It started storming on August 27th.

The week before had been a thoroughly relaxing break, and one that was much needed. For the past month I had been rushing to get to Eterna City in order to make it there before the Quadrathlon, with various distractions and side-quests to keep pulling me off track.

I had teleported into Eterna City on the 20th of August, and there were a good ten days until the Quadrathlon actually began, which gave me more than enough time to actually stop and relax without worrying about making it on time.

Rei had been ecstatic to see me when I finally texted her a couple of days after we teleported into Eterna, and had taken Ted and I on a lighting-fast tour of the city. Being the sleepy city that it was, the tour was actually rather short, but that was fine.

She also had given me a fascinating explanation of the Quadrathlon, and the larger celebrations across Sinnoh that heralded the beginning of the Pokémon League season and the opening of the Gyms to challengers.

Every major city in Sinnoh, which meant the cities that had a Pokémon Gym, always held an annual event that depended on that city's cultural cornerstone. Canalave city was known for their canal boat competition that ran down the length of the city, with all of the boats fashioned to look like different Pokémon.

Snowpoint City held a snow-and-ice sculpture competition, and Sunnyshore was locally famous for their beach bash.

According to Ted it was nothing like the beaches of Hoenn, which he claimed were the best in the entire world. From what I remembered of the games that certainly could have had some truth to it, but privately I wondered how much of that was regional pride at work.

For the residents of Eterna City, however, their local event was the Quadrathlon. There were four sections to it, a four kilometer swim, a twenty kilometer run, and a horrifically long 120 kilometer bike ride, all the way across the entire length of the Cycling Road. After that was over, the contestants would have a Pokémon tournament among the top eight contestants. Of course, because this was the Pokémon world, the Trainers had to swim, run, and bike alongside their Pokémon the entire way.

Interestingly enough, Oreburgh and Eterna actually shared the event as their celebration, trading off which city was the starting location. This year the swimming and running sections would be held in Oreburgh City, then the competitors would bike to Eterna City where they would participate in the battling section.

Next year, it would swap, and the contestants would start in Eterna City and bike down to Oreburgh.

It was the craziest endurance event I had ever heard of, and the distances involved made my muscles hurt just thinking about it.

It was something that I thought would be seen in Veilstone City, since Maylene was the Fighting-type Gym specialist, but apparently they had a martial arts competition instead.

Thankfully I didn’t have to actually participate in the Quadrathlon at all, and I was just here to cheer on Rei and Yoshio, her Tyrogue.

The week was also a good way to start getting to know Kōjin, which was important because I didn’t really know what to make of him. He was more skittish than I was expecting him to be, and while he was happy enough to be out of his Poké Ball when it was just my Pokémon and I, as soon as we would come near a large group of people he would whine and beg to be put back into his Ball.

I was also becoming increasingly convinced that he’d had at least some kind of contact with humans before now. Zetian and Venus had both required some explanation of the Poké Ball, but Kōjin had understood it right off the bat, and didn’t seem surprised or fascinated by the eccentricities of modern technology.

Whether his skittishness around large groups of people was due to prior experiences or just a natural inclination, I wasn’t sure. I had talked to a nurse about it when I was getting some advice about what kind of food Kōjin should eat, and they had given me some tips to help acclimate him to a lot of people.

Kōjin was taking to battling well. He didn’t have the same vaguely concerning thirst for battling that Zetian did, but he was much more into it than Venus, who seemed to prefer sleeping over exercising.

To be fair, I couldn’t blame her.

I wasn’t sure how soon it would take for Kōjin to be ready to battle in a more professional environment. He was very good at listening to orders when I told him exactly what I wanted him to do, but he wasn’t very good yet at interpreting vague commands. As I’d learned from Rei and Ted, the more vague an order was, the harder it would be for an opponent to counter it.

At the same time, if Kōjin couldn’t interpret the order to begin with… it wasn’t very useful of a strategy.

I hoped he would be feeling ready to battle Gardenia when the Pokémon League season opened up at the beginning of September, his Fire typing would be a huge help. I also wasn't going to push him if he wasn’t feeling ready.

Of course, all of our preparations were useless when the storms came.

At first the rain storms were seen as a late summer oddity. The weather was already starting to turn a little chilly, but some rain wasn’t too unusual.

After the third straight day in a row of constant downpours, people started to get a little worried. On the fourth day, the last day of August and the supposed beginning of the Quadrathlon, the rains only got worse.

The event was canceled, much to Rei’s disappointment. She’d called me from the Pokémon Center in Oreburgh City to complain, which I sympathized with. Rei had spent the entire year preparing for the Quadrathlon, only to find out it was canceled at the last minute.

Unfortunately, I also had to agree with the event coordinators that now probably wasn’t the best time to be having a competition. The cycling road had been shut down because there was so much water on the road that it wasn’t safe to bike on, and the wilderness paths they would have been running on were essentially nothing but mud now.

The local Pokémon were going crazy over the weather, which didn’t make things better. All of the Trainers’ Pokémon, including mine and Ted’s, were getting increasingly anxious and snippy as the rain kept falling. Fire-types had it the worst, and poor Kōjin was so miserable that I had to keep him in his Poké Ball for most of the day.

The Grass-types were ecstatic at first to be getting so much water, but soon even they were becoming clearly uncomfortable, and turned sloth-like without the sun to provide them energy. There was one Trainer who even had to rush his Maractus into the Pokémon Center because its feet had started to rot from so much water.

Even Venus, who had loved frolicking in the rain and the puddles at the beginning of the week, had soon grown obviously uncomfortable with how unnatural the storm was.

I was strumming on my guitar in my room at the Pokémon Center, all of my companions asleep in their Balls, when a pounding came from my door.

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Carefully I got up and opened it, only to see Ted standing there, face pale.

“You have to see this.”

/^\

There was a crowd that had formed in the lobby of the Pokémon Center as Ted brought me down, everybody staring in silence at the TV screen mounted on the wall.

It was airing some kind of camera footage, and there was a red blinking “LIVE” in the corner of the screen.

The camera zoomed in and out jerkily, frantically trying to keep the scene in focus. The video was obviously being taken from a helicopter or a flying Pokémon of some kind, providing a birds-eye view.

“This is Gabby, from Hoenn TV.” A woman said from off-camera, with fear in her voice. “With me is my trusty cameraman Ty, and we’re coming at you live with breaking footage from Sootopolis City.”

Waves crashed against the white stone that made up the city’s buildings as rain and lightning filled the sky. In the large body of water in the center of the city there was a massive form lurking just below the water, glowing yellow lines visible even underneath the choppy water.

“We’re not… I’m not sure what’s going on exactly.” Gabby said. “The city was evacuated two days ago due to massive flooding in the region, but as you can see, a group of Trainers are still present.”

The view on the television zoomed in rapidly to a small island with a massive tree, where a small group of people and Pokémon were standing, staring at the form underneath the water.

I swallowed as the cameraman desperately tried to get them in focus. They were wearing different clothes, and they obviously looked different than in the anime, but I recognized them all.

The two siblings May and Max, the Rock Solid Pokémon Trainer Brock, and of course - Ash Ketchum.

Even if only a fraction of the events of the anime were actually true, if there was anybody who could be called this world’s hero, it would be him.

In the brief moments that Ty was able to keep the camera stable enough to get a clear view, I saw that Ash was older than in the show. Obviously they had kept him at about the same age, but here he had grown up. He looked to be about seventeen years old, but his short, messy black hair was unmistakable, as was the ancient, weatherbeaten hat on his head. Everybody’s clothes were completely soaked with the pouring rain, but he stood proud as he shouted something unheard at the Pokémon in the water.

On his shoulder, face set in an intense expression, was the famous electric rodent himself - Pikachu. Barely perceptible electric sparks sporadically emitted from his cheeks, and it managed to keep remarkably stable on Ash’s shoulder as he threw his arm out dramatically, obviously saying some anime protagonist speech.

“We’re not sure how they managed to get into Sootopolis considering that the Champion Steven Stone himself locked down the island, but - wait, there’s the Champion now! Along with Sootopolis Gym Leader Wallace and, wait, who’s that with them?

The camera view whirled as Ty tried to focus on the new scene, but the helicopter was obviously unstable. Eventually after a sickening moment the video settled somewhat to show a serious looking Steven Stone walking out of the Cave of Origin, flanked on one side by Wallace and the other by…

Zinnia?

The view was unsteady, but it sure looked like Zinnia from the Delta Episode of the Hoenn remasters. Black hair and a long gray cloak were the most obvious tells, but I was pretty sure it was her.

Wallace looked as extravagant as ever, but instead of his usual bubbly personality he strode forwards resolutely, tension clear in his body.

The two groups met up, stopping to talk to each other. Gabby’s narration continued to fill the air, but I couldn’t pay much attention to what she was saying.

Ash’s conversation was cut off as another form emerged from the water, a blue submarine surfacing in the storming seas.

The top hatch opened, and my blood chilled as a figure stepped out.

“It's Archie!” Gabby said, incredulously. “The notorious terrorist who’s been number one on the most-wanted list in Hoenn ever since the events of last month! Is he behind all of this?”

He held up a glowing object, and my heart sank as Ty focused on it. It was the Blue Orb.

The two sides shouted things at each other, but I could tell that it was going nowhere. Archie threw his head back in a noiseless laugh, and raised both his arms, lifting the Blue Orb up high.

The sea in the center of Sootopolis City, already choppy and filled with waves, grew even more violent as the other form emerged from the water.

Primal Kyogre.

Even over a thousand miles away and through a television screen, I shuddered in terror. It was completely instinctual, a pure reaction to seeing something that defied comprehension.

This wasn’t just a regular Pokémon. This was the closest thing to a god that I’d ever seen, and my body reacted appropriately.

The rest of the room seemed to feel the same, a soft susurration of dismay and fear spreading through the Pokémon Center. Some people, mostly the old and the young, seemed to have more of a reaction, turning away from the screen or breaking out into tears. Of all the people I could see, Ted seemed to have the least reaction, but I guessed that hanging around a Dragon all the time was probably a good way to become more inured to fear.

Amazingly, the group in the video footage didn’t seem to have nearly as big of a reaction as we did. Steven, Wallace, and Zinnia were taken aback, but not anything else. Brock seemed shaken, and May and Max were holding each other, but of all of them, Ash seemed the most unaffected. He shouted something in response to Archie, and held something up in his own hand.

The camera caught a glimpse of something glowing softly, the colors running together into a rainbow.

The entire screen shuddered with static as the cameraman tried to zoom in, but whatever Ash was holding seemed to react poorly with the camera, and after a second the feed cut out.

Everybody stared in rapt silence at the TV screen, until it cut back to a shaken newscaster in a studio, face pale underneath his makeup.

“That was… That was a live feed from Hoenn TV.” He said, trying to regain his breath. “We’re not sure what that was or what happened, but we will keep you informed as events continue to develop.”

He droned on, and the tension in the room dropped almost instantly, like a marionette with its strings cut.

People everywhere let out shaky breaths, and in a corner a baby started crying.

“Jesus.” I said, running a hand through my hair. “That was…”

“Intense?” Ted asked.

“Yeah. That’s one word for it.”

Ted grimaced, and pulled out his phone. “If you’ll excuse me, I have to call Professor Birch. Maybe he’ll know more about what’s going on.”

He stepped away with his phone to his ear, and I let out a long breath. Venus was by my side, and her ears perked up.

She started batting at my leg, and I absent-mindely knelt down to stroke her fur.

Primal Reversion. That madman Archie had gone through with it. I had thought that the crackdowns on Teams Magma and Aqua would have prevented him from achieving his goal, but apparently not.

The problem was, there was nothing I could actually do about it anymore. I’d told Professor Rowan everything I could, and he’d spread that information to the people who needed it.

But I wasn’t in Hoenn, I was over a thousand miles away with no hope of getting there in time. I didn’t have any way to call Rayquaza down to stop Kyogre.

I just had to have faith that Ash and friends would be able to calm a raging god.

Venus yipped, and the ground rumbled.

“Was that an earthquake?” I asked as a chorus of concerned voices echoed my question throughout the Pokémon Center.

Ted nodded, walking back over and returning his phone to his pocket. “A small one. They’re pretty common around these parts, but most of the time they’re too small to be felt.”

I’d never been through an earthquake before. “Maybe-”

The ground shook again, this time a long, protracted shudder that knocked several people down.

“It’s the mountain!” Somebody near the windows shouted. “Get away from the glass!”

The crowd of people started to panic, and I was buffeted by people running away from the windows and doors of the Center.

“Alina!” Ted called from somewhere nearby, but there were too many people.

Someone crashed into me, knocking me to the ground.

Venus! I struggled for the Poké Ball at my waist, and managed to click the center button, recalling her in a flash of light.

Through the mass of people trying to get to safety, I could just barely see out a window from my spot on the floor. Mount Coronet, so close to Eterna City, looked… different.

Then something hard struck my head, and everything went black.