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Chapter Text

"...and that's probably why Darkrai acted so funny," a Vulpix finished as she and a Pikachu climbed down a ladder, reaching a hidden floor in the side of a cliff.

"It certainly makes sense," the Pikachu admitted. "What other Pokemon survive an attack like that unscathed?"

"Exactly my point," the Vulpix confirmed.

"Squawk! Maria, Pika!" The two Pokemon turned their heads as a bird with a musical note for a head approached. "I suppose your trek out to Mystifying Forest went well?"

"It was a success, Chatot," Pika confirmed. "We managed to find Darkrai and recruit him!"

Maria nodded in agreement. "He had lost a pretty good chunk of his memory - enough to forget any evil plans he might have had. So, we decided to give Dusk a second chance."

"My, my, my, now that is interesting." The top of Chatot's head drifted back and forth out of delight. "Any particular reason why you decided to visit the Guild?"

"Nah. We just wanted to see everyone and let them know how we're doing." Maria looked over to where a Croagunk sat in front of a kettle. "We have a few items we want to swap, too."

Chatot chirped. "All right, then. Are you any closer to Guildmaster Rank?"

"We're getting close," Pika responded. "The Badge has gone from pure black to gray, so it shouldn't take long."

Maria grinned. "We're going to see if Officer Magnezone found a few more outlaws tomorrow. That'll probably give us the boost we need."

Chatot looked nervous. "I'm afraid you might not find any sort of challenge..."

The grin on the Vulpix's face faded. "And why not?"

"After the spacial distortion problem was solved, bad Pokemon have become less frequent." Chatot scratched his head with one wing. "There isn't really much left but petty thieves, now."

Maria let out a sigh. "Ah, well. At least things are starting to calm down." She sat down and started to scratch behind her left ear. "Y'know, though, I've been thinking. Isn't it odd that there aren't any humans around here?" She looked at the two Pokemon. "I mean, we know what humans look like, but we haven't seen any in any of the dungeons. Where do they live?"

"We're not sure," Chatot admitted. "No Exploration team has ever been outside of this region - mainly because it's too far for any Pokemon to travel. However, we have heard some rumors that some teams become separated by leaving this area."

Maria frowned. "Separated? What do you mean?"

"Something about humans 'capturing' team members or something..."

Pika's eyes widened in surprise. "Capture? They take Pokemon?"

Chatot nodded. "No one has tried to even go after the Pokemon we have lost."

"Maybe someone should." Maria stood up, a determined look on her face. "I'm strong; those humans couldn't stand a chance against me."

"I wouldn't be so sure..." The group turned to look as Wigglytuff approached. "Humans are a strange bunch - they're not Pokemon, they rely on items to defend themselves, and bad humans cause natural disasters."

"That is strange," Pika agreed.

"I wonder what would cause a human to go bad..." Maria put a paw to her chin and frowned, only for her ears to twitch suddenly towards the window. "Something's happening outside!" She dashed for the window, the other Pokemon following behind.

A dimensional hole, very much like the one Darkrai had disappeared into, was right outside the window.

"Do you think someone else is trying to come through time again?" Pika asked, concerned.

Maria frowned, then shook her head. "This doesn't feel quite like that." She caught sight of something coming through the rip. "Everyone, get down!"

Wigglytuff and the others ducked below the window as something very big came crashing through, breaking the window as the hole vanished.

"What was that?" Chatot asked, turning around in order to get a better look at what had come through.

Wigglytuff, following suit, stopped short in surprise, his already large eyes becoming even larger. "Oh, my..."

Maria got up from where she and Pika had been lying close to the window sill. "What is it?" The Vulpix looked at what was in the center of the room, only for her eyes to widen. "Is that a-"

"Yes it is," Wigglytuff confirmed. "That is a human."

Pika looked at the Guildmaster in surprise. "But how did a human get here?"

Maria cocked her head slightly. "Maybe I can figure it out." She trotted forward, then reached out for the red scarf the human wore around its neck. "Dimensional Scream, don't fail me now!"

As soon as the Vulpix touched the scarf, her vision blurred, and was soon replaced with a white room with other humans - one of whom was old and had white hair growing all over his face.

"Now, are you sure that you want to test this?" the old human asked, motioning to a device. Maria noted that it was a male.

A human with blond hair, goggles, and a red scarf nodded. "No one's ever been to the other side of the world yet. This could be our one chance at finding out where missing humans went." Maria realized this human was the one who she was touching, and that it sounded like a girl. "And if I'm not going to go, then who will?"

The old man nodded. "You have a good point. All right - I'll fire it up." He moved over and started to push buttons and pull levers on a wall of metal, causing a dimensional hole to open up. "Good luck."

Maria shook her head as her vision started to clear up, and she backed away from the human. "A human did something that created the hole," she muttered. "How, I have no clue. There was something about missing humans, too..."

The human let out a moan and started to stir, causing the Vulpix to jump back in surprise. The Pokemon present in the room watched as the human got up slowly, rubbing her head.

"Man, what a headache," the human grumbled. She looked around the room, curious. "This doesn't look like a place that humans have been in... Wait. A Wigglytuff, Chatot, Coragunk, Pikachu, and Vulpix? That's an odd combination."

"What do you mean, odd?" Maria repeated. "There's Pokemon of all sorts of species around here."

"That's not what I-" the human stopped short in surprise, then looked down at Maria. "Did you just talk?"

Maria cocked her head in confusion. "Well, sure I did. All Pokemon can."

"Maria, not everything is the same out there as it is over here," Chatot warned. "Out there, you would need the Guildmaster Rank in order to communicate with humans."

The human blinked in confusion, her blue eyes darkening. "Guildmaster Rank? What are you talking about?"

"It's an Exploration Team Rank," Maria replied calmly. "Here, Pokemon form teams, and we go around and try to help other Pokemon solve their problems. I'm partnered up with Pika, and our team's name is PokeExplore." Pika waved nervously at the human.

"Help other Pokemon?" The human smiled. "That sounds a lot like what I do! As a Pokemon Ranger, I help humans and Pokemon solve problems - like taking out forest fires or Pokemon poachers." After realizing something, the human added, "The name's Summer. I was sent here to see if we could figure out where a few humans disappeared to."

"What do you mean?" Chatot hopped forward cautiously.

"Well, for some reason, there have been a few kids who have disappeared from their homes without a trace. No one's figured it of quite yet, but Professor Hastings suspected that people were going to the other side of the world."

"You mean here." Wigglytuff waddled over to Summer's left. "I've heard rumors about that. I'm not sure if anyone could be of any help, though..."

"Maybe I could." The group turned to look at Maria as she continued, "With my ability, I could figure out where some Pokemon come from, and I could find those missing humans you're looking for."

Summer frowned. "What kind of ability do you have?"

"It's called the Dimensional Scream," Pika supplied. "Whenever Maria touches something, she sees a vision of the past or the future in order to help us solve problems. She was using it on your scarf a minute ago."

Maria nodded in confirmation to Summer's surprise. "I saw that old human - what was it? Professor Hastings? - creating the dimensional hole that brought you here."

Summer's eyes widened. "That's incredible," she murmured. "Whenever did you get a gift like that?"

Maria shrugged. "I don't know. I lost my memory a long time ago, so even my origins are lost to me."

"We've found out a few things, though," Pika added.

"Like what?" Summer sat down on the floor to put herself at a eye level with the Pokemon.

"I'm from the future, for one thing," Maria admitted. "I was sent back in time with a Grovyle to keep the planet from becoming paralyzed by time stopping. When I faded from the timeline, Dialga brought me back so that Pika and I could keep the team together. I also used to be human, apparently."

Summer's eyes widened. "A human turning into a Pokemon? That's unheard of!"

"Not around here." Maria wrapped her tails around her front paws. "You're probably going to have a hard time of finding the humans you're looking for - some may be suffering from amnesia, like me, or even moved on from their old lives and become used to a new one."

The Ranger frowned. "Well, isn't that just great! You guys are probably pretty widespread, too."

"There are Exploration Guilds all over our side of the world!" Wigglytuff grinned. "Any one of them could have picked up a human or two."

"But how are we going to get this one home?" Croagunk came over from his Swap Cauldron. "Meh-heh-heh. She might end up turning into a Pokemon sooner or later. And from the looks of things, those humans aren't going to want to lose her."

Summer nodded. "You're right about that..." She frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't want to have to stay here for good."

"Maybe we can arrange something for you," Pika suggested. "Maria and I have made a few friends over our time of traveling. We can contact someone to send you home."

"Really? You'd do that?"

"Why not?" Maria nodded to Pika. "Let's get Palkia down here."

Time Break

"Come on, Summer! Just a little bit further!"

Summer let out a grunt. "Easy for you to say! You're not the one who's too big for the hole." All the same she managed to squeeze out, only to find herself standing beside Maria and Pika on top of a hill overlooking a small village. "Wow. And all this is run by Pokemon?"

"That's right," Maria confirmed. "Treasure Town is a place where Exploration Teams can buy, sell, and store items, as well as train, have the day care look after Eggs, and learn new or old attacks." She motioned with a paw at the cliff line in the distance. "Our base is in Sharpedo Bluff, which is a part of the cliff which is shaped like a Sharpedo. The sea breeze is the best way to be woken up in the morning."

"A lot better than Loudred's yelling," Pika agreed. The two Pokemon laughed.

"So, when's your friend getting here?" Summer asked.

"He should be here right about...now."

A white sphere of energy zoomed out of the sky and stopped right in front of the group. When the brightness had faded, a pink dragon with a gem on one arm stood in its place.

"Maria, Pika," the Pokemon greeted. "What do you need me for?"

"It's this human - Summer," Maria answered, while the Ranger looked up at the Legendary in surprise. "She needs to be sent back home."

"Ah...a Pokemon Ranger. It has been a long time since I have seen your kind of human." Palkia looked the Ranger over curiously.

"So, you can send me home?" Summer asked cautiously.

"I can. I cannot guarantee that the way will be more smooth than the way you came, but I can send you home." The Water/Dragon-Type let out a roar, and a dimensional hole appeared in front of the human.

Summer approached the rip, then turned to look back at Maria. "I hope you can find a way to become human again."

Maria shrugged. "What's done is done. I can't change what I am."

Palkia cocked his head slightly. "Maria, come to Spacial Rift tonight. There is something I must tell you."

The Pokemon blinked in confusion, then nodded slightly. "All right, then."

"Summer, you must leave this side of the world. If you stay much longer, you will become a Pokemon."

Summer swallowed. "All right." Nodding to Maria, she said, "I hope we can see each other again soon." With that, she disappeared into the rip, which closed behind her.

"Palkia, what do you want to talk to Maria about?" Pika asked.

Palkia eyed the Electric-Type. "I did not mention this before, but it is possible for me to turn Maria back into a human."

"WHAT?!" The two Pokemon looked at the Legendary in surprise.

"However, the change will force her to live on the human side of the world. If she were to accept this, she would still retain her memories and knowledge from when she was a Pokemon. Dialga and I discussed this some time ago, and we agree that it might do Maria some good id she were to become human again."

"You mean, I might remember some things?" Maria gave the Legendary a curious look.

"It is possible."

The Vulpix's eyes became wide. "Oh, man! Become human and recover my memories?! That would be so cool!"

Pika, however, looked concerned. "But...what'll happen to the team? I mean, if you became a human, you wouldn't be able to stick around and help with missions."

Maria's ears drooped. "Yeah...you're right..." She looked over at Palkia. "Is there anything you can offer that can remedy that?"

"Only a suggestion: have Pika find a temporary - if not, permanent - replacement. If traveling as a human is what you wish, so be it. If you wish to remain a Vulpix, so be it. Come to me in Spacial Rift when you have made your decision." With that, the Legendary Pokemon disappeared in a flash of light.

Pika gave Maria a worried look. "What are we going to do?"

The Vulpix frowned, thinking over what Palkia had said. "I think...it's time that we promoted your girlfriend."

Chapter Text

Maria looked around as she stepped through the gate, a two-legged blue crocodile - a Totodile - walking beside her, looking a little bored with the sight.

"Do we really have to have a look around here?" the Water-Type asked in a disgruntled fashion.

"Mom said that it would be good for us to have a look around," Maria responded. She adjusted the red baseball cap on her head, then absently rubbed that blue buzz saw-shape on the front of it. "Something about the symbol on my hat being connected to the ruins." She looked down at the Totodile. "You might not find it interesting, Jaws, but I do. C'mon - maybe we can slip into one of the buildings and have a look around."

"Do you think they'd let you?"

Maria smirked, her blue eyes sparking with mischief. "I can always pull the 'I'm the Kanto Champion,' you know. It might let me have a look around in at least one of the buildings." She turned her head as a figure approached: a gray-haired man in what appeared to be a safari outfit, which, in the Trainer's opinion, was highly out of place in the ruins.

"Greetings!" the man stated. "I'm the head of the research department here at the Ruins of Alph. It's been quite some time since a Trainer had set foot in this area."

"Really?" Maria raised an eyebrow at this. "My mom told me that this place was crawling with Trainers looking for the mysterious letter Pokemon that were said to haunt the place."

"Those Pokemon have long since disappeared for other places, I'm afraid," the man replied. "I've been hearing rumors that there are other ruins that they call home in other regions, but I haven't been allowed to go in search of these other places."

Maria let out a sigh and shook her head. "Oh, well." She gave the man a curious look. "Are Trainers still allowed to look inside the ruins?"

"Of course! Just don't destroy anything - these ruins are not as sturdy as the once were." He motioned to one of the buildings. "I'd suggest starting there - there's a puzzle that we've been unable to solve. Perhaps you'd know how to solve it?"

"A challenge? I'm up for that." Maria motioned for Jaws to follow her to the building the archeologist had pointed out, which was the closest one of the four to the entrance. "Maybe fresh eyes will be able to pick something out that you didn't see." The Trainer took off, the Water-Type following behind.

"That's what I'm hoping for!" the man called after her.

Maria jogged into the building, then slowed to a stop as she looked around at the inside of the stone construct. "Wow. The ancients sure were busy with their carving habits."

Jaws sniffed the air. "I smell Pokemon nearby," he muttered. "Be careful, Maria."

"I'm not worried." Maria walked over to one of the walls and started going over the carvings. "It's a good thing that they modeled their words after the Unknown...or is it the other way around?"

"Don't think so much. In my opinion, the mysteries of the universe are meant to remain mysteries."

"I think those mysteries are meant to be solved." Maria reached out, absently tracing a letter "b" in thought as she frowned. "This is weird..."

Jaws frowned as he looked up at his Trainer. "What?"

"These carvings...they're talking about creatures that look like Pokemon and act like humans." Maria's brow furrowed. "I haven't run into anything like this before in the history books Mom let me borrow. Let's see... 'The Legendary PokeMorphs were creatures that controlled great power, capable of flight when others of their species weren't allowed it, teleportation, and speed that was far greater than anything at that time, or anything that lives today.' PokeMorph, huh?" Maria turned her gaze to a podium-like object that stood in the center of the room. "I wonder..."

The Trainer strode over to the object, stopping directly in front of it. As Jaws toddled over, Maria got down onto her knees in order to inspect the design on the front of the stone podium.

" 'Blue Blur,' huh?" Maria looked over the strange design. "It looks like some sort of sliding puzzle..."

"Do you really think we'd be all right, messing with it?" Jaws asked, looking around at the stone wall.

"The director said it was all right; I don't see how you should be so nervous." Maria reached out with her left hand and started to mess around with the panels, moving them around one way or another in order to figure out what the puzzle was supposed to turn out as. "Well, that looks like a hand... Why would a creature have feet like that? Are those shoes and gloves?" A frown slowly made its way onto her face as the pieces were continued to be slid around.

"Why would a creature have need of anything like those?" Jaws jumped up on his Trainer's back in order to get a better look at what Maria was doing. "I mean, you don't see me wearing human articles of clothing."

"It's a given that Pokemon don't have clothes," Maria responded, glancing over at the Water-Type on her shoulder. "And the ones that appear to we're actually born with them." Her gaze returned to the puzzle, which appeared to be almost complete. "But this creature - it clearly looks like the gloves and shoes are artificially made..."

There was a resounding click as the last piece of the puzzle was moved into place, revealing a creature that distinctly looked like a Sandslash - if someone only concentrated on the spines. The rest of the form was completely unfamiliar - a strange, black nose, the pointed shoes with a single stripe that ended in a buckle of some sort - right down to the confident smirk and delighted look in the carved eyes.

"Whoever had put this up did a pretty decent job for a carving," Maria noted, her eyes scanning the puzzle.

Then the floor below her suddenly gave way, and the Trainer fell into the darkness.

Time Break

Maria let out a groan as she got up from the ground, Jaws jumping away from her face as she sat up, looking around to get a better feel for where they were.

"Where are we?" the Trainer asked, looking around. "So many Unknown carvings..."

"We're still in the Ruins of Alph...I think." Jaws pointed upward. "We fell from up there."

Maria looked upward, catching sight of a perfect square of light above them. "Sure enough. There must have been a trap door that was activated after solving the puzzle." She got up from the stone floor and looked around again, Jaws choosing to stay close. "May as well have a look around down here before we try to find a way back up using the Escape Rope." The girl reached into her backpack and pulled out a flashlight, flicking the on switch.

The beam came on in a flash of artificial light, going over the wall in front of them, revealing the carving that looked so much like the Unknown Pokemon that seemed to have once wandered around the ruins.

Jaws let out a noise that was akin to a human whistling. "That's a lot of carvings."

Maria nodded in agreement. "Yeah. It'll probably take weeks to get all of this - months, maybe." She stepped forward and started to read the carvings more carefully. "This is a weird section. 'The servers ... the seven Ch... Ch... is power, ... the heart. The controller exists to unify the Ch...'." Maria frowned. "There's something missing here. From what's here, though, it looks like it could be some sort of chant."

"There you are!"

Maria turned her head, catching sight of the archeologist they had seen at the entrance to the Ruins of Alph. He, too, was armed with a flashlight, and was jogging from a square of light that actually had stairs coming down from it. "I was starting to wonder when you didn't come out. When I saw the hole in the floor, I thought that you might have ended up down here by accident." He stopped beside her, panting a little. "I saw that you managed to solve it."

Maria nodded. "Yeah, I did. What kind of confused me, though, is that the creature that was shown doesn't look like any sort of Pokemon that anyone's come across. The Unknown script called it 'Blue Blur.' Would you happen to know anything about it?"

The archeologist thought a moment before nodding. "We managed to translate most of the writings down here - at least, what script was readable. A lot of it talks about myths of some sort - but the carvings claim them to be true." The old man shook his head. "I'm not exactly sure what to make of it, honestly."

"Hmmmm..." Maria frowned slightly, a hand moving to her chin as she thought. "I don't really know what to make of it, either, but it seems to be the only explanation for how a carving like the puzzle I solved could even exist. But...what sort of name is 'Blue Blur'?"

"There is evidence up there that the creature was referred to by another name, but unfortunately, it's name is presently unreadable," the archeologist responded. "Perhaps, in time, if we manage to update our technology, we may be able to figure out what the creature's name was. After all, if a creature is referred to as a 'blue blur' and is renown for his speed among the ancients, there might be something in its name that hints at that, as with the others."

Maria looked over at the archeologist in surprise. "Others? You mean there wasn't just this creature?"

"Oh no, certainly not." The archeologist motioned for the Trainer to follow him out of the ruins. "It might be better is you had a look at what we've managed to translate."

Time Break

Maria scrolled through the translated text on the laptop screen, her eyes scanning it as she went. "This is some pretty interesting stuff. A man who created robots - some capable of sentient thought? Creatures like Pokemon, but that have the intelligence of humans?" She looked over at the archeologist. "I'd really like to have a more detailed look at this."

"That can be easily arranged." The old man turned and dug through a large box of mechanical parts and devices, eventually coming up with a flat blue, rectangular device. "Just let me find the...cord...aha!" He pulled out an equally blue cord, which he promptly plugged into the USB port on the laptop. A progress bar popped up on the computer's screen. "I had a few of these made so that those working on this could read on the go, rather than trying to read over each other's shoulders."

"I can imagine the difficulty in that," Maria noted. "And I'm sure that each one of them reads at different rates and finds different things important, as well."

The archeologist chuckled. "Indeed." There was a chime from the computer, and he unplugged the blue device from it, handing both the device and the cord to Maria. "Here - I'm going to look for the plug that allows this to charge."

"Thanks..." Maria watched as the old man practically dove for the box again.

Jaws climbed up onto his Trainer's shoulder, inspecting the strange device curiously. "So, how are you going to use that, anyway?"

"It's a touch screen device," Maria explained to the Pokemon. She touched the screen of the pad with her right finger and moved it, causing the text to move with it. "See? I can control it simply by touching it."

"Huh. I guess it's a more compact way of carrying around those books you're so interested in?"

Maria smiled sheepishly and ducked her head a little. "Yeah. But even these devices can have their limits - the data storage probably doesn't allow for much to be out in."

"Indeed." The archeologist handed Maria a blue plug that clearly went with the cord. "These specific devices were designed only for what we found here, in the Ruins of Alph." He frowned slightly. "You...you can understand your Pokemon?"

Maria nodded. "Yeah. It's a gift that I've had for a while." Mentally, she added, Since I was turned into one...

"Well, you are one of the lucky few," the archeologist responded with a chuckle. "If you come up with anything, make sure to come back here as quickly as you can - or give me a call, if you're detained." He dug through a pocket for a moment before pulling out a slightly rumpled business card with a PokeGear number on it.

"Thanks!" Maria took the card, then stated, "And if you want to try to contact me about a progress report, here's mine!" The Trainer quickly relayed the number to the archeologist, who's quickly wrote it down in the laptop so that he could put the number in his PokeGear later. The old man then frowned as though a thought had occurred to him.

"You know, I never got your name," the archeologist stated, turning to look at Maria.

"It's Maria," Maria responded. "Maria White."

The archeologist's eyes widened. "The Kanto Champion?"

"Until I was beaten by Blue and Red," the girl responded with a delighted smirk. "I still hold the title, though, whether I'm at Indigo Plateau or not."

"Incredible. A member of the new generation who is as into our history as I am." A smile came over the old man's face as he recalled something - most likely from his own past. "I wish that others could show this kind of curiosity, Maria."

"I may find someone - you never know." Maria shrugged, then got out of the chair she had been sitting in when she had been going over the text on the laptop, Jaws readjusting to the sudden movement. "I'll make sure to keep this close and go over it whenever I can."

"Don't let me stop you from getting stronger," the archeologist replied, chuckling. "You have a lot of potential for that - I can tell."

"So a lot of people have already told me." A smile crept onto the Trainer's face. "Again, thanks for letting me have a look at this. It's a lot more valuable than finding one of those elusive Unknown at this point."

"It was no problem." The archeologist made a waving motion. "No, go on! I'm certain that your next destination is not a place to be kept waiting!"

Maria's eyes widened, and she nodded. "You're right! Faulkner said that Bugsy's Gym wasn't going to be open for long this week! I gotta go before he goes off on vacation!" With that, she turned and dashed out of the building, making a beeline for the exit from the ruins.

"Kids these days," the archeologist muttered to himself, shaking his head and smiling to himself. "Always on the run."

Chapter Text

"O.K., so Route 4 should be just up...ahead."

A green, lizard-like creature with a leaf on the end of its tail looked up at its Trainer. "Is something wrong, Maria?"

The blue eyed, brown-haired Trainer looked at the Servine. "Nothing's wrong, Emerald. It's just that I didn't expect Route 4 to have these ruins sticking up everywhere." She motioned to the crumbling buildings that lined the road in the distance.

"The humans were planning on making a road through the desert."

The Servine and Maria turned to look in the direction of a patch of dark sand, where a brown-and-black striped crocodile sat.

"When they found those ruins, they stopped production because they didn't want to destroy some of their history," the crocodile Pokemon added.

"Huh." Maria's eyes widened in surprise. "I didn't expect that. Maybe I should have played through that other game..." Seeing the look of confusion she was getting, the teen added quickly, "It's nothing."

The Sandile moved from the sand and approached Maria, curious. "You're not that kid who took out all those other teams, are you? The kid called White?"

Maria gave the Sandile a look of surprise. "Yes, that's me. How did you know?"

"Pokemon who were released by Plasma before they were dispersed claimed that a ten year old girl with more experience with Pokemon than a champion managed to somehow make friends with aliens and destroy four different organizations. There are a couple Minccino around here who swear on their clean dens about it."

Maria smirked. "They don't have to. Yes, I'm that kid - only a few years older and with more backstory than most people know about."

"Most people?" The Sandile looked confused. "Who does know?"

"Hey, Maria!"

The Trainer's head turned, only to get sprayed in the face with sand as a figure came to a screeching halt. Spitting to what she could, Maria exclaimed, "Sonic, try to be a bit more careful! There's enough sand in this sandstorm already!"

"Sorry." The hedgehog became embarrassed. "But I'm kind of surprised to run into you here in a place like this!"

"Well, it is the only way to get from Castellia to Nimbasa." Maria looked the hedgehog over. "So, where's Paul?"

"In his Ball," the hedgehog replied. "He said that the storm was affecting his eyesight, so he's going to stay in there until I get out of this mess. My other friend, though, seems to like it."

"Other friend?" Emerald repeated.

"Yeah. Hey, Dash - get out of there and say hi to my friend Maria!"

The head of a dusty blue shrew poked out of Sonic's quills. "Hi."

Maria's eyes widened in surprise. "Wow. I haven't seen a Sandshrew that color before. Normally, the Shiny ones are green."

"Really?" Sonic looked up at his Pokemon. "That explains the people that were going after him."

"Going after him? What did they look like?"

"They were wearing black all over," Sonic replied. "And they all had identical hair and eyes, too, which made me think they were probably identical siblings."

Maria's eyes narrowed. "Orange hair and blue eyes?"

Sonic nodded, careful to make sure that Dash didn't fall off. "Do you know about them?"

"I've run into a couple of them already," Maria replied. "They're remnants of Team Plasma, from the same organization Black took out two years ago. I have an idea as to why they might still be around..."

Sonic's emerald eyes sparked. "It has something to do with how you know about Team Galactic's stuff, doesn't it?"

"Yeah. Those things are different this time around - I played an alternate version of the events being done here, and with you and the others on this world, things are going to be less predictable."

"That's to be expected."

"Excuse me! You there!"

Maria's head turned as a figure approached. He was wearing a lab coat, was carrying a tablet of some sort, and had blond hair with a sprig of sky blue that wrapped around his head...

"Who are you?" Maria asked, a curious frown forming on her face. "I remember seeing you in the sewers back in Castelia."

"My name is Colress," the figure replied, his golden eyes flashing. "I'm studying the hidden power that a Pokemon can have when it is bonded with a Trainer. I couldn't help but notice that you seem to be capable of holding up a conversation with Pokemon."

"It's a gift I've had for a few years," Maria stated. "Sonic can understand them, as well, but that's only because an alien race stuck a translator in his ear."

Colress looked at the hedgehog. "You mean this isn't a Pokemon?"

"No." Sonic folded his arms across his chest. "I'm a Mobian."

"Mobian?" Colress' eyes widened. "Ah! You mean the creatures that appeared in Sinnoh? You are one of them?"

"That's right. My girlfriend went on ahead to Nimbasa with a friend of mine to check out the Musicals. I wanted to train up my team, and I ended up running into Dash not too long ago."

"Interesting..." Colress looked at Maria. "Do you two mind if I ask you a few questions?"

"Uh...sure." Maria exchanged a quick glance with Emerald, then looked back at Colress, who was now armed with a stylus, which was hovering over his tablet.

"So, how often do you use your Starter?" Colress asked, looking at Maria.

"I've taken to letting Emerald battle when I need to train her up to the rest of the team's levels, or if she has a Type Advantage against a Pokemon I'm fighting," Maria explained. She smiled down at Emerald, who grinned back. "Right now, I'm going to need her help if I'm going to run into any Ground-Types, but I'll be needing one if I'm going to fight Elesa in a Gym Battle."

Colress nodded. "And you, Sonic?"

"Paul's taken a liking to taking over when one of my other Team members is getting weakened pretty quickly," Sonic replied. "And he's fast enough to avoid electric attacks. I'm giving him a break right now, though - he doesn't like the sand very much."

"Interesting. And when you want to make friends with a new Pokemon?"

"Ask if they want to come along with us!" Maria and Sonic responded together. They looked at each other in surprise, then burst out laughing.

Colress was surprised upon hearing this, but smiled and started to write vigorously on his tablet. "One last question." He held up a PokeBall. "I want to test your strengths on the battlefield."

Maria grinned, grabbing a PokeBall from off her belt. "You're so on!"

"Go, Magnemite!"

"Go, Carlos!"

The magnet-oriented Pokemon appeared in a flash of white light, looking around at its surroundings for a moment before looking at its opponent: a jackal-like Pokemon with spikes coming out of the back of its paws and the center of its chest.

The Lucario let out a growl, as though to attempt to intimidate his opponent, but he didn't move from the offensive stance he had taken upon coming out of his PokeBall.

"Let's go for a Force Palm!" Maria ordered, moving her right hand to one side as the sandstorm started to pick up a little.

"ThunderSh-" Colress cut himself off in surprise as his Electric/Steel-Type fainted in an instant, Carlos standing in front of the fainted Pokemon with a paw out. "Incredible. I have never seen such an amount of strength from a Lucario before."

"Carlos prides himself on his attack power, and he's always looking for a greater challenge," Maria explained calmly as Carlos jumped back to her side. "I ran into him pretty early on, and I think the only reason he agreed to follow me at first was that I could help him become stronger. I managed to create a deep Trainer/Pokemon bond a few days ago."

Carlos snorted and crossed his arms over his chest. Colress saw this movement and gave the Fighting/Steel-Type a curious look.

"It doesn't seem like he's too pleased with you," the scientist noted.

"I've run into Pokemon with attitudes before," Maria waved off. "Carlos is just reluctant to admit that he sees me as a friend, that's all. He'll fully adjust to it eventually."

The Lucario let out another snort and turned to face a different direction, muttering something under his breath. His Trainer let out a sigh in response.

"You know, I have been hoping to get a Lucario for some time now, but I haven't been able to find the time to hunt one down for my studies," Colress noted.

"Try to make some time, then," Maria offered. "There's a ranch in the southwest that has a small colony of Riolu - I'm sure one of them would be more than willing to travel with you." At the back of her mind, something was nagging her, telling the Trainer that it might actually be a bad idea to suggest something like that to this man. She wondered if he might have appeared in one of the articles she'd read concerning the sequel games for the original Black/White duo.

"Tell you what, I picked up a Trapinch some time ago," Colress stated, pulling a PokeBall from one of his lab coat's pockets. "I'm more fond of Pokemon that are part Steel, and your Lucario fits the bill. How about it?"

Maria frowned, then looked over at Carlos, who was eyeing the scientist with a curious - and interested - expression. "Are you willing to go through with it? We might not run into each other again, you know."

"And I might never get an opportunity like this again," the Pokemon replied. Turning to look at Maria directly, he stated, "As much as I got stronger hanging around you, I'm still not comfortable with your idea of training. This guy might provide a little more of a better training style for me."

"Well?" Colress asked, looking between the Lucario and the Trainer.

Maria let out a sigh. "We'll do it."

The PokeBalls were quickly exchanged, and Colress gave his farewells to Maria and Sonic, then walked off with Carlos.

"I don't like that guy," Dash murmured softly.

"Me, neither," Emerald agreed. "He smelled funny."

Sonic nodded slightly. "Yeah. I'm getting the feeling that we're going to run into that guy again."

"He is certainly a character," Maria agreed. "But why would a scientist be walking around in places like sewers and deserts when he's researching bonds with Pokemon? He'd have a better chance talking to Trainers if he cycled though standing outside of the Gyms." She looked down at the PokeBall she now held that contained the Pokemon she had exchanged with Colress. "Speaking of which, I think I just might have the ticket I need to beat Elesa in Nimbasa - if she's still the Gym Leader there."

"Why? What's her favorite Type?" Sonic asked, a curious expression coming over his face.

"Electric." Maria grinned. "And, seeing as Trapinch is part Ground, he's not going to be affected at all by her attacks - at this point, he probably knows at least one Ground-Type attack, too." She looked out over the sand. "Just to be sure, though, I'm going to want to catch another Ground-Type to help him out." She promptly struck out into the sands, Emerald following behind.

"There's a group of Sandshrew in the Desert Resort!" Sonic called after her. "Maybe you should go talk to them!"

"I will!" Maria called back. "Are you planning on challenging any Gyms? Because Paul would rock the one in Castelia!"

"I was actually heading there to poke around before heading back to Nimbasa! Thanks for the tip!"

With that, the two friends parted ways.

Chapter Text

Maria strode into the cave, Emerald slithering along nervously beside her.

"It's so cold," the Serperior hissed softly.

"I know," Maria responded. "Kyurem is just up ahead. He's generating all this cold...and I'm going to fight him."

Emerald looked at her Trainer in surprise. "You? Fight a Legendary? But what about the rest of us? Zan-zan could certainly-"

"He's part Ground, and that's going to give Kyurem the edge it needs - the Pokemon probably knows Glaciate by now." Maria stopped at the back of the cave, where another entrance had been carved into the rock, leading even deeper into the side of the chasm. "I'm not going to put you guys in jeopardy just because one Legendary needs to be stopped. I can handle this."

Emerald gave her Trainer a funny look. "And how are you going to manage that?"

"I have my ways." Maria peered into the cavern, catching sight of the icy dragon and its master. "I'm going to let everyone out, but I'm counting on you and Luke to make sure that they stay back and don't try to fight this for me." Once Emerald had nodded, Maria reached for her PokeBalls and called out her Pokemon: Luke (Lucario), Amp (Ampheros), Zan-zan (Flygon), Stoutland, and Mary (Azumaril).

Most of the Pokemon looked at the Trainer in confusion, but Luke had a look in his eye and meant he understood the situation.

"You're going to fight him yourself, aren't you?" the Lucario inquired.

Maria nodded as the other Pokemon looked on in shock.

"Why?" Mary asked. "Maria, you could get yourself killed!"

"I'm not that kind of human," Maria responded. "You remember how I told you guys about what I did before I became a Trainer?" There were a few nods from the Pokemon. "Well, not all of it was left in my Vulpix form." A fireball suddenly materialized in one hand, causing the Pokemon to jump back in alarm. "Trust me, guys - I can handle the ice dragon. We'll be fighting Ghestis together as soon as I'm done, so watch out." With that, Maria turned and strode into the cave, her team not too far behind.

"Well, well, if it isn't the little brat from Asperita," Ghestis noted as Maria approached.

"And if it isn't the hot head from Plasma." Maria stopped not too far away from Kyurem and looked the dragon over. "You didn't hunt down this dragon the first time. Why hold it off until now?"

"Those two brats with the other dragons have made it hard for me to work in secret," Ghestis hissed in response. "Now that they're in an entirely different region, I can fulfill my plans, and you can be removed from my sight! Kyurem, Glaciate!"

The ice dragon let out a roar in response, and the temperature seemed to drop by twenty degrees as ice crystals started to hover above Maria's head. Emerald was about to lunge forward to take the blow, but Luke held her back, shaking his head.

Maria smirked. "That is nothing." Slowly, the temperature around her started to rise, and a white aura seemed to come into existence around her. "Here we go! White Flare!"

There was an explosion of heat and fire as Maria unleashed everything she had, completely melting Glaciate and doing major damage to the ice dragon, as well. This left her, however, kneeling on the ground with very little energy.

Ghestis stared at Maria in shock. "What are you? Reshiram in human form?!"

Maria let out a harsh laugh. "Me? A Legendary? You have got to be kidding! I'm only a Vulpix, you green-haired ninny, but I have friends who are Legendaries." A shadow appeared overhead, and she looked up, the Trainer's eyes sparking with delight. "There's Reshiram!"

The white dragon let out a roar in response to Maria's call as it landed beside the Trainer. A familiar, green-haired teenager leapt off the dragon's back. His eyes were wide with surprise.

"You're Maria?" the teen asked. "The Trainer Black told me about?"

Maria smiled weakly up at the boy. "Yeah, that's me. You're N, right?"

N nodded. "What was that just now? How could you a human do something like that?"

"I was turned into a Vulpix six years back," Maria explained with a half-truth. "Some of it stuck with me, even after Palkia changed me back." She started to get up, but Reshiram stopped her.

"You are weak from that attack," the Legendary murmured. "Allow me to replenish what you lost." Within seconds, Maria felt her strength returning by what she suspected was a Heal Pulse.

"Careful," the Trainer warned. "Kyurem wasn't taken out by White Flare. And Ghestis hasn't even sent out his team yet."

"I won't have to," the Plasma member retorted. He threw something at Kyurem, yelling, "Now! The DNA Splicers!"

Maria let out a growl as N looked on in shock. "I really should have tried harder to go after the Shadow Triad..."

"Reshiram, move quickly!" N called out. "Those DNA Splicers-"

"I know." The white dragon took off, watching Kyurem as the ice dragon got ready to attack. "Just try to come and get me!"

Maria blinked in surprise at the outburst as she got up from the ground. "Is Reshiram normally like that?"

"Only if he knows something..." N watched his Pokemon as it spiraled out of the way of the energy beams Kyurem was sending out. "How was it that you became a Pokemon?"

"Long story short, I came from the future with a Grovyle to keep time from stopping. On our way through a Passage of Time, Darkrai attacked us in order to try and stop us. I took the hit, and next thing I knew, I was a Vulpix without any memory of my past. I got it all back when I took out Team Galactic with a few friends of mine." Maria's fists clenched as Reshiram was cornered and taken by the energy beams. "O.K. Things are only going to get tougher from here."

N looked from Kyurem - which was now glowing brightly - to Maria. "What do you mean?"

"Where I come from, we can watch these events as though they were games. I know what's going to happen here from word of mouth through friends, and I know exactly how to stop it." Maria stepped forward as the light faded, revealing a conglomeration of Kyurem and Reshiram. "When I beat it, the two Legendaries will separate. Don't worry about your friend; he will be fine."

N gave Maria a look of confusion, then stepped back and went over to Maria's Pokemon to ask them a few questions about their Trainer.

Maria glared at Kyurem. "O.K. No going back." She cloaked herself in fire and dashed forward. "Flame Charge!"

The human slammed into the Pokemon's right leg, causing it to let out a shriek and go down as Maria circled back.

"I'm going to need the speed boost," she muttered under her breath. A moment later, a red staff with the head of what appeared to be the Pokemon known as Moltres (but wasn't quite) appeared in her hands. "Let's go! Thunderbolt!" She slammed her staff into the ground, causing branches of electricity to come out and snake across the cave floor, working their way up Kyurem's form.

The strange conglomeration between Kyurem and Reshiram let out a low growl and shook off the electricity, then started to get up from its kneeling position, glaring at Maria as though she was nothing more than an insect to be squished. The Trainer, taking note of this, stuck her tongue out at the Pokemon in defiance, a grin appearing on her face soon afterwards.

"You couldn't hit the broadside of a barn," Maria taunted as she started to run around the giant Pokemon, her staff charging up for another electric blast. "If we were fighting on the other side of the world? Maybe. But then again, I'd have a whole lot of X-Eye and Reviver Seeds to keep me up and running." She laughed, delighted as Kyurem let of a roar in response to her statement.

A mere moment later, a serious look came over her face as she saw the fiery sphere that the Pokemon was charging up. "Let's see how you handle this! Thunder!"

The electric blast flew up at Kyurem's head as it blasted a Fusion Flare in her direction before she could even move. The attack soon enveloped her as the staff disappeared.

"Yes!" Ghestis crowed, grinning wickedly. "A thorn in my side is no more!"

"I wouldn't be so cocky if I were you," called out a telepathic voice in response. As the fiery sphere started to shrink around Maria's form, everyone looked at Luke as he continued, "There is more to Maria than what initially meets the eye."

"You got that right, Luke!" There was a shockwave of fire that blasted away the remains of the attack, revealing Maria standing on the cave floor with what appeared to be an aura of fire around her.

"Hey, Ghestis, do you want to know what Pokemon I turned into?" Maria called out. "I was a Vulpix before I was a Trainer." She grinned. "Flash Fire's up and active."

"Impossible!" the leader of Team Plasma argued. "Kyurem has Turboblaze! You should be unable to use any abilities!"

"I had fire abilities long before I was a Vulpix, you cape-wearing freak. As I am a human, some things aren't as restricted by rules as you're used to." Maria winked, then turned her attention to Kyurem. "And now for the grand finale! White Flare: Overcharge!"

This time, the white fire didn't come out as tendrils: it came out as a white wave that crashed into Kyurem, who let out an ear-piercing shriek as it collapsed as the move slammed into him.

The fire disappeared as quickly as it had come, leaving Maria standing on her own two feet, but panting heavily, as though she had used up a large amount of her energy. Again.

"NO!" Ghestis exclaimed

Kyurem's fallen form started to glow as the man screamed, and the form split into two; Reshiram was its own Pokemon once more.

"Reshiram!" N exclaimed, running over to the Fire/Dragon-Type as it started to get up. "Are you all right?"

"Here." Luke ran over to the Pokemon and placed his front paws on the Legendary's form. "Chaos Heal."

A large blast of dark blue Chaos Energy rippled out from the Lucario and into Reshiram's form, healing whatever damage that might have been done. When the energy faded, Luke removed his paws and stepped back.

Reshiram let out a low growl as he got up. He looked over at Luke, who watched the large Legendary with something akin to awe.

"Thank you," the Pokemon rumbled. He turned his head and nodded to Maria. "You fought well. You have had more training in combat than most Trainers I have seen."

"Most of it is instinct," Maria admitted, smiling slightly, a little embarrassed at gaining praise from a Legendary.

"Well, you have good instincts, then." Reshiram gave her a curious look, but didn't continue with that line of conversation. Instead, he turned his gaze to Ghestis, who looked like he was about to lose his temper.

"How dare you!" Ghestis roared. He grabbed a PokeBall from out of nowhere and attempted to throw it, but quickly found himself entrapped in the grip of an angry-looking Grass-Type serpent, who gave him a warning hiss. Maria's other Pokemon soon joined in, surrounding the Plasma leader in an attempt to keep him from sending out his team and causing anymore trouble than he already had.

"Ghestis, you're under arrest," Looker declared as he stepped into the chamber. A Toxicroak followed him closely, his eyes going over every single Pokemon present as though it were assessing them.

"You picked the perfect time to show up, Looker," Maria stated cheerily. She jabbed her thumb in the direction that Ghestis was located in. "I'm going to attend to Kyurem. The Plasma goon's still got his Pokemon on him, but my team's keeping him from pulling them out."

Looker nodded in approval, then walked towards the Plasma leader. Maria took off her backpack and made a beeline for the Ice/Dragon-Type Legendary.

"Okay...Full Restores...Hyper Potions...aha!" Maria produced a large, spiked object from her backpack and, carefully opening Kyurem's mouth, stuck it in while carefully working around the sharp fangs the Pokemon had.

The effect of the Max Revive was instantaneous.

The Legendary's head shot up, and he looked around quickly, searching for anything that might be a danger. Upon catching sight of Ghestis, he let out a growl and started to approach him.

"Don't!" Maria called. "Looker's going to make sure that he's going to get the proper punishment that he needs!"

Kyurem stopped short, then glanced back at her with a slightly curious expression. He turned back around and lowered his head so as to get a better look.

"You...you smell like a Vulpix," the Pokemon finally stated.

"Because I was one," Maria responded. She got up from her kneeling position, picking up her backpack and throwing it over one shoulder as she went. "For a short time, at least. Name's Maria. I'm the one who made sure that you managed to break free of whatever it was that Ghestis was managing to control you with." She glanced sidelong at the staff that had been slammed into the ground, taking note that it appeared to be smoking.

"And for that, I thank you," Kyurem growled. He looked over at Reshiram, who had been watching the proceedings carefully. "Make sure no one disturbs my resting place. I am going to wait for this child to return."

"Brother, you aren't considering-"

"I am." And without another word, the Ice/Dragon-Type turned and lumbered off, deeper into the cave.

"He isn't talking about considering letting me be his Trainer, is he?" Maria asked, looking over at the Fire/Dragon-Type.

"It seems that he has," Reshiram responded. "Though why, after all these centuries, he decided to pick a Trainer who has a Type advantage over him-"

"Eh." Maria shrugged. "Brothers will be brothers. I've got two at home, and sometimes I have to wonder if I'm even related to them."

N chuckled. "Quite the predicament." He looked over at Reshiram, then back at Maria. "Could I offer you a ride to the Pokemon League gates? It isn't too far from here, and I can tell that you are prepared to face what the Elite Four has in store."

Maria's eyes sparked, and, seeing that Looker had Ghestis readily handcuffed, recalled her Pokemon team. "Sure. That'd be great."

Chapter Text

"Wigglytuff! Chatot!"

A large, pink rabbit Pokemon and a bird Pokemon with what looked like a musical note for a head turned as a yellow mouse and a fox with six tails ran over.

"What's going on, you two?" Chatot gave a panicked expression. "Was another Time Gear stolen?"

The Pikachu shook his head.

"Well, then what's got you so riled up? It looks like you had a herd of Taurus on your heels!"

"We just got back from another mission and were in Marowak's Dojo working on some strategies," Pika explained. "Maria was going up against a Water-Type by herself and--"

"I used Tri-Attack," the Vulpix finished.

The statement caused Chatot to squawk in surprise. "You did what?! B-b-but how? Normally, Vulpix can't --"

"I know! Marowak said!" Maria burst out. Her fur and tails fluffed out, and she took a moment to force herself to relax. "And I don't know how I can use it -- I just can, apparently." She frowned. "Is there anything wrong with knowing a move you're not supposed to know?"

Chatot spluttered at the question while Wigglytuff laughed.

"There's no problem!" Wigglytuff practically sang. "It just makes you special! Can I see you use it?"

Maria was taken aback out of surprise at the question, and she shook her head for a moment before gaining a nervous look. "N-now, Guildmaster?"

"Well, why not?" Wigglytuff bounded into the center of the third floor's main room, looking mighty pleased with himself. "Don't be afraid to give me everything you've got!"

Maria's eyes widened. "Guildmaster, are you--"

"Go on! I'll be able to take it!" Wilgglytuff continued to look cheery, causing Maria to swallow nervously.

"...If you say so." Maria shifted into a stance that almost made her look like she wanted to dash forward. The her tails fanned out into three sets of two, and her eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

As Maria concentrated on Wigglytuff's white stomach, an energy triangle started to form between her tails, turning into three different balls of energy in different colors: a deep red at the top, electric yellow to the right, and ice blue to the left.

When the balls were as large as Maria's paws, the Vulpix barked, "Here goes!"

At Maria's call, the attack shot off her tails and slammed into Wigglytuff, exploding out over his body. Oddly enough, the Guildmaster didn't look like he'd even felt it.

Wigglytuff stopped bouncing for a moment, and chocked his head to one side, blinking. "That was it?"

Maria ducked her head. "W-well, that was only the second time that I've been able to use it! It's not gonna be all that strong yet...."

"That's not what I meant." Wigglytuff had a strangely bright look in his eyes. "It felt like you could've put something...more into that."

"More?" Pika repeated in surprise. "What do you mean, 'more'?"

"I mean that it felt like she was could give more power than she was giving." Wigglytuff looked like he'd just found a secret treasure trove of Perfect Apples.

"But...isn't Tri-Attack a Normal-Type move?" Maria asked, frowning. "I'm a Fire-Type -- I can't give it 'more' power like I would be able to for a Fire-Type move."

"Tri-Attack is an unusual move among Normal attacks," Chatot spoke up. "It's one Type, but it's not at the same time. Dodrio can use it because they have three heads -- and I've known Magneton that can use it, as well. They've described using the move as concentrating on three Types at once, but they have to concentrate on keeping it balanced."

"...So, what does that have to do with me?" Maria asked. "And how I know it?"

"Well, I can't tell you how you managed to learn it, but I can tell you that you can learn moves from the other Types that are in Tri-Attack." Wigglytuff smiled brightly.

Maria and Pika exchanged looks of shock, then looked back at the Guildmaster with wide eyes.

"Seriously? You're not joking?" Maria stared up at the larger Pokemon, wide-eyed.

"Nope!" Wigglytuff laughed and started dancing around happily. "Tell you what -- I'll find a couple Pokemon about your size who might be willing to teach you a few tricks for other-Type attacks! I'm sure that'll come as a big surprise for whenever you go against outlaws who think they know all your tricks!"

Chatot looked surprised at this, but then he gained a pleased expression. "That would certainly be useful. Is there anyone you'd recommend Maria going to for now?"

"Hmmm...." Wigglytuff paused in his bouncing for a moment, then gained a brightened expression. "I know! Go and talk to Electrivire tomorrow and show him your Tri-Attack. He should be able to teach you a number of Electric-Type attacks -- like Shock Wave! Or Thunder Fang! And I'll go look for a couple old friends of mine and see if there's anything that they can do in order to give you a hand with learning any other moves."

"All right." Maria's head bobbed in agreement, and she looked at Pika and grinned. "This is great! Now I'll be able to learn moves that will keep the Water-Types off my backs and the Ground-Types off the both of us!"

"The Ground-Types?" Pika repeated. He blinked a moment before he grinned. "Oh, right! Ice-Types are super effective against Grass and Ground! That's going to be really helpful!"

Maria grinned. "Yeah! Come on -- let's go and make up a list of what moves I could learn and use!" The Vulpix scrambled for their shared room, Pika quickly moving after her.

Wigglytuff and Chatot watched them go, the bird Pokemon watching them with almost fond expressions. Then the two of them looked at each other.

The fond moment was ruined a moment later by Wigglytuff giggling uncontrollably and bounding off into his office singing some nonsensical tune that Chatot was probably going to find himself whistling later.

Chatot sighed and shook his head before turning and hopping off in another direction. There was work to be done, and he was absolutely certain that Wigglytuff had left all of it to him to take care of.

Time Break

Maria and Pika were off taking another job within a week of their discovery when they found themselves face-to-face with the outlaw that they had decided to hunt down: a rhino-like Pokemon called a Rhyhorn.

Pika had armed himself with a number of Iron Thorns that they had managed to buy from the Kecleon Shop, while Maria had been forcing all of her fire attacks to run out against previous opponents.

And now, Maria felt that she was more than prepared for the upcoming fight.

The Rhyhorn looked at the two of them, then let out a bark of laughter. "You two are the ones that the moron Wigglytuff sent? Seriously?" He gave a dark grin. "I'm gonna whomp the both of you and send you straight to the hospital!"

Pika and Maria exchanged smirks before Pika took a couple steps back while Maria faced the Rock/Ground-Type.

"I wouldn't be so sure," Maria said coolly. She took in a breath, concentrating on her now-low temperature, then blew as hard as she could.

The resulting blast of icy cold hit the Rhyhorn square in the face, causing his laughing fit to be cut short.

"It worked!" Maria crowed in delight, grinning as her tails twirled. She took in another breath and unleashed Icy Wind again while Pika started moving around, using a recently-learned Iron Tail to take down the Graveler and Geodude that were a part of Rhyhorn's gang. Ice crystals started to form on the Pokemon's legs and horn, locking him in place while Maria continued to use the move in order to whittle down his health points.

Rhyhorn pulled a couple times at his front legs before letting out a grunt and lifting and slamming his hind legs into the ground. The impact caused the ground to shake, and Maria and Pika stumbled as Rhyhron's other minion Pokemon fainted.

Maria braced herself and quickly dug into the Treasure Bag hanging from her side, pulling out a seed and biting into it. Pika managed to make his way over to her and grabbed a similar seed, eating it as well. Instantly, it became clear that the both of them had managed to gain a burst of energy.

Maria suddenly flickered out of sight before slamming into Rhyhorn from one side, while Pika slammed an Iron Tail down on the head of the Rock/Ground-Type, sending the Pokemon crashing to the ground.

Pika let out a sigh of relief. "He's down."

Maria nodded in agreement, then took in a shaky breath before grinning widely. "We did it. And I used an Ice-Type move!"

Pika grinned at his partner. "Yeah. Let's get this guy to Officer Magnezone and tell Wigglytuff that you can use those attacks like he thought. I wonder who he's going to ask to tutor for you."

"So long as they can help me, I don't really care what the Pokemon is." Maria shrugged as Pika took the Exploration Badge off his red scarf. He flashed it, and the three of them were teleported out of the dungeon and straight into the Exploration Base.

Magnezone was next to them in an instant, two Magneton hovering behind him. "Thank you for bringing in the outlaw. The fact that two Pokemon who were Type-disadvantaged against this Pokemon were able to bring him speaks volumes for your Guild, Wigglytuff."

The Normal-Type grinned broadly and laughed at the complement while the Magneton picked up Rhyhorn and started to move him out of the Guild. There really wasn't anything else that needed to be said.

When the police force left the Guild, Chatot finally managed to come over his dumbfounded shock. "S-so, you really managed to do it? You managed to use an Ice-Type move?"

"Yup!" Maria grinned proudly. "Icy Wind took him down a lot of the way. Then all we needed to do was Faint Attack, and then Pika Iron Tail'd him in the head!"

Pika nodded in agreement. "Yeah. It was pretty cool that we actually were able to take him down, despite him being stronger than us."

"Strong against us," Maria corrected, nudging her partner.

Wigglytuff clapped his paws together. "Yoom-tah! I knew that you were able to do something after feeling your Tri-Attack! So I got a couple old friends of mine to pop in and see if they can do anything to help you out! Glacey! Jolty! Come out here and meet Maria!"

At Wigglytuff's call, two four-legged Pokemon entered the room -- one a bright yellow, with spiked fur, and the other more of a soft blue color. The two of them walked over as Pika backed away a little from Maria, allowing the two newcomers to circle Maria with curious expressions.

"Hi," Maria said, her tails twitching as the curious eyes bored into her. "I don't think I've seen Pokemon that look like you before." The Vulpix didn't bother to mention that something about them was familiar, but she figured that they probably weren't going to be all that interested in her amnesia.

"I'm Glace, a Glaceon," the blue Pokemon said as she came around in front of Maria. She nodded her head at the other Pokemon. "That's Jolt. He's a Jolteon."

"Jolt and Glace..." Maria cocked her head. "Your names make it sound like your Ice and Electric-Types."

"Got it in one." Jolt smirked. "You're pretty smart for a Pokemon that's so young."

Maria ducked her head, embarrassed.

"Do you think you can teach her?" Wigglytuff asked.

Glace looked over at the Guildmaster. "I think so. She is pretty similar to an Eevee, so it shouldn't be too difficult. So long as she doesn't try to use any Fire-Type attacks."

"I have to run out of energy for the other moves before I can start using Ice attacks," Maria explained quickly.

"Well, after you work with us, you should be able to use them whether or not you have any fire left in you," Jolt replied. He looked at Wigglytuff. "We're going to need to borrow this kid for a couple of months if we're going to do this right. Is that okay with you?"

"Fine by me~!" Wigglytuff bounced a bit. "But you should check with Pika! He is her Team partner, after all!"

The Jolteon and Glaceon looked over at Pika, who looked a little saddened.

"I don't want to be left behind in training," Pika admitted, looking down at the grassy floor. "Plus, I'd kind of like to work on my own techniques -- I mean, if it's okay for me to come along for a while." He looked up at Jolt and cocked his head hopefully.

Jolt and Glace exchanged looks.

"I-I can probably do that with Electrivire--"

Jolt shook his head. "You don't need to be like that, kid. Tell you what, I'll teach you a couple tricks while Glace is trying to teach Maria a few things -- then you can be my assistant for when I figure out Maria's strengths. That sound good to you?"

Pika's ears shot up at that, and he instantly started nodding vigorously. "Yes, sir! Thank you!"

Jolt laughed while Glace gave a slight smile. "It's no problem! I can tell when a Pokemon needs a little work, and you could definitely benefit from some of my kind of training!"

"We'll head out tomorrow morning for our base," Glace added, "so be sure to rest up tonight -- you're going to need that strength."

Maria and Pika nodded in agreement. "Right!"

The next morning, they left the Guild with some fanfare (mostly from Chimecho and the small number of team members they had picked up), and went off with Jolt and Glace towards their home near Amp Plains, with promises of returning stronger than ever.

Chapter Text

Maria wasn't exactly sure what to expect of Unova when she arrived on the back of her Pidgeot. She certainly hadn't expected an area that looked almost exactly like a PokeBall, and she was definitely amazed by the towering skyscrapers that made up what looked like a large harbor-based city.

"Do you want me to circle around for a bit?" Paula asked, glancing back at her Trainer. Paula was one of the first Pokemon that Maria had managed to catch in Kanto, and was one of her strongest. As a result, she was able to take the trip from Sinnoh to Unova with minimal trouble.

"Uh...." Maria was really, really tempted to say yes to her Pokemon's suggestion, but they had been flying for more than a few hours. Paula had to have started to feel that by now. "I think I'll have to do that later. Let's just head down to Asperita so that we can meet up with Bianca -- you know, that girl I told you about."

"Right. The blond one with the green beret."

Paula started to circle in a downward arc, heading towards the town that Black had pointed out on his map: a small area on the edge of the region, close to the mountains. Within minutes, they were flying above the rooftops, getting the attention of the people down in the streets below.

"There!" Maria pointed ahead of them at a hill that rose up on the outskirts of town. It looked like there were a couple figures standing there, but Maria couldn't see them too well.

"I see Bianca," Paula reported. She tilted her wings back a little in order to slow down as she came in and landed on the concrete platform that was on top of the hill.

"Thanks for the ride, Paula." Maria grinned widely and slipped off the feathery back of the Pokemon.

"No problem." Paula pulled her wings in and nudged Maria in the side with her head. "I'll stick around in town, so if you need to fly back to anywhere else anytime, just come back and let me know, all right?"

"I'll keep that in mind," Maria promised.

"You're Maria White, right?"

Maria turned her head, blinking when she heard the question. When she noticed the two people -- one a young woman, and the other a younger boy with a decently-sized afro of dark hair -- she gave a smile. "Yeah, that's me."

The young woman quickly recovered her composure and stepped forward, holding out a hand. "I'm Bianca, Professor Juniper's assistant. It's an honor to finally meet you."

Maria chuckled. "Believe me, the pleasure's all mine." She looked over at the boy, who still had a bit of a shocked look on his face. "And you are...?"

The boy blinked suddenly, then shook himself. "I'm Hugh."

"It's nice to meet you." Maria held out a hand, which the young man shook. "You're planning on starting your own journey, right? I'm planning on doing that, too."

Hugh frowned in confusion. "What? But you've already started."

"It's something that my Mom suggested a while back." Maria smiled a little sheepishly. "Mom said that every new region is a new journey, so she suggested I take it to the extreme by starting with a brand-new team. Originally, we'd moved every time that I wanted to start in a new place, but Mom and Dad are happy in Sinnoh. So, I just asked an old friend of mine to fly me over here." Maria motioned to Paula. "Meet the first Flying-Type that I befriended, Paula the Pidgeot."

Paula bobbed her head in greeting. "Hi."

Hugh blinked, then raised a hand cautiously and gave the Pokemon a wave.

"Oh, wow." Bianca stepped forward. "That's pretty cool. I don't think I've seen a bird Pokemon with such beautiful plumage before."

Paula lifted her head, practically preening. Maria chuckled.

"Paula and my other Flying-Types like to look their best," Maria explained. "They are part of a collection of Pokemon that are under a Trainer who's conquered four Leagues."

"I guess!" Bianca laughed, then turned and looked at Maria. "Well, you got here just in time to pick up your Pokemon. Hugh here was just telling me that he had raised one of his own from when it was just an Egg, so I've got the three Unova starters here for you to choose from." Bianca pulled a small capsule out from her purse and pressed a button on it, popping the capsule open and revealing three red and white spheres.

"What Pokemon do I have to choose from?" Maria moved over curiously, eyeing the PokeBalls with a strange light in her eyes that definitely said she was eager to meet the Pokemon that were inside.

"Well, I have a Tepig, an Oshuwatt, and a Snivy." Bianca motioned to each PokeBall in turn. "Which are Fire, Water, and Grass-Types, respectively."

Maria nodded in response. "Okay. Tepig, Oshuwatt, and Snivy....Hmmm. Well, I've been going with Water-Type Starters for the last few regions, so I don't think I'll go with that one."

Hugh let out an almost imperceptible sigh of relief, one that Paula noticed.

"Afro's got a Fire-Type," the Pidgeot twittered.

Maria glanced back at the Pokemon and raised an eyebrow before looking back at the PokeBalls. "Hmmm....You know, all of the rivals that I've had over the years seem to think that Grass-Types are pretty cool....so I'll go with Snivy."

Hugh lowered his shoulders in relief while Bianca smiled and handed over the PokeBall holding the Grass-Type. "Here she is. Be careful -- this Pokemon line won't entirely trust their Trainer unless they have proof that they are decent Trainers."

"I've dealt with Pokemon like that before." Maria smiled confidently as she accepted the PokeBall. "Thanks for the tip, though. I'll definitely be keeping it in mind." She looked down at the PokeBall for a moment, then tossed it forward.

When the PokeBall exploded open, it released a green, lizard-like Pokemon that Maria hadn't seen before. It shook its head, then looked up at the three humans standing above it.

Maria crouched down, getting the Pokemon's attention. "Hi. I'm Maria, your new Trainer."

The Snivy eyed her, the Pokemon's head inclining back a little. She gave a small smile. "Greetings."

"Do you have a name of your own yet?" When the Snivy shook her head, Maria cocked her head to one side, considering what she could do. "Hmm...I think I'll call you...Emerald. Your scales look a lot like those jewels."

The Snivy puffed out her chest a little and smiled proudly in response to Maria's praise. "Why, thank you."

Bianca giggled. "I think the two of you are going to be able to get along splendidly."

Hugh grinned and grabbed a PokeBall from his belt, bouncing it up and down in one hand. "Hey, since you've picked your Starter already, how about a battle? I've raised this guy ever since it hatched, so we're pretty close already."

Maria looked up at the boy, raising an eyebrow. "Really?" She rose to her full height, Emerald moving to stand next to her new Trainer. "Well, I don't see why not. Ready, Emerald?"

Emerald nodded in response.

"Go, Tepig!" Hugh threw the PokeBall. "Let's show 'em who's boss!"

The PokeBall exploded, releasing a small, pig-like Pokemon with a curly tail that had a little red ball on the end of it. The Pokemon snorted, releasing a cloud of smoke from its nose.

Emerald stiffened a little.

"Everything's going to be okay," Maria murmured to the Pokemon. "He's not going to be able to do any Fire attacks just yet; there weren't any embers in that smoke." She raised her voice. "Let's start with a Tackle!"

Emerald jolted in surprise at the order, then lunged forward as Hugh yelled, "Tackle it back!"

The two Pokemon rammed into each other, and Maria gained a wide grin as Emerald backed up and started to circle around. "Keep it up. We're going to be able to wear that Pokemon down like this."

Emerald nodded slightly in response, then ran forward again as Tepig started to move in response to Hugh's order to do the same. The third time around, Emerald rammed Tepig in the side, sending the pig Pokemon sliding back. The Pokemon teetered for a moment, trying to keep his balance, then collapsed with a whine.

Hugh stared at his Pokemon for a moment; his shoulders sagged. "Oh, shoot. And here I thought I was gonna be able to beat a Champion...."

Emerald stared at Hugh, then looked up at Maria. "Champion?"

Maria rubbed the back of her head, smiling a little nervously. "W-well, yeah, I'm a Champion, but not of this region. Hugh, let's keep that quiet for now. I don't want to make anyone freak out because a Trainer is a Champion of four other regions."

Hugh blinked at that, then nodded. "Oh, yeah. Sure. I guess it would get to be pretty big news if everyone found out about it."

Maria nodded. "Yeah." she looked over at Bianca. "You'll keep it secret too, right?"

Bianca nodded. "Yup. The two Professor Junipers and I know that you're a Champion, and one Black's and my close friends knows about it, too. His name's Cheren -- he's the Gym Leader in town. He's a school teacher, too."

"Really?" Maria's eyebrows went up. "Cheren, huh?" She looked down at Emerald, who looked a little scuffed up, but no worse for the wear. "Sounds like we've got our first challenge. We're probably going to need more Pokemon on our team if we're going to be able to beat him, though. You up for a little training, Emerald?"

The Snivy blinked for a moment, then gave a nod. "Sure. Just make sure that I don't scuff my scales up too much."

"I'll make sure of it."

"Make sure you actually buy something for that this time," Paula spoke up. "I don't want to see any chaos like what happened before again."

"Right." Maria nodded to the Pidgeot. "Are you planning on sticking around or are you going to fly back and join the others?"

"I think I'll stick around." The bird Pokemon shrugged. "I'll explore for a little bit; if you need me, you can just holler."

Maria nodded, then looked over at Hugh. "Mind if we head out to the first route together? I don't know my way around this region yet, and I'm planning on getting my hands on a map of it later."

Hugh shrugged. "Okay, fine with me. Let's visit the Pokemon Center first, though." He returned Tepig to his PokeBall. "I'm going to need to load up on supplies and heal my Pokemon before heading out there."

"Sure." Maria motioned to the steps that led down from where they were standing. "Lead the way."

"Oh! Before I forget." Bianca held up two devices -- one looked like a PokeDex, but the other one looked like a red and black USB stick. "You need to update your PokeDex for the Pokemon we have here."

"Right." Maria reached around to her backpack and pulled out a familiar red and black device. "Here's mine."

Bianca nodded, then plugged the stick into the PokeDex and opened it up. "Okay; it's uploading and...done." She closed the PokeDex again and unplugged the disk, then handed it over. "I made sure to register you, too, so you won't be able to access all of the data until you either really need to or you're Champion."

"Thanks." Maria grinned at Hugh. "Can't have me cheating by calling on old, powerful friends. It wouldn't be right for a new Trainer to suddenly have a Legendary from another region on her team."

Hugh stared at her. "So, you really do have Legendary Pokemon? How?"

"I make friends with them." Maria winked. "The hard part is proving to them that you can be friends with them. I'm sure the Legendaries who live here are no different, and I'm looking forward to proving to them that I am worthy of it." She paused, and her grin widened. "Especially after what happened in Sinnoh."

Hugh and Bianca stared at her.

"Wh-what do you mean?" Bianca asked. "I mean, I heard about what that Galactic fellow was planning on doing, but--"

"Let's just say that a lot happened on top of Mt. Coronet."

Paula snickered at Maria's words, causing Emerald to frown at the Flying-Type.

"She'll tell you when you're ready," Paula said mysteriously. "That's how I heard about it. It really makes me wish that I was there."

Emerald frowned. Maria chuckled.

"Well, let's get going." She looked over at Hugh. "Where's the Pokemon Center?"

Hugh blinked a couple times, then shook his head to get rid of the shocked expression. "R-right. It's this way." He started down the stairs, looking over at Paula as he passed. Maria followed after him, giving Bianca and Paula a wave before descending down into the town.

Maria breathed in, then out, and let out a sigh. "The air...it smells of...."

Hugh looked over at her. "Smells of what?"

"New beginnings. Adventure." Maria grinned. "Something tells me that I'm going to like Unova. A lot."

Chapter Text

Maria couldn’t help but get the feeling that things weren’t supposed to go this way. One moment, she had been sure that she was going to find Maxie’s office in their base and see if there was a Master Ball hiding somewhere, and the next, she was suddenly caught in a trap by a Victreebel that didn’t look like it belonged in the side of Hoenn’s volcano.

What was even worse was that she didn’t have any of her Pokémon with her – they’d all split in order to take on the grunts by themselves, when she had been sure that there weren’t any Magma grunts or Admins up this way.

“Hey, boss! I found her!” The Victreebel came to a halt and threw Maria onto the warm, almost burning cave floor.

“Oh, hey!” A Magma grunt came over as Maria started to get to her feet. “Good job, buddy! I knew that getting one of those things back in Kanto was a good idea!”

Maria looked up with an irritated glare at the Magma grunt, but before she could say anything in response, another voice spoke up.

“Well done.” Maxie walked over, looking as smugly proud as Maria had ever seen him. “A Trainer should not be without her Pokémon, and yet this one likes to constantly take the risk of being unmanned every time she walks into a base.”

“My Pokémon can handle themselves,” Maria spat back as she finally got to her feet. “They’re beating all of your grunts as we speak, so I don’t see a problem with it. Spreading ourselves out like this makes it so that we can beat you all faster.”

Maxie didn’t look impressed. “And yet you don’t keep one with you, and that will prove to be your downfall.” He nodded to the grunt next to him, who grinned and grabbed another PokeBall from his belt.

“Grumpig, Hypnosis!”

The PokeBall exploded open, and Maria saw a pair of glowing purple eyes before she had a chance to even close her own. In that moment, she found herself caught up in the oddly enticing, beautiful glow, and they quickly became the only thing that mattered – the only thing that Maria could live for.

She would do anything for the owner of those eyes.

Unnoticed by Maria, Maxie allowed himself a triumphant smirk as the younger Trainer’s eyes glazed over, still staring at the purple and black pig Pokémon’s eyes. “Perfect.”

“Now we get her to do whatever we want,” the grunt added. He paused. “I-I mean, whatever you want, Boss.”

Maxie decided to ignore the grunt’s blunder for now; he was far too interested in hearing what Maria would say when he asked her what he wanted to know. “Maria. Are you the Trainer called White in Kanto and Jhoto?”

The Grumpig grunted, and Maria gave a slow nod, almost as though she was half-asleep. “Yes.”

Maxie frowned. He’d hoped that was just a rumor. “Are you hoping to stop us, like you stopped Team Rocket?”

“Yes.”

The Magma grunt looked nervous at that, but he said nothing.

“I have learned that you do not store all of your Pokémon within easy reach. Where are they stored when they are not in use?”

The Grumpig paused when he heard that, but Maria went ahead and responded.

“The other side of the world, with Guildmaster Pika,” Maria said lazily.

Maxie hadn’t been expecting that answer. Still, it certainly was…interesting.

“A Pokémon?” Maxie guessed. “A Pikachu?”

“Yes.”

The Grumpig started looking more and more spooked. The grunt noticed, but he didn’t say anything; Maxie wouldn’t have listened to him, anyway.

“Intriguing.” Maxie paused for a moment, then kept going. “Tell me, Maria, do you know what I plan to do here?”

“You plan to awaken Athair the Groudon.”

Maria was becoming more and more interesting. “You named it?”

“He named himself.”

Curiouser and curiouser. “Do you know of Team Aqua’s intentions?”

“They plan to awaken Kyogre.”

“Do you know how close they are now?”

Maria’s face shifted slightly. “They have the other orb. They have taken the submarine from Slateport. They are going to the Mossdeep Trench to awaken Kyogre as I speak.”

“So they are close behind us!” the grunt exclaimed. “Boss, what are we going to do?”

“We awaken Groudon before they awaken Kyogre.” Maxie pulled the Red Orb from his pocket. “And we have the means to do it here.”

“I wouldn’t do that, if I were you.”

Maxie, the grunt, and the Grumpig looked back at Maria in surprise as her voice suddenly gained back its emotion.

“There’s a reason that Groudon and Kyogre are kept away from their orbs,” Maria continued. There was a strange spark in her eyes now, almost as though they were a crystalline blue rather than the deeper shade they had been moments before. “All the planning you’ve done? It’s going to end very badly.”

“How did you break out of the Hypnosis?” the grunt demanded.

Maria snorted. “I didn’t. Maria’s still staring a hole through that Grumpig’s skull.”

“An alternate personality?” Maxie looked startled.

“Yes and no.” “Maria” looked back at Maxie. “Athair and Kyogre are rivals, like you and Archie are. If you both wake them up, the damage that just one of you could do will double.”

Maxie frowned. “Groudon’s Drought will destroy Kyogre’s Drizzle. I have made sure of that.”

“In simulations, sure, but in real life?”

The grunt looked hesitant at that.

“My simulations never lie,” Maxie hissed in response.

“So you say.” “Maria” shrugged. “Since it’s clear that I won’t be able to stop you, I’ll just let you see the damage, and Maria can give you a real beat-down afterward.” She grinned. “That’s what she did to Giovanni. And she’s definitely going to do it to you.”

With that, Maria’s expression shifted back to the blank, glazed-over stare that she’d had a moment before.

The grunt and his Grumpig looked unnerved. “Boss, what was that?”

Maxie didn’t answer the question. “Release her. Let her Pokémon come and find her. I will be waiting in Groudon’s chamber. If she plans on stopping me, I would like to see her strength before I awaken the Legendary Pokémon.” With that, he turned and walked out of the chamber.

The grunt watched his leader go, but his Pokémon immediately did what Maxie had asked him to. With a wave of the Grumpig’s paws, Maria collapsed to the ground.

“Sorry,” the Grumpig murmured. “I know you tried to get me away from doing stuff like this, but…I guess I can’t get away from it.”

Maria didn’t stir.

“Come on.” The grunt motioned for the Grumpig to follow after him. “We’ve got to get out of here before she wakes up and gets her Pokémon to find us and clobber us.” He returned the Victreebel and the Psychic pig, then ran out of the chamber.

Moments later, a large, mud fish Pokémon wandered into the room.

“Doesn’t look like there are any grunts in he—Maria!” The Swampert quickly scrambled over to where the girl lay and shook her gently with one large paw. “Are you okay, Guildmaster?”

Maria groaned as she awoke, getting up into a sitting position and rubbing her head. “Ow. That Grumpig really ought to learn not to drop people like that.”

“Grumpig?” The Swampert frowned. “Where?”

“He was in here just a moment ago…used a Hypnosis on me to get me to blab to Maxie about stuff. There was a point there where I blacked out, though….” Maria shook her head again. “It’s probably nothing. Is everyone else with you?”

“Not yet.”

Maria nodded, then looked in the direction that Maxie and the grunt had disappeared off to. “Okay. Maxie’s just up ahead. Let’s wait for the others here, and then we’ll go ahead and go after him. You ready for that, Swamp?”

“More than ready.” Swamp gave a wide grin. “That guy’s really asking for it.”

Maria gave a short nod in agreement. “You got that right! Maxie really doesn’t know what he’s in for!”

Chapter Text

When Maria trotted into town with her usual errands in mind, the last thing she had been expecting to see was another six-tailed Fox Pokemon standing in the middle of Treasure Town, looking horribly confused.

"Hi!" Maria bounded over to him, her own six tails bouncing with each step. "I didn't think that I'd see another Vulpix outside of the Sky Stairway! Welcome to Treasure Town!"

The other Vulpix blinked in surprise at the statement, and the Pokemon gave a nod. "Thank you. I can't say that I was expecting to meet anyone else like myself, either." He looked around at the various shops that were set up along the street. "This is...Treasure Town, you said?"

Maria nodded. "Yup! And probably the only town that's got two Guilds in it!"

"Oh? I only noticed the building up there." The Vulpix nodded back to the hill that overlooked the town, where Wigglytuff's Guild was clearly and prominently placed. "I already tried to get in, but...it seems they were a little confused as to what I was."

"They were?" Maria frowned. "The gatekeepers up there know me, though. They know what the feet of Vulpix look like." She looked down at the other's paws, and her eyes widened in surprise. "Oh! I see the problem -- you've got extra toes!"

"Yes, I thought that was the issue." The other Vulpix's paws -- each with one extra toe -- curled in a little, almost like clenching fingers. They relaxed a moment later. "If they know you, do you think you could get me inside? I'm looking for information, and Guilds seem to be my only way to get that right now."

Maria cocked her head to one side. "What kind of information?"

The other Vulpix hesitated. "I doubt that you'd be able to be of much help."

Maria rolled her eyes. "You clearly don't know a Guild member when you see one." She raised a paw and pointed at the red bandanna she was wearing around her neck -- specifically, at the winged, spherical badge that was pinned to the fabric. "See? This marks me as a member of a Guild. They change colors depending on what your Rank in the Guild is, and mine's pretty high."

"Oh!" The Vulpix leaned in a little in order to get a better look at the badge. "I hadn't realized that -- my apologies." He stepped back. "I was wondering if there's any information around here on humans. All the other Guilds that I've been to haven't had all that much information on them -- they seem to think that humans are mythical creatures of some kind."

Maria's ears pricked up at that. "Humans, huh? That's an odd rumor to be chasing. I don't think that I've heard of other Pokemon who have even been remotely interested in that."

The other Vulpix sighed. "So, you won't be able to help me?"

"I didn't say that." Maria's tails wagged as the other Vulpix looked at her in surprise. "Come on -- let's go to the other Guild first; I'm actually a member there. If you want to talk about humans, we can do that there before going over to Wigglytuff's."

"Thank you."

The other Vulpix followed Maria through Treasure Town out to the bluff that was on the other side of town. There were a few Pokemon that were scattered around the billboards that were set up in front of the stairs leading down into the mouth of the Sharpedo-shaped bluff, and they nodded respectfully as Maria and the other Vulpix moved past and down into the bluff.

"Well, here we are. Home sweet home." Maria made a wide sweeping motion with her tails to show off the small room. "Huh. Looks like Pika's taken off already. Ah well."

"Pika?" the other Vulpix asked in confusion.

"A Pikachu -- he's a pretty good friend of mine; we usually partner up to take on tougher dungeons. He's working on training a team right now, though, so I guess he went off to make sure that they didn't end up getting into any trouble." Maria paused. "You know, we never actually got around to introducing ourselves to each other."

The other Vulpix paused to consider that for a moment, then nodded. "I've been going by Six Paws, because...." He trailed off, raising one of his paws as though that was proof enough.

Maria nodded. "I'm Maria, co-Guildmaster of PokeExplore. It's nice to meet you, Six Paws."

Six Paws stiffened in surprise. "Wha -- you're Maria? You're the Pokemon that everyone is talking about?"

Maria looked amused at the other Fire-Type's shocked expression. "Well, yeah. What were you expecting, a Ninetales?"

"I-I'm not exactly sure what I was expecting, but I certainly wasn't expecting you to be so...so young." Six Paws certainly looked startled. "Are you...really as powerful as they say? You are actually able to take on a god of this world and live?"

"It's actually not that hard when you've got a Type advantage and know where to find them." Maria shrugged, then frowned. "Wait. 'Of this world'? What do you mean by that?"

Six Paws froze at the question, his eyes widening. "Uh...."

Maria's mind was moving past her question, however. "Is that why you were asking about humans? Because you're from the human world?"

Six Paws jumped at the question. "How did you--"

 "Oh, wow! I didn't think that I'd get to meet someone else who was is in the exact situation that I am!" A wide grin crossed Maria's face. "You're a human too, aren't you?"

"T-too?" Six Paws blinked for a moment, unnerved, then shook his head. "Er -- y-yes, I am. If you're human as well, does that mean we're all transformed as soon as we arrive here?"

"Not right away -- I got to meet a human from the other side of this world a few days ago -- that's the human world, by the way." Maria shrugged. "She had to go back pretty quickly, though, or else she would have turned into a Pokemon herself."

"Really?" Six Paws' ears perked up in interest. "How did she get back?"

"I got into contact with a friend of mine." Maria wasn't about to let on everything to this stranger, but she did know that the guy clearly needed help. "He sent her back within a few hours; she didn't even get time to spend the night." She sat down on the stone floor and motioned for Six Paws to do the same; he hesitated for a moment before following suit. "Why are you asking, anyway? Are you trying to find a way back home?"

Six Paws hesitated at the question, then shook his head. "I need certain materials to make something, and they can only be found on the human side of the world. I'm going to need to go there -- preferably in human form, if at all possible."

"Oh." Maria frowned. "Uh...huh." Her tails curled a little.

Six Paws noticed her expression. "Look, I -- I--" He paused for a moment. "Are the stories about you coming from the future true?"

Maria blinked at that, then nodded slowly. "Yeah, that's right."

"And that world you were in before...did you have enemies there?"

"Well, I had Pokemon that were coming after me because of who I am and what I could do with my Dimensional Scream, so I guess?"

"I have people coming after me -- one person in particular, in fact -- and I have a plan to stop him from destroying my world. However, I am going to need to put something together in order to stop them, and in order for that to happen, I need human materials and my own two hands."

Maria frowned again. "Sounds like you need people to back you up -- there's no way that you'd be able to defeat this guy alone. I'll come with you and--"

"No!"

Maria blinked in surprise at the sudden outburst, then frowned. "Are you saying that you don't think that I'd be able to handle it? Even after I've defeated the Legendaries that represent time, space, and one's own nightmares?"

Six Paws flinched, his ears flicking back. "This is not a mission for children. I understand that you are powerful despite your age, but this isn't something that you should get yourself involved in. You're in more than enough danger now as it is just by talking to me."

"...are you being hunted?"

Six Paws looked startled at that. "Wh-what?"

"I was hunted in the future by the Sableye thanks to Primal Dialga and Dusknoir." Maria's tails lashed back and forth. "I know what it feels like to be on the run -- Pika does, too. If you tell me what's hunting you, we might be able to help."

Six Paws hesitated at that, then shook his head. "My enemy is far more dangerous than anything that you could have faced. If you can at least assist me in getting to the human side of the world, that will be more than enough."

Maria frowned at Six Paws' comment. "Are you sure? Having someone to back you up might be a good idea."

"I'll keep that in mind, but this is something that you shouldn't get involved in. Now, the way to become human again?"

Maria could see that she wasn't going to be able to get through to the Vulpix, so she sighed and nodded. "There's a place called Spacial Rift. Palkia, the Pokemon that controls space, lives in the deepest part of it. He can warp space so that Pokemon can travel to other places quickly -- like the human world. I was actually planning on heading there soon myself, but I want to make sure that I have all my affairs in order here first, because I don't know if I'm ever going to come back."

Six Paws' ears flicked forward as his eyes widened in surprise. "You're willing to leave your guild behind?"

"Pika and the others know that I'm human, and I really need to get back to my own world. If we need to, we can find ways to get into contact with each other, too." Maria touched the bandanna that was tied around her neck. "It's taking a while for me to get everything in order, but I think I should be ready in a day or two to become human again. Are you willing to wait that long?"

Six Paws considered the question, frowning slightly. "Are you sure that it will only take that long?"

"Absolutely certain." Maria nodded. "It's either that, or you travel to Spacial Rift on your own and have to prove your worth to Palkia instead of me vouching for you. He's a bit picky about letting people into his lair, after all."

Plus, if Six Paws wasn't someone that Maria could trust, the Legendary should be able to pick up on that and make sure that Six Paws got what he deserved instead of what he wanted.

"..I see." Six Paws cocked his head to one side, his gaze moving around the small cave that Maria and Pika had taken to calling their guild's home base. "Well, if I have no other way to get to the human side of the world, then I will have to be patient." He looked back at Maria. "Where will I be able to stay while you make your final preparations?"

"You can stay here, actually." Maria smiled. "Pika and I always have enough extra bedding for guests. It won't be a problem if you stick around."

Six Paws blinked in surprise at that. "Th-thank you."

"It's no problem." Maria gave the other Vulpix a bright smile. "Now, I've gotta run and do a few errands and take care of my other Guildmaster duties. If you wanna hang around with me today or just stay in here, that's up to you. I'll make sure you aren't bothered if you decide to stay in here."

Six Paws looked like he was about to answer, but a yawn escaped from his mouth instead of actual words, causing him to blink in surprise.

Maria burst out laughing. "I guess that answers my question! Let me get the bedding out so you can rest." She moved over to a small alcove at the back of the cave and pulled out what looked like a small tarp covered in hay. "This'll be a lot more comfortable than the cave floor." She fluffed up the hay a little by digging her paws into it and pulling them back out quickly. "Go ahead and mess with that as much as you need; I'm going to go head out and make sure my affairs are in order. I should be ready to head out tomorrow morning, and we're going to have quite the trek ahead of us, so get all the rest you need. There's a small store of food here in the same place I pulled the hay out from -- just some Apples and a couple Oran berries, but if you end up getting hungry later you can snack on that if you need it."

Six Paws looked surprised at that. "You're being very hospitable to someone you only just met. Any particular reason?"

"I don't like not helping people." Maria stepped away from the properly fluffed bed of hay and looked over at Six Paws. "I mean, not only is it my duty as a Guildmaster to help people, but it's something I feel is right to do even without that title. Like it's something that's important to me as a person somehow." She shrugged. "There are some things that I don't remember about who I was before, and this might have something to do with it."

Six Paws blinked at that, then yawned again and shook his head.

"Well, I'll leave you to it." Maria nodded to the hay bed. "I'll be back in a couple hours!" With that, she bounded out of the small Guild, grabbing a bag from a hook by the stairs before she disappeared from sight.

Time Break

As Maria had said, it took her a couple days in order to get her affairs in order with not only the people of Treasure Town, but the two Guilds as well. Wigglytuff and the others had been sad to hear of her plans to leave, of course, but they agreed with Maria’s plan.

“I wish you would tell us what it is that’s coming after you,” Maria said on the morning of the third day as she and Six Paws stepped out of Treasure Town.

“I don’t want to get this world involved in my troubles,” Six Paws replied resolutely. “You have had your own villains to defeat; I am not going to give you the trouble of mine on top of that.”

“You’re saying he’s worse than Darkrai, then,” Maria said flatly. “I find that rather hard to believe.”

Six Paws looked at Maria with a confused expression. “Darkrai?”

“The Legendary that caused me and Pika to go after Dialga in the first place. He wanted to cover the world in darkness – an endless nightmare. It’s what his power is – any sleeping Pokémon he’s near, he can pull them into a nightmare.” Maria’s expression became more and more grim with each word. “And they can be really realistic if you don’t know what to look for.”

“…I am surprised to find that such creatures with such power exist here.” Six Paws’ voice was oddly grim, making Maria tilt her head to one side.

“You know that Dialga controls the timestream and you find it hard to believe that a Pokémon like Darkrai can exist?”

Six Paws ducked his head at that. “I suppose I deserve that.” He looked at Maria. “Is Darkrai still a—“

“Don’t worry about him; Pika and I took care of what he was up to.” Maria gave a slight shake of her head and smiled. “It was a tough fight, but we managed to get on top of things when it really mattered and save the world again. And now I get to help again by getting the both of us back to where we’re supposed to be.” She started to move ahead on the path. “Come on; Spacial Rift is a good trek from here, and we can’t dawdle for long.”

“Right!” Six Paws immediately started running after Maria as she quickened her pace.

It took them a few days to make the trek out to the rip in the earth that Palkia was easily found in. In that time, Maria and Six Paws ran into few Pokémon, but enough of them that they were able to gauge each other’s abilities. Seeing how good Six Paws was at aiming Iron Thorns helped ease some of Maria’s worry, but the fact that he hadn’t used any Pokémon attacks over the course of their trek was concerning to say the least.

“Duck!”

Maria flattened herself against the ground as an Iron Thorn was flung over her head, slamming into an Electrivire before it went up in flames as a Fire Spin from Maria consumed it.

“Not bad.” Maria rose to her full height and nodded to Six Paws. “But you really should be using your abilities more. You’d be able to do a lot more.”

“I haven’t been in this dimension long, and I don’t intend to stay long enough to learn,” Six Paws replied curtly. “How much deeper must we go?”

“Hold your Rapidashes, we’re almost to the bottom of the canyon.” Maria rolled her eyes, then trotted over to the carved staircase. “Palkia’s usually found down here. Come on.”

Maria made her way down the stairs to the last floor of the Spacial Rift, Six Paws following behind her.

“I have to admit, these ‘mystery dungeons’ are quite fascinating from a scientist’s perspective,” Six Paws commented. “Any idea what holds them together? What causes these mazes to appear across the land and hold such strange treasures inside?”

“The only explanation I’ve had is that these are places where time and space warp a lot,” Maria admitted, looking back at him. “I’m sure there’s an explanation for why time and space are warping, but I’ve never asked and I don’t think I was a human who knew how to figure out things like that. Is that what a scientist does?”

“Among other things. I’m sure that, with time and some experimentation, a formula could be written of the phenomena that would explain the how, but the why might still be elusive for some time afterwards.”

“I had thought I had sensed the spacial distortion of a traveler.”

Maria looked ahead as they entered a large cavern, Six Paws stiffening in surprise right behind her at not only the voice echoing in their minds, but also the sheer size of the being in front of them.

“Wh-what is—“

“Palkia, you knew Six Paws was here?” Maria looked between the two of them in surprise.

“I simply sensed his presence; I was not aware of who specifically he was.” The large pink-and-white dragon Legendary leaned down to get a closer look at the two Vulpix as Six Paws backed up a couple steps. “What brings you here then, Guildmaster?”

“Guil – he’s a part of your Guild?!” Six Paws’ voice went suddenly shrill.

“All Legendaries that I’ve met are honorary members,” Maria replied. “I told you he was a friend of mine.”

“Indeed; our world owes her a great debt for seeing what the rest of us could not see.” Palkia paused. “I assume this is not a social call.”

Maria shook her head. “I’m…I’m ready to go back. To the human world, I mean. I’m not gonna recover my memories as they are staying here; I have to be among my own kind again.”

Palkia nodded. “Very well then. And your…ally?”

“I also need to be among humans.” Six Paws stepped forward, moment of shock left behind. “There is something that I have to do, and being here, where I cannot reach the resources I require, will only hinder my mission.”

Palkia gained a lidded gaze at Six Paws’ words. “Ah, you are that kind of traveler then. You will not find what you seek on this world, but I can send you to a place that you can find what you require.”

Palkia reared back his head and roared, and the space in front of Six Paws rippled, tearing open into a pulsing rip in space.

“Go!”

“My thanks!” Six Paws nodded, then looked over at Maria and gave her a nod. “Good luck.”

“And the same to you.” Maria grinned. “Kick that monster’s tail so hard he goes flying into the next dimension!”

Six Paws grunted, then leapt into the rift. As soon as he collided and passed through it, his body started to change. Maria wasn’t able to see much beyond his tails disappearing as he grew taller before the rift closed tightly behind him.

“Do you think I’m gonna see him again in the human world?” Maria looked up at Palkia.

“I doubt that you will. I sent him to another world entirely.”

Maria’s eyes widened sharply at that. “You what? How? Why?”

“What we have here would not be of assistance to him.” Palkia paused. “You have all your own affairs in order as well?”

Maria blinked, then nodded a little. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m ready. Just – before I go – do you think I’ll run into Six Paws again? As a human?”

Palkia tilted his head slightly. “That is hard to say. He travels between worlds as easily as you have crossed time. You may meet someone like him, in the future, but I doubt that you will see the one known as Six Paws again.”

Maria sighed, then nodded a little. “I guess he has his own adventure to go on, huh?”

“Indeed. I cannot see beyond this world to know what is in store for him, but I know enough of his plight to know you will not have any hand in assisting him in his present goal. Now, you are set to return to the human world. I have taken the liberty of choosing your destination. Are you prepared?”

Maria closed her eyes and took in a breath, steeling herself, then opened her eyes again and nodded. “I am.”

Palkia roared again, and another rip in space appeared in the air. “Go, then!”

Maria didn’t need any more encouragement; she crouched, then leapt into the rip in space with a determined yell as her vision went dark.

Chapter Text

With the teetering tower behind them, and Dialga now working at recovering from the corrupting influence of that had plagued him, Maria felt a great sense of accomplishment.

The world was saved.

But at the same time, that meant that creatures from a future that no longer existed couldn’t exist in the present. Especially when the future those creatures came from was no longer set to happen.

It hurt the Vulpix to see the look of shock and horror on her friend’s face as her body started to feel the pull of a new future, to give her a reset, to make her disappear, but there wasn’t anything she could do. Any energy she had left was spent on final words, and then--

“Pika, good—”

Maria lost her voice as her body dissolved into nothing as her vision went dark. The last thing she saw was a distraught Pikachu wearing a red scarf, reaching towards her as her body disappeared from the now saved present.

She felt her paws lose their footing, and closed her eyes to the darkness as she tucked her paws in. She didn’t know what was going to happen next, but if she was going to hit hard ground, she wanted to make sure she didn’t break any limbs in the process. Or, maybe she could just go to sleep instead, and let the darkness completely take her.

And yet, something itched at the back of her mind. It kept her from resting, and it kept turning her mind back to some static-filled spot in her memory.

She…she could remember meeting Grovyle in the future, but the perspective was strange. And he didn’t trust her. Why was that?

-There you are, child-

Maria jolted at the sudden voice in her head. She looked up sharply, expecting to be met with darkness or some small light.

She was not expecting the large, green-and-red eye of a being much, much larger than herself.

Maria yelped and scrambled back, or tried to – floating in darkness meant no place for her feet to grip, and she was left spinning in air as she tried to get a look at the being in front of her.

An unseen force gripped her – tightly, but gently – and brought Maria back to an upright position in front of the giant face that was attached to the large eye she’d seen. The fact that the being had two eyes on either side of his giant face was not lost on her.

“A-ah…”

-Be not afraid. I am not here to bring you harm-

Maria’s tails flared out behind her despite the being’s words. They were so big that she couldn’t see the whole of their being, and she still felt tired and worn from her fight against Primal Dialga. Not to mention, she was completely alone.

“Wh-who – what—”

-I am Arceus, walker of worlds. I have been watching your path, and the events you have changed-

As they spoke, Maria’s tails slowly relaxed. Okay, so they weren’t attacking her right away in this space, but the words they were picking were confusing.

“Walker of worlds?” Maria repeated. “I don’t understand. Do you mean the fact that I’m a time traveler?”

-No. There is far more to you than just your traveling from a future that no longer exists- Arceus moved their head slightly, eyeing Maria’s little Vulpix form more closely. -I sense you do not remember the past that brought you to the present-

That was a confusing statement.

-If you were to return your time, you would remember that which you have forgotten. However, your journey is not yet over-

“It’s not?”

-No. There are more events you are needed to change. And…there is someone who misses you dearly-

It didn’t take a lot to know who Arceus was talking about. “Pika.”

-Indeed. Dialga prepares even now to call you back to the present, to bring you back to your friend. Whether or not he calls you back, however, relies solely on you-

Maria blinked a couple times. She could go back? She could be with her friends?

“But…what about the memories I’m missing?” Maria asked. “Will I not be able to remember them?”

-Your memories will still return to you in time, young world walker. You will regain that which you always carry- A glowing, golden light came from somewhere behind Arceus’ head.

“Okay.” Maria nodded. “Is…is Dialga calling now?”

-He is. Are you prepared?-

Maria nodded again. “Absolutely.”

-Then go. Return to the present you fought so hard to save-

The golden light become brighter, completely destroying the darkness around them.

Before the light overtook Maria’s vision, she thought she saw a golden wheel behind Arceus’ head, almost like a halo.

When the light cleared, she was standing on a familiar beach, still sore and tired from her fight with Dialga. And standing in front of her, staring in shock, was her friend and teammate.

Pika immediately burst into tears and grabbed Maria in a hug.  “You’re back! You’re okay!”

Maria held back a wince as her bruises felt her friend’s weight. “Y-yeah. Yeah. I’m back.” She patted him on the arm with a paw, glad that he’d seemingly recovered since the bought with Dialga. “How long—”

“It doesn’t matter,” Pika said. “But you’re back. You’re back, and things are right again.” He pulled out of the hug, grinning. “Come on – let’s get back to the guild hall. Everybody’s gonna be happy to see you again.”

Maria smiled back and nodded, and the two of them started up the beach towards Treasure Town. “I’m gonna be happy to see them, too, but I think a nap might be in order.”

“A nap?” Pika looked back in confusion, then did a double-take. “I – you – oh. Oh. Maria, what were you—”

“I just…I think I got teleported across time straight to you after I disappeared from Temporal Tower.” Maria frowned, then tilted her head. “It…it feels like something might have happened in between, but I can’t remember it too well.”

Pika looked startled. “Oh. Oh dear. Then we’re definitely getting you in bed as soon as possible. Come on – you can lean against me. We can take it slow.”

“I appreciate it.” Maria took Pika’s offer and leaned her shoulder against him. They started moving forward slowly, more for her sake than his. “I feel sore all over.”

“Yeah. I remember. We’re gonna get you to bed so you can sleep.” Pika was definitely still crying, with how much his voice was shaking. “You’re back, and things are finally gonna be okay.”

Maria hummed in agreement. “Yeah. Absolutely.”