After a long day of travel, we had arrived at Slateport City. The familiar salty air filled my nose as I stepped off of the boat.

The sun was still rising in the sky and most of the shops weren't open yet. I yawned and rubbed the exhaustion from my eyes.

I had hardly been able to sleep during the trip. I just wanted to reunite with Kirlia. I was so worried about him.

May seemed to pick up on my exhaustion. "So Wal, have you ever seen Sea Mauvile?" She asked me.

I shook my head. "Nope. But I know a lot about it. My uncle actually used to work on it." I told her.

"Wow, that's pretty cool!" May said.

Brendan raised his brow. "Isn't that the abandoned boat out in the ocean?"

I nodded as we went north from Slateport to the route above. "I'm surprised you never heard of it. Seeing as though your dad is a professor and all." I mentally smacked myself the moment I said that.

Brendan tried not to show that the question upset him. "Well-I mostly know about Pokémon and the region itself. Like when the volcano is smoking, volcanic activity is up."

I looked up at the giant volcanic mass in the center of Hoenn. Sure enough, smoke was flowing out of the volcano. "Oh," I muttered.

"Ah don't worry about it, Wally." Brendan nudged my shoulder. "We've just got to stop that doom machine and all of this should calm down... I hope."

"You hope?" May asked.

Brendan shrugged. "Well, obviously we can't be sure what'll happen. It's been a slow burn of destruction." We turned left on the route and started heading down the path to Route 102. "We can't just ignore these signs, and we probably can't blame everything on Team Crown. They've accelerated things, but this region's had a lot of underlying problems."

The cooler climate in this area gave me a sense of familiarity. The air was less clear but I still found myself energized to press on. Home was close.

We arrived at the edge of the lake between us and Route 103. The water was clear and shallow and I could faintly make out various fish Pokémon at the bottom of the lake.

Brendan sent out his Marshtomp and grinned at us. "Alright, it should be smooth sailing across the water now that my buddy here can play ferry." He told us and hopped onto his Pokémon's back.

Before long the Marshtomp returned to our side of the lake and May boarded as well. Finally, it was my turn and I stepped onto the Pokémon's back. I clutched his head to hold on and felt the cold water on my knees.

The crossing was easy enough and the three of us walked south to Oldale Town. The town was a simplistic cluster of buildings where a few people lived.

I briskly turned to Route 102, and I was eager to just go and make amends with my friend. But, Brendan gasped which tore me away from my goal.

"Shoot. Shoot, shoot, shoot." Brendan growled.

"What is it?" May asked.

Brendan was peering down to Littleroot Town. "Those Crown guys. I can see them. What are they doing?" He clenched his fists.

Brendan was about to march down to the town when May stopped him. "We can't just go charging down there. We don't even know what they want."

"They WANT to cause trouble May! We can't let them have their way with our town." Brendan told her.

I nodded. "C-come on. We have to take this chance and s-stop them." I said. I was trying my best to control my nerves. I knew we could win.

The three of us rushed down the simplistic route. I remembered the times I had explored when I was younger and been on this very route.

I was scared then too. But I still did it. I reached into my bag and pulled out Piplup's Pokeball.

We stormed into the small town. The Crown Cronies had made their way to the far end of the town where the lab was.

Brendan let out a nervous breath. "We've got to go in there." May and I nodded to him and we walked around the large building.

With one final deep breath, Brendan pushed the door open to his father's lab and we stepped inside.

The interior white lights shone from the ceiling. The building seemed to be horribly disorganized, with papers and boxes everywhere.

Standing in the back of the room in front of a computer were three members of Team Crown and the professor.

The professor was a large man, he seemed to have more fat than muscle. His face resembled Brendan's, though he had facial hair all around his chin and the sides of his head. The man seemed terrified, beads of sweat were dripping down his forehead.

"Look, Birch, like we told you before." One of the members warned him, this one had a different voice from what I expected. A low female voice. "What's happening to Hoenn better not get out, we've been hearing things they imply the public is starting to catch wind of the damages."

Professor Birch bit his upper lip. He reached into his white lab coat and pulled out a large binder. "Look. As I said, th-the signs are getting more and more obvious. People can t-tell when a volcano's about to blow or when the water is getting too c-cold. I've only talked to other people you have all... persuaded. I'm no rat, but my f-findings are more and more telling of what's to come! Even to somebody uninitiated to Hoenn's normal climate."

I snuck a glance at Brendan and saw hope in his eyes. He was putting together what I was. His father didn't have much of a choice in keeping this a secret.

"Well," The female Crown grunt growled. "Put out a statement. Make up a lie. I don't care. We don't want a mass hysteria, after all. Especially when you work so close to home. Keep it secret for another day. Then it'll all be over."

The professor's jaw dropped and he shot up. "What does that mean?"

One of the grunts shoved the man to the ground and the three turned to leave.

I noticed that one of them stood out from the three. Sue had a scrawnier build and cool calculating eyes. She was dressed in a long royal-looking dress with many unnecessary frills and tufts.

Her pale skin and equally pale hair put me off, I knew she was young but she sure didn't look it. She had the same symbol that the crazy guy on the beach had plastered onto her dress

Brendan charged out into the woman's view and sent out his Grovyle. "Hey, Crownies! Leave my pop alone!"

One of the grunts looked to the man. "Ma'am, how should we deal with the child?"

The girl cracked her knuckles. "Allow me. Child, you clearly don't understand what is happening. My name is Ruby. I am royalty. Please step aside."

Brendan's father stood up and looked at his son. His eyes glistened. "Brendan, just listen to them, my boy."

Brendan shook his head. "Clearly you don't get it. I don't care if you're royalty or not. I'm not letting you push people around!"

May and I decided to make ourselves known at that point. I sent out Piplup and she sent out her Combusken.

"Hold on a moment," Ruby said. "These three. They're the ones King Hoeńal wants." She laughed. "And you just waltzed right into my hand. The king will be most pleased once I bring you in."

I felt anger well up inside of me. "Wh-where's Emerald?" I demanded.

Her upper lip curled into a smile and she tossed up a Pokeball, as did her grunts. The grunts sent out Linoone and she sent out a Delcatty.

The Linoone growled and beat their sharp claws against the ground. Their bodies were slender and long, with brown and tan fur. The badger Pokémon barred their sharp teeth at us.

The Delcatty stood calmly on its four legs. The large cat Pokémon flicked its tail and wiggled its large purple ears.

"A-alright Piplup use bubble beam!" I yelled. My Pokémon nodded and fired dozens of bubbles at the enemy team, barraging the Pokémon with the high-velocity attacks.

"Linoone use Return!" One of the grunts commanded. His Pokémon rushed forward in a straight line at Combusken. The Pokémon began to build up speed and glow bright white.

May brushed some of the hair out of her face and thrust her hand forward. "Combusken use Flame Charge from the side."

Combusken began to run and ignited itself with flames, it ran to the side and slammed right into Linoone's chest. The Pokémon was flung into some of the boxes and landed with a hard thud.

"Alrighty Grovyle!" Brendan told his Pokémon. "Use Leaf Blade on Delcatty." His Pokemon nodded and rushed forward. Its elbow leaves formed together into sharp green blades and it sliced at the cat Pokemon.

The Pokémon gracefully maneuvered around the attacks until one of them stuck the Pokémon in the chest. Grovyle jumped back and brandished its blades.

Ruby rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers. "Delcatty use Shadow Claw. I want that pesky Pokémon gone." Delcatty's front paws extended outward into dark ghostly claws. The Pokémon lunged forward at Grovyle.

"Piplup! Stop h-her quick!" I shouted, hoping that my Pokémon could do something.

Piplup nodded and leaped at Delcatty. Knocking the Pokémon out of the air and onto the ground.

Piplup began to pelt Delcatty with bubbles while it was still recovering from the fall. Suddenly he was blindsided by one of the Linoone and knocked to the ground.

Delcatty dug its Shadow Claw into Piplup and launched him into the far wall. "Oh no! Piplup!" I nearly ran to the Pokémon's side but he quickly stood back up.

My Pokémon growled in defiance and charged right back at Delcatty, slamming headfirst into the feline.

Ruby grit her teeth. "Ugh, such a stubborn display. Delcatty darling use thunderbolt on this peasant."

My eyes widened as Delcatty began to crackle. "Piplup get out of there!" My Pokémon didn't even give me a passing glance. It charged at Delcatty but this time it couldn't even get close before it was electrocuted.

Piplup let out a weak cry and passed out. I sighed and returned him, sending out Rodney in the process.

The Shroomish looked back at me and hopped up and down. "Alright Rodney, use Drain Punch and finish off Delcatty!" I felt my heart pounding as I got back into the rhythm of battling. It was invigorating to win a battle again. I looked to my sides and saw my friends had nearly defeated the Linoone. This was in the bag.

"Not so fast boy!" Ruby snarled. "Delcatty use Shadow Claw!" Her Pokémon leaped forward with its ghostly claws bared. Rodney began to glow and a large fist appeared around him.

He let the attack strike him but held his ground. My Shroomish grinned and jumped forward into the Delcatty, getting a clean strike and flinging the cat Pokémon back to its trainer.

Delcatty slowly got back up and snarled. "That's my darling. Wonderful work with the endurance." Ruby told her Pokémon.

I groaned internally. Why wouldn't this battle just end? Rodney looked up at me and grinned. Suddenly he began to glow.

I recognized what I was seeing immediately. Rodney's body began to transform into an entirely different Pokémon. A large tail sprouted from him and he began to grow in size.

Rodney's body became more defined and legs began to appear. A neck sprouted out from his body and his head emerged from under a large mushroom helmet.

My new Breloom jumped up and down with his newfound energy. I could hardly contain my excitement. "Rodney, use drain punch!"

Breloom excitedly threw one of his new arms forward and slammed it into Delcatty, finishing the Pokémon off.

Ruby sighed and returned her Delcatty to its Pokeball. "Bested by a child. Unbelievable." She looked to see that her grunts had been defeated as well.

Brendan stood in front of the door with his arms crossed. "Now answer the question. Where. Is. Emerald?"

Ruby's eyes darted around for a moment before she conceded. "He's being held hostage in our base of operations. Sea Mauvile."

May raised an eyebrow. "What? Why there? That ship is half underwater."

Ruby rolled her eyes. "King Hoeńal is using it as a sort of ark for the royal line to escape on during the Final Day. It's been renovated to be fully operational. Are you happy now?"

I felt like something was off about all of this. "Y-you said Final Day, w-what's going on here?"

Ruby smiled. "The end of it all. It will likely be off of the coast of Route 104 as the process begins. Feel free to watch as you all learn your place in this world. Now, let me leave."

Brendan stepped out of the way and Ruby hurriedly exited with her two grunts following close behind.

"So Emerald is on Sea Mauvile," May repeated as we returned our Pokémon.

I nodded. I ran over everything we had been told. "B-but she said something about only having one more day. D-does that mean the king is going t-to...?" I trailed off.

Brendan put his hands together. "We'll have to stop him then. Get Emerald and figure out where the king is hiding his doom machine."

May nodded. "So let's go find Kirlia and then get going as soon as possible."

I was ready to step out the door when I saw Brendan looking back. Professor Birch was cautiously standing in the back of the lab.

"You guys go on ahead. I have to talk to my dad." Brendan told us.

I nodded and stepped out of the building with May. She and I walked north to the route to Oldale Town but May suddenly stopped.

"Uhm Wally, if it's alright with you I'd like to go see my parents." She said.

I nodded. "Y-yeah of course. Go a-ahead." She smiles at me and ran back into the small town.

For the first time in a while, I felt alone. But I felt something else. An urge to go see my parents. Maybe they could help me figure out how to reconcile with my parents.

And honestly, I just wanted to see them again.