Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Happy Anniversary!~”
“Chespin Ches!”

Alain had opened the door to the hotel to see Mairin holding up a bag of Galarian scones with a big grin on her face. Her partner, Chespie, was resting on the girl's shoulder, just as excited as his trainer. Alain looked past his traveling buddy and out their window they had a good view of Wyndon. The duo had come to Galar so Alain could compete in the Masters Eight tournament. He had just been out for a morning walk that day but was then hounded by the Galarian press who were… something else.

“So… what are we celebrating today?” Alain asked with a soft grin as he closed the door behind him and walked over to his bed, flopping down just frankly exhausted.

“Today is the anniversary of you getting out of the maison d'arrêt!”

“What?” Alain shot the girl an inquisitive look. “I haven’t been to the maison… to jail?”

“But you were in custody for questioning!” Mairin said with a cheeky grin. Oh, she was talking about the day after they defeated Lysandre.

Alain remembered a lot from that time, it was probably the lowest point of his life after all. Even though Lysandre had been dishonest with what Alain's research was going towards, his actions had still helped cause the events that took place in Kalos that day. Officer Jenny had to take him in because of this but they never planned to charge him, they just wanted to know what the teen knew. He was questioned for a long time and had to stay nearby for a few extra days after that until he was finally cleared. Then the professor picked him up and brought him back to the lab where so many of the people he cared about had waited for him. Mairin had planned the whole thing.

“Wouldn’t it be nicer to say this is the anniversary of my homecoming? You usually don’t celebrate something connected to a crime,” he sat up in bed and sighed. Mairin plopped down next to him as she began to open the box of scones.

“Want one or not, Torchic-butt?” She teased holding one of the scones out. Alain took it with a weak grumble. He wasn’t one to look a gift Rapidash in the mouth on a tasty snack but… the whole thing was odd.

Mairin had started celebrating these random little anniversaries lately. The anniversary of their first trip to Hoenn, the anniversary of the time Alain got motion sickness on that ferris wheel in Nimbasa… They had been traveling together for almost two years now and she seemed to use these seemingly unordinary dates as an excuse to pick up snacks or little trinkets to give to Alain. It was cute but after the first few times Alain picked up on something… sad in her expression each time a new “anniversary” came up.

“Mairin? Why are we doing this?” Alain asked once he had finished his scone. He rested his arms on his knees and leaned forward, looking intently at his dear friend.

“What do you mean?” Mairin asked, she only let her gaze wander nervously for a second before looking back at Alain.

“You are celebrating my arrest and other things like days of good food we ate. Are you always tracking these dates? And what is worth celebrating about them?” Alain wasn’t trying to sound accusatory, but his words still made Mairin’s happy facade slip a bit.

“Isn’t it good to have things to celebrate? Loosen up a bit bestie!” Mairin patted his back and quickly stood up as she said this. She took the box of scones with her as she walked to the hotel room's kitchenette. She kept her back turned to Alain and Chespie, who remained on the bed, concerned about the girl's behavior.

“Chespin?” The spiny nut Pokemon hopped off the bed and walked over to Mairin. It held onto her leg, in his own way asking if she was okay.

“Finding things to celebrate… everyday… makes things fun right?” The girl’s voice cracked a bit as she said that. Alain got up cautiously and walked up to her. “Otherwise, the adventure might end…”

Mairin turned to face him again, the smile on her face was almost bittersweet.

“What do you mean the adventure might end?” Alain asked, a bit stunned.

“How long has it been since our travels have led us to new information about Mega Evolution? The thing Professor Sycamore sent us to learn about? And I… don’t really do gyms that often but you are in one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world!”

“I… don’t battle much either. I only joined because Steven recommended it…” Alain said a bit sheepishly. He rubbed his arm and looked down at her. They had changed a lot these two years, but god she still seemed so small sometimes. He just wanted to wrap her up in his arms and shield her from everything.

“You haven’t seriously battled since the Lumiose Conference and yet you are the 6th strongest trainer in this whole thing! That’s above Ash who probably battles in his sleep!” Mairin let out a dry chuckle, imagining what she had just said actually happening. Alain smiled as well, it seemed probable with his rambunctious rival.

“This is going to end with you taking home the number one spot and then what? What is next… for us?” Mairin asked looking down.

That was the key. Mairin thought things were coming to an end. It was an insecurity that popped up every now and then, after all, Alain had done it once before. He thought at the time he was protecting his companion, but after it was all over he had come to realize he had done the opposite. He had hurt her. Alain always felt denser than a teeter-dancing Slowpoke when he realized he had missed all the signs Mairin was giving him. He almost sighed but quickly stopped himself, if he sounded upset right now she might feel worse as well. So instead he brought his hand up to Mairin’s shoulder, causing her to look back up in surprise.

“What’s next is we’ll have a new anniversary to celebrate next year.”

Mairin’s eyes got a bit wet for a moment. She then blinked away any tears and wrapped her arms around Alain. He still wasn’t much for affection but these embraces they had after one of them had been suffering… they were always the best medicine for the situation.

“I don’t want to hear you talk down about not being a battler,” Alain said as he moved back a bit, making eye contact with Mairin. “You may not have a strong battle passion but you do have the drive to help others and learn. That’s a valuable skill on its own.”

“That’s… nice of you to say Alain…” Mairin said softly before finally breaking free of their hug. “Besides, two of my best friends are champion-level trainers! That’s gotta count for something right?”

“Well you need two champion-level trainers with you to keep up with your legendary levels of clumsiness,” Alain pointed out in his usual deadpan manner.

“Hey! I am getting better! Did you even know I got up at 5 in the morning, while you were snoozing, to get these? I was running to get to the bakery when it opened and I almost fell. But by flailing my arms I was able to not fall on my face! No help from Chespie required!” Mairin said as she punched her puffed-out chest in over dramatic pride.

“And I bet you looked as graceful as a paralyzed Ducklett…” Alain said. Chespie laughed too.

“Jerks!” She gasped. “I think I’ll just go take these scones to my other Champion bestie, Steven!”

She marched over to the hotel door with the box in her hands.

“Ches!” Chespie followed Mairin with a big grin.

“Let me come before you find a way to fall out of an elevator,” Alain said as he joined her side. This bitch had to have the last word.

The two fought with their words all the way to Steven's room and it felt like the day they had met… all over again.

Chapter Text

“This is really your first time having a Lumiose Galette?” Tierno asked as he looked down at Mairin, now he was anticipating the moment she’d take her first bite.

“Yeah… I mean I’m not from Lumiose and have really only been here to get Chespie and for the conference… and well most of my time has been in the lab…” Mairin said. She tried not to let the mood drop as she herself was remembering how many days had truly passed by in the dreary medical wing of Lysandre Labs. She had been too terrified to leave Chespie’s side… in case the worst came to pass. Of course that changed when Lysandre told her about Alain coming to compete in the Lumiose Conference, she had to see him there… Chespie would have understood.

Speaking of the devil, her starter Pokemon had made its way up to her shoulder to nudge the girl's cheek to drag her back to reality and remind her everything was all right now.

Mairin smiled and then tried to think positive again, which was hard to do standing in the wreckage of Lumiose City but… at least she was with good company.

It wasn’t just Tierno watching Mairin now. Trevor and Shauna were there as well, waiting for Mairin to try the famous snack. She took a bite and soon her whole face lit up.

“This is so good! And fluffy~” Mairin swooned as she began to finish up the rest.

“Sawyer thought the same thing,” Shauna mused. “Who knew helping save the owner of the famous food stall would get us free galettes for life? Even when they are still closed…”

“I remember when we first came to Lumiose to get our starters and start helping out the Professor, we all bought some on our way out of the city.” Tierno said.

“You two probably have eaten these more than I have… and I am the only one of us that actually grew up in Lumiose,” Trevor said with a sigh.

“You grew up here?” Mairin asked, genuinely surprised… well yeah maybe she only knew these guys for a few days but still she was very interested in learning more about them.

“Yep. Did you know we were a part of a scouting program? While you can get Kalos starter pokemon whenever you visit the professor, we entered a program to get Kanto starters straight from Professor Oak’s lab!” Shauna started up.

“I entered because I wanted to expand my pokedex. Getting a pokemon not native to Kalos really helped!” Trevor said.

“For me… I just knew Squirtle would be perfect for my dance team. Shauna-yana, you entered on a whim yeah?” Tierno asked, looking at the girl who was checking something on her Holocaster.

“I couldn’t help it! These guys all looked so cute! I am still surprised we were picked out of over a hundred candidates…”

“That’s so cool! I just ran away from a small town in the north-east…” Mairin said with a bashful scratch to the face.

“Woah you’re a runaway? That’s cool!” Tierno said.

“Uh it’s not… I’m just dramatic…” Mairin shoved the rest of the galette into her mouth to abruptly end the direction this conversation was going. She nearly choked from that little stunt. But after Chespie helped her get air back in her lungs she sprung around to face the trio of friends once again. “We should get back to the lab right? I don’t want the professor to worry.”

“Sounds good.” Shauna said as she gathered her napkins and threw them away. The others followed suit and then walked through the debris filled streets and back to Sycamores Research Lab.

“Astrid?”

Trevor had stopped as they got close to Professor Sycamore’s lab. There a blonde girl in purple stood on the steps leading up to the front door. What struck Mairin about the girl however was a keystone on the girl's earring.

“Hey Trevor! Crazy running into you, I feel like you are all over the city nowadays little hero!” Astrid walked up to Trevor and rubbed the boys hair affectionately, messing up his lego looking like hair. He gave an annoyed sigh as he tried to sweep his hair back into the bowlcut style.

“You were in the conference! Ash beat you in the quarterfinals!” Mairin said… but she looked closer at the ace trainer… She felt the nagging feeling she saw her somewhere else as well…

“Yes. And I blew my baby brother out of the water,” Astrid said with a smirk.

“In my defense I lost to the guy who won the whole thing,” Trevor groaned.

“Wait, is she your sister?” Mairin asked, but before Trevour could answer it seemed something dawned on Mairin. “And you! Fought Alain! With the mega Absol! In the woods!”

“You are right about both things. Trevor is my annoying little brother and I did fight Alain. His Charizard is a beast.” Astrid complimented. “And now I am taking a page out of his book. I need to fight more mega Pokemon! And that brought me here.”

“The lab?” Tierno tilted his head, a bit lost.

“Did you forget Tier? Professor Sycamore can use mega evolution. We literally saw it on TV!” Shauna pointed out.

“Oh yeah.”

“So you want to battle the Professor?” Mairin asked.

“Yes, and now I have three cute kids to help convince him. He rejected me yesterday.”

“So you came back?” Mairin, who was staying at the lab hadn’t even noticed anybody visiting the other day.

“Yes. I want to get a mega battle in before I make my way to Laverre City.”

“You are already heading back out?” Trevor asked, he sounded… bothered maybe?

“Mhm. I heard the gym leader, Valarie, got a mega stone recently.” Astrid said. She really was determined to fight more mega trainers. It made Mairin miss Alain.

Mairin couldn’t dwell on this feeling for long as the group, now consisting of five people, came into the lab.

“We’re back, professor!” Shauna called out. Soon the afformentioned professor came down the stairs and noticed them all.

“Welcome back! Did you enjoy your galettes?” Professor asked.

“I brought you one too, professor.” Mairin said as she walked over to him. In just two steps she had tripped over her own damn feet. Chespie caught the galette before it fell pitifully to the ground.

“Thank you Mairin, and you too, Chespie.” Sycamore said as he leaned down to grab the treat. As he was petting the friendly Pokemon Astrid stepped up.

“Good afternoon professor. I came by yesterday.”

“I do, Astrid right?” The professor said as he strained his back and made eye contact with the trainer.

“Yes. I just followed my brother here,” She pointed to Trevor. “And I wanted to ask again… please accept a battle from me!”

“I really don’t battle much… and I don’t have a full team.”

“I just want a one on one. Mega to mega!” Astrid pleaded.

The professor still looked skeptical. It also made sense considering they were barely 24 hours separated from the world almost ending.

“It will help with your research,” Trevor meekly pointed out, seems he wanted to help his sister out even when he seemed conflicted.

“Okay… but if Garchomp gets too worn out I’ll probably throw in the towel.” Professor Sycamore finally agreed.

“Thank you! If we could have the battle right now that would be best.”

“I think we can manage that. Let’s go to the back.” Sycamore made a motion that Astrid could follow him.

“Let’s go watch! I wanna see some killer moves!” Tierno said following the professor. Shauna, Trevor and Mairin weren’t far behind, but as they walked Mairin swore she could see Trevor shoulders slummping sadly.

Outside it seems Professor Sycamore had pulled one of his assistants, Cosette, to be the battle referee. She accepted and soon it was called.

“Battle start!”

Astrid moved first. She released Absol from her pokeball. She really was a majestic pokemon. It had the appearance of an omen but Mairin remembered both the Absol and it’s mega. Soon it would be a beautiful angel. The professor however didn’t pull out a pokeball. Garchomp was just spending time with the lab pokemon not too far away. With a casual, rugged smile the professor waved Garchomp to the little battlefield.

“I still have some damage around so let’s be careful, okay?” Sycamore asked Astrid. She just nodded and called out her first attack.

“Shadow claw!”

When Astird called out her first move Absol speeded across the battlefield to hit Garchomp where it stood.

“She went for a move with a high critical hit ratio. It’s good since she probably doesn’t have anything super effective…” Trevor noted as Garchomp barely even flinched at the shadow claw.

“I don’t think Garchomp does either,” Tierno pointed out.

“Not going for mega evolution just yet?” Sycamore asked the young woman.

“I wanna see what Garchomp can handle first,” Astrid replied as Absol quickly returned to her starting position.

“Fair enough. Garchomp use dragon rage!”

Garchomp let out a powerful cry before shooting a stream of draconic energy out of its mouth. It landed the hit on Absol and she lost her footing a bit.

“I doubt that’s the strongest move you have but you aren’t pulling any punches either… well then let’s do what I came here to do. Absol mega evolve!”

Astrid brought her hand up to her earring and a light shone between her and Absols own mega stone. This was the power of a strong bond, it was something Mairin never tired of seeing when she saw mega battles. When the light faded Absol now had beautiful wings coming from it’s back. Both trainer and pokemon looked rather fierce as the battle raged on.

“Psycho cut!”

Absol took a few steps forward but kept it’s distance as beams of pink light blades shot towards Garchomp.

“I should go all out as well.” Professor Sycmore said as he tapped the keystone that seemed to almost rest in his jacket pocket. The light of mega evolution shown on these two as well before finally Mega Garchamp stood infront of them all. She was quite intimidating.

“Use slash Garchomp!”

Now it was Sycamore going for a high critical move. Garchomp practically swam on the ground to make it to Absol landing a slash that threw Absol off it’s feet. Still the dark type still was swelling with a certain pride.

“Keep up your defenses up Absol! Dark pulse!”

Absol let out a pool of dark energy over the battlefield.

“That’s a special attack right?” Shauna asked Trevor.

“Yeah… if physical attacks aren’t making it sway she’s gotta try something else…”

Garchomp seemed a bit more bothered by the dark pulse than anything else.

“Hyper beam!”

Garchomp dug her claws into the ground and steadied itself to unleash a large white beam of light right at Absol. She was fast… almost fast enough to dodge. But still it was partially hit and even just that much seemed to make Absol falter.

“Absol try megahorn!”

Absol let out a pained response but still charged forward with a green glow to its horn. It aimed for Garchomps midsection but the mon with the little strength it had left from such a draining attack had gotten out of the way and the attack missed. But still, there was one more opening and Astrid would use it to hit that low special defence once again.

“Dark pulse!”

Absol sent out another wave of dark energy hitting Garchomp and making her fall to her knees. Astrid beamed in pride and Sycamore just sighed before half-heartedly returning the sentiment.

“Let's call it here Cosette,” Sycamore said to the mousy woman.

“Wait I could have-”

“Remember this is what we agreed to,” the Professor said as he crossed the battlefield to stand in front of Astrid.

“I am not much of a battler but I could tell how well you and Absol work together,” Sycamore held his hand out. “Thank you for the battle.”

Astrid returned the handshake with a polite smile. “Thank you too…”

Outside the lab, Mairin was going to see all the visitors off.

“Well I should get on the subway to Lavarene now,” Astrid said with a smile. It seemed like she was ready to take off but Trevor took a step forward.

“Wait!”

All of the others looked at the boy as he spoke up.

“Astrid let’s… why can’t we battle? You wouldn’t battle me before the conference, why? Am I not strong enough?” Trevor asked, a bit frustrated.

“That’s not true, you are strong Trevor…” Astrid said with a sympathetic look.

“I just… feel like we are drifting. Mom and dad left when I was really little so you had to look after me… I am glad that once I got to travel so did you but… I don’t wanna lose you sis…” Trevor finally confessed. The boy looked genuinely heartbroken, he was practically pleading with her to just stay with his eyes.

“Trevor, why didn’t you say anything? I will never leave you. Seems we both just get lost in our own goals…” Astrid said as she walked over to Trevor and hugged him. That sweet moment however changed as the hug evolved into a choke hold and a noogie from Astrid.

“Relax and train some more with your friends and I’ll be back before you know it! Then we’ll battle… just don’t beat me too bad okay?” Astrid asked.

“Okay… thank you…” Trevor looked satisfied with that answer for now. “I do have one more thing to ask though…”

“What is it?”

“How much longer will the weirdo scientist lady be renting out our spare room?” Trevor asked. Mairin wasn’t sure what he was talking about. She just watched as Astird gave a bit of a nervous smile in return.

“Cathrine signed the rent agreement for two more months.”

“... Guess I’ll just keep staying with Tierno.”

“Hey it’s good money! Oh shit- I really should get going. Bye bye!”

Astird took off towards the station and the four friends all watched her until she disappeared from sight.

“We should probably call it a night as well,” Shauna mentioned as she came over and wrapped Mairin in a hug.

“It was fun hanging out with you! Let’s do it again Mai flowers!” Tierno added with a thumbs up and a nickname, that action really solidified the fact that they were all truly friends now.

“See you guys later!” Mairin said her goodbyes and watched them all leave. The sun was setting, Mairin looked up to it and when she was alone she let herself be sad. She missed Alain so much it hurt.

Mairin wouldn’t have to be melancolic for long because as soon as she came back into the lab Profesor Sycamore came up to her with a smile on her face.

“I just got off the phone with Officer Jenny, I can pick up Alain tomorrow!”

“That’s great! Oh Arcues we gotta get ready! I wanna celebrate him coming back, plus we still haven’t celebrated his victory!” Mairin said frantically as she began to list things she’d need to do out loud.

Augustine left her to her thoughts with a fond smile on his face, he then entered his lab to finish his work and conclude another interesting day in Lumiose City.

Chapter Text

A child ran into Alain as he was walking down the beach in Shalour City. He was probably three… or maybe even two? As he fell to the sand the little boy began to cry. Alain didn’t know how to react, not that he really got the chance to as a young woman rushed up to gather the crying boy into her arms. She apologized to Alain for the trouble and quickly hurried off, cooing and shushing her son as she walked up to another woman. They shared a kiss and left the beach.

Alain just watched wordlessly. That was a family.

The concept always seemed odd to Alain. Apparently, he had a father but he doesn’t remember that man or the place he was born. He more so remembers that studio apartment in Lumiouse City where his mom did her best to raise him. She had dark blue hair like the night sky and big blue eyes that Alain inherited. When he was ten his mother met Professor Sycamore. She would do paperwork for him and get extra money. Alain came over often when she worked to play with the Pokemon in the lab. When he got older he helped Sophie, who was just an intern at the time, take care of them. When Alain was thirteen his mother disappeared. He sold that studio apartment, it felt suffocating when he was alone and a thirteen-year-old couldn’t really pay rent anyway. The Professor let Alain stay in his lab, no questions asked.

So what was family to Alain? He did love his mother once but when he thought of family now he could see the Professor personally taking the time to customize the dish of each Pokemon in the lab. He could see Sophie being the straight man to the Professor’s scatterbrained nature. He even saw Cosette hurrying around the lab even though she only joined them a few months before Alain left on his journey.

That was his family for so long. And then a spunky redhead crashed into his life as well. Mairin had been given a Pokemon from Professor Sycamore, a Chespin. Those two followed him around like lost baby Psyducks. And they had become family too.

But they were hurt. They were put in a situation where Chespie got sick and Mairin was devastated. So Alain would keep going. He’d get as much data for Lysandre as he could and they could find a way to wake Chespie.

This was his mission. When he was done he’d return to the loving embrace of his family. Until then he would go alone…

Chapter Text

“Cute!” Mairin was checking herself out in a mirror in a small shop. Mairin wore a yukata. It was green but colored in a red, orange, and yellow flower pattern. She had her hair down and wasn’t wearing a hat. Instead, she had a mask moved to the side of he head. The mask was a Treeko face.

“Come on Alain! You should wear one too!” Mairin said as she held onto the teen's arm. He was wearing a light blue button-up shoot and black capri pants with sandals.

“It’s alright. I cannot force a style onto someone else…” Wallace said with a gracious smile. He was wearing a kinagashi that had a pattern resembling a Milotic’s scales. He also had a mask of his own, it was a Mudkip. Steven was standing next to Wallace wearing a non-formal kimono in a slate greyish-blue color. He had a Jirachi mask.

“Can you at least wear a mask?” Mairin asked while looking up with puppy dog eyes at her best friend.

“Fine…” Alain conceded as he grabbed a Torchic mask.

The four began to walk through Lavaridge Town. Steven Stone had invited Alain and Mairin to the Mt. Chimney Festival. It was an event held once a year as a charm to ward off Mt. Chimney from potentially erupting. Wallace, the former Hoenn champion had vouched for their famous hot springs. Steven however went to the stands that were showing off volcanic rocks found in the area. Mairin was getting snacks and pulling Alain around to show him various souvenirs and festival games.

As soon as they had looked around the group arrived in front of the famous hot springs in question.

“It’s split up by gender here? Lame!” Mairin whinied. “I have to go alone.”

“You wouldn’t want to be around grown men anyway Mairin, trust me…” Alain said as he gave the girl a curious look.

“Why don’t you come with me!” Behind them, a girl with red hair in a crop top and jean shorts came up to them.

“Flannery, long time no see,” Wallace greeted the teen.

“Right back at ya. I’ve heard about you two from Steven. Mairin and Alain right?” Flannery held her hand out for the two Kalos natives to shake. “I hope you two are enjoying our humble little festival.”

“It’s great!” Mairin chirped as she shook the gym leader's hand. Alain nodded in agreement.

Flannery linked arms with Mairin and led the girl into the female hot spring while continuing the small talk. Alain, Steven, and Wallace went to the male side of the spring to begin to relax.

Steven and Alain were sitting next to each other, silent for a while until Steven spoke up.

“You know when this would have been nice? After the fight between Kyogre and Groudon.”

“Or after the Lumiose Conference…” Alain suggested.

“We’ve had a rough year, huh?… I should apologize for that,” Steven said with a remorseful smile.

“Apologize? What for?” Alain asked, genuinely puzzled.

“I practically sent you out to a warzone when you were already hurt… then I told you I’d watch out for Mairin and Chespie when you left and I couldn’t do that…” Steven began to explain.

“You don’t have to hold the weight of everything that happened on your shoulders. I also made lots of mistakes during that time, we couldn’t have known what it would all lead to,” Alain said with a blank expression.

“How emotionally mature of you… and hypocritical. And here I thought you’d just be emo about it again.” Steven joked.

Alain glared back in response. “I have learned from my mistakes this time.”

“Alain?” Steven broke the second silence that fell between them after a few minutes.

“Yes?” The boy in question turned back to meet Steven’s gaze.

“I hope you two come to visit Hoenn again.”

“We will,” Alain reassured with a smile. The two then went back to relaxing, lord knows they deserved it.

Chapter Text

Mairin was hiding from the wrath of Primal Kyogre and Primal Groudon. She may not be that big or strong but she had managed to drag the unconscious Alain to cover as well. When the girl finally caught her breath, she could see it in the air since she was on a makeshift island of ice. Mairin realized being this cold wasn’t going to help her companion's condition. He had already nearly dislocated his shoulder not even 24 hours prior and from what Mairin saw from the ship, Alain had been thrown like a ragdoll through the air and into a large pillar of ice. He got pretty high off the ground, his back making contact with the pillar and his head hitting the ice hard on the landing.

Mairin had propped Alain up on an ice wall and she had leaned up against him to try and keep his body warm with her body heat. If he gained hypothermia on top of this things would get worse, fast. Chespie also sat on Alain’s lap to warm him up. They stayed like that until a bright light caught her attention. Mega Rayquaza and the giant rock were back.

Rayquaza had begun to try to stop the fighting between the two titans. More debris and water were sent Mairin’s way. She did her best to shield Alain from it, even Chespie helped by blocking shards of ice with its attacks. In all this chaos, however, the teen showed no signs of waking up.

Mairin felt stuck. The ice wall was beginning to chip and wouldn’t hold for long. Mairin felt too tired to move Alain again, Charizard was hurt and couldn’t help with movement or heat. Metagross was hovering around to protect the two from anything big but it was starting to get worn down as well.

As everything felt hopeless Mairin saw a flash of lights in the sky, different from the lights from the giant rock. They almost looked like… fireworks?

The light overwhelmed Rayquaza and a green net brought the giant rock into a submarine. Mairin didn’t understand it but when the rock was out of sight Rayquaza reverted from its mega form and retreated to the sky above. Kyogre and Groudon also lost their primal forms and just… left.

Was this it? Was it over just like that? Well, now that things were calm Mairin brought her attention back to Alain whose breath had become really shallow.

“Hey, Alain? Alain! Wake up! This is… not funny…”

Mairin shook Alain as gently as she could so as to not hurt him any further. But she was freaking out.

“Please… wake up…” Her eyes were beginning to fill with tears.

“Mairin!”

The girl heard the sound of frantic running on the ice and saw Steven Stone heading their way.

“Over here!”
“Chespin!”

The pair waved their arms to get the champions' attention, he came over to their location to try and help. Steven could move Alain with no problem, but as he moved Alain off the wall of ice Mairin saw something she wasn’t expecting and frankly hadn’t noticed. The ice had been stained red.

“A medic team is coming, we’ll get him to Rustburo Hospital,” Steven put a hand on Mairin’s shoulder to try and reassure her, but he looked very concerned. Mairin meanwhile just started to hyperventilate.

Steven put his jacket over Mairin’s shoulders, in her panic she hadn’t even stopped to realize just how cold she was, but her tears felt hot. Quickly those tears turned to uncontrollable sobs and Steven comforted the girl until paramedics arrived. They put Alain on a stretcher and rushed him to the hospital helicopter. Steven got Mairin on as well, a paramedric had wrapped her in one of those blankets you usually see on TV wrapped around a trauma victim. Was this trauma? She at least felt a bit warmer now.

At the hospital, they found Alain’s back severely messed up and his head injury was almost fatal. They put him in a medically induced coma to stop any swelling of the brain. In that hospital room her friend that once looked so strong and proud, instead looked like he could fall apart with a strong gust of wind. Mairin felt like her whole world had shattered.

Mairin didn’t care that she had pulled a muscle in her arm from dragging Alain for nearly a mile. Her slight hypothermia didn’t matter either. All that mattered was that Alain would wake up. He had to! He just had to…

The visiting hours were up, Mairin had spent hours just staring at the unconscious Alain without even realizing it.

It had become dark outside when she entered the Pokemon Center where Charizard had healed up. He was waiting for her, an anxious look on his face. Mairin just threw herself into the fire type's arms and began to weep again for what felt like the millionth time that day.

“I am so sorry. I wish I could have done more.”

Mairin turned her head to the deep, yet smooth voice. It was Lysandre, Alain’s boss.

“Why did he go down there? What made him do something so reckless?” Mairin asked after she got her tears under control a little bit. She was fully unaware it was the words of the man in front of her that started this.

“What am I gonna do? And oh Arcues… do I call the professor?” Mairin’s mind was running with so many different thoughts. It finally stopped racing when Lysandre held out his hand to her. It wasn’t a comforting gesture he was offering, instead, in his large palm he had a keystone placed in a pretty gold necklace.

“Huh?”

“It was the legendary Pokemon who did this. Why don’t you turn your sorrow into helping me with my research,” Lysandre had offered. He played the act of sincerity to a tee.

“Alain’s mission… it was so important to him…” Mairin said as she looked in awe at the keystone in front of her.

“I am sure Charizard will want to help you while Alain is… recovering.”

“Char!” The Pokemon nodded in agreement.

Was this the right thing? And was Mairin even ready to use Mega Evolution? Alain said she wasn’t, and while she and Charizard had become close their bond was nothing like the one Charizard and Alain shared. Would this even work?

Lysandre seemed to read the girl's thoughts so he put the necklace around the girl's neck.

“Shall we try it? Mega evolution?”

Mairin wrapped her slender fingers around the keystone and took a breath.

“Charizard… M-Mega evolve!” Mairin squeaked out.

Light leaked from the keystone and reached Charizard. Even when it cried in pain it seemed the mega evolution was happening. This process even hurt Mairin a bit but soon the light faded and mega Charizard X stood in front of Mairin. She was panting in pain but soon her eyes widened in awe.

“I-I did it!”

Charizard nodded with a grunt. Chespie was also left speechless about it. Lysandre stood behind Mairin, he put a hand on her shoulder and smirked, not that she could see it.

The next morning Mairin came into Alain’s hospital room yet again. He had more color in his face than yesterday but still, he was asleep.

Mairin came up to Alain with Charizard’s Pokeball held so tightly in her hands her knuckles were turning white.

“I don’t think I properly thanked you for protecting me from Rayquaza in the ruins… you got hurt because of me…” Mairin looked down with misty eyes at Alain. Ugh, seriously? She can’t stop crying! Mairin wiped her tears away and continued speaking to the unconscious teen. “Just rest up okay? I am gonna keep things going while you do so when you wake up… pat my head and tell me I did a good job. Maybe even hug me?”

Mairin choked back a sob, after composing herself once more she leaned over Alain’s hospital head and left a soft kiss on his forehead.

“A get-well spell…” she mumbled as she pulled away. “Let’s go Chespie.”

Chespin gave a light pat to Alain as his own way of telling the trainer to get better. It then followed Mairin out of the room.

Steven had business to attend to that morning and when he finally came to check on Alain he found out the Mairin had returned to Kalos, because of this the only person the doctor could hand Alain’s stuff over to was Steven. He went to check that everything the boy had on him was there.

“Huh?” Steven tilted his head in confusion as he held up Alain’s mega bracelet. Did someone take out the keystone?

Lysandre sat across from Mairin on his private jet. She looked out the window and kept fiddling with the keystone Lysandre gave her. Alain’s keystone.

The tall redhead, the true leader of Team Flare, had manipulated one desperate trainer before, what was another?

Chapter Text

“So this is the stone-eyed maiden. Professor Sycamore was right, it is very fascinating.”

Steven Stone was standing in an ancient Kalos ruin and studying the statue that was previously uncovered of Princess Aila.

“So the running theory is Yvetal did this? I wonder what type of stone it created. Andesite? Gabbro? Something undiscovered?”

And this was the reason Alain and Mairin had brought Steven here. Like his name suggests he was obsessed with stones, minerals, jewels. Anything the earth creates once this guy sees it he becomes lost in his own little world. (A world that is probably filled with rocks).

“So Aila sacrificed herself for Love? And Jan tried to heal her for love… how romantic!” Mairin said with a goofy grin.

“You know there are other types of love,” Steven said coming out of his hyperfixation. “Right… it was a concept even brought up in these ancient texts,” Alain said with a nod as he pulled out his notes. “Eros is the typical romantic love.”

“Stroge is love for your family, Agape is love for the world. Philiutupia is self-love and Ludus is a playful love like a trainer and their Pokemon might have.”

“Ooh! I remember the professor talking about Philia! That’s close friendship, like us!” Mairin said as she got on her tiptoes to point to said section of Alain's notebook.

“Good observation,” Steven said cheerfully, smiling at his unexpected friends and occasional companions.

“I think Jan’s love eventually turned to mania,” Alain said. “It is an all-consuming love… his love for Aila and desire to revive her continued for the rest of his life. Well.. that’s my hypothesis at least. I’ve been talking about it with the professor…” Alain had been focusing more on the history of Kalos in his mega evolution research so going over these legends had been helpful.

“You know this reminds me of a Draconoid tale I once heard, it starts with the Red and Blue Orbs,” As Steven started off on another tangent Mairin tugged on Alain’s sleeve.

“I do have one question…” Mairin asked Alain, her tone a bit hesitant.

“What is it?” Alain asked looking down at the girl.

“So if this statue IS Aila… are we looking at a corpse?”

…

“Let’s… not think about it too hard."

Chapter Text

A young boy walks down an unfamiliar route while holding a Fennikin in his arms. He wears an orange hoodie over a yellow button-up and jeans. This is Alain. He is a new Pokemon trainer. Professor Sycamore, an acquaintance of his mom, had given him a Fennekin to start his own journey around the region. He hoped to be strong one day.

In the forest, he walked through all the shadowy parts. He didn’t want to interact with anyone but soon an explosion in the distance shook the ground and knocked the boy right on his butt. He rubbed his back in pain, he just wanted to keep going but his new Fennekin ran off to where the rumbling had come from. Alain had no choice but to run after her.

Alain saw Fennikin with her head in a bush, looking at something. The boy kneeled down to see what she was looking at. It was a battle but… something was off about it.

On one side of the field, an Ace Trainer in a purple suit stood with his Pinsir. But this Pinsir had wings?

Opposite the Ace Trainer a young woman stood. She was kind of short but something in the way she carried herself clued Alain into the fact that at the very least she was a teenager. She had spiky Red hair cut short and she wore a fairly woodsy outfit in yellow and green. This girl commanded a Venusaur with the biggest flower sporting from its back. It was probably the largest flower Alain had ever seen, period!

“Pinsir! Bug bite!”

“Saursaur counter with Sludge Bomb!”

The Venusaur obliged, cutting off the area where Pinsir would bite with a ball of sludge spit out of its mouth.

“Let’s end this with petal dance!”

A whirlwind of petals shot right at Pinsir, overwhelming the Pokemon and knocking it to the ground. A grass type beating a bug type wasn’t what surprised Alain about this battle however, he was taken aback by the sight of Pinsir… devolving?

“Good job Pinsir, return!” The ace trainer said with a kind smile for his Pokemon. However, as soon as Pinsir was out of sight he let out a bit of a disappointed sigh. “You are quite a strong opponent. Are you that trainer people have been talking about? The one that fights every mega evolution user?”

“Maybe~” The redhead said playfully. “Thank you for a good battle! This data is just what I need!”

With that cheery remark the two trainers parted ways, just leaving Alain and Fennekin in the bush, stil processing the whole battle he saw.

He didn’t like interacting with people. He should just keep going… but before he knew it Alain found himself walking down the river path the girl and her Venusaur took.

As she walked by the girl seemed to slip on either the wet rocks or just her own foot. Before she could launch herself into the water Venusaur summoned roots from the ground to catch the girl. Alain found himself letting out a sigh of relief, but this made the stranger notice his presence standing behind a tree.

“Whose there?” The girl asked. “I don’t bite, but if you have a mega stone we might battle!”

Alain and Fennekin came out from behind their hiding which startled the girl. She wasn’t expecting a young rookie trainer to follow her

“Hello I… I’m Alain! I watched your battle… what was that?” The boy asked, a bit wonderstruck.

“Hey Alain! My name Mairin and this is my trusty partner Saursaur!” Mairin introduced. Her Venusaur let out a friendly grunt in response. “That was a mega battle.”

“A mega battle?”

“Yeah, have you heard of mega evolution?” Mairin asked.

“No…”

“When a trainer and Pokemon both have a special stone their bond creates a new type of temporary evolution called mega evolution!” Mairin explained as she held up her wrist. On it a gem had been sewn into a yellow bandana she had wrapped up like a bracelet. Looking at Venusaur he notices it had a braided band wrapped around the stem of it’s flower with a similar yet different stone.

“I’ve been doing my own research on this phenomenon, battling other mega users helps a lot!” Mairin explained as she dug a worn-out leather journal from her backpack and handed it to Alain. He flipped through the pages, his eyes growing wider with each new mega evolution he saw.

“I… want to be a strong trainer one day. I will beat everyone and stand alone at the summit!” Alain declared.

Mairin just blinked and stayed silent for a moment. And then she burst out laughing.

“What does that even mean? You are so cute kid~” She was trying to catch her breath to speak again, but instead she just kept giggling.

“Don’t laugh at me!” Alain pouted. “I want to use mega evolution as well! That way I can achieve my dreams.”

“Good luck with that! I believe in you!” Mairin said with a thumbs up. Before anything else could be said between them however something in Mairin’s pocket started to make rapid beeping sounds. She pulled out a Holocaster and a feminine voice began to speak.

“Mairin… I believe there is a mega stone within 500 meters from here in some ruins. Go get them for us,” The woman said.

“Will do Miss Malva!” Mairin said before hanging up.

“Well Alain, go catch some Pokemon, battle, explore! Then maybe you will find the secrets to mega evolution! I hope we meet again!” She began to take off. However, not many steps later she was tripping again and being caught by Venusaur.

Maybe Alain should follow her? If not to learn more about mega evolution at least to make sure the poor woman doesn’t get a concussion.

And so the journey continues…