Disclaimer: Pokémon is still 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.

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Chapter 58: Where It Began

A fire burned in the pit baltoy had created, spreading some much-needed warmth in the cave as winds and rain swept the side of the hills. No lightning yet, though manectric had sensed static build up in the clouds earlier. Being stuck inside a cave while it rained was not how Max had originally envisioned spending the first few hours with Keith and Jane on Izabe Island when he had told them to go here a few nights ago, but it was what it was.

They had arrived earlier via boat, which Max had observed from a nearby rooftop, and after the older pair made their way out of the town itself into the wilds, he'd stepped out from behind a tree and taken them a couple of miles further inland, to the cave they were now in because Max had listened to the weather forecast and it had, sadly, been right.

Since then, they'd shared notes on what had gone on. Most of the sharing had been Max's, what with the attacks on them and all. It hadn't always been easy: the details from the Tree had been difficult to share, and he gave his former vulpix exactly one line, but overall, it flowed much better than the last time he'd had to open up, to Serena.

Keith and Jane did their part too. Outside of regular Gym stuff, which Max insisted they tell him about just because it felt normal, there was one particularly strange thing they had been through in the past few months. Apparently, Alice had asked them to help with Paul and she had sent a letter to Danny?

Max hadn't thought about Paul in months. Honestly, he wasn't sure the mercy was right, but he wasn't going to share that with Keith and Jane, and it didn't mean he didn't feel for Alice. He knew a thing or two about falling out with someone who you thought was your sibling.

Now it was time to address the donphan in the cave. The first one, at least, because before dinner, he'd stopped at Rustboro. The other two had already told him that what had happened there had been the final straw to get them back to Hoenn. "Okay. I… I need to tell you something."

"If it's that you were in Rustboro, I guessed that," Keith replied. "Made too much sense."

Keith, Max reflected, was far more observant than people gave him credit for. "I was. It's… Tied to that. And to ralts. And to yveltal."

"Ralts?" Keith echoed, sounding surprised. "Wasn't ralts poached?"

"He was… And also wasn't." Max took a deep breath and launched into the tale of how Ash had asked them for help, freely admitting it was a G-men operation since Ash had come clean on that a while ago. He made it to describing the cylinder that kirlia had been in before Jane gasped. "Yeah… Ralts – kirlia, because he'd evolved or been forced to evolve – was in there. We freed him, and…"

It had been close to two and a half years since, but even now, retelling the tale was enough to put a small lump in his throat. Better than it had been, at least.

"He… He got to see you one last time, then went, right?"

"That… Yeah. Pretty much." Six words, psychically croaked, echoed in his mind. "It… It was like…"

"There was no strength left except for one last thing," Jane finished for him, quietly, with certainty. "Yeah. I know. Seen that. My parents say it's common."

Of course. Doctors. They'd know. "He… He died in my arms. Turned into energy, and… That was that," he said as manectric dropped her head on his knee. "And… That was it. Kept it secret from everyone, until Serena, a year on. Then I told May in Petalburg, but…"

"Shut up, Max. You've got tons of secrets, we know that. And just because we helped you save Kalos doesn't mean we're best friends all of a sudden," Keith declared. "But… Why May? From what you said on the phone, you… Fell out with her?"

"That was over this. She decided to lecture me that ralts was dead. I—"

"Blew up at her," Jane finished for him. "Sibling condescension is the worst. Glad Justin doesn't do that. Much."

"Go Justin." Manectric whined at that. "Sorry. Anyway… So the theory is…"

One explanation and several more benign examples later, he could see that they'd accepted the idea, but just as he was about to launch into an explanation of how the disruptors affected him, a loud crack sounded outside. "Great. Lightning," Keith said as manectric bounded outside, ready and very willing to deflect the electricity away from their cave, and hopefully away from any cave-ins that could occur. The plateau above them was one of the higher points around, and it wasn't too far straight up: maybe twelve feet. "Not going to lie, Max. I'd feel safer in this cave with gardevoir out."

He obliged. There was a moment of deliberately-projected curiosity, but then a flash of lightning and a crack of thunder followed each other mere seconds apart. The second strike was less loud, courtesy of a weak shield. "Some sound seems merited."

"Yeah, that's fine. Just block the rain too if it gets too bad." He threw a branch onto the small fire, adding a bit of fuel to the fire pit that was pretty much in the cave entrance. The wind was basically the same direction the entrance faced, which was why it was so high up, but lightning meant unpredictable winds and rain. "And maybe it's right you're here for this."

Max took both necklaces from his neck; the two he had stolen from Danny, back when he'd fled. One with the Key Stone, the other with the gardevoirite. If, he had figured, there was a disruptor, it was better for gardevoir to not have it on him. "Remember how I was freed from Paulson's clutches? Gardevoir using this to go Mega? That was because the disruptor sent us mad."

He gave Jane the necklaces: she was the closer of the two. "Us?" Keith asked, picking up on what Max had said. "You mean…"

"Yep." He left a pause, allowing it to sink in. "Turns out that we were close enough in thought and desire to trigger the Mega Evolution like that."

"Those being murderous," gardevoir added as an aside, and the lack of response from the other teenagers revealed its audience. "It does not affect him as severely as it does me, but in that state and at that strength, it was… Overwhelming."

"I'm not as affected, yeah. Anabel's alakazam lost control of its powers at the Tree, and I got what felt like a killer dehydration headache. But that was a weaker setting: they wanted to capture mew after all." He left a small pause, and was rewarded with a small gasp of understanding from Jane. "Rustboro... Steven's metagross went berserk, and I was there in town as well. As was gardevoir. He lost it completely, but managed to somehow only destroy half a street and send Brock flying."

"I am… Still uncertain to the how beyond instinct. Even so, and even despite the sequestered recuperation, I think we both judge it preferable to most of what the alternative would have entailed."

"And you?"

"Hatred. Just… So much hate." An involuntary shudder ran up and down his spine. "I… I barely held on."

"Held on?"

"From falling into the abyss of hatred." As he said that, Max blushed. That had been a horrible way to put it. "I just… I knew I should try to resist, but it was so hard. I know Brock tried to do something, but I just… I barely kept myself from attacking him."

The other teenagers took a few moments to comprehend it the best they could. Max knew they probably couldn't fully, but that didn't matter. "It sounds like what you said happened to alakazam."

Jane's words prompted gardevoir to knock at Max's mental door, and he assented, left with a headache a moment later as the dim cave went dimmer for a second. "My apologies. That was… Hard."

"Hard how?" Keith asked, sounding genuinely curious. "I guess you read his mind or something."

"I did, with permission. The memory was vivid."

"And that makes it harder?"

"Emotionally charged memory, empath Pokémon," Max said, shrugging as a powerful strike illuminated the night sky outside. "It's temporary, and honestly, part of having him as a friend and Pokémon. I wouldn't have it any other way."

"And neither would I," gardevoir replied warmly; almost literally as pure comfort spread in the cave from his emotions. Deliberate, but at the same time, Max knew the Pokémon wouldn't do it if he wasn't completely comfortable. "I think that there is merit to what you said, Jane. Not identical, but alike enough." A small pause. "It is also similar to what ralts experienced in Rustboro."

"Repeat that to them, gardevoir." He gave it five seconds, then took a deep breath, ready to address the second donphan. "The Pokémon I rescued in the Aso Mountains the second time around was a ralts, yes. She was kidnapped probably a year ago, alongside… Alongside gardevoir's mother. Kirlia's mother."

That set off another entire wave of explanations, and by the time everything was done, the thunderstorm had passed so fully that not even the feeling of static electricity was in the air when Max stepped out for a breather, sceptile by his side as he left Keith and Jane to discuss between the two of them. He'd also taken a bottle of water, because his throat was parched.

The only sounds were his, sceptile's, and the night's: a soft rustle of the wind across the rocks; vague wings flapping fast above. Stars peeked through gaps in the clouds above, no moon visible as the new moon was only a few days past. Apart from random Pokémon, and those were likely few, Max wagered they were the only souls around for miles.

"Tile." His starter put a hand on his shoulder as he moved alongside, careful to keep the tail away. "Scep."

A memory from nearly three years ago, of Max standing underneath a similarly half-overcast sky, treecko carried in his arms; one of his first days as a Trainer as they had spent a few days on Mossdeep, waiting for a boat here.

Here, where it had all begun. For good and ill. All his thought-out plans, fervent hopes, cherished dreams… Gone in the span of two sentences. "The ralts you refer to, my son, is no longer here. He was taken," he had been told. Told by the same Pokémon now controlled by Paulson, who had kept him here, miles south.

It always came back to here.

The hand on his shoulder tightened in support. No mind reading, empath bond, or Mega Evolution bond was necessary here: sceptile was his starter, with everything that entailed. Stoic, even a bit aloof at times, but always reliable and in his corner.

It was Keith who came up, predictably. Max didn't know how long had passed, though he knew one of them would come eventually. "Max."

"Keith."

"We're in deep, aren't we?"

"You can leave. Get the Pokémon and head back. Forget it ever happened. This is every bit as serious as Geosenge. Every bit as dangerous. You know what happened to Jane, Danny, Serena there." They locked eyes in the dark, Max could see that much and not much else. "I wouldn't blame you."

"You wouldn't?"

"I promise," Max replied, words hanging heavily in the night and his soul.

"Knowing you…" Keith said, rubbing his eyes before continuing. "Look, Max. Being honest, Jane was the main reason we came here. But after everything you told us… Will Hoenn even be our home if we leave and you fail?"

"Home is where my friends are."

Keith snorted softly. "For you. You've spent what, seven months in Petalburg in the last five years? Rest of us don't work like that. Which is fine. But Jane and I? Hoenn is our home. A free Hoenn is our home. And if this goes on… No, Max. That's too much. We stay. Doesn't matter how strong or weak we are. We. Stay."

Both Max and Keith let out a breath – probably one both of them hadn't known they were really holding. Keith was shaking a little bit, Max noticed, but then the sound of star-shaped limbs announced itself – staryu had been hiding behind Keith the whole time, unnoticed in the dark, and it wholeheartedly agreed by the sounds of it. "Thank you."

"Still not looking forward to facing, y know…"

"They're beatable. Or at least, you can hold them off. And…" Memories of thunder and fire and ice and draconic energy and oblivion and life. "There's a way for you to do that. Probably even last year."

"Max?"

"Can only notice so much. That goes for you, me, our Pokémon… And the regis, the golems, the titans, whatever you want to call them. They're not metagross with four distinct brains. They're limited. So we play on that." A slight yawn tried to escape him, but he suppressed it. "So tomorrow, let's focus on that." He looked up. "If it's dry."

The next morning dawned with a weight lifted off Max's shoulders, as well as clear skies. There had been rain overnight, baltoy confirmed, but not a lot and after a short breakfast, they climbed up to the plateau above, Max standing in front of the other two once they were there. He didn't need to get their attention, so he just started. "Regice, registeel, and regirock are tough Pokémon. Defensive and sturdy, and with strong but slow attacks, they'll take a beating, and then another one, and another one, and maybe then they'll go down… If you haven't lost to them first. But that strength is also their weakness. They're immobile and have big problems dealing with faster opponents. Trying to beat them means exploiting that. Regirock and registeel are especially vulnerable this way."

"And regice?"

A shrug. "It floats and Ice-types are good moving around on ice. It's still not very agile, but it is the hardest to beat this way. Let's cross that bridge later." Max sent out two Pokémon, briefed earlier while Max had given his friends some alone time. "For now, meet regirock."

"Rock, regi-rock."

Both Keith and Jane looked surprised, eyebrows raised. "The trick to fighting a powerful Pokémon is to outnumber it and attack from multiple angles at once, at a range they're weaker at. For these, that's far away, because they're all strong types up close and they don't have attacks that are both fast and accurate from afar."

"Aha," Jane exclaimed, snapping her fingers. It wasn't surprising she had gotten it first. "We attack and gardevoir… Stays mostly in place and uses Protect? While baltoy launches rocks to mimic the slower attacks?"

"Exactly. Well, nearly. Just a regular psionic shield, Protect never seemed worth the time." Max walked up to Keith, who was looking a bit more doubtful in the morning light. "I know some of your team's pretty poor against this, but one of your Pokémon is the best at fighting them and I can think of some more things to help you out."

"Which Pokémon?"

"It's crobat, isn't it?" Keith asked before Max could confirm. He sounded a bit insecure, but sent out the bat regardless. "No faster Pokémon on our teams."

"Air Slash doesn't do much to a regirock or registeel, it's true, but they're annoyances. Distractions. Low investment because it's an easy attack to use, and if you don't get tagged with a Lock-On, a fast Flying-type Pokémon can be a distraction for ages. Imagine trying to do a test, except there's this really annoying mosquito in the room buzzing." The Bat Pokémon lowered itself to Max's level, wings flapping lazily for her kind. "And if you know Confuse Ray, you can also weave that in. But not now. Let's start with the basics first."

The basics consisted of identifying the Pokémon that could attack from the ground and from range. Keith had leafeon and floette with Grass-based attacks primarily, and staryu could always shoot water or Power Gems, while Jane's team added shellder, quilladin, pikachu, and blaziken.

They split the group into two trios: leafeon, pikachu, and floette; quilladin, shellder, and staryu, with blaziken left out because Max had other plans for him. After a quick explanation of what Max wanted them to do, with Jane and Keith interjecting a bit for clarity, the three humans took up position safely away from everything, with skarmory and clefairy standing nearby for errant attacks.

Max gave the signal. "Begin!"

Leafeon and floette fired leaves: Magical at first, then leafeon added Razor Leaves, but a rock from baltoy disrupted most of them, blocking pikachu's attempted Thundershock as well and forcing the trio to scatter as more rocks came at them fast.

The Grass-type dealt with them best, using a Leaf Blade to slice one of them in half, allowing another Razor Leaf barrage that forced enough of a shield for her to charge a quick Energy Ball: one that turned baltoy's attention to the former eevee in full, Shadow Ball and Rock Tomb attacks coming in short succession. Leafeon avoided both and – "Stop!"

Max took a few steps forward, noticing that the rocks were collapsed into the ground off to his left, but he knelt by pikachu and floette. "What were you doing?"

"Grassy Terrain," Keith answered for his white-flowered Pokémon. "And pikachu was charging for a Thunder?"

Max shook his head. "Can't do that. Not both at the same time." He beckoned everyone close. "I should've said this before…" he started. "But the most important thing Lance's Pokémon did against yveltal was to stagger powerful attacks while we were distracting it. If you were hit by something powerful, pikachu, where would your attention go?"

The yellow mouse took a moment to realise the answer. "Ka-pi!"

"And then when you go to attack it, something else hits you."

"It distracts," Jane caught on. "So the Pokémon who has its attention doesn't have it too long. But... Grassy Terrain? It helps, right?"

"Only if you can do it fast enough." Max turned to the white-flowered Pokémon. "Is it a new thing you're trying?" he asked gently, and he was unsurprised to learn it was. "It's a good idea! But you need to be able to do it faster or hang back and have others keep the attention on them while you put it down. Not be right next to pikachu. You need to be able to use it without being a target."

"Flo!"

"We'll have you practice it more later. It's useful with leafeon and quilladin and even sceptile, but right now, it's about working together to distract, so no more Grassy Terrains for now, okay?" Max got up, confident that the floette had understood. They all took some distance, away from where the attacks would fly. "And… Start!"

~~§~~§~~

Misty opened the door without knocking, finding exactly who she'd thought inside. "Gary. Lance."

"And me," a third voice said from behind the door, causing a smile to appear on the Cerulean Gym Leader's face. "Got into Vermillion last night."

"I'm sure Nurse Joy was overjoyed." She gave Brock a quick hug. "Is that why you wanted me tonight instead of earlier this week, Lance?" Not that she had minded: the two sisters who were still in Cerulean had fallen ill a few days before she had returned and they'd also foisted all of the A-team challenges on her to boot. It had been an extraordinarily busy – though fun – week. She'd barely had time to eat and catch up on what had gone on in Cerulean, let alone elsewhere.

"Yes. And there is no need to apologise for delaying your returns. Both of you had good reasons," the Grand Champion stated. "Though it does help that both of you have acceptable deputies."

The Gym Leaders took their seats as a dragonair entered the room, floating into a hammock and settling down for what looked like a nap. Looked, Misty was sure: she'd been here before and that dragonair always moved the instant someone else not Lance did. "We got your letters," Gary told them. "But those were before last Saturday, so… How'd that change stuff?"

Misty had been on the boat to Ever Grande, from where she'd gone back to Pallet the day after, as it had happened and had stories to tell, but she looked to Brock first. "I don't think it changed much. People were a bit shocked, but… I don't know. It didn't feel like it. People came to the Gym to ask what they could do the days after, and we gave them the same advice every time. Work together. Have a plan to escape. Carry Persim extract." The Pewter Leader shrugged. "But Peter said the number wasn't that much different from after previous big attacks."

"Do you have any explanation for that?"

"Maybe it's the low deaths. Only twenty-five when half the Lilycove Department Store is destroyed is low, and people don't seem to buy the official explanation."

Misty did all she could to hold in the snort, but it wasn't successful. "Yeah, about that… Overheard a group of younger Trainers from Hoenn on the boat to Ever Grande. All of them said they thought there was no way that one of the 'Heroes of Hoenn' was responsible for that. I didn't even have to ask them about it: they went off on their own as the news broke."

"Heroes," Gary said, spitting the word. "I mean, they are, but… It's kind of pathetic. Oh well, whatever works, I guess."

"You are not wrong, and both of them would agree in an instant," Lance added. "But it tracks with the intelligence we've acquired from those they'd encountered." He pulled a file from a binder, and handed a few pages to Brock, who was nearest. "Interview with a Trainer from Rustboro and an eyewitness account of what happened to a young girl in Lilycove."

Misty didn't feel the need to read it. "It's all fine, but without a movement against everything, it's… I missed something, didn't I?"

"There was a protest, simultaneous with the attacks. It was most notable for being explicitly organised by a Gym Leader, and she's taken it public." The Grand Champion gestured at the table in the middle, and Misty saw a headline in one of Hoenn's more respectable – and pro-government – papers. "There is doubt to be exploited, though undoubtedly, tomorrow's papers will be full of the benefits of the ban that went into effect today."

"Most people just want safety. The government's clearly not giving it, and they're not interested either." Brock turned to Gary. "Did Steven contact you?"

"He did. I'm going to Hoenn tomorrow to help him, and to put another strong Trainer in the region."

"What's Steven up to?"

"He was testing if a machine could interrupt whatever is happening," Brock supplied, prompting Misty to nod in understanding. "He needs beyond ironclad proof to share it with everyone else. That's the problem."

"The League pre-amble has kept him busy, as well as the whole metagross saga. The government probably demands more of his time as well," Lance said. "They should know that their game is close to unfolding. Keeping those who are closest to lifting that veil busy is a strategy designed to make sure that people don't catch on just yet." The Grand Champion shook his head. "It will not work, and yet they persist."

"I don't get why they're doing it in the first place, y'know. Is it just for power?"

All eyes went to Lance as he pondered Gary's question. Misty sure as anything didn't know the answer to that. Before she'd gone to Hoenn, she would've probably leaned towards that, but from the things she'd heard… Something felt off, her intuition told her, and she'd learned to trust that across her years as Trainer and Gym Leader, and being accosted by Team Rocket while with Ash, frankly.

"Not just, I think. If they were, there are myriad ways to better gain it. I'd think ruling an entire region counts for it too," Lance answered at length. "Reginald and I think there is an ideological component to it, though we do not agree on the details. His thoughts are that they desire power to mould Hoenn society, and that it's up to the elite to fight back and resist. Mine are that they're more like Team Plasma in Unova than we'd like to admit, and seek total separation from certain Pokémon types, chasing an ideal that never existed. And as much as that was solved by a small group of Trainers pushing… There is still time. However fleeting."

"I agree," Brock said. "But I think I'm biased after travelling with Ash for so long. Even if he wasn't 'an elite'."

"He is many things, but he'd have balked at being put in that category. Harshly, despite probably being qualified many times over," Lance said, and everyone else shared a chuckle at Ash's expense. "Regardless, does that answer your question, Gary?"

"Well enough. Can't help but think that it's us elites pushing, though."

It was Brock who spoke up before Lance. "We help because we can. But everywhere there's an attack, there's a story of random Trainers helping. One challenger – thirteen if even that – asked Peter how he could do more to help after a Gym Battle. We didn't ask, but I think he'd already been in an attack before, one of the smaller ones."

"It's not going to be everyone," Misty added. "But it's enough of them. And people don't trust the propaganda that's put out either. Hoenn's government isn't winning. What did you say, Lance? There's doubt to be exploited?" A nod from the Grand Champion. "That's it exactly. Disrupt them now, chip away at them publicly." And put that way, the protest's timing made sense. She'd have to look into it.

"So, yeah, they're all fucked and what not," Gary summed everything up as he usually did. "But cornered Pokémon are the most dangerous."

"As we saw last week. The Department Store should have caused a lot more deaths. Lance, do you have any idea how that happened?"

"One smart Trainer inside kept the smoke from spreading as much inside by rallying everyone's Grass-types, and then someone ruthlessly did away with the blocking goons. With them out of the way, help could reach the Department Store before the Grass-types could not sustain or the fire started affecting the structure itself."

Brock nodded, his question answered, and the four fell silent for a moment, gathering their thoughts and filing the information and observations away.

It was Gary who broke the silence. "So. Have any tips for me? I'm bringing mostly Pokémon that are at least useful against the Titans. Nidoqueen, blastoise, arcanine, electivire, toxicroak, and dodrio for getting around."

"If you could hook up with either Ash, Sidney, or Phoebe, that would be helpful. Ash is likely north of Slateport: I'll hook you up with the location of a set of acquaintances he might visit. Phoebe's last known location was near Verdanturf, having publicly resurfaced. Sidney is more likely to find you than you him. All that being said, Steven is the most important. Are you going to Rustboro?"

"Mauville first." Gary sounded disgusted with that. "News came in this morning. The government is restricting ports of entry from other regions to Mauville, Sootopolis, and some small town near Fortree, name's not important. And they've closed Rustboro's port to nearly all boats, to the point I'm pretty sure I'm faster over land."

Lance frowned. "I had missed that," he said. "I had thought the Conference would stop measures like that, but I guess that most Trainers coming in from abroad would already be there." He shook his head. "At least their presence means the government likely won't do too much in the coming weeks. Too many Trainers around."

~~§~~§~~

A two-handed hew slammed into the ground, but blaziken danced away, launching a fast, weak, Ember at sceptile's face before directing a powerful kick at the Grass-type's legs, pulling out just before it would hit, leaving a short pause, and then jumping up as sceptile stomped on the ground, causing rocks to appear from underneath. He tried to initiate Earthquake mid-jump, but the result was poor, barely making the ground shake, let alone sceptile or any of the humans nearby.

"Good attempt! Keep at it." Blaziken's Trainer turned to Max as a wave of cold passed overhead. "Hey, careful!"

"Sorry!" Keith yelled from where crobat and noibat, staryu and piloswine were doing dodge and annoy sessions, aimed to teach crobat and noibat to recognise the ways certain Ice-type moves spread through the air. It also gave piloswine some much-needed practice at Ice Beam and not blowing it up. This was the fifth day and third morning of specific anti-regi practice and so far the count for that was at one, when it had ended at a dozen after a short afternoon session on the first day.

Small improvements.

Another Ember distraction, this time leading into a Sky Uppercut that gave blaziken enough momentum to leap over sceptile, landing on the other side and tapping the Grass-type's back with sudden gentleness.

"I don't know if Ember to the face works on them," Max said as the fight restarted, sceptile opening with a Bullet Seed this time – the attack they'd agreed to use for something fast and small that could be done. A quick Shock Wave or something. "For all I know, they use some kind of echolocation." He shrugged. "It's a good trick for official battles anyway. Blaziken's fast enough to do it in a brawl, might get you the range you want if not jumping over like he just did."

Dart in, fight, dart out. It wasn't what Jane's blaziken naturally fought like – they'd trained to hit hard, fast, and unrelenting if the fight went to close combat – but that style was folly against an opponent of this calibre. Against registeel and regice, blaziken would much rather prefer to stay at range, but someone needed to run interference up close, and of all the Pokémon the other Petalburg trainers had, blaziken was the only one that worked well enough. Keith's hitmontop was a distant second.

"Be honest, Max," Jane said, drawing his attention as noibat complained loudly. The shorter teenager seemed uncertain. "Do you think…"

If they could defeat one of them? "When I was in the Tree of Beginning, we interrupted some of the Trainers fighting regice. They were… Probably winning, I think. And I'll take you two any day over them."

"And how many Pokémon did they use, Max?"

They just knew him too well. "Four. Swampert and… mienshao to keep regice busy. Weezing and jumpluff hit it from a distance." He noticed Jane's look of surprise. "I know. I think they were probably hoping to find regirock. But jumpluff can be very agile. Like crobat." The ground shook underneath their feet, and they shifted to accommodate. "And if you run into them… There are always others helping. You won't be alone."

"I hope you're right, Max," Jane said, but the youngest teenager felt she didn't believe it. A moment later, that was proven true. "No. Sorry. You're giving us the tools we need."

A wave of cold flowed overhead again, Keith telling piloswine off this time, and something nagged at Max's mind, but he had other things to do. "If you have to run, you have to run. Just because I run towards danger doesn't mean you have to as well. But can't guarantee there's an option for it. And sometimes…"

"Sometimes one has to stand and fight," a foreign voice broke whirled around, manectric's pokéball primed, but he stopped the throw when he saw the speaker. "My warmest greetings to you all, but you in particular, Max Maple," the gallade spoke, bowingdeeply.

Why was there a gallade here? Max returned the bow, matching its depth, and he noticed Jane do the same. "Welcome," he said as he straightened out of the bow, tightening his grip on manectric's pokéball as she came out of her own accord. "Forgive me, but how do you know my name?"

"I could have read it from your or one of your compatriots' minds."

Was that… Amusement in the mental voice? He glanced at manectric, but the canine was as calm as could be. And there was something else… "I… I doubt it," Max said, deciding to follow the feeling. "I didn't notice anything, and only a few Pokémon can read minds without someone noticing. And gallade aren't…" he hesitated, not wanting to name a weakness out loud.

He knew before speech that he the worry was irrelevant. "We are not known for that skill, no," the gallade conceded, and Max felt weak amusement emanate from the Blade Pokémon. "And…"

"What's a gallade doing here?" Keith asked as he came to stand beside Jane. Piloswine and staryu trudged behind him, and Max saw noibat land on the Ice-type. "Max? You didn't catch one when we weren't looking, right?"

"He just appeared," Jane said by way of answer. "How do you know Max, then?"

"I first heard of you many moons ago, upon your flight, as my Trainer discussed you," the gallade replied, voice noticeably softer now. Max didn't feel it was because the Pokémon was projecting his voice any softer, though. "And then I heard of what you have done across these lands and on this island. As well as what you did not do." A short pause. "And lastly, my Trainer watched your battles, and the strength that you and your friend exhibited."

"Who is your Trainer, then?" Jane asked before Max could.

"Tate, though I have not seen him for well over a moon. I have been here, helping part of the congregation rebuild what they once had on this island."

"Congregation?"

"What ralts, kirlia, gardevoir, and I guess gallade, call their group living," Max answered Keith. "Didn't I mentio… Doesn't matter. They're back?" The thought filled him with discomfort. They shouldn't be here. It was dangerous.

"In limited numbers: we are a dozen, and no young. It is an attempt to see if they can remain here where three of their number were taken."

Where… "Three?"

"Yes. One gardevoir, and two ralts. None know what happened to… You know more."

Now the gallade picked up on his emotions. Why hadn't he earlier? "I don't know about the second ralts, but… The other ralts I rescued, two months ago in the Aso Mountains. And gardevoir… She's being controlled by Paulson."

That prompted a pained wave of emotion, one that everyone seemed to notice. "You… How certain are you?" the gallade asked, at length and after visibly steeling himself.

"It's gardevoir's mother," Max said simply. As he gave the gallade time to work through that, he wondered if he should send out the Psychic-type, who had done guard duty for the night. "And I have history with that particular family. It's her. She accepted being controlled to stop ralts from being tortured."

"Chains of one's own making, however forced..."

"It was an impossible choice. Despite her actions, I hold nothing against her, I so promise."

"Despite her actions?"

"She kidnapped me and also tortured me while I was in Paulson's basement, here on Izabe." Darkness raged, but Max focused, keeping it at bay. He would not give in. "She has no free will. I cannot and will not blame her."

The gallade deliberately locked eyes with Max, and he didn't shy away. Neither psionic nor telepathic pressure assaulted him. "And Paulson? What should be done about him?"

He felt eyes on him. Neither Keith nor Jane had asked him about what he wanted to do to Paulson. He didn't know why, and he had been glad not to have to answer the question at the time.

He decided to go with his head, ignoring the pang in his heart. "In jail. For the rest of his life. And I hope I never see him again."

"I see." The disappointment was palpable, but fleeting. "Would you like to visit the congregation?"

It was a question for the other two primarily: Max knew the gallade knew his answer would be a resounding yes. Their answer was also quite fast, after a bit of wordless communication. "Of course," Keith said. "How far is it?"

"An hour's walk with packs," the gallade answered. "An instant with the help of your friend."

"Let's walk. Let him rest."

"Very well," came the reply.

Everyone collected what they needed to, floette and quilladin reappearing from nearby where they'd been practising creating Grassy Terrains, and they set off, gallade leading the way; wild Pokémon respectful and friendly at the sight of the Blade Pokémon passing through with three humans, a leafeon, and a pikachu in tow. The route wasn't particularly tricky either, sloping gently downhill for the most part without obstacles more complex than a downwards slope they carefully navigated.

It was a silent trip as well, for the most part, with only a few questions coming the gallade's way, mostly from Keith, who seemed interested in learning about the gallade's role as a Gym Leader Pokémon. Max knew most of what was said from just being around his Dad, but there were some interesting differences nevertheless, like Tate and Liza – prior to their Gym being closed – having a twice-weekly battle with Pokémon selected semi-randomly from their combined pool, on top of other training. The explanation that was given was that they both wanted to be proficient with all Pokémon they both had, even if they individually had different strengths and preferences.

Jane had immediately asked Max if they could do that. Keith had shot it down before Max could, though, saying that they didn't have enough Pokémon to select random pairings.

Max held his tongue on the idea it had given him, mostly because at that point, they'd had to slide down the slope.

It was, true to gallade's prediction, close enough to an hour – according to Jane's pocket watch – of walking before Max noticed a vague presence in the air. Vague and comforting and intimately familiar despite having actually felt it only twice before in his life.

Though many more times in his dreams and memories, imagined or not.

Seven gardevoir and four kirlia suddenly appeared in front of them, Teleporting in en masse. Max heard Keith stumble and trip in surprise, a minced oath on his lips, but he was held up by one of the gardevoir.

"Welcome, humans. No," the gardevoir amended, voice and tone tickling Max's memories. "Welcome, Max, and welcome to your friends. I trust our friend has explained why we are here?"

Now Max remembered: one of the three gardevoir that had spoken the last time he had been to the congregation had been no-nonsense to a fault. This was him. "Trying to rebuild here after some were taken… Last year?" he asked, keeping voice and emotions carefully neutral.

"That is why we are on this island. It is not why we are speaking right now." A feeling of a smile went along with the message, dispelling any notion of brusqueness. "Come. Let us speak. Separate, at first, then together."

"You want to speak to us, too?" Keith asked, even as Max saw him move closer to Jane. "What for?"

A different gardevoir floated up. "To learn, of course. So we might avoid the tragedies of the past."

~~§~~§~~

Jane and Keith left together, and soon, Keith left Jane's sight too. She glanced at the Psychic-types escorting her: two gardevoir, two kirlia. "We going far?"

"Not at all," the gardevoir who had answered her boyfriend's question earlier said. "We have already arrived. Ask your questions; they're part of what's burning in your mind."

Arrived at a small tree fallen over from something. Lightning, maybe. It looked charred in places. The pattern reminded Jane of manectric in Lilycove. "Why are you doing this?"

"We owe your friend, for reasons old and new. Yet, he was not here until recently, we know this from our friend." The speaking gardevoir sat down in mid-air. "We would like to ask his aid again."

"We know what happened to two of your… congregation, right?" Jane replied. "One's in Pallet. One's controlled. Max told gallade."

A wave of regret and embarrassment rocked her for a moment. "Should've asked, huh," a higher-pitched, sarcastic voice broke in from the right, and a kirlia gave a jaunty wave, telling her it had been… him, probably.

"Yes. We should have." The gardevoir sounded sheepish. Kind of funny how even the most elegant of Pokémon could once you understood them. "Will you tell us?"

"I wasn't there. Max rescued the ralts, and the gardevoir was here on Izabe." Jane shook her head at the irony, not for the first time. "The mother of his gardevoir, too." She braced herself against another wave of emotion, and weathered it. "Gallade asked him what he wanted to do to the man that kidnapped him. He—"

"What would you do?" the kirlia cut in."Just you."

She knew. Someone who would torture… No. "We need to stop him, them, at any cost. Don't care if he lives. They've attacked everything. Schools. Festivals. Hospitals. They want to destroy lives? They can fucking well—"

"Do not stop on our behalf," the gardevoir said, following Jane's realisation she'd been ranting. A hand reached out, and Jane took it, feeling rage distinct, but echoed. "Mercy is for those who deserve it. They clearly do not. Do not give it," she stated resolutely.

Looking around into the red eyes of the other Pokémon around her, Jane felt the echo reflected back at her again, and again, and again. "Then I won't."

~~§~~§~~

Gallade, two gardevoir, and a kirlia. Keith was surprised the gallade hadn't gone with Max, but they stopped in a mini clearing, forming a circle. "Once this is over… What would you want to do?"

What? That was… "What's that question?"

"Answer it, please," the gallade asked, folding his arms demonstratively.

It was a full minute until Keith had an idea of what to say in response to the Blade Pokémon's question. "Finish my journey. Peacefully, I hope."

"And after that? Journeys end. What are your plans? For the future."

Groudon, where was this going? "Stay with Jane… Support my Mum… Dunno what else. Change my name, I suppose?"

"Your name?" the kirlia asked,her voice much higher pitched than either gallade or Max's gardevoir, or the other gardevoir who had spoken earlier. "You can change it?"

"I…" Was he really going to tell a bunch of strangers? Were they strangers? "Humans have multiple names, right? You know that?" He waited for a nod or shake – it was a nod – from the kirlia. "One of them is my father's, and… I'd like it to be my Mum's."

"But he's family?"

"Hasn't been in my life for years, just know he's alive and living somewhere in Hoenn." He thought for a second, then knelt, coming to eye-level with the kirlia. "Can someone be family if they don't act like it? If they indirectly hurt my Mum and I for years?" He saw recognition spark in the smart Pokémon's eyes. "That's why."

"He did so willingly?"

"Left and took all of my Mum's money. That count?" Keith replied as he got up, locking eyes with the gallade now. "He's my father, but he's not my Dad."

"Ah," the gallade said, as if it explained everything. A moment later, he felt a wave of comfort come from one of the gardevoir, and Keith realised that they had understood everything. They had felt his emotions as he spoke.

Max had said something about gardevoir being really difficult to hide emotions from.

"Your Mum… Would you protect her?"

Keith knew the kirlia knew his answer before he said it, but saying it was right. "Protecting her, trying to protect my friends and girlfriend, protecting my home… That's why I'm here."

"Trying to?"

"They're stronger Trainers, all of them." He shrugged. He'd made peace with that. Mostly. Not fully. "So I'll do my best and hope it's enough."

"A worthy answer. You have taught us much."

"… I have?"

~~§~~§~~

Max watched Keith and Jane be escorted away. Once they were out of sight, he turned on the gardevoir that had spoken first. "You shouldn't—"

"– feel like a ralts?"

"One at a time. Please," the gardevoir cut in with firm authority. "You go first, Max."

"You shouldn't be here," Max repeated. "They already found you here once, and everything's getting worse. I was held captive like ten miles from here, for jirachi's sake. You all need to leave."

Three gardevoir and a kirlia studied him. "You believe this is likely?"

"They have machines. Machines that will cause you to lose control of your powers, but nothing more. Keep you in one place, thrashing and stuck in your own head until it's switched off. And by that time? They'll have found you. And they'll try to use you for everything. Tate's gallade must have told you what's going on. Half of the attacks are from using Pokémon. Strap them to a machine, use their powers, send everyone susceptible mad. And when someone fights back? Threatens to rescue the Pokémon? They'll blow the lorry up, Pokémon and all. I've seen it happen." He waited for them to realise what had happened, kept the memory of the explosion at the forefront of his mind, though none took a peek. "They're ruthless, and will stop at nothing."

"Those who were taken…"

"I know. Jirachi, I promise I know. Gallade said three of yours were taken, right? Two ralts, a gardevoir. One ralts I played with the last time we met, when I told you about what was happening. She's in Kanto now, after I saved her. And the gardevoir… I know who she is. She's the mother of the Pokémon I first rescued here, on this island four years ago." He held up the Friend Ball, opening it. "This gardevoir's mother. And we're doing everything in our power to stop others from suffering the same fate that happened to kirlia and to his mother. And that includes you. All of you."

This time, three distinct probes got to his mind, wavered as they met, and after Max met red eyes…

He came to ten seconds later, with a killer headache. "Three of you? Max is human. Not a young ralts unwilling to share where he went! For shame!"

Max shook his head, finding the headache less persistent than he thought it would be. None of the gardevoir were doing anything either. "Made of sterner stuff, gardevoir," he said, voice sounding weird in his ears. One popped a moment later. "Do you understand now?" Contrition instantly flooded the area. "Good."

"He still feels like a ralts…" a higher-pitched voice observed after an uncomfortable silence, and Max looked at the kirlia. "My Trainer didn't."

"Well, yeah, your Trainer… Wait, feels like a ralts? Like my mind feels like one?"

He found himself the scrutiny of the three wild gardevoir, but this time, there was no probing, thankfully, though they studied him for what felt like a minute. "It so does. That was what I cut over, correct?" the lead gardevoir asked, to a nod from the kirlia. "Peculiar. Is there an explanation?"

"Been able to sense things for months now. Used to be only stronger Dark-types or some Ghost-types, but it's basically everything of those types and a lot of Psychic stuff by now," Max summarised everything. "No clue how, best idea we've got is kirlia dying in my arms and meeting yveltal face to face doing something weird. Or maybe it was xerneas after that." He noticed something. "Nice Shadow Ball, kirlia."

"Thanks! Been practising to surprise my Trainer when she comes back!"

"Its source is what it is. It came in useful, correc… Oh."

"Yes. It does not always. What affects us, affects him. To a lesser degree, but it does, and it has caused problems… And some friction, admittedly."

It didn't take a genius or someone with his sensitivity to guess that the other Psychic-types were, to the last one, curious, and Max started towards his neck even before the wave of unguarded curiosity could reach him. He had to fumble with the right one, nearly taking the Key Stone necklace off first, but after that, the right necklace dangled from his hand, the stone's inner light slightly reflected by whatever midday sun passed through the trees. "Is that…" the kirlia started.

"Gardevoirite. A friend brought it to me, gardevoir used it to help me escape from captivity, powering through the machine… But since then, we've only been able to use it in terrible rage and hatred." Max closed his left hand around the Mega Stone. "I know… Gardevoir will do anything to protect those they love. I've seen it. Felt it. And… I think… Felt it in here, too," he said, putting his left fist over his heart. "And it'd be so, so easy… But I'm afraid. A bit of the rage, but mostly…" Two Pokémon Teleported in. "Mostly of what my friends would say."

"Of what?" the gallade asked.

Max turned around, seeing Keith and Jane be surprised and… Something else. He'd ask later. "Mega Evolution is about an emotional connection. You lean into it, and it guides you. Danny, when he Mega Evolves aggron, becomes more stoic, Steel-like. Ash, when he Mega Evolves absol, says he's a lot more on the lookout for traps, trickery, and plans ahead more. When I Mega Evolved manectric last year, I felt life and confidence fill me. Now imagine how that works when we use rage and hatred."

Everyone understood. "We wouldn't hate you," Jane said.

It sounded sincere, but Max doubted it. "I've been there, Jane. Cross Hollow. Lorry activated basically a mile from where I was training with gardevoir out. Instinctively Mega Evolved him, saved a spoink, sent a furret straight through a fifty year old tree, tortured someone into a hospital." He turned to the gallade. "I want to see Paulson in jail by someone else's hand… Because I'm not sure I can hold myself back if we meet again."

The Blade Pokémon nodded in understanding. "And what about you?"

"We understand each other… Though not to the point of instinctive Mega Evolution, unfortunately."

"Perhaps… Perhaps instinct is the answer," the female gardevoir who had answered Keith's question earlier said cryptically. "If a Mega Evolution does not work, what are the drawbacks?"

"Fatigue for a couple of hours. Twice'll probably cause me to need a nap for an hour or two. Why?"

"Kirlia observed your mind is like a ralts's. You implied you felt the desire to protect, like all of us do, in your heart of hearts. Perhaps, instead of seeking an emotion and using it… Let your hearts and minds flow in unison."

It sounded like the most flowery description ever; something Danny's Dad would say. But… There were no downsides, and maybe… "We… Let's give it a go. Give us some space?"

The others did so as gardevoir caught the thrown necklace, easily pulling it over his head and letting the stone rest against the horn on his chest as both of them sat down opposite each other. "Ready when you are."

A deep breath in, and… A nudge against his mind. Gardevoir. Max recognised it, accepted it, and…

Was taken away.

Innumerable memories flashed in front of his eyes, few recognisable at first, but then more. A lake; a mountainside road; a Pokémon Center. An oceanside sunset, an oceanside sunrise somewhere else, a dark forest. A cave of despair and an ardent desideratum.

A laboratory, clean and sterile and strange. Conversations and emotions aplenty, humans going about their business. The sight of himself, a year ago. Smaller, but… Family. From the moment they re-met, hundreds of miles apart, he was family. Trusted beyond everything.

The fateful meeting. The moment of doubt when Danny pointed something out, followed by empathy providing the answer. The moment gardevoir had officially become his Pokémon.

Flashes of training, of desire, of camaraderie with other Pokémon. Clefairy, sceptile, manectric… Xatu and baltoy, naturally. A feeling of belonging. Of family expanded.

Family, of blood and of choice. Nearby or far away: protecting them was innate. Crossing those lines was anathema, abominable, despised.

A choice had been made long ago, in the dark of the Aso Mountains. And now, gardevoir rescinded it, offered it to Max as minds parted, eyes opened, breath continued.

He chose. For both of them, Max chose. And without compunctions, without reading minds or influencing thoughts, gardevoir accepted.

Mega gardevoir arose, in the blink of an eye. So did Max. Their thoughts were one: not because of any melding, but because they simply were. They were extensions of each other, distinctly similar yet distinct. "It worked."

"Bloody obvious, that," Jane said from behind them. Max could nearly see her mouth move, her vocal cords produce the words below her skin. "Is your bond supposed to be like this? Almost… Like I can touch it?"

There had been a moment in Geosenge, but Jane had been there. She had to have felt Diantha and her gardevoir, right? "Er…"

"You are bleeding emotions," the lead gardevoir of the congregation said. "Their strength is palpable."

"And terrible for stealth," the gallade added in as dry a tone as Max had ever heard someone speak. And… They felt a different gardevoir loop the words around to others. Bypassing the limits of his telepathy. "Regardless… Max. If you met Paulson. What would you do?"

The answer was simple, coming in an instant, and he wasn't sure how he had not realised it before, for a second until he realised that was the bond talking. "Make him feel like we have, for thrice as long as we have. In jail, preferably. And if that is not possible…"

Of everyone there, Keith was the only one who didn't fully approve, but even he could accept it, Max felt. Literally.

A nod, and they let go. For a fleeting second, there was an agonising tear, a gap so wide and yet so small and then it was gone. Max stumbled, and gardevoir's levitation faltered, but someone else held them up. "That was intense."

"I agree. And yet… Thank you," the female gardevoir said, directing it at everyone in the clearing; now all ten wild Psychic-types, the two other trained Psychic-types, and the two other humans. "I… No, we are in your eternal debt."

"We will heed your warning and leave this island tonight and tomorrow, under the cover of night. There are other islands better suited. Either more remote or more hostile."

"That's all I can ask for," Max said. "And we will try to free gardevoir and find that missing ralts."

"That is all we can ask for. Farewell, Max, Jane, Keith. Moon's blessings until next we meet."

"And upon you," Max said, bowing as eleven Pokémon Teleported out. The gallade had stayed. "Not leaving?"

"I will return to Tate now, and must take a different route. And I would like to ask something of Keith."

"Of me?"

"Yes. Once this is all over, make your way to Mossdeep, or wherever my Trainer is at the time. I think he can help you with your plans."

And without explanation, the gallade, too, Teleported out, leaving three teenagers and a gardevoir flummoxed. Eventually, as one, they decided to ignore it. "Okay. Time to move on. Could probably sense gardevoir and I from a mile away and I'd like to not be captured again," Max said. "Let's get you a new Ground-type, Keith."

~~§~~§~~

A burner Pokénav rang. "Yes," Paulson answered, and upon hearing the voice on the other end, he smiled. "Yes, I was hoping to… Acquire your services."

"I know they are not cheap. I think, however, that I can make you an irresistible offer."

"You underestimate me, Madam. Tell me… Are rare Pokémon still your desire?"

"Maybe twenty in the entire Home Regions rare, not some mere Pseudo-Legendary classification that any idiot can train. Yours excepted, of course."

"I am thinking of someone in particular. However, he is only a person of interest by chance, not the primary objective."

"Simple. In exchange for your presence on a date in the near future – we are working out details but assume it is this year leaning towards next two weeks – we will provide you with the location of two Eon Pokémon, yours for the taking."

"You will not need to disable them, except for transportation. We will see to that."

"Of course. This Pokénav will remain active for 40 hours more. Is that enough time?"

"Excellent. I look forward to your answer."

The call ended, and Paulson grinned. He had her. He knew it.

Author's Note: Happy New Year everybody! And how do I produce a 9.5k chapter of infodump dot doc in under two months when the previous barely-6k one took me three... At least Max has a second Mega Evolution under his belt now, though it might need some practice until he doesn't alert everyone in a half mile radius to his existence with it.