The pain in his leg burned and Alfgar could sense Apollo begin to tire out from the flying. The charizard had flown him from Route 119 all the way to Slateport City and had only gotten a brief rest before Alfgar required his wings for his escape. Apollo had been flying for close to an hour now, and Alfgar knew that the charizard would need to rest. When he left Slateport, the only thing on Alfgar's mind was to escape; he had not taken the time to choose a direction to fly in. Alfgar tapped twice on the underside of Apollo's neck, signaling the dragon to fly lower. As the charizard descended, Alfgar took a look at the landscape underneath him. He realized that they had flown north after escaping from Slateport, and that they were now nearing the Great Hoenn Desert as well as Lavaridge Town. Since Apollo was tired and Alfgar's leg needed medical attention, he decided that they would land in Lavaridge. After a few more minutes of flying, the town came into view and Alfgar signaled to his charizard to land in Lavaridge.
Lavaridge Town was a quiet, cozy village nestled in the side of Mt. Chimney, a dormant volcano. The town had a warm air to it, and the atmosphere was tranquil and calming. Lavaridge was small and out-of-the-way, and as a result, not many people visited or lived in the town. Still, the famous hot springs did attract a number of tourists, and people and pokemon from across Hoenn visited Lavaridge to soak themselves in the comforting waters of the hot springs.
Alfgar had Apollo land in front of the pokemon center so that he could get his leg wound patched as well as give his charizard a rest. However, as Apollo descended in front of the center, Alfgar noticed that two people stood outside the building and watched as he and his charizard landed. One was a young woman with pinkish-red hair tied up in a messy ponytail which caused her hair to look as if it had exploded out from the back of her head. She wore a plain black t-shirt and blue jeans. Next to her was an old man who, despite his age, was stocky and stalwart. Beside the old man was a grizzled charizard covered in scars.
As Apollo landed in front of the center and the two people and the other charizard, he roared and stood up to his full height, causing Alfgar to lose his balance and tumble onto the dirt. Alfgar grunted due to the pain in his leg but quickly got to his feet to calm his charizard. Apollo roared again, smoke drifting from his nostrils. The other charizard looked annoyed and roared back at Apollo. It was clear that the other charizard was much older, as some of its scales were torn off and its skin was slightly darker. The charizard also had a hole where its left eye should have been. Apollo let out a shriek, angry that the other charizard was not taking him seriously. Alfgar knew that there was no way that he could calm his charizard now, so he returned Apollo and apologized to the two humans and the one charizard.
The old man laughed. "That's quite alright. I remember when Argon here was young. He was just as hot-blooded, if not more!" The old charizard puffed out smoke at the old man's teasing. "Sorry, we should introduce ourselves. My name is Uldin, and this here is my daughter, Flannery." The young woman lazily waved in greeting.
"Flannery? As in the gym leader?"
"Yup, that's me," the woman said.
Uldin laughed again. "Of course you recognize my daughter, but no one ever remembers me! I used to be gym leader too, you know."
"Obviously I know you. Uldin Firelance, one of the most renowned gym leaders ever. I just didn't recognize both of you on sight, that's all." Alfgar had heard many tales of Uldin the Firelance and how he famously slew a murderous and powerful salamence which had been ravaging Mount Chimney and its nearby towns with nothing but his combusken and a lance which he dipped in fire. It was said that his combusken distracted the salamence, almost losing its life in the process, while Uldin snuck up from behind and skewered the beast's brain with his fire-tempered lance. Uldin also led the effort to seal Groudon in the heart of Mount Chimney after Team Magma and Team Aqua had released Groudon and Kyogre from their rest. Alfgar told Uldin the stories he'd heard, and the old man laughed again.
"Well, well! This young man knows his history! Surprising as it may be, not many youngsters have even heard the tales of my exploits. Come, let's head to the tavern. I'll buy you a drink just for knowing about me!"
"Sorry, I think I have more pressing matters to attend to," Alfgar replied, pointing to the knife in his leg. He had not removed if for fear of bleeding to death.
"By Groudon! How'd that happen?" Uldin asked.
"Met some bandits on the road, but luckily for me, a charizard is a formidable opponent. Those bandits are now serving as a pre-cooked meal for anything that's hungry," Alfgar lied.
"Well done! Never mess with a charizard, that's an important lesson everyone should learn. Come to think of it, I haven't seen another charizard in these parts for a while. Come, let's go inside the center."
"I think I can handle it myself. I'm sure both of you are very busy, and I wouldn't want to take up any more of your time," Alfgar said, hoping that the two would take the hint and leave. Though the two trainers were nice enough, Alfgar did not want to be in the presence of two Hoenn authorities right after he had stolen the Red Orb, and he did not like the way Argon the charizard was looking at him. High-leveled fire types could sense the Red Orb, after all.
"Nonsense! We weren't doing anything important. Besides, I'd like to know how you got that charizard of yours."
With that, Alfgar the Wild reluctantly followed the two fire-type trainers into the center. As he limped into the lobby, a nurse immediately rushed over and began looking at his leg. He sat down with a grunt and cringed as the nurse gingerly pulled out the knife and began cleaning the wound. Alfgar set his pack down beside him, and Argon craned his long dark orange neck and sniffed at the pack, then looked at Alfgar with his gleaming eyes. Luckily, Uldin was too absorbed in some story to notice and Flannery was texting, and had no interest whatsoever in anything going on around her.
It was then that Alfgar glanced over to one of the mounted flat screens and noticed that the news was covering the attack on Stern's Shipyard. His pulse quickened as the report mentioned that the attack was done by a group of Unovan spies, and that Captain Stafford was dead. He immediately thought that Aurelia and Liviana had somehow gotten themselves captured and that they told the Honnese authorities about him, but then he realized that the news report probably would have said that. Also, he knew the two women from his days in the military and they were some of the best Unova had to offer. He doubted that a simple Slateport police dispatch could have captured them. Just as Alfgar was beginning to calm down a bit, Argon growled something to Uldin that made the old man stop mid-sentence.
"Something wrong?" Alfgar asked, hoping to talk his way out of the situation.
"Argon says that he senses something strange, something powerful in your pack. Do you mind if we have a look?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Alfgar said as the nurse finished bandaging his leg. "But if you really want to, go ahead. There's nothing interesting in there." As Uldin bent over to grab Alfgar's pack from the floor, Alfgar rocketed his fist towards the old man's chin and knocked him backwards. Alfgar leapt from the chair, taking care to land most of his weight on his good leg, and then sent out Randy and Apollo as he picked up his pack.
"Randy, psybeam on that charizard. Apollo, smokescreen. We're getting out of here." Alfgar rushed out of the pokemon center after giving his commands and waited for his pokemon to follow. The doors flung open and Randy darted out, chased closely by a burst of fire. Black smoke slithered out of the doors as Apollo flew out, roaring all the while. Flannery and Uldin Firelance ran out as well, the former with pokeballs in her hands and the latter with Argon beside him. Flannery released a torkoal and a camerupt from the pokeballs but Uldin only had his charizard.
Alfgar stood for a moment, contemplating his next move. He would need to leave quickly, as the police and maybe even other trainers would soon arrive. He figured that he would wait for an opening in the battle and then fly away, so he sent out his luxray, Luce, to help out.
Before Alfgar could bark out any orders, Apollo took to the air and charged the other charizard, sending the older lizard backwards in a flurry of fire and blood. The torkoal and camerupt let out streams of fire, but Randy and Luce were much quicker and easily avoided the flames. Alfgar was lucky that Uldin didn't have his full team with him, as facing two gym leaders would be close to impossible even for him. As an added bonus, Uldin's charizard, though experienced, was old and slow, and Flannery had only been a gym leader for less than a year.
"Randy, Luce! Get behind the camerupt and torkoal and then attack. Keep them on their toes, they're much slower than you are." The kecleon took his advice and vaulted over the torkoal while simultaneously wrapping his tongue around the turtle's neck, but Luce had other plans. The luxray rushed at the camerupt and slashed its face and then rushed off towards Uldin, whose charizard and his only means of defense was wrapped up in a battle with Apollo. Before Alfgar could even think of stopping the luxray, Luce jumped on top of Uldin and ripped the man's throat out, splattering blood all over the surrounding soil.
Everything stopped, and the battlefield was covered in silence until Apollo was thrown back towards Alfgar by a powerful seismic toss. The younger charizard got up and started roaring, oblivious to the death of Uldin Firelance. Flannery was frozen in place with another pokeball in her hand, a look of shock and terror plastered over her face. Alfgar took this opportunity to put his escape plan into action.
"Luce, thunderbolt that charizard," he said as Argon flew over to the scene. Before the old charizard had a chance to react to the death of his master, Alfgar's luxray sent electricity coursing through its veins. Alfgar then called his own charizard over and jumped atop the great orange dragon, sitting himself in between the fire type's wings. As Apollo took off, Alfgar returned his two pokemon on the ground. Flannery did not give chase, and Alfgar assumed that she had no flying types with her. Argon was writhing on the ground with paralysis, but Alfgar knew that the old charizard would give chase as soon as it was able. Spurring Apollo onward, Alfgar leaned forward and yelled into his charizard's ear.
"Head for the desert! They won't chase us there!" Apollo and Alfgar flew for almost thirty minutes, and luckily for them, no one gave chase. Eventually the two could see the golden dunes of the Great Hoenn Desert, though their vision was slightly obscured by the permanent sandstorm that raged throughout the desert. As Apollo landed after flying a mile or so into the desert, Alfgar lifted a hand to shield his eyes from the storm. The sandstorm wasn't too bad today, but it was still a hindrance.
"I hate this fucking sand," Apollo grunted as he spread his wings in an attempt to shield himself from the grains of sand that sped through the arid air.
"Alright, I hear you. Have a rest, you've earned it," Alfgar replied as he recalled the charizard. It was rare when Apollo was calm enough to talk so that Alfgar could understand him, and the fact that he understood him perfectly now told Alfgar that the charizard was extremely tired.
"Well, well, look who it is."
The sudden voice caused Alfgar to jump and he quickly turned around to locate the source. He identified the speaker as a man with messy and spiky brown hair and cool blue eyes. The man was around the same age as Alfgar and of the same height, and his build was less muscular but still athletic. He wore a blue long-sleeved shirt and black traveling pants with brown hiking boots. A cocky smile rested on the man's face, and Alfgar instantly recognized him as Gary Oak.
"Gary? What are you doing in Hoenn?" Alfgar asked, confusion clouding his voice.
"I could ask the same of you," Gary countered, his cocky smile still on his face. "I see you've been busy, though."
"What are you talking about?"
"I've seen the news. The Brotherhood of the Black. I know that's you."
Alfgar froze and his hand instinctively reached towards his pokeballs, though something about the way Gary said it was strange. "How could you possibly know?"
"I saw it in a dream. I saw a lot in that dream, actually. It's the reason why I'm here."
Alfgar stood still for a moment, a mixture of confusion and relief swirling around in his head. He chose his words carefully. "So you know what we're doing here, then?"
"Of course, and I think it's insane and likely to get us all killed. But I'm not about to defy Arceus when he tells me to go to Hoenn and help you."
"How much do you know?" Alfgar was surprised to see that Gary Oak had a similar dream; he thought it had been limited to the soldiers on Operation Iridescent.
"Enough. Now, why are you here in the desert? Shouldn't you be off hunting legendaries somewhere? Or are you running from something?"
"Have you seen the news reports lately? About Slateport?"
"A few hours ago, yeah, but it didn't say anything about you, so I don't see why you're here."
"What the news didn't mention was that I stole the Red Orb," Alfgar explained.
"You have the Red Orb? Nice. What about the Blue Orb?"
"I couldn't get it, the police and some Unovan agents showed up. But that's not why I'm here. I just killed Uldin Firelance."
Gary Oak's eyes widened in shock. "Uldin Firelance? How'd you manage that?"
"I took him by surprise, and he only had one pokemon with him. I didn't mean to do it, really, but what's done is done," Alfgar said as he shielded his eyes from the sand as the wind began to pick up.
Gary squinted and pulled out a handkerchief and a pair of sunglasses from his pocket. He noticed Alfgar looking at him and said, "I came prepared. Seems like you didn't, though."
Alfgar was still dressed in his trainer's garb which did not provide much protection from a sandstorm. "I didn't exactly plan to visit the desert."
Gary grinned as he put his sunglasses on. "Well, looks like fate brought us together anyway. Since you're laying low for a while, you can help me help you. I'm here to catch Regirock."
"Regirock? Do you even know where to find it?"
"Not exactly," Gary replied, "but there's a village a few miles into the desert where we can gather information. They don't have much contact with the outside world, so I doubt they'll know you if they see you."
Alfgar nodded to Gary and followed him as he started walking deeper into the desert. He was unsure whether Flannery had or the nurse who had bandaged his leg had gotten a good look at his face, as the former had been absorbed in her cell phone while the latter was focusing on patching up Alfgar's injury. If he was lucky, the authorities would only have a vague description of him and he would not have to worry about being recognized. Alfgar quickened his pace and walked up next to Gary, lifting an arm to shield himself from the desert wind.
"So, you decided to drop everything and come to Hoenn?" Alfgar asked Gary, straining his voice so that he could be heard over the ever-increasing wind.
"When Arceus speaks to you in a dream and orders you to do something, you don't exactly have a choice," Gary replied. "Besides, I wasn't really even doing anything back in Kanto. I helped Gramps with his research for a while, but that got boring quick. I was meant for adventure, not lab work."
Alfgar wasn't surprised that Gary got restless after being in Kanto for so long. Gary Oak was a cocky egomaniac, always looking to impress others and build his reputation by battling and doing stupidly dangerous things. The Vision provided him with an excuse to get out of Kanto, a place where he had nothing left for him.
"How's Red doing?" Alfgar asked, changing the subject. "He's probably a lot busier now that he's a Gold Champion, and the Indigo Champion no less."
Gary snorted. "Busier? Fuck no. All he does is sit up on Mount Silver and sulk his life away. I haven't talked to him in ages, and for all I know, he's still up there."
"I thought you two were over that."
"I am," Gary said, traces of anger sharpening his tone. "But I don't know if he is."
Alfgar doubted that either of them were over the battle. A year ago, Gary Oak and Red were the only two challengers who made it past the Indigo League's Elite Four. Red fought Lance Drake, the Indigo Champion, and defeated him, therefore making Red the new Champion. However, Gary still had to battle for the title, and since Lance had been dethroned, Gary fought Red instead.
The championship battle was intense and bloody, and the final matchup was disastrous. The battle came down to Gary's charizard versus Red's venasaur, and after a long and brutal battle, Gary's charizard had its throat opened by a vicious razor leaf attack, killing it. Because of this, Red was declared the winner and the Indigo Champion, but his venasaur succumbed to its burns and passed away shortly after the battle had ended. Both trainers agreed that the deaths were accidental and that the two harbored no ill will towards each other, but the death of a starter pokemon is devastating to any trainer and the two never fully reconciled. Alfgar gleaned this from Gary's tone and decided not to press the subject.
"What's the name of this village?" Alfgar asked, hoping to get Gary's mind off Red and the championship battle.
"I forget. Some weird indigenous name. Shouldn't take us too long to get there though." Despite its name, the Great Hoenn Desert was not very big. The desert was more of a valley filled with sand, and it had Mount Chimney bordering it on one side and another lesser mountain on the other. The desert was narrow, and one could cross its width in less than a day of walking. It was much longer than it was wide, but even its length was not very impressive. Provided he or she had the time and resources, someone could walk the length of the desert in a week. Travelers and trainers rarely got lost in the desert; it was the dangerous pokemon and desert tribes that resulted in the majority of the deaths.
Sure enough, after a few hours of walking, Alfgar the Wild and Gary Oak reached the village. The village was incredibly small, and the population of the town could not have been more than thirty people. A few houses of clay were cluttered around the main square of the village, and a small and dust-covered pokemon center rested among the structures of red clay. The square itself was small as well, and a fountain spurted water into the air in the middle of the plaza. A few tables and chairs surrounded the fountain, but the rest of the small plaza was open space. Small stalls and vendors lined the outskirts of the plaza, but only a few people were shopping there.
The square was completely empty, so Gary and Alfgar sat down at a table close to the fountain. Alfgar could feel the spray of the water from the fountain and Gary removed his sunglasses and handkerchief. The sandstorm was largely blocked by the houses which encircled the plaza, so only a few grains of sand floated in the air.
"Damn, this place is deserted," Gary said as he drained the contents of a water bottle. "I heard it was small, but I didn't expect it to be this empty."
"Not many people come this way, I guess. There's nothing in this desert but sand, rocks, and a few species of pokemon," Alfgar noted as he too finished the last of his water. "We should head to the pokemon center. There might be more people in there, and I need to heal some of my pokemon."
The outside of the center was coated in sand and dust, and the inside was no better. Grains of sand covered the floor, and lights flickered on and off over one section of the center. There were no televisions mounted on the walls and there were no telephones or computers. Two worn-out sofas were placed in the small lobby, but they did not look at all comfortable. A tan-skinned teenager was sprawled out on one of the couches with a dusty book in his hands. A single nurse manned the front desk, her blonde hair cut short. She wore a rough cloak over a blue t-shirt, and her skin was tanned. From her appearance Alfgar judged that she was not an indigenous tribesman but a volunteer from the outside, and her tanned skin indicated that she had been in the desert for a while.
Alfgar handed Apollo's ball over to the nurse and glanced warily at the center's outdated equipment. The healing process wouldn't be as efficient with the old setup, but it was better than nothing. Alfgar headed over to the sofas and saw Gary talking to the indigenous teenager.
The boy was shaking his head at some question Gary had asked him. "Elder, talk. He know much." It was clear that he boy did not speak English very well, and Alfgar saw that the book the boy had been reading was written in a language he did not recognize.
"Alright, thanks for your help," Gary said and turned away from the boy. "Looks like we gotta find this village elder. Did you ask the nurse about Regirock?" Alfgar shook his head, and Gary sighed.
"She probably doesn't know anything either. We should ask her where to find the village elder, though," Gary said. Just as Alfgar was about to turn around and go back to the nurse, someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around and saw the nurse holding his charizard's pokeball.
"I'm sorry, but our Rejuvinator just shut down so we won't be able to heal your pokemon right now," she said, handing the ball back to Alfgar. "It's an old machine, but it's the only one we have."
"Ever think about getting a new one?" Alfgar asked, slightly annoyed that Apollo wouldn't be rested.
"The last person we sent out of the desert to get supplies never returned. Also, new equipment is expensive and the villagers just don't have the money. We used to have a donations box but too few people stopped by, and even fewer donated."
"Do you happen to know anything about Regirock?" Gary broke in.
The nurse seemed surprised at the name. "No one calls it Regirock here. The villagers call it 'Rugugoaga,' and it's like a god to them. What do you want with it?"
"We're here to catch it," Gary declared with his trademark cocky smile. Alfgar cringed. He doubted that the villagers would like it when they heard that two outsiders had come to capture their god.
"You're not the first to say that," the nurse said. "A group came by here a week ago seeking it as well. They have yet to return."
"Yeah, yeah. They're probably not half the trainers we are. Now where's this village elder?" Gary demanded.
The nurse must have been annoyed by Gary's rude disregard, but if she was she didn't show it. "The big red house with the golden rocks packed into it. Take a left as soon as you leave the center."
Alfgar thanked her as he moved to follow Gary who had rushed out of the center as soon as the nurse had finished her sentence. In a few minutes, the two trainers reached the house the nurse spoke of. It was by no means large, but it was bigger than the other clay huts that surrounded it. Like the nurse had said, a few golden rocks were packed into the clay, forming some sort of pattern. Gary barged into the hut, pushing open the wooden door without bothering to knock. The inside of the house was filled with smoke and four old men sat around, each of them smoking a pipe. The old men were brown-skinned and were dressed in roughspun rags.
"Which one of you is the village elder?" Gary shouted as he invaded the hut. Alfgar sighed at Gary's lack of respect. Alfgar was definitely not the epitome of politeness and gracefulness, but he knew that in this case, being rude and disrespectful would only make things harder for everyone.
"That would be me," said one of the old men. He did not look too different from the others, and there was nothing on his person that made him stand out. His English was surprisingly good, though he did speak with a slight accent.
"We're looking for Regirock," Gary blurted out, completely disregarding the nurse's words. "I was told that you could tell us where to find it." Alfgar thought that the elder would be offended by Gary's bluntness, but luckily the old man seemed unperturbed.
"I am afraid you have arrived too late," the elder said, pausing to cough. White smoke drifted from his mouth and nostrils. "A group of men came a week ago, looking for Rugugoaga. They never returned, and ever since they left I have not felt Rugugoaga's presence either."
"Are you saying that these men captured Regirock?" Alfgar asked.
"I fear they have," the village elder replied, his tone grave. "Rugugoaga has not accepted any of our offerings since the men left, and I do not sense its presence either."
"Who were these men? What did they look like?" Alfgar feared that the Hoennese government had beat them to Regirock.
"They wore black and silver clothing, and written on their chests was a large letter 'R.'"
"Team Rocket," Gary said with a dark look. Alfgar did not like this new development at all. The Hoennese government had probably employed Team Rocket, which made them all the more dangerous.
Alfgar turned to Gary. "We should leave. The Honnese government probably hired Team Rocket to collect the legendaries, and it seems as if they've beat us to Regirock. We need to make sure this doesn't happen again."
Gary hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "But I swear, old man, if you're lying to us..."
"He's telling the truth," Alfgar interrupted. "Let's go." With that Alfgar thanked the elder and left the hut with Gary. The two began walking towards the market to refill their water bottles and stock up on supplies.
"What now?" Gary asked as they approached the small group of stalls and vendors.
"I'm not sure. So we know for sure that Hoenn has Regirock and the Blue Orb, but we have no idea what else they have. Maybe we should go after Registeel or Regice?"
Gary shook his head. "If they have Regirock, they probably have Registeel and Regice or are at least close to capturing them. No, we need to go after bigger game. Rayquaza."
"Are you serious? Rayquaza is one of the most powerful legendaries in the world. I was hoping to go after him after we had already caught a lot of the legendaries so that the fight would be easier, and you want to go after him with only Groudon?"
"Not Groudon," Gary corrected as he purchased a bottle of water. "We won't be able to get Groudon right now. Hoenn knows that we have the Red Orb, so Groudon's resting place in Mount Chimney is probably heavily guarded. I say we get Rayquaza first and then go after Groudon."
"Gary, I always knew you were one to challenge yourself but I never knew that you were stupid as well," Alfgar said, incredulous. "There is no way we can get Rayquaza with no legendaries to help us."
"Damn, you seriously lack confidence," Gary replied, his tone disapproving. "Look at us. I'm a Silver Champion and you're a pretty skilled trainer yourself. You also have your Brotherhood of the Black to help you, and I'm sure they're no pushovers either. We can take Rayquaza."
The two finished gathering supplies and once again headed into the desert. The sandstorm had largely died down, and only slow breezes glided through the dry air. Alfgar was still unsure about attacking Rayquaza, but he had to admit that Gary's plan did have some sense to it. If they had Rayquaza, the other legendaries would not be nearly as hard to capture, and they would be at a huge advantage when compared to the Hoennese government.
"Alright, we'll go for Rayquaza," Alfgar decided after thinking the proposal over for some time. "We'll need to go to my hideout first, though. The Brothers must be wondering what happened at Slateport."
Gary nodded. "And we'll need time to prepare and gather supplies and other volunteers. After that, it's the Sky Pillar for us."
Dex entry #384: Rayquaza
"We thought all was lost. The sea swelled on one side, drowning people and pokemon alike, and the sun baked us on the other. It was then that Rayquaza arrived. With a fearsome roar and burst of speed, Rayquaza knocked down both Groudon and Kyogre and ended their quarrel almost immediately. The waves returned to normal size and the sun stopped burning so intensely, and everything and everyone was calm again. We didn't even have a chance to thank him before he disappeared back into the sky." - Excerpt from an interview with Wallace Waterpool, former Grand Champion of Hoenn
Rayquaza is a large, dragon-type legendary pokemon from Hoenn. He is said to live in the Ozone layer, and he is seldom seen by humans. Little is known about Rayquaza, but he is treated as a god by some and it is said that he rests at the top of Sky Pillar, a tall, ancient tower built in the ocean just outside of Lilycove. Rayquaza is most known for helping to stop the War of Fire and Water between Team Magma and Groudon and Team Aqua and Kyogre. Groudon and Kyogre ravaged Hoenn, and Teams Magma and Aqua soon lost control of their pokemon. Authorities and trainers from all across Hoenn failed to stop the beasts, but Rayquaza luckily descended from the heavens and struck down Groudon and Kyogre, making them weak enough to be sealed away. Rayquaza's appearance immediately stopped the intense weather effects that came with Groudon and Kyogre as well, and all was well in Hoenn again.