Author's Note: With this chapter, we've hit an important milestone. LC is officially halfway done. It's wild to finally be at this point. The next four chapters after this one are all one big mega fight, and I'm really excited to write it. Is everyone ready? Let's dive in~

Chapter 40: Crisis in Hoenn

By the end of the night, Mew had teleported the other Legendaries back to their respective homes. It was kind of strange to feel Lugia's restless, distracted mind slowly settle into a calm, gentle flow, almost like a river slowing down. The feeling was… relaxing in a way. If Lugia could sleep soundly, then so could I.

Ajia showed us the barn behind the cabin, which was set up as a Pokémon sleeping quarters, and everyone let their teams out for the night (with a few exceptions like Pichu, who preferred to stay with their trainers). Then we were finally free to head inside and get ready to crash. My head hit the pillow and I was out almost immediately.

Then, what felt like seconds later, a high-pitched cry jerked me awake.

"What the heck…" I muttered to myself, burying my head under the pillow. The noise didn't stop. And then, for whatever reason, my brain finally processed that it was Latias's voice.

"Latias?" I blurted out, sitting up straight and blinking in the darkness. Then the light switch flipped on and I had to shield my face from the sudden brightness assaulting my eyes. Squinting through nearly-closed eyelids, I could just barely make out the crimson dragon flying circles near the ceiling.

"*There's an intruder!*" she cried.

An intruder? What? Who? The Rockets? How did they find us here? Did they follow us? Were we under attack?

"Who is it?" I asked her.

"*It's him! The one who stole my brother!*" the dragon cried.

My heart skipped a beat. Stalker? Stalker was here? No way. I hadn't seen him in over nine months. I was hoping I could just forget about him. What on earth was he doing here? Why now?

I rubbed my eyes aggressively until I was finally able to see, then threw a glance at Ajia and Starr. Ajia already had a look of deep concentration as she spoke mind-to-mind with Mew. Starr's eyes were screwed shut, and she looked tired enough to murder someone for more sleep.

"Someone gonna tell me what the hell is—"

"Sebastian," Ajia cut in.

Starr's eyes snapped open. "What the hell is he doing here?" she said.

"Guess we're about to find out," Ajia said, jumping to her feet. She paused long enough for Pichu to leap onto her shoulder before bolting out the door. With a heavy groan, Starr followed.

I leapt out of bed and glanced around for Chibi… and then remembered that he and the rest of my team were back at the main ranger station. Dammit. I mean, I'd had to, they were injured, but still, dammit. Then again, it wasn't like we had any reason to expect a fight… right?

I rushed down the stairs, my head a confused, distorted mess of conflicting emotions. Stalker was here, and I had absolutely no idea how I was supposed to feel about that. Wary? Anxious? Scared? Angry? This wasn't how I'd imagined things would be the next time I saw him. But what had I imagined? That we'd somehow get the chance to talk things out and come to an understanding? Of course that was unrealistic. But had I wanted that?

Somewhere, in the back of my mind, I registered the fact that we were running downstairs to confront a Rocket commander while wearing pajamas. So now embarrassment could get added to that pile of conflicting emotions.

My footsteps slowed as I reached the ground floor. The front door was open, light spilling out into the front walkway; Ajia and Starr were out on the steps. And there he was, right in front of us. Former leader of the Rebellion. Current head of the Johto combat unit. The one who'd used us for months, playing with our lives, all just to serve his power play with the Kanto force. Standing out there in a long, white executive's coat, arms folded behind his back, Charizard sitting calmly at his side. He raised his hands disarmingly, casting an amused glance around at the lineup of both human and Pokémon that had rushed out to confront him.

"I believe congratulations are in order," he said. "You all did quite the masterful job stealing Moltres from the Kanto force."

Part of me wanted to say something. It had been over nine months since I'd last seen him. Nine months since he'd abruptly gone from trusted ally to cold manipulator in the span of a single night. But the words wouldn't come.

"What do you want, Sebastian?" Ajia asked, her voice tired and exasperated. Pichu punctuated her words with a jolt of sparks.

"Wait… Stalker? He's the one you're all so worked up about?" a voice called out.

I spun around to see the two faces that weren't scowling at him: Rudy gaping incredulously and Darren squinting like he was trying to put together what was going on.

"What are you doing here, man?" Rudy asked, taking a few steps forward.

"More like what the hell are you doing here," Starr snapped.

Rudy froze, staring at her in bewilderment. He glanced back and forth between Stalker and me, waiting for answers.

Oh geez, he didn't know. I'd never told him. He had no idea that Stalker wasn't on our side after all. On top of that, I could now see a couple of Rudy and Darren's Pokémon inching into view from around the side of the cabin, looking equally confused. Ebony and Weavile in particular were frozen mid-step, like they'd been about to run over and say hi until everyone started acting so hostile.

I made eye contact with Rudy and frantically shook my head back and forth while swiping a hand from side to side. But he just stared back, completely oblivious. Darren seemed to realize what I was getting at though. He grabbed Rudy's shoulder, and when the latter turned toward him in confusion, he just shook his head and put a finger over his mouth.

"There's no need for hostility. I've just come to talk," Stalker said.

"You've got some nerve showing up here like this and expecting a warm welcome," Ajia said coolly. Starr distinctly looked like she was holding back from saying much harsher things.

And then out of nowhere, Latias shot forward, stopping right in front of him and staring him straight in the eyes. "*Let my brother go!*"

Stalker stared back, unflinching. "I'm afraid that I can't do that. I still need to utilize his strength for my plans."

"*How is what you're doing any different from what they're doing?!*" she cried, voice breaking slightly.

Stalker closed his eyes in frustration. "I am not going to explain this again. I need Latios. Now do you want to hear what I have to say or not?"

Latias drew herself back, eyes wide and shining. And for a second, I was half-convinced that she was about to attack him. But then she screwed her eyes shut and bolted away from him, ducking behind Mew, who was hovering over Ajia's head, watching him carefully.

"I believe your other Legendary allies will want to hear this. Why don't you bring them here?" Stalker offered.

"You really think we'll fall for that?" Ajia asked, raising an eyebrow.

"They have nothing to fear from me," he said simply. "I'm the one who's outmatched here."

It didn't… seem like he was lying. After all, what could he possibly do to us when he was so ridiculously outnumbered? Heck, even without the Legendaries, all Starr had to do was snap her fingers and her team would be on him in an instant. And from the look on her face, she was about five seconds away from doing just that.

Ajia let out a sigh, then glanced over at Mew and nodded. The psychic cat considered her carefully, then nodded back and vanished. Several seconds passed. I felt a sudden spike of irritation in the back of my mind as Mew no doubt had just invaded Lugia's sanctum. Another minute passed, and Mew suddenly reappeared, this time joined by three gigantic birds—Lugia looking cross, Ho-oh concerned, and Moltres intrigued.

"Who is this human?" Moltres asked once it had gotten a good look at the standoff. "If he has stolen the power of a legend, why do we not simply kill him?"

Stalker stared unflinchingly up at the firebird. "Killing me won't free Latios. It would only ensure that you never find him. And I have information that you require."

"Bold of you to assume I would not kill you anyway," Moltres said coolly.

"I would not have come here if I hadn't prepared for that possibility." The unspoken implication was clear—he knew for a fact that his life was not in danger.

Moltres considered him for some time before drawing itself back, looking satisfied. "Very well. Say what you have to say."

Stalker turned to face the rest of us, surveying the faces on our group. "I'm sure by now you've all realized the purpose of the Rockets' attack on Indigo."

I hesitated. I thought we knew, but hearing him say it like that, I was suddenly unsure.

"They were… using it as bait to capture the other Legendaries," I said, eyeing him closely.

Stalker folded his arms behind his back. "That's one reason, certainly. Far from the main one, however."

"So quit playing your dumbass games and tell us already," Starr spat.

He made eye contact with Starr briefly, looking vaguely amused by her wording, before turning his gaze back to Ajia. "It's more that they wished to draw attention away from something else."

"So it was a distraction," Ajia said flatly. Stalker nodded.

Nothing but a distraction. God, that explained everything. No wonder the mission didn't make any sense. Trying to lure the others into a trap and capture them? And sending only a single squad of Rockets with two executives to do it? What a joke. Of course the Rockets didn't really have an agenda at Indigo. No wonder it felt like the attack just kept going for hours with no end goal, more about putting on a spectacle than actually accomplishing anything. We were idiots.

"What are they really planning?" I asked, a sinking feeling building in my stomach.

Even after all this time, I had no trouble spotting that subtle gleam in his eye when I asked that. Like he was already relishing the chance to explain. I hated it—all it did was remind me of how I thought I knew him.

"The attack on Viridian last year put the Rockets in a dangerous position," Stalker began slowly, carefully watching for our reactions, "and without Mewtwo, it would be too difficult for them to proceed with their plans, unless they manage to obtain a weapon on par with Mewtwo."

A Legendary Pokémon… on par with Mewtwo? Did such a Pokémon exist?

"What, so like Mew?" I asked with a glance back at the psychic cat.

"Mewtwo was engineered to be stronger than Mew," Starr cut in, folding her arms. "And Mew is too difficult to hunt down. Trust me, it's not Mew."

[Some Legendary Pokémon are more powerful than others,] Mew explained, gesturing to Lugia and Ho-oh. [They are the higher legends. It's likely that Mewtwo matches even them in strength.]

That some Legendaries were even stronger than the rest… the idea had honestly never even occurred to me. Then again, it made sense, thinking back to when Lugia had attacked Viridian—Articuno and Moltres had barely been able to put a scratch on it. But somehow it was comforting that, as powerful as Mewtwo was, he wasn't stronger than the higher legends. His power wasn't unprecedented.

[Let them try for me. I dare them,] Lugia said coldly.

Ho-oh gave the silver bird a tired look. "It's not wise to tempt fate."

Stalker shook his head. "Fortunately, neither of you is the target," he said matter-of-factly. "The Rockets have set their sights on Hoenn."

A heavy silence fell over the surrounding. Slowly, each of us turned toward Latias, whose eyes had gone wide with dread.

"*What do you mean?*" she asked, her voice quivering slightly.

Stalker paused for several seconds, waiting until all eyes were back on him. Satisfied that he had everyone's attention, he went on, "They're going to reawaken Groudon and Kyogre."

Groudon… and… Kyogre? I'd… vaguely heard of them. Ancient gods of Hoenn, or something like that? Not exactly the kind of Legendaries that anyone ever saw.

Latias was still staring. "*But… how? They'd need the red and blue orbs, but... those are…*"

"Currently held inside the Magma and Aqua bases, yes," Stalker finished. "The Rockets aim to steal them."

"Wait, wait wait wait," I said, grabbing my forehead while I tried to make sense of this sudden revelation. "What the heck are you guys talking about? Orbs? Reawaken?"

Latias paused, realizing that the rest of us had no idea. She tapped her claws together and said, "*Two years ago, there was a terrible event in my home region. You might have heard of it—the humans called it the Hoenn weather crisis.*"

Okay, that definitely sounded familiar. Memories of seeing footage of a crazy weather catastrophe on the news suddenly drifted back to me. Supposedly caused by a gang of environmental extremists, although how exactly they'd been able to cause such a thing had always been conveniently danced around.

"*Two rival organizations sought to shape the Hoenn region in their own image,*" she went on. "*One sought to expand the land; the other, the sea. So they set their sights on awakening the ancient gods Groudon and Kyogre, to realize their dream.*" She paused, shivering. "*But… that dream would have been nothing but an unending hell for the world.*"

I stared at her, a chill running down my spine. "Are you saying that Team Rocket's trying to recreate that disaster?"

"Only as long as it takes to capture them," Stalker said simply.

I gaped at him, still struggling to process the weight of it all. "And these Magma and Aqua guys… we've gotta deal with them now?"

Latias frowned. "*I… don't believe so. When the Hoenn region was in crisis, both teams' leaders saw the error of their ways, and lent their efforts toward sealing Groudon and Kyogre once more. After the crisis was resolved, they announced that they wished to make amends, and pushed their organizations in a more respectable direction. Latios and I kept a close eye on them—the Hoenn region has not seen any trouble from them since.*"

"Well they're gonna be in for a nasty surprise when the Rockets show up on their doorstep," Ajia said grimly.

"The Rockets have been sending agents to Hoenn, gathering information for months," Stalker went on, pacing slowly in front of us. "The Indigo attack was only to hide the fact that their entire combat unit began mobilizing yesterday. The mission is already underway. They've sent squads to both teams' headquarters, as well as to the mountain where the two Legendaries now sleep, so I'd recommend splitting up."

I jolted. "Hang on, what? Right now?! Why didn't you tell us sooner?!"

"You sent Lexx to warn us but you couldn't tell us that it was all just a goddamn distraction?" Starr snarled. "You wanted us to fall for it!"

Stalker stared at her, his gaze cold and unyielding. "I need you all to make things more difficult for them. But it wouldn't do me any good if you stopped them outright before they even started."

"The hell?!"

Ajia shook her head. "Just like the good old days, huh?" Her tone was disappointed, but unsurprised. "Getting everyone else to do your dirty work. Is that ever going to change?"

"I still need to appear loyal to the boss," he replied, holding both palms up. "It would be a complete waste if I gave myself away now."

I was speechless. I wanted to say something. Hell, I almost wanted to lash out like Starr. But all I could do was stare at him in stunned disbelief. It shouldn't have been surprising. It shouldn't have. But part of me had still been hoping that Ajia and Starr's perception of Stalker had been… had been wrong. That the person I'd known on the Rebellion had been real. But no. Stalker was fake. It had only ever been Sebastian.

"You know, I'm surprised to see all of you here together," Stalker said offhandedly. "Or rather, I'm surprised to see the Legendaries willingly accepting help from humans. Of course, I'm sure at least some of you are here by contract. I wonder which ones." His eyes lingered on me a little longer than they should have. I kept my expression perfectly neutral.

"Anyway. I have business I need to attend to," he said, turning to walk away, Charizard following close behind. "I expect I'll be seeing you all in Hoenn soon. After all,"—he turned to face us one last time—"the clock is ticking."

"What the hell was any of that?"

Rudy's voice echoed throughout the yard, the only words anyone had spoken since Stalker had left.

"Like, I don't even know where to start," he went on, bracing himself against the side of the cabin. "Why was everyone treating Stalker like a bad guy? Why was he talking like that? What the hell is going on?"

"Your precious rebel team leader is head of the Johto combat unit," Starr muttered, rubbing her eyes. The anger from Stalker's arrival had largely worn off, and she mostly just looked exhausted.

Rudy gaped at her. "But… that doesn't make any sense!"

I felt a nudge at my side; Darren had sidled over to me when I wasn't looking. "Hey, quick question: when did you find out about that?" he whispered.

I jerked my head toward him. "Eh?"

"Well, you obviously already knew," he said with a knowing look.

Oh. I guess it was obvious, yeah. I swallowed hard and said, "Last year."

Darren clicked his tongue. "You could've mentioned it."

I put a hand to my forehead. "I didn't want to think about it, alright? I was hoping I'd never have to deal with him again, but then all this stuff happened and… yeah." God, I'd turned into Ajia. When had that happened?

Rudy was pacing back and forth in the driveway, arms swinging at his side. Finally, he snapped his head toward the rest of us and asked, "So what are we gonna do about what he said?"

"Excuse me?" Starr said, staring at him incredulously.

He glanced back and forth between us like we were all insane. "We're not just gonna let them catch Groudon and Kyogre, are we?"

"Yeah, why don't you just charge right into an obvious trap. Sure," Starr said, throwing her arms in the air.

"Starr, I'm not saying we should trust Sebastian or anything—" Ajia began carefully.

"But you're all just gonna play into his hands like usual," Starr finished, not bothering to hide the disgusted tone in her voice.

"Look, I was just chosen, alright!" Rudy shot back, giving her a fierce glare. "And I don't really get what that means yet, but I know I can't ignore this."

I was in the same boat as him. I'd only been chosen for… geez, only about four hours longer than him. God, it felt weird putting that in perspective.

"Guess this means we're getting the rebel team back together then," Darren said, crossing his arms behind his head. "Unless you don't need my help? I dunno if I can really measure up now that you've got Moltres." He gave Rudy a sideways glance.

"You're not getting out of it that easy," Rudy snapped, grabbing the back of Darren's shirt before he could walk back inside.

Starr stared at us, shaking her head. "So what am I supposed to do?"

Ajia gave her a soft look. "I'm not gonna pressure you to help us," she said. "It's up to you."

"If I may interject," a booming voice suddenly said. I looked up to see Ho-oh focusing its large, amber eyes on us. "If you wish to help your companions, you should say so."

Starr stared up at the legend incredulously. "I don't want to. I want nothing to do with this stupid war."

"If that were true, you would not be here," it said, with a rather matter-of-fact tone.

"The hell do you know?" she snapped.

Ho-oh's expression was calm, unyielding. "My apologies," it said, stepping back from us.

Starr's eyes flickered back and forth between the various Legendaries, eyes narrowing suspiciously. Then she spun around to grab me by the shoulders, and I flinched.

"Please tell me you're not going to do this," she said, her voice breaking.

I stared back, feeling my heart crumple inward. I didn't want to do this to her. I really didn't. But I didn't have a choice.

"I have to," I said weakly.

"It's this stupid chosen thing again, isn't it?" she asked, her voice low and cold, but with blades of anger digging into it. "Tell me the truth. You were chosen too, weren't you?"

There it was. She'd already guessed, so there was no use denying it.

I swallowed hard. "Yeah."

Starr clenched her fists, muttering various obscenities about the Legendaries. She glanced over at Ho-oh. Then to Ajia. Then screwed her eyes shut with a pained expression. "Then. I'm going with you."

I opened my mouth to speak, but she cut me off with, "Don't say anything before I change my mind."

Unsure of what else to do, I just nodded. There wasn't anything I could say that would make things better anyway.

"Where are we going, exactly?" I asked, throwing a glance over at the Legendaries. Lugia tilted its head sort of like a shrug and then gave Mew an expectant look.

Mew put a paw to her chin. [Latias, do you know?]

At those words, Latias slowly drifted out through the cabin's front door, eyes glued to the floor. Several times, she opened her mouth to speak, only for the words to fail. Finally, she managed to say, "*The Magma building is on the slopes of the great volcano, and the Aqua building is off the northeastern shore. I can show them to you, but…*" Her words trailed off. She stared downward, trembling slightly. "*I should have known about this. My home region is under attack and I didn't even know. What kind of guardian am I?*"

I blinked. "Hey, hey this isn't your fault," I said, gently touching her shoulder.

"*This is all so much… I don't know what to do,*" the dragon cried, burying her face in her claws.

I flashed a helpless expression at Mew. She flew down and embraced Latias, wrapping her arms around the dragon's neck, and I took a few steps back to give the two some space.

For some time, no one said anything. We just stood there, awkwardly avoiding each other's eye. It was a weird feeling—the first time an imminent Legendary mission had seemed so… personal.

Ajia watched the two with a solemn look on her face, then turned to the rest of us. "We don't have much time. Let's get ready."

After we got dressed, Mew teleported us over to the main Ranger HQ. It was 4 in the morning, so Ajia first had to get someone on night shift to wake her dad up, then he woke up all the other senior rangers onsite. I wasn't entirely sure, but it looked like she was having him break the news to the others so that she wouldn't have to explain to everyone why we even knew about this in the first place. Being on a first-name basis with the Johto commander was hardly something to be proud of.

My half-asleep brain was still having a hard time processing the fact that we suddenly had to travel to a region clear on the southern end of the archipelago. It was nuts. The sun wasn't even up yet, and we hadn't gotten to fully recover from yesterday, and now this? Why the hell did we have to deal with this now? A voice in the back of my head said that was exactly the reason the Rockets had chosen to execute this mission in the dead of night after mobilizing all their troops while the entire region had its eyes on a Legendary attack. It made perfect sense, but I wasn't exactly in the mood to admit that.

While struggling just to keep my eyes open, I spotted Starr making a break for the coffee pot, pouring herself a large cup and downing it almost instantly, without even adding any sugar or anything. I wandered over to her, and she must have mistaken that as me wanting to get coffee too, because she poured a second cup and held it out to me.

"I'll pass," I said, sticking out my tongue.

"I'll take it," Rudy said, suddenly appearing from behind me.

Starr raised an eyebrow, but handed it to him anyway. "Aren't you like twelve?"

"I'm fourteen," he snapped, shooting a glare at her.

Starr rolled her eyes—it was clear that she didn't really see the difference.

"You like that stuff?" I asked, gaping at him as he started chugging it.

He grimaced. "No. But I think I'm gonna need it." He did proceed to drown it in sugar, though.

Ajia broke off from the gathering of rangers and jogged over to us, moving far more quickly than anyone should at this hour. Her eyes held an obvious tiredness though, like she was forcing herself to be more energetic than she really felt.

"Okay, they're gonna contact the Sootopolis rangers, have them start evacuating the city. So that's all good there, I'm gonna see if I can snag some healing supplies for us," she said, gesturing to a nearby closet. "Something tells me this is gonna be a long fight."

Good. The last thing I needed was to be stuck with my entire team incapacitated like yesterday. I didn't exactly have a stash of revive crystals lying around, given how expensive they were. Not that it would have done much to heal the massive wounds that my team had sustained… although it probably would have helped Chibi.

Speaking of my team… I glanced over at the healing station and… yes! A ranger had just walked behind the counter. I practically flew over to it, slamming both hands on the countertop and loudly asking, "Is my team healed?" It had been ten hours or so—that was enough time, right?

The ranger blinked at me in tired confusion. (I guess it was kind of weird for a trainer to be using this facility.) "...Your name?" he asked.

"Jade Arens."

He shuffled through the Pokéball trays behind the counter before finding a tray with six balls, one of them the telltale black experiment ball.

"Looks like their wounds are closed up, for the most part. They were due for a few more hours on the machine to be back at 100%, but it's safe to let them out, at least."

No sooner had he set the tray down had I grabbed all six balls—three in each hand—and ran outside. All six of my Pokémon appeared in flashes of light, and I found myself immediately inspecting them for signs of damage. Jet, Chibi, and Stygian were okay—they'd gotten off easy. Firestorm and Aros had some raw skin where their wounds had closed up but not fully recovered yet. Swift… looked completely fine. Feathers clean, eyes alert, no sign of what had happened.

"Are you guys alright?" I asked.

Swift gave me a curious look while Firestorm stretched widely and yawned.

"*Still sore,*" the Charizard said, inspecting the wingtip that had been torn yesterday. "*At least we all made it out okay.*"

Chibi fixed me with a serious look. "*What about the mission?*" Right, it wasn't like he could ask the rangers how it went.

"It went fine, Moltres is free, everyone else made it out okay," I said quickly.

The hybrid eyed me closely. "*Something's wrong. What is it?*" Of course he'd noticed right away. I don't know why I expected anything less.

"I'm going on another mission," I said flatly.

"*Another one?*" Stygian asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Stalker showed up, turns out that the entire Moltres situation was some kind of BS distraction," I said quickly, trying not to think about it too much because it only made me feel even more frustrated about the way he'd played us for fools. "Two more Legendaries in the Hoenn region are in danger. I need to know who's not feeling up to it so I know who's okay to send out."

"*Which ones?*" Firestorm asked, frowning.

"Groudon and Kyogre."

Most of them showed no reaction to the names—stories of the two weren't very common in our region, and that must have gone for both humans and Pokémon. At least… aside from the Floatzel now staring up at me with starry eyes.

"*We're gonna rescue gods now?*" she said, mouth hanging open.

Ughh, I didn't want to encourage that line of thinking, but I didn't have the time or energy to shut it down.

"Yep, we're rescuing gods. Big important stuff. Is everyone in fighting shape?" My eyes lingered over Swift. He tilted his head quizzically, and I quickly broke eye contact.

"*Well I'm fine,*" Jet said, sticking her nose in the air. "*That Gengar's Thunderbolt wasn't that bad.*"

Stygian closed her eyes. "*I've had worse.*"

"*You got off easy,*" Aros muttered, flicking her with his tail fan.

I stared at the Flygon, unsure of how I was supposed to take that. "So were you wanting to sit out or…?"

"*Who the hell do you take me for?*" Okay, never mind, I'd just failed at reading him again, that was fine.

"*I guess we don't have a choice,*" Firestorm said, tapping his claws together. "*We can't just let those two get caught.*" He paused for a bit, flame crackling. "*But we didn't exactly stand a chance in that last fight,*" he went on, grimacing. "*This isn't just gonna be a repeat of that, is it?*"

At his words, all six of them looked back at me, waiting for my answer. The answer I wasn't sure I could give. Of course I didn't want it to be a repeat of last time, but…

I swallowed. "We won't be alone this time, we'll have the others for support," I said firmly. "And the Legendaries. They'll actually be able to help us this time."

The Charizard considered me carefully. "*Alright.*"

So that was everyone. I grabbed their Pokéballs and recalled each of them… and then found my hand frozen when Swift was the last one out.

"You're… sure you're alright?" I asked. It was hard to look at him without imagining that gaping wound across his neck. Even if it had only been for a few seconds… they were some of the most terrifying seconds in my life.

"*I'm fine,*" Swift insisted. "*You recalled me so quickly that I didn't lose much blood. And it was a clean slice—easy to mend.*"

"Okay." I took a deep breath. "I really don't know what I'd do if I lost you." Wait. That almost sounded like—"Not that I'd be fine with losing any of the others, that's not it at all!" I added quickly. "I just…"

"*I know what you mean,*" the Pidgeot said, pressing his forehead against my arm.

I exhaled slowly, wrapping my arms around his neck.

"*But… I do worry,*" he said, shuffling a talon against the dirt. "*The possibility of losing any of us is a very real one. We can't pretend otherwise.*"

I let go of him, glancing away. "I know that. I've always known that, I've just… shoved it aside. Rudy had to learn that truth the hard way, and here I've been hiding from it." God, it hadn't even been a full day yet, and here we were marching into mortal danger again. And I'd already accepted it as an inevitability. How screwed up was that?

"Do you… think maybe we shouldn't be doing this?"

Swift paused, mulling the question over. "*It's like you said. You were chosen. It's a commitment you cannot back down from.*"

I rubbed my arms, eyes sliding to the ground. "Yeah, but… the rest of you aren't bound to that or anything."

He gave a patient sigh. "*Each of us has our own reasons for being here. And we're not going to abandon you in your time of need. This is too important.*"

I knew that. I'd always known that. And yet there was still that small part of me that doubted it. That worried they were just going along with it because I was their trainer. Even if half of them were the sort to immediately call me out on that sort of thing.

"*Also, you really shouldn't have recalled me while you were on my back,*" Swift added, giving me a look like he didn't know what to do with me.

I smiled weakly. "I knew one of the others could catch me." It was still a pretty stupid move, yeah. Just waiting the few extra seconds for Swift to glide down so I could recall him on the ground wouldn't have resulted in that much more blood loss. But in the moment, it had just been the obvious thing to do.

"We're gonna have to split up. Have half of us tackle the Magma base and the other half do the Aqua base," Ajia announced once we'd all regrouped back at the cabin, where we could talk with the Legendaries without catching the eye of every ranger in the union.

"So, what, me and Jade take one base, you and the twerps take the other base?" Starr asked, with a tone that was trying too hard to be casual.

Rudy gave her an incredulous glare. "What? No way, the three of us are mission partners, you're not splitting us."

"That supposed to mean anything to me?" she said flatly, giving him an unimpressed look.

"It means," Darren cut in, before Rudy could say anything hasty, "that we trained together and our teams already know how to support each other."

"Yeah, well, if both of you come with me and Jade, then Ajia's stuck by herself, and—"

"Look, our teams are gonna be uneven no matter what since there's five of us," Ajia said carefully, giving Starr a meaningful look. "Since those three have trained together and the two of us are more experienced, why don't we just split it like that?"

Starr was silent for some time. "Fine," she said grudgingly, folding her arms and glancing away. Though she hadn't said so, it was pretty obvious that she was only coming along because she didn't want me to get myself killed. But Rudy, Darren, and I had faced the combat unit together before. Our teams were a whole lot stronger now, plus we'd have Legendaries backing us up—actually backing us up, not like that crap from yesterday. I'd be fine without her.

…Somehow, I already didn't believe that.

[Now it's just a matter of which of us should go where,] Mew said turning to face her fellow legends. [Obviously, patrons and chosen will want to stick together, but—]

"Forgive my interruption, but what of the island where Groudon and Kyogre rest?" Ho-oh asked. "It seems reasonable to assume that the most powerful enemy forces will be the ones preparing to confront the legends directly."

Ajia paused to consider it. "Actually, wouldn't it work best if you and Lugia take that one? You wouldn't be able to come with us inside the bases," she pointed out.

[My abilities will be best utilized at sea anyway,] Lugia said simply. [And separating from my chosen will allow our groups a line of communication.]

Ajia tapped a fist against her open palm. "Alright so me, Mew, and Starr will hit the Aqua base. Lugia and Ho-oh will guard Sootopolis and make sure no one comes close."

Rudy nodded sharply. "Then me, Jade, and Darren will hit the Magma base, and Moltres can be our backup."

Moltres gave Rudy a sideways glance. "Time to prove that you're not all talk, eh?"

"That's the plan," he replied shortly.

"*What about me?*" a small, high-pitched voice asked. I glanced over to see Latias hovering off by the bushes, her posture small and restrained.

"Are you… feeling up to it?" I asked cautiously.

The dragon's eyes sharpened. "*I want to help. My home is in danger. This is my responsibility.*"

Mew gave her a soft smile. [Of course. We'll be glad to—]

"Go with these three," Starr cut in, gesturing toward me, Rudy, and Darren.

I blinked. "Eh?"

She fixed me with a hard stare. "You're not gonna have your… 'patron' or whatever. And his will be stuck outside," she added, jerking a thumb toward Rudy and Moltres. "So you three could use more firepower."

Latias glanced at Mew, unsure, but the psychic cat gave her an encouraging smile. "*Alright. I'll do it.*"

[Very well. Are you ready?] Mew asked, holding out her tail.

It took me a few seconds to realize that was directed at our entire group, and that this was it—she was seriously about to teleport us to Hoenn. I barely had time to process that reality before me, Rudy, Darren, Moltres, and Latias were all crowded around the tiny psychic cat. I grabbed hold of her tail tip.

And with that, our surrounding melted into distorted light before immediately reforming into a rocky, sloping terrain. If the sudden lack of trees didn't give away how far we'd travelled, the stiflingly warm, humid air would have done it. Not to mention the volcano peak towering over the horizon. Smoke gently drifted up into the sky, blotting out the stars, and the moon had long since set.

And then I saw it. Not too far from us, built into the side of a sheer rock face, was a large, black and red building. A bright red light flashed angrily over the front entrance. From inside, I could hear the muffled sound of an alarm blaring. My stomach curled in on itself. The Rockets were already here.

Mew stared at the building, concern etched all over her face.

I took a deep breath. "Go on. The others will need you," I told her.

[But…]

"The situation with the Aquas has gotta be just as bad. Go!"

She paused for several seconds before nodding. [Good luck.] Then she vanished.