Draco: Alright, time for my plotlines to converge. This is weirdly satisfying, I wonder if this is how the Final Fantasy XIII writers felt. Split the party into three in Lake Bresha and the Vile Peaks, bounce between the groups, then two of them meet up in Palumpolum and they catch up to the last team on the Palamecia.

Pokémon and protagonist © Nintendo. Character designs © Koei. Ransei © somewhere in the middle.

Lavaridge: Mind and Matter

"Morning, Warriors. I hope you slept well."

Magoichi yawned. "Oh, absolutely," he insisted. "Going to bed after a soak in a hot spring does wonders for a sound sleep."

Kai nodded. "Yeah, I gotta give you that one," she admitted. "I was confused why you wanted us to stay in Lavaridge for the night instead of going straight to Team Magma's place, but that was a good experience."

May grinned. "Glad you all approve."

"Alright, alright," Shingen mused. "Niceties are over with; let's talk shop."

"Right," May sighed. "The Team Magma Hideout is halfway up the Jagged Pass. I hope you guys aren't averse to climbing, because otherwise we gotta take the cable cars all the way up to the crater again."

Sceptile set a hand on her hip and nodded.

Darmanitan pumped a fist in the air with a cheerful cry.

Rhyperior pounded his knuckles together approvingly.

The Trainer chuckled. "Okay, didn't see that last one coming," she mused, "but I'm not gonna complain. Up we go, then."

+x+x+x+

The entrance to the Team Magma Hideout was a rather unassuming cave - save for how smooth its edges were. As they stepped inside, Shingen noted the interior to be rather less refined than that of the Team Aqua Hideout, though it similarly sported banners proclaiming its residents; in contrast to the skeletal A emblazoned on the building in Lilycove, these ones sported an M that looked like a volcanic peak.

"Intruders detected." A woman's voice drew the group's attention to find a woman in a consuming uniform in red, with the same sigil emblazoned on her lapels. "Analyzing... Ah. You."

"Hey, Courtney," May greeted. "Sorry I'm late."

"Then..." The woman looked to Magoichi, Kai, and then Shingen. "You... Warriors. From Ransei."

"Indeed we are," Magoichi confirmed. "And to whom might we have the pleasure of-"

Kai and Sceptile both elbowed him in the ribs.

Courtney's gaze fixed on Shingen's mask. "...I see. You. You might..." A small smile played on her lips. "...Ha."

May sighed. "Should I leave them to you, or...?"

"No," Courtney insisted. "Leader Maxie... wants you there. During the talk."

She led the group inside; there were a few offshoot rooms, one of which hosted what looked like the best approximation of an office. A man was sitting at the desk - a man in the same sort of consuming uniform as Courtney, with a thick pair of spectacles. He was looking through papers as they stepped in, and didn't look up until Courtney spoke. "Leader Maxie. The Warriors... are here."

"So they are," the man mused, raising his gaze. His eyes immediately settled on Shingen's mask. "Ah... so that's what Archie was speaking of."

"Greetings," the Warlord mused. "I am Shingen of Terrera."

"Magoichi of Avia."

"Kaihime of Cragspur."

"A pleasure to meet you all," Maxie returned. "I, the great Maxie, am the leader of Team Magma." He set his papers aside and got to his feet. "I humbly ask that you humour me with a few questions before we proceed."

"If it's about the mask, then save your breath," Shingen insisted. "Archie asked the same question - and yes, it does have a significance to a Link partner of mine."

Kai crossed her arms. "Which begs the question of what the hell kind of good you think that's supposed to do for us, as far as getting back to Ransei goes."

Maxie closed his eyes. "I will gladly answer you questions immediately, if you are not opposed to speaking while we walk. We have quite some distance to cover."

"Conversation in motion is no obstacle," Magoichi assured him.

"Good," Maxie insisted. "Courtney, May, please join us.

The three Trainers, three Warriors, and three Pokémon stepped back into the hall; then Maxie led them further into the cave, which emerged in a wide-open cavern that seemed strangely warm.

"Team Magma and Team Aqua were founded as a result of two grandiose - and ultimately ill-advised - ideals," Maxie explained. "Team Aqua sought to expand the oceans, so as to better the lives of Pokémon. In contrast, we of Team Magma desired to expand the landmasses, so as to allow for greater human expansion. As you might imagine, these diametrically opposed objectives saw us coming into conflict more than once."

"Yeah," Kai mused. "Somehow I doubt it was just a clash of your two teams."

"You're not wrong," May confirmed. "Ordinary people and Trainers ended up crossing paths with them, too."

Courtney turned to her accusingly. "You... are not ordinary."

Maxie had a grin on his face. "I can't deny that," he admitted. "Indeed, May personally clashed with both Team Aqua and we of Team Magma at nearly every turn of either of our goals. Not necessarily enough to prevent us from achieving our objectives... but enough to make a difference when they spiralled out of our control."

They stepped out into another cavern, this one hotter still; there were several exposed pools of lava, and Sceptile swept an arm across her brow in concern.

"Within the Seafloor Cavern on Route 128, Archie awakened the Primordium. Shortly thereafter, here in Mt. Chimney, I, the great Maxie, awakened the Desolation. The two super-ancient Pokémon then made their way to Sootopolis City, to receive of the power that wells in Hoenn's Core - the power necessary for their Primal Reversion. And, once they had supped upon it - upon merely that which trickles out of the well and springs from the earth unbidden - the two clashed with a might fit to unmake the world. Only by the grace of the Delta was their clash halted, and the super-ancient Pokémon returned to slumber."

"As much as that is a terrifying story," Magoichi mused, "it doesn't explain how this helps our journey back to Ransei."

Maxie drew out a familiar device; Archie had used the same type to call him, back when Shingen first awoke in the Team Aqua Hideout. After tapping at the buttons for a moment, he came to a halt, and the Warriors did the same as he turned the screen towards them. "This is a map of the Hoenn region," he proclaimed. "We are currently here, in Mt. Chimney, as indicated by the cursor." He turned the device back towards himself and tapped at the buttons again before directing it to the Warriors again. "And this is Sootopolis City, built in a meteoric impact crater in the center of Route 126."

"It's... smack in the middle of the water," Kai observed.

Shingen reached for his mask. "I see," he mused. "In order to have even reached Sootopolis, Groudon must have marched across the ocean somehow."

Maxie nodded. "Indeed." He pocketed the device, resuming the march. "And it made good time in doing so, I dare say. Upon the back of the Desolation, you could return to Ransei in due time."

"Which would be good enough if you'd ended up here because of a shipwreck or something," May mused. "But the fact that you were warped here somehow means that there's something bigger going on. Something disastrous, most like. If you're going to go back into that, you need every bit of strength you can get your hands on."

"You're referring to this 'Primal Reversion'," Shingen deduced.

"We are," Maxie confirmed. "Are you familiar with the phenomenon of Mega Evolution?"

"The fundamentals, at least," Shingen confirmed, "though I've not seen it in action myself. Two stones, the human carrying one for all purposes, and the Pokémon carrying another specific to their species; with both in hand, it should trigger a temporary transformation that takes the Pokémon to a new height of power."

"Primal Reversion is not entirely different," Maxie admitted. "Not in its controlled state. On their own, the super-ancient Pokémon can simply bathe in the requisite energy, and affect a world-shaking transformation. But for more... moderate usage, that energy must be harnessed by the use of a particular artifact."

He halted again outside an archway and turned to May, who reached into her bag; Shingen turned as she drew out a ruby-red stone, emblazoned with a fiery orange Ω omega. "This Red Orb was exposed to the power leaking out of Hoenn's Core," she explained. "It should be enough to set off the Primal Reversion."

She handed it to Shingen, who accepted it carefully. "I was taken to understand Mega Evolution required two stones," he mused. "Does a controlled Primal Reversion not carry the same requirements?"

"We cannot be sure," Maxie admitted. "But, I would err on the side of caution. Courtney."

"Leader Maxie." Courtney turned to Shingen, drawing out a small marble-like stone in rainbow colours. "Here. A Key Stone." She set it into Shingen's empty hand. "And perhaps... a Mega Stone? For others. Just in case... the Desolation is not enough."

Shingen hummed curiously as he glanced at the Key Stone. "Even legends can be overcome. With an army mighty enough. So said a great man whose mind was in a dark place." He raised his gaze. "I'm inclined to agree with Courtney. Regardless of whether the Primal Reversion requires a Key Stone, I or my allies might have a use for Mega Evolution proper. A Mega Stone or two might not go awry."

May nodded. "No worries. I've got a few I'm not using."

As she started to rifle through her bag, Magoichi turned to Team Magma's leader. "May I ask you something, Maxie?"

"Go on."

"Do you mean to tell me that the Desolation has been sleeping here in Mt. Chimney... since the events in Sootopolis?" Magoichi accused. "And that nobody in Team Magma was stupid enough to disturb its slumber?"

Maxie smirked. "You're not as simple as you act," he observed, and Magoichi's face fell at that remark. "No, Groudon has not been here the whole time. In fact, it has not been seen here in Mt. Chimney since its clash with Kyogre was ended. It only reappeared here recently. In fact, I had called May here to discuss this when I received Archie's contact about a Warrior."

Kai narrowed her gaze. "You mean it showed up here, in the middle of the volcano where you built your base... at about the same time as we got displaced out of Ransei? That can't be a coincidence, can it?"

"Perhaps on its own, it might be."

The voice from nearby had everyone jumping; Maxie's glasses were knocked askew, May dropped the Mega Stones she'd been digging out, and Kai had drawn her daggertail before she realized who was standing there. Shingen only chuckled, turning round to find a familiar hooded figure standing there, along with a dark-clad shinobi, a Gengar, a Gallade... and a towering feline.

"Kenshin!"

"Nemesis." Kenshin glanced around the cavern. "Seems you've been working on finding your own road back to Ransei."

"It wasn't looking like a short road," Shingen admitted, "but it seems you've found a faster... one..."

He trailed off as he realized Kenshin's clothes were damp; a wry smile appeared on the Illusian's face. "Faster, perhaps," he admitted, "but not necessarily drier. Turns out that interregional teleportation is not particularly precise. I tasked Mewtwo with bringing us to Hoenn, and we arrived many kilometers offshore."

"Er..." Maxie re-fixed his glasses. "I would not be so quick to judge," he insisted. "Hoenn has quite a few aquatic Routes, arriving in the water doesn't necessarily-"

"Offshore to the north," Kenshin elaborated.

"Ah. That's... not technically Hoennian waters, no."

Draco: Gameplay-wise, I'm pretty sure Primal Reversion doesn't strictly require a Key Stone to be activated, but I'm not a hundred percent sure about lore compliance so I'm going to maybe dodge the question. Yes, there will be more Mega Evolutions than I'm making explicit in advance, but I'm gonna save those for reveals later on. For now, here's the battle info on the Desolation.

Primal Groudon
-Range: 2
-Move: Earth Power | Precipice Blades
-Ability: Hot-Blooded

Precipice Blades (Ground)
-Attack area: three tiles in front (i.e. Icy Wind)