Disclaimer: Pokémon is owned by The Pokémon Company, which in turn is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, and probably others I forgot. The following fanfiction is me playing around in their sandbox, using characters they envisioned and created, except for the odd character that wasn't. I own nothing of this

Chapter 21: Others

The ground shook as Steven saw his metagross fall out of the air, losing its Mega Evolution as well. He mentally commended Wallace: Mega metagross had only taken out two Pokémon: Wallace's ace milotic, and the greninja that had been its opponent just now. Speed, grace, and more trickery than Phoebe's Ghost-types made Steven glad he'd taken the time to train with Brawly. The three day crash course on deflecting attacks from all angles had paid off.

It wasn't solely responsible for his win, though. His entire team was. It had been a close fight, but at the end of it all, Steven still had one unused Pokémon left. He hadn't fancied putting his aggron up against milotic, and metagross had been reasonably fresh after defeating Wallace's Pokémon. The other battles had been ties, roughly speaking.

Roars and applause filtered through his in-ears, becoming almost deafening once he took them out, and the new Grand Champion gave a wave as he walked off his platform, to the small podium that had been brought out the instant the referee had declared the match to be over. For the second time in his life, he'd ascend to the top position, and though he was not given to obvious joy, Steven knew there was a large grin on his face; though his feelings were slightly tempered.

Wallace didn't look as happy from afar. It was the professional Trainer in him; in both of them. They'd lamented about this before, when Wallace had defeated Steven four years back. The dissonance between being happy for a friend and annoyed due to losing was a strange one, as was the inverse, according to Wallace. At the time, Steven hadn't really understood, but now, he appreciated the position all the better.

He tuned out most of the excessive gibberish by some League Official. He understood his rights and duties, and that his actions would now reflect on Hoenn as a whole. He'd been in the position before.

All too soon, silence was asked for and given, and the two Trainers climbed up to the podium from opposite ends in a ritual with origins long lost to time. The losing Grand Champion would symbolically hand over his or her weapons – the Pokémon used – and the new Grand Champion would hand them back in an act of forgiveness. It made as much sense to Steven as it did nine years back, but it had a certain quaintness to it, a certain… How did Sycamore put it? A certain je ne sais quoi.

Once the ritual was over, a microphone was thrust into his hands, and Steven took a sheet of paper from his pocket. It wasn't a full speech – off the cuff worked better for him – but the reminder of key phrases helped in keeping him on track and not rambling.

"Here I am again," Steven started in the completely silent stadium. "I must confess that the me of four years ago would be surprised. After that thorough defeat I suffered at Wallace's hands, I was certain my time was past, and that I should spend time working on my hobbies and my degree, not on Pokémon battling. Yet, one year in, those things bored me. I eventually came to the conclusion that I had lost balance in my life. And isn't balance what Hoenn is based on? The balance of land and water?"

The stadium was silent, hanging on to his every word. "Two years ago, that balance was nearly brutally overthrown. It was prevented, but I was reminded that we live in a world in which humans are… Fragile. We co-exist with Pokémon., working side-by-side as partners and friends, towards a common goal, whatever that goal is."

"Some choose to explore. Others seek the thrill of battle. A good portion likes the performance art of Contests. But for all these paths you can take, balance is essential. Exploration without a goal leads to boredom. Battles for the sake of battles breed resentment. Contests are not just contests of beauty, but also contests of wit and strength. We Trainers combine these areas, seeking to fulfil our self-proclaimed goals, together with our Pokémon. Balance, and harmony."

"As the past months have sadly shown, that harmony is under threat. For as yet unknown reasons, Ghosts around the country are acting out. I am certain Wallace will tell me all about it." He'd hoped for scattered laughter, but he got none. "But I urge you: do not lose sight of what is important. Pokémon and humans are meant to live in harmony. If we do that, then there is nothing that we cannot do."

~~§~~§~~

On a boat en-route to Lilycove, a girl with currently messy brown hair turned her TV off. The battle, eh, she'd seen a lot of them, but the speech stuck in her mind, even as she walked to a basin to wash her face before bed. It was just so different how the Champions did stuff around here.

Linda had grown up with Alder as her Champion. He was almost some mythical figure, only appearing a few times a year, and he never looked interested, she'd noticed one night when she was ten. Before Team Plasma. It hadn't been better since. Linda didn't even know what Alder was doing to stop them, but it wasn't enough. Last week, her younger sister – who was nearly of age to leave – had been told that she shouldn't take a Pokémon by some random idiots on the street. Not even Team Plasma members. Just some people thinking that Team Plasma'd just go away if everyone freed their Pokémon.

Easy Linda. No need to get angry before bed.

She should really just call people. She hadn't done a big round of calls in a while. Call home, call Professor Juniper, call her best friend Erin in… wherever she was. She'd been in the Indigo League, but met an early exit against an eventual semi-finalist. Maybe she should even call Max and Danny. She hadn't talked to them since she told them that she had gotten her eighth badge, the same day that she saw their faces on the TV.

Maybe she should plan to meet up with them once she arrived in five days. She was certain they'd made it to Ever Grande. They were too good not to go there. Who knew? Maybe she'd even fight one of them in the League.

Linda let out a snort. That was only going to end one way, and even her new baltoy wasn't going to stop that. Anyone going up against a criminal gang had to be tough, and Wattson had been full of praise for them. That had to count for something.

Her Pokénav rang, and Linda rolled her eyes. Probably her mother trying to reach her again, but reception in an inside cabin was not good. Still, she answered, silencing the strings. "Heya?"

"… inda? Where are y…?" came a voice Linda barely recognised. "You're breaking..."

"I'm on a boat in a cabin, and the reception is very bad, so can you call back tomorrow?" Linda said into the speaker, trying to slow her speech down in the hopes that the boy at the other end got her message.

"Okay. Talk—" the call abruptly cut short with a burst of crackling static, and the thirteen-year-old sighed. She'd have to explain that. Probably. Nothing she could do about it now, and since it was nearing ten anyway, she decided she might as well make it an early night. She needed one after last night's waves.

~~§~~§~~

An unmarked, plain brown, lorry rode up to a hill overlooking the Pristine Sound on one side, and quiet, quaint, Pinwater on the other side. Michael didn't understand why they were here, and why now. If he were in charge, he would've gone to Littleroot, hit the laboratory up on the night that that Stone ponce got his Champion title back. Nobody would be able to respond, and it'd be glorious chaos.

Instead, it was five days after that, and they were here. Pinwater wasn't small: it was the only big town close to route 103, and a natural rest stop for trainers. Sure, fine. He'd been here once before, twenty years back. Hadn't changed a bit from the looks of it. It just wasn't a big target, and it made no sense.

He trusted the leader, though. His targets made sense. Too bad the Psychic facility got blown up. They'd been pretty close to a breakthrough, one of his friends had told him. Instead, it was just Ghosts they were sending into a frenzy. Shame, that. Would've been so much better with those blasted Psychics.

"Let's move," Michael said as he braked, placing his vehicle on an out of the way stop meant for the odd lorry that did pass by here. "I'll check perimeter. You start the transmitter."

His partner saluted – Michael was older, wiser, more important after all – and walked off to the back of the vehicle as a flash of light lit up the area.

Out came Michael's ursaring, one of his best friends for the last twenty years, and together, they checked for any stragglers around. He wasn't expecting to find any: they always parked out of the way, both so they weren't easily connected to the deeds and because it meant less chance of interference. Today wasn't different: the rest stop was completely abandoned, not that Michael had expected any people here at ten in the evening on a November night.

The whirring of a platform being lowered made him turn back to his partner. Michael didn't know his name, nor did he care. Kid barely looked out of his teens, if even that, scruffy, unkempt. He wouldn't last long. "All's ready, sir. You need only push the button."

Michael ambled over, and pressed the relevant button without looking. He'd seen it often enough that it had lost all novelty. First, there was a faint, soft, crackling as electricity started flowing through the machinery in the back of their truck. Then, inevitably, there'd be one or two bangs against the glass as the captured haunter – taken from Mt. Pyre as a gastly – tried to escape, only to fail.

Then it fell silent, and the fun would begin.

He made a quick call on his burner Pokénav, letting it ring two times before ending the call. Five minutes from now, the Ghosts of Pinwater would be in an uncontrollable frenzy, just like Oldale, Crossgate, Petal Grove, and Rinshin before them. "So, rookie. Care to wager on wounded?"

"Sure, sir," the teen stated as the haunter, right on cue, banged against the impenetrable glass. "Twenty in the hospital, two serious, and one dead."

Michael let loose a whistle. "A stiff one? Bold. What makes you think that?"

"I saw a lot of scaffolding in town."

"Scaffolding doesn't kill people," Michael scoffed. "But twenty in the hospital sounds good. Let's hope we get there."

It felt good to watch the town slowly wake up to its worst nightmare. Lights started appearing around town, more than usual, as doors opened, windows shattered, and the odd Pokémon attack made its way through the air, barely visible in the limited light.

They'd scaled up on the violence since Petal Grove. That one had been a test run, to see what they could do. This was the real deal.

A loud, eardrum-shattering at close range, explosion suddenly lit up the night, as a huge fireball ballooned into the air, immediately collapsing in on itself. That had never happened before. "Whoa. What happened?"

"I don't know, kid," Michael said, "but I wager we'll hear that soon."

True to his words, it was only three minutes later that his Pokénav rang. He answered, and listened, call on the speaker.

"Pokémart exploded. No idea what set it off, but probably the generator or fuel caught fire. The place is a mess. Shattered windows to here, and I'm two blocks down. You can probably see fire better, but it looks pretty big from here. People in a frenzy, both at Pokémon and at the fire. Been at least two gengar going mad around here as well. Great target."

The call ended without another word, as was their habit. From below, the sound of sirens began to ring through the streets; earlier than Michael was used to, but explosions usually weren't on the menu. "The Pokémart, huh," he mused. "You might be in luck, kid."

"Someone's died," his partner stated with absolute certainty. "I had a job in a Pokémart before," he explained when Michael motioned for him to continue. "They're open until ten, and the layout is always the same. The generator is right under the mart floor. If someone was in the building, they're dead."

Michael nodded, impressed with the calm reasoning. "And do you care that you killed someone?"

"We didn't do it. The Ghosts did."

"You know what I mean."

His partner gave a calm shrug. "Can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs." He looked out at the blaze, which was starting to dim as fuel ran out. "They chose their side by allying Ghosts. Now they paid for it."

~~§~~§~~

Alice cast an eye at the doors to the boat that would bring them to Ever Grande. Still closed. She shifted in her uncomfortable plastic seat, wishing again that she was able to stand for an extended period of time, but no, she just had to sprain her ankle on the pavement's edge yesterday, walking back from the Grand Festival's Grand Final.

That boy she'd lost to once, for her fifth ribbon the first time, had actually won the final. That made her feel a lot better. And his opponent had beaten her in the second appeal round. So really, she was connected to the finals.

It was kinda disappointing to go out without even getting to the battle stage, though.

She turned her head to where she'd last seen her brother, and he was still in the same spot, talking to the same adult he'd been talking to for the last ten minutes. Probably still talking about how Ghost-type Pokémon were evil, and what happened in Pinwater, four days back. One death, one other in the intensive care with heavy burns after a Pokémart exploded. Lampent setting the Pokémart generator on fire, police thought. It was horrible, and Alice had been glad she was able to go watch a semi-final on her own. Paul hadn't even noticed her leave the room as he watched all the news on it.

Why couldn't everyone just get along in peace?

The speakers on the wall crackled. "Passengers for Ever Grande can now board the S.S. Kyogre," a calm female voice announced. "Please do not forget your luggage."

Alice smiled as she saw Paul break off the chatter to come help her. It faltered when she saw the adult follow. "Hey Alice, this is Rick. He's not going to Ever Grande, but he's agreed to help us get everything in our cabin."

"It's the right thing to do," Rick agreed. Alice didn't think he was older than twenty, with a bit of an unkempt beard and long dyed hair. "Lead the way."

Twenty minutes and one break after a staircase later, they were in their cabin. Luckily, Rick hadn't tried to talk to her about Ghosts, and he'd now left them alone again. It'd be two days until they reached Ever Grande, and Alice was not planning on leaving the cabin at all. Her ankle throbbed with pain, even after she put it up. "You okay, sis?"

"Naw. Feels like I just sprained it again." She reached for the cold pack, but Paul was there first, and he pressed it on her ankle, gently. "Yer the best brother a girl can have. Sometimes."

"Only sometimes?" Paul said, feigning hurt. "Don't say that."

"You did leave me alone for fifteen minutes," Alice told her twin. "Talking about Ghosts. And yeah, I heard you the first time about them. Don't need no stinkin' lecture again."

"But—"

"No!" Alice said forcefully. "We're thirteen, Paul. Let adults do stuff about it."

"They don't care, Alice. We're the ones being injured. We're the ones under attack. Most of the injuries in the attacks were trainers like you or me!" Her brother visibly tried to reel himself in. "I don't want you to get injured because of some Ghost."

"Yer the only one havin' trouble with 'em," Alice reminded Paul. "Rob 'n Rosa don't, Lily doesn't, Max 'n Danny don't, Peter doesn't. Mum and Da don't. Just you."

"It could happen to them, too!" Paul nearly yelled, and Alice winced. It was a bit theatrical, but it pushed the right button. "I just don't want anything to hurt you, or them."

"I know."

Paul abandoned the pack, and carefully sat down next to her, making sure he didn't jostle her ankle. "When did Max and Danny get in again?"

"The twenty-second," Alice replied instantly, rolling her eyes. She'd told him last night, but Paul had been kind of distracted. "Week from now. Danny's uncle's got his birthday tomorrow." She moved a tiny bit so Paul had more room to sit. "Wonder if they have more rare Pokémon now."

"They had a lot of 'em, yeah," Paul agreed. There was a short flash of annoyance, telling Alice that he was thinking of Danny's dusclops, but it faded. "Hope I don't have to face them. I'd lose so hard."

"Yer a good trainer, too."

"And they're better. You heard Wattson, you saw them have a spar before leaving. They're good. Like, really good."

Alice shrugged. "Then we better think how to beat 'em. If you're out together..."

"You work together," Paul finished, a large grin on his face. "Thanks sis."

"No problem."

They sat in silence for a good while, until the ship's engines started properly. At that point, Paul left to look out their cabin window, with Alice joining him, leaning heavily on her borrowed crutches, just in time for the departure.

"Next stop, Ever Grande."

~~§~~§~~

"Are you certain, Ash?" Drake asked as his crew navigated his ship into the harbour for the night. "We can take you to Ever Grande."

"Nah," Ash said as he looked at the town, the last rays of sunlight striking tiled roofs and the occasional window. He'd been here once before, briefly, to catch a boat. That was about two years and two months ago. "I'll get there on my own."

"As you wish." A member of Drake's crew jumped off, and a rope was thrown after him. "Wanderlust calls you, doesn't it?" When Ash turned to the old Dragon Master, he simply laughed. "I was young once, as was my son. Neither of us really settled until we were twenty. Of course, I still travel a lot, but it's not the same."

"No, it isn't," Ash agreed, feeling glad Drake understood him. "Besides, there's a Pokémon I want to catch, and this is my best guess."

"I had wondered why you called Sidney a few days back."

Ash grinned. "Guilty." Just then, a shout came from below, telling them that the ship had been tied to the pier, and footsteps to their left told Ash that the gangplank would soon be put down. "Thanks Drake. For everything."

"It's been my honour, Ash," the Elite Four member replied. "I have watched you work as hard as anyone I've mentored, and you've improved more than most. If it weren't for your diversity and desire to travel, I'd put you down for whatever Elite Four slot opens up next." As Ash blushed, Drake chuckled. "Of course, that may well be a few years, but you aren't one to rest on your laurels. It was one of the things that made me call you."

"Huh?"

"I've always been coy in my reasoning," Drake started, capturing Ash's full attention. The Pallet Town Trainer felt pikachu shift on his shoulder, and he didn't need to glance out of the corner of his eyes to know that his best friend was also listening intently. "I was coy because information changes the dynamic between us, and I didn't want that. And no," he said, raising his hand ever so slightly to make Ash keep his silence, "I don't believe you would change consciously, but as you well know, that is only a part of who we are."

Sailors started moving down the gangplank, and Drake took a moment to watch them, before continuing his explanation. "Do you remember what I said when we first met, back on Mossdeep?"

"Focus on the match, empty my mind of idle thinking," Ash replied. They had been words he'd tried to live by since. "At least, I think that's what you meant."

"It is, in part," Drake confirmed. "It's my guiding philosophy in battle. Focus and clarity of mind enable the right execution. That's how I've gone into battle for the last forty or so years. But when I was your age?" Drake paused, and Ash saw a smile on the older man's face, though he had no idea why. "When I was your age, I was far more rudderless than you were. It wasn't until a kind man took me under his wing that I gained this perspective, and lost my overconfidence. He forged a part of me, and through me, he made his legacy."

"I've had over a dozen-and-a-half apprentices of sorts over the years. Reginald is one you know. Some of them weren't up to the task. Most of them were, but always, the ones I selected were the ones that reached greater heights. They are my legacy, and you are the last piece in it."

Ash was silent, working through what he had just heard the normally private man explain. He had many questions, but it didn't feel right to ask most of them. In the end, he settled for one question. "What was this man's name?" he asked, wondering if it had been a former Champion or Elite Four member, or maybe a Gym Leader.

"He is nobody you would find in the annals of history. He was an old soldier from the last Hoenn Civil War," Drake said softly. "As for his name, well, that's right under your nose."

Ash was confused, and he knew it showed on his face. Drake said nothing, instead averting his eyes downwards, to his feet, and the shi… "S.S. Brian?"

"And now you know." Drake held out his hand, and they shook, one last time. "Ash. I know you can do whatever it is you set your mind to. Now, go out there and do it."

~~§~~§~~

Ever Grande was huge! Danny had seen it on TV before, but he hadn't known about the full scale of it. It was more like a city than a small town, with tons of people around. Trainers, League officials, even some fans already. He was glad Max had taken him on a tour the day before, when they arrived, just so he knew where most important stuff was, even without the help of copious signs to point trainers in the right direction. Even then, he had still spent a lot of today walking around, trying to get an idea of the scale in his head. It was around sunset now, and he'd met up with Max about ten minutes ago.

They'd registered yesterday, with exactly a week and one hour to go until the deadline, and Danny had been surprised at the sheer number of participants. The Conference was closing in on four hundred and fifty participants already. He knew the Conference was big: far bigger than the Kalos one they'd watched, and the biggest in the Home Regions, but from the way it looked, they might be setting a new record for participants. They'd know in under a week.

For now, they were waiting for a few others, but none of them had showed up yet. "You met anyone you know?" Danny asked to pass the time.

"Nobody our age," Max replied. "Nurse Joy recognised me, though. You?"

"Ran into Keith. Hasn't changed a bit, except for a scar on his cheek. He was in Rinshin, and he's got a sableye." Keith hadn't seemed to blame the Pokémon for it, if the odd Pokémon being out by his feet was any indication. "He said Jane qualified, but he didn't know anyone else."

"We guessed that," Max said, before his head turned to one of the paths leading onto the plaza they were at. "Linda!"

The Unovan girl heard them, and ran towards them, her yamask following as fast as it could. "Max! Danny!" she exclaimed once she was closer, and both of the boys got up from their seat, receiving a fierce hug in turn. "You look great. How have you been? Have you had eight badges for long? Captured new Pokémon?"

"We've been great, we've had eight badges since September 30th, and we've got some new Pokémon too," Max answered. "I've got a vulpix and a natu now."

"And I finally captured a masquerain." Danny was still a bit annoyed about having lost out on one before that encounter with the poacher. "Duskull is now a dusclops, and snorunt is a froslass. No more Drain Punching her."

Linda giggled. "Guess not. Where'd you get a Dawn Stone? Aren't they supposed to be really rare, and expensive?"

Danny gave Max a look. He wasn't sure how to explain it properly.

Max picked up on Danny's discomfort. "He got it from me, and I got it for my birthday. I met a ralts once, but he wasn't there any longer when I returned as a Trainer," Max explained. "Poachers. Didn't feel like going after another ralts after that." Danny resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he remembered something else. "What about you? Did you get a baltoy?"

The grin on Linda's face told Danny the answer before she said anything. "Sure did. Took me two days, but I found one. And I went to the Coral Cape Gym too, and I picked up a ton of tips there. Thanks again for tellin' me about that. I never would've been able to do that in Unova. The Ground Gym Leader's a bit grumpy," she added, softer.

"Heya!" said a boy from behind them, and Danny didn't even need to turn around to know it was Paul. "Found you! Sorry 'bout being late. Lost track of the time."

"Hey Paul, Alice," Max said, having stepped back to let the twins into the circle. "Meet Linda, from Castelia in Unova. We ran into her in Petalburg. Linda, meet Paul and Alice. We met them at a tournament in June, and then also two months back near Mt. Pyre."

Half an hour later, the five of them sat around a table in a pizza restaurant, two humongous pizzas, five smaller plates, and various drinks taking up most of the table. They weren't the only ones there, but it was too early for most to have dinner. "So," Danny started after nabbing one slice of pizza and putting it on his plate, "how far do you hope to get?"

"The Grand Final, of course!" Paul said, to general laughter and joy. "I don't know. Last round of the double battles? As long as I don't lose to some stupid-ass Ghost."

"It'd be amazin' to get to the Victory Tournament," Linda chimed in. "I heard they decided to expand that to the round of 64, because there's so many Trainers, and there's still three rounds of double battles before that."

"So you'd need to win six full battles and three double battles, and maybe one preliminary one on one to win the tournament?" Max half-asked. Danny wasn't sure who he was asking: he was probably the one most knowledgeable about the tournament in the first place. "That's going to be hard for the winners."

"Well, it's more battles to watch!" Paul exclaimed. "And come on, I told you what I hope to reach. Tell us! Linda?"

"Anythin' is good, really," the Unovan girl said shyly. "Round of 256? Second doubles round. Anythin' but getting tossed out in the preliminaries."

"Yeah, that'd suck," Max agreed. "Get eight badges, spend lots of time on it, go here, then get sent home." He took a bite of his pizza, and immediately let it drop from his mouth, to chuckles from the others. "Gah, hot."

"Cheese pizza," Danny told him smugly. "Round of 128'd be great. That's four battles. Round of 256 is fine if it's a good battle, though."

Everyone was now looking at Max, as the only one who hadn't said anything yet. "Round of 128, maybe 256. Rookies getting to the round of 64 is rare, even in earlier tournaments. It'd be cool to be in a full battle, but I don't think I'll get there."

Paul and Alice agreed with Max, but Danny met Linda's eyes, and he just knew that she felt the same way he did. If any of them had any chance of getting to the Victory Tournament, it'd be the youngest at the table.

And Danny would cheer for him all the way.

~~§~~§~~§~~§~~

The 164th Ever Grande Conference starts tomorrow, and with a total of 790 participating trainers, it is the largest Conference in Hoenn history. Due to this large number, the Pokémon League has expanded its Victory Tournament to now also include the round of 64, and for the Double Battle segment to also be adjusted so it continues for three rounds. This means the following for the tournament brackets:

234 trainers, selected randomly, but weighed towards trainer seniority, will receive a 'Bye' in the preliminary round. The other 556 trainers will fight a single one on one match, and the winners join the trainers with a 'Bye' in the first Double Battle round: the round of 512. After three Double Battle rounds, 64 trainers remain for the Victory Tournament.

It is important to note that there is a separate draw for the Victory Tournament. This means that Trainers in adjacent brackets in the round of 128 do not necessarily face each other in the round of 64.