Archive of Our Own

~~~~~~

Don’t move, there’s a lion next to you. 

I pray

that your soul survives another day.

~~~~~~

It’s storming outside. Alain wonders if it’s really safe to fly a plane in this kind of weather as the rain falls heavy on the window. 

Per Lysandre’s instructions, he is flying to Hoenn. Mairin comes with him, just like she’s followed him everywhere over the course of the past three months. She takes every new journey in her stride, with bright, twinkling eyes and enthusiasm in her step. Alain has stopped letting himself second guess her tagging along. He can’t get rid of her, both because she’s stubborn and because can’t bring himself to. The two of them have trekked across the entire Kalos Region together - and he would never admit to her face, but he’s starting to feel less alone.

He looks away from the window. Next to him, Mairin is fiddling with a green and orange bracelet on her wrist. It looks like a friendship bracelet and Alain’s breath catches. He doesn’t know how he hasn’t noticed it before.

“Did you make that?” he asks. He forces his voice to come out stronger, more confident than he feels. Mairin has a preconceived notion of him and he’s determined to fit that mold, if only for her safety. 

She stares at him. “Yeah, why?”

He shrugs. “No reason. I just noticed.” And he knows no fucking reason is one hell of a lie, but he isn’t telling the truth when that’s dumping a decade’s worth of regret on a child not yet twelve. That’s not fair to her at all.

“Do you want me to make you one?” she asks.

His breath stops. He stares at her, for a moment his eyes go blank - and then he looks down. It’s so innocent yet it hurts like toxic, like poison. It kills him from the inside out. 

Alain turns back to the window. “I’m all right,” he manages. Thank you, though, he wishes he could say. He can't bring himself to.

The plane hits a patch of turbulence. He feels fine, but Mairin looks pale and he remembers her saying it’s her first time flying - he watches her with soft eyes, but she looks crestfallen and maybe it’s because of him. Curse him and his stupid fucking messed up head. He never meant to let her down.

He takes a deep breath; thinks of rain and storm and a new EV spread for Kuro. It gets his demons to shut up. 

He glances out the window, at the passing sky. Then Alain shuts his eyes and tries to sleep the rest of the flight away. 

--[--x--]--

It is fucking cold in Hoenn. Alain has always hated the cold. 

To be fair, it might just be their timing. It might just be this random ass location in the middle of the mountains that Lysandre has sent him too. And it might be the mist, the low hanging fog - the trees twenty feet ahead that he cannot see. It’s like a sea, a sea of soft gray. 

It’s unsettling. It’s like he’s blindsided, like he never knows what’s around the corner. It feels like he’s wandering without end.

Mairin runs ahead of him. Any sense of caution that he harbors is clearly not shared. But Mairin’s always been reckless, he knows that much. She’s too curious for her own good. But that’s enthusiasm he wishes he had; he doesn’t want to drag her down. 

Alain checks his Holo Caster. They still have at least a few more miles to go until he gets to the prescribed location. 

Ahead of him, Mairin yelps. 

Alain feels himself freeze up - for a moment, he has a hundred fears that all register as irrational. Every day with her is one where he’s afraid he’s messed up, where he’s afraid she’ll let her get hurt. She’s eleven and no matter what she says, he feels all too responsible for her safety. But she’s eleven and more than just a little clumsy. He runs after her but the rational part of his head says that she’s done nothing more than trip and fall down a small hill. 

She has, indeed, tripped and fallen down a small hill. 

He sighs as she waves her arms around, caught on a tree root and unable to get up. He’s exhausted and he blames it on the jet lag - he doesn’t move very quickly to come to her rescue. He’s taking his damn sweet time. 

“Alain, I’m stuck- ” she begins to whine. 

“Your fault,” he mutters to himself. Maybe it’s not just the jet lag - it is entirely her fault and he shouldn’t have to keep rescuing her. He slowly slides down the grass of the hill, careful not to slip on the moisture left by the fog clouds. 

He reluctantly holds out a hand, and Mairin takes it with a sheepish grin. 

--[--x--]--

Following the tablet’s unearthing, Steven Stone cannot describe his head in any way other than spinning. A thousand clues, ones that he wishes he could put together - he can’t. He’s incapable. Despite his title, he is convinced there are a lot of things he is incapable of. 

Through the fog, he cannot see much but a soft, white cloud. It’s cold. But it’s intangible, really - it has no feeling under the palm of his hand. It disappears if he dares to reach out an arm. Still, he grits his teeth and pushes forward. 

He hears a yelp - almost like that of a small child - and turns in its direction. He makes his way through the fog, and sees a young girl with a Chespin at her side, stuck on the root of a tree and waving her arms around. For a moment, he’s annoyed. Forget the peace and quiet. Then a young man with dark hair and an irritated look on his face slides down the grassy hill, pulling her up - and he can’t help but smile. 

On Steven’s chest, the pin that holds his Keystone begins to pulse. 

--[--x--]--

“You should be more careful,” Alain says flatly. He pulls her to her feet.

“It was an accident!” she protests.

He rolls his eyes. “You always say that.” 

Mairin is staring at his wrist. 

“What?” he asks sharply.

She points. “It’s glowing.”

It’s glowing? He stares at his Keystone; it pulses with soft light. He realizes he’s still holding Mairin’s hand and drops it.  

It glows when he’s in proximity with a Mega Stone, usually. But Lysandre’s instructions suggest he still has a while to go-

It also glows when he’s near another Keystone. He barely notices, usually, when he’s almost always battling in that scenario. He narrows his eyes. 

“Does it mean something?” Mairin asks. 

Of course it does.

But he doesn’t really have the energy to answer her. Once again, he’s going to blame the jet lag. 

--[--x--]--

The boy has a Keystone on his wrist. Steven stares for a moment - then, just when he prepares to turn away - they make eye contact. It’s a greeting, a sign to initiate a battle if you truly follow the trainer rulebook. Steven gives him a small nod. 

The first thing he notices is that his eyes are so, so blue. 

--[--x--]--

Alain spots a stranger in a dark suit, the Keystone held on his stickpin a faint beacon in the Hoennian fog. His breath catches. 

Mairin follows his gaze, and then her eyes light up. 

“Hi!” she says brightly. She waves.

The stranger waves back. “Hello,” he says politely. 

Alain, quite frankly, does not have the energy for this. “Mairin-” he hisses. 

She rolls her eyes at him. “I’m being friendly. ” She and Chespie approach the other trainer with a minimal amount of caution and a big smile. “My name is Mairin, and this is Chespie! We’re from the Kalos Region. It’s funny to run into somebody in the middle of nowhere.” It almost sounds like she’s pondering the last part. 

Alain mentally groans and follows her so that she doesn’t get into even more trouble. 

“This is my travel buddy, Alain!” 

Oh for fuck’s sake-

“Nice to meet you, Mairin” - but the trainer smiles pleasantly and holds out a hand - “and Alain,” he adds with a nod towards him. Mairin takes Steven’s hand and they shake. “My name is Steven.”

Alain looks at him - then realizes he’s been looking more at the Keystone and his elaborate and formal outfit rather than his face. The moment he does, there’s an almost unsettling feeling that he should know him. He can’t quite place it; it feels like a distant memory from a past life. 

“Sorry for bothering you,” he says, swallowing any rising doubt. “We’ll be-” his voice cuts off. He meant to say we’ll be on our way, but his Keystone won’t fucking stop the pulsing and the glowing-

Alain feels exhausted. He supposes a battle may knock some life into him. 

To hell with it, why not?

He rests a hand on Kuro’s Pokeball, and then flashes a smile. “Actually, I noticed your Keystone. Would you, perhaps, be interested in a battle?” 

Steven smiles back, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “My apologies. I may not look like it, but I’m actually quite busy.”

He doesn’t sound all that apologetic. 

But the more Alain looks at him, the more he feels what he did from Ayaka, from Remo, from Siebold. And he’s heard plenty of stories about Hoennian Mega Stones and their legends.

Most of all, the thing that pushes him over the edge is that Augustine would have loved to study a Hoennian Mega Evolution. Alain wishes, not for the first time - that he could show him how far he’s really come. He shrugs and raises his left wrist with the Keystone. “It won’t take all that long. We made eye contact, did we not? It’s a sign to start a battle.”

Steven looks thoughtful, but then nods. “You’re right. I suppose we did.”

Alain takes that as an answer and smiles tightly. “Stand back,” he mutters to Mairin. She runs and hides behind a boulder off to the side. Alain takes multiple paces back across the soft grass and tosses forward Kuro’s Pokeball. “Kuro!”

The Charizard lands with a roar and a flare of his amber wings. Alain, softly, smiles to himself. 

“Charizard, huh?” Steven observes. He tosses an Ultra Ball into the air. “Here’s my partner!” 

It’s a Metagross. A shiny Metagross, to be precise - it wears its Mega Stone around one of its huge, steel legs. It’s much larger than average size, Alain deduces. It’s a towering steel giant and it almost looks insurmountable. 

Maybe it was not a good idea to start a battle on his four hours of poor quality sleep. 

He isn’t sure what it is about Steven and the Metagross that messes with his head - but instead of waiting around like he did with Ayaka, Alain raises his wrist and presses one finger to his Keystone right away. 

Come on, Kuro. 

“Keystone! Respond to my heart-”

Give me fire - just like you always do.

“Beyond evolution!”

Fight, Viard.

And he lets the weight, the force, the pressure - he lets it swallow him whole. 

He breaks out by lighting himself ablaze.

“Mega Evolve!”

He raises his wrist into the air and lets the light burst across the sky.

--[--x--]--

Steven Stone lacks the time for a battle. Yet rules are rules, and the younger trainer’s eyes are dark, deep - but when he fights, they light on fire. He could never turn him down. 

Though, in the end, it would be embarrassing for Steven to lose. 

Titan swiftly counters his first set of moves, a super-effective blue Flamethrower followed by a Dragon Claw that he thinks was probably some form of bait. He doesn’t react so that when the Charizard hits, Alain earns nothing. Titan doesn’t even have a scratch. The next Flamethrower that comes is blazing hot, and the Charizard’s black wingspan reminds him only of smoke and ash.

Steven supposes it would only be appropriate to fight back. 

“Sparkling stone, give form to our bond!”

He’s the Champion. He is meant to be strong, a pinnacle, the peak of the mountain. Rock solid and undefeatable. A standard. 

And Steven, if nothing else, has done well to keep his title. It would be foolish - incompetent - to lose today. 

“Titan, Mega Evolve!”

The light reaches and meets that of Titan’s Mega Stone; the Metagross shifts and changes. He levitates in the air. All four steel limbs are outstretched.

Across the battlefield, Alain’s Mega Ring glows. Not his Keystone. 

Steven pays it no mind. Instead, he raises his voice and issues a steady command - “use Meteor Mash!”

--[--x--]--

Alain knows within the first five minutes that he is absolutely fucked. 

On a good day, would he get close to defeating Steven? Maybe, if he was lucky. Today is most certainly not a good day. But for fuck’s sake, it’s embarrassing because he has the type advantage and yet-

“Dodge it!” he yells. 

Too late. Meteor Mash hits and sends Kuro spiraling backwards. He can’t even catch himself properly with his wings before he slams into a nearby rock formation, and Alain swears. He whips around the battlefield to stare at Steven - standing coolly, confidently, unfazed, smiling. 

What the hell.

“You see, Metagross’ speed greatly increases upon Mega Evolution.” Steven says it like he’s teaching a literal child. 

But Kuro breaks out from underneath the stones, sending them flying with a tremendous roar - that’s my boy, Alain thinks. He smiles softly.

“Use Blast Burn!” But he grows desperate, he is fucking desperate because he sees no way out of this situation. His only strategy is all out power and hitting so hard that the stupid steel Metagross will melt under the heat. 

In hindsight, Alain knows the recharge turn will fuck him over - but it’s all he’s got. After all, he remembers his loss to Siebold all too well. It still stings sometimes. 

That’s why he has to get stronger. 

That’s why he has to be the strongest.

Kuro shoots forward; for a moment, his jet black wings eclipse the faint outline of the sun. Then he slams a fist into the ground and it erupts with both light and heat. The Blast Burn spreads, and if Steven commands anything Alain does not hear. 

It’s a burst of smoke and fire and Alain dares to hope, foolishly, that he’ll have made a decent mark. 

Metagross remains standing, unfazed. 

“No way!” Mairin exclaims. “That was a direct hit-”

Steven shrugs. “Don’t underestimate Metagross.”

Fuck you, honestly-

Alain can only ask himself why?

“Use Zen Headbutt!”

“Block it!” There isn’t much else Alain can do in the aftermath of a Blast Burn. 

Kuro puts up his wings as a shield in attempt to block the Zen Headbutt, but Steven’s Metagross hits so fucking hard-

“Flamethrower!”

Kuro throws Metagross back as he opens his wings to their full span, and then fires a point-blank Flamethrower. 

“Bullet Punch!”

But Metagross flickers in and out of Alain’s vision as he teleports, and then he’s behind Kuro and hits him with a priority Bullet Punch. The Flamethrower misses just like the one from the start of the battle. Before he can strike back, Metagross teleports to Steven’s side of the battlefield.

Alain really can’t do shit, can he?

Arceus, why can’t he ever-

“Dragon Claw!” he yells. 

“Meteor Mash!”

Kuro roars, and Alain has to thank him for having so much goddamn heart when they’re losing like this - he raises both claws, glowing green, and charges forward. 

Metagross surrounds itself in swirling blue and silver light and does the same. 

And for a moment, Alain thinks he might have something, Kuro understands and if they uppercut, throw it off it’s balance, hit again-

It never happens.

A flaming Incinerate narrowly misses both Kuro and the Metagross, and they both jump back. It comes from the side of the battlefield. 

Alain whips around to stare, so fucking fast-

And Lysandre stands there, his Pyroar at his side. 

So the battle ends right then, unfinished, though Alain knew he wasn’t going to win anyways.

Alain stiffens, and Kuro comes to his side as he reverts to his normal form. All Alain can do is look down. He stares at the fucking ground, as he tends to do, as he tends to try and hide and shut his eyes, because he wants to tell Lysandre he’s sorry. It’s indisputable that Alain was losing, and all Lysandre ever asked him to do was become stronger. The strongest.

It’s like he melts, drifts away, into nothingness. 

--[--x--]--

The battle ends when a tall, mysterious man in a black and red suit arrives. His Pyroar stands regal and proud. Steven’s first observation is that the man and his Pokemon almost match one another.

Both Titan and the Charizard return to their normal forms, and Steven - with one glance at Alain, as the other trainer looks down - puts on the polite face he was so meticulously trained to hold and takes three paces forward. 

Upon closer look, the man is familiar. He’s unsure of Alain’s connection to him. 

“I apologize for my subordinate’s rudeness,” the man starts, turning to Steven. “I hope he did not waste your time.”

Would Steven be lying if he said he didn’t, initially, think that perhaps Alain was wasting his time with a battle Steven was not interested in having? Perhaps. That Blast Burn may have proved him wrong, however. It was blazing hot and he never let his concern show, but he wasn’t really sure how well Titan would take it.

Alain, he knows, did not waste his time. It was a battle worth finishing. 

“It was quite all right - he offered a rather interesting battle,” Steven says. And he adds, for Alain’s sake -  “His Charizard has an impressive Blast Burn.”

The stranger does not smile. Instead, he turns to Alain. “You’re challenging much higher level opponents than I had expected, considering your loss against Siebold. Yet you, on a whim, challenge a League Champion?”

Alain goes perfectly still.

And Steven stares at him; he has a sinking feeling in his chest that he really doesn’t like. “I really don’t mind-” he starts. But then he stops, he cuts himself off - it doesn’t come out right, that’s not how he’s meant to speak around people like-

“My apologies,” Alain says. He turns to Steven and bows slightly - stiffly. “I wasn’t-”

The last word falls on deaf ears. Steven knows already - the word is aware. “Really, Alain, it was no trouble. I enjoyed our battle.”

The younger trainer looks up at him. Steven meets his eye. 

And the only thing that he can think of is that they lack the fire they had before. This blue reminds him far more of the depths of the sea.

Steven wonders what went wrong.

--[--x--]--

It doesn’t take Alain more than another four seconds to place the face. Steven Stone is Hoenn’s Champion - but beyond that, he’s the heir to the Devon Corporation. They have a monopoly on Hoenn’s industry and he knows Augustine spoke of them in the past - not always particularly fondly.

Steven says he enjoyed their battle. Alain doesn’t think that’s true when it was that one sided. What does Steven even have to gain from somebody like him?

“Not to be rude, sir, but I did not catch your name.” Steven speaks with a level of politeness - but he’s firm. Businesslike. It feels like a far cry from the quips that bordered so close to friendly during their battle. 

Lysandre turns to him, and then smiles. “Apologies. My name is Lysandre, head of Lysandre Laboratories in the Kalos Region - I believe my company and yours may have established a collaboration recently.”

Steven’s face remains perfectly still. If he feels anything, anything at all - Alain cannot tell. It makes more sense now; he’s just as steel and rock solid as his Pokemon team.  

“Of course. Forgive me for letting that slip my mind.” Steven looks at Alain. “And Alain is?” he prompts.

“An employee,” Lysandre says simply. “Many years ago, I instructed him to research Mega Evolution in the field.” 

“I see.” 

“Excuse me-” Mairin runs up towards Alain. She stares up at Lysandre, and he turns around. “Are you the person who calls Alain sometimes?”

“Mairin-” Alain starts. He doesn’t like the unsettling feeling in his stomach.

“Perhaps,” Lysandre says with a smile.

Alain doesn’t like the feeling he has about this. And all he can think, as Lysandre smiles - is that this wasn’t meant to happen. Not with Mairin. His only semblance of a justification is that she’s too young - too innocent.

“Who is this, Alain?” Lysandre turns to Alain.

And Alain stiffens. Nobody, he wishes he could say. But his mouth goes dry and the words fall short. 

“My name is Mairin, and this is Chespie!” Mairin says proudly. 

Lysandre stares at him, and Alain looks down. Always down. 

“She’s rather young to be your sidekick,” Lysandre observes. 

“She’s not-”

And Alain wants to snap at him, argue with him. He doesn’t. He isn’t really sure what he’s meant to say, because what really is Mairin to him-

“I’m not his sidekick!” Mairin replies indignantly. She puts her hands on her hips. “I want to be able to mega evolve too!”

“The Pokemon mega evolves, not the person,” he mutters in reminder. But it’s not important to him whether or not she hears him. Alain, instead, knows he’s done nothing but avoid the question at hand for the past three months - what is she to him? She’s eleven, so are they really friends? Is it really fair to call her a friend?

He knows it isn’t. 

“You always treat me like a little kid!” Mairin huffs. “It’s not fair- ”

She trips.

And she, just like a little kid, proceeds to fall down the hill.

“For fucks sake-” Alain sighs and runs after her. “Mairin!”

At the bottom of the hill, she groans and then looks up at him. “Ow,” she whines. 

“You’re the one who tripped and fell,” he deadpans. Once again, he takes her hand and pulls her up. She’s frowning and he softens slightly. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine- ” 

He smiles. “Stop falling down hills and then I’ll stop treating you like a kid, okay?” 

Sometimes, Alain is convinced he’s just a babysitter. Other times, he thinks they might be a weird set of friends. 

She scowls at him and brushes herself off. “Fine.”

At his heart, he isn’t quite sure either of those things are the case - but the only words he has for it are words he doesn’t want to say, words he never really wanted to consider again. He’d rather let it go unlabeled than deal with half a dozen demons past. 

He thinks it’s easier this way.

--[--x--]--

“Alain’s been scarce lately,” Lysandre says.

Steven stares at him.

“I assigned him to Hoenn, but I had to come check on him. And, of course” - he turns to Steven - “to discuss business with your father, perhaps?”

“Of course,” Steven says stiffly. He watches as Alain helps Mairin to her feet for the second time that day. The little girl is glaring up at him and Alain looks exasperated. 

“I sent Alain to collect Mega Energy - produced by Pokemon when they mega evolve, that is. We wish to harness that energy for peaceful means.”

We use Infinity Energy for peaceful means, Steven. Hoenn’s industry relies on us. So Lysandre’s words sound all too familiar. And they sound all too reassuring - is it not the same thing? Are they not playing the exact same game?

“And our collaboration-”

Lysandre smiles at him. “I have much to learn about Hoenn and its legends.” He turns, and stares off into the distance. “And the work you’ve done is very impressive.”

The legends. 

He doesn’t dare tell Lysandre that he’s really better off going to Wallace, perhaps, about legends - though Wallace wouldn’t really say a thing to a Kalosian stranger. Steven wouldn’t say the Devon Corporation is the one to collaborate with if one has legends in mind when they specialize in technology - the future, rather than the past. But he’d be lying if he said he, himself, didn’t know at least a bit about the region’s history.

Steven nods. 

“Say, perhaps” - Lysandre pulls out his Holo Caster - “does this look familiar to you?” 

It projects a picture of an old wooden tablet. It’s inscribed with dozens of unreadable characters. 

Steven goes cold; absolutely cold.

Yes, he should say. Yes, it does. 

But his words fail him.

--[--x--]--

“Alain?” 

He looks down at Mairin as she tugs on his sleeve. 

“Who’s that Lysandre guy?”

He looks away. How does he tell her there’s no easy answer to that? Lysandre is his boss, technically, but also his mentor and the person who gives him direction. Also the person he trusts the most, even-

“Somebody important to me,” he says finally. It’s the simplest answer but he can’t deny that it’s true. 

“Like Professor Sycamore?”

He goes still. And he can’t bring himself to shut her down, not when he really thinks about it - but when he thinks of Lysandre, and then thinks of Augustine, he thinks things cannot be more different. On paper, it’s the same. In his heart, they’re opposite ends of the same spectrum.

Augustine is the past. Lysandre is his future. 

And he chose Lysandre, he gave him all of his loyalty - because he offered him strength and a chance to be something greater. 

--[--x--]--

“Professor! Kuro evolved into Charmeleon today!”

On the other end of the video call, Augustine grins. “That’s great news, Alain!”

And at sixteen years old, Alain supposes it is. It feels like a milestone after a dozen months on the road.

Kuro waves at the camera. Augustine waves back.

“I’ve got a lead on another ruin - I’ll call you back tomorrow with what I find, okay?” 

“Sounds good.” Augustine smiles softly. “You’re doing great, Alain. I’m proud of you.”

Alain looks down and smiles to himself. “Sure.” He waves at the camera. “Bye, Professor.”

--[--x--]--

In hindsight, wasn’t that the last time he ever said goodbye?

--[--x--]--

He arrives at the ruin at five AM sharp, aiming to avoid any potential crowd. But when Alain lays his eyes upon the mysterious pedestal at the ruin’s heart, it’s empty. His heart sinks. 

“Not here either, huh?” he sighs. 

Kuro growls softly in agreement. 

“I really thought this was it, buddy. I’m sorry. I have to call the Professor back and tell him I missed it again-”

“Excuse me.”

Behind him, there’s a set of footsteps on the stone and gravel. Alain whips around. 

A tall man in a black suit with red trim and red hair stands, looking down at him - with a Mega Stone in his hand. Alain goes still. 

“Is this what you’re looking for?”

At sixteen years old, he’s awestruck. He stares at the stone, at the swirl in the middle of golden yellow and crimson red. The only way he can describe it is magical. Entrancing. 

“Ampharosite,” the strange man says. “I’ve been looking for it as well.”

Kuro takes a step forward and snarls, claws drawn. Simply not mystified, not enchanted the way Alain is. 

“If you really want it, defeat me and my Pyroar in a battle and it’s yours. All yours.”

The man’s Pyroar steps forward. Alain stares at the two of them. Then he looks at Kuro, who stands with his fangs bared - that seems to snap him out of the trance the swirling amber has trapped him into. Alain narrows his eyes.

It’s right there. This is his chance. 

He fixates on the golden stone, pulsing with warm light and pure power-

“Let’s go, Kuro.”

The Charmeleon leaps forward. The Pyroar meets him, fangs bared and blazing.

But Alain should have known that at sixteen years old, he never stood a chance.

--[--x--]--

That was the first day - the first time.

--[--x--]--

“If you want to achieve your goals, you must become the strongest.” 

Alain can’t bring himself to raise his eyes from the ground. He holds Kuro’s unmoving form in his arms and he can feel it, he can feel the man’s eyes on him and the Ampharosite’s power just out of reach. Always out of reach. 

But the stranger has a point, does he not? If only he’d been stronger - the Ampharosite really could have been his.

Alain never cared much about the battling - it took Kuro a year to evolve, and he’s been okay with that. He’s a field researcher, not a Pokemon trainer, and that’s how it was always meant to be. 

That’s what he always, always thought. 

--[--x--]--

But that was how Augustine was, not him - Alain feels it in his blood when he battles with Kuro. It’s different.

He and Augustine aren’t the same when it really comes down to it. They aren’t even related by blood and if you break it down to their DNA, Alain’s not half Augustine and he never will be. Alain feels something when he battles, something in his own blood that pulses like the heart of a tornado. Lysandre taught him how to find himself and he owes him everything in the world for that. 

--[--x--]--

Lysandre flies them both back to Lysandre Laboratories. Alain stares out the aircraft’s window - it’s a smooth ride, Lysandre’s pilots are skillful. Is it just his imagination, or is the sky going scarlet with the evening sunset? 

In Lysandre’s office, the fireplace is cackling with a dozen sparks. Pyroar curls up beside it and tucks his head into his paws, soft and relaxed and a far cry from the fanged monster that defeated Kuro thirty minutes ago. 

At sixteen years old, Alain is wonderstruck. He’s too caught up staring at the decoration - a group of full sets of medieval armor. History was never his strong suit but he admires the perfect restoration and glistening steel. 

He’s too busy to notice when Lysandre produces a metal case - he places it down on his desk and sits down. 

“You see, Alain-”

Alain turns around to look at him. 

“-Pokemon produce immense amounts of powerful energy upon Mega Evolution. Here at Lysandre Labs, we’re researching how to harness that form of energy for peaceful means,” Lysandre says with a smile.

Alain’s first reaction is that the Professor would love to hear that. He would help, he would love to, maybe Alain could too-

At sixteen years old, Alain is enthralled with the idea of doing good for their whole society. The idea rings faintly with the bells of being crowned a hero. 

“If so, you should talk to Professor Augustine Sycamore-”

“Not possible.” 

Yet Lysandre cuts him off before he can even finish, before Alain can justify himself. His face falls slightly. 

“Look back on human history, Alain. It’s a given. If word gets out about this type of power, there will be people who try to manipulate it for evil purposes. We cannot safely involve Professor Sycamore in this line of work; we cannot involve him whatsoever without putting him in extreme danger. This project is entirely confidential between our researchers, myself, and now you. Do you understand?” Lysandre’s voice grows firmer.

Alain isn’t really convinced he can say no to the last point.

“Of course,” he says. But it comes out more like a lie on the tip of his tongue, like the doubt rising in the back of his throat is forced down but it burns. It burns him from the inside out. 

He isn't sure why it hurts when everything Lysandre says is true. 

--[--x--]--

And Lysandre makes him the offer of a lifetime. How could Alain throw it all away - the power, the strength, and a chance to protect? How does he throw away that chance to be something beyond his wildest dreams?

--[--x--]--

“I’m going to make you an offer,” Lysandre says. “You’re a promising young trainer, Alain, with an eye for science and great potential. Potential to be more than Augustine’s eye in the field.”

Alain stiffens. It rubs him the wrong way, really-

“Will you help me?” Lysandre opens the metal case.

But Alain’s stiffness fades away into nothing. His breath catches - and he runs to Lysandre. 

At sixteen, Alain feels, for the very first time - like he could be the hero of his own story. 

Because he’d begun to doubt that the Charizardite X was real. He’d begun to doubt that it was out there, waiting for him - and Kuro. Lysandre watches him with knowing eyes. 

Battling wasn’t Alain’s thing, right? It wasn’t supposed to be.

But Alain can’t be sure he’d be alive if he didn’t know how to fight. And if he could change anything, anything in the world - it would be to make himself, ten years old, strong enough to protect. 

“If you want to achieve your goals, Alain - become the strongest.” 

So he reaches out, slowly - takes the Mega Stone in his left hand. It pulses with the heat of a dozen suns. But it doesn’t burn. It sends heat coursing through his veins, and all Alain can think is that that’s what the fire of life is meant to feel like.

He looks up at Lysandre. The words come out as a single, soft breath. 

“Of course.”

Because he was raised the villain, at fault for every misstep. For every loss. At fault for every fist in the wall, empty beer bottles shattered on the kitchen floor. For the sets of footsteps that snuck out the window in the middle of the night and never came back. Footsteps he can only think were tainted with blood.

His fault, he was always told. He never did a damn thing right.

And now, Lysandre sits at his desk, a pair of glistening stones in a metal case - they hold the power of every dream, they dangle an intangible promise in front of Alain’s very eyes. Power he can reach out and touch. Power he can feel.  

And when Alain is sixteen years old, Lysandre offers him everything he has ever wanted. 

--[--x--]--

“Alain? Alain!” Mairin shakes his arm violently. 

Alain turns to stare at her. Shit, he got lost in thought-

“Lysandre’s leaving,” she says. She points a finger in their direction.

Steven stands with Lysandre. Both of them are staring at him. Alain looks down.

Without saying anything, they both turn to leave - and Alain supposes it would be best to follow them. 

--[--x--]--

That evening, Steven calls Wallace.

Really, he is not quite sure what else he can do - but his mind spins with thoughts like a hurricane, he wonders just how Lysandre got the other half of the key. He wonders between the two of them, what is truly possible. He hopes his best friend can tell him.

“You remember what I told you about Lysandre Laboratories, right?” And Steven doesn’t even bother with a greeting. “They have the other key.”

It’s dead silence from the other end of the line - no quips, no sarcastic remarks about Steven’s lack of basic manners. It’s off putting but Steven’s mind is too busy to think about its implications.

“What do you mean?” Wallace says finally. It’s cautious, guarded in a way that rubs Steven the wrong way for reasons he can’t articulate. 

“Lysandre - the CEO - he has the other tablet. The missing half. And between the two of us, I think we can get to the Megalith.” Steven’s voice begins to rise. At its heart, he thinks, this isn’t worrying but simply exciting -

He should feel fear. He simply doesn’t.

This Megalith, he thinks, the power it holds - it fascinates him. It’s all he’s ever wanted. 

And between the tablet his team found and the one a Kalosian billionaire somehow acquired, the text they have reads everything they need. Between lines of code and legend, ancient text that his researchers are at least partially able to interpret, lies the coordinates of a gate and the key to its heart. Steven thinks, after all of these goddamned years, it’s so close he can almost taste it. It’s thrilling. 

His heart races in a way that makes him feel like a little kid again. Like he might have something of his own.

“We’re going tomorrow,” Steven says. 

But the silence Wallace faces him with is deafening, crushing - and Steven can’t help but think maybe he doesn’t know the things he thought he knew. Maybe he’s wrong. 

“Promise me you’ll be careful,” Wallace says finally.

He supposes, maybe, all Wallace faces him with is reality. Steven thinks he’s unstoppable, insurmountable - but he knows that isn’t true. He may be steel but he can’t help but feel he’s a little more fragile than that at heart. 

“Yeah, okay.” But he shakes the thought aside. There’s no challenge he, Lysandre, and the boy with the dark Charizard cannot face. Nothing to hold them back or tear them down out of the sky. 

With Titan’s Meteor Mash and the Charizard’s Blast Burn, the deep blue blaze of the boy’s eyes - is it really his fault if he feels they’re absolutely untouchable? 

He can’t help but wish Wallace showed a little bit more excitement. Steven knows that after years, this ridiculous dream of his is just so close - it offers him strength, power. Accomplishment. The Megalith, to him, is a great unknown. But it’s one thing at its heart, really. It's a promise.

Tomorrow, Steven hopes, Lysandre can help him finally touch Rayquaza’s sky.

--[--x--]--

[CONFIDENTIAL FILE - DEVON CORP. & LYSANDRE LABORATORIES. XX/XX/20XX.]

Translation from ancient Hoennian found on both tablets - those discovered by Hoenn’s Devon Corporation and Kalos’ Lysandre Laboratories - to present day Galarian. Allow for margin of error.

To those who wish | for salvation, to reach the heavens:

The gate lies on an isolated point | surrounded by deepest sea

[INDECIPHERABLE] 28.2799 |  X 129.3871 [INDECIPHERABLE]

[INDECIPHERABLE] | [INDECIPHERABLE]

Sealed by [INDECIPHERABLE] | broken only by those who:

Retrieve the iridian jewel | of legend

Fallen from the sky a thousand years past | to [INDECIPHERABLE]

The above proven friend | stranger, perhaps, but not lost

Or to [INDECIPHERABLE] | whose blood flows like the heart of [INDECIPHERABLE]

A tale of ancient legend | a person of the same

We request [INDECIPHERABLE] | but a single drop

For those who fear, we sincerely apologize for the trouble | we understand and hope your fervent wish may bring what you desire

But for those who hunger, who ambition | who are driven by selfish measures

We have nothing to say | in fact, we expect swift [INDECIPHERABLE]

All the same, we wish | the best for those attempting the climb

For [INDECIPHERABLE] lies at the heart of | [INDECIPHERABLE]

A meteor of a thousand stars | sealed beyond the gate of our ancestors

The first, we believe | despite what [INDECIPHERABLE] may say

Untouchable | we had hoped

But to those who | read [INDECIPHERABLE]

Let you, if you desire | to touch the sky.

  (We apologize, for much of the text has been faded and lost to time. We believe this to be the most accurate and complete record available.]

--[--x--]--

Alain hopes Lysandre knows what they’re doing. 

Steven recites, once again, under his breath - the text from the two tablets. The keys, he and Lysandre call them. 

Alain wants to ask what the keys are to, what they are to open - but he feels it isn’t his place. He, simply, heard rumors about the origins of Mega Evolution and that was all it took to get him on their team. He and Mairin have met with Lysandre and Steven at what appears to be an old, ruinous tower on the outskirts of Hoennian territory. It’s an island he’s never heard of before, shrouded in mist and dark clouds.

 He wishes he’ll be able to tell Augustine about whatever they end up finding today. This isn’t the first time he thinks of the Professor while on a task for Lysandre and he’d be delusional to think it will be the last, but he knows that promised Lysandre, he promised for Augustine’s safety, he promised himself - he will never say a word. Alain does nothing if not hold his promises, no matter how much they tear him apart from the inside. 

Yet this thrills him. It would thrill the Professor, too. Because he knows deep down inside, their hearts beat for legend and discovery. Science. The systematic reasoning behind the flow of one’s blood, the life in one’s eyes. The borderline magical power of a Keystone, a Mega Stone, and two hearts intertwined.

They’re not the same. But sometimes, he can’t help but think that he’s more like Augustine than anybody else he’s ever met, let alone anyone who has ever tried to raise him. 

On this random island, it’s too fucking cold, Alain decides. Mairin seems unfazed - she runs ahead to the sealed entrance of the tower, inspecting the closed door.

“How do we get in?” she ponders out loud. 

“That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” Alain says bluntly. “Please step back.” 

She pouts at him, sighing. She shuffles a couple steps backwards. 

“I personally interpret the “iridian jewel” as a Keystone,” Steven remarks. He’s referring to the text on the tablets. Alain supposes that makes relative sense - they shine with a rainbow light. But he feels the following line, fallen from the sky a thousand years past, gives him absolutely nothing to work with. Perhaps he’s just rusty with his history, let alone Hoenn’s.

Lysandre simply nods, and gestures at the seal. “It’s all yours.”

Steven pulls out his pin with his Keystone, and reaches out to touch the tower’s door with one hand. It doesn’t move in the slightest. In front of it is a pedestal with an intricate shape traced on top - a circle, at first glance, but one can faintly see the dark outline within. It reminds Alain of a strand of double-helix DNA, like the black swirl on his Keystone. Steven then places his stickpin and Keystone on the pedestal. Nothing happens.

He places his hand on top, as if increasing the pressure between the Keystone and the pedestal. It’s like waiting for a chemical reaction - something magical. Something impossible. 

And nothing happens.

“Hm,” Lysandre hums under his breath. “Interesting.” 

Steven takes a step back. He traces a hand over the faint dark lines. “It looks like the symbol of a Keystone,” he mutters. “I’m not sure what else it could be.”

“‘Fallen from the sky a thousand years past,’” Lysandre recites slowly. He looks at Steven. “In Hoenn, a thousand years ago-”

“A meteor fell from the sky,” Steven cuts in. “It granted the world’s first Mega Evolution. But that meteor is what is in this tower, if I have everything right, so it can’t be the key to opening the door.” 

Alain takes a few steps forward and peers over Steven’s shoulder at the pedestal. It truly does remind him of a Keystone. 

“We’re sure this meteor is intact ? Say, perhaps” - Lysandre muses nonchalantly - “it was split into pieces. One piece is here; that’s what you’re after. Perhaps the ‘friend’ mentioned has access to another piece.”

“Who?” Steven says pointedly. He stands up straight and turns to look at Lysandre. 

Lysandre doesn’t reply for a moment. Alain wouldn’t call it hesitation - Lysandre doesn’t hesitate. Everything he does is careful, meticulous. Planned. 

“That remains to be seen,” he says finally. He meets Steven’s gaze evenly. “You’d be most likely to know, yes?”

Nobody moves. Steven doesn’t look down - Alain does, in fact, but he’s not even the one being challenged. He thinks he must not truly understand the extent of Steven’s resolve. 

“The Devon Corporation is a technology company, not a group of historians,” he says flatly. He turns back to the pedestal, and then looks at Alain. “Alain, why don’t you try your Keystone? Perhaps mine is having an off day.” He flashes a slight smile that doesn’t quite come near his eyes. Does Alain imagine the wounded pride in his voice, the hesitation? 

Alain supposes he is a bit delusional, hoping to change the world one day. It’s a childish hope and yet, his pursuit never ends. It’s an ever dwelling whisper in the back of his head, typically outspoken by the one that says become stronger. But he knows deep down that he’d like to change things for the better, and that’s why, beyond his Keystone and Kuro’s Charizardite, he’s with Lysandre to begin with. Lysandre offers a road of endless potential and a world he was never granted before. 

And perhaps it’s that delusional hope that leads him to think maybe he can do something - maybe he can unlock a seal, discover a secret. Change the world. Do what Steven could not.

“Sure.” Alain glances over his shoulder at Lysandre - his boss’ face remains unmoving. It’s impossible to read him. Alain slides his Mega Ring off of his left wrist, and then raises his left hand to place it on the pedestal. 

Then his eyes catch, falling on the dark swirl on the podium’s surface. It glitters slightly, despite the lack of sun. Embedded is a thin line of crystals, almost, a pale white-silver upon first glance. The longer he looks at them, the more he’s convinced there’s a deep red glare reflecting off of their surface. He reaches out to touch it, Mega Ring still in hand. 

It draws blood.

Alain doesn’t feel much hurt - it’s minor, like a paper cut or like touching a shard of glass. But he yanks his hand away and swears under his breath. He glances at the slight dribble of blood down his left pointer finger. 

“What’s wrong?” Steven asks. 

“Nothing.” It’s instinctive. Short. He wraps his hand around his Mega Ring, feels the Keystone’s pulsing warmth - powerful. 

“Are you-”

He doesn’t want Steven to bother asking. Immediately, Alain presses his Keystone to the pedestal.

Light explodes.

“What the fuck- ”

“Arceus,” Steven gasps.

The pedestal glows, the outer edge of the circle design shining with a dozen colors - like a Keystone. Like Mega Evolution’s light. Then, slowly, the door splits in half and opens. For a moment, everyone is silent. Then-

Alain takes two steps back.

“How did you do that?” Steven asks.

Alain turns to look at him, slipping his Mega Ring back over his wrist. “You tell me,” he says honestly.

Steven and Lysandre share a glance. Lysandre, unfazed, simply smiles. “Well done, Alain.” 

Didn’t do shit, is what Alain thinks. But he isn’t sure how true that can be. He’s more baffled by his Keystone doing the trick and not Steven’s, but perhaps Lysandre knows something he doesn’t. Perhaps it has an unusual origin, perhaps he got it from a different source and it contains a different sense of energy.

“That was so cool!” Mairin exclaims. She runs up to the pedestal. “Like magic!”

Alain supposes so.

“Really, Alain, I’m not sure how you did it - but we couldn’t have done this without you,” Steven says. 

Alain’s first reaction is hostility; searching for a secondary motive. But Hoenn’s Champion sounds fully and entirely sincere, wonder twinkling in his gray-blue eyes. Alain shrugs. Opening the gate seemed impossible, perhaps - but what is impossible? Really, the term should be improbable. And Alain has done plenty of things he had once believed were statistically improbable. 

“Did you hear that, Alain?” Mairin whispers excitedly, nudging him in the arm. “The Champion just complimented you!”

He turns to look at her. She looks at him with nothing short of admiration - and fuck, it makes his heart hurt, but he doesn’t really want to think about it right now-

“Yeah, okay,” he mutters. Do all of the thoughts in his head even matter?

Steven is the first one to step through the doorway - and he stares up, at the dozens of flights of half-cracked stairs leading towards the top of the tower. He lets out a sigh, seemingly in observation of just how far they have to climb, but then he turns over his shoulder to look past Alain and at Lysandre. He smiles. “I’m really grateful to you, Lysandre. We couldn’t have done this without your research.”

Lysandre returns his smile with one of his own. “Actually, Steven” - he pauses, more so for effect than any sort of phrasing - “I’d like to thank you.” He takes three strides into the tower and looks up at the small gap in the tower’s ceiling - a skylight with a ladder leading through it. Then he gestures to the first flight of stairs. “Shall we?”

Mairin runs ahead of them and begins the climb, Chespie by her side. “Let’s go!”

Alain watches her. He almost smiles. Then he looks down at his left hand, the cut on his finger nearly sealed. 

Alain wipes the last of the blood on his jacket sleeve. Then he nods, rests a hand on Kuro’s Pokeball, and begins his ascent up towards the sky.

--[--x--]--

Steven’s quest to Sky Pillar is an unusual one.

It is not a quest for secrets or for power. He supposes one could label it the former, but there are a dozen other fields open to him that really, he believes would be more beneficial to both his own and Devon’s future. And he harbors curiosity, he knows, about Mega Evolution and the mysterious Megalith’s power. But at its heart, he thinks this journey is in pursuit of validation and accomplishment. 

As the Champion, he feels he has nothing left to earn. Nothing left to prove. He has defeated every obstacle, has he not? But as Devon’s heir, he feels like he’s floating in an empty sea. Alone and tired and weak, perhaps weak most of all - because he hasn’t earned his position nor his power. He wants to prove himself, he supposes. At its heart his only goal is to prove himself. 

In actuality, he wishes to feel the power of a meteor fallen a thousand years ago. He wishes to harness it, to study it, to use it for some form of good. He wishes to use it to prove that he may one day be worthy.

And Lysandre offers him a path; an opportunity. A powerful ally and connection, one that Steven’s father has already approved of.

It’s a dream of many years, finally within reach.

So Steven supposes that in some ways, Lysandre offers him a shortcut to everything he wants. He’d be a fool to pass up their collaboration.

He follows Alain and Mairin. And together, they climb the steps and ladders to the top of the tower. 

Finally, when they reach the top - Steven steps into the near-blinding light and feels nothing but the limitless possibilities of the future.

--[--x--]--

Steven stumbles through translating the ancient Hoennian text at the top of the tower, but Alain supposes he cannot complain when he knows he would be no better. 

“Hold two keys up to the two daises,” Steven says finally. “Now, is it talking tablet keys or Keystones?” 

“It would be rather unfortunate if it was the former,” Lysandre remarks, “considering our half is in Kalos.”

“We can try Keystones again,” Steven says. He holds his stickpin towards one dais, and gestures for Alain to do the same near the other. 

Alain walks to the one on the left and holds out his wrist. 

And he can’t help but smile when light erupts along the dais’ edges, then spreading through an intricate pattern of lines across the entire tower’s surface. 

“All right!” Steven exclaims. He glances at Alain and smiles. Alain looks to the other side.

The light surrounds them - goes in an entire, full circle. It’s iridescent like the light of his Keystone and he supposes that makes sense. 

“That’s amazing!” Mairin exclaims. “Chespie, look!”

Alain can’t help the warming feeling in his heart. He recognizes the sense of childlike wonder, and as he looks around - he can’t help but feel mystified. Maybe he’s somewhat of the same.

Then the structure begins to rumble.

Slowly, a large, silver-white crystal, glimmering with all colors of the rainbow, emerges out of the ground below. His breath catches.

What the fuck is that- 

But his second thought is not confusion nor fear, rather a sense of wonder - awe, even. The crystal swirls with golden light; it reflects crimson red and emerald green and deep, aquamarine blue. It’s a lavender-like violet. And then Alain feels nothing but heat, the heat being an exertion of its pure power. 

He thinks he knows it then. Nobody - not Lysandre nor Steven, nor Augustine - has to tell him. 

It’s a Mega Stone, he thinks. Because its light pulses like the faint beating of a heart and he doesn’t think he’s ever seen or felt something so powerful in his entire life.

“The Megalith, I believe,” Lysandre says calmly. “I’d call this a successful mission.” Then he reaches into his pocket and pulls out his Holocaster, whispering into it. 

Alain turns to look at Steven. 

The older trainer is grinning. And Alain isn’t sure he could classify that light in his eyes any other way than sparkling - and carrying a sense of wonder, a sense of pride. Accomplishment. Alain knows just then that this means a whole lot to Hoenn’s Champion, and he can’t really blame him.

He isn’t sure it’s sunk in yet that there’s a great possibility that nobody else in recent times has unlocked the secret the way they just have. And Alain, too, takes his turn to smile - because Arceus, if only they could all see him now. 

He feels it's right that for once, he harbors a small sense of pride. 

“Chespin-Che!” Chespie leaps out of Mairin’s arms and runs towards the Megalith, filled with curiosity.

“Chespie, no! It’s dangerous!” Mairin runs after him and scoops him up in her arms. “You have to be more careful,” she scolds.

It’s a bit ironic, Alain thinks. But he leaves her and Chespie be - they can take care of each other while they wait for Lysandre’s research team to arrive. He watches Mairin as she ruffles the quills on Chespie’s head. One yellow sleeve of her shirt slips down just enough that he catches a glimpse of her little friendship bracelet again, and Alain looks down. 

He can feel the wind change before anything else, but then he hears the rumble of one of Lysandre’s aircrafts. It hovers just above the tower, without enough room to land, as a large research crew disembarks. Alain stands in the corner, unmoving and observing as the scientists begin research. They monitor its energy, its heat, its internal pressure. 

“Lysandre, sir, would you like us to begin collecting samples of the crystal itself?” one researcher asks. 

“No need,” Lysandre says dismissively. 

Alain stares at him. No need? He thinks there is plenty of need, plenty to be learned and studied. But Lysandre doesn’t elaborate, and Alain feels it’s far from his place to question him. After all, one of them is an employee and the other a corporate CEO and billionaire.

Steven is talking to Lysandre, mostly, and that is yet another conversation Alain does not feel he should be a part of. Mairin and Chespie stare at things with great wonder, beginning to ask questions that Alain simply does not know the answer to - where does the light come from? How does it appear? Where did the crystal come from? And what is Lysandre’s team doing?

“I don’t know,” he’s forced to mutter truthfully. “Ask Steven.” And that’s a dumb deflection, he knows, because Steven might not know any of those answers either. But Alain’s a little bit too lost in his own head to focus on what Mairin has to say. 

“Fine,” Mairin says with a huff. “It was just a question. ”

Alain opens his mouth to apologize, but then she’s stomping off in her slightly angry way. He knows it’ll blow over within the next hour - he can’t really be bothered to chase after her. 

Hesitantly, Alain takes a few steps towards the scientists. One of them is sitting on the ground with a computer open, showing the real-time data on the energy of the Megalith. Alain observes as the graphs grow up and down - then he notices something about the precise rise and fall, the exact energy readings. For a moment it’s simply something familiar that he cannot place. A shape all too memorable but the name, the meaning is what he forgets-

He feels himself unlocking a section of his brain long untouched. A bit rusty but not broken, not forgotten. How could he ever?

“It’s the exact same energy reading as a Mega Stone,” he comments before he can think better of it. And he knows that because he’s the one who ran half of the tests on Diantha’s Gardevoirite the one day Augustine had gotten a chance to study it. “But” - It’s a bit different, he knows. The graph on the far right, perhaps, the internal heat - “a higher heat, I guess? Perhaps more power?”

The scientist turns around to stare at him. 

Alain prepares for a biting remark - how as simply a trainer, not a researcher, this isn’t his place. How he’s not really part of Lysandre Laboratories when he’s not like the rest of them. He begins to apologize. “Oh, sorry, I-”

“You’re rather correct, actually,” the scientist said. He turns back to the screen and then waves Alain off. “Now, leave me in peace. It’s distracting with you hovering over my shoulder.”

Oh. Oh. Well, Alain is pleasantly surprised by that. He does as requested and steps away. But his head is spinning, the gears in his brain begin to turn - like clockwork, it’s like pieces fall into place. It’s a Mega Stone but stronger, perhaps. But the lines have a slight variation, higher spikes and lower valleys. Like a slightly more reactive version, similar but not quite the same - he isn’t quite sure, really. This is Augustine’s field and not his, at least not his anymore. 

Suddenly, there’s a rumble Alain only recognizes as thunder. He glances up at the sky - dark clouds have begun to form, like a storm on the near horizon. He finds it odd considering it was sunny only a moment ago. 

“Lysandre, sir, the internal pressure of the Megalith is rising very quickly,” one scientist says. “In fact, so is the heat, its energy levels are spiking-”

There’s a roar. It’s a large, draconian roar, and it feels like it shakes the entire fucking earth-

Nobody moves. 

Alain isn’t sure if he simply imagines it, but he thinks he hears a quiet, gasped, “what the fuck” from Steven Stone. In any other situation he would have laughed, except that the Champion is having the exact same thoughts as all the rest of them.

And from the clouds comes a green blur, streaked with a crimson red and a golden light. A parting of the clouds, the heavens, for a titan hellbent on something that Alain doesn’t really want to even consider. He can’t. He simply can’t.

And it’s like from there, everything just falls apart.

Because Rayquaza roars, a serpent-like figure of only legend and fairytale - a monster, Alain thinks, a fucking monster.

For a moment, all he can do is freeze up. Go absolutely still and become nothing but afraid. 

It’s like he’s shaking; like a Deerling in a pair of headlights. Except the headlights are two angry, twisted yellow eyes. They belong to a dragon of thousands of years past, of conflict and war and pain and-

Alain thinks he’s going to be sick. He’s going to throw up, maybe-

That can’t be real. 

Yet, he knows, it is real. It’s real and it’s a hundred times more powerful than he’ll ever be.

It looks straight at him and Alain’s blood goes cold. 

And all he can think is that he doesn’t really want to fucking die. 

--[--x--]--

Wallace was right. 

Fucking Arceus, why did he ever doubt him? Wallace is his best friend and of course Wallace was right-

He promised he’d be careful. But there’s no way Steven could have known. 

He shouldn’t have made that promise. He knows he can’t keep it anymore. 

--[--x--]--

Lighting flashes across the sky. The Megalith pulses - one, two, three times. Brighter and brighter and the heat too grows, grows so much that Alain feels like he may just melt. He may just crumble and there’s nothing he can do, nothing he can do but fight fire with fire-

“Rayquaza?” Steven lets out little more than a gasp. He looks pale, scared - Alain must look the same. 

Oh Arceus, fucking hell-

Fight fire with fire.

And Rayquaza begins to glow, cast in a golden light - it spreads out like tendrils from the crest of its head, like a Keystone and a Mega Stone between Rayquaza and the Megalith-

And slowly, it shifts. It changes shape.

“That’s not possible,” Steven says softly. “That’s simply not possible.”

It grows longer, further streamlined, the crests on its head grow longer and sharper. Ribbons spill off of its sides.

“Of course it is,” Lysandre says. “Of course it’s possible.”

Improbable. Not impossible.

Rayquaza Mega Evolves. And when it roars, it shakes the entire tower. The scientists are already packing up and leaving and preparing to escape into the aircraft once again - but Alain doesn’t run. Alain can’t run. 

Is it because he feels so frozen in place? Like he couldn’t go, even if he wanted to?

Or, simply put - he looks at Mairin and Chespie, shaking as they hide behind him, like he can save them both - he thinks, for fucking once, he cannot run away. What if he’s tired of running away? What if all he’s done is run away? And what if, what if - he can’t run if he has something to protect?

Because he cannot fucking run when that’s all he’s done his entire fucking life. 

Alain reaches to his belt and sends Kuro’s Pokeball spiraling through the air as hard as he possibly can. 

“Respond to my heart, beyond evolution-”

He doesn’t need to do anything. There’s no trigger and there’s no blood, no stab in the chest or arrow to heart. He thinks his blood is rushing like a goddamn river, he doesn’t know the last time he felt this much fear.

It drives him forwards. It gives him every ounce of power that he needs.

And for one moment, he feels things go eerily calm. Like the world around him just stops and it’s him, Kuro, Rayquaza, and their rapidly beating hearts - and Alain thinks it’s not fighting fire with fire. It’s the heart of a dragon against the heart of a dragon.

And if he had to trust one creature’s heart with his life, it’s Kuro. Every single time.

“Kuro, Mega Evolve!” 

He screams and it tears at his throat, but it makes him feel alive. 

--[--x--]--

He raises his Keystone into the air. It may not pulse, it may not bleed with the same power as the Megalith. But it moves, glows with the strength of a human heart. 

Its light explodes and Kuro shoots into the air, chestplate and Mega Stone glowing - and Kuro isn’t Rayquaza, he isn’t all-mighty and he isn’t a literal god - but Alain knows Kuro is his very best friend. 

And if he doesn’t want to run, doesn’t want to die - Kuro’s the only one who can save them. 

“Alain-”

All he hears from Mairin is fear-

Rayquaza launches a Draco Meteor. 

“Use Flamethrower!” Alain screams. “And Mairin, fucking hide- ” 

Before he knows it, Steven’s Mega Metagross shoots up alongside Kuro, glowing with the power of a Meteor Mash. “Use Meteor Mash!”

Alain Viard, perhaps, is done running. He stands his ground, he fights - he fights for Mairin and he fights for Chespie. He fights for them because he fights to protect. He fights for them and he fights for himself, he fights for Kuro, he fights for their future-

That’s it. That’s it, he knows. He feels it with a soft yet powerful, a calm clarity. A far cry from the chaos of the tower warfront, where he feels he’s fighting with guns blazing and everything he’s ever had. With every ounce of strength he’s worked nearly six years to earn. 

Alain fights for his future, a chance to see another day. A chance to be something greater. 

Lysandre offered it to him first, all those years ago - and so Alain fights on now. He has no other choice. 

“Use Dragon Claw!”

Kuro counters Draco Meteor with Flamethrower, and Steven’s Metagross spins past every stone with its Meteor Mash. Kuro shoots up in the air and uppercuts Rayquaza with a glowing green Dragon Claw. 

Super effective Dragon Claw, but everything else is shit-

He fumbles at his waist until he finds his last remaining Pokeball. He hesitates. 

But Alain has no time for hesitation when facing near death.

He sends it flying forwards. “Mizumi, use Ice Beam!”

That, he thinks, will do a bit better. 

Kuro stands with his heart but the potential damage, the chance - the numbers speak for themselves. Mizumi gives them a much higher shot to make it out of here alive. 

The Greninja springs forward with no hesitation - obedient. Quick moving. 

She fires an Ice Beam into the air at Rayquaza, it spins past it. 

Alain swears. Kuro prepares another Dragon Claw in the sky but Rayquaza roars. “Kuro, watch out-”

Rayquaza hits with an Extreme Speed. Kuro’s sent plummeting out of the sky, for a moment he doesn’t right himself in the air and Alain’s blood goes so cold because he doesn’t want to fucking lose him. 

“Titan, catch Charizard and then get out of there!” 

Steven’s Mega Metagross catches Kuro as he falls. It teleports them back towards the ground. Kuro stands shakily in front of Alain, glances at Mizumi, and then spreads his jet black wings. He roars at Rayquaza. Blue flames shoot into the sky.

“Ice Beam and Flamethrower!” Alain orders.

Kuro fires a Flamethrower. Rayquaza spins to dodge right. It snakes through the air, five times faster than any other Pokemon Alain’s ever seen - its golden tendrils twirl through the stormy sky and at any other moment, he might marvel at it. It’s a terrifying sort of beautiful.

Mizumi uses Ice Beam and it hits Rayquaza in the side after it dodges Kuro’s Flamethrower. Titan uses Flash Cannon.

Its power, Alain thinks, is unrivaled. It fills him with dread, fear, and a twisted sense of wonder.

“Watch out for Draco Meteor-” Steven starts.

Too late. 

The Draco Meteor is already firing.

It fires and hell rains down, fifty orange meteors blazing with heat and fire. A suffocating, orange inferno, Alain thinks it may just burn him alive-

It tears the tower apart. The smoke rises.

And Mairin, Mairin-

But she screams and Alain turns on instinct. He moves on instinct. 

He sees the meteor headed straight for her, the one that narrowly misses her but sends her flying through the air from the impact mere centimeters away-

“Mairin!”

He screams and dives after her.

He falls. 

And they fall together. He hits the ground first and pain erupts across his left shoulder. But Mairin - Mairin, holding Chespie tight - is spared most of the impact. That’s what matters.

That’s what fucking matters.

His shoulder hurts like hell-

Then the rubble starts caving in, it falls down, Alain wants to scream-

He holds Mairin tighter and shuts his eyes.

He doesn’t want to fucking die . But if he does, at least he does in an attempt to save somebody truly worth saving.

--[--x--]--

Steven finally had it. It was right there within his reach. But then-

Is it trying to destroy this place? he can’t help but wonder. He can’t help but wonder as it feels he’s staring death straight in the face. 

And he and Titan do everything they can to be strong, to be just as strong as the monster itself - but what can he do? He’s only human, after all. He’s just a trainer and Titan is just his Pokemon and Rayquaza, Mega Rayquaza is a god of legend with unrivaled power. How does he fix this?

Suddenly, validation and accomplishment and pride become trivial. Who fucking cares?

He watches Alain dive after Mairin. He watches them fall. And he watches a meteor, headed straight for him - but Titan leaps in front of him and takes the impact. The blast sends Steven spiraling backwards. He screams Titan’s name and then shuts his eyes, clenches Titan’s Pokeball.

He’s sorry. 

He feels all of this is somehow his fault.

--[--x--]--

Alain lays, eyes shut. He doesn’t let Mairin go.

And then, suddenly - the flames, the chaos, the burning - it simply stops. Everything falls quiet. 

Like a war front suddenly put under armistice, it becomes so eerily peaceful that Alain questions if he’s really alive. If that’s really the end.

It’s dark, he notices, under this pile of rubble that fell in such a way that it avoided crushing them both by less than two feet. He’s not typically claustrophobic but this time around, he truly feels he’s suffocating on his own air. 

“Alain?” 

He recognizes Steven’s voice.

A large piece of rubble is pulled away. Light pours in.

Alain, for the first time since Rayquaza appeared, takes a real good breath. He feels all of the tension in his back, in his neck, in his arms - it just dissipates. He breathes-

“Alain?”

More rubble is pulled away and Alain is able to sit up. He looks down at Mairin.

“Are you okay, Mairin?” he asks softly. It comes out more quiet, more careful than he had hoped. But he isn’t sure he can bring himself to care about his image right now.

She nods slightly. She clenches Chespie in her arms and then looks at him. “Yeah,” she says quietly. “We’re okay.”

Alain turns to look over his shoulder. Pain shoots through his entire fucking body like a lightning bolt, it hurts like hell-

He winces. 

“Are you okay?” Steven asks.

It feels like a lie, it tastes like a lie, it is a lie - but he looks at Steven and musters all of his courage to say “I’m fine. We’re fine.”

“Alain, you seem to be in pain-” Steven starts.

“Fucking don’t,” Alain mutters. “It’s fine.”

“It’s not fine if it hurts,” Mairin protests. “You’re lying!”

“It’s fine! ” he snaps. Immediately, he feels bad - she doesn’t deserve that. But he can’t, he can’t right now-

He forces himself out of the rubble and he stands up. He brushes the dust and dirt off of himself, and then realizes all he’s really done is substitute it with the blood dripping down his left hand. He doesn’t really care. 

“I’m glad you are all right,” Lysandre says calmly, joining them. He looks unfazed, somehow. He folds his hands behind his back. Then he turns to look at where the Megalith is-

Was.

Because Alain follows his gaze to find that now, there is nothing but a large crater and absolutely no crystal. “What happened to it?” he asks.

He hears a roar - but unlike Rayquaza’s, this one makes him feel calmer. Safe. Slowly, he begins to feel like he’s being grounded again. Kuro steps towards him and nudges him in the head, reverting to his normal form. 

“It disappeared,” Steven replies. “We aren't sure what happened to it.”

Off to the side stands Mizumi, her arms crossed and face still. She seems all right, and Alain returns her to her Pokeball as he whispers a thank you. 

He scratches Kuro’s head. “Thank you, buddy,” he mutters. “You’re incredible.” 

Like a war front, he supposes, things are hell one moment and dead silent the next. Unmoving. Lysandre tells them about how the Megalith disappeared, how they lost it during the Draco Meteor when both it and Rayquaza vanished among the smoke and flames. His scientists are flown back in and begin studying the area, searching for anything left of the Megalith and examining the rubble. They wait for a couple of hours. 

Alain breathes, sits with Kuro and leans into his side when he does stand - he waits until his heart rate returns to normal. He waits until he feels all right and the ache in his shoulder doesn’t bother him quite enough to warrant a proper medical examination. He’s pretty sure he’s had worse. It’s a while before Lysandre speaks again, when he beckons Alain and Steven over towards him. Mairin follows, as she tends to do.

“Just now, there was a faith detection of the Megalith’s energy. It’s right off the coast of Rustboro City. We have no confirmation of the Megalith’s actual presence, but the energy waves are exactly the same.” Lysandre passes a tablet into Alain’s hands. “I’m sure you will recognize this.”

Alain stares at the screen. It does all make sense. The graphs line up, the energy levels spike and fall like the Megalith. Like a more powerful Mega Stone. Alain grips the tablet tighter. “So we can find the Megalith there?” he says. He hopes he hides his fear well enough. He hopes he sounds okay.

“Perhaps,” Lysandre says. If he sees straight through Alain, Lysandre doesn’t show it. He doesn’t say it. 

“I suppose that’s our best shot at recovering it,” Steven concludes. “We came so close - but there is still so much research to be done.” 

And he, too, seems so stoic and calm. Like they didn’t nearly brush hands with death, like none of that even just happened-

“Alain.”

Alain snaps his head up to look at Lysandre. “Yes?” It would be best for him, too, to pretend that none of that ever happened.

“I’d like you to head towards Rustboro City to investigate further while we finish up our research here,” Lysandre says. It’s more of an order than a comment - Alain can’t disagree. He couldn’t even if he wanted to.

So “of course,” is how he replies. Because like an armistice, it isn’t truly over. Loose ends are left untied and while all falls quiet, the fight continues on, simply waiting for another day. 

“I’ll join him,” Steven offers. “Much of the Devon Corporation is based in Rustboro City - I will arrange to have us picked up at the base of the tower within two hours.” 

Alain looks at him and nods. “Sounds good.” He hesitates - then he looks down at Mairin, who stands next to Steven. “Why don’t you go with Steven for now? I’ll meet you at the bottom of the tower and then we’ll go to Rustboro together.”

She nods - barely, Alain barely notices. She can’t seem to look him in the eye. 

Alain can’t help but feel like it’s his fault. She’s too young for this. She’s getting roped into all of this bullshit when she deserves to just be a kid. 

Why - why is it that some of them can’t have their fucking childhood? Why is it that some of them, not even twelve years old, are forced to watch the world come crashing down, watch as the cuts begin to bleed and watch as they begin to lose-

Fuck, he’s going to throw up. He can’t fucking do this.

So he turns away from her. He wants to say he’s sorry but right now, he really can’t. Instead, he passes the tablet back to Lysandre as Steven and Mairin go off to descend the tower and call for a Devon Corporation aircraft. 

He looks at Lysandre - Lysandre looks at him and his eyes narrow.

“Before you go, Alain” - his voice lowers to barely above a murmur - “Please remember. You must stay very close to the Champion, as his knowledge is of great importance to us.”

Alain stiffly nods. He turns, watches as Steven and Mairin begin to walk away - and then nods again. “I understand.” 

And he swallows, he ignores, he moves past the pain in his shoulder, the fear in his head. The every logical sense of his being that says this is fucking stupid, they can’t do this. He’s out of his league.

But what does Alain want, really? What does he want but to change the world?

He knows he has to be stronger. He has to be stronger to save himself, but most of all to protect. To change things so that he won’t fuck up this time around, so that he won’t lose Mairin too-

But he wants to change the world. 

In the end, what even are they? What are he and Mairin, when he can’t dare say friends, can he? It’s different. It’s different because after these past three months, he’s grown to trust her. To care about her more than he wants to; he watches out for her. She trusts him. And he tells himself he sees himself, he just sees the curiosity he had as a child. But really, the best and only way for him to put it-

She feels like his little sister. 

And Alain breathes, he looks up at the sky - the falling sun, the yellow sky. The long shadows and the golden light. 

In the end, what he wants the most is a chance to try again. To fix all of the things that went wrong, to have another chance at a thing - this wild thing called family.  

He looks at the sky, looks at the sun, looks towards the future.

And Alain hopes, maybe, that his growing strength and his growing power will be enough. One day, he may change the world. And one day, he will be able to protect the ones that matter the most. 

That’s the reason for everything he does.

~~~~~~ Pokemon Files ~~~~~~

“Titan” Metagross @ Metagrossite

Ability: Clear Body -> Tough Claws

EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

Adamant Nature

- Meteor Mash

- Zen Headbutt

- Hammer Arm

- Bullet Punch

“Mizumi” Greninja (F) @ Expert Belt

Ability: Torrent

EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

Lonely Nature

- Dark Pulse

- Hydro Pump

- Ice Beam

- U-turn