When we arrive at Mossdeep Space Center, we find Steven Stone talking to Professor Cozmo.

"Ash nice to see you again." Cozmo says.

"Same here, Professor." I say.

"Even still, thank you for coming, and you brought the Meteorite Shard with you. Well done!" Cozmo says.

"I was rather surprised to learn that you knew the professor. You really do seem to make connections everywhere you go. Now then, Professor... Could I ask you to explain once more about the current plan?" Steven says.

"Indeed... Please come this way." Cozmo says as they go to the main control room, where the others are.

"I imagine that you've heard some of the situation from President Stone already. Our current plan involves using the Infinity Energy within our rocket, combined with the life energy of humans found in Key Stones... We will start off by artificially replicating the massive energy that is triggered at the time of Mega Evolution! We will fire the energy produced from our rocket into space... And create a warp hole."

"A Warp Hole?" Minami asks.

"By creating a warp hole in the path of the incoming meteoroid, we hope to be able to transport it somewhere far away from here. As a matter of fact, this technology already exists and has been incorporated into some of our commonly used devices."

"Really?" Mark asks.

"I think you know what I mean. Those panels that spin you about and then out you come, warped to another spot. I imagine you've stepped on a few such?"

"An audacious plan... And using such technology you would... May I ask where exactly the asteroid will be warped to?" Steven asks.

"Well. We're not entirely sure, but... We do have a device that links the warp holes. We've named it the Link Cable. But there's no need to worry. Based on our theory, we can at least guarantee that we will be sending it away from our planet. However, we've realized that we will need more energy than originally anticipated to control the Link Cable properly... I'm sorry to ask this of you but with one more Meteorite Shard..."

Just then, we hear a crash. We follow the sound and see Zinnia and Aster there.

"Nice! So this is the heart of the famous Space Center everyone talks about! Pretty impressive, huh, Aster?" Aster nods at her words.

"Excuse me! Young lady! You can't just let yourself in here!" One of the staff says.

"Oh? Where's the harm in it? Don't be such a stick-in-the-mud!... Right?" She suddenly makes a cute puppy face and the staff is backing off. "Ugh..."

"Who...are you, you're no sightseer..." Steven demands.

"Oh me, we do seem to keep running into one another. You are really busy, Ash, Alice." Zinnia says.

"Wh-who are you?! What're you doing here?!" Professor Cozmo demands.

"Me? I'm Zinnia. Just your regular ol' tourist, nothing more. Dreaming of taking a little trip into space... Heh." Zinnia then looks at the plans and she reads them fast.

"Oh, I seeeeee... So this is what has come of human technology and of hope and blood and sweat and tears and... Well, the list gets kinda long and boring. But it contains everything, huh? I know all about it. About just what kinda energy you're using to fuel this rocket thing... The abominable technology humanity first thought up 3,000 years ago... So you're once again planning to claim that this is best for humanity, or best for the whole darn world... It's a snap of your fingers to repeat the sins of the past. Worse, if what I overheard is true... This time, you're about to commit an error more abominable than before!"

"What do you mean by that?" Mark asks.

"Tell me, would you rather we sit here wringing our hands, waiting for the meteoroid to strike us?" Steven asks.

Zinnia laughs and says, "Ahahahaha! What's up with that? You're a pretty simple guy for a former Pokémon League Champion. Then I guess I'll hang my hopes on what our current Champion will have to say. So how about it, Ash, Alice? What do you think? Do you have some better idea?"

"You bet we do." Alice says.

"Oooh! Really? Well, that's promising... You'll have to tell me so we can set these guys straight."

Then she continues, "Look, I'm not here to criticize the way you guys are looking at this. But I want to be sure you've thought this through well and good. You know, there are necessary sacrifices, and there are unnecessary sacrifices. What a disappointment! This is the best you could do with all your knowledge and technology? Instead of trying to make something outta nothing, you'd rather repeat the mistakes of the past, straight up? No, you're gonna add new mistakes on top—that really takes the cake. You guys need some imagination."

"Then what is your idea?" Reisa asks her.

"That will be you to figure it out." She says. "Oops! But you were all in the middle of a conversation or something, right? Sorry about that. I guess we'll just let ourselves out, then. C'mon, Aster." Then she leaves with her Whismur.

"... Who was that woman? And the way she spoke to us... It's almost as if she came here for some sort of confirmation... And yet... I feel as though I should know her from...somewhere." Steven says as he turns to Cozmo, "Ah, Professor, forgive me. I believe you were trying to tell us something before that woman interrupted us?"

"Uh... Yes... Ah, you see... In order to complete the warp hole, we will need another Meteorite Shard, an extremely pure one..."

"Then shall we head to Granite Cave again?" Ash asks.

"No... The kind of Meteorite Shard we need this time can only be found at Meteor Falls."

"Meteor Falls?" Steven exclaims as the others look at him in confusion. "I see...Perhaps we will learn something there...I will head to Meteor Falls at once. Follow as soon as you are ready. I feel we might discover even more than a Meteorite Shard there..."

"Okay." Then Alice and I head off to Meteor Falls with Steven as the others are staying there helping out.

When we arrive at the Meteor Falls, we find an elderly woman talking to Steven. I think I remember seeing her from the Unova Region? The one we called Elder?

"Ash, Alice. We have the Meteorite Shard. And I have come to understand many things, as I suspected might happen." Steven says.

"Okay." I say, but then the woman says, "Mighty Arceus, I have been waiting for your arrival."

"Um, who are you?" Alice asks.

"Allow me to introduce you. The honorable lady you see before you is a descendant of the ancient Draconids." Steven says.

"Yes. I am one of the Draconid people. One of those ancient folk tasked with passing down the knowledge of Mega Evolution - with the great lore of Lord Rayquaza, who was the beginning of all."

Then she starts to tell a story while the three listen on. "Since times long gone, Hoenn has repeatedly suffered great disasters. At times, the destruction took the form of a huge meteoroid, which fell upon our land from distant space. At other times, the Primal Reversions of our own super-ancient Pokemon brought us to the brink of destruction. Each time, Lord Rayquaza has saved us from doom. The chosen Lorekeeper, standing before a stone that shone with rainbow light, offered up a wish to the great one. And Lord Rayquaza's body was suffused with a brilliant light and transformed. In its transformed state, Rayquaza's power was more devastating than ever before, overcoming even the super-ancient Pokemon with all their primal power."

"A rainbow-colored stone... An invocation from the Lorekeeper... And a Rayquaza unlike any ever seen..." Steven says.

"I see. It does resemble what we know of the process of Mega Evolution..." Alice says.

"Yes, it does indeed. A Pokemon, a person, a stone of power. The bonds that tie them all together...The transformation of the Pokemon that occurs as a result of this phenomenon was called 'Mega Evolution' by later peoples."

"So the mechanism of Mega Evolution was discovered as a result of the first meeting between humanity and Rayquaza... Hmmmm." Steven says.

"But I have one last question. That Lorekeeper you spoke of..." I ask.

"The Lorekeeper is the one who has inherited the knowledge and power to summon Lord Rayquaza when disaster imperils this world. The true Lorekeeper of the current generation is the one called Zinnia."

"Zinnia..." Alice mutters.

"The disaster that now approaches our planet, as it has twice before...Zinnia has been trying for some time to avert it...in her own way. To draw Lord Rayquaza to our sphere, she joined a certain organization that sought to revive the super-ancient Pokemon. She taught them the secrets needed to bring back these threats and summon the great Dragon itself."

"So that is why she joined Team Aqua back then..." I gasp.

"And now it seems she travels the land, scouring the world for Key Stones..."

Steven says, "So it was true... As I had suspected, that woman who appeared at the Space Center was one of the Draconids... But I never dreamed she was involved in the attempted revival of the super-ancient Pokémon... In full knowledge of the power they held, fully understanding the terrible changes they would wreak upon our world..."

"Still she helped that situation about? Did she give a thought to the many people and Pokémon whose lives were put at grave risk by her actions? Could she accept the inevitable sacrifice of so many lives, in order to protect the planet from the coming meteoroid?" Alice asks.

"Balance must rule this world. History is doomed to repeat itself...While our people have overcome many disasters in the past, it was always through great, great sacrifice...Yet we have continued to struggle to preserve peace for as many years as we can. That is how we have protected this world, upon which we now live. People...Pokemon...All Nature...And, yes, even you. I don't know exactly what you plan to do. But do you believe that you are not sacrificing anything for your own protection? Zinnia will follow her convictions until the very end. Even knowing the sacrifices that they will require. Even if the sacrificial blade is leveled at her own heart."

This causes surprise to us and then Steven says, "... Is that right? ... I understand. Thank you for everything."

Then Steven feels something and says, "What is this... This vague sense of apprehension... And my intuition has often proven true. I am going back to Rustboro first. I have to get back to Devon."

After Steven leaves, I say, "So she steals the Key Stones, only to try to Mega Evolve Rayquaza. And she is willing to sacrifice herself to save the world... Thanks for telling us everything."

After bidding farewell, Alice asks, "So should we stop her?"

"I don't know. But we need to see her again." I say. "But first, we have to go to Devon Corp."

Once we get there, we find the same scientist who gave us the Devon Parts. "You're those fantastic Trainers who helped me before!"

But much to our shock, we find Team Magma and Team Aqua grunts in the cooperation and they want to steal something from the scientist. After defeating them all, the scientist says, "Th-th-thank you! You helped me again!"

"No problem, but what are those grunts doing here?" I ask.

"Oh, now is not the time for this! We're in big trouble! Team Magma and Team Aqua stole the control device for the Link Cable that our company had been developing... It's a special tool called the dimensional shifter."

"Who stole the control device?" Alice asks.

"The person who stole it was a huge man with bulging muscles and another one who was short and pretty, and she had a nasty look in her eyes!"

"Matt and Courtney..." I mutter.

"What should I do?" The scientist is panicking before saying, "They must have headed for the Mossdeep Space Center... Steven must have gone ahead to the Space Center, but... I'm worried..."

We decide to go to the Mossdeep Space Center once again, and when we get there, we see that Matt and Courtney are leading the grunts surrounding the Space Center. Mark and the others are battling against the grunts as we arrive and face the two admins.

"Team Aqua and Team Magma..." Steven notices the device in their hands and asks, "What do you intend to do with that device? You do realize that this is the last hope we have of saving this planet?"

"...Last...hope...?" Then the two people start to laugh out loud, then Courtney says, "My team...The team I put all hope into...Leader Maxie...was broken. He was broken! He was broken by this brat!"

"I ain't laughin' one bit. ...Punk. My bro... My bro whom I loved so much... Are you trying to tell me that everything we've done up till now... The ties that bind us... all of it was a mistake? My bro has changed since he got mixed up with you!"

"How convenient it must be for you to put all the blame on another." Steven says.

"Shut it! I... I'm..." "Enough! I've had enough of this world!" The two of them say at the same time.

"Know what? That rocket's full of crazy amounts of energy! It's even more awesome than the ultimate weapon that ended the war 3,000 years ago, right?" Matt says.

"I think we're in for an impact so big it will surpass the massive explosion that ended the war! I don't know what all this talk of a meteoroid is, but I have no need for it. Here, by our own hands... We'll make this rocket explode...And bring an end to this world..." Courtney says.

"Wha–?!"

"If we use this Key Stone we found at Meteor Falls, we can force the energy inside the rocket to explode... It'd be like Mega Evolution for the rocket! Muwahahaha! Who needs a meteoroid? We're gonna bring an end to all things with our own power!"

"We will...fix...Project AZOTH! Of course, we'll also destroy this dimensional shifter that's supposed to warp the asteroid away someplace, too."

"...Ash, Alice. These fools! These incredible fools really intend to do it! If we don't stop this now, our whole world will be embroiled in the destruction!" Steven says.

"Yeah, we should stop them." Then we fight their Mega Camerupt and Mega Sharpedo against them, and we manage to defeat them all with ease.

"Whoa... Ohh... Ohhh..." Matt says.

"Why? Why must...you always...Always, always, always, always...Get in my way!" Courtney yells.

"Now is our chance! Take the dimensional shifter and–" Before Steven can finish, Aster comes and snatches the Dimensional Shifter.

"Wha-?" Everyone in the room is surprised at the turn of events. "That Pokémon... Doesn't it belong to..."

"Nice one, Aster!" Zinnia enters the room.

"You are the-" Steven says.

"The Draconid, yup. Or you could just call me Zinnia. Aster!" Aster hands over the shifter and says, "Thank you, dear. Now then... That is an impressive machine. Snap your fingers, the asteroid vanishes, and we all live happily ever after? Ahahahah! Indeed! It's like that former Champ said! This thing is the best hope we have of saving this planet and everything on it. But you know... It could also be the worst tragedy imaginable for some other world and everything on it."

"...What are you trying to say?" Steven demands.

"I'm not talking to you. You don't get it." Zinnia says causing Steven to be in a rage.

"But you, Ash, Alice... Hope for our world... Tragedy for another... You get it, don't you?"

"So what if we do?" I ask since I know what she means.

"And you come through again! You never disappoint me. My people know it. From generation to generation, we pass along the lore about the distortions in the world borne by the Mega Evolution mechanism. And about the existence of another world, which we have long observed to be just like this one and yet not the same... That's right. A Hoenn region that's almost exactly like the one we live in. Filled with Pokémon and people like us. A world where maybe the evolution of Pokémon took a slightly different path, where Mega Evolution is unknown... A world where that war 3,000 years ago...never happened. A world where the ultimate weapon was never even built. And in that Hoenn of that world... What would happen if one day, out of the blue, a meteoroid appeared? What would happen to the people of that world, without the technology to destroy the meteoroid or the power to warp it away? ... Looks like it's beyond the power of your imagination."

Then she just crushes the shifter in her hand, much to everyone's surprise.

"What kind of fool are you!" A scientist yells. "You have no substantive proof, and yet you claim another world, one just like our own, exists? Out of this fantasy, you-you have destroyed our only hope!"

"What have...you done..." Steven asks.

"Farewell, brief hope..."

"Y-you! Do you even know— Now what are we to do?!" Professor Cozmo asks.

"Calm down there, Prof. It'll be OK. I... We... We can protect this world...and the other." Zinnia says.

"Who exactly is "we"? What are your intentions?" Steven asks.

"Oh yeah! Silly me... I forgot the other thing I came for." Then she goes and snatches Matt and Courtney's Key Stones, much to their surprise. "Wha...Errgh..."

"And that's the Key Stones gotten... Now I'll put it together with the Key Stone they've got in their base..." She turns to Alice and I. "Looks like my next appointment is calling, so I'll excuse myself now. Later!"

"Th-that punk! How dare she try to take my bro Archie's Key Stone?! Not cool, man! Not cool!"

"Our...leader...Leader Maxie's...Key Stone. Is she trying...to steal it?! No...no..."

"Confound it all... She must be making for Team Magma's or Team Aqua's hideout next..." I say.

"Then we will have to go to their bases." Alice says as we are rushing towards the bases of Team Magma and Team Aqua.

Here is another new chapter, and the next chapter will be the hideouts once again and I hope you like it.

Ash and Alice's Pokemon:

Butterfree x2 (One Pink), Pikachu x2, Lapras, Meganium, Espeon, Steelix (Crystal), Mantine, Sceptile, Blaziken, Swampert, Mightyena, Linoone, Beautifly, Dustox, Ludicolo, Shiftry, Swellow, Pelipper, Kirlia, Gardevoir (Shiny), Masquerain, Breloom, Slaking, Ninjask, Shedinja, Exploud, Hariyama, Nosepass, Delcatty, Sableye, Mawile, Aggron, Medicham, Manectric, Plusle, Minun, Volbeat, Illumise, Roselia, Swalot, Sharpedo, Wailmer, Camerupt, Torkoal, Grumpig, Spinda, Flygon, Cacturne, Altaria, Zangoose, Seviper, Lunatone, Solrock, Whiscash, Crawdaunt, Claydol, Cradily, Armaldo, Milotic, Castform, Kecleon, Banette, Dusclops, Tropius, Chimecho, Absol, Glalie, Walrein, Huntail, Gorebyss, Relicanth, Luvdisc, Salamence, Metang, Latias, Latios, Kyogre, Groudon, Jirachi

May's Pokemon:

Venusaur, Blaziken, Beautifly, Skitty, Munchlax

Mark's Pokemon:

Blaziken, Swampert, Ludicolo, Pelipper, Surskit, Breloom, Hariyama, Medicham, Sharpedo, Wailmer, Camerupt, Torkoal, Whiscash, Crawdaunt, Milotic, Walrein, Huntail, Gorebyss, Relicanth

Minami's Pokemon:

Linoone, Swellow, Gardevoir, Slaking, Exploud, Delcatty, Mawile, Medicham, Grumpig, Spinda, Swablu, Zangoose, Lunatone, Solrock, Claydol, Castform, Kecleon, Chimecho