Pokémon 1. Introduction

**Introduction:**

Welcome to the version of my OmegaRuby Nuzlocke/Fanfic "Siam only knows".

Before you read on, certain things need to be understood about this world. Unlike most pokemon worlds, mine tend to be somewhat darker and grittier; Pokemon move like real animals(most of the time), Gangs use weaponry, and the world itself is hazardous. These stories tend to contain Violence, Gore, Action and more mature themes and details. While not scary, they are not suited for some audiences.

If this is not what you would like to read in a pokemon story, please move away. If it is; welcome.

This story is posted on a delay after it is posted to Deviantart, certain parts or features of the writing will only be accessible from the deviantart page, so it might be a good idea to check that out!

Anyway, welcome and enjoy.


	2. Chapter 1: Taking strange roots

_"Hi! Sorry to keep you waiting! Welcome to the world of Pokemon! My name is Birch, but everyone calls me the Pokemon Professor. This... is what we call a Pokemon- "_ The video continued to play on his PokeNav, but Siam had tuned out. The one window in the truck let him look out at the landscape as he was driven past. He had begun trying to count the trees as they whizzed past, but the moment he started, they were gone. The Truck stopped shortly after, and the doors were opened, revealing Siam's mother and a couple of the moving company's Machoke.

As Siam hopped down out of the truck his foot landed on a fluffy brown tail, which promptly retreated under the truck, sending him toppling down to the ground face first.

_"Siam!"_ His mother exclaimed, helping him off the ground _"We're here at last! It must have been tough riding in the back of the bumpy moving truck all that way"_ She said, brushing him off.

_"It was ok, a little warm but fine, I think I just chipped a tooth!"_ He checked each tooth with his tongue, a rough edge and slight sharpness told him that yes, a tooth had been chipped.

_"It'll be ok. Well, this is Littleroot town. What do you think? This is going to be our new home!"_ She got more and more excited as she spoke, leading him towards the house the truck had pulled up beside.

_"It's a little boxed in with the forest surrounding it."_ He responded, taking note that the only way into the town was the road the truck had come, or the forest.

_"It has a quaint feel, but it looks like it should be a nice place to live, don't you think? And you get your own room this time, Siam!"_ She followed him as Siam rushed inside, ignoring his obvious nerves about the size of the place.

_"I assumed as much since Atlas said he was moving in with Uncle Boyd over in Violet City"_ Siam muttered as he avoided the Machoke shifting the lounge. _"I'm going to go have a look at my room"_ Upstairs and to the left Siam found his open room, nothing of interest to be found there, but the Machoke moving in and out seemed to be pressing in on him. He rushed back downstairs to get a measure of fresh air.

Downstairs his mother waved him over to the tv, a news report was ending about the Petalburg gym, it would seem Siam had just missed seeing his father on the report.

_"Oh... It's already ended. Looks like your dad was on, but we missed his part. What a shame. But that reminds me... One of Dad's friends lives in this town. Professor Birch is his name, he lives right next door, so you should go over and introduce yourself"_ His mother said once the report had finished, and had begun trying to usher him out the door. Which is something Siam considered very strange, but went with it all the same.

He approached the front door of one of the few other houses in the town and rapt at it only three times before awaiting an answer. A woman about his mothers age answered the door "Oh, Hello. And you are?"

_"Sorry to bother you, my name's Siam Taillon, My family has just moved into town"_ He began, attempting to keep his eyes on the woman and ignore the closeness of the edge of the forest.

_"Oh right, you're Siam, our new next-door neighbour! Welcome!"_ She smiled wide and invited him into the house, the ground floor looked very similar to the house he had just moved into, and Siam guessed the floorplan wouldn't be very different at all.

_"We have a daughter about the same age as you. She has been excited about making a new friend, she should be in her room upstairs. I hope you'll go and introduce yourself!"_ She smiled and pointed up the stairs, then it dawned on him; These two, this woman and his mother, may be trying to set him up. He shook his head and smiled, it would be rude not to introduce himself anyway.

Siam advanced up the stairs and approached the room that would be his in the floorplan; The door was open and a young woman was standing at her desk across from the door.

_"Pokemon fully restored, items all ready, and...!"_ She had spotted him in the mirror, just before he started to knock on the doorframe _"Who... are you?"_

_"Hi, I'm Siam, I moved in next-door and thought i'd come over and introduce myself, your mother said to look for you upstairs, I hope I'm not-"_ He had begun an introduction that started to get a little long winded.

_"Well, I'm May! Glad to meet you! When Dad- oh I mean Professor Birch- told me about you moving here Siam... Well I was hoping you would be nice and we could be friends... B-but that's just silly, isn't it? I've just met you! Oh no! I forgot! I was suppose to be going out to help Dad catch some wild Pokemon! Siam, I'll see you later"_ at which point the excitable young lady rushed out of her room and down the stairs. Preferring not to enter the young woman's room unescorted, Siam also retreated down the stairs and out the front door.

Siam stepped outside to hear a loud scream from north of the town, along the road the truck had come. Rushing to the edge of the forest he saw a man being attacked by a poochyena; _"H-help me! Halloo! You over there! Please! Help me out!"_. Siam had never used a pokemon, but seeing the bag on the ground and the three pokeballs spilling out of it, he knew he had to help. He ran to the bag only to be cut off by another Poochyena, looking around he counted six Poochyena surrounding Siam and the man, one of them had grabbed onto the mans leg and was shaking at him. Siam heard one of the small bite pokemon growling behind him, turning he kicked at it as it lunged towards him. The one standing over the pokeballs attempted to jump onto his back, only to be hit square in the side by a smaller brown critter, which Siam immediately recognised as a zigzagoon.

Turning about heel, Siam punched the Poochyena on the man's leg square in the snout _"RUN"_ he yelled at the started and only lightly bleeding older man. The man ran for his life back to the village as Siam and the very weak zigzagoon, struggled against and fought back the Poochyena. As they managed to beat back one, another would launch onto them. Seeing an opening, Siam scooped up the helpful ball of fur and dashed back into the village, following where he saw the man go and running straight into the biggest house in the village.

_"You saved my hide. Thanks a lot! Oh? But you're Norman's body, Siam!"_ The man said as he locked the door behind Siam. _"I didn't even realize who you were at first. You've grown into quite the young man."_ Siam wasn't paying attention, once he'd gotten inside he'd recognised the man, but was already too busy checking the zigzagoon's wounds. _"-Looks like you really are your father's son!"_

_"Do you have anything to heal this pokemon? It really got beat up getting us out of there"_ Siam said, noticing the broken tail-tip and scratched face.

_"No sorry, I think you should try and give it some rest back at your new house. You're mother will certainly be interested to hear what you did!"_

Name: Antony

Species: Zigzagoon

Type: Normal

Nature: Brave

Level Met: 2

Characteristic: Often lost in thought

HP 13, Atk 6, Def 7, 6, 6, Spd 6

Professor Birch accompanied Siam to his house, his mother made a fuss when she saw them, but let them in all the same. While Siam took some time to check the zigzagoon over, Birch explained to Siam's mother everything that happened. _"You know, if you work with your Pokemon and gain experience, I think you'll make a pretty excellent Trainer. My girl, May, Happens to be out on Route 103 right now, surveying Pokemon for me. That's just past Oldale town, there is a Pokemon center there, It might not be a bad idea for you to head out that way yourself. What do you think?"_

_"Absolutely not!"_ his mother interjected _"Not after what you say just happened on Route 101!"_

_"This thing is hurt, if I don't get it to a Pokemon center then I might as well bury it right now"_ Siam spoke up, vivid language yes, but it got his point across.

_"Great! I'm sure May'll be happy to see you. She can help teach you what it means to be a Trainer."_ Birch said, offering Siam a pokeball to capture the zigzagoon with.

_"I'm not a pokemon trainer, I'm repaying a favor"_ Siam finished as he lifted the pokemon in his arms and carried it out himself.


	3. Chapter 2: Accruing Stalkers

Siam burst into the pokemon center, beaten and bruised, perhaps poisoned, he wasn't certain. Seeing his condition and the condition of the zigzagoon in his arms, the nurse rushed over to him immediately. He tried to hand her the zigzagoon, but it would not let go of him, as he tried to lay it on the table it whined and cried weakly, painfully. The nurse led him into the back rooms, where she sat him down to treat them both. When the pokemon finally fell asleep, Siam lay it on the table beside him, and stood to leave. _"Where are you going?"_ The nurse asked as he stood.

_"I'm leaving, it'll be fine now, just release it back into the wild when it's ok"_ He smiled and started to leave

_"You're abandoning your pokemon? What kind of trainer are you?"_

_"I'm not it's trainer, it helped save me from some poochyena, it was hurt, so I brought it here. End of Story"_ Without listening to anything else the nurse intended to say; Siam left.

_"**Well, Birch said that May would be out on Route 103, might be fun to go say hi, as long as nothing jumps out at me**"_ He thought to himself, smiling as he began walking north of the small Oldale town. He made sure to scan the area around him as he went, keeping an eye out for any pokemon. A ledge rose up ahead, while long-ish grass on either side of it stifled his movements. Deciding to save time, and avoid any possible encounter, Siam climbed up the ledge. As he stood and brushed himself off, Siam heard a noise behind him, a light scratching and grumbling. Turning around, he saw that zigzagoon climbing up behind him, looking considerably healthier, but annoyingly dedicated to getting to him.

_"Shoo"_ he whispered, shaking his fingers dismissively, but it would not leave. _"I said shoo!"_ he pushed the pokemon lightly with his foot, but it wouldn't budge. Deciding to simply ignore it he turned back and approached May.

_"Oh! Hey, Siam!"_ She exclaimed as he neared _"What's that? Oh! My dad gave you a Pokemon as a gift, huh?"_

_"No it just-"_ Siam looked down at the zigzagoon, but before he could continue she cut him off.

_"Well then, why don't we go ahead and have a quick battle?"_ May grabbed a pokeball and readied to attack.

_"I don't really-"_

"_I'll give you a taste of what being a Trainer is really like!"_ She released the pokemon from it's ball, and in a flash of red light a Mudkip had appeared. The zigzagoon moved around infront of Siam, it's front end lowered, slowly shifting it's back end from left to right.

_"This is ridiculous! I'm not a pokemon Trainer, this thing isn't my pokemon, it's just following me around because har-har why not!"_ his sarcastic taunts seemed to make the pokemon wriggle faster.

_"You mean, this is just a wild Zigzagoon?"_ May lowered the pokeball, a confused look on her face.

_"That's what I've been trying to say, I wouldn't even know how to _Tackle_ being a pokemon trainer!"_ Suddenly the zigzagoon lept forward, slamming it's body into the mudkip and forcing it to the ground. The mudkip struggled for a moment before throwing the Brown ball off itself and up onto Siam.

_"Ha! You tried to trick me!"_ May grinned, revelling in the contest.

_"No really, I don't like pokemon, I don't want to be a p-"_ The zigzagoon's tail was flicking around in front of Siam's eyes _"get that _tail_ out of my face!"_ he pushed the pokemon off him, it landed with a soft thud on the ground, simply wagging it's tail and looking quite pleased about something. The mudkip was rather taken aback, and jumped at the zigzagoon, Only to fall short by quite a ways. _"This stupid, I'm leaving before something jumps out and _bites_ me"_ Siam turned to leave, he heard a thump and whimper behind him, followed by some excited yipping.

_"That was a good battle Siam. Let me heal up both our parties real quick."_ He didn't turn as she spoke, but he did stop, bewildered. "_Wow... I think I know why my dad has his eye on you now."_

_"What are you talking about?"_ He finally turned around, almost tripping over the bundle of fur coiling between his legs happily.

_"I mean, you just got that Pokemon, and you've already got that strong of a bond. I bet you could probably befriend any kind of Pokemon you meet"_ She smiled and shook his hand, after returning her Mudkip to it's pokeball. _"Phew... I guess I'd better head back to the lab!"_ She smiled and took off running back to Littleroot.

_"Are you kidding me? You attack her pokemon and she gives me the credit"_ He looked down at the zigzagoon, scratching behind its own ears. _"No, I'm not a trainer, and you need to stop following me"_ Siam began the trudge back to Littleroot, and his new home. Occasionally noting the pokemon still following him, he didn't turn around but simply ignored it. A collection of Poochyena seemed to be stalking him in the trees as he moved through Route 101 and back to Littleroot. Every step of the way his head darted back and forth, watching the pokemon as he passed them, making sure he wasn't being-

Siam almost jumped out of his skin when he looked behind him only to see the zigzagoon, still following him. He ran as fast as he could back to the Professor's lab, and it ran with him. It kept pace until he managed to get inside and slam the door behind himself.

_"Oh! Siam! Over here!"_ The professor called to him just as Siam locked the door. _"So I hear you beat May on your first try. Amazing!"_ Birch was really impressed with him, but as he prattled on Siam tuned out. If that Zigzagoon was going to continue following him, he might as well go see his father, he'll know how to get rid of it. He vaguely noted being handed some folded metal thing, probably a phone, he has one already if it is, but might as well just take it and keep quiet. _"-Though I'd love it even more if you came back from time to time to show me what progress you've made"_ Siam snapped out of his daze, what did the professor say? come back? like that'd ever happen, these people are too obsessed with Pokemon for his liking.

Outside the lab, no sign of the fluffy pest, but Siam set off to Petalburg just in case. Bugs all through Route 101, crawling close to him and he simply kicked them aside. They didn't put up much of a fight, which was good to see once he finally left the tree'd area and out into the large open Route 102. Siam breathed in the warm open air _"why does it have to be so hot? Why can we never go some place cool? Olivine now here, always close to nature, always too darn hot"_. It was easy to avoid the longer areas of grass, the water was very tempting however, to get out of this heat would be brilliant!

_"Hey! If you have pokemon with you, that makes you a Pokemon Trainer! You can't say no to my Challenge!"_ A young boy came up to him, holding a pokeball out eagerly.

_"Sorry kid, I'm not a pokemon trainer"_ He said as kindly as he could _"And if you see a zigzagoon following me, it's not mine, it's just a stalker!"_ He laughed a little and continued on. Ahead he heard some chittering and barking, as he neared he could see a Seedot, backing away from and trying to avoid a group of zigzagoon. _"Not this again!"_ He ran towards them, and roared at the zigzagoon. Siam's sudden and loud appearance was, in this case, quite enough to scare the zigzagoon away from the poor hurt Seedot. Feeling a little better he continued on over the hill and into Petalburg

Name: Lucilla

Species: Seedot

Type: Grass

Nature: Timid

Level Met: 5

Characteristic: Strongly Defiant

HP 19, Atk 8, Def 10, 8, 9, Spd 8


	4. Chapter 4: Whispers of fate

Siam snapped awake in a bed in the Petalburg Pokemon center. He could faintly remember a nightmare, but with every bead of sweat that broke his skin the memory of it became fainter and fainter. On a seat beside his bed sat his father; a tall, brown haired man who looks quite like Siam himself. _"Siam, calm down, you're ok, you're safe"_ He said reassuringly, Siam tried to reply but his dry throat made no noise, a panicked and confused look painted his face as he stared at his father _"You got in an accident, you're ok, but they think you may have difficulty remembering what happened"_. Siam nodded slowly, as he started he found his father's hand quickly placed on his head, to stop him moving. Siam tapped the back of his left wrist twice with his hand and looked questioningly at his father; _"They don't know, it takes a different amount of time for each person to recover your memory, though it is possible you won't be able to ever remember yesterday. I'm sorry"_. Siam said nothing, laying there with his mouth open, breathing slowly. Gradually he moved a hand to his own throat, massaging it lightly before looking at his father once again _"You got hit pretty hard, the nurse thinks you might have difficulty talking for a while",_ to this Siam repeating the tapping of his wrist _"They don't know, you could recover quickly. You should be fine"_. The tone seemed off, something was out of place and Siam knew it, his eyes narrowed and his head tilted ever so slightly, his left hand circled in a slow repeating pattern. Norman, Siam's father, sighed before answering his son's question _"They think there is a small chance, less than a percent, that you might never speak again. You'll be fine though! Don't worry!"_

For almost five hours, Siam lay in that bed simply staring at the roof, thinking. At some point his mother had come in and his father had left. The Birch family visited later in the day, the professor left Siam an empty pokeball, so he might catch a pokemon to help him. It was at the four and a half hour that Siam turned his head to look at the pokeball on the table beside him. It's red top brought back images of the nightmare, images of fire and pain. But it sat there, unmoving, uncaring, it was a taunt to him; the universe was laughing at him. Siam seized the pokeball in his right hand, and threw it with all his might at the wall, it slammed into the wall with a definite crack, splitting both the ball and a small part of the paint of the wall.

Sitting up in his bed, Siam's head swam for a moment before he snapped to reality. He swung his feet over the edge of the bed as quietly as he could and moved to the corner where his belongings lay. After re-dressing and gathering his things, Siam stormed silently out of the pokemon center and into Petalburg city. Unawares as to where he was headed, Siam's feet bore him West to Route 104, where he sat down at the waters edge, staring out into the ocean.

At some point he couldn't remember, a warm body sidled up beside his, and lay down alongside his leg, while something sturdy and rough stood at his back. Looking down to his side Siam finally saw that damnable Zigzagoon. **_"Leave me alone"_** he thought, trying to scream at it; every bellow, every yell and scream was nothing but a toneless exhale. His fists clenched and tears streamed down his cheeks as he tried, fruitlessly, to yell at the sweet creature. The more he tried to yell, the harder it became to hold the tears, he was broken, and a from where he sat there was a good chance that he could never be fixed. His hands clutched at his face, trying in vain to hold himself together. A small furry face rubbed against his leg as he couldn't see it, he wanted to swipe at it, to make it leave him alone, but it just wanted to make him feel ok. He couldn't blame it for trying to comfort him.

The sun was setting to his right as Siam stared out to sea, two pokemon curled up with him. The Zigzagoon lay on his right with it's front paws over his leg, the Seedot lay on his left. It had taken quite a while after he had finally calmed down before the Seedot had gotten close enough to touch him. He didn't say anything, they didn't say anything, no matter what he did these two would not leave his side. Without thinking about it, his idle hands had moved to gently stroke the pokemon, it's quite possible he didn't even know he had been doing it. After the sun had set fully, Siam decided it might be time to get to sleep. **_"I won't go home"_** He thought as he stood, a single click of his fingers and both the pokemon were immediately alert. Looking down at them he gestured to the Zigzagoon and then tapped his own shoulder, it was very gentle as it climbed him to rest along the back of his neck. Though it was heavy he didn't mind it, Siam then leant down and picked up the Seedot, so much lighter that he could carry in his arm **_"If they're not going to leave me alone, I might as well carry them a bit"_**. As he re-entered the Petalburg Pokemon center, all eyes were drawn to Siam.

_"Are you ok sir?"_ The nurse asked him sweetly, Siam only nodded. _"Would you like us to take a look at your pokemon?"_ He looked at the Seedot and the zigzagoon that had sprawled across his shoulders, then lightly shook his head. _"Well, if you would like a room you will need to check in"_ she smiled and showed him the register. Spaces were included in the register for a trainer's pokemon and their nicknames, though he didn't consider himself a trainer, Siam figured it would be rude to sign in and not include the two deadweights that had attached themselves to him.

"Siam; Antony- Zigzagoon, Lucilla- Seedot"

I his room for the night, Siam let the pokemon down and went to look in a mirror, for the first time since he had woken. A few scratches had bandages on his face and shoulders, but around the top of his head were wrapped several large white bandages. A small amount of blood could be seen on the bandages across his head, above his right eye and back a little bit. Siam took a moment to stare at the blood, but never lifted a hand to it. When he decided it had been long enough staring, he returned to bed.


	5. Chapter 5: Echoes

The sun hadn't even risen when Siam woke, though he felt slightly nautious and the room rotated slowly around him, he slid out of the bed and onto the floor. Propping himself up on his toes and palms, Siam proceeded to do pushups, until such time as the nautia and dizzyness subsided. Once done, he left the pokemon centre, with the two pokemon hot on his heels. No-one sat in the room downstairs, and the town too was empty when he emerged into it. The first dregs of sunlight were beading over the horizon to the east, a crimson hand slowly reaching out to break a new day. The sound of waves to the west however called to him, and Siam found himself wandering once again onto Route 104.

The morning wind off the water was icy cold, it stung in his eyes and the top of his head, but he enjoyed it. A whisper of a yell into his ear had Siam turn to look away from the water, and north into a thick and shadowed forest. Looking at the forest he could hear whispers of crying, grunts and shouts, he could hear barking and growling. Curious about what he heard, he approached the forest. As he drew nearer the sounds grew no louder, but they weren't moving away. The sounds ended with a crack, an audible, almost painful snap and the air was still. Siam walked slowly into the almost pitch dark woods, the hand of morning light had not yet had a chance to break through the dark canopy overhead. The forest was still, silent and unmoving, no pokemon reared their heads. Siam bent down to lift up Lucilla the seedot, she was as still and quiet as everything else around him. He looked down at Antony, then with just a snap of his finger and a gesture, he sent the zigzagoon ahead to climb a small ledge. It looked around a moment and then barked back at Siam.

The bark rang in his ears, it took him a moment to compose himself as more barking and grunting seemed to echo on the wind. Rubbing his ears with his free hand seemed to stop the echo, and once again all was still and silent. Siam placed Lucilla on top of the ledge before climbing up himself. From atop the ledge he noticed something snagged on a tree branch nearby, a long red cloak with a hood. **_"This might stop people staring at the bandages"_** he thought as he slipped it on.**_"Best get moving, something in here has to be watching, only a matter of time before they attack"_**.

As light trickled into the undergrowth, everything began to stir. Wurmple and Zigzagoon appeared in spades, as long as he moved straight past, many did not bother with him. On occassion though, one would stray too close to them and Antony would strike out at it. Only once did one of the grubs fall out of the trees above and onto Siam, his immediate reaction was to whip his head around and bite it. The Wurmple left quickly, but the sudden movement made Siam dizzy.

By the time Siam, Antony and Lucilla emerged from the forest to greet Rustboro City, the sun was already past the highest point, and the heat was making Siam nauseous and uneasy. As he entered the pokemon centre, several people glanced at him and began to talk in hushed whispers, he pulled the hood further down his face and approached the nurse. _"H-hello sir, may I help you, do your pokemon need healing?"_ She asked shakily. Siam looked to the zigzagoon and seedot, and then back to the nurse. He shook his head slowly, to avoid further headaches, somehow this made her more nervous _"W-what do you want?"_ she asked, visibly shaken. Siam could hear a couple people leave the centre as he closed his hands around an invisible cup, and raised it to his lips. _"Water? You want water?"_ she looked confused, but relieved as Siam nodded.

Once he had water for himself and the two others, Siam sat at a nearby table **_"What was her problem, and where did everybody go?"_**. Once all were watered, and the air seemed to have cooled off somewhat, Siam and the two pokemon left the centre and headed through the city. A huge building loomed to the side as they walked past, a triumphant display of wealth. As Siam walked past, two men burst from the front door; one wearing a cloak similar to Siam himself, and the other, a man with glasses, wore a long white lab coat. The man in the red cloak smiled at Siam as he ran past, carrying a small parcel.  
_"Wait! Stoooooop!"_ The man with glasses yelled as he ran after the other. Out of breath and panting heavily he approached Siam _"Why do you- Wait, You're that trainer! The one from Petalburg woods!"_ His face relaxed when he apparently recognised Siam. Siam though became more puzzled. _"Help me please! I was robbed by Team Magma! I have to get the Devon parts back! If I don't..."_ he became frantic and attempted to run after the man in red. Siam glanced at his cloak, then in the direction the man ran, bending down he picked up Lucilla and had Antony climb onto his shoulders. Then like a shot, he persued the man in the red cloak.

As he ran through the open field, Siam's head hurt and arms grew heavy, but he pressed on. Bird pokemon swooped him constantly, many not pleased with the idea that this humans shoulders seem to bite back. As he ran, Siam noticed an older man crying about a kidnapping near the entrance to a cave. Assuming a clue, he dashed into the cave.

The room inside housed a great many small pink pokemon Siam had never seen, they did however, have a very nervous and quiet demeanour, one he immediately recognised as a warning to move slow. He placed Lucilla and Antony on the ground as they slowly made their way through the room, further and further they went. Ahead; rough cursing and frantic searching could be heard. Rounding the corner he came face to face with the man in red _"What? Who are you? You must be new!"_ He said, stepping a little closer _"Wait, that's Derek's cloak! GAH! Keelhaul it all!"_ The man in red became furious, backing up to only a few steps from the back wall of the tunnel. _"To think I made a getaway... into this tunnel to nowhere!"_ He threw the weakened wingull he had been carrying to the ground in disgust, drawing a gun and pokemon immediately after. _"Here's the deal asshole, You're the hostage now! Now withdraw your pokemon and turn around!"_ He demanded, pointing the gun at Siam, and unleashing from the pokeball yet another Poochyena, it growled angrily and readied itself to attack. Siam slowly patted the side of his leg twice, both Lucilla and Antony moved to behind him. _"Return them!"_ The man demanded, thrusting the gun menacingly at him. Siam pulled the cloak away from his sides and held his palms out, showing no pokeballs _"Fine, come pick this thing up!"_ he gestured with the gun to the wingull laying limp on the ground _"Yen, Keep an eye on those two behind him"_, the poochyena growled.

Siam slowly, with both hands still out at his side, empty palmed, slowly walked closer to the man. As he moved the gun was kept trained on him, and the Poochyena by the man's side growled loudly. Siam stopped, knowing the growls meant that either Lucilla or Antony was following him. The growls subsided and he advanced a little more, and though the man in red did not notice, Siam closed his right hand, all but the pointing finger. What happened next happened in a blur. Siam's right hand swung for the wrist that held the gun, pushing it down and to the man's side, away from everyone. The man fired the gun in surprise, letting out a deafening crack that hurt not only Siam's ears but his very brain. The gunshot so close to the poochyena startled it, momentarily dazing it, giving Lucilla the time she needed to close the gap and attack exactly where Siam's finger was pointing, slamming straight into the poochyena's legs. As this happened, Siam's left hand balled to a fist and struck the man straight across the jaw. The force of his spin helped Siam swing his left leg to between the Wingull and the man in red. As the man went to swing a punch at Siam, Siam's left hand slid down to the gun, and his right hand clamped on the man's wrist. The punch landed solidly on Siam's left cheek as he turned to face the same direction as the man. He tilted the barrel of the gun up as he pushed the man's arm down, ripping the gun from his hand. Lucilla continued to bash at the poochyena, which tried clawing and biting at her incredibly tough shell. Antony though, grabbed the wingull and had pulled it away from near the feet of Siam.

Now holding the gun, Siam swung it as a weapon and slammed it across the man's head, knocking him unconscious. He had enough energy remaining to drag the man out of the cave, while Lucilla and Antony each carried another party in the fight. Once out, Siam looked at the old man, and promptly passed out.


	6. Chapter 6: Exertion

Siam woke quickly, laying on the grass outside the cave as a small group of people crowded around him. He could feel himself being lifted by a pair of quite small but rather strong hands. As he looked up he saw not far from him the old man, hugging the Wingull _"Peeko! Am I glad to see you're safe!"_ he smiled and turned to Siam, helping him the little bit further to his feet, it was at this point that Siam grew curious enough to look for his little lifter. There to his right stood a small masked pokemon with a leaf sprouting from it's head, Siam flinched at its sudden appearance, it seemed to cower in return. Siam stepped to the side _"My Peeko owes her life an' freedom to you, my boy. They call me Mr. Briney, and you are?"_ The old man interrupted Siam's train of thought. Siam looked away from the strange pokemon, not noticing it edge back to next to him, he placed a hand to his throat and then waved it away _"Oh, can't you speak lad?"_ he asked as Peeko the wingull began to circle them. Siam shook his head slowly, but even that made him slightly dizzy _"Well I sincerely thank you. If there's ever a thing I can do to help you in turn, don't you hesitate to tell me. I'll be at my cottage by the sea, near Petalburg woods"_ and with that the old man scurried off with the wingull in tow. Looking around for the creepy little leaf-headed pokemon, Siam saw it standing immediately beside him. He backed away slowly, keeping it in his sights, but it didn't move. One click of his fingers and Antony came trotting over from where it had lain on the grass, and the strange pokemon smiled wide and trotted over to stand on Siam's right once again.

_"What's the matter? You look like you've never seen a nuzleaf before"_ A large man with plenty of camping gear, the only person not to have moved off, asked after seeing Siam's confusion. Siam merely shook his head lightly _"It's an evolved Seedot, yours evolved while you were unconcious."_ Siam looked down at the little pokemon, grinning up at him and standing strangely close to his leg. Without looking away from the nuzleaf, he slowly lifted an arm and pointed to the parcel the man in the red cloak had stolen. The nuzleaf, Lucilla, shuffled over to the unconcious man and took the parcel from him which she carried back to Siam. _"Don't worry about that thief mate, I'll make sure the police get him, you run along and get yourself checked out, you're not looking too good."_ Siam bowed slightly and began trudging back to Rustboro.

The strange man with the glasses was sitting outside the large building when Siam returned. _"Oh! It's you! How did it go? Did you get the-"_ His fast paced, high pitched voice, stabbed at Siam's ears. The man calmed a lot when Lucilla held up the parcel _"You did! You got them back!"_ he sighed and took them from the nuzleaf. _"As my thanks, please, take this GreatBall"_ He thrust a blue pokeball into Siam's hand and grabbed his wrist immediately after _"Oh! yes, young man! Please come with me!"_. With this Siam stopped cold, he pulled his hand from the grasp of the man with glasses. Siam fixed the cloak he aquired in the forest, before handing the blue pokeball back to the man and crossing his arms _"Please! My boss, the Devon corp president, wants to meet you!"_ Siam's eyes narrowed and he looked at Antony and Lucilla, both of which happy to be where they were. Exhaling quietly; Siam gestured to the building. The man nodded excitedly and hurried off, with Siam and the  
two pokemon trudging after.

Siam was shown to a room at the very top floor of the enormous building. Inside at a desk was a greying, but quite friendly looking, man in a business suit. _"Come in, come in! Sit down friend"_ He gestured warmly, Siam stepped inside and closed the door behind him, moving no closer than that. _"Fair enough, allow me to introduce myself. I'm Mr. Stone, the president of the Devon Corporation. I've just heard how we have quite a bit to thank you for."_ Siam raised and eyebrow and placed his hand back on the doorhandle _"So you helped out my staff not just once, but twice!"_ Siam's hand released from the handle and instead moved to his head, which had started to throb _"There's a favor I'd like to ask of a reliable man like you, but I wouldn't want you to think I would ask a favor with nothing in retu-"_ Siam's left hand reached out infront of him and made the same circular motion he did from the pokecenter bed to his father, but faster, apparently more irritated _"Alright, I'll get straight to it. I would like you to deliver this letter to a man named Steven, you should find him in Dewford, across the sea."_ Siam's waving finger clicked as he pointed to the mans desk. Antony sniffed at his cheek, but Siam repeated the point, the zigzagoon hopped down off Siam's shoulders and darted over to the desk. Mr. Stone held the letter out, which Antony took in his mouth before scampering back to Siam. Siam took the letter, patting the zigzagoon lightly on the head, he bowed goodbye and left the office, not letting the man say any more.

Darkness was closing in faster as clouds rolled with it, the air was cool and smelt heavily of water as Siam knocked at the door of a small, weather-beaten cottage. The old man with the wingull opened the door, _"ahh lad! A pleasure to see you, come in, come in"_ The building was small, but cosy, Siam took a seat at the kitchen table _"You don't look too well matey, you should rest"_. With the throbbing of his head, and the sharp pain behind his eyes, Siam had difficulty noticing that every time Mr. Briney spoke; his hands would move in strange patterns. _"Relax lad, I've seen my share of hurt, you'll be right here"_ The old man led him over to the lounge, which folded out just enough for the 5'10" Siam to lay comfortably.

================

Siam awoke in a cool sweat, laying on the lounge of the old sailor's cottage, a wet cloth sitting on his forehead. The red cloak from the woods hung over the back of a nearby chair. Siam's right hand hung over the side of the lounge and was resting on the rough skin of the nuzleaf curled on the floor beside him, his legs were slightly raised by the mass of zigzagoon that had crawled under them in the night. The cloth on his forehead drained away the heat and memories of the dream, Siam didn't try to remember it, he didn't want to remember it. The wingull sitting above the fireplace squarked,_"You awake in there lad?"_ Mr. Briney's voice called from out of sight, all Siam could do was to raise his left arm. _"Good, You should probably just take a little break, my boy. Too much activity too quickly can be a serious risk in your condition."_Siam sat up defiantly, but slowly. Mr. Briney was at the table nearby with a pot of tea, Siam tapped his wrist where the old man could see it. _"ahh, mid- to late-morning I'd say, around 7 or 8 AM"_ Siam smiled and tapped his fingers above his eyes, and then to his wrist. _"This isn't something you can rush my boy, rushing makes it worse. You need to relax. Peeko!"_Siam had begun to stand up just before the old man called his bird, it's rapid scoot past his eyes made him dizzy and forced him back down onto the lounge, albeit sitting now. _"I said you have to rest, no strenuous activity. I mean it"_ Siam knew he was being serious, but simply held up the envelope Antony had fetched from 'Mr. Stone'. _"What's this then? Peeko, fetch"_ Siam loosened his grip on the letter, knowing what was about to happen. The wingull moved close to him but didn't fly past, instead gingerly taking the letter from him and returning it to it's master. _"For Steven, Who would that be then?"_ Siam placed a hand to his temple and waved it away _"Ok, do you remember where you were suppose to find him at least?"_ Reluctantly, and with an eye out for that pesky bird, Siam stood and walked to the window facing south, facing the ocean. He pointed out the window and made an ocean wave motion with his hand. _"Across the sea? Ahh you mean Dewford! Well that'd be about a day's sail, and the ocean air should do you well. I'll take you lad, because you saved my Peeko, but you have to promise to relax along the way!"_. Siam raised a fist and shook it up and down, as if copying a nodding motion.


	7. Chapter 7: New Friends

Mr. Briney's boat was a sailing yacht, a little bigger than the average. Siam was invited to lay on the deck, as the trip would be a long and slow one. The sky was clear, the wind was cool, and the sea smelled wonderful, Siam was quite content to lay there on the deck of the boat and relax. After a while though, he began to wonder something, he held a hand up above him and click his pointer finger and thumb "fft"  
he clicked his middle finger and thumb "tic"  
he clicked his ring finger and thumb "tict"  
he clicked his pinky finger and thumb "ltt"  
Antony's head was tilted to the side as he did this, unsure what it was Siam wanted. Siam sat up and looked at the Zigzagoon, he patted the deck beside him and Antony bounded over. Siam stared at it for a moment, then pretended to shoulder bash the air beside him "fft". Antony cocked its head to the side again, Siam then switched the order; "fft", shoulder bash. The Zigzagoon's head straightened and it barked excitedly, "fft", Antony jumped forward as if Tackle'ing some invisible thing. The light pat it recieved on the head had it rolling on the floor almost instantly.  
"tic", Head thrust.  
Head thrust, "tic".  
"Bark, Bark"; "tic" Headbutt. Pats.

Much to his surprise, it took no more than twenty minutes for this little brown ball of fur to learn what Siam meant when he clicked each of his fingers. Though Lucilla had a bit more difficulty understanding what was wanted from her, Siam didn't blame her, charades can only go so far to explain Razor Leaf or False swipe, complex moves that a human cannot easily replicate. He hadn't expected it, but he'd actually enjoyed getting his point across, after all they had been following his clicks before. Now the clicks actually mean something.

It was a little after noon, as Siam was sitting on the edge of the boat looking out, that he noticed something ahead. Ahead of the boat, but not in it's line seemed to be a circle of blue blobs. Siam waved to Mr. Briney and pointed it out _"Looks like a ring of Tentacool, they're attacking something in the center but I can't make it out"_, Siam could, amidst this ring of blue blobs were two shapes, one red and one purple. The purple thing was hard to make out against the blue of the water, but stood out when a tentacool moved behind it. A Zubat was laying in the water, apparently exhausted and unmoving, just laying on the surface as these Tentacool tried to close in on it. Though the Purple spot may not have moved much, the Red was definitively active. Siam could faintly make out the outline of a Magikarp as it swum rings around the zubat, slamming into any Tentacool as it approached.

Siam raised a open palmed hand, and felt the boat slow gradually. There was a ladder over the edge, he made note of where. Siam removed the red cloak and dropped it on the deck, with a running jump he leapt overboard and into the clear blue. He was a good swimmer, and swam swiftly to the ring of blue bodies. As water soaked into his clothes and the bandages around his head, he could feel them weighing him down, but they also seemed to drain from him his headache and dizziness. He could swim hard and fast, power forward with head swinging side to side with no dizziness or sharp stabbing into his brain. He dove slightly and passed under the tendrils of the outer Tentacool, he passed inwards and past the Magikarp into the center ring. He bobbed to the surface beside the weak and unconscious Zubat which lay face up on the water. Siam blew on the little creature and it wriggled slightly. Looking back at the boat he could see; Mr. Briney with Peeko on his shoulder, Antony above the ladder and Lucilla wearing a red cloak. Unable to see much of a choice now, Siam grabbed the weak Zubat and swam to the outer ring, to the Tentacool. As he neared he flattened out most of his body on the surface but kept his legs bent. He had the Zubat that that Magikarp was guarding; and it was not happy. As Siam neared the ring or Tentacool he heard the -karp swimming up behind him, he braced himself and kicked off as it slammed into his feet. The force helped him out of the water enough that Siam landed on top of a Tentacool before sliding into the water on the other side. With only one arm to swim and an army of pissed off fish behind him, Siam sped toward the boat as fast as he could. He grabbed the ladder and was pulled aboard to safety, with a surprising amount of time to spare.

Name: Vipsania

Species: Zubat

Type: Poison/Flying

Nature: Bold

Level Met: 12

Characteristic: Capable of taking hits

HP 33, Atk 16, Def 17, 12, 15, Spd 20 ==+== | ==+==

Safe aboard the ship, Siam took the time to dry the Zubat and give it some fresh water to drink, before moving it below deck and out of the sun. Lucilla had followed him down, so he placed a finger above each of her eyes and pointed at the Zubat. The Nuzleaf nodded and sat down beside it, as Siam returned to deck. _"Oh dear, I'll get you some fresh bandages lad. That was brave but foolish! Take the helm, we should be on a steady course, but you'll need to keep an eye out for hazards"_ He nodded to Siam and rushed below deck.

Standing at the steering wheel, it was nice to have the wind in his hair, Siam was content to enjoy the moment sailing. But a glimpse of red out of the corner of his eye grabbed his attention, when he turned to look it was gone. Then again, the same glimpse of red out of the same corner of his eye, but when he turned it was gone. The old sailor returned above deck in a short moment, but since he'd left Siam had seen the red glimpse twelve times, every time he looked it was gone. As the old man passed him the bandages, Siam moved away from the wheel, sitting down to apply the bandages to his head. As he sat there, he noticed the red glimpse again, this time on the other side of the boat. Not needing to turn away any more he simply watched the area, and watched as the Magikarp, not A Magikarp, THE Magikarp, passed up by the railing on the side of the ship, and seemed to scan the deck as it descended again. Then again it popped up, scanned, and fell into the water. Once done applying his bandages, Siam moved to the edge of the boat, and watched the Magikarp swimming along side it leap out of the water and stare him straight in the eyes.

Trying to discourage it, Siam swung a punch at the great red fish as it leapt again. But it spun in the air, avoiding the hit and yet still scanning the deck. Siam watched as it disappeared under the ship, and heard it splash down into the water again on the other side. He took the time to study the fish as it leapt about, what was it searching for? Why was it still following the boat? When an idea dawned on him, he traipsed down to below deck and gently scooped up the still weak Zubat. He carried her above deck and to the edge, where he sat with her in his arms. It took two more jumps before the Magikarp was leaping in front of Siam. It seemed to study the Zubat with interest in a couple leaps, then fell back into the water and returned to swimming, though it never left the side of the boat.

Name: Duilius

Species: Magikarp

Type: Water

Nature: Serious

Level Met: 15

Characteristic: Likes to Thrash about

HP 35, Atk 12, Def 25, 14, 15, Spd 33 **+** | **+**

They landed in Dewford not long before sunset, with the Magikarp still keeping pace with the boat. As Siam moved along the dock toward the pokemon centre; Zubat in arms. The Magikarp kept leaping over the deck in front of him, making passage difficult though not impossible. Upon reaching the other side, Siam heard the fish splashing about in the water behind him. The splashing subsided and was replaced quickly by a sudden and terrifying roar. A sound that froze Siam on the spot. He turned slowly to see a gigantic blue sea serpent rising out of the water. It leant down close to Siam, so close he could reach out and touch it, it unleashed a puff of exhalation, which made the Zubat cry out. Antony and Lucilla moved as close to 'between' the two as they could get. Lucilla pushed Siam backwards slowly, edging him closer to the pokemon centre, and as he got further from the Gyarados, he began to slowly walk backwards again. The Gyarados was staring now at Antony, and Antony at it. Siam didn't see any more as Lucilla pushed him gradually into the pokemon centre.


	8. Chapter 8: Brawl in the Street

With great difficulty, Siam handed the small Zubat over to the nurse within the Pokemon centre, having to unhook its claws from his shirt to do so. _"It'll be ok sir. Does she have a name?"_ She asked sweetly, Siam reached down and scribbled onto a note beside the little bat, 'Vipsania', _"Daughter of Agrippa? Interesting choice"_. Siam blushed at this, and bowed slightly to hide it.

A scream pierced the air, followed by a loud roar and the sounds of crashing. A young boy rushed into the Pokemon centre_"A Gyarados is attacking! It just ate someone's Zigzagoon!"_. Almost every person in the building who had been sitting rose to their feet, most grabbed pokeballs from their belts and rushed out the door, the crowd stuck in the entry and oozed slowly outwards. One man continued to sit at a table nearby, a collection of pokeballs rolling about in front of him, he looked rejected and depressed. Siam moved over to the table and placed a hand on one of the pokeballs. _"Take it, they're all empty, I'll never catch a pokemon!"_ He patted the man on the shoulder twice, before rushing to a nearby window to climb out.

Out in the city a fierce battle raged, the giant serpent rose out of the water, striking at buildings and people indiscriminately. The pokemon of an unknown count of trainers ran about, some trying to move people out of the way, some attempting to fight against what was perhaps the largest and strongest Gyarados many had ever seen. Siam slipped out the window and ran across the open street, as he ran he grabbed a stone from the ground. Stopping only a few feet from the great beast, he pegged the stone up at it. Amidst all the fighting, the mighty creature did look down at the man by it's gut. Teeth bared and growling powerfully, the magnificent serpent reached down and with only one bite; swallowed Siam whole.

Screams and shouts erupted from the citizens, many trainers redoubled their efforts to stop this rampaging beast, before it killed anyone else. Unbeknownst to them, Siam was awake within the gullet of this wyrm, and against all instinct, he began to crawl downward. His right hand clutched the pokeball as he forced himself down the tight passage of the throat, his left hand stretched out ahead of him. After what felt like an eternal instant, Siam's hand slid over a furred tail, slowly he moved further and further, until he could pull the small furry creature close to his chest. The passage was tight, so much that he could not breathe. Siam could tell he was upside down, and through the shifting of the muscles about him that the fight still raged outside. The creature wrapped by his left arm whimpered lightly, and Siam felt a cold rough tongue on his chin. It took all his effort to turn the pokeball in his hand, to the angle he'd seen so many pokemon trainers use, the button facing away from his palm. With no room to swing or throw, all he could do was press the ball against the beast to be caught, which was exactly what he did; how could he possibly miss? the walls themselves were his target.

He felt himself grow fainter, everything around him was bathed in a brilliant red light. The walls, the pokemon he clasped in his arms, even his own arms and the pokeball, shed and were made of this brilliant red light. Darkness shot through the red light, a definitive barrier between the shapes that would otherwise have melded into one constant colour. Siam pulled his legs close and felt himself grow heavier once again. The true colours of his arms returned, and once more he felt the texture of fur against his skin. But then there was a sense of weightlessness; of falling, and then landing with a crash into the water beneath them. While the fall stung at his muscles and bones, the cool saltiness of the water ebbing over him washed the pain away. _"You're crazy lad. Impressive, but crazy."_ The old sailor's arm reached down for Siam's. As he took the arm, Siam felt an extra pair of hands lifting him out of the water. As he stood up the crowd of trainers simply stared, A light tug on his shirt made Siam look down to his right, where Lucilla stood offering him the Red Cloak. He donned the cloak, scratching the nuzleaf's head lightly with a few fingers as she walked beside him. _"Let's go. You can look for Steven in the morning lad, now you need to rest."_ As Mr. Briney led him back to the boat, Siam took a moment to look at the pokeball in his hand. It didn't look like any pokeball or greatball he'd ever seen, it was white both on top and on the bottom. The few spots of red were running off as the water drained from the ball.

A light-handed knocking on the side of the boat awoke Siam, outside he found the nurse from the Pokemon centre _"I just, I came to, Thank you. For saving everyone last night. Oh! Vipsania is doing much better! Come bye when you have a chance ok?"_ She lowered her head and moved briskly back to the pokemon centre. Siam watched her leave, smiling to himself. It wasn't long after that the old sailor surfaced _"Good morning my boy. Where's that Zigzagoon of yours? I didn't see it last night"_ He asked puzzled, Siam look around for a moment, then slapped the top of his leg a couple times. Lucilla rushed up from below deck and sat on his right, and a streamlined brown and white pokemon, Siam knew to be a Linoone, scurried up over the edge of the boat. He looked at it for a moment, watching as it scurried over to him and attempted to climb him as gently as it could. This creature weighed almost twice that of a Zigzagoon, but it knew how to lay across his shoulders, and Siam knew immediately why. _"Well that's an impressive sight I will admit. How do you expect to find what's his name?"_ Siam smiled and pointed to the pokemon gym. _"Brawly? I suppose, he should know everyone in Dewford, sounds like a good place to start."_ Siam nodded and trudged off the boat.

Almost instantly upon entering the pokemon centre, Siam was swarmed. A mob of trainers surrounded him, asking loudly what it was like inside the Gyarados, if he meant to do it, how the pokeball caught the Gyarados and not the Linoone. As they closed in on him, he became more and more anxious. The more anxious he became, the deeper the growling came from his shoulders. Someone reached out to touch the cloak, only to have their fingers clawed. The moment Antony lashed out, everyone backed off. When he finally had room to move, Siam approached a table where sat the man from the night before. No pokeballs sat on the table in front of him, but he looked little different to the night before. Siam placed the only pokeball he had on the desk in front of the man and patted his shoulder. _"No! No I can't take this! You caught it, you saved the town!"_ He placed the pokeball back in Siam's hand, Siam tried to push it away but the man would not have it _"I gave you this ball, and you used it. What was caught is yours and yours alone!"_ They could see a stubbornness in each others eyes, Both stood there for close to twenty minutes, the pokeball between their hands, each pushing it lightly to the others. It was a battle of wills that Siam had never had to face, and though he was certain the pokeball belonged to the man, something told him this was a losing battle. Siam's arm relaxed and the man let go, the pokeball was slipped into a pocket on the inside  
of the Red cloak.

As Siam tried to leave, a voice called out to him _"Sir, your Zubat?"_ He turned to see the Nurse standing behind the counter, with a cheerful Zubat flitting around her. Siam clicked his fingers once, every head in the centre turned to look at him, which caused him to shrink a little into the cloak. The Zubat swooped over to him and began to sniff at him as she scooted around above his head. Soon she started to chitter excitedly and rub against the parts of his face she could get to under his hood. He pushed her back gently, she hovered in the air beside him chittering away happily. Ignoring everyone else in the centre, Siam tapped the Zubat lightly on the head twice with a finger, but was then struck by a thought. He reached into the cloak and produced the only pokeball, he handed it to the Zubat, which happily took it in her legs and flew around with it. Assuming it was done with him, Siam left the centre for the Gym.

Siam was taken aback for a moment, he was use to seeing exercise equipment in gyms, but gyms for humans. A pokemon gym doesn't sound like a place for weight benches and presses, but they were there anyway. A man near the door welcomed him _"Hey there, name's Brawly! Dewford's Gym Leader! I've been churned in the rough waves of these parts... and I've grown tough-"_ He stopped his obviously well rehearsed speech when he saw the look on Siam's face, boredom. Utter Boredom _"What's your deal anyway?"_. Siam showed the envelope _"Steven? Oh! yea he's a friend of mine. Probably in Granite cave at the moment, full of fascinating stuff that place; like rare stones and wall paintings. He rushed off to it when I told him."_ Siam bowed and turned to leave, immediately in front of his face was a pokeball, a completely white pokeball held in the legs of a little bat _"So you don't want a gym badge?"_ Siam shook his head and left.


	9. Chapter 9: Granite Cave

The cavern was huge, flooded with light through a fracture in the roof as wide as a man and as long as a boat. Though stalactites were rare in this chamber, the stalagmites rose from the floor with such frequency, few places could be found in the chamber where one could stand solely on what could be called the floor. Steven stood in one such place, staring up at and admiring a great and ancient mural.

The mural showed a great beast towering above the land, standing twice the height of a volcano by it's side. A lavaplume from the volcano reached to the creatures neck, above the volcano was a large dark spot, a rupture in the sky? a great cloud? The mass was hard to identify. But from it spewed forth ovals placed like the rays from a sun, and a meteor flew above them across the sky. The great beast stood with arms outstretched, spewing forth a pillar of fire as long as the volcano and lavaplume was tall. Silhouettes of people could be seen hurtling through the air in various parts of the right side of the mural, while the beast and volcano claimed the left. Six smaller volcanoes, half the size of the larger one, made a line across the bottom of the mural. With the addition of the sea, the volcanoes framed the base of the image._"Mm-hmm. So in the ancient world, their primal forms once held this much power? The super-ancient Pokemon"_ Steven whispered to himself, though his whisper echoed in the great chamber, as he placed his hand on the depiction of the enormous beast. _"What terrible strength"_ He shook his head and stepped slowly backward, each step echoing in the room around him. _"But this appearance here... It seems somehow different from Mega Evolution"_ A sliding sound followed by the sound of footsteps repeated themselves off the walls. _"Hmmm. It seems my questions will not be answered today."_Steven smiled to himself, he could hear at least one person, and perhaps a humanoid pokemon in the room with him. Without turning, he said simply _"Do you feel anything in particular when you look up at this wall? A primal world, lost thousands of years in the past" _Steven stepped back a little more to see the wall in all its glory. He pointed at the terrible beast depicted _"A Legendary Pokemon of tremendous power became humanity's greatest threat"_. It was amazing, the detail and effort put into the depiction truly astounded him _"The terror aroused by that power is clear to see in this ancient artwork"_. At the sound of a bark Steven finally turned around, near the center of the room, in one of the few places with floor and a good view of the mural was a man. The man was on both knees with his head bowed _"Yes. But not all power is terrible."_ Steven said as he began to walk towards the man.

This man on his knees made no sound and moved not a muscle. He was draped in a hooded red cloak, but beneath it Steven could make out a light blue singlet and reddish brown shorts. A linoone lay across the man's shoulders and a nuzleaf sat quietly beside him, it was leaning close and sniffing him quietly. _"Hello?"_ Steven said, moving slowly closer to the man. At about 10 feet away the man began to shake, and Steven could hear him panting heavily. Four quick short exhales _"My name is Steven"_ he stepped a little closer, the linoone had climbed off the man. Three deep exhales _"Are you ok?"_ The man's head lifted, his green eyes seemed to be staring straight through Steven at something behind him. One deep exhale, the nuzleaf had begun to lightly shake the man, Steven could now see bandages wrapped around the man's head under the hood, the man's nose started to bleed lightly. _"Oh geez"_ Steven bent down and pulled the mans hood off his head. Four quick short exhales, the bandages were stained with blood to the right of near the top of the man's head. Three deep exhales, the mans hands suddenly shot up and grabbed the sides of his head, his mouth dropped open and his eyes screwed up, as if he was trying to shut them but some force was wrenching them open. One deep exhale, the man appeared to be screaming but continued to make no sound, his fingers gripped into his head, though not near the blood spot. Four quick short exhales, a Zubat swooped down and was nuzzling at the man's chest while the Nuzleaf tried to pry one of his hands away from his head. Three deep exhales, The man's skin was warm to the touch, Steven's first thought was to take the cloak off, it would trap heat and possibly make this fit worse, seeing what he was doing the Nuzleaf and Zubat endeavoured to help while the Linoone sat at the man's knees and barked up at him. One deep exhale, the man began to shake again, bucking his head and stretching his jaw out as far as it was capable of going, Steven sent out a pokemon; A large disc shaped iron pokemon with a pair of thick arms with three claws on the ends. _"Metang, Try usingPsychic to put this man to sleep... before he hurts himself"_.

Steven could feel a slight ripple in the air as the Metang's eyes glazed over, the bandages man slowly stopped shaking, his hands pulled away from his head. Instead of collapsing as he should have the man began to staggeringly walk forward, each step a half lunge-half stumble. The Metang began to growl with effort as the man got closer and closer. Steven could see a small trickle of blood leaking down from under the man's bandages and behind his right ear. The man's eyes no longer squinted but were open fully, though they seemed not to focus on anything. His face had relaxed and no longer had the pained scream etched into it, but tears had begun to run down from his eyes, sizzling on his hot skin as they traced a path down to the man's chin. He stopped face to face with Steven, Steven didn't move or flinch, he could see the man growing weaker. The bandaged mans hands clasped onto Stevens shoulders and he began to squeeze._"__ไฟไหม้และน้ำร้อนดวล__"_ he whispered weakly, his grip weakening slowly _"__ไม่ได้หนึ่ง แต่หลายด้าน คน__"_. Steven didn't understand the strange sounds the man was speaking, the man was finally weakening, and the pokemon all seemed to know it. _"__ดวงอาทิตย์จะเอื้อมมือออกไป สัมผัสเรา__"_ He let go of Steven and collapsed back to his knees, _"__เราจะเผาผลาญ__"_ his eyes closed heavily and he began to fall backward. _"__ทั้งหมดจะเผาไหม้__"_ were the last sounds he uttered before collapsing unconscious onto the stone floor.

Steven tentatively knelt down beside the strange man, he was breathing rhythmically. _"It's ok"_ He said, looking at the three pokemon that had gathered around the man _"He should be fine, we just need to get him to some proper help"_, he signalled his Metang closer. With the help of the Nuzleaf, Steven lifted the man onto the Metang. The linoone tried to climb up onto the Metang with the man, but Steven gently stopped it _"It can only carry him, you might make it a bit too heavy"_, it lowered its head and resigned itself to walking beside the Nuzleaf. The strangers three pokemon made no sound as the group travelled back up the tunnel and out of the cave into Dewford Town. Once outside and in the fresh air, the Nuzleaf and Linoone seemed to try and direct the Metang away from the town. The pokemon were trying to lead it to the ocean, but Steven would not let the stranger be resigned to such a fate without at least trying to help him. The sight of the group drew quite a lot of attention as they moved through Dewford to the pokemon centre.


	10. Chapter 10: Warriors

Siam awoke, though refused to open his eyes. He could feel a wet cloth being dabbed against his forehead, the cool water leaked out and across his face. As slowly as he could, Siam opened his eyes, to find himself looking up at the Dewford nurse. She pulled the cloth away and smiled at him _"Good morning"_, he smiled back and gauged his surroundings; he was in the Dewford pokemon centre, _"It's ok, you're safe. You had a slight fever, but it's coming down now"_. He began to sit up to be greeted by her hand gingerly resting on his chest, trying to lightly push him back down. _"Please don't get up, You're not well"_ her eyes drifted to up past his eyes, Siam knew what she was looking at. He gently took her hand and pulled it away from his chest while he confidently sat up, not taking his eyes off hers. _"Y-You have some people who want to speak to you"_ She said, blushing under his gaze and gently pulling her hand out of his.

She opened the door and gestured in two men, Siam recognised the old sailor immediately, but the other man was strange to him. _"I'm glad to see you are doing well"_ the stranger said, approaching Siam _"My name is Steven, I was in the cave when your fever started, do you remember me?"_ Siam shook his head slowly, a slight twinge of pain shot through him, but he ignored it. Realising the name, Siam looked around the rest of the room; Sitting beside his bed were the Nuzleaf and Linoone, and hanging above him was the happy little Zubat. When she caught his glance, Lucilla smiled open mouthed and chirped a little. Siam smiled only slightly, and with the pointer finger and thumb of each hand made a rectangular shape. Lucilla tilted her head and furrowed her brow for a moment, before hopping up and trotting over to Siam's bag. After rifling through his bag, the Nuzleaf trotted happily back over to the bed and offered Siam the Letter. Taking the letter, Siam took a moment to scratch Lucilla's head before turning back to Steven, handing him the envelope_"Oh? A letter for me?"_. Steven took the envelope gratefully and tucked it away "Why thank you, It must have been some trouble to track me down. I suppose I must repay you in some way." Siam shook his head, but Steven did not see it_"Here, take this TM"_ He placed a memory drive on the table beside the bed _"Please accept it. It contains my favorite move, Steel Wing."_. The man then back away a few steps, bowed low to each person in the room, and left.

The old man stood beside Siam's bed with an enormous grin _"Oho! It looks like you delivered your chit good and proper. Though in a roundabout way"_ They both laughed, Siam's chuckles making no sound. _"Ah, but that reminds me!"_ He pulled a hastily scrawled not from his pocket _"You got a call from President Stone, says he has another favor to ask"_ Mr. Briney seemed to have difficulty reading his own handwriting _"It's about them Devon Parts that you recovered for him before."_ A pokeball dropped on Siam's lap, he tossed it back up where it came from absentmindedly _"Seems as though they should go to some fellow called Stern at Slateport's shipyard, the bird that was carrying them could only make it as far as here in Dewford."_ The old sailor shoved the note back into his pocket _"This old seadog will see you there safely! Weigh anchors lad! We're for Slateport!"_ The old man was headed off before the door by the Nurse.

_"He's not going anywhere. He needs to rest, and he can't do that on some random errand."_ The nurse had a serious expression, and would not move from the doorway. Siam grabbed the pokeball off the bed and tossed it upwards without thinking. _"I'm sorry but you're in no condition to be out of bed."_ She looked pleadingly at Siam, who simply tossed the Pokeball in his hand back up into the air while he swung his legs out of the bed. The nurse looked shocked from the old man to Siam _"By rights you shouldn't even be awake right now, let alone able to sit up"_ He wiped his eyes and smiled faintly, he placed his hands on either side of him as he sat on the edge of the bed. _"You won't be able to stand though-"_She began sweetly, but her face twisted in confusion when Siam did stand, though shakily. _"B-but you can't!"_ The poor woman's face had a mixture of fear and bewilderment as she watched Siam start to walk around the bed to his bag. _"N-No, you've had enough sedatives to take down a Primeape for at least three days. You can't be awake, let alone walking"_Siam had noticed that his red cloak was gone. He grabbed his bag, and weakly walked to the door. _"Please. Don't do this!"_The shock on her face was plainly evident as he drew closer and closer. He nodded slowly, almost going as far as to bow, before continuing past her. The old man shrugged his shoulders and tried to assure the nurse that Siam was in good hands, he would be fine, but she just stared after him for a while. Lucilla, Antony and Vipsania, carrying the pokeball, followed Siam down the stairs and out of the centre. "Wait!" She yelled, racing down the stairs after him. Siam stopped only a few steps outside of the Pokemon Centre, the nurse running up behind him. _"If you're not going to rest, please at least accept this?"_ She held up a large square of green fabric. _"I got a bunch of them at one of those contest halls, a man was just handing them out"_ she folded it in half along the diagonal and held it up for him. Siam sighed and lent forward, which she took as encouragement. The nurse quickly tied the Green bandana onto Siam's head and tucked it in at the back. _"Now people might not stare at the bandages at least. Be careful?"_ Siam smiled and nodded, before turning away and continuing on to the boat.

Siam was sitting at the bow of the yacht as it bounced along in the waves. It was mid afternoon when, after a short set of push-ups, Siam walked back to the helm. _"Do you see something up ahead lad?"_ Siam shook his head and attempted to mimic the weird finger movements he'd seen the man make from time to time when talking. _"Ahh, signing? Didn't know if you read lips or something, so this old seaman assumed you might be more comfortable with signing."_ Siam's head started to slowly roll to the left as one eyebrow raised _"But when I saw your bandages I realised that this might be new and not a problem with your hearing, just your voice"_ Siam nodded slowly, quite impressed with the old man's perceptive capabilities _"The course to Slateport will take another full day, when we anchor for the night I can try and teach you a little if you like"_ Siam nodded thanks and moved away, best to leave the sailor to full command of his vessel. At the side of the ship he held out his right hand; palm up and fingers slightly curled. He held this position for only a short time before the Zubat closed in and lowered the pokeball into his waiting fingers. He turned it over in his hand for a few minutes before tapping it twice with the pointer finger of the hand he held it in. A streak of red light erupted from it, and the great blue serpent materialized in the sea beside the boat. Vipsania the Zubat became ecstatic, flitting around the beasts head happily.

The great serpent, Duilius, kept pace easily with the boat, easily cruising along beside it. Siam simply stood on deck and stared at it for a while, he didn't move a muscle as he focused on the creature's eyes. After little less than an hour, the boat slowed to a stop. While Duilius watched, Siam moved to stand at the bow of the yacht, hands by his sides and feet apart. The Gyarados moved around to the front of the ship, towering over the small man. It roared, but Siam did not flinch. Instead he simply lowered his body, sliding his left leg forward and pivoting his torso to face ro his right. Siam's right arm hung up behind him and his left down by his left leg. Duilius lunged forward, spraying the ship with water in the process. The head of the Blue serpent went over Siam as he slid himself underneath, with his left hand he pushed up on Duilius' underside while turning. His right fist was brought up and crashed hard into the now lifted chin of the Gyarados. It pulled back from the ship and eyed Siam once again. After a moment it struck again at Siam, which again he avoided and struck back. For close to three hours the giant serpent lunged and snapped its mighty jaws at the man. But in time Siam tired, his heavy panting and sweating finally catching up to him. The moment Siam walked away however, Duilius stopped, he reached beneath the waterand returned to the surface with a collection of fish pokemon, which Mr. Briney eagerly prepared for dinner. _"After an show like that, we likely won't get into Slateport until after nightfall tomorrow lad"_


	11. Chapter 11: Meeting Magma

Strong winds and easy sailing carried them faster than they expected along the route to Slateport. A small dock was set aside at the beach for approaching ships, which is where the yacht pulled in. Seeing the trek up the beach and into the town, Siam held his hand out palm up and with fingers curled. Once the pokeball was placed in his hand he returned Duilius in a flash of red light and tossed the ball back into the air. _"Before you go lad, there is no guarentee I'll be here when you get back. President Stone has been calling me for a few errands myself"_ The old sailor said, passing the parcel to Siam.

The sand of the beach was hot from the long day's sun, he could almost feel the scorching heat through the soles of his shoes. Siam moved quickly off the beach and onto the grassy parts of slateport city. A nearby building had large cranes and pipes erupting from it at impressive angles. Assuming this to be the Slateport Shipyard, Siam approached. The building looked impressive in size, and from the interior it was no different. Hundreds of moving parts; cranes, jacks, pulleys and more were all working in tandem to maneuver pieces together to build a strange, mastless ship. Siam approached one of the men and showed to him the Parcel. _"Oh! Those must be the Devon Parts!"_ The man looked flustered and seemed to search the cabinets around him _"Hmmm, this won't do. They'll need to go straight to Captain Stern"_ Siam began to lightly tap his foot, not that the man noticed at all. _"I guess he'd be off at the Oceanic Museum again. Sorry, but you'll need to give the parts to him directly"_. Siam left the man to search under papers and cabinets for some unknown thing.

The 'Oceanic Museum' was surprisingly not far from the shipyard, A smaller more well kept building with large glass windows. As he entered, Siam saw the main floor filled with a crowd of people, each and every one wearing a long red cloak, some wore ridged helmets also, but that familiar red cloak and guns are what he saw in spades. He walked light footedly into the room, trying to avoid garnering too much attention. Lucilla closed in beside him, almost taking his hand in her paw. Antony began to growl quietly as they passed a man, at the sound the man turned to look at them, and his face instantly drained of all colour. _"It can't be"_ he whispered, horrified expression on his pasted white face _"You're dead"_. The man dropped a small memory drive he was holding and backed slowly out of the building. Lucilla picked up the drive and slid it into Siam's pocket quietly. The stairs were not far, as long as he kept his head down he might make it to them unnoticed. _"I have yet to use this, haven't fired a single shot!"_ one man said to another as Siam passed, _"I don't think you'd ever need to, not with Maxie in charge. That man's never missed his mark"_ his friend replied. Siam sneaked up the stairs into a large open-plan room filled with glass cabinets and displays. The only other person he could see here was an older gentleman standing in the back corner, admiring a display of a model luxury liner.

Siam approached the man as quickly and quietly as he could, the man looked up as he grew nearer _"Can I help you lad?"_The tag on his jacket read 'STERN'. Siam showed the man the parcel _"AH! Those must be the parts I ordered from Mr. Stone at Devon!"_ Siam immediately moved a finger to his own lips and looked frantic back to the stairs. Several sets of footsteps could be heard, before long three people in red cloaks and carrying pistols reached the top and, smiling, approached the two. _"Who are they?"_ The old man looked confused.

One of the three laughed heartily and loud. _"Team Magma, at your service."_, One of the men bowed as he spoke. _"We'll be taking those parts now"_ The one woman pointed her pistol at Siam, who was still holding the parcel. _"Hand them over"_ she demanded, but Siam placed the parcel on top of the glass case behind him and patted his leg twice. Antony scrambled down from his shoulders and stood on Siam's left, while Lucilla sat at his right. Again the one man laughed as he drew a gun also. Siam raised only two fingers together, and flicked them down, the three thugs all looked down for that moment, to see a small white pokeball rolling across the floor. The distraction gave Siam the time he needed to close the distance. As he slammed a pointed fist into the woman's face, one of her associates released from a pokeball a strange fat pokemon, low to the ground with a hole in its large hump of a back. Siam clicked his pointer finger of his right hand and pointed to the strange creature, As he heard Antony rushing at it, he covered his eyes with the pointer finger and thumb of his left hand. The sound and sensation of rushing wind followed. Hands away from his eyes he saw the two men dazed and the woman holding her eyes.

A gunshot rang across the floor. Everyone stopped and looked to its source. A tall slender man stood by the stairs, he held a well maintained, classic revolver. He wore a perfectly pressed red tuxedo and a pair of sharp hornrimmed glasses. "That is quite enough." He lowered his revolver to his side and took slow deliberate steps towards the group. _"Now here I was wondering how you could be held up in the simple act of seizing a case."_ The three in red cloaks backed up a little, each taking a knee. _"Am I to take it you are being stymied by this courier?"_ He turned to look at Siam, a stoic expression on his face. _"Hmm, There is considerable determination in your eyes for a courier. I am Maxie, I stand as the head of Team Magma, a noble organization whose goal is to propel humanity to even greater heights of progress and evolution."_As he spoke, Siam stepped lightly forward, but Maxie raised the gun to pointed at him. _"For us to continue growing and evolving, humans require a grand stage upon which to stand."_ He began a slow, deliberate monologue. _"A land upon which we can stride forward"_ Siam tapped his leg twice _"A land we can explore"_ Two steps closer _"develop"_ Maxie's gun moved to pointing at Captain Stern instead _"exploit..."_ Siam stopped his advance. A slight, almost invisible, smirk slid across Maxie's face. _"This is why we, Team Magma, must increase the landmass of this world!"_ Siam chanced another step closer, in response the hammer of the gun was cocked. _"Humph. At least I've tried to open your mind. I will take my leave for now."_ He looked past Siam to the three cloaked people. _"I suggest you take care that you never again stand against Team Magma."_ He lowered and disarmed the revolver. _"I will not be so lenient the next time."_ His glare at the three made them cower. Maxie turned and left, the three cloaked people hot on his heels.

Captain stern moved to stand beside Siam _"Young man"_, Siam ignored him and moved over to pick up the small white pokeball. Vipsania flew over to him and hovered around him quietly, Siam scratched the top of her head a little before handing her the pokeball once again. _"That was quite a tense situation! Thank you for helping me out! I didn't even know you had a Zubat with you!"_ Siam turned to facing the captain, and then looked upwards. Vipsania was quietly flapping about near the roof. _"No-one ever really looks up do they?"_ Stern had joined him in watching the little Zubat. _"Oh, yes, I almost forgot that you brought the parts from Devon!"_ Stern exclaimed, trotting back to the display and taking the parcel from on top of it, _"This is it! I can't be standing around here! It's finally time for us to set out on our ocean-floor expedition!"_ He held it under his arm and looked back at Siam _"Uhh, Thanks"_ were his last words before he rushed off out of the museum, leaving Siam standing there somewhat confused.

The sun had finally set when Siam made it back to the docks. But there were no ships there, the old man had left, and left Siam stranded. Siam stood in the cool ocean breeze for a moment, considering his options. With every thought he had, the first two steps were all the same. Step one: Dinner. Step two: a good nights rest.


	12. Chapter 12: A contest spectator

Though the sun had not risen, Siam had, he was up early again, wandering the pokemon centre with plenty of pokemon company. Examining the lay of the building, Siam found a small work-out room he did not know the centres had. He approached a chin-up bar and pulled himself up onto it, as his head passed the bar he noticed Vipsania hovering only a few inches from his nose, smiling a large open mouthed grin. Lowering himself, she closed her mouth, until his head passed the bar again and she grinned. Lucilla stood on the ground beside him trying her darnedest to jump up and grab the bar beside him, however her short legs were not strong enough to throw her that far.

Siam dropped down off the bar and patted his leg. The three pokemon came immediately to his side, He knelt down and gently moved Lucilla to a spot directly in front of him. She looked at him bewildered as he moved her hands to holding onto her own hips, but she didn't move when he stood back up. Siam hopped back up to grab the chin-up bar, with two swings of his legs, he'd slid his feet into the holes between Lucilla's arms and body. She looked up confused at first, but suddenly excited as Siam began to move his legs from dangling straight down to a horizontal position. It took all his strength to get his legs parallel to the ground and hold them there, but it became easier and easier as the repetitions went on.

The workout went on for an hour before Siam began to grow hungry. Breakfast was light, cheap and quick. The clouds outside promised heavy rain, not something Siam really wanted to miss out on. Stepping outside, Siam was surprised to see a small crowd gathering by a gaudy building nearby. _"HIIIII every-bodii"_ came a shrill woman's voice that lightly cut into Siam's ears, in the cool air he decided to chance it, joining the crowd to see what the fuss was about. A quite attractive young woman and her Altaria stood in front of the building with what seemed to be a TV camera pointed at her._"Lisia here!"_ She flamboyantly pointed to herself _"Me and my Altaria, Ali, have come to magnificent Slateport city's Contest Spectacular Hall for a bit of fun!"_ Her emphasis on the last word felt like a kitchen knife in his ear. _"Well then, watch me as I dive right in again today! To bring another fantastic Trainer into the wild world of contesting!"_ He knew what the word 'contesting' meant, but her tone made it sound like a bizarre and fake word. She had begun walking around the people in the crowd, apparently studying everyone. When she looked at Siam, her eyes lit up at the sight of Antony draped across his shoulders, but he could tell from her face, that something about him unnerved her and she moved on to a girl nearby. _"You there! Hai!"_ She said, giving the woman a hug that seemed slightly awkward for at least one of them._"Have you ever joined a contest?"_ the girl shook her head _"Just what I want to hear! The let's get this show on the road!"_The woman, Lisia, grabbed this poor girl's hand and pulled her to in full view of the camera. _"This is the Trainer I'm gonna scout today! Her name is-"_ She looked at the girl expectantly. The girl whispered something and Lisia lit up _"Jessabel! When I took a good look, I could easily see that Jessabel is a powerful Trainer, with several Badges of her own already!"_Jessabel feigned an awkward smile as Lisia pulled her to the gaudy door _"This is a Contest Pass, which is the first thing that anyone needs to take part in a Contest Spectacular! And this one is a Pokeblock Kit, which will let you make Pokeblocks for your Pokemon out of Berries!"_ She handed the girl a card and box, before suddenl grabbing her and pulling her close while looking excitedly to the camera. _" Now, everybody out there watching... You'd better expect great things from Jessabel, because I do!"_ There was a rumble from the sky and a few light drops of rain, which was immediately followed by the packing up of the camera and dispersal of the crowd. _"Come Jess, can I call you Jess? A bright new chapter of your life is about to begin"_ Lisia led the apparently shell-shocked young woman into the large gaudy building.

Curiosity grabbed Siam by the chest and pulled him into the building. Inside the building he followed the signs that were to guide spectators. Smiling he stood in the back of a room and watched as the pokemon talent contest began. It was at about the third or fourth talent round when Vipsania started to flit about in front of Siam's eyes, the rapid movements gave him a splitting headache and he glared at her. The Zubat flew to a nearby door and flapped around frantically. As he got close, she flew through and down to a turn in the corridor, flapping about like mad. When he was close enough to almost grab the little bat he heard some quiet and unsteady sobbing, it seemed to be coming from a nearby exit, propped open with a small book. Siam pushed the door open into the rain. sitting beside the door was a young lady, curled up, with an Electrike nuzzling her leg. _"Please, just go!"_ she sobbed, Siam lowered himself onto one knee beside her _"I'm sorry! Please don't hurt me."_. Unable to say a word, Siam simply sat down against the wall beside her. The rain fell gently on them, lightly pattering about the ground, drenching each of the pokemon and the two people. Slowly, as he cries evened out, the girl looked at him _"I'm sorry, wh-who are you?"_ Jessabel asked as she wiped her eyes. Siam shook his head _"Oh. I'm sorry. I'm just very- very-"_ the girl began to break into the uneven sobbing again. Siam waved his hand a small distance in front of her face until he had her attention. His right hand was in front of his chest, palm up. As he took a long deep inhale, he slowly lifted the hand, as he exhaled he turned it over and lowered it. It took three of these mantra-esc breathes for the girl to start copying his breathing. Breathe in, Breathe out, Breathe in, Breathe out. _"I, I do want to do the contests, it's not that. I- he-"_ She looked from side to side, obviously terrified. Siam stood and held his hand down, the Electrike sparked as she placed her hand in his. He pulled her up and led her inside the building through the exit nearby. _"I can't do this!"_ She began to shake, Siam turned her to look at him and began the breathing, she copied. He gestured to the exit and she shook her head, he gestured to the backstage doors and again she shook her head. _"I want to! I do, but he won't let me!"_ Her eyes met his for the first time _"Will you protect me?"_ He look at her for a moment, simply searching in her eyes, before finally nodding with a smile. How hard can an Electrike be to handle? _"Thank you!"_she hugged him and, with the Electrike by her side, headed backstage to ready for her contest.

Augustus, the Electrike, was entered in the 'coolness' contest. Siam was actually quite impressed by the performance it put on, being wet from the rain really helped it show off it's electrical moves. Twice, it's very presence was able to startle or unnerve the other contestants. It's victory was by no means surprising, Jessabel was overjoyed, hugging Siam in the heat of the moment as he was announced winner. The receptionist was just as happy for her, telling her that someone was waiting in the 'Green room" for her. _"Could you wait out here please?"_ She asked, Siam nodded and took a seat, Augustus was very well behaved, it didn't really make much sense for her to need protecting from him.


	13. Chapter 13: Cloudy strife

Through the door and across the hall, Siam could feel the voice of that starlet cutting into his ear. Despite the splitting headache her voice was building in him, Siam was vaguely aware of a man who sat down beside him in either a dark blue, or maybe black outfit. The man said nothing, but simply sat there in silence. Siam could hear Antony on his shoulders, grumbling as if suppressing a growl, he patted the Linoone's head. It was a considerable wait, but just as Siam stood to leave, the door across the hall opened and Jessabel backed out. The smile on her face dropped away almost instantly when she turned around _"It's umm... can we... can we talk in private?"_ Siam nodded sharply, an act that did nothing to help his growing headache. She led him to an exit, watching behind anxiously as they left the building. The storm had kicked into full force by the time they had gotten out into it. In the strong winds, fresh air, and cool rain, Siam could feel his headache subside. _"I don't-"_ It was incredibly difficult to hear her talking over the rumbles of the storm _"I don't even know your name"_ She blushed and laughed shakily, but continued to look very frightened _"But can-"_. She grew quieter and began to walk further away from the building in the rain, becoming harder and harder to hear _"Can I ask you a serious favour?"_. Siam moved up to walk on her left hand side, which annoyed Lucilla who found herself trailing behind this strange woman _"Can you walk with me to Verdanturf?"_. Siam grabbed his PokeNav, a device he'd not used in days, and flicked to the satellite map of Hoenn Island. Verdanturf was a small village, difficult to find, looked to be at least a three day journey. Putting his PokeNav away, Siam looked around in the storm before moving Jessabel to the side, just outside the city walls. Her eyes widened as she looked around for whatever it was he must have seen. Siam held up three fingers _"I know it's three days away. Please?"_, she was pleading more fiercely than he'd heard her before, so he nodded. As he began to lead her back to town she stopped dead _"Can we leave now? I don't mind the rain"_.

The storm grew stronger, aside from the brilliance of occasional lightning, one could only see at most 5 feet around them clearly. The road was long and winding, it sat on what appeared to be a land bridge, solid stone winding through a lake. Siam could not see much of the lake on either side, but he knew the waters edge was a sheer drop, to step off the path would mean instant submersion. Though the rain fell nearly sideways, and the wind howled past them, Siam had never felt better. He felt he could carry Jessabel, Antony and Lucilla should the need arise, and still easily power through the storm. The sensation was amazing. A roaring screech pierced the rain, it was loud and sharp, though it did not pain him.

The knife however, did.

A sharp stabbing pain slammed into the small of Siam's back, it's serrated edge ripped at him as it pulled out of his back. With how drenched his clothes had become, he could not feel any blood coming out of the hole that stung in his back. A shriek sounded from close by as Siam was shoved by strong hands into the water beside the path. In an instant Siam was sinking, the water all around him felt like thick air as he slowly fell through it's cool mass. Some large cold sense was pulling him down, which he did not fight. It felt nice to be embraced by the heavy, cool, water. **_"I promised"_** the thought was cruel, disrupting the tranquility he found himself in. He fought the thought, but it returned quickly **_"I promised"_**, it ate away at him. Finally, unsure of which way was up or which way he was sinking, Siam let go of a drop of the breath still in his lungs. The darkness was all encompassing, but in a brilliant flash of light he saw the bubble, drifting gently away from him. Siam swung his body around and let out the last breath he held, another flash, or more a crackle, of bright light showed him the bubble floating away above his head. With surprising vigor, he launched himself upward. The lack of air in his lungs burnt, clouding his eyes and stinging his head, by instinct his swallowed the water around him. Perhaps the inhale had tricked his mind into thinking there was still air there, because the pain was gone almost instantly, and Siam continued his rapid ascent. He burst from the lake surface and onto the stone bridge in the rain. The water was almost thrown out of his lungs when he crashed into the rock _"Heeeeeeey!"_ He roared, standing and staring at a shape nearby.

Two bodies were by the waters edge, the figure on top held the face of the other in the water as it flailed about helplessly. A large bird with dark, cloud covered, wings stood nearby. The large Altaria pecked and clawed at Antony and Lucilla, stopping them getting to the two people. Vipsania, the Zubat, fluttered down to near Siam's head. Looking at Vipsania, Siam placed his fist to the side of his head, then pointed it at the Altaria. She hovered there for a moment, obviously confused. Shaking his head, Siam launched off, running at top speed at the nearby battle. A thunderous roar of wind rocketed past his head, the wake of it almost throwing him off his feet and into the water again. A thunderous sound accompanied by what felt like a solid ring of air followed the wake of this thing. Siam chanced a glance away from the man and Jessabel, only to see a very large, bat-like creature ripping into the Altaria with nothing more than the wind on the edge of its four wings.

Finally arriving at the two people by the water, Siam dropped to his knees and with his right fist slammed the back of the man's head, with his left hand pulled the girl out of the water. The man scuttled away, fumbling with a pokeball he returned his Altaria. _"I'll have her! No-one gets between me-"_ He spat over the rain, before diving into the water. Siam turned back to Jessabel, he pulled her fully onto the rocks and checked her breathing. She was alive and breathing, but barely. He had no idea which way to go, so he sat on the stone beside her. It wasn't long before Lucilla carried over a small mass and laid it beside the girl, Antony sat beside Siam and lay his head across his lap.

Name: Augustus

Species: Electrike

Type: Electric

Nature: Sassy

Level Met: 13

Characteristic: Quick Tempered

HP 35, Atk 20, Def 19, 23, 18, Spd 19 ==+== | ==+==

Name: Augustus

Species: Electrike

Type: Electric

Nature: Sassy

Level Lost: 14

Met: Route 110

Lost: Route 110 ++=++ | ++=++

Siam pointed to the little mass, which Lucilla picked back up. He then picked the soaked and unconcious girl up in his own arms and began to walk along the stone bridge **_"There are only two directions this goes in, both lead to cities"_**


	14. Chapter 14: ERROR

It was impossible for him to tell just how long he'd been walking, carrying this unconscious girl in his arms. But as the clouds passed and the stars winked down on him, Siam began to feel the weight of her in his arms finally, and his legs began to give under the strain of an unknown hours walking. Finding that he'd just broken past the end of the bridge, Siam spied a small rocky overhang nearby, under which he lay the girl. Lucilla lay the body of Augustus beside the girl, and the group curled up on the grass nearby.

Siam awoke to a painfully familiar sound of crying _"Augustus? Please!"_. Opening his eyes and looking over to the sound he saw Jessabel on her hands and knees over the Electrike, gently shaking it _"Oh, please no!"_. She placed her face in the fur of the small creature and sobbed, Siam slowly, quietly stood up _"You can't be dead, don't do this to me"_. She picked the small body up in her arms and looked at Siam _"What happened?"_ She screamed at him. _"You said you would protect me!"_ tears streamed down her face at a rate that would have made the storm of the night before impressed _"How could you let this happen!"_ She pulled the small mass closer and stood up completely. _"I shouldn't have trusted you"_ She spat at him through clenched teeth before running off away from the bridge, cradling the body of the Electrike in her arms.

He couldn't say anything, truly, there were no words he could think to say if at all he could have said them. She was right to be angry at him, he had promised to protect her, and by extension her pokemon. He had failed, worse than that, for a moment he had given up. Siam had surrendered to the prospect of dying in that water, he'd welcomed it, fought against fighting it. She should have told him what the problem really was, not that that would have mattered, he still would have been stabbed, he still would have been pushed into the water to drown. Siam's eyes furrowed and he moved a hand to the small of his back, his fingers ran across the hole in his shirt, his fingertips lightly brushed the scar on his back. The scar was too well healed for it to be new, but still too tender for it to be an old wound. It wasn't a hole covered with clotted and dried blood, it was a true scar, raised scar tissue and all. Was it really last night? Was he really stabbed in the back? His attentions were snapped back to reality when his eyes glazed over the sight of the Linoone, Antony, rolling playfully in the grass nearby. He shook his head and set about collecting some berries for breakfast, since they were nearby anyway. Each of them; Siam, Lucilla and Vipsania, ate slowly and enjoyed the meal, Antony however almost swallowed his hole. Siam let Duilius out of the pokeball and into the large, crystal clear lake, he rose some berries to his own mouth and ate them. Duilius dove under the lake and surfaced several minutes later, swallowing a last fish.

Passing through the gate of the city, Siam felt like he'd entered a shopping centre. The streets were roofed, the buildings were built into the walls, no dirt or grass could be seen. It was a large; sterile place, and at the intersection ahead, stood two people. A large, rounded man, and a smaller sickly looking boy with sharp green hair. _"Uncle! I'm begging you!"_ the boy pleaded, his voice wasn't sharp or high pitched, but it seemed to ring in Siam's head none-the-less. The boy's voice almost seemed to echo _"I want to challenge this Gym to see how much stronger I've become!"_, the older man's head and eyes drooped as he sighed. Siam couldn't hear the other man for the ringing voice in his head _"Please! You'll let me, won't you?"_ it continued, the man placed his hand on the boy's shoulder. The man's lips moved, but Siam couldn't make out any words. Siam had to bring his hands to his head as the echoing voice continued to ring, stinging at his skull. _"If it's me and my Ralts, we can beat anyone!"_ The man caved, nodding slowly, the boy grew excited and dashed away down, a path? a corridor? a street? These roofed streets confused Siam, thankfully there were street-maps. The maps themselves even looked like Shopping centre guide points.

Since the city seemed so much like a place to shop anyway, Siam thought to sell a couple things he'd picked up on his travel, the shopkeeper offered to sell him pokeballs. Siam turned his head to the side, Antony took the chance and rubbed his face along Siam's cheek, Siam turned back to the shopkeeper and shook his head. The sudden quick movements made him dizzy and he collapsed to sitting in a nearby chair. _"Are you ok sir?"_ The shopkeeper became suddenly concerned, Siam nodded slowly and grabbed the side of his head with one hand. He felt two small paws rest on the other side of his head, his other hand he brought to his mouth and, clasped as if around a glass, made a drinking motion. _"Water? Water, just a second"_ the man rushed through the back door and returned quickly with a large glass of water _"You should drink that slowly-"_ he began, handing the glass to Siam. Siam threw the glass back, and in three gulps had drunk all the water. _"Ok, never mind then, just relax"_ he accepted the glass back from Siam, Siam's head cocked to the side as he pointed to a set of bottles of water on a nearby shelf _"Oh, I would have to charge for stock, and legally I cannot refuse someone water if they look to need it"_ Siam smiled and nodded, slowly this time. Placing a hand on the man's shoulder for balance, he stood _"No, sir, you've just had a spell, you should probably sit down for a while"_ Siam shook his head slowly and grabbed six of the water bottles, taking them to the counter. Once he'd bought the water, he stored them in his backpack and left. Stepping out the door, a strange sense came over him and he walked back into the store, grabbed one more bottle of water, paid for it and left. Outside the store he ripped the label off the bottle before putting it into his bag with the others.

Turning a corner into a new street/alley, Siam came face to face with the young boy with green hair. _"Siam!"_ The boy said, excited but without much energy. Siam was taken aback by this, he'd never seen this boy before, he would remember hair as blue as that. _"Ralts and I have gotten a lot stronger since we first met!"_ He smiled, Siam noticed the tall lanky man the boy had called uncle earlier standing behind him. _"We've been growing together! I want to prove that to you and my uncle both, Siam."_ Something about this boy was familiar though, a weak, niggling sense of familiarity in the recesses of his mind _"Please... help me once more? Have a battle with me!"_. Siam sighed, he wasn't a pokemon trainer, but this poor boy was sickly, could be pretend? Just for a moment? Siam's shoulders dropped and he nodded slowly, the boy's face lit up and he moved back to give duelling pokemon room.

A flash of red light, and before the boy stood a small pokemon. It was about one foot tall, standing on two legs, with long handless arms. It's body was covered in a white, velvety fur. The entire room around them exploded in flames, but from the faces of everyone he could see, Siam was the only one who could see it. He could feel the lick of the flames burn across his hands as he stared at this small white pokemon with a green-haired bowl cut. It was as if his head had ruptured, he felt his skull split starting between his eyes and fissuring backward and over his scalp, branching out like a bolt of lightning as his bones shattered apart. No-one was moving, as if every person was frozen while the flames melted him. The floor seemed to turn to the carapace of the great beast, the monster that haunts his nightmares. A nightmarish whisper sliced in his right ear, shredding his brain **_"_****_โปรดจำไว้ว่า ความทุกข์ทรมาน_****_"_** it taunted him. Siam's hands rushed to his head, vainly trying to hold his skull together as he felt every muscle in his body ripping apart and baking in the insane heat **_"_****_มัน จะเป็นของคุณ อีกครั้ง_****_"_**

-ERROR-  
-MEMORY READ CORRUPT-  
-ERROR-


	15. Chapter 15: Fragmentary

WARNING  
Memory Partition is corrupt. Readable segments may occur out of sequence or from completely separate partitions.

Siam could feel blood trickling out of his nose and onto the carapace where he knelt. With all the strength he could muster, he lifted himself up onto his feet. The demon in front of him didn't move, but through a part in its slimy green hair he could see its large red eyes staring at him. A force was pushing him back to his knees, an impossibly strong force. He could feel something reaching into his head and prying the parts of his skull apart as he backed away from this demon. Something was attempting to hold him back, but he fought against it, ripping through this invisible force; to flee.

ERROR-MEMORY READ CORRUPT-ERROR

Turning about heel, Siam punched the Poochyena on the man's leg square in the snout _"RUN"_ he yelled at the startled and only lightly bleeding older man. The man ran for his life back to the village as Siam and the very weak Zigzagoon, struggled against and fought back the Poochyena. As they managed to beat back one, another would launch onto them. Seeing an opening, Siam scooped up the helpful ball of fur and dashed back into the village, following where he saw the man go and running straight into the biggest house in the village.

ERROR-MEMORY READ CORRUPT-ERROR

A pressure was compressing Siam's mind as he staggered through the streets. After getting far enough away from that creature the walls and floor had returned to normal. He had no idea where he  
was, but he had the need to throw up and could not see any place nearby it could be possible. The streets, or are they corridors? Seemed to snake in every direction, though there were no dead ends; there were no ends at all. No matter how long he staggered down the street it still seemed to stretch on forever, any alley he squeezed down seemed to close in on him as he passed along it. Eventually a great gate loomed before him.

ERROR-MEMORY READ CORRUPT-ERROR

_"I shouldn't have trusted you"_ Jessabel was standing on a lake of ice, cradling a decaying pokemon in her arms. _"No one could ever trust you"_ The ice around her feet began to crack and split, she dropped below the surface. Siam ran to her, but when he reached the hole it had frozen over and no matter how much he beat at the ice it somehow would not break. Beneath the ice he could see her face, half eaten away and burnt, rubbing against the underside of the ice. No matter how hard he bashed at the ice, every hit felt like he was pounding himself.

ERROR-MEMORY READ CORRUPT-ERROR

Siam could feel blood trickling out of his nose and onto the carapace where he knelt. With all the strength he could muster, he lifted himself up onto his feet. The demon in front of him didn't move, but through a part in its slimy green hair he could see its large red eyes staring at him. A force was pushing him back to his knees, an impossibly strong force. He could feel something reaching into his head and prying the parts of his skull apart as he backed away from this demon. Something was attempting to hold him back, but he fought against it, ripping through this invisible force; to flee.

ERROR-MEMORY READ CORRUPT-ERROR

Through hazy senses, Siam could feel himself being turned over and picked up. Antony's Barking was close by but not aggravated. He could weakly hear a voice _"It's ok little guy"_ the voice was closer than any other sound he could hear_"He's going to be fine, good boy"_ The barking stopped. A faint sound of a door opening was followed by what Siam could see, the blend of colours, growing darker. _"Found him by the water's edge"_ he heard the door swing closed, a sound that shot through and seemed to split Siam's head. _"Let them in Victoria, they were with him when I found him."_ Siam could feel himself being laid down on something soft _"I doubt he'd still be alive if they hadn't have grabbed my attention"_.

ERROR-MEMORY READ CORRUPT-ERROR

Siam pulled the gun back out of the man's mouth. Grabbing the barrel he swung it down with tremendous force to strike the roof of Maxie's skull. The tall man flinched and staggered under the  
blow. Siam raised the revolver again, bringing it down over and over with renewed and vicious vigor. He could faintly hear the people behind him yelling for him to stop. Large iron arms wrapped around his waist, but the creature could not move him. Nothing would stop him from smashing this man's head apart with his own gun. Maxie had dropped to a crumpled heap on the floor as Siam followed onto his knees, using the force of his fall to help bring the weapon down, now smashing against a raised arm. The sound of wheezing and the sensation of blood against his skin drove him to smash harder and harder. A collection of large, soft leaves, wrapped around his arm.

ERROR-MEMORY READ CORRUPT-ERROR


	16. Chapter 16: The Winstrad Family

Slowly easing his eyes open, once again Siam found himself staring at an unfamiliar roof. Though this roof was unlike those of any pokemon centre. He could feel a strange hot object on his feet and another behind his neck. Siam pulled the strange hot object out from under his neck, recognising it as a hot water bottle he hung it off the edge of the bed and let it go. Footsteps could be heard coming up a flight of stairs followed by the opening of a nearby door "Oh thank goodness you're awake!". Siam turned his head to see a middle aged woman with long brown hair standing by the door, she approached him _"How are you feeling?"_ she placed the back of her hand gently on his forehead before quickly retracting it_"Victor!"_ she called out _"Call the pokemon centre!"_. Siam's eyebrows furrowed at this _"You've had a slight run in with something, we're not sure what. Help is coming ok?"_ she tried to reassure him, patting him on the shoulder. Siam's hand quickly snapped to grab her at the wrist before she could hurry off. He only held on with his thumb and long finger, but for all her wriggling, the woman couldn't break free. Horrified she glanced from Siam's eyes to her hand and back again_"Please let go!"_ her voice was actually very nervous and shaky. Siam let go and she bent down, picking up the hot water bottle off the ground and held it wrapped around her wrist. The woman nervously rushed out of the room.

A very strong looking man, about the age of the woman, entered the room shortly after she had left. _"Feeling better I see?"_ the man leant over Siam and seemed to be inspecting his head. Pulling a nearby chair over he sat beside him, _"You really scared us, what with those bandages and all"_ Siam rolled his eyes and tapped his wrist with two fingers twice _"I don't know, I can go check if it's important, though if you had an appointment you've probably missed it by now"_ Siam slowly shook his head, he drew a circle in the air and tapped his wrist again. _"Oh? Umm, do you mean how long have you been here?"_ Siam nodded lightly, _"About four days"_. Siam's eyes widened and he looked around the room. Lucilla and Antony were asleep on a nearby chair, Vipsania held the pokeball as she curled around a small blue mass with four long spindly legs. His attention was stolen away from this small mass when the man began to speak again _"We've been trying to keep your temperature up, but for the longest time it didn't seem to be doing anything."_ Siam tilted his head to the side and raised an eyebrow _"You've been ice cold to the touch ever since I found you"_ he placed his hand against Siam's neck and pulled it away quickly, with a confused look on his face _"That's impossible"_.

The man called out to his wife to bring more hot water bottles, at hearing this Siam shook his head. _"You shouldn't do that"_ the man said, watching Siam shake his head _"Were you aware that a portion of your skull has been cut out?"_. Siam nodded slowly _"Is it why you can't speak?"_, he shrugged, at this point he didn't know anything about what was wrong with him, only that he could push through it. _"You can't be moving around mate. You need to stay still and stay warm. A nurse is coming from the Mauville Pokemon centre to have a look at you again"_ Siam made a slow drinking motion _"I'll have the wife make you some hot tea"_ again Siam shook his head and made a slow drinking motion. The man sat there confused, Siam patted his leg twice and noticed all the pokemon stir. He pointed to Vipsania made a short drinking motion and pointed weakly at his bag nearby. The man was impressed to see the Crobat flutter over to the bag and fish out a bottle of water, bringing it over to Siam _"You've got some well trained pokemon there. Didn't leave your side since you got here"_the man remarked impressed. Siam began to drink quickly, the man reached to pull the bottle of water away from him but stopped as some deep growling could be heard from the pokemon nearby.

The water was warm, but refreshing, it seemed to chill as it slid down his throat. As he finished the bottle, Siam noticed the small blue mass had crawled up onto the bed with him and curled up beside his leg. _"That Surskit has been very helpful, tapping you each day while you were asleep so that you could stirr just enough to have water and something to eat."_ The man became quite concerned as Siam began to sit up, he tried to gently push him back down, but even in his weakened state; Siam would not be moved. The man backed away as Siam swung his legs off the bed and stood up. Running his hand up the left side of his head, Siam noticed he wasn't wearing any bandages. He looked confused at the man, _"We- We replaced them each day. Victoria was coming to give you the new ones when you woke up"_ Siam crossed the room and gathered his belongings, he patted his shoulder and was quickly joined by Antony. Siam bowed to the man and walked past him down the stairs.

Name: Stilicho

Species: Surskit

Type: Bug/Water

Nature: Gentle

Level Met: 14

Characteristic: Alert to sounds

HP 35, Atk 17, Def 13, 22, 25, Spd 27 ==+== | ==+==

Halfway down the stairs, Siam stopped, he ran his fingers across the small of his back, rubbing his  
skin through the hole in his shirt. He could not feel any scarring in the flesh, no scar tissue or sore points. Deciding it probably wasn't something he should worry about, Siam finished his trek down the stairs and terrified the little girl sitting at the dining table merely with his appearance. The little girl hid behind her grandmother, Siam bowed to the older woman and made a motion of wrapping bandages around his head. The obviously unnerved older woman grabbed some dressings out of the nearby medicine cabinet and threw it to him. Siam took a moment to wrap his head, once done he passed the spare bandages back to the old woman and bowed. She shook her head when he took out his wallet, he bowed once again, smiled at the little girl and left the building.

The house was by a lake, Siam circled the lake a ways before releasing Duilius into it. The Gyarados enjoyed its freedom in the water. After a while fishing, Duilius loomed over Siam. Readying himself for a fight, Siam was surprised by Duilius dropping a small green stone at Siam's feet. He looked at it confused for a moment before placing it in his bag. Whatever it was could wait for another day.


	17. Chapter 17: Route 111

None would argue that it's a curious sight, to see a creature as large and imposing as a Gyarados, flee from a mere Crobat. But anyone walking past the lake that day would see precisely that, though some may see it the opposite way around. From halfway across the lake, on her turn to make chase, Vipsania could hear Siam slap his leg. She hovered for a moment, Siam was standing at the water's edge, his fist raised into the air. With impressive speed she charged through the air at him, stopping dead when his fist changed to a open hand, fingers pointed to the sky. Siam's hand turned to horizontal, palm down with fingers pointed forward. As he lowered his hand, Vipsania looked quizzically at him. He repeated the lowering of his hand, she hovered slowly lower, until her eyes were level with his. The dirt around them rustled, and the waters edge was all but calm in the wind beneath her wings. Hand perfectly level, with a sharp turn at the wrist, he slowly moved his hand from side to side. The gradual shifting, almost snakelike, was hypnotic in it's steady beat. Vipsania gradually found herself drifting side to side with the beat. So steady was the sliding from side to side, that the Crobat did not notice that as his hand moved up and down in the motion, so did she. He clenched his hand into a fist and lowered it to his side, his left hand reaching up to scratch the top of her head pleasantly. After a small break, Siam brought his left hand to his ear and clicked _"tic"_, he repeated this several times at different distances and angles from his ear for a moment. Vipsania's eyes furrowed and head tilted, until he reached up with a small strip of cloth. Siam wrapped this cloth over the Crobat's eyes and clicked his finger again, her head turned to look at his hand. Despite the fabric over her eyes, she could see everything around her clearly, even things behind her. Siam's hand began the slow, serpentine dance once more, it's steady beat and simple moves captivated her once again, and even with the blindfold, she drifted in sync.

As Vipsania moved aside to rest, Siam took a few steps into the shallow water. One foot slid forward as Siam's body weight lowered on his back leg, his torso twisted, with one hand hanging up behind him and the other down by the slid foot. Duilius' approach could easily be felt in the water, he reared up before Siam, stretching out of the water considerably. Each time he struck down, Siam was able to sidle out of the way and back slightly, gradually making his way out of the water and back onto dry land. Each time Siam moved out a little further, the great serpent would need to move closer to continue to attack. Slowly Siam eased the Gyarados out of the lake and onto the land proper. **_"Ok big guy, let's see if you've got anything more than a bite and lunge"_** Siam kept just outside the lunging reach of the great behemoth, who moved much slower out of the water. In frustration it stopped and roared at him, though he would not let himself be visibly shaken, Siam was unnerved by the volume. Siam extended his arms to either side and half bowed at the beast, which only infuriated it more. Unable to reach Siam, Duilius grew ever more aggressive. With a strong slam of its tail on the ground, the giant snake erupted in anger, ripping trees out of the ground and swinging them at Siam, slamming and fissuring the ground around them. Realising his mistake, Siam slammed his leg twice and held out an upturned hand with coiled fingers. It took all his focus to avoid each strike and continue to hold his hand out, but eventually, a pair of small purple claws dropped a pokeball into his hand, and in a flash of red light Duilius was gone.

Having decided it would probably be best not to be seen around that area too soon, Siam moved on northward. As he passed through a narrow gorge, Siam came across a small wall of stones, they looked to have fallen from the cliffs on either side, attempting to climb them would result in a rock slide. Siam took a while, almost an hour, to study how they sat. Once he was sure of himself he approached a thinner portion of the wall, he pulled his fist back and with a full body swing, one that would cause him to pirouette otherwise, he slammed his fist through the wall and smashed open a small passage to walk through. As he squeezed himself through, Siam felt a collection of rocks moving around him. He ducked quickly out of the passage, expecting a collapse, to be met by a small round rock-looking pokemon with large stone arms. It punched the rocks and then looked at him, walking over using its arms as legs. It grabbed his arm and tried to use him as a swing. It held on for quite some time but slipped off and slammed into the rocks, where it promptly fell asleep.

Name: Clodia

Species: Geodude

Type: Rock/Ground

Nature: Sassy

Level Met: 16

Characteristic: Takes plenty of siestas

HP 42, Atk 31, Def 37, 18, 18, Spd 10 ==+== | ==+==

The surskit which had decided to start following him began to gently poke at the large rock, which Siam figured must be a Geodude. It woke up quickly and hurried over to look up at Siam. _"I'm Jillian Defray"_ a voice behind him, further to the north, said in an official sounding manner _"with H.N.N. News"_. Looking over, Siam noticed a woman standing before a large video camera, with a collection of police officers behind her _"here at the site of the latest grisly murder"_. She approached an officer _"Sir, is this the work of the Contest killer?"_ the man shook his head and refused to answer. _"Is it true that this would be his thirty second victim"_, she pressed, holding the microphone in her hands toward him. The officer simply shook his head and turned to speak to another beside him _"While the contest killer is big news around here, police still have no leads."_ The officer asked the woman to leave. _"Is it true that there has only been one survivor?"_ Siam shook his head and moved past, making sure that his entourage was in full view as he passed the camera. The woman backed off and fell silent shortly after.

Moving on further north, a large mountain loomed to his left, and a smaller mountainous outcropping to his right. As Siam continued he found himself having a harder and harder time seeing, as heavy sand blew in his eyes from an unknown place ahead. It would be impossible for him to pass through that storm, so he decided it would be best to attempt to take a detour on the mountain to his left. Retracing his steps and taking a passage to his left, Siam noticed ahead a pair of men in red cloaks, though he couldn't hear them talking. He was impressed with the dark detailing on the cloak of the one on the right, but was more concerned that he could see a pair of sub-machine guns in their hands.


	18. Chapter 18: Blistering Path

The men ahead ended their discussion and dashed off toward a flight of stairs that led up the mountain. Curious of their intentions, Siam began to follow them. He did not get far however, before a hoarse whispering whine caught his ears. Moving closer to the source of the sound, Siam noticed it seem to withdraw from him and quieten at his approach. He shifted aside long blades of grass to see a small camel like pokemon with a single large hump, he'd seen this kind of pokemon before; being used by one of the team Magma men in Slateport. This one was battered and bruised, with pair of black eyes and what looked like perhaps both a broken leg, and a broken neck. It whimpered and recoiled at Siam's appearance. As he drew nearer, more wounds became apparent, the creature had been shot in both it's back legs and it's back had been beaten hard. It whimpered and recoiled as he reached out to touch it, but soothed as he gently stroked the top of its head. As he tried to lift the poor creature, Siam heard it's bones groan and break with the shifting, so he laid it back down. It was in obvious agony, blood pooling slowly around it as it whimpered and groaned pathetically. Siam carried nothing that could help the poor creature recover, nothing he owned could treat it enough to get it to help, if help was at all possible any more. There was only one thing he had that could be used to offer at least a measure of relief for the poor, dying, creature. He removed his backpack and searched near the bottom, it was still there, no-one had looked in his bag, or if they had none had removed it...

A loud sharp noise pierced the silence, no whimpering could be heard as Siam stood from beside where the creature lay. He replaced the item into the very bottom of his bag and began a silent trek toward the stairs that led up the mountain. Antony on his shoulders licked his cheek quietly, the rough texture felt strange, but he continued unabated. Reaching a flatter area up the stairs, Siam noticed a mountain-lift reaching up from a building nearby to the summit. The door was guarded by three men in red cloaks, including one of the two he'd seen down in the field below the mountain. Siam approached slowly, only to be greeted by a collection of machine guns. He stopped immediately and raised his hands on either side, one open palmed, one clench fist. The pokemon around him stopped as he did, Lucilla held her arms above her also. _"The Cable Car is closed, keep walking"_ One of the men shouted at him, Siam lowered his hands and outstretched the fist. He slowly opened his fist, enough that the men could see he held something, but not what it was. At this point the blood on his fingertips had become quite apparent _"What do you want"_ the man said nervously, Siam feigned passing whatever it was in his hand to the man, without moving any closer. The man who spoke nudged another and gestured to go forward, his associate complied, _"What is it?"_ He asked as his friend drew closer. Siam turned his hand over, dropping six little bloody bullets into the man's outstretched hand.

_"What the fuck do I want these for?"_ the man dropped the bullets and pointed his gun at Siam. _"Is that a threat?"_ Siam shook his head slowly and raised his hands once again. _"Here's the deal, withdraw those pokemon and walk away."_ Siam raised an eyebrow and looked around him; Antony lay across his shoulders, Lucilla stood on his right, Vipsania was hovering nearby holding a pokeball, and behind him stood the Geodude and Surskit. _"Return them and walk away and we might not shoot"_. Slowly he lowest his arms and held up one finger, before pointing at Vipsania _"Bullshit, that's not your only pokemon"_, Siam nodded slowly, smiling slightly. The man held his machine gun up, aiming at Siam's chest, Siam could clearly see a small switch on the side of the weapon. _'Fire'_ or _'Safe'_ were the two options for the switch, he watched as the man clicked it from _'Safe'_ to _'Fire'_. Siam slid his left leg backward and turned his body slowly, his left hand moved to a defensive position as his right clenched, then unclenched and moved to in front of him, ready to strike. The man started laughing, _"You guys see this?"_ He smiled and stepped backward one step _"If you even try to hit me, I'll shoot you first."_. Without swinging forward, Siam shifted his right hand to the side. A sudden and strong gust of wind behind the man's head disoriented him, in the moment the man was unsteady Siam had swung his body around and quickly flicked the switch from _'Fire'_ down to _'Safe'_. His left hand slammed into the man's chest as his right pulled the gun out of his arms. He threw the gun aside, bowed and walked away.

A wooden sign was nailed to the mountainside nearby _"Fiery path: through to Fallarbor Town"_. A cavernous path into the mountain could be seen nearby. Inside was well lit by some unseen fiery light source, the light reflected off the crystalline walls, like fire and glass. The roof was somewhat narrow, but not unbearable, the problem was instead the heat. The corridor was baking hot, almost like being in an oven, but Siam could see no source of the heat. The further they ventured, the hotter it became, the hotter it got, the more Siam began to see things moving in the glassy walls. Things that were not him, nor the pokemon that had decided to follow him. Whenever the shapes would move in the periphery of his sight, Siam would look to see nothing but a hot glassy surface. Siam began to sweat heavily in the small tunnel, he didn't want to turn around in case the exit was closer than the entrance, but he wanted out of this oven as soon as possible. The sweat pouring from him seemed to evaporate as soon as it reached the surface, he could feel his mouth and eyes dry out, he couldn't take much more. Siam dropped to his knees and swung the backpack off his shoulders, opening it he pulled out the six labelled bottles of water. Unscrewing each one seperately, he let each of the pokemon drink from them in turn, before Siam himself drank from the final one. Screwing the lids back onto each one, he stored them back in the bag and looked up and down the tunnel. There was no sight of either the entrance or the exit, he knew which way he had been going and decided to continue in that direction. He could feel the heat of the floor burning through the soles of his shoes, he could do nothing about that or the likely effect that had on the footsteps following him. Why would they follow him in here? At any point, any of those pokemon could have turned and left, he wasn't making them follow him, he wasn't asking for their company. Each step was searing agony on his now unprotected feet, on all their feet he suspected. A viscious and mountain shaking roar echoed down the tunnel, though where from could not be determined. Siam started to get the feeling that his head was being split by the heat, the tremendous heat of the tunnel was hazing his mind. He could barely think, could hardly see for the pain and heat.

For those reasons he was immensely grateful when he fell out of the exit into the setting sun. Certainly the air was hot, but it was cool by comparison. He lay on the stone he found himself on for quite some time, simply enjoying the cool air on his skin. But the coolness wasn't the only reason he didn't stand, he was so dizzy he felt the mountain was spinning around him, he blinked hard but it made little difference. Going from so hot, to so cold, so quickly, his blood couldn't keep up. For only a few seconds he could enjoy the cool and refreshing air, before everything went black.


	19. Chapter 19: Meteor Fallen

_"Siam?"_ May yelled, looking down the mountainside at the crumpled body outside a cave entrance. With the help of her Marshtomp, she slid down the rocks to stand just shy of the familiar body. An assortment of wild pokemon closed in around him such that she could hardly see him any more_"Kipper!_ Mud Bomb!". The Marshtomp created, from the dirt around it and it's own internal water supply, a large wad of mud that it lobbed at the mass of pokemon. The group fell away from Siam long enough for May and the Marshtomp to get to him. Siam was only lightly covered with mud, the Linoone on his back had taken the majority of the hit. Looking at the Linoone covering Siam with it's body, May paused for a moment. She looked around at the other pokemon, they weren't attacking, some who growled were quickly silenced by a nearby Nuzleaf. Slowly, with it's hand outstretched non-threateningly, the Nuzleaf approached the confused girl. May grew more confused and nervous, was this the leader of some pokemon mob? Her breathing began to match her concern, speeding up as she moved behind the Marshtomp. The Nuzleaf halted it's advance, it began to make slow, deliberate, and quite obvious breaths. It's hands began to raise and lower rhythmically with it's own breathing, breathe in; hands up, breathe out; hands down. Gradually, as May's breathing started to match its, the Nuzleaf made slow, careful steps towards Siam. Once May seemed to have calmed down, the Nuzleaf opened Siam's backpack and slowly removed a bottle of water, once opened it passed the bottle to the Marshtomp. After taking a few sips of the water, the Marshtomp passed the bottle up to May, who drank thankfully.

A cloud of ash began it's slow descent of the mountain, and as the first gentle flake touched his cheek, Siam awoke. The moment his eyes opened May, who had been watching him since she'd found him, looked away ._"Hello"_ She muttered, almost to herself. Siam gave a small wave in acknowledgement as he stood up, stretching his back _"Your father should be here soon"_ She continued shyly, Siam looked at her confused _"Your parents have been worried sick ever since you ran away from the centre! I had to call them the moment I found you"_. Siam slapped his leg twice and began to walk off in the ash fall, the pokemon who had been guarding his unconscious self following him as he left. May rushed to walk with him _"You still can't speak can you?"_, the shake of his head was answer enough for her. _"You shouldn't be walking around, you should be back at the Pokemon Centre, resting!"_ She placed a hand on his shoulder, and watched as the slightly muddy Linoone scurried up his side to lay across behind his neck _"That can't be good for your neck"_ she retracted her hand quickly. Siam shrugged off her concerns and continued walking _"If we go too far, your father won't be able to find us!"_ Siam nodded slowly at this statement, _"You- You don't want to be found."_. Siam's slight shaking of his head said all she needed, as May stood frozen to the spot for a moment. _"You don't know how dangerous what you're doing is"_ she whispered as she watched him walking ahead of her _"Tomorrow you'll have been gone for two weeks, everyone thought you were dead."_

Fallarbor Town was a small, simple place. It consisted of only a few houses and the Pokemon centre, and what seemed to be a contest hall under construction. A young woman ran out of a nearby building, that housed a large telescope, straight to Siam. _"Please, you're a pokemon trainer right! Professor Cosmo has been kidnapped!"_ Siam didn't have a chance to correct her before she mentioned the kidnapping. He made a few quick circular motions with his hand, which she obviously understood as she continued _"Umm, some people in red and black cloaks came and told him they'd help him dig for meteorites"_. Siam face was a picture of confusion _"That was my reaction! But he went with, now they're holding him hostage while looking for something. I think they went to Meteor Falls, that way"_ She pointed out of town and to the south. Without waiting for any more information, Siam nodded to the woman and began his travels southward.

The ground around the path to _'Meteor Falls'_ was dry and cracked, a strange concept considering the rather wide river separating the town from the Falls. A long wooden bridge crossed the raging river, halfway across it Siam took from his bag the half-empty'd bottles of water. After a moment refilling them, he stored them back in his bag, taking a moment to question why he bought the seventh, and why he would rip the label off of it? Pushing the questions from his mind, Siam continued across the bridge to a small viewing deck overlooking the falls. Meteor Falls was an enormous open air waterfall network, it consisted of three large main lake-rests, where the water would pool before rushing over the falls once again. Each of the walls between the rests bore dozens of large, overlapping waterfalls. The roaring sound of water was amazing, and the view perhaps more so. The shine of the sun through the perpetual mist that surrounded the falls, gave the effect of framing whatever the watcher looked at with a large circular rainbow. The air was cool and moist, and carried a sweet taste, as Siam looked around the majestic waterfalls, he noticed nearby two people in red cloaks, one of which was pointing a gun at a frightened man in a lab coat. Assuming this was the _'Professor Cosmo'_ the woman was terrified for, Siam began the trek down the path to the plateau they stood upon.

Arriving on the platform the three stood on, Siam was greeted by the very 'large' man whom was not carrying a gun. _"What have we here then? Someone's come to your rescue professor!"_ the man's chuckles rippled through the fat hanging off his arms and belly. Siam slid a foot forward and took a balanced position, arms ready to strike _"Is it really your intention to oppose me? A Team Magma Admin!"_ Siam glanced from the man to the woman, the woman held the gun and continued to point it at the shaking fellow in a lab coat _"Don't worry, she'll shoot on my command. In your condition I think your main worry should be me!"_. The large man suddenly lashed out with his right hand, though not a fist; it was held in a grabbing pose, as if an animals paw. Siam quickly brushed aside the incoming blow with his arm but was amazed to see the other hand swing around behind it. The palm of the man's hand, the heftiest point near the wrist, struck the side of Siam's head with tremendous force. Siam could hear the shock wave from where the man struck shatter bones around the already sliced open part of his head, before all sound seemed to be drowned out by an echoing ringing sound that seemed to inch even into his vision. Siam could still see, but everything seemed to be filled with a static-like noise, and travelled with a slight delay. As Siam watched the man rear his leg up, he could already feel the full weight behind it slamming into his solar plexus. The man's movements were heavy and laboured, generally slow strikes with tremendous force behind them. After the slam to his chest, Siam had difficulty breathing, every breath was laboured, every movement was slow. All he could do was try to react, defend himself against attacks that were at him the moment he saw them begin. Any attempt at offensive action would be caught and smashed by his opponent, who could see everything clearly and at full speed.

Something happened outside of Siam's view that caused the man to turn away, Siam could not gather the energy to strike at the man, it was taking a miracle alone for him to be able to continue breathing. On his knees he watched as the man shouted something at the woman, she pushed the man in the lab coat backward and he tumbled over the railing, only just catching himself before tumbling down into the raging waters below. The woman reached down and removed a small stone from the man's pocket before the two of them fled up the stairs. Though incapable of hearing himself, Siam slapped his thigh twice and pointed at the man holding on for dear life, he watched as the Geodude rushed over and began to help the man climb back up. A pair of arms lifted him up, and a moment later Siam's vision followed. The man before him had tanned skin with a huge pair of crossing scars on his face, he wore a blue bandanna with a strange white symbol emblazoned on it. The man was saying something that Siam could not make out, he felt a piece of fabric being tied tightly around his head by someone behind him. He pushed the man holding him up away and staggered to the watered edge of the platform, reaching out into the raging water, Siam drank.


	20. Chapter 20: Hit Again

Drinking the dregs of water from his hands didn't help level the monster of a headache that had begun forming. Desperate for some relief he shoved his head into the path of the crashing water. Slowly, through the laboured breathing and shooting pains in his shoulder, Siam began to hear the crashing sound of the water falling around his head. Able to finally hear and see everything at the proper times, Siam collapsed to sitting in the raging water, looking up somewhat dazed at the man in the lab coat simply standing there staring at him. Gradually it came into focus that the man was speaking on a phone, Siam followed the man's concerned eyes to his own chest, where a large spot of blood had begun to formulate on his shirt. Use to only seeing a blood spot on his head, Siam slowly lifted his shirt up above the wound, surrounding an impression in the center of his upper torso were 3 large white sticks bursting from his skin. As he breathed he watched them saw in and out of his flesh, and with every inhale a sharp pain shot up across his left shoulder and down his back. Antony had come over and begun sniffing at the bones, the Surskit joined him after a couple seconds. As the Surskit lightly touched the bones, Siam could not feel them move, it was taking great pains to not cause any more damage.

The man hung up the phone and knelt in front of Siam _"Sir? Sir can you hear me?"_ Siam nodded slowly lowered his shirt again _"You need to get up so we can get you to some help"_, Siam slowly, with a little help from Lucilla and the Geodude, rose to his feet. Antony did not climb Siam, but instead walked alongside him on his left side as the group ascended the long staircase up the waterfalls. _"You need to be careful"_ the man said, trying to stop Siam walking too quickly _"The nurse on the phone said you may have suffered some internal injuries, but they couldn't get down the falls to us"_ Siam nodded and continued up the stairs slowly. Finally reaching the top, he could see a group of people rushing across the bridge towards him, carrying what appeared to be a stretcher on wheels. Siam looked around him for some escape, when it finally dawned on him. He grabbed one of the Geodude's hands and clamped it around one of his own wrists, then joined the other one with it so the stoney hands had a solid and unmoving grasp on his wrist. Siam then allowed himself to fall into the water just alongside the bridge, submerging all but the one wrist. The current lifted and attempted to drag Siam away from the bridge, but the strong arms that held him didn't let him leave. A terrible pain slammed into Siam, like his chest had just been smashed with a sledge hammer while being ripped open by the jaws of life. The sudden surge of agony caused him to breathe in, sucking water down into his lungs and letting go of the air that had been there. Pain ripped across his left shoulder and down his back, burning for a moment before suddenly vanishing.

Feeling all the pain leave his body, Siam felt a sudden sense of peace, and knew that should he want to leave the water, now would be the time. Throwing his other hand onto the bridge he, with the help of the Geodude, pulled himself out of the water and onto the wooden planks. The moment he was on his stomach Siam released all the water from his lungs and breathed in a great breath. Two sets of arms attempted to lift him up, but Siam broke their grasp _"I'm Fine"_ he whimpered, landing face down on the wood once again. Unwilling to take any aid, Siam pulled himself up to standing. He looked at the people around him and tried to tell them to leave, but no words came out, he shook his head defeated and began walking off once again. Siam could hear one of the people behind him ask the man in the lab coat what had happened, the man told them that Siam had saved him from some people, called themselves _'Team Magma'_. The man was sure Siam should have died after the beating he took, some miracle must be keeping him alive. When asked what happened to Team Magma, the man told them that they'd stolen a Meteorite from him and headed off to for some reason.

It took what little remained of the daylight for Siam to retrace his steps to the mountain, not wanting to chance moving through that terrible tunnel again, he began to climb up the side of the mountain himself. Vipsania was kind enough to carry the Surskit, while the Geodude helped Antony, Lucilla was quite capable to clamouring up alongside Siam as they moved up the rock face. The sun had vanished when they finally reached a plateau with a large building. From the building extended cables both up and down the mountain, none of the boxes on the cables were moving, but Siam entered the building nonetheless. _"Good evening sir"_ the woman looked slightly confused but approached Siam as he entered the building_"I'm sorry, but the Cable Car is closed for the night"_. Siam thought for a moment then placed his fist against the bloody spot on his head, while pointing up the mountain with his other hand. The woman looked confused, remembering the men in blue from the platform, Siam reached up and removed the bandanna. The sudden shock on the woman's face was priceless, she called to the younger lady, whom Siam had not noticed, standing not too far away. _"Kylie? You know sign language don't you?"_

The young lady came over and looked at Siam, her hands began to move in a flurry. Siam's hands raised to his shoulders and he shook his head slowly, he feigned knocking on his head and simply pointed up the mountain. _"I don't think he knows sign language, but he's saying the people at the top hurt him."_ Kylie said to the older woman, _"It's ok, we'll call you some help"_ She tried to comfort him. Siam shook his head and pushed past, walking up the stairs to one of the large cable boxes. _"We can't let you go up there, there's a war going on!"_ She called up to him, the look on his face seemed to explain everything to the two. _"Which side are you on?"_ Kylie asked, Siam simply shook his head, to which the ladies opened the doors for him. He and his entourage piled into the box and were set off for the top of the mountain.

As the cable car finally reached the summit, Siam noticed a vicious battle. Gunfire in all directions and pokemon ripping into both people and pokemon alike. A magnificent pit, filled with an unnerving reddish-gold glow, filled the scene. A great glass and steel walkway stretched across the expanse, but Siam could not see far into it for the thick smoke surrounding. As he stepped out, Siam quickly spun and slammed the car door closed and locked the pokemon within it. He pointed to himself, then in at the center of the car, before setting off down the stairs and out of the building. As he rushed through the war zone, Siam narrowly avoided twice being shot. Quickly he made his way to the glass walkway. The large man from Meteor Falls stood at the edge of the walkway, backlit red by the magma deep below. He laughed manically at Siam's approach _"Back for more punishment from the great Tabitha of Team Magma?"_ the man grinned, walking slowly toward Siam _"I'm mildly impressed that you survived that. Here's how this is going to go down. First I smack you in the head again. Then I'll actually break your ribcage this time. For added measure I'll break your Tibia's"_ He grinned and took a couple slow, threatening steps closer to Siam _"If you can take all that without screaming, again, I'll take you to the boss"_. The man's body surged with the punch, but Siam knew it was coming. As he pushed it aside he finally understood what he had been doing wrong; to deflect the blow needed him to send his weight at it, which the man took into his own momentum and brought down once again on the side of Siam's skull. In the shockwave that blurred Siam's sight he felt an enormous force slam into his chest, and the same agonising pain he just passed returned. He opened his mouth to scream but no sound came out, he could barely hear anything at all. Just as his site was coming back into focus, Siam felt a foot slam down on the flat of his leg, snapping the bone within. As his body tried to scream again, a hand clenched around his throat and pulled him close to the large man _"Well, a deal's a deal little man. Time to see Maxie"_.


	21. Chapter 21: Crushed

Siam could feel an arm wrapped around his neck and another gripping his arms, he could breathe but not voluntarily move. He was marched forward, with each footfall he felt the broken bones in his leg grinding apart against each other, he was only kept standing by the arm around his throat. Siam was led into the smoke slowly, gradually making his way across the glass walkway, he found himself only a few feet from a tall slender man in hornrimmed glasses and a large machine. _"The power contained in the Meteorite"_. Siam could hear Maxie begin _"If we merge the explosive energy contained within the planet's core with the Meteorite's power"_. Maxie looked up from typing into the machine, a smile spread across his lips as he saw Siam. Maxie approached and simply stared at Siam for a second _"I remember those eyes, and the indomitable will that seems to burn behind them."_. Maxie looked past him at the man holding him. _"He can't do anything Tabitha, just drop him there"_. Siam felt the arms release him, and suddenly his full weight was up to his legs to support, he collapsed straight down shattering further the bones in his legs as he smashed onto the glass walkway. _"You show some true promise"_. Siam found himself on his hands and knees, staring through the glass floor and down the pit to the broiling, molten rock lake below _"So I will attempt to educate you."_. Siam couldn't see anyone else, his eyes would not tear away from the lava below. _"Thousands of years ago, there lived a most powerful being-"_. Something was moving in the lava, Siam could see it; huge chitinous plates shifting around just below the surface. Siam had tuned out, not hearing most of what Maxie was preaching _"Our research has led us here, to Mt. Chimney. Here, to this very Meteorite"_. he was able to tear his eyes away from the pit and glance up at Maxie. Maxie wasn't even watching him anymore, he was staring into a viewing window in the strange machine _"If we create the right conditions, we should find outselves able to alter this Meteorite's qualities"_. The tall man turned back to Siam, a somewhat manic grin on his face. _"Yes, even into a Mega Stone"_, it wasn't really the words, so much as the concept behind them that seemed to echo in Siam's mind 'Mega Stone'. _"Even into a Key stone"_. At this phrase, Siam's hearing suddenly cut out, echoing the last two words over and over, every time he heard them it sounded more and more like the last word 'stone' began to morph into his own name.

Looking up, Siam watched as Maxie took a step back and levelled the revolver at him. Though his lips moved, Siam couldn't tell what Maxie was saying. Siam could see up the barrel of the gun, he could almost imagine the bullet at the end. He watched as the hammer was pulled back, Siam didn't flinch as he readied for the shot, but in the moment that the bullet should have fired, the walkway shook and the glass fractured. A massive rock hand was between Siam and the gun, Siam followed the arm of this thing back to see a massive boulder, bearing four long stone arms and two small rock feet. A Graveler? Siam could not see what was happening any more as the large boulder creature moved in front of him, blocking his sight completely. He could feel the smoke around him swirl and clear, as a large amount of wind forced it away, enabling everyone to see the bridge clearly. Looking around, Siam noticed Vipsania the Crobat, and a strange blue pokemon; it's body resembled a teardrop, with two large antennae apparently painted as a pair of eyes. A Masquerain? Graveler and Masquerain, evolutions of Geodude and Surskit, the pokemon had broken out of the Cable car.

Three quick flashes of red light, barely noticable in the light of the sea of magma below. Siam watched as a Golbat, the stage between Zubat and Crobat, the form that Vipsania evidently skipped, materialised in the sky and began to strike out at the Masquerain. Drawing his attention slowly back to the glass walkway, Siam noticed a splotch of lava apparently oozing along the glass, far above the pit. As it oozed toward the Graveler, it's eyes became apparent, and the nature of this creature was evident. Seeing this entity, Siam pushed himself up, attempting to stand on his shattered legs, his weight and the agonising, searing pain ripped him back to his knees. Finally the echoing of his own name ended, and Siam found himself in a surreal sensation of watching this viscious battle roar all around him, in silence. He watched Vipsania soar past, no pokeball in her claws. He watched the Masquerain being chased in rings around the walls of the volcano by an aggrivated Golbat. He watched the Graveler punch, unsuccessfully, at the magmatic creature. He watched Maxie at the machine, with a creature beside him; a squat, four legged creature with two volcanic looking humps on it's back, and a strangely unreal glow about it. The creature glowed with a colour Siam had never seen before, a colour indescribable and beautiful, he could feel the glow reaching into him, but knew it was not and could never be real. Every shake of his head to try and shake the colour from his eyes, only rattled his stunned and painful brain.

As the Graveler gradually beat back the small puddle of magma, this strangely glowing pokemon stepped forth. Fire erupted from its back and blasted the Graveler hard on the side, sending it rolling and tumbling in the opposite direction. Before the poor creature could grab the sides of the walkway, it had tumbled into the open air and downward. Siam watched through the floor as this creature, which was only trying to protect him, fell uncontrollably down, down into the crashing waves of magma below. It was consumed almost instantly, disappearing forever below the surface of what Siam could imagine to be its own molten siblings. He watched as Vipsania, unable to catch the heavy creature, rocketed back up the cliff to slam into the Golbat. On the walkway however, Siam watched the reflection of Maxie, the puddle of lava, and the strange squat creature approach. As they drew nearer, the strangely beautiful glow of this creature flowed over him. The more of this glow he saw in his own reflection, the more his muscles seemed to burn. It felt like he was on fire, and every muscle in his body seemed to be stretching, ripping apart as they burnt.

Name: Clodia

Species: Graveler

Type: Rock/Ground

Nature: Sassy

Level Lost: 16

Met: Route 111

Lost: Mt. Chimney(VS Maxie) ++=++ | ++=++

**_"Vipsania doesn't have the pokeball."_**. Was the only thing Siam could think of, the only chance he knew he could have had was in that pokeball, and there was no way of getting to it. Siam couldn't walk, he couldn't even stand properly. In what he knew to be a futile gesture, Siam held his hand out, as if holding the pokeball. In a flash of light, the great blue serpent appeared, wrapped around the other end of the glass walkway. It's roar shook the cavern **_"How the _****fuck****_ did that work?"_**. shaking the question from his mind and using only one hand to support himself, Siam raised the other into the air and snatched at nothing. Duilius the great serpent simply reached out and snatched the Golbat out of the air in response, A flash of light followed, and once again the Golbat was sealed in a pokeball. Returning his hand to an open palm, Siam swept it from side to side, Duilius copied; shoving both the puddle of lava, and this stout glowing creature over the edge. Two more quick flashes of light and they were once again safe inside their pokeballs. Maxie glared down at Siam, stepped on Siam's support hand, and before Siam could call the Gyarados down on him, fled. Siam nodded up at Duilius as the great serpent vanished in a flash of light. Once he felt nothing would attack him, Siam began to crawl using his one good hand and the one that had been stepped on. He reached up to the machine's glass window and smashed through it with a now bloody fist, from within he pulled a small lump of rock he recognised as the one taken from the man at Meteor Falls.

Having collected what was stolen, the beaten and broken Siam collapsed onto the glass, staring down at the fiery pit below. In the reflection from the glass he watched as a little white pokeball rolled past him. As he watched it, Siam could feel someone searching around in the backpack he was still wearing. He was too weak to move, incapable of even reaching out and grabbing the pokeball that had likely saved his life. He felt something take the Meteorite from his hand, as Vipsania landed and picked up the pokeball. Six long, leaf-like fingers gently turned him over before picking him up. Siam looked up at a long brown nose and what seemed to be a huge white mane that covered the majority of the creatures face. Knowing himself to be safe, Siam allowed himself to finally fade to black.


	22. Chapter 22: To complete you

Siam's eyes slowly flitted open, looking upward at the ceiling of a Pokemon centre. Unlike every other time he'd woken in one of these places, Siam was moving; sliding along on his back. Glancing around he ascertained he was on an emergency stretcher, being led down a hallway. He could hear the people around him talking about the terrible state he was in; two broken legs, a shattered rib cage, 3 broken fingers, a glass shredded hand, a potential concussion, severe skull fracture, a pre-existing traumatic brain injury and a case of severe hypothermia. One of the voices seemed surprised at the notion of a pre-existing traumatic brain injury, _"Yes, he was brought in after a gun shot to the head two weeks ago"_ came the familiar voice of the Petalburg city nurse _"He left the bed and fled the city the very next day"_ she remarked. Whomever the other voice belonged to was quite surprised, mostly of the idea that Siam was still alive two weeks after such an injury and with everything that had evidently happened to him.

The stretcher wheeled to a stop in a room Siam had never seen before, he finally turned his head and was noticed to be awake by a man nearby _"Nurse, what is he doing awake? In his condition he needs to be sedated"_. Siam felt a hot needle jab into his arm, knowing what it was they intended to do, he faked unconsciousness as best he could. _"He has some potentially very severe damage to his brain, but unless we release the pressure on his lungs, he may not survive long enough for us to do anything"_ Siam felt his shirt be cut open and the cool relief of water being run across his chest to wash away the blood that had begun to pool there. The sensation that came next was anything but a relief, he could even hear the tremendous snap of his bones shoving themselves back into his chest, even over the scream of shock from every person standing around him. _"What did you do?"_ the authoritative voice demanded, Siam could hear the nurse stuttering in fear. He opened his eyes only marginally to see everyone staring in shock, even saw the man rubbing his eyes; as if to shake whatever he had seen from his mind. Siam slowly reached out, with his right hand, to grab the steel bowl on the stand next to him. The glass shards in his hand were very obvious to him as he lifted the bowl and began to pour the water over his chest. If he could have screamed, there was no doubt he would have, Siam's eyes and mouth shot open in a horrifically pained expression as his bones snapped audibly back together in his chest, finally allowing him to take a good solid breath. Siam could breathe easily once again, the pain was slowly subsiding as he looked at the man standing over him. _"That's impossible!"_ The man finally spat out of his stuttering, clumsily grabbing the empty bowl Siam shoved at him _"Someone run this man a hot bath!"_.

The man stood beside Siam's scalding hot bath, watching with intense curiosity as Siam's legs shuddered and snapped back to normal. The shards of glass in his hands seemed to slowly wriggle themselves loose and sank to the bottom of the bath as the slices in his hand quickly vanished. _"How is this possible?"_ the man asked directly of Siam, Siam simply shrugged his shoulders and lowered his head into the water _"I've only ever seen some Pokemon react to water like this"_Siam smiled and shrugged _"but never to this level."_

Nearly an hour later, Siam found himself in a strangely familiar room; upstairs in the Pokemon centre. His clothes had been so damaged over time, that he had decided he would wait here, wait for his family to bring him new clothes. It was not a conversation he was particularly excited about being near. When the door finally opened, the first thing through was a streak of white and brown fur that shot straight up onto the bed next to Siam. As Siam was lightly patting Antony's head, his father Norman entered the room, followed by two flying critters and a strange large creature. Although he had never heard of a Nuzleaf, Siam had heard of this, a Shiftry. The Shiftry, Lucilla, walked over and sat on the floor on the right side of the bed, while Vipsania and the Masquerain fluttered about the ceiling. _"I heard from the doctor that you got better, he was very excited about it though."_

Norman sat down on the bed end, placing several changes of clothes into Siam's bag _"I suppose, like last time you're just going to leave again. Aren't you?"_ He looked over his shoulder to see Siam nod slowly _"There'll be no stopping you I'm sure."_ He stood and moved to sitting on a chair away from the bed, watching as Siam scratched the heads of Antony and Lucilla slowly. _"That Shiftry saved your life, If she didn't carry you to the Lavaridge Pokemon centre, you would probably be dead right now"_ Siam smiled and nodded, scratching and patting Lucilla's head. A strangely confused smile spread across his face as Siam raised his open hand with curled fingers. _"Oh.. the pokeball"_ Norman walked to standing beside Siam's bed _"Son, I'm sorry."_ Siam looked at him confused as Norman reached into his pocket _"Sometimes it happens. I don't know what happened, but it was brought into the centre with you."_ Slowly he handed Siam the top, and then the bottom, of the pokeball. Siam sat there for a while, simply staring into the mechanical mirrors and workings that make the inside of a pokeball. He looked to his father with eyebrows curled in fear _"It wouldn't have felt any pain. When the ball broke, for whatever reason, it would have simply ceased to exist."_ Siam looked back to the halves, gently pressing them together and staring at the closed, broken pokeball. _"It wasn't your fault"_ Siam placed the pokeball on the table beside the bed and raised a fist to the air. He opened his hand and slowly moved it through the air, until Vipsania was hovering in front of him. Siam lurched forward and wrapped his arms around the fluttering Crobat, which stopped immediately, squeaked in surprise, and simply hung there in his arms.

Name: Duilius

Species: Gyarados

Type: Water/Flying

Nature: Serious

Level Lost: 40

Met: Route 106

Lost: Petalburg Gym(Vs Norman) ++=++ | ++=++

Siam had decided it would likely be best to wait at the centre for the rest of the day, to allow the strange doctor to examine him a little more, before leaving once again. Later in the day, a short time after dinner, a knock at his door was answered by Lucilla. Into his room walked the small green-haired boy Siam recognised as being named 'Wally'. Wally walked into the room and simply looked at the ground. _"I"_ he seemed very nervous _"I wanted to see if you were ok."_ slowly he lifted his eyes to look at the bed, but not Siam. _"You ran away last time I saw you. I wanted to make sure Ralts didn't hurt you"_ Siam shook his head, he couldn't remember what happened the last time he met, all he knew is that this boy was named Wally. From Wally's hip emerged a flash of red light, and in the room stood a small white creature, no longer the demon Ralts, now it had elegant legs and more visibly evil eyes. Wally tried to return it but the pokemon would not withdraw.

As Siam stared at this creature, the room around him began to melt. He felt like he had become welded to the bed, and no matter how he struggled, he could not break free of the bed. He felt every muscle in his body burning, ripping, stretching, all while his bones turned to powder under the force of his struggles. He watched the green haired boy try to pull the pokemon away, but it's heavy stare bore into his mind, unravelling and ripping him apart. The more it tried to rip him apart, the more Siam felt it wasn't even his body. Eventually, and quite suddenly, all pain was gone. Siam was standing in an endless field, only several feet away from him was the Dewford Pokemon centre's nurse. She looked at him shyly, with beautifully red iris's. _"__ผมคิดว่านี่อาจจะเป็นวิธีที่ง่ายที่สุดสำหรับคุณที่จะเห็นฉัน__"_ The nurse said, unmoving. Though Siam tried, he was unable to take any steps, was unable to move from the spot he found himself in _"__คุณไม่สามารถหนีไป__"_. A small echo of the agony he knew he should be feeling was tickling at the back of his mind _"__ฉันขอโทษที่มันเจ็บ__"_. She slowly walked a circle around him _"__เราต้องจบมัน__"_ every cycle brought her gradually closer and closer to him _"__ฉันขอโทษ__"_. She was no less than four feet from him, he could smell brimstone in the air as she grew closer _"__ฉันไม่ต้องการที่จะทำลายคุณ__"_. Her voice was sweet, but somehow disturbing _"__แต่มันก็เป็นสิ่งที่จำเป็น__"_.

A flash of red light and Siam was suddenly sitting back in the bed in the centre, no pain. Wally was slowly backing out of the room, apologising profusely before running out. As Siam looked to his father, his eyes passed over each pokemon in the room, and the strange glow they all seemed to emit. His father stared at him for a moment _"Siam"_ he said, leaning in curiously _"what's wrong with your eyes?"_


	23. Chapter 23: Burial at Sea

The sun hung high in the sky, as Siam stood by the seaside, two halves of what use to be a pokeball in his hands. **_"If I hadn't caught him, he wouldn't be dead now"_** Siam thought, staring out across the water. His parents and a man from the Pokemon centre were standing nearby, perhaps they thought he needed emotional support **_"But if I hadn't, all of Dewford, and Antony, would have died"_** Siam's eyes drifted down to looking at the pokeball halves. **_"I didn't have the right"_** Siam held one part, that had once been the top of the ball, close to his chest before flinging it as if a frizbee out into the open ocean **_"No-one has the right"_**. Only inches from the surface of the water, Vipsania swooped down and snatched the pokeball half out of the air. Siam's fist in the air called her back to him, she handed the pokeball half to him and hovered happily nearby. Siam didn't know how to react, he knew she was awaiting the appearance of her friend, but he would never come back. Slowly, Siam waded out into the water, easing out into deeper and deeper waters. As Siam began to swim further out, he became distinctly aware of a rapid, shallow paddling beside him. Looking over he watched as the very wet Antony doggy paddled beside him. Deciding he had gone far enough out, Siam filled the pokeball halves with water and gently released them.

Swimming back to shore, Siam noticed the rapid movements Antony was making just to stay afloat. Siam stopped and merely tred water for a moment, watching the little pokemon as it watched him. _"Tict"_ he clicked his ring finger and thumb and began to swim, a moment after Antony began to follow him he stopped. He began to swim again, and when Antony began to swim he once again clicked his fingers _"Tict"_. Antony tilted his head to the side and barked almost quizzically, _"Tict"_ Siam pointed to shore, Antony barked happily and began to swim to shore. Siam was only able to smile a little as he followed, swiming swiftly to shore. As he neared the shore, he could feel the air off of Vipsania's wingbeats. She chittered excitedly and seemed to be searching around him, Siam silently swam to shore. As he walked onto the dry sand, Siam watched Vipsania's searching become more worried and frantic, her chittering became stressed chirps. Siam clapped his hands and held up his fist, the crobat rocketed toward him, stopping just short of dazing him. Her excited chitters stopped as Siam slowly shook his head, the Crobat began to scream in a high pitched panic and began to fly quickly in circles around him.

Considering it probably best to let her grieve, Siam approached the cottage of the old sailor. Finding a note pinned to the door labelled 'The Silent Sailor', Siam plucked it from the door and read it. After a moment's silent study, Siam handed the letter to his father, who read it quietly to himself in turn. _"Lilycove city? Thats clear across the other side of the island"_ Norman remarked, looking at Siam _"You'll have to cross two rivers to get there."_ he finished, as Siam's mother and the man from the centre began to argue against his leaving. _"He ran out of the centre before, the only reason we found him is because the girl next door spotted him in her travels!"_ Norman stated, seeming to instantly take charge of the situation _"You know what he's like, there is no stopping him when he wants to do something, no pinning him down when he doesn't want to be"_. Siam's mother rushed past him and wrapped her arms around her son, quietly agreeing with her husband as she placed an amulet around Siam's neck, for luck. After bowing to his family, Siam began walking back to Oldale Town, as Route 103 contained the first river he needed to cross. As he left, he could hear his father talking quietly to his mother _"He's not a little boy Caroline. He'll be fine."_ He tried not to listen to the obviously private conversation as he left.

With all the travel he'd done in the past two weeks, it took no time at all for Siam to walk from the seaside near Petalburg, back to the route where May had lost to a wild pokemon. Strange to think that that wild pokemon was still draped across his neck, barking at people as he walked by. He looked at the river and almost laughed, to call it such a thing would be to blow its size immensely out of proportion. Siam was able to wade across the water with little more problem than the water reaching his neck. A man on the far bank commented on how Siam crossed, remarking that most people ride water pokemon, fearing to get wet for some reason. Siam smiled slightly and shook his head, proceeding onwards to route 110.

Trudging along route 110, Siam finally understood something; the stone bridge does not cross a lake, it crosses a natural harbour. A huge expanse of water, perhaps that is why he was able to sink so far that night. Once again he made quite a distance along the stone bridge before the darkness began to fall. Finding himself quite hungry, Siam pulled out a fishing rod and set to work collecting dinner for himself. As he fished, a high pitched sound rung through his head, stabbing his mind and breaking his ability to think for a moment. As the headache grew, Siam noticed Vipsania, slowly lowering herself to hovering in front of him. Her chittering was fast and high pitched, hurting his brain as she continued, but eventually she slowed and seemed to be trying, quite unsuccessfully, to wrap one pair of her wings around him while keeping herself aloft with the other set. Siam gave the Crobat a quick, short, hug before retiring to sleep for the night.

Siam awoke with perhaps the greatest headache many could imagine, he felt as if someone had thrown his frozen brain into a hot fry pan and was smashing into it with a sledge hammer. In desperation he crawled to the edge of the bridge and shoved his head into the water. It wasn't long the throbing pain in his skull subsided, allowing him to eventually come up for air. The morning sun was the hottest he'd felt since he arrived on this island, as his head surfaced from the water he could feel the headache forming again in the heat. Gripping the sides of his head, Siam and the few pokemon that were following him rushed northward the short way to Mauville city. **_"This place can't be Air conditioned"_** Siam thought, passing into the strange shopping centre city **_"How is this Air Conditioned?"_**. Looking at the pokemon around him, Siam noticed the pain of the dry heat outside had gotten to most of them too, and figuring it would be best to make sure they were looked at, Siam made an immediate turn to the Pokemon centre.


	24. Chapter 24: The Alley

Entering the Pokemon centre, Siam noticed something he found quite odd; the nurse from the Dewford Pokemon centre was talking with the Mauville nurse. Siam approached the desk and was greeted warmly by the Mauville nurse _"Good morning! Welcome to the Pokémon Center. Would you like to rest your Pokémon?"_ She smiled as Siam nodded to the pokemon with him. She greeted each of the pokemon and asked them to kindly follow her, all but Antony went with. As the woman disappeared into a back room with three pokemon in tow, Siam turned to the other nurse and smiled shyly. She smiled back and bowed a little, watching as Siam removed a small piece of green cloth from his bag and offered it to her.

_"Oh no, I gave that to you, you keep it!"_ She said, to which he stopped and instead wrapped it onto his own head. Bowing to the woman, he left when the other nurse returned from the back room. Antony was making strange but quiet noises in his ear as Siam left the building. The streets were complicated and winding, something obviously known by whomever planned it, evidenced by the sheer number of street maps on the corridor corners. A stabbing feeling in the small of his back caught Siam off guard, he ran his fingers over the smooth skin and felt no issues, but the pain persisted. While standing there trying to figure out why his back hurt, Siam could hear the muffled sound of screaming. Snapping his head to the side he saw from Antony's ears that this was not his imagination. He patted his leg twice, drawing Antony's attention, he then raised two fingers so that they pointed initially at his eyes, and then made a sweeping motion with his hand. The Linoone looked around for a moment before barking in a direction.

As he walked down the alley Antony barked at, the screaming grew slightly louder and the quiet sound of grunting could be heard. Turning his attention to yet another side alley, only about as wide as Siam's shoulders, or a little more. Further into the alley he saw a man pinning a woman against a wall, a knife at her throat. The man's height and dimensions, though compressed in the extremely narrow passage, were immediately familiar to Siam. The man had the woman's hands pinned behind her back using only his presence, his left hand covered her mouth and his right held a blade to her throat. The woman wore a haphazard blue-green wig that she did not at all look comfortable in, not that she looked in any way comfortable. Siam moved closer and closer, trying to be quick but also as quiet as possible. Without much room to move, the most he could do was punch at the man, as his fist drew near the knife went straight into it. With his fist pierced on a knife, and virtually no room to move in the alley, Siam was only slightly able to lift his other hand and click his fingers _"Tict"_ as he unfurled one finger of his fist to point at the man. Antony simply looked at him bewildered, _"Tict"_the Linoone wasn't certain what Siam wanted, but leapt from his shoulders to the man. As Antony slid down inside the man's shirt, he pushed the man and woman apart enough for her to collapse to the ground out of harms way. Siam could not see what was happening exactly inside the shirt, but from the movements of the lump and the man's terrified and painful screams, he assumed that the little clawed paws were eagerly paddling away at the man's chest. Siam would not let the man rip the knife out of his hand, so the man was forced to let go, reach down and rip the Linoone out of his shirt. Before Antony hit the ground, the man was gone; ran out of the alley and away into the streets.

Antony began to run down the alley after the man, but stopped at the sound of Siam slapping his leg. Siam helped the shaken woman to her feet and looked away as she composed herself. While the woman staggered, Siam walked beside her, slowly helping her to where the signs said the police station was. Thankfully the station was where it was meant to be. As they entered, the woman began to speak to a nearby officer who took her aside after asking Siam to be seated. A couple minutes later the officer returned _"The young lady says you came to her rescue?"_ Siam nodded and scratched under Antony's chin _"Would you be able to fill out an incident report for us"_ Siam nodded accommodatingly and was promptly lead to a nearby table where he was handed a form and a pen. The form was a sheet of paper with strange symbols at the top and a large number of lines in the center, assuming he was to write the report on the lined segment Siam picked up the pen in his left hand and began to trail it across the page. No matter how much he tried, he found himself incapable of drawing even a single letter, every word he tried became scrawls across the page with no evident intention. The more this happened the more frustrated he became, attempting to write more vigorously and getting no results. His head began to buzz as he slammed the pen down on the table several times attempting to make any kind of recognisable marking. His thrashing and assault of the table called several of the officers over to him, as they tried to calm him down and restrain his movements, Siam could start to hear the buzzing of his headache and his head felt like it was splitting apart. Through his hazy eyes he spotted Antony standing on the table in front of him, both front paws pointed at him. Siam began to take slower, deep breaths, slowly calming him down as he relaxed into the chair. _"Are you ok?"_ The officer from before asked him concerned, Siam simply held a hand to his ear and mouth, as if holding a phone _"Do you want us to call someone for you?"_ Siam nodded, but could not even write a number. He held up his fist, followed by four fingers, upon seeing this the officer immediately grabbed the pen from him and began to write down the numbers he held up.

Siam was led into a nearby office by the officer who had taken the number down. She invited him to sit down, which he did, immediately sinking his head into his hands. The woman sat across the desk from him and began to dial the phone_"Hello? This is Sergeant Abigail Chorster of the Mauville Police Department, who is this?"_ she had a very calm but commanding voice. _"Of Petalburg Gym? Pleasure to meet you sir, I have a gentleman here who seems incapable of speech though has informed me that I should call you for some information or clarification on who he is"_ Antony was gently tapping at Siam's arm, breaking him out of his hiding his face. _"Oh no, nothing to worry yourself about, we simply believe he is the witness to a crime and may have helpful information"_ She smiled calmly at Siam, as the Linoone climbed up onto his lap _"Sime?"_ She asked him, Siam nodded and watched as she made strange patterns on the paper in front of her. He couldn't understand what she was writing, but knew it was writing _"Aphasia? I'm sorry I don't-"_ she cut off and listened for a moment, then nodded slowly _"I see. Well Mr. Taillon, thank you for your time. Have a nice day"_. She hung up the phone and smiled at him, _"Your father explained everything. The young woman gave us a description of the man, but if there is any way you could let us know of other things to look for, it would be appreciated."_ Siam pulled the knife from his pocket and placed it on the table in front of him, the blood on the blade did not match any apparent scars the officer could see _"Is this the weapon he used?"_ Siam nodded and then held Antony up, the Linoone's face lit up at the attention and happily stood there as Siam feigned raking the claws on its paws across his chest _"And he was clawed on the chest?"_ Siam nodded, but when she asked if there was anything else he could not oblige, and was eventually escorted from the building. Having been told that if he remembers anything else he should come back immediately.


	25. Chapter 25: Enter the Eon Warrior

As Siam approached the Pokemon Centre to check if the pokemon that had remained there were all right, he found them awaiting him outside the doors. He only needed pat his leg twice and they were surrounding him. As he walked, Antony lay across his shoulders, Lucilla walked beside him on his right, Vipsania the Crobat flew just behind him over his right shoulder, and the Masquerain, Stilicho, flew behind him and over his left shoulder. Some light clouds had drifted over the sun by the time Siam stepped out of the air conditioning of the east gate of Mauville city. A gentle breeze was flowing off the river, an actual river this time, and something Siam did like the look of for a light swim.

After cooling off in the water, Siam stepped onto the other bank of the river, where he was greeted by a familiar man_"Why hello there."_ The man offered a hand to help Siam out of the water, which was not accepted. _"We met in Granite Cave, didn't we?"_ Siam's eyes furrowed as the man spoke _"Sorry, You'd only remember the Dewford Pokemon Centre"_. At this point Siam did recognise Steven, the man he delivered a letter too, he smiled and shook the man's hand _"It's good to see you're doing well"_ Siam nodded as Antony scampered up to his shoulders again. _"I never got your name"_Siam shook his head and laughed silently _"And I guess I never will."_ The man glanced at Siam's face and was suddenly staring at him _"That's amazing! What happened to your eyes?"_ Siam had begun to get quite concerned at this man's sudden fascination with his eyes when a roar from the sea broke the tension. A slender bird-like creature with an extremely aerodynamic body and glass-like down feathers, lowered itself to above the water. Though it possessed red jet-plane wings, it seemed hover without any means to support it.

_"Latias!"_ Steven shouted in surprise. The creature nodded its head and drifted closer only to have Vipsania and Stilicho move between it and the humans. It's eyes glowed faintly _"Do you... want us to soar somewhere with you?"_ Steven voiced the sensation Siam had felt enter his mind. Siam looked at Steven, as Steven looked at him _"Come with me"_ He mouthed, both saying it and not needing to _"I believe that it sought us out for help."_ Siam nodded when Steven came to the same conclusion Siam had. The ground seemed to fall away beneath them as Siam watched himself, Steven and Lucilla be lifted off the grass by some unseen force. Siam knew that should he even try struggling, he would not be able to change the direction he moved, he was at the mercy of this creature. As it rocketed away, the creature's powers dragged Siam, Steven and Lucilla along. Siam held Antony at his chest to prevent him falling to some unfortunate fate, whilst Vipsania and Stilicho glided along beside them.

Their flight slowed as the group neared a small island, an island that until they had gotten near, Siam hadn't noticed. It was a beautiful place covered in trees and surrounded by cliffs that dropped off to the ocean far beneath. The creature Latias let them down gently in a clearing near the cliffs, _"We've arrived. Thank you, Latias"_ Steven bowed to the pokemon, Siam did not even look at it. Something was off about the island, though a thick canopy covered the trees outside the clearing, Siam could see into the forest as easily as if there were no leaves at all. _"I don't know what it is..."_Steven began, he didn't seem to see what Siam could see, the dirt and rock around them seemed to be rippling as if waves in a puddle _"not quite unease, not quite fear..."_ Siam watched as what seemed to be a road of some strange- unnameable colour, lit up the ground in front of him and wove its way into the forest. _"It is an odd feeling, as though I am walking in a dream- or an illusion."_ The road of light began to lift off the ground, creating a pulsing line of some strange colour, a tentacle of light that wove its way through the trees _"It was said that the two Pokemon that live on this island guard some secret about that great form of Evolution: Mega Evolution."_ Siam had stopped listening to Steven as soon as he began to follow the strange path of light. _"Where are you going?"_

The line of light led Siam to a large clearing, surrounding which was a river with small waterfalls flowing down into it from cliffs above lined with more trees. In the centre of this clearing were two things of note; a pedestal from which radiated this strange colour, and a creature not unlike the Latias only blue not red. Steven, along with the pokemon whom follow Siam, emerged from the trees around him _"Latios"_ Steven remarked, moving slowly closer to the creature_"It's beautiful"_. Siam's eyes had been drawn to the pedestal, it was now clear that it was not the stone pedestal that radiated the strange colour, but the gemstone that sat atop it. _"If I were to describe such beauty in terms of a stone, it would be a Water Stone."_ Siam could hear Steven fawning over the Latios, he found it strange, the gemstone was far more beautiful. _"No... It goes beyond that... Isn't its brilliance like that of a Dawn Stone?"_ Siam felt himself irresistibly drawn to the stone, slowly edging nearer and nearer to it. His attention was snapped away by the group of people who approached the cliffs surrounding the clearing, all wearing long red and black cloaks. Three such people entered the clearing from the same place as Siam, the one in front, the woman, carried an impressively kept revolver. _"Team Magma I see."_ Steven had finally broken away from admiring the blue bird and taken in their surroundings _"So, Latios noticed their coming, and that is why it called on us."_

Siam could tell there to be at least thirty, maybe more, Magma personnel around them. _"Who are you?"_ The woman with the revolver demanded. She was immediately informed by the man beside her that Siam, who was only described by pointing at him, had interfered with Team Magma's plans on several occasions. _"Fine, For the time being, get away from me"_ She nodded at them and every gun but hers was trained on the two men and the five pokemon in the clearing. _"The Mega stone on that stand. No more, no less"_ Siam turned around, checking that the beautiful gem was still sitting there, it was the only one. _"That is what we of Team Magma seek"_ She began to walk forward, Siam instinctively moved between her and the pedestal _"Out of my way"_ the authority in her voice seemed to be an order to all the grunts around, as Siam could hear them preparing to shoot.

He took a single step backward and felt the stone pedestal behind him rock, the woman became suddenly alarmed. Siam spun and watched as the small stone fell down, over the edge of the clearing and began to fall into the water below. Siam's hand shot into the air as a fist, almost as soon as he opened it he clapped the fingers to his own palm, simultaneously pointing to the stone with his other hand. The rush of air past his head told him the message was understood, the purple blurr swooped over the stone and darted away. _"Give it to me!"_ The woman roared pointing her gun at the Latios whilst staring at Siam. Siam watched Vipsania circling above and held out his hand, curling the fingers. Steven yelled at him not to, but before Siam could decide to lower his arm; a small, strangely glowing gemstone dropped into his waiting palm. The moment the stone struck his skin, time seemed to freeze, Siam could feel every living thing around him as a presence within himself. A strange feeling, both pleasure and pain, warm and cold, shot up his arm and through his body. He could feel horns erupting from the back of his head, and the muscles on his shoulders seem to both expand and compress. At once he felt his entire body shift; hyper compressed muscle across his back, legs and arms became like armour. His view of the whole area seemed to lift off the ground, such that he could not even feel the ground beneath his feet any more. He felt his massive new form shred his clothes and Antony leap down from him.


	26. Chapter 26: Mega

Yet again, Siam's eyes slid open to stare up at the blank blue sky. Something soft and furry gently supported his head as he lay on the grass. He sat up and serveyed his surroundings, Steven was nearby simply looking at him, the stone that Vipsania had handed him was sitting innocently enough on the grass next to him. He crawled lazily to the side of the river and drank a little, taking longer than he normally would to notice the several machine guns laying at the bottom of the water. Regardless how much he drank, his headache would not seem to subside, he sat on the water's edge and glanced up the small cliff. Several small droplets of blood could be seen on the rock face, as he finally began to look for them he noticed more and more spots of blood.

Siam stood up to get a better vantage, but could not see any of the men in red cloaks. The only sign of them were dropped guns, a few drops of blood, and some half smashed trees. _"What was that?"_ Steven finally plucked up and asked_"You were amazing! How did you do that?"_ Siam looked at him somewhat confused, perhaps as much as Steven himself._"You bound to a Mega Stone!"_ He finally noticed back where he had been laying, Antony sat happily, watching him, the little gemstone sitting beside him. _"But, it's Latios', only Latios could use it! Right?"_ Siam simply shrugged and pointed at the stone, and then back at the pedestal it had come from. Antony picked the rock up and trotted over to the pedestal _"I think I see why Latias came to us, it must have known about you!"_ He looked up, noticing a shadow move across the grass; Latias and Latios were soaring high above them _"But how? People can't Mega Evolve!"_ each pokemon he looked at had a very faint glow, as if a strange coloured liquid was flowing across them, reflecting the light. _"I thought Mega Evolution needed both a Key Stone and a Mega Stone. And I thought only Pokemon could do it"_ He patted his leg twice; Antony, Lucilla, Vipsania and Stilicho rushed over. He held a crooked finger down, which Antony tried to hold onto, once the Linoone was hooked he lifted it up to his shoulders, unsure if it's climbing would have hurt him in any way with this strange colour. _"Mega Evolution is a phenomenon that has long been shrouded in mystery."_ Steven admitted, slowly approaching Siam _"A mystery you have seriously compounded"_ Siam merely pointed to the sky _"Are you a pokemon? A Latias or Latios in disguise?"_ He shook his head at this notion, before looking to Stilicho the Masquerain. He circled his head with a hand and pointed to the pokemon high above them, the Masquerain hesitated before gliding gently upward. It gathered the attention of the two rocket pokemon before leading them back down to the ground.

Steven looked from Siam to Latias _"Is it time to go?"_, Siam nodded as the group was slowly lifted into the air yet again by some unseen force. The sun was creeping down on their left as the group was flown north, Antony barked happily from in Siam's arms as they flew uninterrupted over the deep ocean. Glancing down, Siam was surprised to see a huge mass beneath the surface; a gigantic red plated creature was walking along the ocean floor, miles below them. Once he shook his head the shape was gone, certainly there were thousands of smaller shapes, but the great Carapaced creature was no-where to be seen. Clouds ahead had begun to draw together, and Siam could see rain pouring from them. Suddenly a massive pillar of light burst from the centre of the clouds and crashed down to the ground, fire seemed to flow out of it and along the bottom of the clouds. Unable to steer, or in any way control where they went, Siam looked away from the burning mass and straight at Antony. The little Linoone's face was lit up with excitement, but not with fire-light. He lifted his head once again to see mostly clear skies; no sign of a giant pillar of light.

Latias gently let them down onto the beach where it had originally found them _"Thank you Latias"_ Steven remarked, finding his footing easier than Siam had. The Pokemon cooed and flew off south once more, Steven turned to Siam_"Thank you for your help."_ He bowed in response, before letting Antony down to trot along the ground for a while. _"In the end, I think they wanted your help more so than mine"_ Steven smiled and turned to leave _"I'll be curious to see how much stronger you might grow by the next time we meet."_ The man then waved his hand and walked off east. Only half sure of where he had to go, Siam began walking North.

It was strange to him, to see this unique and strangely hypnotic glow upon pokemon through grass and leaves. Siam could see where pokemon were hiding just from the glow that shone through the grass and trees, and even how far they were by how bright the glow seemed to be. He could not see the glow through itself though; Giant four legged pokemon with incredibly long necks and what appeared to be large leaf-like wings, easily blocked him from seeing the glow of anything beyond them. His travel was short before Siam noticed what appeared to be a trail of this strange colour. It ran across the ground, growing stronger and stronger as it went. He narrowly avoided being stepped on as he followed it across the dirt and to... nothing? The colour seemed to simply pool at a point, though it was faint enough that he began to think it was actually below the surface. A large stone sat over the glow, it was difficult for him to get a proper grip on, but once he could finally lift it, it came out rather easily.

The hole was almost three feet deep from the base of the rock he had pulled out. The hole was filled with this strange glow, though he could not see any creature from which the glow could be coming. As Siam reached down, the strange, glowing liquid seemed to move away from him before he could touch it. It shrank down to occupying the last foot of the hole. He retracted his hand and watched as the glow raised up once again, once it had shifted Siam noticed something finally laying in the hole. It appeared to be a small clamp or trap, it was half-closed with blood on it. Leaning himself into the hole, Siam reached down as far as he could, watching the glow shift away from him before he could touch it. As his hand drew near the clamp, if slid away from him, he swung his arm and was able to stick two fingers into the edge of the device. His fingertips touched the glow, which felt solid and scaly to the touch, but he kept his mind on the task and with only two fingers was able to pry the device open fully. He watched as the glow that had been flowing through the clamp moved away and coiled up with the rest of it in a small corner away from him. He pulled himself out of the hole and looked around a little bit. Quickly he found a large leaf simply laying on the ground, which he folded up into a small bowl and lowered into the hole. From one of the labelled bottles he poured some water into the leaf bowl.

Name: Profeus

Species: Kecleon

Type: Normal

Nature: Careful

Level Met: 24

Characteristic: Nods off a lot

HP 69, Atk 49, Def 39, 35, 69, Spd 29 ==+== | ==+==


	27. Chapter 27: Poisons

Having poured some water into the small leaf bowl, Siam pulled himself back out of the hole and replaced the bottle into his bag. Slinging his bag over his back, it finally dawned on him where he was, he was in a strange field surrounded by long grass. If it was not for the strange glow every pokemon emitted, he would be terrified at this instant. Siam took to sitting on the waters edge, away from the towering blades of grass around him. With everything that had happened recently, he just needed a moment to relax and take in the air around him. As he closed his eyes and leant back, he felt a very long, rough tongue slide up his cheek. As disgusting as it was, Siam could not bring himself to wipe the saliva off his cheek, in ernest he couldn't bring about any movement. His muscles had locked up and seized where they were, a small tingling numbness lingering where the tongue had been. His eyes were locked shut such that he could not see anything around him, not even the glows. After a time he was able to wrench his mouth open and take a much anticipated breath. As this strange lock up eased, he was able to open his eyes and glance around himself.

Standing in the water, smiling up at him was a small green reptilian creature with large yellow frills and a coiled tail. It wrapped its tiny arms around one of his legs which was dangling in the water, why hadn't the water broken him from the paralysis sooner? He pulled his leg from the water and looked down at the small creature, under his stare it trotted over to the hole in the ground and pointed down into it. Looking at the hole, he could no longer see the strange glow within, and understood what this creature meant. He held out his hand, only half closed and low to the ground, which the small lizard walked over to. As he moved his hand back toward himself, the creature followed. Siam poked out his tongue, which the strange green creature copied, he then gently scraped a stick across the creatures tongue. It shook it's head confused or possibly distasteful when he did this, and promptly moved a distance away. If it was not confused before, what Siam did next definitely would have done it. Siam slid the stick across the skin of his leg, feeling his muscles start to lock up once again he immediately plunged the leg into the water and smiled as he easily kicked his leg about in the water. He looked over to see Antony watching the stick in Siam's hand quite intently, so Siam tossed it across the water and watched the Linoone chase after it.

Vipsania had joined Antony on the water, she would steal the stick from him and flutter around, only to be shocked when cold water splashed up at her, which gave Antony a moment to grab the stick back. Siam's attention was drawn from the pokemon playing in the water by large leaves that rested on his shoulder. Looking up at Lucilla he followed her 'finger' to the grass, where a small blue pokemon with a large ugly flower on its head sat looking at him. He knew what this creature was, Gloom are very common near Olivine city. In the grass around behind this small pokemon were a lot of small glowing shapes, Siam smiled up at Lucilla and gently reached out to the pokemon. It did not seem too excited about this notion, as the Gloom sprayed a thick watery substance on him, Siam leant away and wiped the water off his face. The pokemon ran away and Siam shrugged, he'd come a long way at this point, initially he would be terrified at this moment, something had changed him, and it wasn't that the world was spinning. He blinked long and slow as everything around him began to spin, Siam suddenly felt very light-headed. He almost didn't notice the watery liquid running down the skin around his ear, holding his hand up to the very wet spot on his head he looked into the water. He watched in his light-headed daze as blood flowed easily from under his hand, as well as from his nose and the corner of his mouth. He washed the blood away but it flowed back quickly, rapidly soaking the bandages around his head. Looking out across the water Siam watched as his vision slowly drew in, he could only clearly see a few feet from himself, and surely in a moment not even that far. His light-headed dizziness had reached nausiating proportions as he plunged his bleeding head into the water.

One Second; his vision finally cut away.

Two Seconds; water flooded into his mouth, washing the blood down and choking him.

Three Seconds; all air had left his lungs and water had replaced it

Four Seconds; Siam could barely support his own weight as he felt the blood pour from his nose, ears and head.

Five Seconds.

Siam threw up the water from his lungs, inhaling air deep and painfully. Without even the time to open his eyes he felt a small sweet object being placed into his mouth, it felt like a small fruit or berry, which he chewed reflexively. He shuddered on the ground, feeling the small pool of blood surrounding him, unable to move from that point. Siam was too weak; too weak to move, too weak to open his eyes, he was simply too weak. His head spun like a roulette wheel as he lay on the grass, At least that was the last thing he could remember.


	28. Chapter 28: Let it Reign

The only thing Siam was sure of when he woke was that it'd been very little time that he'd lay there on the grass. His head spun as he slowly stood up, it wasn't safe to lay on the grass out here, No telling what might show up while he bled to death. After he wiped the blood from his nose no more came out, but still his skull leaked profusely. It was difficult for him to stand, leaning heavily to his right on Lucilla, Antony stood by his feet to the left, looking up at him concerned. The strange glow was absent from everything around him, not that he could have been able to focus on any of it if it was. Siam's long distance eyesight slowly returned, helping him focus on a large building not far away. The building had a variety of strange gismo's on the roof as well as a large antaenne. It was difficult to walk, his feet seemed to weakly slide out from under him each time he tried to apply weight to them. He collapsed to his knees several times as he edged his way up the slope, drawing closer and closer to the building.

If he could have groaned; the moment Siam passed through the doors of the building, he would have. In the room stood two men in red cloaks, one sat at a desk while the other stared out a window. One approached him and began to talk, Siam could only hear garbled nonsense as the man placed his hand on Siam's shoulder. His slow and lumbering reflexes tried to kick in, the hand on his shoulder was brushed away only a moment before Siam slammed his fist into the man's chest. The man stumbled back and looked confused. A blinding, dizzying, flash of red light, and Siam could make out a Mightyena in the room with them. He slapped his leg twice, feeling a numbing pain shoot through his leg as he did so, clicked his fingers and pointed as best he could at the Mightyena. He was only just able to hear a high pitched bark as Antony ran at the creature. Two more flashes stunned him a moment, when he could see again he noticed a Golbat and a floating ball he recognised as a Koffing, in the room. He raised his left fist, while leaning on Lucilla, before pointing at the Golbat. Two air-lifted bodies shot through the air at the poor creature, neither hitting but coming close. Siam felt Lucilla lower him to the ground and step in front of him. He could not see anything that happened for a moment after that, focusing instead on regaining his hearing. His eyes slammed shut as three flashes of red light seared at them, he heard the two men run past him out the door.

With help, Siam rose to his feet and stumbled through the main room to a flight of stairs leading upward. The rails were more than adequate to support his weight, giving Lucilla a moments respite as he ascended to the second floor. _"Just"_ He heard the familiar voice of one of the Magma admins _"What Is this..."_ Tabitha seemed somewhat taken aback _"D-d-did Leader Maxie know that it would happen like this?!"_ The man's panicked tone was all Siam could really hear as he stumbled across the floor to the doorway it was emanating from. He heard the familiar slam of the man's fist as he drew closer _"Shut it! Just what is going on around here?!"_ As he reached the door and peered in, Siam noticed three men aside from the large man Tabitha in the room _"Leader Maxie! What are you trying to do?!"_ He was leant over at a computer, typing away furiously while looking at something Siam could not see through his large frame. The three men looked to Siam as he entered _"To the world? To Team Magma!"_ Tabitha shook his head and turned away _"This can never, ever be forgiven!"_ He finally noticed Siam and smiled, laughing heartily. _"Are you one of my fans? You're that same ass hole who's always popping up!"_ Swaying and somewhat nauseous, Siam stood as tall as he could. _"I can't believe you're even following me around in my private life."_ Siam lowered his body on his back leg, as his front one slid forward, unable to keep his vision steady he took as defensive a stance as he could. Tabitha laughed _"Well, that's all right!"_ Grinning he approached Siam slowly _"Maybe I'll just clear up this intensely unpleasant feeling I have welling up inside of me..."_ He clenched his fists, the men behind him flinched _"By beating you to a pulp!"_ Siam's fist shot skyward, instead of blocking the attack he knew was coming for his skull, he instead slid out of the way.

Siam opened his fist and moved his finger and thumb to cover his eyes. A rush of wind signalled when he could open his eyes once again, with his fingers as if he held a basketball, Siam snapped out and grabbed the man's throat, pulling himself around behind him and into a choke hold. With each finger curled like a flattened fist, Tabitha slammed his palm down on Siam knee. The pain shot through his leg and up into his stomach, forcing Siam to relax his grip enough for the man in red to slip free. _"You better listen, you stress-inducing fuck."_ The man reared backward, throwing his weight into a kick aimed right at Siam's chest. Able to see it coming, Siam spun along Tabitha's leg and slammed his elbow into the side of the man's head _"When Leader Maxie's plan has been executed, twilight will fall upon the world."_ For a brief instant the room was flooded with an intense golden light. The light streamed into his eyes and flowed through Siam's very muscles. _"The Primordial Sea will be changed to Desolate Land."_ Siam knelt down on the cliff face, watching the sea turn to steam out before him. _"In other words, all life..."_ His hands began to burn under the intense heat of the light all around him. Screams of pain echoed faintly from the sky and sea. _"What do you think you can do in the face of that which is to come?"_ Siam slowly rose to his feet, feeling a heavy object slam into his back. Wincing under the heat he staggered forward, grabbing the searing rocks with his own agonising fingers, he climbed slowly down the cliff. _"I'm looking forward to seeing you rush into action!"_ Siam let go of the wall and turned about in the cave, the enormous space was flooded with lava as he stood on a small outcropping of rock, staring up at the great beast rising out of the lava. He clenched his eyes shut and felt the floor beneath him, Tabitha's hearty laugh broke him out of his daze, Siam opened his eyes to find himself sitting on the floor of the second story, Tabitha in a choke hold in front of him. Dizzy and weak, he was unable to maintain his hold on the man, gently letting him free.

As the room spun around him, Siam watched one of the men run over to him _"Thank you, young one. You helped save us from quite a pinch!"_ Siam nodded weakly and tried to stand up _"Woah, take it easy. Here, help me get him up"_ He felt an unclear number of arms grab various parts of his shoulders and torso and gently help him to his feet. _"Those Thieves..."_The man mumbled to himself as they half carried Siam to the stairwell _"What could they hope to gain by investigating the extreme weather patterns of thousands of years ago?"_ He could feel Lucilla's leafed fingers picking up his legs as he was slowly lowered down the stairs _"Oh, Never mind me! Watch his head"_. Feeling his feet being placed back onto the floor, he watched as one of the men darted to the side and opened a door out of the main room. Siam was led into the room, and laid gently down on a bed _"Get some bandages"_ The man told the only other one in the room, who darted out swiftly._"As for the data those ruffians were seeking..."_ The man whispered to Siam as he removed the bandages from his head_"They wanted to know about the extreme weather conditions that ruled thousands of years ago because of those two Super-Ancient Pokemon."_ Siam could feel fingers gently brush against his raw skin, Antony had climbed up onto the bed and curled up between his legs _"One of that pair was the Legendary Pokemon we know as mighty Groudon..."_ The door slammed shut as the other man returned with bandages _"The heat Groudon created dried up the oceans, and the parched land covered more and more of the planet."_


	29. Chapter 29: Woodland

_"Good morning"_ A man said from the wall nearby when Siam awoke. _"We're all lucky you stumbled in here, you included."_ The man did not move from where he sat at the wall _"The Gloom around here are different than normal. They have very specialised poisons"_ The man lifted a hand to in front of his own face and waved it at himself "Some just blind you" he laughed lightly and shook his head _"just..."_ the man stomped his foot twice on the floor loudly. Siam could hear some people in a room nearby moving about, and watched as Lucilla stood up from beside the bed _"Some use a particularly nasty blood thinner. Thankfully we have an antidote."_

Another of the men Siam saw huddled behind Tabitha entered the room, he walked over to Siam and handed him a glass of water and small tablet, telling him the tablet was to help slow any further blood loss and may help any growing headache. Siam nodded and drank the water, refusing the tablet no matter how much the man pleaded. He stood slowly, climbing out the bed with stronger; steadier legs than the day before. The man asked him how he was feeling, for which Siam responded with a nod, Siam looked over at the man sitting at the wall nearby. He swallowed and coughed slightly, grabbing another drink of water. _"Gh-"_ Siam stuttered slowly _"Good-"_ he forced himself to say, watching at the sitting man nodded with a smile before he left the building.

Upon leaving the grand building, Siam shook his head in the intense heat. Trees nearby to the east offered shelter from the sun, with a path running through suggesting his intended direction regardless. The heat was not much better beneath the trees, but at least the sun was no longer beating down on his exposed neck. Fly's and other small insects only bothered him for a moment before Stilicho, the Masquerain, and Vipsania chased them down and happily gobbled them up. His nice, peaceful, stroll was rudely interrupted by a sudden crashing sound behind a tree nearby. As Siam edged around the tree he heard the woman before he got a chance to see her _"Mort! Mort get down here! We need to work on your grip strength!"_ Her loud yelling and air of authority gave Siam the impression she was taller than what he eventually saw. The woman was somewhat shorter than he was, wearing skin-tight grey clothes and a large aerodynamic helmet. Her head seemed to snap to the side, looking up at him instantly _"Oh Hello! I haven't seen you around here, Fortree City doesn't get many visitors. It's nice to meet you, I'm Winona."_ She was able to say in what seemed to be less than half a breath. _"Mort! You better get down here right now! One..."_ She yelled back up to the treetops, she didn't even have the chance to say _'two'_ before a huge iron bird crashed through the treetops and landed between her and Siam. If he had acted any slower with reaching out to grab her, Lucilla could well have been hit by this falling creature. _"Mort! Come here"_ A quick flash of red light and the creature vanished _"I'm sorry, I only just caught him, I'm still training him. I guess I should use Armi to help break him in, she was just as difficult to start with"_ The woman spoke faster than anyone he'd heard before, thankfully she was not particularly high pitched so she didn't hurt his head as much as that woman, Lisia. _"Oh, Oh gracious Moltres! Are you ok?"_ Her eyes floated to Siam's bandages _"I'm so sorry, I didn't realise, I can get you to a pokemon centre if you need!"_ Siam gently tilted his hands back and forward, with arms still, slowly backing away from the woman. _"Oh, It's ok. I'm the Fortree City Gym leader!"_ She unzipped a portion of the front of her suit and pulled out a small purse that contained an I.D. card. When Siam didn't stop backing away, she flicked to another I.D. card _"I'm the Pokemon Association's Gym Supervisor"_ Her voice had slowed, and she had stopped approaching him, she did however continue to look very concerned for him.

Seeing the concern on this woman's face, Siam raised his right hand to where the blood spot should be and his left hand to his chest. He coughed weakly and tapped his chest _"Good-"_ he managed to exhale. The woman lowered her purse and asked if he was sure, Siam smiled and nodded. He slowly repeated the one word _"Good-"_ as she began to calm down, she directed Siam to Fortree City, just along the path he had already been heading.

Fortree City was an incredibly strange place, every house was made of the timber of trees long dead, wrapped around trees still standing. The only building not lifted pointlessly aloft by a tree, had the familiar design of a Pokemon Centre. Unlike most other centres, the front door was not automatic. A fact that disappointed poor Antony, who had rushed ahead to have the doors open for him first. When he opened the door, Siam noticed that each and every person in the room was staring at a television mounted on the wall _"-thirty third victim, a Ms Jessabel Incrail, who had previously survived an attack with the help of an unknown samaritan."_ The picture of a girl shown on the screen was that of the poor girl who'd lost her Electrike on the way to Mauville City **_"I broke my promise"_**. The screen changed to show a woman sitting at a typical news desk _"The Contest administration, under advisement from the Mauville police department and the Pokemon Association, has decided to shut down all contest halls in Hoenn, until such time as this monster is finally brought to justice."_ The screen showed a small, sub-picture, of a pencil sketch of a face _"The Mauville City Police department released this sketch of the suspect's face. Anyone with information on this man is urged to come forward."_The image then expanded to cover the entire screen **_"No, his face was thinner, and his beard went a little further up his cheeks"_**


	30. Chapter 30: What you See

Siam sat at a table in the corner of the room, passing around the last of the rations and making sure each pokemon had some water. As the was removing a bottle for himself, he found himself pulling out the seventh bottle, the unlabelled bottle of water. Siam shrugged and finished the bottle of water off before packing everything away. Picking up his backpack, Siam noticed several people around the room staring at him, they looked away when he looked at them though. He knew what they were looking at, and knew that it would have to be sorted eventually.

Having left the Pokemon centre, Siam took to wandering the small village for a while. He wandered curiously into a small shop with a large amount of furniture and clothing on display. _"Yo, my young Pokémon Trainer! What can I do you for, hmm?"_ A man in red and white clothes with a large red brimmed hat approached him. Siam bowed lightly and lifted his hands to his head, running them over the bandages _"Ahh, you need a good hat I bet"_ Siam nodded, the man's speech had a strange accent, but was understandable enough._"You've gotta check these ones out"_ The man led him to a small shelf unit nearby covered with hats, hoods, bandanna's and other such things _"The best part of these is they come with the latest Jones technology, if you ever lose it you can materialise it back like the pokeball transport system!"_ Only one of the objects actually caught Siam's attention, which he picked up tenderly. A long red and black cape attached to a hard leather helmet-hood hybrid. A large symbol was printed in black on the cape, Siam knew it should be familiar but could not read it, the man noticed his confusion and interjected _"Ahh, great choice, I've always been a hat person myself, but that cape's really nice."_ He gently took it off Siam and unfurled it properly _"We found the original cut up and hooked on a tree over near Mt. Pyre."_ he glanced down at the symbol, looking somewhat unsure _"We were told that it's the symbol for Key or Quay or something like that. Can never be sure though. Only Eighty-five credits"_ Siam agreed and paid for the cloak. The hood fit snugly and the cape flowed well behind him, Antony barked excitedly when Siam put it on, but settled down quickly thereafter. Leaving the strange forest he noticed a long rope bridge across a considerable gorge, the bridge looked strong enough.

Walking across the bridge, Siam noticed Steven approaching from the other end, and what appeared to be the strange glow standing in the middle of the bridge despite no pokemon being visible. _"So, we meet again"_ Steven called, stopping only a few feet short of the glow on the bridge _"I wonder... Have you noticed it?"_ Steven had not taken his eyes off him, the bridge rocked a little as Siam, Lucilla and Antony began to cross it. _"There is something here you can't see"_ Steven held up a small device that looked like some form of binoculars, Siam simply pointed at the little glow on the bridge_"Now, if I were to-"_ Steven looked down at the bridge in front of him, placing the device over his eyes before looking back up at Siam. Siam's hand swung to pointing at a point on the grass far behind Steven, where he could faintly see another glow. Steven swung around to look where Siam was pointing before looking back _"Bullshit"_ He simply laughed at Steven's bewilderment and pointed to another glow, this time behind himself _"You're not even looking at that one!"_Siam's eyebrows dropped in concerned realisation, Steven was right. He turned around to see the small glowing shape on the grass behind him, he had not looked back but had pointed directly at it. _"This is one of the Devon Corp's most complicated devices. It can see invisible pokemon"_ Siam turned back to look across the bridge at Steven, noticing several more glows on the bank behind him _"And you can do it somehow yourself!"_ He was starting to get very nervous, there were at least four on the bank behind Steven, and another four on the bank behind himself.

Five on the far bank, Seven on the near. Seven on the far bank, Seven on the near. Seven on the far bank, Eleven on the near. Eleven on the far bank, Eleven on the near. Slowly, trying not to scare the pokemon that had them surrounded, Siam raised both fists into the air. Vipsania reacted immediately, Stilicho was a little slower to understand, but followed the Crobat's lead. Opening his fists to flat palms he gently moved one forward and one back. Steven was too busy looking at either bank to bother paying Siam any attention. Left hand forward, right hand back, until he had extended himself fully, standing spread legged with arms outstretched. He no doubt looked like he was attempting to halt some non-existent traffic. Lifting his right leg, Siam pivoted only slightly on his left foot, watching as the purple shape far in front of him shot left with his spin, skirting only inches above the tallest glow. He stopped, dropped his right foot back down and lowered his body and therefore arms a couple inches. Lifting his left leg he then spun on his right foot, watching Vipsania clip through the far group. Steven watched as this Crobat and Masquerain attacked pokemon they obviously could not see. Siam brought his hands straight in, bringing the flyers closer to himself, before thrusting them back out. At full extent he suddenly changed angle, bringing his arms in an arch to over his head, only to complete the arch faster on the other side. He stopped and brought his arms to his chest, only seconds before the pokemon collided with the glows. The shapes on either bank were retreating, but the one standing on the bridge did not move. Siam petted and scratched gently at the two pokemon hovering near him, their movements were impressive even he had to admit. Steven's jaw was hanging so far open it may have well be pressed against his chest, he couldn't say anything as he watched the Kecleon on the middle of the bridge limp toward Siam. Siam watched as the little green and yellow lizard pokemon seemed to materialise on the bridge, still wrapped in the strange glow, and begin to limp toward him. It's weak foot showed signs of a small amount of blood, but when it reached him it simply wrapped its tiny arms around his leg. _"I don't think they were after us."_ Steven finally spoke up again _"A weak link cannot be abided, they were after her"_ A strange suspicion overtook Siam, who immediately swung the bag off his back. From the backpack he fished out the empty and unlabelled plastic bottle. He unscrewed the lid and knelt down in front of the creature, poking his tongue out, Siam feigned scraping something along it and then dropping the object into the bottle. He pointed the open and empty bottle at the little lizard, which stood there staring up at him for a moment. Just as Siam was readying to pull the bottle away, the lizard placed one hand on the bottle and, leaning in close, began to drool into it.


	31. Chapter 31: The seventh bottle

Siam was impressed that this little lizard was able to fill the water bottle to the first marker, 100ml of the 600ml bottle. When it stopped, it smiled at him while Siam screwed the lid back onto the bottle. _"You have a rare gift with pokemon"_Steven said, smiling at Siam while he placed the bottle back in his bag and stood up. Siam shook his head and began to walk past the other man _"Here"_ Siam was stopped by a hand offering a small reddish-brown stone that seemed to glow with a thousand unnamed colours _"This stone ranks as one of my top five favorite stones in existence. It's Blazikenite, I want you to have it"_ Siam politely shook his head and attempted to push past. The arm was not lowered _"I like to see Trainers and Pokémon who are trying their best. That's why I like you so much."_ The stone was placed in Siam's hand forcefully, Steven watched intently as he did so. Whatever Steven had been expecting to happen obviously did not, as his face gradually slid to a mask of disappointment. Siam shrugged and placed the stone in his pocket, he raised just one side of his mouth in a taught half-smile and bowed his head slowly _"I'm guessing you won't want this either then"_ Steven asked disheartenedly, holding up the binocular esc device. Siam shook his head and moved on without making any further eye contact with the man standing there confused and amazed.

Walking south for once, Siam noticed a small, but pleasant, raincloud ahead. At the sight of it, Antony retreated slightly under Siam's cape, placing more weight than usual on the middle line of his back. With some adjustments the weight became bearable, though that was not what interested him; Siam could tell, even without looking, that the lizard from the bridge was following him. It kept its distance and was very quiet, but he knew it was there, and could even tell precisely where without turning around. It was always several feet behind, even stopping when Siam did. Not sure how he knew where this creature was, Siam turned on the spot and closed his eyes, kneeling down in the slighty wet dirt. Eyes closed and head bowed, Siam could somehow feel the pokemon nearby; Antony he already knew was on his shoulders, Lucilla stood behind him and too his left, Vipsania and Stilicho circled him slowly, and this strange lizard stood 6 feet in front of him. Slowly he breathed in, and gently he breathed out, the lizard did not move, simply standing there silently. With each breath in, he focus'd on both the lizard, and a strange coolness coalescing inside him. With each breath out, he could feel the air around him chilling only slightly. After holding a lungfull of air, Siam gently blew at the small lizard, he felt it's surprise, and looking up at it noticed it was not only visible, but a slightly blue-ish shade of white. Confused at this revelation, he moved closer to touch the lizard, it moved as energetically as ever, but was strangely cold to the touch. After a couple seconds it shifted back to it's original green colour and seemed fine.

_"Dii! Please don't!"_ A pained and pleading voice called out through the general silence. _"Dii I'm sorry, You have to listen to me!"_ Concerned for what could be happening, Siam began a run towards the source of the frightened shouts. _"I can't hold you Dii! I'm sorry! Please listen"_ As he passed a tree, Siam finally saw the source of the shouting. A small boy, who looked too young to be alone, was backing away from a drooling and leaking Gloom. **_"Need to get those two apart"_**Siam began to slowly approach the boy, unsure why the lizard was circling around to behind the Gloom. The tears streaming down the boys cheeks were plainly visible for the few seconds before they were wiped away. Siam's hand landed softly on the boy's shoulder the moment before he was backed into _"I'm sorry Mr. She won't listen to me"_, Siam knelt beside the boy and tilted his head, raising an eyebrow. The gloom stopped, almost freezing in place when his eyes moved over it _"She won't listen to me when she's upset"_, tears started to form again _"She's upset because I won't hug her"_ they were wiped away quickly, to maintain an illusion of strength. _"I can't hug her because she just evolved, she can't control her poisons!"_ Siam nodded slowly and looked back at the little boy _"She can't control her poisons because I haven't gotten a chance to train her, because she won't listen to me!"_ Siam nodded and drew a circle in the air with his finger, looking over he could see a large amount of a watery substance covering the Gloom, and the glow of the invisible lizard behind her.

_"Dii's my first pokemon! I've had her for years as an Oddish, she evolved after our first battle!"_ The boy was concerned and drew away from the Gloom, hiding a little behind Siam. The pokemon's eyes were tilted and confused, it's arms were outstretched and it looked directly at the boy longingly. Siam turned to the young lad and smiled widely and warmly, he pulled the helmet from his head and placed it on the boy's head. The cape was longer than the boy was tall, which Siam used to his advantage; taking the cape and moving it around to cover the boys arms and chest. The little man's eyes looked confused up at Siam. Siam pointed to his eyes and then, without looking, at the Gloom. The boy's eyes slid away from Siam to the concerned pokemon _"Dii? Come here?"_ He'd barely finished asking when the pokemon rushed over to him. The boys arms, shielded by cloth, wrapped around the little pokemon while it chittered excitedly _"You did so good! I'm sorry I was scared!"_ While the two celebrated their victory, Siam pulled a small, unlabelled, plastic bottle from his backpack. _"Oh, I'm sorry Mr! It got all over your cape"_ The boy said, finally peeling away from the happy little pokemon. Siam smiled and took the cape from the boy, making sure to only touch the inside as he rolled it up, from the rolled cloth he squeezed the liquid into the small bottle **_"Not a good idea to leave it on the grass, in case something stepped in it."_** Once the dripping had stopped, he replaced the lid and admired that now this bottle of; apparently water, was slightly over half full. _"I should go home, Mum will want to see Dii!"_ The little boy chirped before trotting off with the Gloom happily in tow.


	32. Chapter 32: Fraternal Mail

Turning around once the child had skipped from view, Siam found himself face to face with a large wooden totem pole he had not seen before. Startled for a moment he took a step back to take in the appearance of this object, a faint hint of a headache washed over him as he stared at it. After a moment he turned and continued toward Lilycove city _"Do not turn your back on me, Young Master Taillon"_ Siam's head turned slowly, checking the area around him though seeing no-one. The totem showed no signs of the strange glow, but it was the only thing different in the area. The headache sensation grew as Siam approached the wood and took note that the depiction had changed slightly _"You are a very curious case for a human"_ the voice echoed from no-where. Shaking his head, Siam moved away and turned back to the road, finding himself looking at a familiar man. Beside the man with the knife stood a small white demon with slimy green hair. He shook his head and looked around for Antony or Lucilla, neither of which were anywhere to be seen. _"Quick to realise it's not real, impressive"_ As Siam resisted the image his headache grew stronger and stronger, until suddenly he was standing in a perfect white void _"I mean you no harm, young Master Taillon"_ A creature, not to dissimilar to a totem pole itself, only made of flesh and feathers, appeared before him. _"Unlike others, it is my goal to help you heal your mind. You were assaulted, and I can repair you"_ Siam's lip curled at this comment _"You can speak to me, I hear your mind."_But Siam refused to, he would not give this intruder into his mind the honour. Feeling fingers easing into his mind, Siam tried to force them back out, fighting against the sense of his head being pulled asunder.

Siam's eyes snapped open as he rolled aside, he was laying on the grass by the side of the road in the dark. Looking around it didn't take him long to notice the rising sun beyond the pokemon around him. **_"East. Lilycove is East, it should be close"_** Siam woke each of the pokemon with breakfast before they set off toward the rising sun. Lilycove city was huge port city, dwarfing Slateport easily, though unlike Slateport there was very little paved ground here, most of the city was shorn grass with seemingly randomly placed buildings. After entering the biggest building nearby, Siam found himself in a small shopping centre _"Hello sir!"_ A woman called to him from a nearby counter _"Would you like a lottery ticket? The draw is in ten minutes"_ Siam shrugged, seeing no reason not to. Once he'd bought his ticket he checked the number: 43154, he nodded thanks to the woman before heading up the stairs to browse further stores.

_"Siam! Did you come to do some shopping too?"_ May trotted up the stairs behind him. _"Oh, I like the cape, it really suits you!"_ Siam bowed at her approach but moved the cape away as she reached to touch it. _"Oh, I'm sorry! Am I not good enough to touch your cape, oh pokemon master!?"_ She spat at him, insulted at his reaction. Throwing her hands up in frustration she walked past him _"I give up, I'm not going to bother with you any more"_ Siam looked to Lucilla standing on his right after May had passed, the Shiftry shrugged and they continued about the store.

_"Attention shoppers"_ A pleasant voice rang over the shopping centre's intercom _"Announcing this month's lottery numbers!"_ Several people stopped and looked up to the speakers, causing Siam to silently chuckle while shaking his head_"The winning numbers ar 4. Three winning tickets were sold!"_ Siam's eyes furrowed as he dug the ticket out of his pocket and stared at it before heading down to the front desk. Queuing up behind two other men, Siam waited to see the receptionist. _"Last two digits? You've won the third prize, A PP Up. Have a good day sir"_ The receptionist handed the man a small bottle in exchange for his ticket. _"Great! Four digits matched! You have excellent luck! You've won the first prize, a Rare Candy!"_ She handed the man a small wrapped item before turning to Siam _"Can I see your ticket please sir?"_ Siam handed over the ticket, scratching Antony's head to quieten him down. _"Oh my goodness, all five digits matched! You have incredible luck! You've won the jackpot prize, a Master Ball!"_ She pressed a button and some glitter dropped pathetically from the roof as she passed him a small box, noticing the confused look on his face she continued _"A Master Ball is a pokeball that is guaranteed to capture any wild pokemon it is used on"_ Siam's lips tightened on one side as he grabbed the box and put it into his bag; there was no prize he would want less than what he had gotten.

A heavy thump and crash was heard behind Siam, turning around he saw a rather tall man in a tight suit laying on his back, with Lucilla between he and Siam _"Mr. Siam Taillon?"_ the man coughed looking up at him. Siam's eyes narrowed as he slapped his leg twice, the man lifted himself up as Lucilla moved to standing beside instead of in front Siam _"Agent Rogas of the Hoenn Federal Police"_ the man announced _"We'd like to speak to you about Jessabel Incrail"_ Taken aback, Siam nodded and followed the man to what he knew to be the police station. _"Miss Keys requested you be brought into the fold on this due to your defending the only two women to escape the Contest Killer."_ Siam was sat in a small room with a couple extra chairs and a large display board _"I would tell you not to breathe a word of this, but from what we know of you that shouldn't be a problem"_ A group of people then entered the room, including the woman with the blue hair whose voice grated at Siam's brain. The Contest Killer did not stop when the contest halls were shut down, in fact doing so simply removed the one connecting factor between his victims. It was determined that the man was frightfully obsessed with Aleisha Key, also known as 'Lisia', the woman with the blue hair. He would kill anyone she identified as a good contestent or ran in a contest against her.

Three news crews surrounded them as Lisia and Siam stood outside the Lilycove Contest hall _"-It's pitiful that he has to attack anyone better than him in the world of contests, that isn't anyone I would want to talk to! But that brings me to the big news ever-ee-bo-dy!"_ Her voice shot through his brain, cutting his skull open as she spoke _"Since the police finally caught that terrible loser, the contest halls are being re-OPENED!"_ Her excitement made him flinch in both surprise and pain. _"But I will not be competing! My friend Sime here will lead the opening, he will take the contest world by storm as it's new lead contest star!"_ It was all he could do to keep his eyes open and try to at least pretend to smile. When the woman Lisia finally finished with him, Siam was able to slink away. Though he was stopped by a familiar face, the nurse from the Dewford pokemon centre. She introduced herself as Camilla Joice, she stuttered and blushed a lot as she finally plucked up the courage to ask Siam to join her for, he smiled and kissed her hand while bowing goodbye. Blushing she slunk away from the tv camera, which Siam had only just noticed pointed at them.


	33. Chapter 33: Where the land ends

As Camilla slunk off red faced, Siam turned to the grinning cameraman. The cameraman gave him a thumbs up, but Siam shook his head and glared at the man. The interviewer was smiling as well, and as the cameraman was turning the camera off she spoke to him _"Every viewer of the HNN just saw her ask you out, live!"_ Unable to think of anything else for them; Siam flipped the two off and walked away. As he reached the end of the street, the reporter could be heard calling out while running to him. Siam stopped and turned to face the woman_"Listen"_ she panted, catching her breath _"That was uncalled for, and I'm sorry"_Siam crossed his arms and listened. _"What Ty and I did was cruel and I'm sorry"_Siam nodded and turned to walk away. _"I want to make it up to you. I have a reservation at Cove Lily for dinner tonight, You two can go instead"_ Siam's eyes narrowed in suspicion as he looked at the woman _"Honestly, it's under the name Gabriella Kyte. The reservation is at 8:30, they'll know you're coming"_ Siam nodded slowly, after which the woman walked away.

After wandering around the town for some time, Siam eventually found himself stumbling across the magnificent Lilycove Harbor. The door was open but roped off, a large number of people were moving about inside. They looked to be completing a large cruise ship and a ferry nearby, Siam's staring was noticed by a nearby elderly looking sailor _"Ah Lad! Good to see you"_ Mr. Briney wandered slowly to the roped off door. _"I guess you got my letter"_ Siam nodded and smiled, the old sailor let the a man nearby know he was going to be absent for a few minutes before he left the building with Siam. _"Peeko! This way lass!"_ The man called out to the Wingull nearby before leading Siam toward some docks _"As I said, I'm sorry about not being there when you finished in Slateport my lad"_ Siam shrugged as they boarded the old sailor's boat. _"That Cap'n Stern'n I had an interesting chat"_ Siam set the boat to drift while the old sailor sat down nearby._"Aye aye, old friend! Full speed ahead."_ Briney gave Siam a heading and they set off.

_"They made me honorary captain of this here S.S. Tidal!"_ Briney said, Siam nodded over his shoulder smiling before turning back to watch the sea. _"You can call me Cap'n Briney now! Not that you've called me anything."_ Siam laughed silently and watched as Vipsania, Stilicho and Peeko flew alongside the boat. _"You know, I retired once before, but when I saw that fine ship launch… Let me say it stirred my old sailor's soul, aye, it did!"_ The new Captain Briney signalled for Siam to drop anchor. The view of Lilycove was amazing, with the ocean reflecting every bit of the city they could see. The old man sighed _"I'm going to miss this old girl"_ Siam nodded solemly as he sat on the edge of the boat with the Captain and Antony _"At least I know you'll take good care of her"_. Siam's eyebrows shot up and he rubbed his head in confusion, the old man didn't look to him as they sat there looking across the sea to Lilycove.

With the hour approaching, Siam stood on the boat, docked at the harbour. He gently placed Antony on the deck beside Lucilla and garnered their attention. He pointed to each pokemon in turn, except Stilicho, and then to his eyes and the boat. Antony barked happily and sat at the wheel while Lucilla nodded to Siam. It didn't take him long to arrive at the hotel 'Cove Lily', where the woman had said his reservation would be. The man at the entrance looked Siam up and down before addressing him. _"Mr. Taillon I presume?"_ The man asked, catching Siam by surprise, confusing him greatly. Seeing the look of bewilderment on his face the man continued _"I saw you on the HNN broadcast earlier today. Ms Kyte has made all the arrangements"_ Siam's eyes narrowed as he looked at the restauranteer _"If you would follow me sir, We'll have you seated right away."_ his eyes drifted to Stilicho nearby _"We do not allow pokemon in the dining area sir, could you withdraw that Masquerain please?"_ Siam smiled silently and held his cape away from his body, open palmed. Seeing he had no pokeballs the man sighed and lead him away into the dining hall.

Once seated, Siam was asked to remove his helmet, but when he did so the man looked surprised and requested he place it back soon after. Siam sat in silence at the table for what felt like an eternity before the man from before lead Ms Camilla Joice to the table with him. The dinner was pleasant, though she did all the talking. Siam laughed silently to himself halfway through the meal when it became apparent that no-one else had come for dinner here, making the idea of a reservation look somewhat stupid. The dinner however was not what Siam would remember, once the meal was over and they left the restaurant she turned to him. As she was saying goodnight he shook his head and waved for her to follow him as he walked through the streets. She looked confused as she followed him through the moonlit streets to the grand Lilycove Lighthouse.


	34. Chapter 34: Pyretechnics

Though Siam and Camilla were not allowed entry into the Lilycove lighthouse, they were able to take a seat on a bench nearby; staring out at the moonlit ocean. Strong winds pushed them back on the bench while warm ocean waves crashed against the cliff in front of them, spraying them with a gentle mist of water. They chuckled while enjoying the refreshing breeze and water. With the heat of the night growing somewhat uncomfortable, the water slowly became less refreshing_"It's a little hot don't you think?"_ she asked him, Siam simply looked at one of his hands quizzically for a moment before looking to Camilla. Her face had a mixture of sea breeze and sweat dripping from it. He nodded silently and rose from the bench, helping her up against the strong winds. Siam rose a hand slowly to Camilla's cheek and wiped away the water. As he withdrew his hand, hers rose to press against her cheek. Siam bowed lightly, shaking the snowflakes from his fingers before leading the young lady away from the cliff side, toward the pokemon centre.

Stilicho fluttered high above them whilst they walked through the dark city streets to the pokemon centre, flitting from left to right checking corners before they passed. Once they arrived at the pokemon centre she turned to him, asking where he would stay if not the centre. Siam smiled and nodded, pointing to her and then the large building they had arrived at _"S-"_ He stuttered. _"S-"_ Siam liked his lips, feeling ice form on them quickly despite the heat of the night _"Safe"_. He nodded once again before turning away from the building and returning to the boat he had been given. Vipsania and Stilicho had taken to idly hovering around the roof in the room below deck. Siam could also see the invisible little lizard sitting on deck watching him, though see should not be the term. Looking away to the city, Siam could see the strange totem-esc pokemon standing on the shore staring at him, shuddering slightly he moved safely below deck with Antony and Lucilla. Siam slept as soundly as one can, with a Linoone curled up between his legs, and a Shiftry sleeping on the floor beside his bed.

Siam was rudely awoken in the morning by a beeping sound from his bag. Fishing the PokeNav from it, he clicked to the news alerts. _"We bring you an exclusive report of a stand-off between the Lilycove Police Department, and a criminal organization calling themselves Team Magma, taking place at the Mt. Pyre funeral mountain -"_ Siam clicked away from the report and immediately brought up the map. Mt. Pyre was a hollowed out mountain used as a graveyard for the pokemon of trainers from all over Hoenn. It wasn't far from Lilycove, and most importantly, he could sail directly to it! Without delay, Siam set sail for Mt. Pyre, using Vipsania and Stilicho to watch the waters for dangers, while Antony and Lucilla moved about on deck under his direction. He did not even need to stand at the helm as the small lizard pokemon, though invisible, somehow knew how he wanted the wheel turned.

Siam could see ahead a small mountain rising out of the ocean, trees and shrubs grew across the top of the mountain, mostly obscuring the men in red jackets moving around on top. In the sea around the mountain were a swarm of boats, police officers and some military personnel from all across Hoenn, watched up the mountain.

While trying to sail through between the police boats, Siam was stopped _"Sir, we need you to stay back. This is under control"_ The officer said, moving their boat to block his. As Siam moved to the bow of the boat, a look of realisation spread across the officer's face _"You're Sime right?"_ Siam slowly nodded in response, not sure how this woman knew him. The officer shouted back to the driver of the boat and a couple nearby to let him through. **_"That was strangely easy"_** As his boat started through the woman leaned close to his boat _"We've heard what you've done to these guys before, in Slateport and at Mt. Chimney. We can't go in ourselves without being shot at, could you possibly-"_ Siam nodded and stopped the boat in line with the police perimeter, slapping his thigh twice.

With the police staying back at their established perimeter; Siam, Antony and Lucilla swam to the mountain door. It opened easily for him, though he entered with his hands above his head. Several man and women in red cloaks pointed guns at him when he walked through the door. Several barricades could be seen around the large room, with heads and guns visible behind them. He was yelled at to turn around and leave or they would shoot. Siam slowly knelt, with his hands raised above his head; He slipped the helmet-cape off and tossed it aside, then removed his bag and slid it away also. Several of the people in red cloaks slowly edged toward him, muttering between themselves while continuing to point their guns at him. He rose to standing, with his open hands still above his head, when a gun was placed at his back. As he was guided up the staircase to the next floor, Siam chanced a glance through a window into a nearby room. A collection of frightened people were sat in a circle with gags across their mouths, the only one he could see with any clarity was a young lady with brown hair and blue eyes, sat terrified near the door. What caught his eye however wasn't the girl, but the glowing shape beside her; a large bear-esc creature with what appeared to be fire sprouting from its neck. Though he could see the glow of the creature, no flesh was to be seen.

Up three flights of stairs, Siam was led into a room with an assortment of people. He was sat down next to a darker skinned girl who was slightly shorter than himself, though with how she was quivering, he felt like he was towering above her. A glowing creature stood beside her, looking up. This thing had no body, but yet he recognised what it was; a Bayleef, a pokemon often given as a starter back in Johto. Siam's eyes moved away from the little glow but he still knew it was there, he watched in his mind's eye as it tried to comfort the girl, and attack anyone who came close. But it couldn't hurt anyone; it wasn't there. Siam leant over to the girl and whispered oh so quietly; _"safe"_ and nodded slowly. She looked at him confused as he stood up and walked over to a man pointing a gun at him. The man shouted for Siam to sit back down or he would shoot, Siam shrugged and flicked his left hand up, swinging it around the right of the gun to grab the muzzle and push it away. Reflexively the man shot, sending three bullets into the thigh of one of his team-mates. _"Tict"_ Siam clicked his fingers and pointed to the third grunt in the room, who had been raising his gun to fire when Antony leapt onto him. Then balling his right fist he slammed the man in front of him in the face and ripped the gun from his hands. Spinning around to face the man who had been shot, Siam levelled the gun at him and shouted _"Hey"_ Sternly. The man dropped to his knees and held his hands above his head _"Good"_. The girl who had the Non-existent Bayleef by her side took the gun from the man while another tied him up. Siam placed the gun he had taken with some others before looking to the other people in the room. He made a sweeping gesture of the room and then pointed hard at the floor _"Safe"_, before leaving the room with Antony and Lucilla in tow.


	35. Chapter 35: The red orb

Fighting could be heard from the staircase leading upward to the summit of Mt. Pyre. Trenton withdrew from the noise to the other side of the tall, imposing man. Maxie smiled "Calm yourself Doctor. That's simply the termite we were expecting" Trenton looked flabergasted at the man in hornrimmed glasses "I regret I had to cut short my destruction of him at Mt. Chimney." Maxie looked down at Trenton. Trenton retreated, concerned, into a back corner of the small ruined room, pulling his lab coat tight around him. "Though if I hadn't, you wouldn't get this opportunity would you?" Maxie scoffed and walked over to the altar that held both the small, skull sized crystal orbs. With reverence he gently lifted the rightmost one, the red orb. The sounds of fighting were drawing nearer "Seems we made the right decision by bringing Tabitha's Martials, don't you agree Courtney?" Trenton could see the hooded woman fauning slightly over the older man as she agreed with him. "Two Pidgey's with one shot as it were, the orb and the pest."

Trenton retreated from the imposing leader of Team Magma, returning to a flat area not far from the ruined altar. A collection of bodies lay in a pile behind a wall, just in sight of the teenager who was being dragged to a bloodspot on the grass. The young man was quite slim and very pale, with very obvious bags under his eyes. The guards dropped the teen on the grass infront of Trenton "The main event has shown up" Trenton responded, looking down at the skeletal teen "You're lucky, you get to go back to the cage with the others. Maybe you'll get some sleep" He then nodded to the guards who lifted and dragged the nameless young man away. When the boy was out of sight, Trenton walked over to a nearby table and began collecting his supplies; a bucket of water, a drill, several electronic devices and a rag, among several medical impliments. With his tools in hand, the doctor slowly trudged back up the winding path to the mountaintop, avoiding the graves as he went. Finally stopping near the two Magma admins.

A young man with bandages across his head was thrown to the ground at Maxie's feet. "I'm sorry I had to postpone my deafeat of you at Mt. Chimney." Maxie said, kicking the youth's shoulder before one of the men in a red jacket pulled him up to kneel at Maxie's feet. The man on the ground was in a terrible state, his nose was broken and several teeth had been bashed out, the angle his left arm hung at showed it was clearly broken, while his right arm had been dislocated. "And now, I am sorry that I have to postpone it once more." Maxie grinned, taking a moment to taunt the young man before he left. A grunt in a red jacket handed Maxie a battered, bruised and limp Linoone, which Maxie took by the fur at the back of it's neck. He waved the limp body infront of the man's face before walking slowly, deliberately, to the back wall of the ruin. Over the crumbling stone wall were no gravestones, only the mountainside leading down to the sea below. Maxie's grin slowly disappeared as he threw the mass over the edge and began to walk back to the man on his knees.

"I cannot afford to waste even a single second now." Maxie said, pressing his fingers into the bloody spot on the man's head. "For the Red Orb which has long been enshrined here at Mt. Pyre..." He looked to the red crystal sphere he held and smiled. "Now belongs to me, the great Maxie!" Trenton shook his head, that was a strange tendency of the Admins that he had noticed. Both Maxie and Tabitha refer to themselves in the third person quite often. Before finally heading off to the helicopter, Maxie turned to Courtney, addressing her by name. "You must see to it that our dear visitor is not neglected due to my inability to stay now..." The tall man walked away, signalling several of the men in red jackets to join him on the helicopter "With this Red Orb in my possession, I have no need for the power of the Meteorite to awaken the beast from the deep!" Trenton could only barely hear the boss over the sound of the helicopter starting up. "All that I need now is a way to reach the place where it sleeps-"

As leader Maxie's helicopter left the mountaintop, Administrator Courtney snapped into charge "Time to begin analysis doctor" She grinned, grabbing a stand from nearby and placing it under the kneeling man's chin. The man didn't move, didn't blink, he simply stared at the blue crystal sphere resting on the altar. Trenton knelt down beside the man, looking at his eyes. They were strange, the pupils were not what they should be "Doctor! When you're finished checking him out, can we begin?" the woman snapped at him, shaking him from the curiosity of the man's eyes. Trenton nodded and began to remove the bandages around the man's head, exposing the man's hair to the sun.

"It looks like someone has already cut into his head" Trenton said, looking at the small square that had been sliced into the right hand side of the man's scalp. Courtney asked if it would save time to use that, the doctor shook his head. "It'd be faster and safer to go in directly, even if that means a new hole" Courtney complained, claiming that they didn't care if the man was ok, as long as they got the information they wanted. "I don't think you understand madam, if I make a mistake and damage the brain; the data may become unrecoverable or corrupt" Slowly, he sliced into another part of the man's head, wiping away the blood as he did so. Three cuts gave him a flap of skin he could fold away to see the bone of the skull. "You" Dr. Trenton gestured to a man nearby "Hold him still, he may shake at this" Once the grunt had a firm grip on the man's head, Trenton began drilling into the skull, slowly cutting a hole for him to slide a couple wires into.

After twenty minutes of data collection, Courtney looked over at the statistics "You...are interesting!" She laughed nervously, causing Dr. Trenton to finally hear the sounds of the police moving around below them "Have you got enough?" She had barely finished asking when the doctor began to remove the wires and nod vigourously. "I'm looking forward to... When we...can meet again." Courtney said to the strange man, before she; the doctor, and a couple grunts, boarded the second helicopter and left. Watching as the police made their way up the side of the mountain to where the strange man still knelt, the mass of a Shiftry crumpled beside him.


	36. Chapter 36: End of an Era

**_"_****_ฉันสามารถช่วย_****_"_** The sweet voice echoed through his mind. **_"_****_ไม่เพิ่มเติม_****_"_** Siam could feel himself waking up, laying in a bed.**_"_****_ตื่น ตอนนี้_****_"_** His eyes opened, leaving him gazing up at the roof once again. Siam sighed, looking around the room, his bag and cape lay on a chair nearby, only Vipsania and Stilicho were in the room with him. Siam swung himself out of bed and donned his bag and helmet before leaving the room.

Outside his room, Siam encountered the Lilycove Pokemon Centre nurse. She bowed slightly to him _"You are looking quite healthy Mr. Taillon, though I recommen-"_ She stopped shot of telling him to rest, when Siam shot her a glare that could shatter glass. _"Officer Tharin would like to speak to you when you're feeling up to it"_ She followed him as he walked away, watching as he looked into each room he passed. _"Your Linoone and Shiftry are in intensive care"_ Siam froze to the spot, slowly turning to look at the woman _"Please follow me"_. He nodded and kept hot to her heels as she then led him through the winding corridors to a small room _"We've been administering the best care we can, but they will need a couple days to recover"_ Siam slowly walked over to a station, where Lucilla lay sleeping with several cords hooked up to her. _"We couldn't heal them as fast as you of course"_ the nurse mumbled, Siam paid her notice as he gently stroked the Shiftry's cheek

A whimper from behind him prompted Siam to spin on his heel to check the other bed. Antony lay curled up and in pain, but wriggled a little when he saw Siam. Each movement looked painful, so Siam gently placed a hand on the Linoone's fur. The little creature instantly stopped struggling and whimpered a little, looking up at Siam. _"Good- B-"_ He forced himself to say _"B-"_ it was a struggle, but he couldn't not _"Good- Boy-"_ Siam stroked the furry little body, repeating quietly _"good boy"_ as he watched Antony slowly drift off to a pained sleep.

After petting both Lucilla and Antony for a couple minutes, Siam finally turned back to the nurse. She led him back to the lobby and to a man dressed in a police uniform, opposite whom Siam took a seat. The man offered his hand for Siam's _"A pleasure to meet you Mr. Taillon"_ Siam nodded response. _"We want to thank you for what you did at "_ He said, taking a swig from the mug of coffee in front of him. _"You saved a lot of innocent lives-"_ Siam cut him off with a repeating circular motion of his wrist. _"Right, well. Not sure if you are aware, but your Crobat and Masquerain were instrumental in yesterday's affairs"_ Siam's eyebrows lowered quizzically. _"The Crobat caught your Linoone, if she hadn't there is a good chance it would have died"_ The man was confused at first, when Siam held his right fist up slightly, but nodded impressed when the young man directed the Crobat too his side, where he scratched it's belly while the officer continued. _"The Masquerain it seems, can say a lot with only the scent it releases, it gave us the signal to advance"_

Siam's attention was drawn slowly away from the man seated opposite him, to a creature standing just inside the door. The odd totem-esc bird pokemon simply stared at him **_"I come now, Master Taillon. Now that you need my help"_** The birds voice spoke into his mind, an actual voice, unlike every other that had entered his head. His attention was snapped away from the bird by his PokeNav, which began to ring in his bag. He gave the officer a quick, one finger gesture while he fished the device from his bag. Answering the call, he held it to his ear. A faint whispering could be heard on the other end. _"Siam"_ the voice said _"I know you can't speak, but I need to know you can hear me"_ It was Camilla, the Dewford Nurse. With his right hand holding the device, he clicked the fingers on his left hand near the microphone _'tic' __"Siam, something's wrong"_ her frightened voice whispered through the speaker, prompting him to hold it closer to his ear. _"Something's following me. I can hear it"_ Siam's eyes narrowed, the officer began to speak but was cut off by another gesture _"I'm on route 123, something's wrong. Send-"_ the whisper was cut off by a brutal, vicious growl and an ear splitting scream. The scream cut through the room as Siam dropped the PokeNav, everyone in the lobby of the pokemon centre could hear the brutal attack as clearly as if they were there.

Name: Olymiodorus

Species: Xatu

Type: Psychic/Flying

Nature: Gentle

Level Met: 24

Characteristic: Somewhat vain

HP 70, Atk 45, Def 38, 50, 50, Spd 53 ==+== | ==+==

The Officer immediately grabbed his radio and began spouting something Siam had tuned out, the sounds from the PokeNav became hollow and muted as a voice entered his mind. **_"Punch, Master Taillon, You will strike true"_** Siam launched to his feet, his left hand formed a strange half-fist; the last two fingers curled like a fist, the pointer and middle fingers half curled and his thumb pressed firm against his palm. As his arm thrust forward, he could feel something form in the air as the base of his palm smashed into it. A quick blink and everything was different, and for a moment, slower. Siam's punch had landed square in the jaw of the man he knew to be the contest killer, while a heavy bladed thing materialised in his stomach. Siam's right hand dropped his bag as he looked down at the machete buried deep into his lower chest. A cough sprayed the shocked face in front of him with blood. Bringing his right fist across to smash into the other side of the man's face, Siam could hear crying and half-screaming from behind him. The mans foot pressed against his chest as the huge blade was ripped out of him. Siam lost all sensation in his legs and immediately fell onto his stomach.

Looking up, Siam could see the totem-bird not far away, simply watching. Siam rolled onto his back and stared up at the killer. _"You Again!? How are you always getting in the way?"_ The man knelt down over Siam, stabbing a free knife into Siam's right hand, pinning it to the ground _"Wait a minute, I've stabbed you before, how did that heal so quickly?"_ Siam struggled to pull the knife out, but was quickly kicked in the head for his troubles. Weakened, bleeding, and by all accounts screwed; Siam made a last ditch effort to reach for his bag, a motion that did not go unnoticed. _"Oh no you don't"_ The man stepped over him and picked up the backpack.

The unnamed man pulled the bag open and began rifling through it, pulling out the large blue gemstone that Siam had seen on the Altar. _"Ooh, this should fetch a good price once I kill the two of you. Though I suppose it'd be easy to trace"_He dropped it onto the grass, where it gently rolled away from Siam. Out of the corner of his eyes, Siam could see Camilla slowly pulling herself to standing up through aid of a tree. The man's hand surfaced from the bag with some food, tossing it to the ground before returning to the bag _"What's this?"_ A grin spread across his face, a small amount of blood trickling from where Siam had broken out a couple teeth. The man waved the gun playfully before tucking it into his pants_"I'll be keeping this thank you"_ Siam watched as Camilla stumbled over toward him, the gashes on her arms were plainly visible, but she was in ok condition for now. What the man said next recaptured his attention _"Seven bottles of 'Devon Corporation; Mountain spring water' why do you need so many of these?"_ The man began dropping them out of the bag before stopping on one of them. _"Ooop, clever way to hide it!"_ The man held up an unlabelled bottle of a clear, but thick liquid _"This your healing potion?"_ Siam shook his head vigorously, attempting to crawl with his left hand toward the bottles of water. _"Oh, you are a terrible liar."_ The man stomped on Siam's hand _"I reckon I could use some of this, you bashed out a couple of my teeth after all."_

Siam watched the man unscrew the lid and take several long gulps of the liquid. Though not squeamish, he turned away to avoid seeing what he knew would be an incredibly gory sight. The man didn't move as Siam crawled the short distance further to the bottles of water. Grabbing two, he emptied one on the hole in his stomach before gulping down mouthful after mouthful of the other. The smell of blood was strong, as Siam stood up weakly and took the bag from the man. Camilla coughed and vomited, almost masking the sound of liquid gurgling and weak choking. Siam would not look, he could hear the man drowning where he stood, and that was difficult enough to deal with. He left the seventh bottle in the man's paralysed hand, only just catching sight of a few trails of blood down the front of the shirt as he waved the totem-bird back over **_"Take us back to Lilycove"_** Siam thought, at which the bird nodded solemnly.


	37. Chapter 37: A pool of Magma

The moment Siam, Camilla and the strange bird appeared in the Lilycove Pokemon centre, several attendants rushed over to grab the bleeding woman and gently help her away into a back room. Siam retrieved his bag, which had appeared resting on the ground nearby, and collapsed weakly onto a nearby chair. Lifting his shirt, he stared at the huge scar across his stomach where the massive blade had appeared. He flinched at the pain when he lowered his shirt back over it and set about gathering the various items that lay scattered about the floor where he had appeared. The bird couldn't even have been bothered to teleport them into the bag it seemed, simply grabbed everything and copied them; point for point, to the centre. Everything except the drowning man, whom Siam assumed was still suffering the intense misfortune of his simple mistake. The officer from before walked over to him _"Are you ok?"_ Siam nodded quietly, unsure if he wanted to pick up the blue crystal sphere or not. _"It was him wasn't it?"_ The officer whispered, Siam nodded slowly as he reached down and took the glowing sphere. _"What happened?"_ The man asked, Siam placed the orb in his bag before making a motion that only the man standing near him would see, of dragging his finger across his throat slowly. The Officer nodded, telling Siam he would be in touch, before leaving.

As he sat at a table with his head in his hands, slowly rubbing his eyes with six fingers, Siam couldn't help but overhear a couple dock workers at a nearby table complaining to each other. They were annoyed about Team Magma, a sentiment Siam could agree with. The one man found it rude that they would set up a base of operations, a military establishment, so close to a city. Siam nodded slowly while he began slowly eating one of his rations for the day. Apparently, the police force could not do anything, simply because of how heavily fortified and strategically built the place was; an army would be needed, and even then the men assumed there would be heavy losses. But Siam almost choked when he heard the next line _"I'm going to move, if their so close to Lilycove, there's no telling when they'll decide this city is better than the cave"_

It felt almost as if his heart was going to burst from his chest. After what they did to those pokemon, pokemon that were simply following Siam, they just so happened to be based not far from Lilycove city? Siam's fists clenched into his sandwich, though he did not notice the small ice crystals forming on the bread. A couple people started to complain about a sudden chill, and began checking the windows. His fingers were turning white with anger when he looked up at who sat across the table from him; the strange bird creature. _"You're furious, young master Taillon"_ the bird said, not flinching under Siam's stare. _"You want them to pay for what they are doing"_ Siam nodded slowly, Stilicho lowered to beside him and tweeted soothingly. _"But you don't want to risk those who are not hurt"_ Siam's eyes narrowed as he snapped the icicle of a sandwich in half _"Only one of the Administrators is in their headquarters right now, you can take the fight to them."_  
**_"I cannot risk the two who are left"_**  
_"Then I will tell them to stay, and you and I can go"_  
**_"How can you help?"_**  
_"I have many tricks"_ The bird held out a small glowing gemstone, one Siam recognised as the 'Blazikenite' Steven had given him.

The bird glanced at Vipsania and Stilicho, who bobbed once in the air each before fluttering away up the stairs. Though it offered to take him straight there, Siam refused, instead marching out the door of the pokemon centre and directly down to the beach. Shards of ice in the sand rolled under his feet as he made his way to the water's edge. Across a from him lay a small cave entrance; jutting from the salt water, a distance into the cave he could see a door. Without even considering it, Siam began to walk toward the cave. Each footfall landed on a small disc of ice that stretched underwater as his weight shifted onto it. He did not descend into the water, but instead powered directly over top of it. He did not rock or sway on the water, simply marched across what he saw to be a solid stone bridge.

Feeling warm stone under foot, Siam looked to his left at the bird that landed. It nodded and held in its outstretched wing, the small glowing stone. He was furious, he knew it would hurt but did not care. Reaching out he snatched the rock from the feathers, and immediately felt enormous pain rip through his body. The gemstone melted in his hand, soaking into his skin as Siam felt every muscle double in weight. His back stretched and pulled, giving him the sensation of being able to bend completely backward should he try. His fingers elongated slightly, becoming almost solid muscle as his shoulders seemed to spread. The agony was unrivalled, but over quickly. Siam blinked twice before slowly lifting himself off the ground in front of the door. The large, solid steel doors felt like paper to him as he ripped them clean from the wall.

Down a hallway through the door were a group of men hiding behind large barricades, each holding a machine gun pointed at the door. When the door was ripped open, most flinched. Siam could see only one point behind the barricade where no-one stood, the moment he began to swing his right foot up in a spinning kick, he found himself at that point; with the heel of his foot slamming into the side of one man's head. As his right foot guided the man down, his left leg swept the man's feet, lifting him in the air. With tremendous force, he flung the airborne rag doll into another man. With a thought he was at another point nearby, the head of another man between the his legs as he continued his spin downwards. His weight and strength pulled the man into the ground only for Siam to vanish once again.

The end of the spin brought his right fist hurtling through the air, and directly into the sternum of a man he materialised before. The man launched backward into the only one still standing. Siam needed only think of a point, and he would be there, though this was a great capacity in a fight, he could not go anywhere he could not see; Forcing him to rush down hallways and through rooms, with the psychic bird flying beside him. Each time he saw a raised tile, a pressure plate, in the middle of a hallway, Siam simply visualised himself past it, and was.

Turning into one room, Siam found himself the target of close to twenty guns. _"What the fuck is that thing?"_ One woman shouted when Siam appeared, his grin did not calm her _"It has horns! Why does it have horns?"_ She opened fire, and was not alone in doing so. Before the first bullet touched him, Siam was on the balcony above most of the action, kicking the man standing there over the railing. Not a second later, Siam was on the ground, snatching the man out of the air and swinging him by his leg at a shocked woman nearby. He continued to swing the man around him as he materialised at another point, kicking a man in the chest. With his flesh club and incredible kicks, Siam quickly rendered each and every person in the room unconscious, leaving in alone in this strange open air dock.


	38. Chapter 38: And the sea begins

\- 9th August: The 20th Day -  
On his knees, with his hands gripping the edge of the harbour as he leant over the water. Siam vomited into the water, feeling his muscles weaken as he did. The room was spinning and uneven as he leant over the water. He could feel a small stone grow in his throat as he vomited, he was able to reach in and pull it out once he had finished ejecting the gunk from his body. Feeling a cool liquid running down the back of his neck, Siam reached around to touch a tender part at the back of his head, where the bandages were wet. Pulling his hand away showed fresh blood was leaking from the back as well as the right of his head. Siam washed his hand in the water before rubbing his eyes and stumbling to his feet.

_"Please..."_ A frightened voice whispered from nearby _"Don't kill me!"_ Light-headed and quite dizzy, Siam stumbled over toward the voice, to see a man in a white lab coat huddled under a desk _"I'm sorry! They made me!"_ Looking away from the man to the bird, Siam thought of wanting to leave. Both hands sat clamped around his head as he blinked. Finding himself in the Lilycove Pokemon centre, Siam relaxed and slumped down at a table, to take a moment to breathe.

\- 10th August: The 21st Day -  
Siam spent a little over half the day at the pokemon centre, watching over the beds where the Shiftry and Linoone slept in pain. Pokemon medicine was extremely effective, though not perfect. Both pokemon's exterior wounds were almost completely repaired, though both were in obvious pain whether awake or asleep. It was a curious sight to Siam, but one he mostly ignored, that the glow that filled these two pokemon grew stronger when he stroked or spoke to them. Their glow's would even change; from changing to an unnameable shade of blue, to a distinctly purplish red at other times.

At times, he had to leave the room; unable to watch them in pain. Outside the pokemon centre he focus'd as much as he could on the glow he could feel in every pokemon nearby. Outside the red vested people on Mt. Pyre, Siam had not seen any human with the glow. Stilicho happily fluttered in front of him as Siam absent mindedly rubbed her back, his mind more interested in how the glow behaved, how it flowed around and through her.

\- 11th August: The 22nd Day -  
He stood, unflinching at the window, feet shoulder width apart and his left hand holding the wrist of his right behind his back. "You could leave" Siam heard the voice of the totem-bird behind him. "You were so resistant to them coming along in the first place" He couldn't tell if it was speaking for real, or into his mind. In either case he did not react, simply stood at the window, looking into the room. "This is ridiculous! I'm not a pokemon Trainer, this thing isn't my pokemon, it's just following me around because why not!" He shuddered lightly, watching as Antony and Lucilla cringed and twisted when the unknown liquid was sprayed on them. "That's what you said isn't it" The bird asked, tempting Siam to turn away, Siam nodded his head slowly. "You can leave, can't you?" He didn't move, for several minutes all was silence; watching the pokemon in the room toss and turn in pain. **_"No, I can't."_** He thought to himself, though he knew his thoughts were not alone. "Why not?" The people gradually left the room, the door was held for Siam to enter after all**_"They need me."_** He thought, standing over Antony's bed, the little creature looked so peaceful and quiet "There's more to it than that, isn't there."

\- 13th August: The 24th Day -  
Siam was racing across the sand of the Lilycove beach, both he and the Masquerain beside him trying to keep up with the purple blur cruising ahead of them. Siam slipped on the sand and skidded across on his knees, cutting his knee on a wet stone. _"Mr. Taillon?"_ The Lilycove nurse was walking down a flight of stairs from the grasses to the beach, a leaf handed creature walking beside her. Siam looked up and smiled, he knew Antony was near, though he did not look until it leapt at him. Siam caught the Linoone in the air and let it lick his cheek happily. _"We could not fix it's tail, we're not sure why."_ She said as the Shiftry wandered over to wrap its arms around him. Siam shrugged and watched as the nurse walked away, he couldn't move anyway for the pokemon covering him.

\- 14th August: The 25th Day -  
Not far from the Lilycove Harbour Siam found himself passing a small house on a rock. Slowing down to pass it, Siam noticed a man moving about inside the house. Though he did not see the man, he felt his presence, such as if it were a pokemon. Seeing no better opportunity, he pulled alongside the rock. Gently, Siam lifted Antony onto the stone, and helped Lucilla and the lizard climb up after him. As he approached the door, Siam froze; in the presence was a familiarity, somehow he already knew the man inside the house. The door opened before he was able to raise his hand to it _"Siam? Siam Taillon?"_ The blonde man who opened the door was only a couple years older than Siam, and was happy to invite him into the small cottage. The building contained everything necessary to survive, as well as a Glass top display table, inside of which sat a collection of odd trinkets from beneath the waters. Siam smiled as he sat at the table, his old friend did always love to find things under the waves _"I haven't seen you since Olivine. Jasmine said your family was moving to Littleroot"_ Siam nodded smiling as Antony jumped up onto his lap. Siam offered Lucilla the seat on his right, which she happily took. _"You have come so far since our last lessons"_ The man, Damien, poured Siam a drink before sitting opposite him. _"Man, I remember when you were terrified of pokemon, spent more time practising the __少林武术 __than anything else"_ Siam chuckled silently to himself as he drank, absent mindedly stroking the fur sitting on his lap.


	39. Chapter 39: Home!

Siam rose to leave, Lucilla already at the door waiting to open it. His old friend stood as he did _"You don't have to go man"_. Siam shrugged and nodded, Damien began to look somewhat dejected and lonely, but quickly began rifling through a nearby draw unit. Siam was halfway between the door and his boat when the man ran up behind him. _"Here, I want you to have this"_ Damien offered Siam a small metallic box, which was surprisingly heavy when he took it. Siam's eyes narrowed as he looked up from the box _"It's one of the earlier Devon Automatic Base devices"_ Slowly Siam placed it down on the rock beside him, only to have it raise a little into the air; much to Damien's surprise _"Now that I have this place I don't really need it, figured you might like a bed and table and a couple things if you find somewhere you want to set up camp properly for a- umm- a night"_ Damien's thoughts trailed off as he watched the box float away to the edge of the rock and hop down into Siam's boat. Siam bowed and gave his friend an offhanded salute before climbing back into the boat himself. The corner of Siam's mouth curled in a hidden smile as he watched the look on Damien's face when the sail unfurled itself without anyone touching it.

Siam stood at the bow of the boat, watching the light blue water beneath him, Antony sitting beside him watching with. As the water grew deeper, it grew darker, until underneath him flowed a endless black abyss. The deepest water was strangest, Siam could see no glow in it; could feel no life at all beneath the boat. But he could feel the water itself; a giant, near endless expanse of sea. As the boat slowed to a gentle ebb, Siam heard a loud splash from the other side; the Lizard wasn't on the boat any more. Rushing to the helm, he could not see anything over the edge. All he knew was that the lizard was no longer on the boat; so it must be in the water. Disregarding any fear he had of the unknown, Siam dove overboard into the water.

Floating in the deep, dark abyss, Siam could see the shape of a huge Tentacruel nearby. Swimming over, he gradually let the air out of his lungs until he reached it. Though he could not see anything within the many tendrils of the squid, the tentacles were definitely wrapped around a transparent object. Several tendrils began to grope at him, pulling Siam into the mass of coils. A stinging pain shot across his whole body, eating at his muscles and burning at his skin. Against all rational thought, Siam let himself be pulled close to the centre of the tentacle forest. In all, Siam could not feel the presence of the Tentacruel as he would any other creature, he could not feel the lizard that now clung to his leg in the way he was use to. All Siam could feel was the massive expanse of water all around him; all through him. Arms held close to his chest, Siam exhaled; pushing his right hand away from him gently. Siam inhaled a mouthful of water, bringing his right hand back and pushing his left hand away.  
Exhale, feeling the expanse of water around and within him.  
Inhale water, feel himself fading away.  
Exhale, nothing but the water, cool and eternal.  
Inhale.  
Exhale; Slam both palms upward, throwing the entire ocean within him upward through his wrists and into the soft jelly wrapping around him. A tremendous; all encompassing cold exploded through the area, launching the mass away from him. With the freedom suddenly thrust on him, Siam grabbed the invisible weight clutching his leg and swam to the surface; pulling himself onto the boat with the little lizard.

The sky grew dark as the sun sank beyond the mountains to his right when Siam decided to pull over closer to a rocky outcropping to the left. A small hole in the rock wall allowed Siam to see into a small cave behind. He pulled a couple stones away, creating a hole large enough for him to squeeze through. Antony and the lizard followed immediately after, Vipsania and Stilicho waited a moment before squeezing into the cave. He had to shift a few more rocks to give Lucilla the room to clamber in. The cavern was quite roomy, with enough room for each of them to stand comfortably. Vipsania and Stilicho fluttered to the room; the Crobat chattering as she hung from the roof happily. The lizard crawled back out of the cave as Siam wandered over to the opposite wall; finding a slope through a hole down into another large room.

After kicking rock out of the way to make it easier to climb down into the room below; Siam heard the clang of the metal box through the entrance. Shrugging, he opened the box to see a little red light blinking _"Scanning environment"_ a digital voice sounded from the box, he watched as a bunch of little red dots moved over the walls. _"Environment too small for base of operations"_ Siam's eyes narrowed, he closed the lid and moved through the dark to the hole leading down. Placing the box in the hole he opened the lid _"Scanning environment"_ the red dots moved over the walls of both the above and below rooms. _"Environment adequate for base of operations"_ Four spindly legs sprouted from the box as it crawled its way down the wall into the other room, before unpacking into a small computer in the corner. Antony beat Siam down to the computer and was sniffing it intently. Petting Antony's head, Siam pressed the power button on the machine. A bright light shone in his eyes as the machine scanned him _"User loaded. Showing environment scan"_ A three dimensional map appeared on the screen, with a collection of objects in a tab to the right of it. Antony reached up and touched the screen, the bed dragging along in the tab where he pulled. Siam nodded, touching the bed on the screen and dragging it into the map. Where it was placed, he turned around to see a bed in the same place in the room. Nodding, impressed, Siam spent a good hour arranging the assortment of items in the tab in the cave.

Siam awoke to the smell of salt water, stepping out of the bed he could feel a small amount of water underfoot in the bottom section of cave. Feeling around on the walls he uncovered a weak section of stone he was able to dismantle; opening the room up to a beautiful hidden cove. The water wasn't even toe deep, but covered an large area surrounded by rocky croppings like the one he had dug into. One thought struck Siam as he gazed out at the sparkling sand; is it high tide or low tide at this moment?


	40. Chapter 40: A hole in the ocean

Siam took a deep breath, enjoying the fresh salty air of the tidal cove he'd uncovered. He was knocked hard onto his side by a sudden shock wave from the south. Turning to face the blast, Siam could see an enormous pillar of green light bursting out of the ocean. Clouds around the top of the pillar coiled upwards and away where they met it, the sunrise mixed with the pillar gave the clouds the appearance of having waves of fire rolling beneath them. A huge; five horned, triangular face face could be seen reflected in the enormous pillar of green light, though a triple helix of light, cycling around the pillar obscured it.

It didn't take long for the boat to reach the pillar of light, especially with two pairs of wings beating wind into the sail. Upon pulling up against the tiny island from which the green pillar emerged, the light finally faded. In the middle of the tiny island was a hole, taking almost the entire piece of land. He stared down into a deep pit surrounded by a spiralling ramp, with a large pool of Lava at the bottom. As Siam started around to the beginning of the ramp, two bird pokemon dropped off their trainers on the island with him. Steven and May greeted each other before looking into the pit Siam had just stared at. Steven noticed the second blood spot on Siam's head and immediately started telling him to back away and let him take this encounter. Siam pushed Steven away _"I- Fine-"_ he scowled at the other man before slapping his thigh a couple times and beginning down the slope into the hole.

_"You need not walk all the way Master Taillon"_ Siam turned to the totem bird and looked back down to the bottom of the hole. He lifted the invisible lizard up under his left arm. Holding his right fist in the air he pointed to the bottom of the pit, watching as Vipsania and Stilicho drifted down the hole. After they left, Lucilla's left hand grabbed Siam's right. Antony lay draped across Siam's shoulders and licked his cheek. The moment Siam nodded he felt an amazing wave of heat that dried his eyes and burnt at his bandages.

Shutting his eyes reflexively, Siam could hear a manic; victorious laughter. When he opened them once again he found himself standing on a rock outcropping at the end of the coiling ramp. Ahead of him, shaded slightly by the a mist and backlit by water trickling onto a giant lava pool, stood the leader of Team Magma; Maxie. Antony barked beside his ear and jumped down off Siam to rush to a body laying nearby. Turning to the side, he saw what Antony was investigating_"How pathetic you appear now. The fool, Archie."_ Maxie cackled, standing at the edge of the outcropping. The body of the strange pirate looking man bore the unmistakeable bloody point of a gunshot wound between his eyes and up slightly; in the center of his forehead. _"Just as I predicted."_ Maxie shouted over a growing rumbling sound. _"However even I, the great Maxie, have found myself wishing for something I cannot justify."_ Siam slowly placed the lizard onto the rock beside him, and held Lucilla's hand tight as he stared at the maniac pointing the gun at him. _"And the illogical desire that I harboured was to have you present here at this moment."_ At Siam's thought, the totem bird vanished from the chamber. _"Hahaha... And now that fool's wish has come true. Fantastic! Nothing could please me more!"_ Maxie stepped away from the edge somewhat as small drops of lava splashed upward onto the rock at each of the much louder rumbles. _"I suppose I should make introductions..."_

The sheer amount of light silhouetted Maxie as an enormous mass rose behind him. _"I present to you my incomparable partner, who will assist Team Magma in driving humanity forward to its next level!"_ The monster was huge; a Giant red-backed lizard with spikes protruding down it's sides. It's hands each had four claws and it's head was draped in an intimidating four horned crest that looked more like a helmet than part of the creature. It's roar shook the cavern_"Behold! Groudon!"_ Siam could see the thick sludge of lava flowing off the back of this beast, like rain off a rooftop.

_"This great form was slumbering in defiance of even the broiling lava surrounding it!"_ Maxie's arms stretched out as he gazed up at the pokemon. _"So long have I waited for this day..."_ It reached upward with one of it's massive arms and dug it's claws into the stone on one side of the hole leading upward. _"This foolish world has held back humanity's progress out of misguided idealism regarding the coexistence of humans and Pokemon."_ It raised it's other massive paw to crash into the other side of the hole, stones and debris tumbled from where it struck, down into the lava it was pulling itself out of. Siam could faintly see Steven and May on the spiral ramp, turn and head back upwards at the sight of this enormous shape making its way out of the lava. _"But this ancient creature can bring that to its rightful end, creating a new land upon which humanity may stride freely forward."_

Turning away from Groudon, Maxie pointed his gun back at Siam _"And now, you are the final obstacle remaining between me and my goals."_ Siam shrugged, slapping his thigh to signal Antony to return to his side. _"It behooves me to eliminate you as quickly as possible at this point"_ Groudon lifted its foot up onto the platform where they stood, one of its three claws barely missing Maxie as it stretched further upward, bashing into the stone walls and lethargically pulling itself up._"But I think it would be more interesting to play a little game first"_ Maxie grinned, waving his gun, obviously pleased at the progress he'd made thus far. _"So you can see I've fired one bullet at that pathetic sod."_ He gestured the gun toward the body of the man against the wall. _"But I may have reloaded since then but before you appeared"_ He popped open the chambers of the gun, from which he pulled out two bullets and tossed them into the lava behind him. _"So here, Now you know there is anywhere between zero, and four bullets in this gun."_ He grinned and levelled the pistol at Siam _"How many risks are you willing to take?"_


	41. Chapter 41: x-2

Turning away from Groudon, Maxie pointed his gun back at Siam _"And now, you are the final obstacle remaining between me and my goals."_ Siam shrugged, slapping his thigh to signal Antony to return to his side. _"It behooves me to eliminate you as quickly as possible at this point"_ Groudon lifted its foot up onto the platform where they stood, one of its three claws barely missing Maxie as it stretched further upward, bashing into the stone walls and lethargically pulling itself up._"But I think it would be more interesting to play a little game first"_ Maxie grinned, waving his gun, obviously pleased at the progress he'd made thus far. _"So you can see I've fired one bullet at that pathetic sod."_ He gestured the gun toward the body of the man against the wall. _"But I may have reloaded since then but before you appeared"_ He popped open the chambers of the gun, from which he pulled out two bullets and tossed them into the lava behind him. _"So here, Now you know there is anywhere between zero, and four bullets in this gun."_ He grinned and levelled the pistol at Siam _"How many risks are you willing to take?"_

Large droplets of lava crashed off the climbing creature onto the rocks around them. Lucilla retreated to behind him as the heat landed frighteningly close to her. Antony stood infront of Siam, barking loudly at the tall man standing opposite them. Maxie held the grip of the gun in his right hand, with the left hand under the grip, steadying his aim. Turning left, Siam took a couple steps; Maxie tracking him with the gun. The older man's eyebrow raised quizzically as he followed Siam moving side to side.

From the corner of his eye, Siam could see Steven and May arriving on the platform with them. He watched as Maxie became slightly nervous, shifting the gun from Siam to Steven, then May, then Siam again. Siam stopped, turning his full body to face the man and holding his hands at shoulder height at his sides. Gradually, Siam moved his left hand to over his eyes. When Maxie saw where Siam's hand was moving, he added the Crobat and Masquerain to his cycle; Siam, Steven, Vipsania, May, Stilicho, Siam.

Siam smiled, lowering his hands. Antony barked, prompting Maxie to point at him too; Siam, Antony, Steven, Vipsania, May, Stilicho, Siam. Siam began waving his finger with a sly grin on his face. Larger rocks began to rain from the roof as the beast; Groudon, ripped open the rift above to escape. With the tearing open of the roof, water began to pour in, filling the cavern with a thin mist. After a droplet of lava landed close enough to make Lucilla flinch, Siam took a step toward Maxie. The gun swung to pointing at Siam's face, another step and Maxie pulled the trigger. "tict" No shot.

Antony stood defensively in front of his friend, growling at the evil man in the red suit. From the corner of his eyes he saw his friend's right foot move to his right side. He barked twice at the evil man, as he felt the shadow of his friend shifting over his body. As soon as he saw the left foot of his friend land to his left side, Antony heard it. "Tict" He looked up to see his friends left hand pointing at the man. The left hand was his command, Antony leapt forward, bounding toward the man in red, watching as the shiny device extending from the man's hand moved so he could see the darkness inside it. Something swiped at his legs, sending him spinning sideways before a loud BANG, and darkness.

It was like slow motion. Siam stepped forward, ticking his finger at Maxie. Pointing to him in a dare to shoot. The man in red pulled the trigger "Tict" and Siam felt the presence between his feet move away. From the bottom of his eyes he saw Antony rushing forward. He pulled his focus away from Maxie as he saw him begin to move the gun. Siam could not reach the Linoone in time, instead swinging his foot in a sweeping kick at it's back legs. He hoped that he could spin Antony just enough to make Maxie miss, but as he kicked the legs out from under the furry body, he saw Maxie adjust swiftly and fire, BANG. Siam's jaw dropped and almost all air fell from his lungs in a tremendous; exhalous scream.

The force of the bullet slamming into Antony's head spun the Linoone only a little bit more as it collapsed to the ground and skid across the rock. Ignoring everything else, Siam ran over, sliding on his knees to Antony's side. The blood flowing across the head was the first, and perhaps only, thing Siam saw. He could see the little pokemon's glow growing faint as he cradled it in his arms. Siam could feel the coolness of water running down his cheeks as he held the body close. He rocked slightly back and forth as he tried to wipe the blood away. The world had gone blurry through the water in his clenching eyes, he couldn't breathe for the silent, sobbing scream. Without thinking he ripped open the bottom of his bag without taking it off. From everything that spilled out he grabbed a bottle of water in desperation, pouring the water over Antony's wound as he rocked back and forth. Siam didn't want to acknowledge it, but he could feel the glow melting away from Antony as he pulled him close. Pressing the head of the little creature against his cheek as he gripped it tight. The water, blood and fur rubbing against his cheek gave Siam the phantom sensation of a rough little tongue licking at him, causing him to cry harder. He couldn't hear the world any more as the shock hit him.

As if down a long tunnel, Siam could hear Steven and May calling to him, he could see Lucilla kneeling where he had been standing. He began to shake with fury, tears still clouding his vision. He gently lowered Antony to the ground, the moment the body was still on the rock, with no glow to be seen, Siam was on his feet and rushing Maxie. The man in red had no time to react, as he pulled the gun upward, Siam had already snatched it from his hand and slammed it into his mouth. The bandaged man shook with rage, tears streaming down his face and a look that could only be described as anguish painted across him. Siam pulled the trigger;

_"Tict"_, No shot.  
_"Tict"_, No shot.

_"Tict"_, No shot.

_"Tict"_, No shot.

_"Tict"_, No shot.

_"Tict"_,  
No shot.

_"Tict"_  
No  
shot.

Siam pulled the gun back out of the man's mouth. Grabbing the barrel he swung it down with tremendous force to strike the roof of Maxie's skull. The tall man flinched and staggered under the blow. Siam raised the revolver again, bringing it down over and over with renewed and vicious vigor. He could faintly hear the people behind him yelling for him to stop. Large iron arms wrapped around his waist, but the creature could not move him. Nothing would stop him from smashing this man's head apart with his own gun. Maxie had dropped to a crumpled heap on the floor as Siam followed onto his knees, using the force of his fall to help bring the weapon down, now smashing against a raised arm. The sound of wheezing and the sensation of blood against his skin drove him to smash harder and harder. A collection of large, soft leaves, wrapped around his arm. Siam looked up at Lucilla, finally choking enough on his own tears to let out a bone chilling; heartbroken scream.


	42. Chapter 42: Deja You

Siam Stat Tracker

Type: Fighting/Ice

Nature: Adamant

Level: 52

Characteristic: Strong Willed

Ability: Water Absorb

HP 199, Atk 198, Def 97, 76, 101, Spd 91 ==+== | ==+==

Siam pulled the gun back out of the man's mouth. Grabbing the barrel he swung it down with tremendous force to strike the roof of Maxie's skull. The tall man flinched and staggered under the blow. Siam raised the revolver again, bringing it down over and over with renewed and vicious vigour. He could faintly hear the people behind him yelling for him to stop. Large iron arms wrapped around his waist, but the creature could not move him. Nothing would stop him from smashing this man's head apart with his own gun. Maxie had dropped to a crumpled heap on the floor as Siam followed onto his knees, using the force of his fall to help bring the weapon down, now smashing against a raised arm. The sound of wheezing and the sensation of blood against his skin drove him to smash harder and harder. A collection of large, soft leaves, wrapped around his arm. Siam looked up at Lucilla, finally choking enough on his own tears to let out a bone chilling; heartbroken scream.

Though he was heavy, Lucilla did not struggle to pull Siam to his feet in front of her. Gently she pried the revolver from his hand and tossed it away, into the pit of light. Standing almost as tall as Siam, the Shiftry wrapped her arms around him nuzzling her forehead, with her nose pointed down, into his chest. Siam bit his lip, gently placing his head on top of Lucilla's head. At some point he could vaguely remember, a warm body had sidled up beside him and lay down alongside his leg, while something sturdy and rough stood at his back. Looking down to his side Siam had seen that damned Zigzagoon. **_"Leave me alone"_** he'd thought, trying to scream at it; every bellow, every yell and scream from his memory was echoed in sobs. His fists clenched and tears streamed down his cheeks as he tried, wrapped his arms around the kind Shiftry. The more he tried to yell, the harder it became to hold the tears, he was broken, and a from where he stood there was a good chance that he could never be fixed. His hands clutched at her mane gently, trying in vain to hold himself together. A small wooden face rubbed against his chest as he couldn't see it, he wanted to swipe at it, to make it leave him alone, but it just wanted to make him feel ok. He couldn't blame her for wanting to comfort him. After all, she'd need comfort too.

A hand gently fell to rest on Siam's shoulder, looking up he saw May standing beside him. She didn't say a word but moved her hand to the middle of his back; slowly sliding it down from his shoulder. With only a little pressure, she pushed at his sweat drenched shirt. Lucilla's hands released from around his back and she moved to stand on his right, with her left hand beside May's on his back. Together the two girls gently turned him away from the huddled and coughing form of Maxie, and guided him away from the edge of the rock. The last time he'd allowed himself to be pushed away the Gyarados was staring at Antony, and Antony at it, by the waterside of Dewford. As they drew near the unmoving; pallor body of a Linoone, Siam dropped once more to his knees. He could almost see the little creature happily tumbling about in grass, as it had in the weeks leading up to this moment, barking and sneezing as the grass slipped up it's nose. Steven was nearby, collecting all of the things that had spilled from Siam's bag and arranging them silently into a cloth sack. May knelt down beside Siam and laid out a couple pokeballs on the stone beside him _"I know you don't want to"_ She whispered. _"But if you used these, you can make sure the others are always safe"_ Siam watched the little white pokeballs roll around on the ground between him and the still form.

_"Keep-"_ Siam whispered, but she shook her head and stepped away from him. In the flickering light from the lava nearby, Siam thought he saw a leg twitch. But he knew it didn't, somewhat like the time he didn't see the legs twitch, but knew they were. His fist was pierced on a knife, and there was virtually no room to move in the alley, Siam was only slightly able to lift his other hand and click his fingers _"Tict"_ as he unfurled one finger of his stabbed fist to point at the man in front of him. Antony had simply looked at him bewildered, _"Tict"_ the Linoone wasn't certain what Siam wanted, but leapt from his shoulders to the man. As Antony had slid down inside the man's shirt, he pushed the man and woman apart enough for her to collapse to the ground out of harms way. Siam could not see what was happening exactly inside the shirt, but from the movements of the lump and the man's terrified and painful screams, he assumed that the little clawed paws were eagerly paddling away at the man's chest. Now he watched, as a glowing Antony sat on the rock beside him, sniffing curiously at the shape in front of them. Siam's eyes were closed but he could still see him, edging closer and sniffing at the body. Slowly he lifted his hand to the side of his head, scrunching his eyes to try and not see. But he could see; he could see Antony sitting in front of him looking up at him, his head cocked to the side. The Linoone barked, the echo of it's silent calling cutting at both Siam's head and heart. Slowly he opened his eyes to see the little on sitting there, gently he ran his hand across it's head, watching it's eyes close and it's head roll with his movement. Wiping away his tears, he swallowed; picked up the limp form and began to walk away up the spiral ramp.

With one final, tremendous lurch, Groudon ripped itself out of the hole and up; onto the surface. Water began to rush in on the sides, turning to steam the moment it hit the lava. Through the ever thickening fog of steam, Siam could hear the screams of burning pain from Steven and May. **_"Get them to the boat"_** he thought, as if aloud, receiving back a swift**_"With haste, young master Taillon."_** Siam could feel Vipsania and Stilicho fluttering out, while Lucilla trudged along beside him. The chunks Groudon had ripped from the ramp were not so large as to be impassable, but it still took quite several minutes for Siam and Lucilla to reach the surface.

Name: Antony

Species: Linoone

Type: Normal

Nature: Brave

Level Lost: 48

Met: Route 101

Lost: Seafloor Cavern ++=++ | ++=++


	43. Chapter 43: What you have done

Siam reached the surface of the sandy islet that marked the hole in the sea. Immediately he was assaulted by the intense wave of heat, the sand beneath his feet burnt at him, cutting like glass into his feet. When he looked down at the ground he walked on, Siam could see his shadow split in two. To the east he watched as the sun rose above the water. But to the North he could see a great cloud of fire hanging low over a large volcanic island nearby. The heat from the cloud baked at his skin, Lucilla tugged at his arm, drawing his attention back to the islet. Steven and May stood nearby, shielding their eyes as they looked up at the cloud of fire. Maxie was being pulled up to his feet by Tabitha and Courtney, who's trail of burnt shoe prints through the sand led back to a beached submarine. Siam could see everyone's skins burning in the intense; merciless heat. Sheltering the body in his arms he ran to his boat, he kicked the railing on the side of the deck, grabbing each person's attention. As he climbed below deck, he could hear everyone rushing across the sand. The voice of Tabitha rang through the air _"Ohh... What have you done... Boss... What..."_

"The sun has turned mercilessly fierce in its heat."/em Maxie whispered as he was helped slowly into the room beneath the deck by Tabitha and Courtney, Steven and May followed soon after, with the suited man shutting the door behind them. _"The heat is greater than simulations predicted. It will be a risk to our own safety if it continues!"_ At Maxie saying this, Siam presented his sunburnt arms and pointed to everyone else's as well. _"It has only just awoken... Where is it getting so much power from?"_ Something was different about this heat. The doors were closed, and outside he knew it was waiting for them. Siam could feel it, like a presence outside the boat, all around them; in the air itself. The heat wanted in, it wanted them. _"And how much more will it gain when it does undergo Primal Reversion..."_ The presence outside wanted them, Siam could feel it pressing on the boat, trying to melt through the barriers between them. Digging down he fought the presence, but the more he harder he resisted, the more it seemed drawn to him.

"Maxie, It looks like we underestimated the power of the super-ancient Pokemon..."/em Courtney was gently wrapping the tall man's arm in a bandage, looking very concerned every time he winced in pain. _"The power of Primal Reversion..."_ The room was growing hotter. But Siam resisted, placing Antony's body down on the bed, he slammed the palms of his hands onto the wall of the boat. _"Primal Groudon brings about an 'end,' for sure. But we can't choose what end."_ Siam was silently screaming at the wall as he pushed it, pressing himself into it's hard, hot surface while he began slow deliberate breaths. _"It's gonna drive every living thing on this planet to its death!"_ Maxie winced, shivering slightly as he struggled to keep his eyes open.

_"This... This is not..."_ The tall man said, the vapour of his breath swinging close to the young woman's face. Steven looked confused as he wiped the small droplets of ice from his singed forehead. _"... I... I wanted... I wanted to make..."_Maxie coughed, shivering as Courtney pulled the small icicles off of him. With her hands around her chest, May turned to look at Siam; whose head was pressed against the steel hull of the boat. The Shiftry moved to sit on the side of the bed, while Vipsania and Stilicho tried to comfort her. _"It was supposed to be a world where the human race would attain new heights..."_ The little light blue lizard could be seen standing on one of Siam's feet, it's hands and forehead pressed against the hull like Siam. _"The next stage... of our development..."_ The steel surrounding them began to creak lightly,_"It was all... for humanity's future..."_

_Siam could feel the presence outside reaching through the steel, reaching into him. With every thought he had he turned the tendril that reached in back, pressing it against the steel and forcing it to help him fight. The more the eternal mass outside struggled to reach in, the harder Siam's defences became. "So this... is the power of the super-ancient Pokemon..." Courtney whispered as Maxie seemed to shudder to sleep. "This is how Groudon brings everything to an end..."_ She shivered, rubbing her chest while a small mist formed whenever she breathed. _"All of us, people and Pokemon... Every living thing on this planet... Everything's gonna die..."_ She pushed a blanket over the unconscious man, trying to keep him warm. May and Steven watched as small leaks in the walls around them turned to ice, sealing themselves. _"We need to rush to Sootopolis"_ Courtney said, looking at Siam, who stood silently at the wall; head and hands pressed against the cold steel. _"There's a pool of energy there that folks say is needful for Primal Reversion"_ She watched as Tabitha nodded, looking from her to their host. _"There's no doubt in my mind that Groudon will be racing to that cave, thirsting for that power... We got no choice but to go ourselves. We gotta do whatever we can to fight back!"_Tabitha reached up and opened the hatch to the deck; a small cloud began to shape in the boundary of the hatch. _"We're responsible for this mess. This ridiculous, impossible mess."_ Courtney lifted Maxie to standing, waking him in a spinning daze. With Tabitha's help they moved him to the ladder-esc stairs leading upward. _"It only makes sense for us all to step up and clean up after ourselves. Agreed?"_ Tabitha and Maxie nodded.

Tearing himself away from the hull, Siam moved into the insane heat above deck, Glaring at Steven and May each time they attempted to follow him. The monumental heat was purely that of the presence embracing the boat and everything else around. With enough concentration he was able to cool the presence around him, enough that his mind and muscles did not hurt as he moved about, setting sail. Moving the boat away from the tiny islet and pointing it to the immense; roiling, burning cloud, Siam noticed Tabitha standing on top of the submarine floating beside them. He could feel a small glow in the large man, greater than that of the men at Mt. Pyre, but no-where near any pokemon he'd ever seen. _"You, You've been fighting us every step of the way. I can understand why, and I want to apologise for what we have done."_The big man called up, Siam paid little attention as he had to make sure the boat was safe in the cloud-ish presence around them. _"I've seen the data they took from you at Mt. Pyre, I understand you now"_ The hatch on the submarine opened, Tabitha's skin was burning in the heat as he climbed in. _"Groudon races to Sootopolis; to the Cave of Origin. I don't know what will happen if you enter"_


	44. Chapter 44: The Great Gate

Sailing into the tunnel on the side of a massive white cliff was a cool relief. The tunnel was lit by the water's reflection of light from both entrances. Several path's branched outward within the tunnel, coiling around inside the cliff and leading to places Siam could not see. The ripples the light carried from the waves and onto the walls of the tunnel gave a sense of moving through an aquarium tunnel; with shifting water beyond the surface stretching on forever. A community of water pokemon and small wooden rafts ferried frightened people and what at first one might think were strangely shaped stones or burnt chunks of wood, until their pained movement showed them for what they were. All kinds of people twitched painfully as Siam's boat sailed past them, in some cases it was nearly impossible to tell a person's clothes from their skin. He shook the pained cries of the children from his mind as the boat drifted out of the tunnel, under the stone brick archway and into the immense caldera. Shiny, salt white rocks spread up in sharp rings from the lake in the center. The rings were dotted with hundreds of clean; polished stone houses, potentially chiselled from the very stone on which they sat. The more Siam looked, the more imperfections and blemishes began to show themselves on the near perfectly smooth white stone surfaces. Baked blood was smeared across the walls and doors, and blackening stone-like hands and heads lay slumped across the railings were the only marks on the otherwise beautifully pristine stone city. People stumbled as they tried to run down the stairs that led from each ring down to the next. Many covered their eyes, the water in them drying up from as little as the reflection on the lake. An older woman tripped on the stone stairs she was trying to hurry down beyond her capability, Siam watched as she tumbled brutally down and slammed into the small stone wall that marked a railing at the turn of the stairs. A light puff of red burst across the top of the railing as her cheek came to rest on the searing hot stone. In the middle of the lake sat a flattened stone island upon which sat a large; official looking white stone building with a simple, three symbol word Siam could not discern painted and embossed in shiny, metallic gold across the front. Behind the island, resting against the other side of the caldera was a second stone archway. The roof of the arch lined up with the floor of the ring above, such that it could; and even at this moment did, serve as a walkway from one side of the ring to the other. Water lapped in and out of the small cave the archway extended from, the build up of green and red algae within the cave showed how far the water level had dropped. It would be possible to stand on a small submerged platform within the cave now; but when the water had been at it's peak, every wave that smashed in would rip anyone standing there out. At the back of the cave could be seen a grand and ancient stone door, decorated long ago with archaic designs in red and gold. At the center of the enormous door was a glyph which though Siam could not read it; he recognised it as the one emblazoned on the cape he wore.

Turning to look back at the exit, Siam noticed a woman standing atop the entrance arch. She wore a white uniform with a red stripe down the center, at this distance it was unclear if it was part of the design or an unfortunate encounter in the city. Her white clothes were covered by a small red vest, a small yellow handkerchief could be seen covering her mouth and red goggles shielded her eyes. Under her hat Siam could see long dark brown hair that she'd likely never had cut. It took him a moment but Siam soon recognised Blaize; a pokemon ranger about his age he'd met on a holiday to the Almia region years before. She was being hosed with water by some pokemon hiding below the water, though she did not fall back. The water crashing into her seemed to shield her in some near-impossible way from the intense heat. The woman yelled instructions to the people rushing down the stairs; pulling up a small device which she pointed at various pokemon that had begun to get frazzled and anxious in the heat, calming them down once again. She barked orders at a Mightyena that Siam had only just noticed dashing across the glittering white paths. The large black wolf moved about at the top ring of the city, smashing into buildings to pull the frightened people out who likely could not bring themselves to run into the blistering heat. With the people cowering under the wolf's mighty form, the animal would howl; bringing to it a great winged lizard with a fire coated tail. The creature would swoop in and snatch the people off the searing stone; ripping the skin that had baked onto the salty white rock clean off them. The people screamed in agony as the creature flew above the water and from a much lower altitude; dropped them into the caldera. An Altaria was always there to help slow their fall before they slammed into the water, and to help them swim, painfully, to a raft or helpful ferrying pokemon. Siam turned away once it appeared the Mightyena had cleared every building on the topmost tier. While it began searching the next level down, the great lizard began tenderly picking up the most charred and injured of people from the stairs.

The boat drifted slowly across the water, very little wind deigned to help them, and Vipsania and Stilicho hid in the cool safety of below the deck. The presence was still all around them, reaching into Siam as he stood at the helm; but every bit of it that reached into him; Siam turned back around. He pushed what he could of the presence against itself, keeping himself and the room below deck cool. Yet despite his warnings not to, Steven climbed up on deck with him, keeping to the unhelpful shade of the sail. _"... What terrible heat..."_ He said, wiping the sweat from his brow. _"It feels as though the entire world will be burnt away..."_ The dream had begun to seep back into Siam's mind, clear as the sunlit day. Looking around at the horrifying sight, Steven suddenly noticed the small cave opposite the entrance _"There! The cave of Origin! It's sealed by an ancient force"_ Even while they watched, the water level had begun to drop. _"This drought is being caused by a power emanating from the Cave of Origin."_ A great, thundering crack was followed by a bone-chilling tearing sound from above. Looking upward, Siam could see the fiery cloud above rip in it's core and begin to roll upwards into its own rift, creating a terrifyingly huge ring of almost solid fire. _"Soon all of Hoenn will be caught under the withering glare of that bizarre cloud..."_ Large stones began hurling out of the rift at all angles. Seeking refuge from the explosions of white and grey rocks from the layers of the city, and the sudden waves from rocks crashing into the water, Siam pulled the boat gradually into the shade of the second arch, leaving him staring at the ancient stone door.

Only seconds after Siam's boat had dropped anchor in the small sheltered area, a very distinct thump could be heard from the water beside him. Gradually rising from the high sheen water was a small submarine that Siam instantly recognised. It opened, and Tabitha climbed out, reaching back in to pull Maxie up after him. Courtney was last up, and immediately rushed to the tall man's side as he slid off the front of the submarine and onto the submerged platform. As May surfaced, carrying the small sack that contained Siam's belongings, the sheltered cave seemed to become distinctly cooler. Lucilla, Vipsania, Stilicho, the lizard and the totem bird followed her out, in that order. She handed the small bag to Siam before noticing the Submarine and it's three mariners. May rushed to the edge of the ship and began yelling obscenities at the people below her, screaming that all this was their fault and that they had to go in to the source and fix it. Courtney screamed back, yelling that they were only doing what they thought was right, and that Maxie was too injured to go anywhere. Siam shook his head, tuning out the two bickering women as he jumped off the side of the boat and down to the platform. The water came up to his stomach as he moved closer to the giant stone door. Something about it, about the soothing presence around them, drew him to it. Close enough to touch the door, Siam noticed a small blue glow in his bag, from the corner of his eye. Holding the bag in front of him, he watched as the heavy stone shifted back away from him, pulling the door open. A small wave of water rushed out, shaking each person on the platform and rocking the boats. Siam could see the tunnel stretch forward, deep into the water.

Tabitha slammed his hand down on the submarine to steady himself, before turning to look at the now open gate. _"It appears the Cave has chosen for us..."_ everyone else went silent, only the big man and Lucilla began to wade through the water to Siam. From a bag he'd been wearing, Tabitha produced a odd lump mass of fabric, inside which he could see what appeared to be bags similar to those that would be wrapped around an arm to check a person's blood pressure._"Here... Take this... I had actually been preparing it in anticipation of making contact with Groudon..."_ The object was thrust into Siam's arms, as clearly as he could feel the location of each pokemon around him and the soothing presence around him, Siam could feel Tabitha. _"But at this point, it doesn't look like there's any hope of that for us... There's nothing we can do except leave it to you."_ The small cave-esc inlet shook with the impact of a stone into the rock above them. Siam flinched for a moment, and in the instant he looked out at the greater city, he watched a faint flying pokemon fluttering up to try and escape over the walls of the city. Siam winced as he imagined the poor things scream as it burst into flames. Tabitha however drew his attention back _"It's an Acupressure suit. It keeps your meridians open so your Ki flows freely; even external Ki"_ Siam looked down at the outfit. Acupressure is something he would do as part of his morning routines; part of his training. _"But it is very possible that the cave's energy could be far greater than our calculations show."_ Siam nodded as he began to wriggle into the strange outfit, he could feel it pressing on his muscles in all the right places, like a walking massage.

The sound of shifting water could be heard from within the great gate. Siam could almost see the woman walking in the water toward them without opening his eyes. But he had to turn, he had to witness this beautiful creature that seemed wholly light to him. She stood as tall as he did, her lightly shaded skin looked silky smooth. She wore a dark blue hooded vest whose back extended in so far it would be to her ankles, if it did not drift on the gently waves behind her. The vest's sleeves stretched the length of her arms, flapping in the water as she trailed her hands beside her as she walked. A strange golden symbol was embossed on the end of each sleeve, one of the symbols Siam could see on the door behind her. As she drew closer he could see the only clothing she wore beneath the water were elegant blue panties, and nothing but the vest covered her breasts. Her short hair could be seen under the hood, red at the roots blending to blonde at the tips. The strange woman stopped in front of him, illuminated mostly by the light of the blue orb in his bag. She leant in, her mouth by his ear as her hands rested on his hips _"I will walk with you"_ she whispered, her voice flowing easily into his mind. _"For the light above is only a shard of what feeds his and my greatest powers"_ Siam's eyes closed as he listened to her sweet flowing voice, ignoring the screams and crashes of the world outside. _"Only with this that has been now given to you"_ Her hands slid up his chest, making Siam painfully aware of the Acupressure suit between them. _"Will you be able to stand against him"_ He could almost feel her tongue sliding across his cheek as she spoke. _"You can shield your pokemon, but only at the great cavern. Until then I can offer no reprise for them"_ She leant back and took a step away from him, her cape pressing up against her body as she moved back onto it. _"You must go. It must be you that faces him"_ She seemed to melt into and become the very water where she stood.

Cannot protect them on the journey, that's what she'd said. If Siam was to be accompanied, only pokemon who were safe from the world could come with him. As reluctant as he was, Siam slapped the water beside him hard several times. Lucilla was already by his side, Vipsania and Stilicho flew nearby quickly. The small lizard standing on the bow of the boat became visible, with the totem-bird beside it. Slowly, nervously, Siam removed the five white pokeballs May had given him from the bag, placing them to float on the surface of the water. He looked from each pokemon to each other, then bowed his head with his eyes closed. Through his shut eyes he could see two bright flashes of red light, and heard two distinct 'ding' sounds. He felt wet leaves grasp his left hand and slowly lift it in front of him, a light sphere was gently placed in his outstretched hand and a bright flash of red light illuminated his eyelids once again, followed by a distinct 'ding' sound. A couple seconds passed before Siam opened his eyes again, two of the white pokeballs were attached to his hip, and the third was in his hand. Up on the boat, the small lizard had turned a light shade of pink and had backed away from the edge. Only the totem-bird was openly visible _"I will accompany you, young Master Taillon. But I will not be contained"_, if any of the pokemon could protect themselves on the journey, Siam was sure that was it. He nodded slowly and clasp the third pokeball to his belt, before returning the two free floating ones to his bag. Walking into the large stone passage, Siam could feel the path descend directly beneath him. With a silent nod to the bird swimming beside him, he turned himself upside down, and launched himself downward. Into the dark, lifeless waters.


	45. Chapter 45: Darkwater

As he swam deeper and deeper into the darkness, the tunnel began to angle upward. The tunnel sloped, angling more down than across, and too much across to be considered purely down. As he swam in the darkness it became harder and harder to tell which way was up any more. The world spun around him; both an endless void and a clamped passageway. So narrow did the path become that Siam's hands pulled him along the walls rather than paddling. The air that he let seep from his mouth and nose could not be seen in the darkness and simply drifted away into the endless abyss. Soon all air had left him, and Siam found himself pressed against a rock wall of the tunnel, bucking and struggling against the mixture of panic, fear and contentment as the water rushed down his throat and up his nose. His body fought against the liquid rushing into him, filling his lungs and airways until there was a true and perfect equilibrium. For a moment of peace he simply drifted there, as alone as he could let himself be in the dark caress of the cool water around him. Gradually he opened his eyes, he was not finished yet. Grabbing the rock walls around him he began to pull himself further and further into the deep; into the darkness of heaven.

All at once, or perhaps long ago, the rock was gone. There was nothing to tell him where he was, when he was, or really who, he was. He was simply adrift in a vast darkness that spread in all directions, an inky black both familiar and unique. His eyes slowly closed, yet the world remained unchanged. A perfect; transcendent void. Slowly, as he reached out in his mind to feel his surroundings, he found it wasn't as endless as he thought. He was adrift in an enormous underwater chasm. Above him, outside the rocky rift, was the ocean; dark waters where he had been once before. He'd dove down here already, to rip the lizard from a Tentacruel. Siam knew where he was, but not where to go.

In the darkness was only one point of light, a beautiful woman in a hooded vest with a long flowing cape. She swam serpentine toward him, her face illuminated by the glow of the blue orb in the bag he carried. She nodded to him and began to slowly swim down and away from him. Curious where she was going, Siam swam quickly after her, moving down to her side as she plunged further and further below. _"He seeks every drop of life the cave can give."_ Her voice was beautiful and carried easily through the water, slowly Siam became aware of something akin to the strange glow spilling from the rock wall below them. _"You must challenge his claim, none must have it all"_ she drifted across above him to swim on his other side, the strange sensation spilling from the wall drew nearer. _"He can not die, but we must not live"_She whispered across the water to him as they finally reached a huge tunnel entrance in the wall. Scratchings along the sides of the wall of the tunnel were large enough to be the claws of Groudon, from this place spilled this strange sensation. It felt like Siam was not only adrift in the sea, but embraced by the glow of every creature he'd ever seen, and at the same time; he could feel the mega stones. The strange place felt like mega stones. Only a short distance in and the large tunnel angled up, breaching into a massive cavern.

Throwing himself out of the water and into the cavern, Siam was immediately assaulted by an unbelievably intense and unrelenting heat. After hurtling the water from his lungs onto the floor of the cavern, Siam with the totem-bird by his side, took in the wonder before them. The cave was as large as the city they had come from, perhaps more so, stretching an incredible length away. They stood on the only unmoving piece of rock, for filling the cave was a sea of Lava, a gigantic pool of molten rock, upon which floated tectonic islands. Large chunks of rock drifted through the sea of red and yellow light, gently bumping off everything else. Bursting from every hard surface were massive gemstone spikes, many as big or bigger than most houses he'd seen. They shone with a brilliance that was beautiful and terrifying, a strange magnificence and eternal power that he'd seen and felt before. A mist filled the cavern, reflecting back at him a colour he could never describe; a colour that should not exist. He could almost feel hands in the mist, reaching out and caressing him as it drifted past him. In the center of the hall was a great centrepiece; a gigantic stalactite of stone with crystal spears growing from it in rings that started out horizontal and slowly grew more and more to a point; until the ones at the very bottom of it touched tips at their full extent. It gave Siam the impression of a beautiful but deadly crystal chandelier.

Below the great crystal chandelier, half submerged in the lava sea. Stood the towering form of the great Groudon, it's arms outstretched toward the crystals, reaching upward. The mist about the great beast began to spin, faster and faster it moved around it until the terrible two legged lizard was drawing into it's mouth a hurricane of light that spilled from the giant crystals. Siam could feel the mist around him and within him, placing his hands out before him he clasped them together, gripping his fingers between each other as tightly as he could. He gently sank on his knees and bowed his head; reaching out with his mind to the cloud around him, grabbing everything he could and pulling it toward him, through him. The beast in the lava stretched upward, it's great maws snapping under some un-seeable force. It's hands began to rip apart between each finger; tendons and small bones stretching to their limits to hold the massive claws together in something resembling a maw. It's body reached upward, breaking open at points to reveal it's inner muscles and organs. Siam could feel himself become heavier, the wet suit he wore fusing to his skin, while his muscles seemed to collapse in on themselves as they doubled or tripled in size.

The great beasts massive iron claws crashed into the rocks of the chandelier above it, ripping open holes in it's mighty form from which spilled a thick molten liquid not to dissimilar from the Lava beneath the creature. The liquid flowed down into it's mouth and across it's back, hardening it's tremendous back muscles into shining chitinous plates. It flowed into and through the massive holes in the creature's back and hands, dribbling into it's veins and across it's skin. Each finger was connected to it's neighbour by molten flesh that ebbed and flowed across the surface and potentially through the creature within. With a scream of pain Siam felt his muscles rip from his bones, floating on new muscles forming beneath them. His scream was masked by the hall shaking roar the creature emitted as immense spikes burst from parts of it's body where none had been before. Around each wound the spikes made as they burst free, molten flesh coiled and flowed. Liquid bone dripped from the roof of the creatures mouth, hardening as it flowed over layer after layer; creating teeth longer than the tallest man. The creatures eyes were coated in this lava-like molten flesh that flowed across them; a ring of light moving within the flow as if the iris of the eyes themselves. Where it's flesh was hard it was like stone, solid and impermeable, with huge rifts and gashes through which magmatic molten flesh flowed. Siam could feel his bones turn to muscle, giving every point of his body three layers of muscle; if his body was even there. He could feel the mist drifting through him as if he wasn't there, but he could see himself, he could see the beast in the lake.

The great beast towered in the Lava sea, the molten rock lapping uselessly at it's mighty knees as it glared at Siam. As he watched it, Siam could see the glow of hundreds of these creatures all layered onto themselves; each moving differently but still welded to the solid form.


	46. Chapter 46: The Great Beast part 1

Breathe in, thick molten stone lapped at the ground in front of him.  
Breathe out, life keeping water rippled silently in the tunnel behind him.  
Breathe in, The great beast towered in the center of the hall, roaring from it's many ghostly maws.  
Breathe out, the gentle mist that filled the cavern swam lazily through him, as if he was a part of it.  
Without looking to them, Siam's hand tapped each of the pokeballs fastened to the belt at his side in turn. Three rapid unnatural mechanical flashes of light signalled the creation of his friends. Siam stood at the edge of the magma tide, the Shiftry standing proudly to his right, the Crobat and Masquerain drifting easily above him. Without looking around, Siam raised his right hand with two fingers dangling down, before pointing at a place far behind him; far from the deadly tide. Lucilla shifted to above the safety of the water-logged tunnel, standing upon a stone far from where the fire could reach her. Stilicho swooped along above the lava's surface, her wings extended and simply cruising on the hot air that emanated from the sea of fire.

The titanic lizardous creature that stood beneath the crystal chandelier snarled at Siam before it lifted it's arms to grab the crystals above it, heaving itself upward. The malicious; wickedly curved talons on it's rear feet swung upward, smashing themselves into the roof of the great hall. With a roar that could warp metal it threw itself down; slamming into the great molten sea. Every stone that could be seen shook with the impact, a wave of Lava swept out from where it landed, lifting and throwing the largest rock islands with ease. Though the giant wave of fire did not reach every part of the cavern, the shock wave still rocked everything. Giant Crystalline stalactites above them rocked from side to side, snapping their bonds to the rock around them. A large portion of the entrance island snapped off, drifting calmly off on the fiery death. Struggling to hold his balance, Siam looked across at Lucilla. Breathe in, the Shiftry sat crumpled at the base of a crystal Stalagmite. Breathe out, As Siam knelt down beside her she nodded, standing tall and proud before him.

The bird, Olymiodorus, stood beside them _"My task in this battle, young Master Taillon?"_ Siam turned to stare into the eyes of the bird. It's wings sat in front of it, as if it held its own hands waiting. **_"Move me where I need to go"_** It nodded at his thought, but Siam wasn't finished; keeping his mind blank until he turned back to Lucilla. **_"She cannot be harmed"_** He couldn't bare to lose her, Olymiodorus nodded solemnly _"It will be done"_ Lucilla stared into Siam's eyes, her beautiful golden eyes pleading with him. She stood tall, pressing a hand against her chest to show she was ready. Siam nodded, smiling, before turning back to face the great beast; which waded slowly toward them.

Breathe in.  
Breathe out.  
Breathe in, all that surrounded him.  
Breathe out, heat and fear.  
Breathe in, the cooling mist.  
Breathe out. Shards and balls of ice began to materialise in the mist around them.  
Breathe in, more.  
Breathe out, more.  
Breathe in as the hail begins to fall, crashing down from the very air into the molten sea, evaporating as it sinks below the surface; only to re-emerge in the air once again. Light twinkled in the darkening; hail filled cavern. A gentle glow from the floor as light shone through the ice like stars. Groudon smashed easily through the iced rain, paying no heed to the cold as it shattered against the creatures mighty chitinous plates and magmatic veins. A brilliant flash of light shone all around Siam as the great beast spewed forth a pillar of fire.

The great blast of heat ripped through the cascading ice between Siam and the legendary creature. He could see the toothy maw, ready to tear his muscles apart. The eyes were flooded with molten flesh, yet strange iris's glowed through the rolling liquid. Siam held his fists in the air above his head, opening them to flat palms. Quickly he swept his hands each close to his eyes, he did not touch them but moved so close he may as well have. His left hand continued backward past his head as his right hand circled back in front of him. As Siam swung his body, throwing his left hand in a spinning strike forward, he blinked just a second. Feeling a solid steel plate form beneath his hand, Siam opened his eyes. He was staring at the point between the eyes of this great monster, Vipsania was swooping quickly down on his left, Stilicho just as fast on his right. Their wings clipped close to the molten flesh over it's eyes, Siam watched as the wind off their wings sliced into the flesh, parting it. With his hand dug into holding the edge of the chitin over the creature's head, Siam continued his momentum; spinning his body and raising his leg. In a blink he was aloft; in the air in front of the creature's right eye, his right heel slamming hard and fast into the freshly sliced gap. The creature roared with pain as Siam felt the heel of his foot bust through some tender flesh and into the creature's eye.

In a blink, Siam landed on a floating rocky island near the creature's feat. His sudden weight tipped the rock, sending molten rock spilling up the side and directly toward him. Reflexively Siam stepped to the other side, tilting the rock opposite and flowing the lava quickly under him as he hopped back to the center. With a smile he swung his right arm up and backward. As it followed through, swinging forward and down, Siam caught a chunk of ice. Swinging the ice up he fused it with each piece it slammed into until a large icicle balanced in his hand, which he tossed skyward. He swung his left hand, repeating the motion as Groudon reached down with it's massive left hand; the right hand covering it's wounded eye. One final time Siam swung his right arm back, snatching as much ice into his icicle as he could, launching it skyward as he felt the rock beneath him rise. Groudon's hand on one end pressed the platform down, raising the end Siam stood on. Taking not even a second to admire the many spectral hands laying across the stone with the giant flesh hand, Siam kicked himself up and backward. In a blink he was in the free air, tumbling backwards; bringing his knees to his chest as he spun. One more blink and he was rising past the scalp of the great beast, the third icicle flying up in front of him. Throwing his legs out, he slammed his heels into one end of the ice-spear, sending it slamming hard into the chitin of the great beast. As he began to fall, before he blinked once again, Siam saw the Crobat and Masquerain, each holding an icicle; slam their weapons into the chitin of the great creature.

With the thought to return to the island he'd leapt off of, Siam found himself rising once more into the air. Groudon's mighty claws held the island as it picked it up. Siam watched as he was elevated higher and higher, until he was face to face with the beast. Air rushed past him when the giant lizard drew a long, deep breath. Siam lowered himself on bent knees as he watched, carefully observing the inner design of the creature's mouth. His study was cut short as light began to swim up it's throat, dawning like a painting of the sun through a cave. Siam dove to the side, grabbing the claw nearest him and swinging down to stand on another that held the stone, avoiding the magma dripping around near him. An intense wave of heat and a blinding flash of light shook him, glancing upward Siam could see fire and molten stone erupting from the creature's mouth. When it finished, the creature dropped the island. Siam watched for a moment as the large stone fell into the red and golden sea, making a large but viscous splash and sending small waves rippling away from it.

The palm of the hand Siam stood on turned up, looking up at the creature, Siam could see it glaring down at him, the corner of it's massive mouth curled in a snarl. Suddenly, the creature's other paw slammed into him, Siam was lucky enough to slide into a crevice between the two massive palms that had tried to squish him. Each time he thought of another point; another island nearby, he'd blink and find himself still between the hands. Groudon began to twist it's hands together, crushing and rolling Siam around between them. When it finally pried it's own claws apart, Siam was still breathing, Still able to move. Before it could slam the hands back together, Siam swung himself using a nearby talon onto the back of the hand. Seeing a point on the hand where the chitin extended into a circle, surrounded by molten flesh, Siam crawled forward. The hand turned over as he moved, shifting his sense of balance suddenly, but Siam dug his feet into the thick liquid flesh slightly, holding himself against the creature. Reaching the chitin, he plunged his hands along the edge of it, reaching down into the thick liquid. Feeling the bottom; where the chitin met the muscle's of the hand, Siam gripped with all his might. Groudon's other hand reached down and grabbed him, pulling with inconceivable strength. Within letting go of the plate, Siam could feel himself being forcefully ripped from the creature's hand.

While it pulled him away, Siam could feel the plate he held lifting. It's immense strength finally ripped Siam free, pulling open a gaping hole in the back of it's hand. Furious and in pain it swung Siam upward, smashing him against the ceiling. Pushing at both sides of the hand holding him, Siam dropped free, and was in sudden free fall. As he plummeted, Siam watched Stilicho zip over to where the chitin had been ripped away from the creature's muscles. From all over her body, tiny black dots wriggled free and fell in an inky black cloud into the wound. She flew away as the beast's other hand reached over and clapped the wound shut. In a thought he'd landed on the nearest island, one knee pressed against the ground. The rampaging beast knocked a Stalactite from the ceiling, sending it hurtling down to where Siam found himself. With little other choice; he jumped, throwing himself to the nearest floating island.

Unleashing a terrible roar of fury, the terrible lizard's giant claws swung into the magma around it, sweeping up and spraying lava at the entry isle. The lava cooled near instantly into heavy stone spears; hurtling through the freezing air, directly for Lucilla and the totem-bird. As was Siam's command, Olymiodorus stopped where he stood and, with all his power, threw up a shield from his mind over the Shiftry standing near him. Siam landed hard on the next island, the feeling of a giant spike slamming into him knocking him down. Through the thinning storm of ice he could see where they'd entered the great hall. Lucilla stood defensively, arms thrown up in front of her chest and face; a spike stone turning to sand as it flew into her. Beside and behind her, thrown up against a crystal spire, was Olymiodorus. No fewer than four of the giant stone shards pierced his body, leaving him hanging limp against the crystal. As he looked at the unmoving body, the familiar voice of the bird crept into Siam's mind **_"_****_ทั้งหมดเป็นอย่างดี_****_"_** The voice was weak, too weak to be any more than the emotion **_"_****_เธออาศัยอยู่_****_"_** Siam stood, he could feel the mist chill to near solid ice as it drifted through him. **_"_****_นี่ไม่ใช่ ความผิดของคุณ_****_"_** The voice whispered into his mind, the tone a solemn calmness. **_"_****_ผมได้เรียนรู้ ชะตากรรม ของฉัน มานานแล้ว_****_"_** It wasn't fair, Siam leapt to the next island, standing on the edge so that it may rock in the direction he wanted **_"_****_ฉันที่ ความสงบสุข กับมัน_****_"_** Closing in on another rock he jumped, it sunk a little under his weight, lava sloshing up onto it. **_"_****_ฉันได้ ทำดี_****_"_** The voice as weak, but proud **_"_****_มีฉันไม่_****_?"_**


	47. Chapter 47: The Great Beast part 2

A long, narrow drifting stone was the only way Siam would be able to make it to Lucilla. Jumping onto it his ankles were burnt as the stone rocks backward, plunging his feet into the lava. Wincing through the pain, he threw himself further along the stone, riding it's fall back to the lava. The more he ran along the stone it fell faster underneath him, prompting him to hold his left fist high above him. Soon the stone began to sink to the other end. After throwing his second footfall directly into blistering, agonising heat, Siam kicked off. Launched into the air with his left fist still above his head, as he began to fall once again he felt two small claws clamp onto his fist. Using the momentum of his fall, Vipsania swung Siam; throwing him back into the air along the path he'd been headed. Moving back upward again, Siam tumbled backward over himself. Below him he saw the happy Crobat, smiling up at him as she caught his hands again. His swing pulled her down, but pulled herself back up once he'd let go, spinning through the air once again. Siam landed on a large crystal Stalagmite, sliding down onto the land the first stood on when he entered the grand hall. Rushing to Lucilla's side, he took a moment to bow to the body of Olymiodorus **_"Thank you"_** he thought.

Name: Olymiodorus

Species: Xatu

Type: Psychi/Flying

Nature: Gentle

Level Lost: 45

Met: Safari Zone

Lost: Ki Cavern(Vs Groudon) ++=++ | ++=++

The great monstrosity, Groudon, crashed to it's knees in the lava by the side of the island Siam was stood upon. Though a single, large droplet of lava splashed onto his arm, nothing hit the Shiftry beside him. Groudon lowered itself; it's arms stretched out that it could hold the sides of the island, it's terrible maw opening wide. Siam watched in terror as the gullet of the monster began to flood with light from below. As it breathed in, the light turned more intense. Siam turned his back on the creature, placed his right hand around Lucilla and his left hand on her head as he pushed her down. His body towered over her; an unmoving human shield, eyes closed as he held her safe beneath him. The rumbling of Groudon's gullet grew to a crescendo; a blinding flash of white light was accompanied by a mixture of echoing thunder and splitting steel.

Siam blinked slowly, raising his head off of the Shiftry's mane. There'd been no pain, there'd been no fire. His ears were filled with a guttural rumbling sound. Slowly he turned, letting Lucilla go as he looked up at Groudon. The creature had once had a menacing chitinous full helm, the right hand side was now all but missing. The chitin and muscle, even the thick molten flesh had apparently evaporated. Gallons of searing hot blood flowed from it's wounds, painting the underlying bone red. But Siam's attentions were drawn to Stilicho, hovering high above him, the mist seeming to suck into her. Her wing beats sped up while her body began to glow brightly. At once, all energy she'd drawn in was unleashed; a blindingly bright white beam of light, accompanied by the sound of echoing thunder. But as she fired, the titanic target had managed to stand and slide noisily to the side, avoiding it completely. While she began to draw in more energy, Siam watched as the giant red and gold hand swung upward, smashing into the tiny bug. Siam reached up and slapped several of the icicles from the air; they struck their target's quickly, a fact evidenced by three flashes of red mechanical light. While Groudon searched for what had shot it, Siam dashed over to the three white pokeballs and unleashed the pokemon contained within.

Suddenly, a massive clawed foot, coated in liquid rock, slammed onto the platform that Siam had found himself cornered onto, splitting the ground and shaking the hall around him, sending giant gemstones crashing to the floor. Immediately, Siam dropped two of the three pokeballs into the water, holding the last one. He set off on a run, charging at the massive foot, as his foot landed on the Magma spilling off the foot it hardened into stone. Siam climbed the stone boot that welded the great beasts foot to the ground, Lucilla ran up behind him. The edges of the chitin made it easy to climb, Siam had reached the hip of the beast when a massive paw swung past him. He pushed himself against the body as close he could, avoiding the hand as it struck Lucilla behind him. Siam whipped his arm down; a flash of red light, swung his hand to pointing at the beasts shoulder ; another flash of red light. He stopped climbing, watching the Shiftry on the creature's shoulder. Her stance was good, one foot forward, the other bent but vertical. She whipped her leaved fingers at the creature like swords; slashing at it's chitin and molten flesh.

In the pit of him, Siam could feel Vipsania plummet from the sky, falling straight to the lava beneath her. His head turned to watch her, she stopped only inches from the surface of the magma sea. She rocketed along above the surface, clouds forming and following in her wake. Siam smiled, placed the pokeball between his teeth as he began to climb the front of the beast with short jumps. Right when the Crobat should have crashed into the leg of the great beast, she was suddenly soaring upward. Feeling her coming, Siam let all air from his lungs, leaping up and slightly away from the flesh he clung to. Vipsania flew silently past him, it wasn't until the cloud caught him that he heard the thunderous roar. While the wake of her flight ripped him upward through the air, Siam fused the hail he passed; firing large icicles into the chest of the beast as he went past it.

With the current of Vipsania flying past dying off, Siam landed on the ice spikes that jutted from the beasts chest. He bit the pokeball lightly when he noticed the creature's head turn and it began to snap at Lucilla. After the shock of missing it's target, the beast looked down to see Siam standing on icy twigs jutting from it's chest. It began to twist and turn, shaking it's chest, but Siam stood his ground as best he could. Remembering what Stilicho had done, he began to draw in all the mist he could from around him. The beast would not slam its hand at him at risk of driving the ice further into it's chitin where it may melt. Pulling more and more energy from around him, feeling the Ki flow through his body; charging him. Focusing on the heel of his palm, Siam twisted, slamming the palm of his half-fisted hand into the chitin in front of him, punching straight through it. Laughing silently to himself, Siam pulled the shards of chitin from the hole.

As the beast began to try and shake him off once again, Siam's teeth clenched on the pokeball between them. Quickly he swung out of the way as Lucilla materialized on the ice beside him. With one hand in the hole, and both feet on the creature's chest, Siam watched as Lucilla plunged her hands into the wound he'd punched. A couple tiny bugs wriggled from the wound and across the chitin, though Siam was more concerned with the green light spilling from the hole and into the Shiftry standing beside him. Slowly he took the pokeball from his mouth with his free hand and looked from it to the hole. He smiled and nodded at Lucilla _"Good, Girl-"_ her face lit up in a big grin as she drew more and more green light from the hole. _"HEY!"_ Siam yelled. He was quickly approached by both Vipsania and Stilicho, he reached out, hooking his hand at the wrist. Vipsania bobbed once and drifted away and down a little. As he leapt from the chest, the Crobat caught him and swung him down to the ground not far below. Siam rolled as he landed, dropping Lucilla's pokeball before dashing over to the small bag sitting near the entrance. From the bag he grabbed the first two spheres he could; two white pokeballs. He placed one pokeball between his teeth and with the other in hand ran back to Lucilla's. He only tapped it as he ran past, but the red light assured him she was safe.

With added haste, he was able to rush himself up the side of the great beast, climbing only to begin. The icicles he'd place before acted as stairs, speeding his ascension. Looking up as he climbed, Siam could see the beasts head turned down, boiling blood dripping from half of it. A bright light began to swell in the back of it's throat, a sign that hastened his ascension. Reaching the hole, he could hear the rumbling that preceded the onslaught of heat and quickly plunged the white pokemon in his hand into the hole, pressing it against the soft squishy muscle within. The beast turned to red light, it's solid form gradually fading, dropping the ice from it as it went. When where he stood began to fall, Siam could feel Vipsania and Stilicho flying toward him at all their speed. But they were not fast enough, Siam slammed into the side of the rock platform, his legs plunging into the sea as he did so. He loosed a scream of pain as he pulled himself from the hot, viscous liquid. Rolling onto the ground, his attentions turned once again to the ball, resting it on the rock in front of him he pulled the other ball from his mouth. Praying against all logic that he was right, Siam pressed the button on the one ball against the other. The one pokeball shook violently, but he kept the buttons aligned; a flash of red light and the second ball began to shake. It took longer than he felt OK with, for the pokeballs to cease swapping the red light.


	48. Chapter 48: My reverence

When the white topped pokeball finally stopped shaking, a distinct 'Ding' broke the silence. Siam rolled onto his back and coughed sickly several times before dropping his head back onto the rock. His eyes closed and he coughed a couple more times, unable or unwilling to move his legs. He could feel the lava lake beside him recede as the molten stone cooled and hardened. The clouds of Ki around him swirled and began to gently drain into him, through his closed eyes, Siam could see the beautiful woman in the long blue vest stand over him; leaning over his body. He crunched his eyes and tried to push her from his mind, he deserved a rest, he deserved to be lifted from the pain of the ground by the mist that swirled around him. _"You've done well"_ her voice washed over him like gentle waves _"You stopped him taking in all the power that lays dormant here"_ Siam sighed, then coughed hard twice. _"But now you are the danger you fought"_ The sound of her voice dribbled into his ears, not unlike the sensation of the blood, trickling down his head. _"No-one can have all this power"_ her hand came to rest gently on his chest, he groaned in pain. _"You need to give it back."_ But it felt so good, like being adrift on an endless cool ocean. _"Even I cannot be trusted, you must ensure I can never be awoken"_ Siam could feel himself sink back down, coming to a tender rest on solid rock.

A tear rolling down his scrunched cheek, Siam took a deep breath in. He could already feel the extra energy flowing out of him. A long exhale, pain shot across his chest and neck; he could feel the bones reforging under the bottom layer of muscle. A deep breath in, every muscle in his body clenched; his jaw snapped shut and his eyelid were crushed closed as the bones completed and the second layer of muscle began to disintegrate. An unholy, unbelievable fiery pain shot across his legs, he could feel the holes that had burnt in his flesh stretch both in width and in depth, the bones of his thigh's were exposed to the hot air of the cavern. A long exhale and the pressure suit tore itself from his skin; mostly. At points on his arms and legs he could still feel burning, he could feel the suit having melted into his skin and muscle. In a few points where it had melted on, it'd also torn, leaving gaping wounds that looked like a cross slice of some disgusting bloody-meat cake with lobster blood icing. Siam was able to scream, a scream that echoed throughout the lonely hall, when every joint relocated itself. Only when all was finished, and he knew his state without even looking, was Siam finally able to open his eyes. When he tried to lift himself onto his legs, he fell back to his knees and then flat onto his chest.

Siam coughed painfully several times, lifting himself onto his elbows. The vested woman stood beside him, towering over his prone state. She had no pity in her eyes, only pride. She walked slowly beside him as Siam crawled along his stomach using his hands and forearms to grab the next dip in the rock and pull himself forward. She squatted beside him once he reached the sack, watching as he reached in; pushing the Master ball aside to grasp the large blue crystal. Siam simply held it for a moment, coughing painfully as he watched it's beautiful glow. _"I must not be awoken. You understand what that means."_ she whispered, her voice slid down her sleeves and ran across him like the incoming tide, Siam nodded, turning himself over onto his back. With a view of his legs, he could see cauterized flesh in holes across his leg; one hole showed his beautifully clean, smashed, leg bones through a hole as wide and long as his hand. Holding the sphere aloft in his left hand, he hurled it as far as he could into the red sea. As Vipsania began flying to catch it, she stopped at his raised fist. Siam watched it land on top of the red liquid, and slowly, gradually, ebb beneath the surface. As it faded from his view, so did the woman to his side, who nodded and kissed his forehead before she was gone completely.

Siam pointed to the two white pokeballs sitting on the rock nearby, Stilicho grabbed one and Vipsania the other. Siam clenched and then opened his eyes, while his eyes were closed he heard to little metallic clangs told him the pokeballs had arrived. He opened his eyes to see them sitting between his legs, he grabbed one and plunged it into the sack, then grabbed the other and began to crawl across the floor to a giant crystal Stalagmite nearby. He rested the ball at the base of the crystal, looking up at the birds body; skewered to the gemstone. **_"I'm sorry I cannot take you down."_** He patted the pokeball and nodded to the body **_"But thank you."_**

Slowly, agonizingly, Siam pulled himself over to the small sack that contained his random assortment of junk. Dragging that with him, Siam arrived at the edge of the entrance pool. Vipsania fluttered close to him, sniffing him concerned, Siam nodded and patted her on the head, before sliding face first into the water. He could feel them both above the water's surface, flapping frantically, frightened and wanting to get to him. Siam followed the path of the tunnel downward, waiting until it finally began to curve back upward. The light from the room above shed only shadows this far, but Siam was able to find the two smoothest white stones; of identical size. Swimming solely with his arms, as his legs refused to move, Siam made his way to the surface. Excited and frantic chittering filled his ears as he broke the surface. He smiled painfully and coughed, tapping both pokeballs. Two flashes of light and the pokemon had returned to the balls. Siam clasped the pokeballs to his belt and pulled himself out of the water. Painstakingly he made one final journey across the rock, to a little pokeball sitting alone. He'd not forgotten, if he'd forgotten, he would have left, Siam could never forget her. He tapped the pokeball, and in a flash of red light, a Shiftry appeared in front of him. She cried in alarm, reaching down and lifting him up in her arms. Siam made sure to hold the pokeball tight as she carried him back to the water's edge, where she gently let him down. _"Good Girl"_ he tapped the pokeball and she was gone. Siam clasped the pokeball onto his belt alongside the other two, before grabbing his bag and swinging himself over the edge and into the water.

Alone he drifted downward, tumbling down the blackness of the tunnel, crawling along one of the rock walls. Suddenly the rock made a sharp turn, and he was in the great rift. An aching, throbbing pain shot through his legs each times he tried to move them. Breathing out to calm himself, Siam stretched out with his mind to find the edges of the chasm. Once he knew which way was up, Siam began to crawl along the rock cliff. Unconsciously he took a breath in; sucking in water. It always hurt to swallow the water; no matter how soothing he found it. Frantically his body sought air, kicking out every limb in every direction. His right leg slammed into the rock, sending an unexpected pain shooting through him. He gasped in pain; filling the last of his lung with water.

Siam's body was scooped out of the water and up onto the back of a giant blue sea serpent. When the sun fell on his face, Siam coughed, throwing the water once again from his lungs. The man looking down at him had wet blonde hair, pressed down on his head; likely from grabbing Siam. Siam blinked in the harsh sunlight, his grip on the sack tightened as he looked to the man. The fellow with the blue eyes and a crooked nose asked him who he was, Siam simply shook his head. He spat a little residual water from his lungs and looked down at his legs. His condition had not improved much beyond his bones no longer being broken. The Gyarados underneath him turned at the man's instruction; heading for the nearest settlement, Sootopolis city.

The great white stone city was in ruins, blood smeared across its walls and buildings destroyed by falling debris, but the impossible heat was gone. The cloud of fire no longer hung over the city, and people had already set about cleaning up the mess that had been created. Several of the pokemon trainers and rangers who had stayed to help, and who had been protected by pokemon, sat in the shade of small fabric sails extended from rubble walls; where doctors tended to their wounds. The pokemon centre was nothing more than a pile of white stone rubble, through which several people were scouring. One person emerged from the rubble, carrying a black and shrivelled husk, which they gently laid in a small black bag. The man on the Gyarados, speaking to himself, wondered where in this carnage he could take the man that lay across his lap for safety. In response; Siam lifted his left arm and pointed to the small inlet opposite the entrance to the great city. Twelve people stood on the platform, though Siam could only directly see a couple; his boat blocked his sight.

As the man helped Siam off the Gyarados and onto the platform, his introduction was instantly cut off by Siam's mother running to him and wrapping her arms around him. She screamed in panic when she eventually peeled herself away from him, Siam leant against the submarine, the holes in his legs plainly visible in the shallow water. As his father began talking to him, telling him that everything was OK now, Steven interrupted him; explaining that Siam was the reason everything was OK. With a little focus, Siam was able to create ice casts around his legs, which he could move through the water; taking his legs and body with them. Slowly and painfully he walked to standing in front of Maxie. The officer's surrounding the Team Magma admins stepped back at Siam's approach. _"I guess I should thank you"_ Maxie started, _"For fixing what I so foolishly created"_ Siam nodded. Siam lifted the small bag painfully and opened it, taking out the lumpy purple pokeball. _"A Master ball!"_ The tall man exclaimed, chuckling _"You caught it?"_ Siam nodded slowly. _"You can control it! There's no risk any more, you can use Groudon to create the perfect world fo-"_ He stopped, his voice cutting off and all breath just falling out of him, as Siam grabbed both the top and bottom of the ball; one side in each hand, and ripped them apart. In disgust he threw the shards of the Master ball down at the tall man, before hobbling away toward his boat.


	49. Chapter 49: On eagles wings

A large balloon lifted airship was being pulled down to rest on the island in the middle of the caldera by a collection of large, thin, beaked brown bird pokemon. The Fearow squawked and screamed from their perch atop the large balloon. With a shove, the six police officers began Tabitha, Courtney and Maxie walking to the small boat they'd parked by the cave. The tall man's wrists were thin enough to slip the handcuffs off behind his back; but the large green spider with black jointed legs that rested on his back, would press it's teeth through his suit against his skin each time he started to let the handcuffs slide off.

Brushing his fingers across the pokeballs at his hip, Siam felt the water ripple from Lucilla appearing in the water beside him. Releasing the ice from his right leg, he collapsed sideways, an arm draping across the shoulders of the Shiftry. After adjusting under his weight, Lucilla stood as tall as she could, her left arm across Siam's waist as his right arm slumped across her shoulders. He could faintly hear his mother gasp and begin whispering to herself as the two walked toward Siam's boat. His right leg dragged through the water, Lucilla moving his right side for him as she walked beside him. They stopped at the side of the boat, Siam throwing his arms up to grab the edge and slowly pull himself up. Lucilla stood below him, gently pushing him up, while the small green lizard stood on the side of the boat, it's tiny hands around Siam's wrist, pulling with all it strength. It did not take long to set sail, even with Siam's left leg tramping around in a large chunk of ice.

As the boat sailed slowly past a large island, Siam could see the green haired boy Wally standing atop a waterfall spewing forth from it's strange caverns. Opening his PokeNav he located the island's shape on the map and began to draw a circle in the air with one finger. After three revolutions; before he had the chance to point out the new heading, Siam saw an island nearby that was not anywhere to be seen on the map. It was larger than some marked islands, and within the boundary of the map, so he pointed there instead. -ERROR-MEMORY READ CORRUPT-ERROR- A large curved island -ERROR-MEMORY READ CORRUPT-ERROR- Many trees covered the surface, many seeming to reach out to the boat as he -ERROR-MEMORY READ CORRUPT-ERROR- moved out of the way, as if they didn't want to scare or -ERROR-MEMORY READ CORRUPT-ERROR- It settled before him, a warm light spreading from it's rings -ERROR-MEMORY READ CORRUPT-ERROR- Lucilla knelt beside him, Siam only bowed -ERROR-MEMORY READ CORRUPT-ERROR- pulling out of the bay, the lizard at the helm turned the boat around.

On the second day he had been sailing, Siam's father appeared on the deck of the ship, with a large and intimidating star-headed yellow pokemon Siam knew to be an Alakazam. His father spoke for a while, a speech about how proud he was of what Siam had done, and that if it was Littleroot town he wanted to go to, there was a faster way. Siam's head dropped in defeat, he had a time limit he knew, this was one time where yes, he would need help. Opening the PokeNav to the map, he zoomed in on Littleroot town, panning slightly west and south to a small crevice or inlet where his boat could be docked. The golden pokemon nodded it's head, it's eyes began to glow a disturbing purplish white. While it began to hover off the boat, the boat itself lifted from the waves. A mind splitting crack and the boat crashed back to the water, throwing all on deck; at the deck. Siam could feel the energy plummet from his body, and it took him several minutes to be able to lift himself off the floor.

Siam surfaced from below deck, carrying a small bundle of white and brown fur. Dried blood clotted at one point, near what could be seen to be a tiny nose. Without saying a word, he stepped off the boat and began to walk through the forest to the buildings on the other side. Norman walked alongside to the left of his son, watching as the ice coated foot smashed down into the dirt with every step. Lucilla walked on Siam's right, holding him up at the waist, doing her best to allow him his dignity as he walked. Breaching into Littleroot town, Siam scanned the area, noting a bladed object with a long wooden handle laying near the biggest building in the village. Shifting the weight of the body onto his right arm, Siam's left fist moved out from under; pointed to the shovel then turned to have the open palm facing skyward.

Without slowing, Siam crossed through the small village; many people coming to their windows or doors, or simply stopping on the street to watch the bizarre procession. A single road led out from the clearing to the north, Siam followed the road, Vipsania and Stilicho each holding an end of the shovel as they drifted behind him. Before he even left the village, a small black dog started running at him, barking and growling aggressively. Siam simply turned his head to the creature and snarled, it whimpered and began to slowly back away. Siam stopped at a point that to everyone else appeared entirely random and arbitrary, unable to kneel; he handed the small bundle of fur to whom walked on his right side. She bowed her head, touching her forehead to the side of the body. Shifting all his body weight onto his left leg, onto the ice, for a couple seconds; Siam reached up and took the shovel from the pokemon above him. Using the tool to support his weight, but also digging into the dirt, Siam began a long and painful process of hollowing out a grave. His father didn't offer to help, instead rushing back to Littleroot town. Returning a couple minutes after with a small packing box; large enough for the white and brown mass to curl inside 'comfortably'.

The sun had set, darkness filling the little well Siam had dug solemnly. Hours ticked by until he'd finally dug so far that only his head was visible from the hole. Lucilla stopped rocking the little bundle and lay it in the box, passing it to Siam's waiting arms; chirping sadly as she did. Siam lowered the box to his feet, forcing himself down onto his right knee beside it; bone rubbing against dirt as he knelt there. Reaching up with the handle of the shovel he hooked the small sack of his belongings and pulled it down into the pit with him. From the little sack he pulled a small white pokeball. Gingerly he lifted Antony's front paws, a freezing tear sliding down his cheek as he looked again into the little pokemon's face, under the paws he placed the little ball under the white furry paws. As he lowered the body back down, covering the little pokeball, he whispered to the body. _"You-"_ he stroked the little patch of dried blood with his left hand _"keep-"_ his right hand wiped the tears from his eyes _"safe"_. Siam leant in and kissed above the head of the unmoving little creature. _"Good boy"_ Siam closed the lid of the box and climbed out, accepting all help he was offered in filling the dirt back into the hole. As the last of the dirt was patted down on the place where Siam had first fought with the little Zigzagoon, Siam could see a small glowing creature sitting in front of him. The Antony of light barked silently up at him and swept it's tail from side to side a couple times; before it gently faded away.


	50. Chapter 50: The letter

To Professor Sycamore  
Pokemon Laboratory; North Boulevard, Lumiose City.

Enclosed are the printouts of a collection of memory partitions of a Hoenn region resident, Mr. Siam Taillon. Several reports claimed that Mr. Taillon is a human whom is capable of Mega Evolution. Initially skeptical of this claim, my colleagues and I were shocked when he, painfully, demonstrated this to us. These memory partitions are reconstructed as fully as possible by a staffmember's Alakazam, though this process pained the subject greatly. We at the institute felt that we should send you the partitions and the results of our investigation into Mr. Taillon so that you may help us determine if what we suspect is actually correct.

There are a collection of extra partitions that contain similar psychological markers to the ones contained, however they are heavily corrupted and are currently in a storage server. A large amount of processing power will be required to defragment and repair these partitions, which we have come to call the 'Delta files'. Unless you request these files, their condition will be maintained and remain unchanged.

What follows is our understanding of the information gathered from these memories, as well as interviews with the subject and several experiments.

Subject, Mr. Siam Taillon, is a practitioner of the Dragon style southern shaolin kung fu. He claims that the energy we've detected, which you have called "Mega energy" has been know about for quite a long time, though called 'Ki' or 'Chi'. Subject has demonstrated an ability to identify all kinds of stones used for Mega evolution without line of sight, and has been able to describe pokemon in detail with a solid brick wall between them. Comparing data in the memory partitions to general electromagnetic scans show a correlation between a certain type of assumed background static, and this 'Ki', even detecting trace amounts in humans. Scans were conducted when several researchers had their partner pokemon undergo Mega evolution; interpretation of the data at hand suggests the trace radiation in the trainer is transferred to the pokemon in exchange for some trace radiation from the pokemon; triggering a reaction between the pokemon and the respective mega stone.

When Mega stones are scanned, the respective energy spikes to such a level that we suspect the stones consist of an extremely high concentration of the energy. Comparing data to the memory partitions suggests that Mega Stones and Key Stones are actually the solid state of this energy-like matter. Similar readings occur when scanning a pokemon's energy attacks, greater concentrations correlating to a greater amount of damage to the target. The abundance of water-type pokemon and water type attacks, may explain why all water tested, from almost any source, has such a high concentration of this energy. Subject also demonstrates the ability to rapidly repair wounds through the application of water, though is unable to regenerate lost tissue; leading to a permanently damaged leg and two head wounds that likely will never heal. We suspect that the subject uses the Mega Energy that he takes from water, to enact these repairs.

In addition to the partitions extracted with the permission of Mr. Taillon. One Dr. Trenton also provided us with memory partitions and research of his own into Mr. Taillon. The memory partitions were related to a criminal organisation known in the area as "Team Magma" and were sent to the Hoenn police department for use as evidence in the trials of the Team Magma leaders. Only one of Dr. Trenton's memory partitions has been included in this document, as the corresponding partition from Mr. Taillon is laced with high mega energy readings. Dr. Trenton also provided the data he personally collected from Mr. Taillon on Mt. Pyre, which has helped us develop these hypotheses. The Pokemon leage champion; Mr. Steven Stone, helpfully provided for us his memories regarding the events correlating to partition 9, for similar reasons to Trenton's partition being included in these documents.

In all, we believe that the ability for a human to Mega Evolve may be recreateable, though this process will be difficult to continue as the main subject of our research, Mr. Siam Taillon, refuses to assist any further. He claims we have enough to go on. Please respond with your opinion of the collected data and our assumptions, and would you like us to attempt to defragment the Delta Files?

Sincerely,  
Dr. Robert Liece


End file.
