All Alone (BEING EDITED)

Chapter 22: Legendary Encounters

Chatot looks at me as I leap gracefully from rock to rock across a small stretch of water on Route 118. As soon as my feet touch solid ground he fires a question at me.

"You're so depressed right now. You didn't even look remotely happy when you earned the Balance Badge or when Combusken learned Sky Uppercut. What is going on?" he asks. I glance at him and pinch the bridge of my nose, sighing.

"I've been thinking about Team Rocket, Team Magma, and Paul." I say as I continue walking down the thin strip of sand. Chatot looks thoughtful for a moment.

"In that order?" I shake my head. Paul is definitely my priority right now.

"No. Paul is first, then Team Magma, then Team Rocket. Paul is the closest to me and the one who can jump me at practically any moment. I can easily beat Team Magma, but they are causing a lot of trouble in this region. Team Rocket needs to heal for the time being." I explain to him. Chatot nods and leaves the conversation at that. I head up a flight of stairs and start walking again, but I stop when I see a familiar shade of blue.

"Hey, Steven." I call out to him. Steven turns around and smiles when he notices me. He strolls up to me and looks at me.

"Why is your hood down? I thought you wanted to hide from your father, not show yourself to the entire region." he asks curiously. I look down sheepishly and he gives me that 'what happened?' look. I rub my left arm gently.

"You see...we ran into a slight problem..." I explain the whole story to him and I watch as his posture changes from casual to serious. When I'm done he opens his mouth to speak, but I hear something and immediately stop him.

"Wait. I think we have company." I whisper softly. I glance at a boulder standing a few feet away. He looks confused as I take a few steps towards the rock.

"It's okay. We won't hurt you. We want to help." I say comfortingly. I listen carefully and a small voice speaks up from behind the rock.

"Y-you won't?" it asks timidly. I smile gently and nod.

"No, we won't harm you." A red head peeks cautiously over the top of the rock. I stare at it for a few moments before recognizing it. The pokemon floats out from behind the rock.

"Hi, Latias. What brings you here?" I say as I rub her head. She looks up at me worryingly.

"My brother said to come and get some help. He said something is coming, but he doesn't know what." she whispers, trembling slightly. I pet her head as Steven comes up behind me.

"We should go help him. We need to prevent this." Steven suggests. I nod quickly and Latias lowers herself so I can climb on. I extend a hand to Steven.

"Come on. We might need all the help we can get." He looks a me for a few moments before grabbing my hand. I pull him up and he sits in front of me, holding onto Latias's neck. Chatot crawls down my shoulder and I cuddle him against my chest to prevent him from getting blown off. Latias turns and starts racing towards the island. I glance back and see a blur of purple in the trees. I shake my head. Must have been a Whismur or something. I turn back around and watch as the island grows closer.

I jump off Latias's back and turn around to see Steven staring at the forest thoughtfully. I tilt my head in confusion.

"What is it?" I ask. He breaks out of his trance and looks at me.

"It is said that the two legendary pokemon here guard a valuable secret, one that is linked to mega evolution. There seems to be an ominous presence though. We should hurry." he explains. I take in the information before nodding and jogging towards the small stretch of trees that separates one half of the island from the other.