Ray's POV

I followed the old man out of the room with some reservation. Seeing the two of them, I did not want to leave them together in a closed room alone. It wasn't that I was against any form of love because I couldn't see Mel, but come on. She gets her identity, she gets magical powers, she gets a chosen one to drag around, the ability to go out and adventure, and now a love interest? And what did I get? Less than nothing out of this, taken out of my life, away from my love, away from my kingdom. I had a kingdom to lead, and she ruined it. She ruined everything. Why did it seem like fate itself was for her and against me? It just, it wasn't fair. It wasn't fair and I was mad about it. I was allowed to be mad about it. I would not be the bigger person, here. I did not have to be the bigger person here.

I sighed, at least I could get away from her now, again. Sometimes it seemed like we could almost be friends… and sometimes the only thing that kept me from hurting her in some way or another was the knowledge that she was the only person who could get me back where I belonged. It was just… I didn't know what to say anymore. It seemed everything had gone wrong, ever since I left Meliae's side. I should never have done that, duty or no duty. I should have refused my call. Things would have been much better if I had, not only for me, but for Emerald too… sort of. She would still be out there exploring caves. Or, maybe she would have gotten out of the capital she was trapped in and gotten killed almost immediately. Honestly, I didn't care. She probably wouldn't be on the run from her own family, though. In the long run, it would be better if I had just… stayed. Why did I think it was going to be any different? Why did I go?

"You're as bad as her." The old man said, looking over his shoulder at me. He had a strange smile on his face.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Your mind wanders just as much, even when the young girl seems to blush." He said, and laughed a little, I assumed he was amused by his… sort of… almost rhyme? It wasn't a very good rhyme. He was a very strange man, but I knew that already. "You youngsters need to learn to focus, you are distracted too easily."

"Youngster? Who are you calling a youngster? How old do you think I am, old man?" I asked. I had learned the human life cycle. I had learned a lot about humans so that I could adequately spend my time with them and understand them and be of service, so I knew he was, in fact, pretty old, pretty far into the human life cycle. The only stage left to him after this was his death. I, on the other hand, wasn't that old, but I wasn't a kid either. Our lifespans also lasted longer than a human. Rayquaza were a pretty sturdy stock.

"How old you are? Can't say I know, from the look of you. Maybe older than me, years-wise, but that don't matter. I am further along in my life than you are in yours. So, you are a youngster." He said, quite definitively. There would be no argument on this, the old man would not allow it. I frowned. I did not care for being looked down upon in this manner. I did not like to be condescended to. Then again, did anyone really enjoy something like that?

We continued to wander through the halls. He did this sort of old man penguin waddle through the ship. I had to hover very slowly behind him. It was… it was a lot, it was very slow and required a lot of patience, which I did not really have. As we kept going, my patience wore thin, until I finally had to ask him about it.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"We are walking around, there will be a destination in time, my friend. You have no need to worry." He said, a simple smile on his face. Something told me either he wasn't all there, or knew a lot more than he left on.

"I wasn't worried, more like curiosity." I said. The old man nodded, but did not attempt to make any answer to anything I was saying. That guy was going to do things at his own pace, do what he wanted, and think the way he wanted to, and not listen to anybody else. That did not surprise me too much, actually.

"Whatever makes you sleep at night, Ray." The old man said. There was something strange about that phrase. Why did he choose to use that particular phrase?

"Whatever… makes me sleep at night?" I asked. It didn't seem like a legitimate response to what I had just said? It seemed like he was just talking and not really listening to what I was saying. Although, I guessed the same could be said for me. I had not been paying a whole lot of attention to him. Like he said, my mind wandered, like Emerald's. There were important things for me to think about. There were… or maybe I was just distracted a lot easier than I thought I was.

"You heard me." Was the only response the old coot gave. It looked like he was putting in quite a bit of effort to move, especially in this place, where the floor moved, somewhat.

"Do you want me to carry you or anything, old man? You look like you are struggling?" I suggested, and in return I got another wrap on the head from his walking stick.

"Got all the help I want or need from this thing. Learn patience, whippersnapper!" As he said this, he sounded even older than he usually did. It sounded like it was something put on, like he was trying to sound older and frailer than he actually was. What was the purpose of this? Or, was there even a purpose? Perhaps he was just messing with me. No grand gesture or deep meaning, just his own entertainment. That would be a pretty stupid joke.

"Right…" I trailed off. We were moving so slowly, how could he expect me to concentrate on what we were doing? Of course my mind was going to wander. Whoever made this ship did an excellent job. The craftsmanship… I did not know a whole lot about wood working… but it looked very polished and clean, and only a little worse for wear.

"Here." The old man said. I looked up where he pointed, we were at another door. It looked like any of the other doors, why stop at this one? Why do anything? Was this some sort of special room that looked exactly like any of the other ones? Well, I wasn't going to answer any questions just floating here. I reached over the old man and pulled the door open. The room was… pretty unremarkable. It looked like it was just another cabin room, sleeping quarters for the crew. It was pretty small, and pretty plain. There were some maps on one wall, very worn maps with some string pinned on there and little marked dots. I recognized the map as the world map. This was more or less the shape I saw when I flew in to meet Emerald. So this was probably a travel journal… map… of some sort, recording where they went. Maybe this sailor had a journal somewhere that detailed what sot of adventures they had at each stop, and along the journey. Honestly, I would be more interested in reading that than going on a grand adventure, like Emerald wanted. We could have just stayed in the library.

"Privacy?" I asked. The old coot nodded. Seemed I correctly guessed his motives for bringing me to this particular spot. We both went in and he closed the door behind us. "Alright, what is it you want? You had something to tell me?" I asked. I didn't really want to waste my time here. I wasn't very fond of spending time alone with him.

"You've been regretting coming here recently, haven't you? You wished you had just stayed in your dimension? Am I right?" The old man said, turning around to face me. He was right, but what did it matter? And why was he bringing this up now, was he going to try to convince me? Was he going to tell me how to get home? Otherwise, I wasn't particularly interested…

"How about you actually listen for once in your life, rather than speculate on your own." The old man said, still a wry smile on his face.

"Fine." I conceded. "Yes, I have been regretting my choices. I could be home with my wife, with a kingdom to lead. In comparison, this all seems so utterly trivial. I am tired of having to put up with the princess and her selfishness, her inconsiderate nature. I wish I had never come here. I could have let the call go unheeded, and we wouldn't be here now. Mel might have been a little mad at me for not doing my duty… but it would have been worth it. I wouldn't have had to do all… all this." I said. The old man listened silently and it seemed he was deep in thought for a long time, then he began to slowly nod.

"I understand. Hm, the world is strange, is it not? So many possibilities, destinies, folding into each other, intertwining…"

"Get to the point." My patience for the old man's nonsense was low. I knew he was more lucid than he would want to have us believe. How crafty was this guy, exactly? And why was he cornering me specifically? Something was wrong here. And I wasn't entirely sure what, but it was something and it was bothering me, there was something here I wasn't getting, hidden just beneath the surface. He merely laughed in response. This guy took just about everything in stride, didn't he?

"Fine, fine, you are not one for pomp and circumstance, I can see that. Straight to the point, hm? I'd like to enlist you to help save this world."

"Huh?" That came straight out of nowhere. That was not… that was not what I was expecting. I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't that. He wanted me to help… save this world? Well, that would fit the theme, huh? What else would you do on a grand adventure like this but save the whole world? Did it need saving, though? Or rather… maybe that was the wrong question here… Maybe the question I should have been asking was more like… could this world even be saved? From what I had seen of it, this was a world full of thieves, full of killers and corrupt people and governments, a government that did not seem to care at all for its people, where people and Pokemon were sacrificed on the altar of power… Could a world like that be saved? Or, was it so thoroughly corrupt, that it was corrupted to its core?

"I think you may misunderstand what I mean about saving the world. I do not mean I want you to help redeem it, or bring justice to it, or create any sort of good society, or take out the corruption in the capital. I mean I want to ask you to save it from complete annihilation." The old man spoke in a deadly gave voice, no hint, no trace of his prior foolish nature, no kidding, and no sarcasm. He looked me directly in the eyes, and there was a clarity to his eyes. Regardless of whether this was real or not, the old man sincerely believed the world would meet its ruin.

"Complete annihilation?" I asked, an eyebrow raised. The old man merely nodded. I half expected him to bust out laughing any second, to let me know it was all a joke, and that he totally got me. I mean, this world was kind of a mess, but it didn't look like it was going to be destroyed or something. It looked like it was falling apart, but in the way an old house did. The way the old man talked, it sounded like he thought someone or something was coming to level the house so that all that remained was the foundation, or perhaps not even that.

There was a porthole on the wall, and the old man walked over to it and looked out wistfully. This room was at the edge of the ship. The view went straight down to the land. Oh, we were over land now, it seemed. When did that happen? Last time I checked we were still over the ocean. Now, it was land… And, it didn't look particularly pretty. Land was supposed to be green and lush, wasn't it? It looked like… the land itself was rotting. I couldn't quite explain why I thought that, what exactly it was I was seeing that made me come to that conclusion, but I hadn't really noticed it before.

It looked like… the colors of the entire world had been desaturated, so that everything was closer to gray than it should have been. There weren't a whole lot of people around, or trees. It seemed there was a lot of flatland in this world, or maybe it was only this region of the world. I saw a conglomerate of buildings in the distance, they looked worn down. That was the feeling I got from the whole world, worn down, fading. That was what I saw looking out, and honestly it was more than a little depressing. Maybe this was the kind of place some sort of landlord would want to tear down. Is that what he thought was happening, or?

"This kingdom has lost its liveliness, hasn't it? This is much different than the capital, isn't it? There's a reason they keep you in. There's a reason they say it's so dangerous outside. It is, of course… but it wouldn't be if resources were less scarce. It wouldn't be if the world wasn't being sucked dry." He said, the last part was nothing more than a hushed whisper. He might have said something else under his breath, but I didn't catch it.

"Being sucked dry…?" I knew I was just repeating him at this point, but I was interested now, he got me interested, he caught me. I wanted to know more. I knew I didn't really care about the fate of this world but that didn't mean I wasn't a little interested in finding out what exactly the fate of this world was.

"The whole purpose of that place… the capital. Emerald said it was the entire kingdom, and I am sure, with any time you spent there, you were convinced of the same thing. Everyone there thinks that it is the whole kingdom because it was… it used to be, a long time ago. It extended outwards… it became an empire, and all of that was used by the capital. Did it never occur to you that that place never seems to be low on supplies despite the fact it does not appear to trade with any outside entity? You think that place is entirely self sufficient? No."

This land was only part of the kingdom Emerald was in was to serve the capital? That made sense, I supposed. It was a horrible way to run a land, a people. If that was true… I was, quite honestly disgusted. I was… to forsake you own people for your own sake? That was inexcusable. I knew that the government here was corrupt, but… the land itself was suffering from their rule. Wow, this was completely corrupt… how did they make the land do that, though, how did they desaturate it like that? What exactly were they doing, here?

"How in the world are they doing… that?" I asked, pointing at the land, how it was all… like that?

"Sucking the energy out, out of souls, and out of nature, sucking every last drop out of the word. It's almost all gone." The old man sighed, and turned around to look at me. He looked weary, as weary as the world he was talking about. This was the face of a man who had seen a lot in his life and was just about done… but he wasn't done yet.

Still, that was… unbelievable. The guys who were chasing us were after the whole world, were using the energy of the entire world, to feed themselves, to feed their magic. I supposed it made sense. Magic was taken from the energy of people and nature, although, usually it was then given back as a byproduct of the magic or… something like that? All I knew was that there were Pokemon that used magic in my dimension, but they the world never turned into… this. Maybe it was just that the citizens of the world used far more magic than the citizens of my world ever could. Maybe? I didn't know.

And what would happen to this world when it ran out of magic, or, not magic, when it ran out of energy, life energy? What would happen to it? Would everyone die?

"Um, alright… So what do you want me to do about it, and why should I help you out?" I asked. I got a grave chuckle in response.

"Quite the pragmatic one, aren't we? Straight to the point and little to no compassion for those who need your help." He said. His words cut through me a little. I cared a lot about people… when I was with Mel, we would go out and help with the community with any number of things. We even did that silly request with the pinecones. And now I wouldn't help save this whole world? That didn't seem very logical, did it? I was calloused, now, wasn't I? I was… unsympathetic. In fact, the only thing that cut me was the thought that I didn't care. The actual fate of the world didn't… bother me too much. Maybe because I was so focused on leaving this word, and really, who cared about the people left behind. These were not my people. It seemed harsh. I wasn't even sure if it was my own thoughts. It could have been the shadow being that didn't care. But, then again, I couldn't just keep blaming all my shortcomings on him.

"You know, when the world is spent, the court, the ruling body will not stay here. They will forsake the people of this world and abandon ship. They will leave and find some other world. They would not be draining this world at such an outrageous rate if they did not have a way to save themselves. That is the kind of people we are dealing with. If they are going to leave, that means they must have a way to leave. You can use it to get out of here and back to your world."

"So I save the world… go home, Emerald keeps her powers, so she doesn't keep complaining. We work together to do something good and both get what we want?" I asked, seeing if I had the situation accurately mapped.

"Yes."

"…Why didn't you tell me about this sooner, old man?" I asked. It was… a little too good to be true, if I was being honest. I hoped it wasn't actually too good to be true. "There isn't some sort of catch, is there? You're not just making the offer seem better than it is?"

"Well, you will be risking your life, going up against impossibly strong enemies. You will most likely have every aspect of your character and ability challenged, but it is much better than whatever it is exactly that Emerald is planning. I know she has something."

"She was hoping to learn more about medicine and science, because there's stuff it can do the same as magic. If she learns that she can lose her magic and still function in this world." I said. I didn't think it was a secret, and even if it had been, it wasn't anymore. Whoops. The old man nodded in understanding.

"Science, she will find, is not an adequate substitute for magic, I'm afraid. There is a lot science can do, but it can't do everything, and there are a lot of side effects. Magic is much more direct. Unless science catches up quick, I'm afraid she will not be satisfied."

"Alright, so… any idea what this way home is?" I asked.

"They have an object that can do it. I do not have a lot of information about it. We'll have to go and find out, I'm afraid." I sighed, I knew this was going way too smoothly. Yeah, this would be an amazing thing to do, but it wouldn't be easy to pull off. I was willing to do it, though… I was willing to move mountains to be back by Meliae's side. Although, I hoped I wasn't actually asked to move mountains. I wasn't sure in what scenario I would have to do that… but, uh… where was I going with this, exactly. My mind kept wandering, even when I was trying to have such a strong resolve.

"Do I have your help?" The old coot asked. Was it just me, or was he standing straighter than he had been before? Was his voice stronger? Did he look, seem, at least, a little younger? I looked out at the world, it was dark and gray. Meliae… what would she want me to do… she would want me to do this. It was my duty to hold up the pillars of the world over here… That was essentially what the old man was asking me to do. He was asking me to hold up the world and save it from the brink of ruin. And… Emerald wasn't about to send me home soon either way. This was probably the best chance I had. This was what Mel would say was my duty. The old man did make a pretty incredible deal. I held out a claw to him.

"Deal." I said, and it seemed like he relaxed back into his old man slump. He seemed satisfied, like he had just eaten a particularly satisfying meal.

"Good, good, now come on, the lovebirds have had enough time alone, ya think? Let's go ruin some young people's fun!"

have a good day