Agent of Change

by Cyberchao X

Chapter 2

Southeast of Snowpoint City

The Great Old One had finally told Evan to move on from the fruitless search through Stark Mountain somewhere around the twentieth time that Evan bumped into a wall because he was blinded by the steam. It had been raining incessantly for three days, and that was going to make it hard to find Heatran, or anything else for that matter as the rain turned to water vapor in the heat of the active volcano. Instead, they were headed for New Moon Island. Throughout the crossing, even when over the usually-snowy lands near Snowpoint, there was nothing but rain. Rain, rain, rain. Why was it always raining?

Sunyshore City

After a few days, Nina had grown bored of Veilstone and headed south to Sunyshore. Should've gone to a port town in the first place…

"Ah, hello… You're the one I'm supposed to be meeting, no? …No, no, I suppose you aren't."

Nina smiled. "Actually, I am." That was the code phrase; saying the word "no" three times in a row. She thought it seemed a little odd, as it was easily something that could be happened upon accidentally, but the boss insisted it made sense. Still…this was her contact?

"Nice to meet you. My name is Jasmine. I'm the leader of the Olivine City Gym, though I'm on vacation at the moment to compete in Pokémon Contests. Still, I was taken in by this town…it reminds me so much of Olivine."

"…Wait. Were we supposed to meet in Hearthome? Geez, I went to Jubilife! I'm just glad I decided to try this port before the one in Snowpoint! …What with the weather disturbance and all."

"The…weather disturbance?"

"Yeah. There was a huge rainstorm over Stark Mountain, and now it's moving west towards Snowpoint."

"That could be…I haven't been in this region for very long. Have you seen any species of Pokémon that could be summoning this rain?"

"You mean Pokémon who received Kyogre's power in the randomization? Um…Mostly Bug-types, or at least Pokémon that are normally Bug-types. Cascoon, Ledyba, Ledian…" She stopped. "Wow, that's really weird. Two Pokémon that are related to each other normally actually ended up with the same ability in the chaos."

"…That's what I thought. I think you need to follow that rainstorm. I think you'll find Evan at the center of it."

"Really?" Nina looked skeptical.

"It's hard to believe, but when that monster first appeared before him, it took the form of a Ledian. That's probably what's causing the rain."

"But this is, like, legitimately Kyogre-level rainmaking. Possibly even Primal Kyogre. Unless his Ledian actually is the Great Old One, it wouldn't be able to do that.

"Well, you should be able to handle it, right?"

"…My Pokémon were all caught during a randomization in Hoenn. Not as bad as this one, in that they all have their proper types, but my Rayquaza can't stop the rain like a normal one."

"Do your best. I know the real Evan's in there somewhere."

"Yeah…" She went to a Pokémon Center to prepare. "Okay, Lamp, Feer, it's time to blatantly disregard the rules." The Eeveelutions stood by, knowing exactly what was about to happen.

Nothing happened.

"Okay, you two, go outside. I'm going to have to open a video line and I can't have you seen." They obeyed. "Why won't you send me my Jellicents?" she asked.

"You know the rules. Only Pokémon native to Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, or Sinnoh."

"Frillish and Jellicent are totally native to Hoenn! You can find one anywhere from Mossdeep all the way to Dewford! And they definitely know about the 'new Pokémon; there's this chain of fast-food restaurants with franchisees in just about every major city in the region that uses a Sylveon as their mascot."

"And you absolutely need both of them? And at the expense of your Flareon and Glaceon, no less?"

"Hey, they have completely different skillsets. Feereon, on the other hand, has practically the same moveset as Chansey, and Revocactus and the Jellicents have its remaining move covered."

Strangely, she actually did have a point. Her Flareon had no HM moves, and her Glaceon's only HM move was one that her Wigglytuff also knew, but said Wigglytuff had a second HM and her Lanturn and two Jellicents each had one of the three water HMs. Her boss wasn't stupid, of course, and knew full well that Nina was sending empty Poké Balls through the exchange. Some people had some vague idea that DJ Kyu-Kyu had a Wigglytuff and a Lanturn, and if you really knew your stuff, a pair of Jellicents. But everyone knew about the Flareon and the Glaceon; they often appeared alongside her on-stage. Having them outside their Poké Balls would draw no suspicion even if she was seen. And since the male Jellicent was the one with Surf and she needed to get away from civilization before taking off on Rayquaza…it was the right call. "Fine. But you'd better not blow your cover."

"That's the idea, sir."

Eterna City

Cynthia, the Champion, took the time to collect her thoughts. The rumored "Voice Syndrome" had finally come to Sinnoh; she was certain that the trainer with the Shinx, the Surskit, the Slakoth, and the two Zigzagoon had it. Or was it a Bidoof, a Bronzor, a Spearow, a Gengar, and a Nidoqueen? Maybe there was a Tentacool…or was it a Wurmple? And hadn't he come into town with a Drifloon? She'd given the boy the Scyther egg, but didn't feel comfortable about it in the least.

The Great Old One was definitely here. The storm headed west from Stark Mountain was proof of that, what with Ledian being associated with the beast. But the heading made no sense. It would pass south of Snowpoint, yet well north of Celestic and Eterna. Unless…it wasn't heading for anything on the mainland at all. Fullmoon Island and Newmoon Island…of course. It had been heading to the rumored locations of legendary Pokémon. She put in a call to the Elite Four, telling them to make sure the Flower Paradise was secure, and headed east. Her initial goal was Mt. Coronet, but then she decided that Mt. Coronet was probably safe; Arceus still watched over the sacred mountain, the closest point to its realm. Furthermore, the three dragons were more or less sealed away, just like Regigigas in the Snowpoint Temple. And the key to that seal…was the three guardians of the lakes.

She continued east. While she didn't personally believe them, there were rumors of a "backdoor" into Giratina's realm from the Sendoff Spring. Giratina seemed like a potential target, but even if it wasn't, Lake Valor was right next to the Sendoff Spring, and that meant Azelf. It was the perfect place to go next. She just had to hope that Agent Quinn had met up with Jasmine and knew to follow the storm.

CCX: So now we've established which six Pokémon Nina took with her when she left the Jellies behind, though really it should've been pretty obvious. I'm happy with this chapter; it actually exceeds 1000 words, which I'd usually consider "still pretty short" as I usually like to have 2000 at the bare minimum, preferably at least 2500-3000, but for this, where speed is key, it's wonderful.

And yes, for some reason OLDEN is still causing rain even though it's now taking the form of a Fletchizard. Because it's just funnier this way. Also, having Nina run all around Sinnoh might still have some extra value depending on how things end up in the run.