The Orange Islands - Kanto/Johto Region of Japan
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Connor Gladstone had come to the center of the Orange Islands of Japan for one reason. Like many other Trainers, he'd heard the legends of the Guardian of the Sea, a Lugia who was supposed to be stronger than any other in the world.
As a rule, its species was stronger than most, and rare enough to be considered a legend, but this particular Lugia was older, and stronger, than others encountered by Trainers. Not unlike Unova's Rayquaza.
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Connor had arrived on the island, parlayed with the locals, and now, he was on his way to Lightning Island, home of Zapdos, supposedly. The other two islands had noticeably lacked Moltres or Articuno. He departed in the boat he'd rented, grabbed the yellow crystalline sphere at the shrine, and then searched for Zapdos. Like the others, it was nowhere to be found.
After heading back to the islanders, they pointed him in the direction of Slowking's shrine. The more he spoke with them, the more he was convinced they weren't telling him something, especially after not finding the legendary birds. He went to the shrine anyways, placed the colored spherical gems in the only structure that could hold them, and waited.
And waited.
The islands were gorgeous in autumn, but as the sun began to set, and deprive him of a view, he wondered if he'd have to wait all night. He was willing to, of course. He needed a Pokémon to rival Alex and Tao, and you didn't just find one on Tao's level sitting around. He'd wait all night if he had to.
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It was as he thought that thought, that the voice spoke. "You won't find him." Connor turned, eyebrow raised. A Slowking stood behind him. If rumor was to be believed, he was the shrine's caretaker. Nothing to worry about, then. "You won't find him." He repeated, "You don't have the song."
"So teach it to me." Connor replied, standing and turning in one fluid motion.
The Slowking sighed. "It won't matter if I do. The Guardian isn't here." Its offspring was, guiding and keeping the ocean's current in balance while its parent was away, but this Trainer didn't need to know that. Humans had a tendency of disrupting the balance, if it meant gaining power. The same one had tried twice to capture the Guardian of the Sea. The second attempt had cost that human his life.
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Connor's brow rose further. "Then where is it?"
The Slowking gave him a look. "You already have the answer to that."
Connor sighed. The rumors were true, then. He was part of that Trainer's team, and trying to find information on Ash Ketchum was a rabbit hole that everyone went down, eventually, but few ever managed to actually find him. He'd done more in his tenth year than most Trainers did in seven. He didn't stay in one place often. "Then where are the birds?"
"Gone. Tamed, most likely, though the ones you're thinking of left long ago, after the second incident. Zapdos might still be around. I saw it a week past, during a storm." In truth, the storm had been the product of a Legendary electric type, Slowking hadn't seen Zapdos itself. But this human didn't need to know that, either.
"Zapdos it is, then." Connor sighed, and turned to leave. It wasn't Lugia, it wasn't even Moltres, the bird he would've preferred, but it was better than leaving empty handed.
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The Slowking watched the Trainer go, and sighed. Many like him had come over the years. Repeated the ritual, best they knew how, and then left empty handed. The islanders had adapted, after the second incident perpetrated by the same man had made national headlines.
They charged such Trainers exorbitant fees to rent a room or a boat, or even to eat. That had driven most of them off, but this Trainer didn't seem bothered by it. He'd likely leave empty handed too.
Slowking sighed again, watching the sun fade completely, and as he did, he noticed something. The lightning orb had begun to glow, though the others remained dormant. He knew Moltres and Articuno had left, as had Zapdos. He couldn't rightly figure out why it was glowing now.
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The villagers greeted Connor's return from the shrine with the same passiveness, and fully expected him to leave. When he asked for a boat to go out again, they denied him, and he shocked them all by calling out Gren, and surfing away on his narrow back, despite the oncoming thunderstorm on the horizon. It promised to be a powerful one, but Connor ignored the islander's warnings. Great Trainers were not dissuaded by something as simple as bad weather.
It was hard going, as his Trainer was stocky, and Greninja were, as a rule, not big enough for a comfortable ride. They managed, as Gren was quite strong. Connor recalled him once they made landfall on Lightning Island, and began heading towards the shrine again.
Once there, he climbed to a nearby hill of sorts to the right of the thunder shrine, blinking in surprise as he realized it was metal he was now standing on. Rusted and old, he examined it further and realized it was likely one of the two floating palaces that had come to this region seeking Lugia. He only looked away when he heard the boom of thunder overhead, and noticed the sky was now dark with angry looking clouds.
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Lightning flashed, and though he was momentarily blinded, a figure atop one of the nearby cliffs lining the shrine appeared once the blindness faded. It roared at him, and thunder boomed through the area again. Most Trainers would've been awed, but Connor simply grinned.
It made some sense. If the birds were captured or migrating, then what Pokémon would be better for watching over their energy filled homes than Ho-Oh's own trio? Connor blinked, and leapt off the pile of rusted metal, landing before the shrine. He pulled out his Unova style Pokédex, double checking the entry for the Pokémon he suspected now stood before him.
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It was Raikou, of that there was no question, but this one was orange. That, too, made some sense. The current Champion of Kanto and Johto's Pokémon League was rumored to use the three 'Legendary Beasts' as they were sometimes called.
Raikou's eyes lit up with psychic power, and Connor's grin only widened as he heard its voice in his head. "You wish to tame the essence of lightning…" The massive thunder Pokémon leapt from the cliff, and landed before him with a deep snarl. "You can certainly try…"
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Connor had no illusions about who he'd need to use for this particular battle. Gar, his Garchomp, was the obvious choice for his type advantage, but Connor had a feeling Earthquake and Dig wouldn't be effective against a Pokémon as fast as Raikou.
He went for his fastest then, and called out his Infernape, Ardor. Gren was technically the fastest, but he knew no amount of tricks would help this kind of type disadvantage. This was a Legendary Pokémon. Unlike most members of his species, Ardor's fur was crimson not orange, and as he saw what his opponent was, the flame on his head swelled.
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Raikou started the battle, with lightning arcing from the clouds on his back. Ardor had decided to use a Mach Punch, before his Trainer could call it, and Connor sighed. His Infernape had a tendency to battle on his own instinct, and take things too far. It was a theme, with fire types. Even those who were well trained.
There was a reason he'd kept the impulsive ape around, though. He dodged the electric attacks easily, and while a normal punch wouldn't normally do all that much, this one hit Raikou's jaw with unerring accuracy and a lot more power. Enough to daze him, for a moment.
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"Close Combat!" The Infernape fell into a stance for his own unique style of fighting which his Trainer had nicknamed the 'Iron Fist', and as each of the fighting type hits from his legs and feet landed, Raikou seemed to take them without an issue.
"Is that all you have?" Thunder boomed with its' telepathic words. "Come! Give me a challenge!" It roared again, and the heavens seemed to shake with the force of it. The fact that it could speak wasn't necessarily unusual, not to Connor, anyways.
Most Legendary Pokémon had some kind of latent psychic potential. He did wonder who taught it Common, though. It attacked then, with a Thunder Fang, and Ardor's hands lit up with fire as he caught the manifested electric jaws, and struggled to keep them from closing on him.
Ardor looked back to his Trainer, for once, seeking guidance. His Trainer nodded. "Do it." The Infernape leapt back, narrowly dodging the fangs as they clashed shut, and then lunged forward again. Instead of a punch however, this time, he used a kick. His foot was enveloped with fire as he slid under Raikou's guard, and then launched the Blaze Kick upwards into the Legendary tiger's chin.
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"Now, Fire Punch!" The force of the kick had actually managed to lift the legendary beast off the ground, onto his back legs, and Ardor let his momentum carry him as he arched his back, and flipped backwards from the kick. His fist was enveloped in flame then, and he let it carry him to his target, hitting the tiger-like beast directly in the chest.
There was a thunderous crash as the Raikou was sent backwards into one of the nearby rock faces. It rose from the rubble then, and took a different approach. The Raikou leapt onto the pile of rusted metal, and electric sparks ran through it, making its outline obvious.
It took Connor a moment to realize that was indeed one of the airships that had almost caused a global unbalancing of the ocean current. It had to be the first. There hadn't been anything left of the second. Several bolts of electricity hit the metal as they arced down from the clouds, and then curved towards Raikou, who redirected them towards his opponent.
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They were fast, and relentless, all Ardor could do was dodge. Every time he tried to approach Raikou's perch, it attacked with Thunder, scorching the ground before it. Eventually, it grew tired of being dodged by the agile ape, and once more changed tactics. The electricity clung to the Legendary Beast's form, and then expanded in a circular wave of energy. A Discharge.
Knowing that kind of hit would put them at even more of a disadvantage, Connor acted. "Get some height, then Blaze Kick through it!" Ardor moved quickly, climbing the shrine itself and leaping. The wave of energy was almost upon him once he'd gotten the kick going, but it pushed back against the attack, and hit him regardless.
The flames had been unable to push through the wall of electric power, and Ardor hit the ground hard. Rain began to fall from the darkened clouds, and given the region they were in, it soon increased in its intensity. Ardor's flame weakened, but both he and the Raikou were panting. Connor eyed both of them, and nodded. It was time to finish this.
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Raikou sensed the end of this bout coming as well, and another Discharge formed around its body. This next round would decide it. Ardor met his opponent's gaze, and the flame on his head swelled…and swelled. He didn't like losing, and he wasn't going to let this so-called Legendary Beast show him up. He let the flames engulf him, and roared, pounding his chest in challenge.
"Fire Punch!" Connor called the move as the Discharge came, and Ardor's burning fist finally managed to push through it. He was better at punching, then kicking. The flames around his body kept most of the damage from him, but he was holding on by a thread. One more hit would likely knock him out.
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The comet-like form of the fire ape slammed into Raikou, who caught the attack with his Thunder Fang. Both Pokémon winced as fire and electricity battled for supremacy, distracting the thunder Pokémon long enough for a Pokéball to slip past its defenses.
Raikou's eyes widened in surprise, and as its form was called into the ball, Ardor fell to one knee, shivering with paralysis.
The Ultra Ball had a great success rate that had only improved over the years, as the technology was perfected. Technically, the one Connor had thrown was the third generation, the newest, and the one that had a catch rate almost as good as the Master Ball's.
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The ball dinged shut, and once it did, Ardor collapsed, only to be caught by his Trainer, who had sped forward both to catch his Pokémon, and retrieve his prize. "Well done, Ardor." He said quietly, as he grabbed Raikou's ball. He recalled the fainted Infernape after feeding it a Max Revive, and let him rest.
Then, he called out his newest addition. The large, tiger-like Pokémon eyed him as he approached, and snarled as a Max Potion was applied to his wounds. Connor crossed his arms then. "If I take you from here, will the islands be out of balance?"
Those who knew of the incidents that had occurred here always knew just enough to be dangerous, but luckily, maintaining the balance of power between the three islands was common knowledge, and Trainers from all over Japan were ready to fly down and maintain it should it be disrupted.
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The Raikou shook its head. "There are other Guardians. One will come."
Connor nodded, trusting the Legendary Pokémon to understand such things better than he could. It was rumored that Raikou traveled by way of thunderbolts, and nothing he'd seen seemed to contradict that.
"Alright, then you're coming with me. We're going to Kalos…but first, a question. Who taught you to Battle like that? And to speak the Human tongue?" The large beast seemed to smirk at his new Trainer.
"One who, like you, had the drive and the power to rival a dragon." Despite not getting the Lugia he'd wanted, Connor grinned, as he heard that.
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Four Days Later…
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Getting to Kalos all the way from the Orange Islands had taken longer than he'd wanted. Luckily, his new Raikou had the ability to dissipate storms, which had made crossing the enormous Mediterra mountain range much easier. He would've gone the other way, through Unova, but the Arceans of the Fornia region were very particular about who they let through their air space, and given that they controlled the entire coast, more or less, no pilot was willing to risk trying to sneak past.
Though they denied it, the Arceans had a tendency to have numerous 'accidents' from aircraft that tried to pass over their waters, but the desert of Orre, and their ability to suppress information, kept anyone from tying them to the accidents. As it was currently, only fellow Arceans and certain people from certain parts of the Sinnoh region were allowed through.
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He'd eventually crossed the mountains, visited home for the holiday for a few days, and after hearing that Alex was skipping Festivus in favor of training, had returned to Gaulia to do much the same. He could always return for the end of the holiday, and the start of the new year.
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As he looked around the front of the airport, he sighed. Technically, he was in southern Kalos, a region sometimes called Gaulia. He'd switched out his Eelektross, Tonitrus, in favor of Raikou, and while he knew ground type attacks would once again be a pain to deal with, this particular Raikou had informed him that he could handle such things.
Apparently, he had been the Pokémon of a master Black Belt in the region of Hoenn for many years, and together, they had developed a style of martial arts that even now the Legendary Pokémon was teaching him.
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He'd come to Gaulia to continue his training. The Kalos League was set to start just before the end of Festivus, which gave him roughly two months to prepare for it. He already had the badges, now all he had to do was pass the Kalos Conference, and then take on the Four. Given the strength of their Champion, the Kalos League was considered almost as hard as Unova's.
As he made his way towards the village of ninja-esque Trainers who had originally trained both himself and his Greninja, he resolved to visit home at least once before the League started. He knew Alex was training as well, though he'd been less than forthcoming with the details. It didn't matter. If he could beat Alain, his neighbor would be no challenge.
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The village elders welcomed him back with little ceremony, and a bit of hesitance. Once he showed them his new instructor, they agreed to let him stay. Many of his fellow trainees, who had never stopped training, were eager to learn this new fighting style as well. Raikou taught all who were willing to try, but he had an eye for those who could not handle it.
It was perfect for someone like Connor, with his large frame and honed swiftness, but those with smaller builds were eventually turned away by Raikou. His style involved combining speed and power in explosive demonstrations of force.
Those who had weaker bodies would never master his techniques. He did direct them to masters who could make use of their strengths, and before long, every trainee not learning 'Raikou Style' martial arts was sent off across the world to find an appropriate master with the word of a Raikou vouching for their competence.
The village elders didn't seem to mind, nor did their families. The world was connected like it had never been before, and even though the developer of the Pokémon Storage system, Bill, was still working on a human teleportation device, one akin to the one used for Pokéballs, there were other ways of returning home quickly. The village elders often spoke with Raikou, and they took the Legendary Pokémon's advice without hesitation.
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Two Months Later…
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The training had been long, difficult, and in the end, only Connor and a few other students were deemed 'masters' of Raikou's fighting style. At the end of the two month wait, Connor was the only one who left the village, garbed in the black and white garment given to children of the village who were seen as particularly strong, and wise. He hadn't earned it the first time he'd left, but he was ready for the Kalos League now.
His team had filled out nicely as well, as both his Grovyle, Itharius, and his Kadabra, Sophos, had evolved. While the rest of his team were now all as fast as he was, Gren remained the strongest by far. Only Sophos was unable to keep up with the rest, but after learning to levitate himself with his psychic power, he could keep up with all of them. He'd switched out Uniclus for Sophos, as Alakazam could actually Mega Evolve, and were quite strong with special attacks, something sorely needed on his team of fast, physical strikers. His goofy Reuniclus had simply been too slow.
Once Connor left the village, he set about looking for crystals, shards of Elemental Plates from a fallen incarnation of Arceus. Naturally, finding such things was difficult, at best, but he did have some luck after doing a bit of research.
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Usually, such shards were found near the sites of massive planet-ending asteroid impacts that had been mitigated by the power of the Alpha Pokémon. Whenever a crisis that was capable of destroying the planet came about, it was always mitigated, somehow, by an unknown power.
Researchers had attributed it to Legendary Pokémon like Rayquaza, but every so often he found a reference to a catastrophe that was far beyond a Sky Guardian's ability to handle. In the end, he managed to find a Psychium crystal by wandering the forests near the edge of the Mediterra mountains.
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He came across a Delphox, a wild one no less, and only after defeating it with Gren's aid did he realize that he recognized it. With Sophos translating, he was able to inform the distraught and beaten Pokémon that the Fennekin it was searching for was in good hands, with a good Trainer, and had already become a Delphox herself.
He spent the night in the Delphox's hut, and promised to inform his sister as to the whereabouts of it so that parent and offspring could see each other again someday. Before leaving, the psychic fox gave him a crystal, and a reading of his future. Much like Professor Oak, she told him to head to Kalos. All roads lead there, it seemed.
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He traveled to the gyms quickly, meeting with the Gym Leaders, who made sure he was still competent enough for the League challenge. He mainly used Sophos for these battles, as his Mega Form was slowly becoming strong enough to handle just about any challenger. As his strength grew, so too did his intellect, and by the time they came back to Lumiose for the conference, he was speaking in short sentences with Common words.
A year's difference didn't really affect the quality of Trainer in the conference, and Connor managed to once more beat whoever he came up against, although this time, he didn't rely on Gren alone. He used his Sceptile and Infernape respectively, and kept his ace hidden, saving his strength for the final battle with the Champion.
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The conference ended the week before the end of Festivus, and on the last day, Connor once more challenged the Four…or he would have, if he hadn't been interrupted before he could face his first opponent.
The Festivus celebrations in Kalos were as enjoyable as the ones in Unova, but this year, security was relatively lax. With the Four and their undefeated Champion, Alain, the locals didn't worry about another Team Flare incident, and even if one did occur, they were sure their Champion would handle it.
It was as Connor was taking the elevator up to his first opponent that the entire castle-like building shook. Upon reaching the Elite Four member's chamber, the inhabitant within stepped off of the red throne, and joined him on the elevator. "I'm very sorry challenger, but your Battle will have to wait until this disturbance is dealt with."
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The rumors had said that Serena was lovely, and even as a woman several decades ahead of him, that fact remained true, as age had yet to so much as turn her gray. Being one of the defenders of Kalos, Serena had taken the place of Malva when her ties to Team Flare were discovered. He'd beaten her easily with Gren a year earlier, though he didn't assume victory would be that easy this time around.
Once outside the League's building, she called out her Delphox as the source of the sudden attack on the stadium became clear. "What is that?" She said, pointing towards the sky.
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Anyone who'd grown up in Unova, or the regions surrounding it, knew well the ominous outline of the infamous Plasma Frigate. While the airship that now moved over the stadium did indeed resemble that ship, it was newer, and fundamentally changed in design. Like most airships, it now had proper wings, complete with tandem rotor blades embedded in the wings for sustained hovering.
"That, madam, is a flying ship." Connor spoke softly, glaring at the black metal aircraft. "Team Plasma used one like it a few decades ago to freeze Opelucid…but it's different somehow…" His eyes noticed it then.
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Instead of plasma-sails, the 'mast' on the airship's deck was now an enormous t-shaped block of metal, supporting a symbol that was easily recognized. The Symbol of Arceus, all in gold, of course.
"Team Plasma was disbanded though." Serena looked back up at the ship, "So who is piloting it?" Connor called out Raikou then, who growled low as the ship came closer.
"I know that mark…" His psychic baritone rang in his Trainer's skull. While the symbol of Arceus was widely used by those who still clung to systems of worship around him left over from the Dark Times, the Arcean's had made their own variation unique by placing the golden symbol over a t-shaped cross.
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Once the airship was above the League building, the rest of the Four, including the Champion, came out to the front entrance. Alain and Connor locked eyes, briefly, before his Charizard joined them, alongside numerous other Pokémon from the other members of the Four.
A voice echoed from the ship then, and Connor spied a loudspeaker attached to the top of the 'mast'. "Members of the Kalos League, Challengers and Champions, behold. Your destruction has finally come."
A cry echoed throughout the plateau then, one that Connor was unfamiliar with, but was all too familiar to the citizens of Kalos who'd lived through Lysander's madness, and the remnants of Team Flare that tried to revive his dream. The voice rang out again as the Destruction Pokémon, Yveltal, flew out from above the ship, and began circling the plateau.
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"Make this easy, Champion. You know what we want. Give it to us, and you may all leave here without turning to stone."
As Yveltal flew, it's Dark Aura permeated the area around the League building, and from the ship, a white Gengar, in its Mega Form, landed before the group of Trainers and Pokémon. "Last chance. Come peacefully, or condemn everyone to death."
The Champion's Charizard looked ready to battle, but his Trainer stopped him. "Not this time. I'm not letting another madman hurt the people I care about."
He looked at the Gengar, whose eyes were glowing with a bluish white power that meant it was using some sort of psychic ability. "I'll come peacefully."
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The Gengar levitated the Champion up to the ship, and his Charizard followed, circling the deck, ready to attack if its Trainer was harmed at all. Minutes crept by slowly, and yet, there was no outbreak of battle.
Connor, for his part, had ordered Raikou to be ready to hit Yveltal with a Thunderbolt if it made a move to attack them, but it only circled the mountain top, which was odd. All data on it said it attacked indiscriminately until it ran out of energy, and then entered a cocoon, which sucked the land's energy, and took centuries to stop. As a Legendary himself, Connor hoped Raikou would be able to keep the creature from killing them if it decided to attack.
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More time passed until suddenly, Alain's Charizard landed on the deck of the airship, and then flew down to the ground with his Trainer. A beam of black light shot towards Yveltal, and it was recalled much in the way a Pokéball recalls a Pokémon. The ship sped off again then, headed in a north-eastern direction.
Connor didn't quite understand why, as the only thing in that direction was Norstad, a country full of technologically impaired 'barbarians', who fought their kinsmen for the glory of battle and bloody honor, with the help of manually subdued Pokémon.
The ban on technology included Pokéballs, and he could only imagine how an airship would be received. Let alone one that was presumably full of self-righteous and conversion happy Arceans. Insulting a Norstadder's gods was a good way to end up as one of the slaves they sold to the Imperium.
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As the Champion landed, he did not give an explanation as to what the mysterious voice had asked for. In fact, his only command was to resume testing this year's conference winner. Before he walked away, Connor spoke up, "If I beat you, you tell me what they wanted from you."
The Champion glanced back at him, then sighed. "Deal. But you'll never beat me with a Greninja."
He did however, beat Serena, and her colleagues, all of whom managed to pull promises of sharing whatever the Champion told him, if he managed to win.
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The actual battle with Alain went much the way it had a year prior, at least in the beginning. Gren showed his skill against the Champion's Tyranitar, and despite Mega Evolving, the win once again went to the Greninja.
He was switched out then however, as a Metagross appeared on the field, and mega evolved as well. The only Pokémon Connor had that could possibly match it was Ardor, his Infernape, and with speed and type advantage, he won that as well. Ardor stayed in for two more bouts then, against Alain's Sceptile and Bisharp, and won.
Exhausted as he was however, Connor brought out Raikou to take care of his Talonflame, which then only left his Charizard.
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The battle a year earlier had gone similarly well in Connor's favor, but by this time, Gren had been exhausted, and the Mega Sceptile that had been his last opponent had torn through his untrained team easily once it dispatched his ace.
This time, the Champion's ace came in against his full team, save Ardor, and was starting against a Legendary Pokémon no less. Raikou didn't give it a chance to Mega Evolve, as the Thunderbolts started coming immediately, and didn't stop.
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Whenever the Charizard tried to advance to the next stage of evolution, a Discharge ruined its focus, and as it retained its flying type, it was quite damaging. It did eventually manage to reach its Mega Form, and after that, despite getting in a few more hits and a Thunder Fang, Raikou went down. Alain's Charizard was one of the strongest in the world, and this only proved it. There was a reason he'd stayed Champion for so long.
Instead of Gren, Connor brought out Gar, which caused the Champion, and his Charizard, to pause. Even today, they hesitated when facing a Garchomp. If only for a moment. A sandstorm soon filled the Champion's chamber, and Gar began zipping around, desperate to hit the dodging Charizard with a Dragon Rush.
When Alain finally ordered a Dragon Claw attack after seeing his wounded partner torn apart by the harsh sand, the Dragon Rush hit home, and the damage from Raikou, the Sandstorm, and the final Dragon Rush move finally bought the Charizard down.
It took a moment for Connor to realize he'd finally won. He hadn't soloed it with his Greninja, but in hindsight, that had been a ridiculous goal. Unrealistic. Something he'd expect from his rival, not him.
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Alain recalled his partner, and then brought Connor up to the Hall of Fame. It was almost as old as Unova's had looked, but was easily far more ornate. The Kalosians did love their décor. Once his team was entered into the Hall's records, and his title as Kalos Champion was officially bestowed, he asked Alain about the incident earlier. The entire thing still unnerved him.
The Arceans had a reputation for retaliation, and his sister had recently very publicly helped remove them from Castelia City. Killing her brother with Yveltal would've been easy, satisfying, and yet the Arceans hadn't attacked. It didn't make sense, until Alain started explaining.
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"The man running the ship did not introduce himself, though I can only surmise that he must have been Caleb Pravus. He fit the description, at any rate. He's after Xerneas, more specifically, the eternal life that particular Pokémon can bestow upon others. Up until now, I've denied his requests for an audience, or any information about Xerneas…but as you saw, I had no choice today." Alain sighed.
Connor spoke quietly, his sense of dread only growing. "Did you tell him where to find it?" The power from the Life Pokémon was rumored to give true immortality. Short of total atomization, survival was guaranteed. Forever. That kind of gift in the hands of the Arcean's leader was, based on the information his sister had shared, a very bad combination.
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"I only know of two Xerneas. The one here in Kalos is sleeping, as our Yveltal is now awake again... The other…is rumored to be in Norstad. It should be active, by now." The Champion averted his gaze. "I can only hope the people there do not know where it is, or have countermeasures against people like Pravus. I could practically see the greed in his eyes once I told him."
Connor began heading for the exit elevator. "I'll stop him before he ever gets there. Those people don't have the tech to repel a weaponized airship."
Alain gave a humorless chuckle. "I wouldn't worry about the locals…five minutes with Pravus, and they'll probably kill him for fun. There's more. He bragged about an upcoming attack on Unova…he said it was set for tonight."
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Connor pinched the bridge of his nose. Of course he'd set his followers loose on Festivus Eve. There were ways of crossing oceans quickly, and while he knew Sophos might fly him over with Psychic, it would take too long, and he would never stop hurling. "I'll head to Unova…try to help."
Alain raised a brow. "And how do you expect to arrive in time? The sun is setting, the attack is probably coming soon, if it hasn't already begun."
Connor hit the button for the elevator, and grinned at the former Champion. "I have a Pokémon that runs so fast, it can cross oceans. I'll be fine. Try to send word to Norstad. We're headed there, next."
Alain's brow rose higher. "We?"
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Raikou had fought bravely against Alain's Charizard, but after a Max Revive and a Max Elixir, as well as a short rest at the Pokémon Center in the League building, Connor was on his back, and headed towards the western coast of Kalos.
Raikou ran just as fast on land as he did on water, and given the lack of hard terrain and obstacles, water was actually quicker. He knew Alex and Jess could likely handle whatever the Arceans were planning on hitting Unova with, but it never hurt to have another skilled Trainer nearby.
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Even if Unova was already full of skilled Trainers, he needed those two for other things. According to his sister, Alex had gotten even stronger, after training in the Swamp. From her description, Pravus had almost beaten him, which meant taking on him and a ship full of his henchman alone was a bad idea.
He only hoped they had a faster method of travel, as Raikou could only comfortably carry him, and maybe his sister. Even then, it would take a lot longer to reach Norstad from Unova.
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About thirty minutes passed before the cloud of dust behind Raikou became a spray of water. There was relatively flat land between the Kalos League's plateau and the coast, and there were plenty of rivers to run on as well. Raikou estimated that the trip over the Atlantican Ocean would take about two hours, and the sun was just past its zenith above them, turning the sky orange. Accounting for time difference, it would be setting in Unova soon as well. As the seemingly endless expanse of cold water opened up before them, Connor only hoped they'd arrive in time to be helpful.