Wally stood by the railings, trying his best to not vomit. Bina stood by his side, her usual demeaner turned quiet. Larance did not move from the spot he was in when they left Dewford. Arriete was anxiously tapping her fingers on her leg, wanting to say something, but no words coming out. Finally, Bina sighed, grabbing the attention of the other three.

"We can't keep silent about what happened back there," Bina stated, turning towards Larance. "Steven knows something about your dad. Both Team Aqua and Team Magma want you. I feel as if we are in a lot of danger."

Arriete and Wally nodded silently, Larance resuming his spot. Suddenly, he banged his fist against the railing, causing everyone to jump.

"Larance?" Wally asked, cautiously approaching said person. "Are you okay?"

Larance angrily sighed and whirled around to face them, causing Wally to jump back. Fire flamed in his eyes as he looked at his friends.

"No, Wally, no I'm not," he replied, closing his eyes and scowling. "For ten years, ten whole years, I have not heard anything about my dad. I only heard that my mother said he was dead, but I couldn't believe that. And now all of this just hits me like a train! I've tried staying calm, I really have, but I can't take this anymore! I don't know how to feel about any of this! Why do they want me?!? Why can't Steven just tell me everything?!? So no, Wally, I am not okay!"

The three friends watched in surprise as Larance wore himself out and collapsed to his knees, sighing in defeat. His Pokémon moved closer to him, trying their best to comfort him. Arriete kneeled down in front of him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Larance," she began, looking sadly at him. "Listen, we have no idea how you're feeling. About any of this. But, as long as all four of us stick together, we will find out the truth. About everything."

Larance looked up at her with a small smile before pulling her into a hug.

"Group hug!" Bina suddenly yelled, kneeling down by her friends and joining in the hug.

She dragged Wally into the hug. They stayed like that for a while before Wally suddenly stood up.

"Oh, Arceus," Wally muttered, before throwing himself over the railings and vomiting.

Kirlia and Aron joined their trainer, while Wailmer looked up at the vomiting boy. Bina chuckled at this before making her way to Wally's side, rubbing his back.

"Don't worry, Wally," she smiled. "You'll get over this once you get used to traveling by water."

Wally smiled at her, weakly, before vomiting again.

Arriete was smiling and she stood, extending her hand for Larance to take. He did, and she helped him to his feet. Letting go of his hand, Arriete went over to sit down on a bench, Larance joining her.

"Thanks, Arriete," Larance thanked, smiling at her. "That really helped."

"It helped me too," Arriete muttered, frowning.

"Oh..." Larance muttered, frowning as well. "H-How did it go when you told your dad about what you want to do?"

"Well," Arriete began, leaning back and looking up at the sky. "This happened about a month before my birthday."

"One more month before you can finally receive your starter!" Norman exclaimed, smiling at his daughter. "And before I know it, I'll be standing across from you, battling for the fate of the badge!"

"Heh, yeah," Arriete muttered, looking down. "Listen, dad, I need to tell you something."

"Of course, what is it?"

"I..." Arriete took a deep breath before continuing. "I don't want to take on the gyms."

Norman's smile vanished almost instantly.

"What?"

"I've been reading a lot of books about this thing called Mega Evolution, and I want to learn more about it. That's why I want to go on my journey. I don't want to follow in your footsteps."

"I see..."

Silence washed over the both of them as Arriete waited for her dad to say anything else. The silence felt overbearing before Norman finally spoke.

"You should go to bed, Arriete. You have to be up early for Larance's birthday party."

"Of course, dad."

Arriete glumly walked by him, feeling the piercing gaze of his disappointed eyes on her back. She held back the tears that were forming in her eyes as she climbed the stairs, her hand clenched tightly on the railing. Why couldn't he just accept that she didn't want to be like him? She sighed as she got ready for bed, wiping her watery eyes.

Just one more month, Arriete, she thought to herself. One more month before I can escape. I won't be able to see the disappointment in his eyes any more.

"Oh, I-I'm sorry, Arriete," Larance mumbled, looking down. "I guess we all are suffering from something."

"Even Bina?" Arriete asked, confused. "She doesn't seem to be suffering from something."

Larance bit his lip, before looking over at Bina. So, she didn't tell her yet.

"Larance?"

"I'm sorry, Arriete," Larance replied, standing up. "I'll have Bina tell you herself."

Arriete continued to stare in confusion as she watched Larance make his way over to Bina. He began talking to her, and Arriete noticed Bina's face fall a little, before she nodded and began making her way over to where Arriete was sitting.

"What's going on?" Wally asked, leaning against the rails.

"Bina's telling Arriete about what we discovered a while ago," Larance replied, folding his arms.

"Oh," came the small reply.

Both boys watched as Bina told Arriete everything. She burst out crying, and Arriete pulled her into a hug. Larance smiled at this, before noticing the approaching shore.

"Well, would you look at that," he said, smiling. "We're here."

***

After waving goodbye to Mr. Briney, Larance looked at the objects that Steven gave him. They were the ship parts that that Team Aqua grunt had stolen.

"Wow, there are a lot of trainers here," Arriete mused. "You think that we should battle them all?"

"Split up," Bina smiled, patting her Silcoon. "Take some on by ourselves."

"Meet up at the Pokemon Center afterwards?" Larance grinned at Eevee.

"Agreed," Wally smiled, nodding at Aron.

***

Larance sat on a couch in the Pokemon Center, waiting for the others to arrive. While on his way to the Center, Eevee had smelled something, and began to dig in the sand. Larance, Combusken, and Dustox made their way over to see that Eevee had found a Fire Stone. Before he could stop her, Eevee had touched the stone, evolving into a Flareon. Larance was shocked, but also excited that he now had a Flareon. He heard the doors slide open, and he watched with surprise as Wally entered, looking more confident than usual. He wasn't coughing as much, and as he smiled at Larance, he could see said person now had a Flareon.

"So, Eevee evolved?" Wally grinned. "I'm glad I'm not the only one who has an evolved Pokemon." He moved aside to let Lairon walk up to them. "Aron evolved as well."

"Congrats to the both of you."

Both boys turned to see Arriete and Bina walk towards them, also with evolved Pokemon. Bina's Mudkip and Silcoon had evolved into Marshtomp and and Beautifly, while Arriete's Pipei and Krypta had evolved into Grovyle and Kakuna.

"Great, now that we're all here," Arriete began, holding Krypta. "We should really drop those ship parts off to...who again?"

"Capt. Stern," Larance replied, standing up. "Let's go find him."

The other three nodded as they made their way towards a large boating house.

"Hello?" Bina called. "Is Capt. Stern here?"

"Oh, sorry, no," a man replied, approaching them. "He's at the Oceanic Museum."

"Okay, thank you," Bina thanked as the four of them exited the building.

"I've always wanted to see the Oceanic Museum," Arriete beamed as they entered the building.

The four friends froze as they noticed that the museum was swarmed with Team Aqua grunts. Silently nodding to each other, the friends stealthily made their way to the second floor in order to search for Capt. Stern. Arriving at the second floor, they discovered a man observing a small boat figurine trapped in a glass case.

"Mr. Stern?" Larance asked, approaching the man.

"Yes, that is me," the man replied, turning around. "And who are you four?"

"I'm Larance," Larance introduced himself. "These are my friends; Arriete, Bina, and Wally. We came to deliver you these ship parts under the request of Mr. Stone."

"Ah, thank you four so much," Capt. Stern thanked as he took the parts. "I was hearing some commotion downstairs. Do you know what's happening?"

Wally was about to reply before he was interrupted.

"Well, well, well. We haven't seen you four since Granite Cave."

The friends turned to see two Team Aqua grunts grinning at them, their Poochyena at their side. Larance snarled at them, Flareon coming to her trainer's side.

"How did you two escape?" Arriete asked, folding her arms. "Steven trapped you."

"Enough talking!" one of the grunts snapped. "We came here for those ship parts! But, bringing Golden Eyes over there with us as well will probably give us a promotion! Poochyena! Bite!"

"Tackle!"

"Lairon, Iron Head!"

"Flareon, Flamethrower!"

The attacks hit, and both Poochyena fainted by their trainers' feet.

"Now what will boss say?" the other grunt asked his partner.

"What do we have here? I came to see what was taking so long just to steal a few parts, and I find you simps getting beat by these kids?"

Everyone turned to where the new voice came from. A tall, muscular, tan man with a blue bandana with Team Aqua logo on it, black hair, a short black beard and dark blue eyes walked towards them. He wore a blue full body swimsuit that was slightly damaged around his left biceps, with a white area around his chest and light blue and white areas on his legs. He had a ragged black cape with grey stripes on the back, which was connected to the gold chains he wore around his torso. He also wore a golden anchor necklace around his neck, which held a key stone. He grinned at the friends, surveying them.

"Heh! That's quite a fierce expression for you four little scamps. Those faces tells me you're not just mindless trainer brats. The name is Archie. The rough-looking lot you see here are members of my team―Team Aqua. So tell me, boyos and girlies... Do you know that Pokémon, people, and all life in this world depend on the sea for life? That's right. The sea is an irreplaceable treasure for every living thing on this planet. But with our selfish extravagance, humanity dirties the great ocean, destroying this source of all life... Day by day, we're all destroying our most precious resource! If we humans suffer from our actions, well, maybe we'll end up getting what we deserve. But what about the Pokémon in our world? The Pokémon that no longer have a place to live because we stole and soiled their seas? The Pokémon that won't have a place to raise their young and watch them grow? We are creating a world in which innocent Pokémon suffer as a result of our actions... And that is something that I can't forgive! That's why I came to a decision, see? The foolish actions of my fellow humans, the seas we have blighted, nature itself... I will return everything to its unspoiled beginnings!"

Arriete and Wally looked at each other, while Bina folded her arms and Larance began to scowl. Archie's eyes widened as he noticed Larance, before grinning wider.

"Well, who do we have here?" he asked, walking towards the boy. "Team Magma will definitely do anything to make sure that I don't get you."

"I am not an object to bargain with," Larance glared, his knuckles turning white from the effort of clenching his fists. "I will make sure that both Team Aqua and Team Magma will fall."

Archie just laughed in reply, and backed up.

"... Heh! It's not like me to talk so much. Never mind, little scamps... I'll withdraw for now and leave you be. But understand this... Get in my way again, and you won't walk away unscathed next time. Remember that, at least!"

He turned around to leave, before looking back over his shoulder.

"And do not think that I will forget this, Larance. You better watch your back."

Larance's eyes widened with shock. How did this Archie person know what his name was? While Larance wondered this, Archie turned back around and began walking.

"We're moving out, lads!"

The two Aqua grunts hurriedly followed after their boss, leaving silence behind them. As soon as the three of them left, everyone let out a breath they didn't realize they were holding.

"I've never felt my heart beat so fast before," Wally muttered, clenching his chest. "That man was very intimidating."

"Here, why don't you sit down," Bina said softly as she led Wally to the first floor. "Arriete and Larance will join us when they're ready."

"Those thugs," Capt. Stern said, frowning. "I don't understand what they plan to accomplish with those ridiculous plans."

"No matter what, we will stop them," Larance growled, walking forward.

"But Prof. Birch said-" Arriete began.

"I DON'T CARE WHAT PROF. BIRCH SAID!" Larance yelled, whirling around to face is friend. "THOSE TWO TEAMS KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT ME! THEY HAVE TO KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT MY DAD! THEY PROBABLY KILLED HIM! I CAN'T LET THEM KILL HOENN AS WELL!"

Arriete watched, eyes wide, as Larance stopped yelling, breathing heavily. He sighed, and passed a hand over his face.

"I-I'm sorry I yelled at you, Arriete," he apologized, looking down. "I-I just can't take this anymore."

"Just like I said on the boat," Arriete smiled, placing a hand on his shoulder. "We will get through this together. All four of us."

Larance smiled at her, and she smiled back.

"Now, let's go make sure that Wally's okay," Arriete suggested.

"Yeah," Larance laughed. "That poor kid."

"He's the same age as us."

"Yeah, I know. I'm just saying."

Arriete laughed, and this made Larance's mood brighten.

No matter what, all four of them will find out the truth.

No matter what.

***

"So, Archie had made an appearance to them then?"

"Yes, sir."

"...I'll have to reveal myself to them eventually."

"But sir...what will he say?"

"He'll just see me as another Leader, not someone who he knows. He can't know. Not yet. Understand?"

"Yes, sir."