there."

"It is during the winters. It's ridiculously hot during the spring and summer. But, I can definitely say that I miss the simplicity of living on island time, you know?"

"Oh, I wouldn't know anything about that," she said. "I lived in Fortree City, worked in the Weather Institute just off the 119."

"That would explain the TM's."

She smiled and gave a slight nod. "Yeah, so I pretty much moved from a rainy forest to a rainy swamp. If anything, it's quieter here."

"Sinnoh is nice, though," I replied. "I appreciate the feeling of living in such a big region. I feel like I see so many more people here. There's more freedom here, too. You can't travel very far on Six Island before needing to take a boat."

She leaned forward in her seat, supporting herself with her arms on the table. "Oh, god, I feel that too, kind of. Half of Hoenn is ocean. I have a cousin who lives in Sootopolis and it's so expensive to visit her."

"It's not fun, is it? Imagine having to take a boat to go anywhere."

"I can't even begin to," she said. "Do you still visit, ever?"

"Oh, yeah, my parents live there, still. I visit once or twice a year."

"That's fun." Sharon pulled her shoulders together and looked down at the table,
"I don't get out to Hoenn much anymore."

"That's a shame."

She shrugged. "I did everything I wanted to do over there, and I haven't regretted moving. I'm happier here."

"Oh, then, that's good."

"Yeah, it's a really nice change of scenery, and I love the Pokemon who live around here. I throw some of my scraps out for the Woopers who live in the pond out back."

"Oh, I love Woopers!" I said. "I didn't know they lived around here."

"They do! They like to burrow under the mud and hide from people, so you have to look carefully. And watch your step! Don't hurt my babies!"

I laughed a bit, "I'll keep that in mind."

"Good," Sharon said, the corner of her mouth turning up a bit. She looked out the window. "It looks like the rain is letting up a bit. You can probably head out soon. Can I get you anything for the road?"

"No, I think I'll be okay," I answered as I pulled my damp jacket off the back of my chair. "Pastoria is nearby, right?"

She nodded. "Oh, yeah. You're almost there."

"Thanks for having me. I'm a lot drier than I would have been."

"Of course! And keep me in your thoughts if you ever find any Shards!"

I made it to Pastoria after a forty-something minute walk east. The sky still spat the occasional raindrop, and water dripped from the roofs of buildings. Pastoria was a tourism-driven town, and it showed. The city was decorated with posters of the Pokémon found in the Great Marsh, with fun facts about said Pokémon and the Great Marsh's address on the bottom. I followed the signs to the north of town, to a brick, domed building painted with a Pokémon mural.

I walked inside. The floor was made of blue-and-white checkered tile. A cafeteria lay beyond the reception desk, and the recently unhidden sun shone through the glass dome in the ceiling. Beyond the cafeteria, large double-doors leading outside, to the Great Marsh itself.

I walked into the cafeteria to be hailed by a familiar voice, "Lucas! Hey!" I followed the voice, finding Dawn and the Professor sitting at one of the tables. Dawn's had her hand raised, a smile across her face. "It's about time you got here!"

"Sorry," I said, "I got caught in the rain." I walked to the table and took a seat.

"Yeah, sheesh, I can tell. You look like you need a hairdryer." She reached for her bag, "You want mine?"

"I'm fine," I said on the off chance she wasn't joking.

"Are you hungry?" she asked through a mouthful of fries, pushing her cafeteria tray towards me. "I got too much food. The burger is mine, though."

I took a fry from the tray. "Thanks." I looked up at Professor Rowan, who was typing on his laptop, completely unaware of our conversation. "So, professor, how was your trip down?"

"It wasn't very bad," he said. "I managed to get here an hour or two before the rain started."

"That's good to hear," I said. "I'm glad one of us was lucky."

"I got here forever ago," Dawn said. "I took a nap in my hotel room, then I went and got some stuff at the Poke Mart." She looked at both of us, then said, "Sorry for butting in. I'm just really excited."

I raised a hand up, "Don't worry about it."

"How has your journey been, Lucas? Have you been learning much?" asked the Professor. He looked up from his laptop for this, folding his hands in front of the keyboard.

"It's been slow-going since Canalave. Although, Hal's…" I leaned in, "… research was really interesting."

"I heard he got it working. Why don't we discuss this later?"

"Of course," I said. "I went to Hearthome after that, as you know. I ran into Cyrus in the cathedral downtown."

"Ah, did you? How was he?"

I shrugged, "I… don't know."

The Professor tilted his head. "You didn't talk much?"

"No, we did."

He pondered, "… Ah." He cleared his throat. "I think you'll find the Great Marsh interesting, if you liked what you saw in Oreburgh. I'm sure you know that Yanma is a living fossil."

"Effectively unchanged for almost three-hundred million years," I finished. "Except that it actually got bigger."

Dawn looked up from her burger. "Wait, really?"

Professor Rowan nodded. "Fossilized remains of Yanma's ancestors are essentially the same as their modern counterparts. Only smaller."

"Huh." Dawn knit her brow for a second and then returned to her burger.

"I think you'll find the Great Marsh interesting, Lucas." Professor Rowan addressed me again. "Have you considered adding any more Pokemon to your collection? If so, this would be the place to do so."

"No," I said. "I'm fine with just Missy. I'm not responsible enough to handle more than one Pokemon. And, you know, Bug-types are low-maintenance. I think that's the only reason I've managed to take such good care of her."

"Dawn isn't responsible enough, but she still manages it."

Dawn laughed for a moment before pausing. "Hey…"

The Professor smirked. "I—"

He was interrupted when the double doors leading to the Marsh swung open. An unusual-looking man burst through them, arms wrapped tightly around a plastic bag. His hair was fashioned in a neon turquoise bowl cut, and he wore a gray outfit similar to a spacesuit.

He stopped in the middle of the cafeteria. Everyone gave him a wide berth as he shouted, "Get back! I have a bomb and I'm not afraid to blow this place up!" It was then that I noticed a detail of his jumpsuit. On his chest, unambiguously, the yellow Galactic 'G'.

Security guards came through the doors next. He turned, hugging the package tighter, and shouted, "Stay back! I'll set this thing off. I'm not kidding!" The security guards backed away slowly as he bolted for the door.

Dawn was off her feet in a second, her tray clattering on the floor tile. She chased after the man with the bowl cut, a Poke Ball in her hand. I followed after her, out the door and into the streets of Pastoria. He'd disappeared into the crowd.

Dawn muttered a curse, looking down the street both ways. She spat, "Do you see him?"

I glassed the crowd. He wasn't hard to find with his hair.

"There he is!" I shouted, already chasing after him. I wasn't sure if Dawn heard or not, but I had no time to check. I sent Missy out, shouting, "Keep an eye on the guy with green hair!"

Her wings buzzed as she sped into the air, hovering above the man as he shoved his way through the crowded street. I followed, throwing in an excuse me or a pardon me, so sorry wherever I could. The man with the bomb looked over his shoulder, making fleeting eye contact with me before his eyes went wide with panic and he turned around and scurried faster.

Questions raced through my head, questions I couldn't wrap my head around. Was this a move on Team Galactic's part, or was it just a deranged employee? Why was he wearing that outfit? The outfit. The Galactic logo looked like it was sewn onto the outfit. He was either dedicated to sabotaging the organization, or he was a part of it. How far did this sect of the organization go? Was I right not to trust Cyrus?

And then, onto the practical. The now. Was Dawn behind me? Where was the Professor? I didn't see him leave when we did. What was I going to do when I actually caught up to the man with the bomb? Would he kill me? Would he kill both of us? Was I making a fatal mistake, here?

I kept chasing him, and I wasn't sure why. He ducked into a park and shouted obscenities at the bystanders until they backed away.

My opportunity to do something. I shouted, "Missy!"

The man with the bomb turned in the direction of my voice and threw a Poke Ball. A Croagunk came out, its orange cheeks inflating and deflating with each breath. A low, deep croak accompanied every exhale. It crouched in front of me, displaying its toxic fingers.

A warning sign, usually, but more likely a threat.

I backed away as Missy whipped around and lashed out with a Sonicboom. The Croagunk sprung from its crouch and jabbed a hand toward my Pokemon's attack. Its hand caught the shockwave and a wave of energy radiated from the impact. My hat blew off and caught in a bush. Missy looped in the air and rubbed her mandibles and beat her wings, creating a stomach-churning sound. Supersonic. I covered my ears, as did the man from Team Galactic. His Croagunk's eyes widened and it stumbled backwards. It caught itself with a hand, preparing its other hand to strike at Missy. It swung at nothing, stumbling forward as Missy hit it with another Sonicboom and it fell to the ground, unconscious.

The man in the space suit returned Croagunk to its Poke Ball and turned to run. I thrust a finger toward him and ordered Missy to stop him. She dive-bombed, hitting him in the back and knocking the paper bag into the grass.

I walked around him and knelt next to the bag and began opening it up.

"You're naïve," spat the man with the green hair. "You, and that girl, and that dusty old bastard you call a scientist."

I ignored him, pulling open the bag and removing its contents.

"The future is coming, kid, and it belongs to Team Galactic. Whether you like it or not. You already lost."

A light, egg-shaped mass of duct tape. I shook it cautiously and glared at the man who'd been carrying it moments before.

A smirk twisted across his face. "Welcome to tomorrow."

An explosion and a wave of heat behind me. I leapt to my feet and spun around on my heels to see a pillar of smoke rising above the Great Marsh.

Dawn ran into the park, coming to a stop and locking eyes with me, her jaw dropped.

"Go!" I shouted. "Get back to the Marsh!"

She turned and bolted in the other direction without saying a word.

The police arrived shortly after. I returned to the Great Marsh and found a portion of it on fire. Two deaths and seven injuries, three of which placed the victims in intensive care. There wasn't much I could do to help, so I returned to the Pokémon Center and watched the news. Everything had changed. My worst fears were apparently realized. The grunt who had blown up the Great Marsh was acting out of the organization's interest, not out of his own. Team Galactic had pulled all of their websites and public information. The employees in Veilstone barricaded themselves inside Galactic Headquarters, besieged by the police. Cyrus had vanished, leaving the following PR statement:

All,

The future I want, as I have come to learn, will not come easy. It is impossible to create in the world as I know it. I do not expect anyone to love me for what I have done. These deaths are on my hands. I am aware of this. I would not have killed if I were not aware of the burden implicit in such an act. This was a necessary sacrifice. Team Galactic is no longer the organization it once was. We are everywhere. We are across the street. We are in your schools. We are an invincible force for permanent change, in a world where change does not come peacefully, and we will no longer hide. Do not challenge us. You cannot win. Thank you.

-Cyrus

The sliding door to the Pokemon Center opened and Dawn walked in. Her gait was tight and grim. Her entire body was tense as if she were holding her breath as she stormed past me to the PC. She hit the keys with heavy fingerfalls and a trio of Poke Balls appeared on the tray next to the monitor. She put them in her bag and started to walk by again.

"They're gonna pay," she said without looking at me.

"Don't over-exert yourself," I said.

She looked over her shoulder at me with a glare that could have reduced me to a pile of ash. "I know what I'm doing. Things aren't the same anymore, Lucas. I'm not gonna sit around and let this happen again. I'll kick every single one of their asses if I have to and no one can stop me." She turned away from the PC and started to walk out of the Pokemon Center.

"Cyrus disappeared," I said.

"He's the ringleader," she said. "Environmentalism was a front for…" she made an ugly sound with her throat, "whatever the hell they're actually planning. It doesn't matter, though. I'm gonna end this thing by sunrise."

Dawn left and I followed her outside. ""I don't think it's a good idea for you to do this while you're still so angry."

Dawn pulled a Poke Ball from her bag and looked into the sky. "News flash, Lucas! Team Galactic isn't gonna wait around for me to stop being angry!"

"I'm going to go to the beach on the Valor Lakefront," I said. "At least come sit with me for a while."

"I'm fine," she insisted. She tossed the Ball into the air and Salamence sprung from it, spreading its scaly red wings under the lowering evening sun. The Pokemon dove towards Dawn and she jumped on its back and she was gone.

I went to the beach alone. The sun was setting in the west, and to the east I could see the faint glow of Sunnyshore. I sat on the shore, my arms crossed over my knee. I dug my shoes into the damp sand and looked out over the ocean. Fish occasionally leapt from the surface of the water, and a few Wingulls lingered, searching for one more meal before returning to their roosts.

"Things aren't the same anymore, Lucas." I thought about Dawn's words. I turned them over in my head again and again. I wanted to feel clever about predicting Cyrus' betrayal, but it was hard to feel good about myself when his underling had tricked me so easily; a mistake that had gotten people killed.

I heard footsteps in the sand behind me. I turned to see Dawn, also looking out over the water, arms crossed. "Hey," she said.

"You're still here?"

"Came back." She trudged to my side and sat down a few feet to my right. "Wanted to make sure my head was clear before I left." She drew anxious lines in the sand with her index finger. There was unease crawling all over her face. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I could have done more to help."

"It's not your job," Dawn said. "You're a scientist. You did more than we could've asked you to. Honestly, it's a miracle you didn't get hurt."

"I still could have done more."

"No, you couldn't have. You didn't know the bomb was back at the Marsh. And again, you're just a scientist with one bug." She tilted her head. "I don't mean that to be a jerk, by the way."

"I get it."

"So yeah. Leave it to me, and the Four, and everyone who has the training for this kinda stuff. Okay?"

I nodded.

"Cool."

"Is the professor…?"

"Hurt? No. He's about as mad as I am, though."

I sighed, relieved. "And what about the Great Marsh?"

A cloud came over her face. "Could be better. Area 6 took most of the damage, and it was a lot. They were still putting the fires out when I left. I don't know if anyone passed away. I've been trying not to look just yet."

I nodded and changed the subject. "So, what happens next?"

"We hope we stop Team Galactic before they kill more people, or do whatever they're trying to do. And we find Cyrus. Easier said than done," she sighed.

"Is there any way I can help?"

"By staying out of it. Keep doing what you've been doing. You've helped enough." She paused. "I appreciated the help, by the way. Sorry if that wasn't really clear."

"Thanks," I said.

"Where are you headed next?"

"Eterna, I think. I need to go somewhere peaceful for a few days."

"Oh, why not go to Floaroma? It's a little farther from here, but it's smaller and it's so pretty this time of year!"

"How much further?"

She leaned over and showed me her Poketch. She pointed to a square to the north of Jubilife. "It's right there." Her finger moved to the right a bit, "And Eterna is there. So, like, if you wanna go to Eterna after all, it's right through the woods."

"Good to know," I said.

Dawn stood up, her boots slightly sinking into the sand. "I'm gonna head out now, if that's cool."

"Don't let me keep you," I replied. "I guess I'll see you… eventually?"

"Eventually, yeah." She smiled before jumping on her Salamence and flying off.