HECTOR

            For six days now, it had been as it was when Hector and Brandon had first met: in a dark cell beneath a castle. This time, instead of the dry, stuffy air of Lavaridge's castle, the cell was cold and damp, and a chilly breeze would make their skin shiver whenever their jailer would open the door to bring them their food. Such was their life in Sootopolis as a prisoner of the Glamour Empress.

            Hector had expected their final day to arrive when the guards came and escorted them out of their cells one cold, cloudy night. He and Brandon Brightflame were marched in handcuffs through the cells and into the great marble throne room where the Empress herself held court. Joining them as they made their way was Combusken, bound in chains on its beak, arms, and legs, who was guarded personally by the big man with the Sharpedo painted on his armor.

            "This is it," Brandon told him. Hector was silent. It was hard to believe it had all come down to this. Every day the jailer would come to feed them, he would remark about why they had to have them fed... just to have their heads taken off by the Empress at any moment.

            Now the day had arrived. Hector smiled sadly. "It seems like our luck has run out." It was true. From the battle of Mauville to being in Starfall's clutches, and even throughout the mission to rescue Luna, he had eluded death. He had likely experienced more in life than any fisherman's son ever had. Hector had been even close friends with the late Chris Marsh, the Prince of Slateport. "You've been a good friend, Brandon," he said.

            The look on the exile Prince's face flittered in shock. He opened his mouth to respond, but that was when the door to the throne room opened, and Brandon received a mailed fist to the cheek from one of the guards. "No talking," he said, as Brandon's lip began to bleed.

            They were marched into the throne room. Hector's eyes were instantly drawn to the elaborate marble throne and the beautiful pool of blue water behind it. But where is the Empress? He wondered.

            Hector felt the butt of a spear in his back. "Keep moving," came the gruff voice of the guard. To his surprise, Hector, Brandon, and Combusken were being escorted through the throne room, to another door on the far side. The guard spoke again, "Her Magnificence has something extra special in store for you."

            They walked for what seemed like hours in silence. They were outside of the palace now, and not a single star shone in the sky. Dark clouds hovered atop the white cliffs that encircled the lagoon of Sootopolis. Then the wind hit him; an icy blast that made him sick and chilled his very bones. There, just outside the palace, waited a small sailboat that the soldiers placed the prisoners into.

            As he got in the boat, Hector looked around and saw in the distance the vague outline of the cove that they had hidden Apollo's undersea ship just a few months ago. It seemed like a lifetime ago. Their sailboat sailed in the opposite direction, however. The water was smooth and calm. Too calm. Hector looked back at the palace. The tower that Brandon had found Luna in was still a wreck, but the wooden framing around it showed that it was already being repaired.

            He locked eyes with the rightful King of Lavaridge when he spied where they were going: an open cave far out of sight from the palace. It reminded Hector of an open mouth, and with each paddle of the oars, the icy breath grew colder. The moonlight cast a dim reflection off of what appeared to be ice around the cave. To Hector, they looked like terrible eyes. It was only when he remembered that the moon was hidden this night that he felt truly afraid. What was this place?

            As they breached the opening, Hector realized the mouth of the cave was too perfect to have been a natural formation. This had to have been crafted by human hands. As their captors rowed them deeper into the cave, Hector could make out shapes on the walls in the torchlight: waves and lightning, and everywhere else were depictions of rain and ice. As he looked closer at the cave paintings, he saw dead bodies floating in the painted swirls of water.

            This is a temple, he knew. But a temple for what? Hector tried to recall the old legends, but they were a distant memory; an afterthought of an old woman's fireside tale.

            They guards yanked them to their feet, and they began to walk again when the boat hit rocky ground. Their steps echoed in the darkness, Combusken's chains rattling with every step. Hector felt himself descending down a winding slope, and with every step, the ice-colored paintings on the wall glowing eerily.

            Finally, light washed over them. When Hector's eyes adjusted, he saw a wide cavern with waterfalls pouring down from somewhere high above. The waterfalls fed a pool of water that radiated an icy chill. In the pool was a gigantic statue of some indiscernible shape. Was it in the shape of a Pokémon? In all his years of fishing with his family, he had never seen anything of its like.

            He spied what he figured to be the Empress herself standing in the center. Hector couldn't avert his eyes. She was beautiful. She seemed to glow in the icy lights of the cavern. Her hair was a fantastic blonde, her body slender and perfect in every way imaginable. Hector's father had once told him stories about the Goddess of the sea. For a second, he felt like he was looking at her... and then he remembered she was the enemy.

            Coiling next to Empress Glamour was her Spirit Pokémon: the extravagant Milotic that was a symbol of her family. Its coral coloring shimmered in the cavern as its tail flashed rainbow colors.

In the Empress's hand stood a golden trident with a large, round, and sparkling blue jewel. Her eyes shone with excitement when she spied them walking into the room. "And here they are at last," her voice called out like the music from a flute made out of an icicle. "My honored guests. You both act so surprised to be here. Fear not, you will be executed. I so badly wanted my sister-in-law to be present, but still she eludes me."

Luna, Hector knew. In her mindless ramblings the childless mother would sometimes become very afraid that her husband might show up to steal "Lily" away again. Of course, the Mudkip's egg wasn't Lily, but Luna Love was convinced that "he" would come again to take it.

            "If you mean to kill us, then be done with it," spat Brandon.

            The Empress laughed. "Oh believe me, I do mean to. If Ahab was here it would have already been done. He's terribly sore about his missing wife. Alas, he can't be with us on this historic day. He's preoccupied with subduing what remains of the Slateport Kingdom. He's a good brother, for the son of a whore. He has conquered an entire Kingdom for me by himself, without the help of a Goddess."

            The music in her voice vanished, and only the icy chill remained. "I mean to eradicate each and every member of the Great Families who have descended from the Three Heroes of ancient legend. Rumor has it that the Hero of the Forrest Family has revealed himself, and even saved your little brother." She gripped her trident tighter as Milotic coiled about her feet. "I should have given Starfall strict orders to eliminate him immediately."

            The Three Heroes? Hector remembered the old legends of the creation of the three great Kingdoms. Forrest, Brightflame, and Marsh; it was told that the founders of these three families discovered the secret of bonding human Spirits with those of Pokémon. It was said that these Three Heroes brought the entire region of Hoenn out of darkness and death to establish the first Kingdoms. So she believes the old tales after all. This woman is mad.

            "You've failed so far," said Brandon with a chuckle. Hector admired his resolve even in the face of his own death. "You may have gotten rid of the fishes, but my little brother has outsmarted your friends. They can't even beat those tree-hugging Forrests in a fight. How can you ever hope to put out the Brightflames?"

            Empress Glamour shot Brandon an icy stare. "You have no hope, you insolent fool. Only the Three Heroes could have opposed me with hope to win. Getting rid of the 'fishes' as you call them was all I needed to attain immortality, and bring in the era of prosperity. The other two Heroes, however, still will likely cause a great bit of trouble for me. I want you to see what true power is. I want to see the look on your face when you have lost all hope, and then I will kill you, and this little friend of yours." She paused and stared at Hector. Her eyes chilled his very soul. "I'm beginning to wonder why he's still alive. Perhaps I'll kill him slowly, and you can watch him die so you know exactly what will happen to your little brother."

            Hector caught a lump in his throat. He watched as Brandon tried to wrestle free of the guards, but all that earned the exile Prince was a kick in the gut. He fell to his knees. Hector heard Combusken growl.

            "Now that the talking is over," the music returned to the Empress's voice. "Let's begin."

            She reached across her trident and wriggled the round jewel loose of it. The gorgeous woman walked across the cavern to the edge of the pool where the giant stone statue rested, half hidden by the water.

            "My entire life comes down to this," she said in a whisper, yet her voice echoed all the way across the cavern. "Let the old world be washed away in the rains of purification. Help me bring in a new eternal kingdom; a kingdom where there is no strife, where no person becomes wealthy if another is poor, where all have naught but praise for their lives and for their Goddess; a kingdom of true equality for all. Kyogre, oh great god of the sea and rain and storms, give me your power, you immortality, your very spirit."

            But she already has a Spirit Pokémon, Hector thought. It had never been spoken of for a human to share a bond with more than one Pokémon.

            Milotic left the Empress's side and coiled around the blue orb that the woman had taken out of her trident. "Kyogre," said the woman again, with voice as cold and hard as anything Hector had ever heard, "join our life forces for eternity." As she finished her sentence, Glamour lifted her arms to the dark roof of the cavern wall, and with a whoosh she brought them down. There was a spray of red mist.

            The shaft of the trident was still in her hands, yet down where the three prongs were writhed a coral colored Pokémon. The Pokémon's voice sounded like a sad music being played as it shrieked and moaned. Hector fought back the urge to wretch as he realized that the Empress had stabbed her own Spirit Pokémon through the neck.

            Hector could see tears glimmer in the dim light of the cave fall down from the Empress's face. Now Milotic's tail was flailing about, its huge sapphire eyes scanned everywhere for help that would not come. Over and over again, the woman put her weight into the trident, thrusting it ever deeper into the Pokémon's throat.

            Then, the Pokémon stopped moving. Its blood pooled around the Empress's feet as the beautiful serpent lay still. There was a silence that seemed to weigh heavy on the air.

            Then, the woman gasped and reached her hands up to her throat. She began to cough up blood. Still gripping the golden trident, the Glamour Empress fell to her knees, and then to the ground. She landed on top of her dead Spirit Pokémon, and her legs kicked in pain in the same way as Milotic as she fought for every last breath. Finally, she lay still, with her eyes open.

            "The woman was mad," Hector said, looking over at the dead Empress and her Pokémon. He looked around at the few guards still present in the hall, and the captain with a Sharpedo painted on his armor. They were all at a loss for words.

            Hector heard a chuckle by his side. He turned and saw Brandon's face reddening. He was laughing so hard that no sound came out. "You," he stammered through his laughs, "You're all fools. Since when did the world go mad and the great leader you follow kill her own Spirit Pokémon?"

            The man in the Sharpedo armor hit him in the head, knocking Brandon to the ground. He drew a sword that glimmered icy blue in the light of the cave. "I will not have you mock Her Magnificence. Today was the day she said you die, Brightflame scum, and I intend to honor her command." He raised the sword above his head, to bring it down as the Empress had done to Milotic.

            There was a flash of brilliant light, and Hector heard the sword clang to the ground. An ear shattering boom shook the cavern and knocked all to the ground.

            A cold mist filled the air, and Hector strained his eyes to make out any cause of the explosion, and then he saw her.

            The Glamour Empress stood over her dead Pokémon, trident in one hand, and blue jewel in the other. Hector trembled in fear as he noticed Milotic's blood swirling up and around her body, forming strange patterns on her face and arms. The jewel shone a bright blue, as deep as the sea itself.

            When she opened her mouth, and ear-piercing screech of a laugh emitted from her. It was then that Hector lost all hope.

            The statue of the giant Pokémon was gone. Wading in the pool instead was a blue Pokémon with bright red eyes. It had the same markings on its back and huge fins that matched the Empress. Hector could feel the power of the monstrous Pokémon in the very air itself.  

            "Your loyalty is admirable, captain," she said. Her voice was honey at first, but also had a terrible low, icy growl to it as well. "Kill the prisoners. I must go and begin my reign of the region. Soon, there will be none left who oppose me." She stepped on Milotic's head on her way atop the new Pokémon. "Kyogre, let us be free of your prison."

            With that, Kyogre, the beast of the sea, let out a booming shock of water from its mouth up towards the top of the cavern. The entire ground shook as water came rushing in from the ceiling. With a mighty roar, Kyogre leapt into the falling water, and out of the new opening in the top of the cavern.

            Water was falling everywhere as the guards rushed Brandon, leaving the bound Hector alone. He felt a rush of heat and heard the shattering of chains as he saw Combusken glow a bright red, burning away its captivity.

            Brandon skillfully kicked and dodged his way around the guards' spears and swords. He was able to get near his Spirit Pokémon, and the fire-bird melted away his chains. A couple well timed-dance steps later, Brandon had disarmed and slaughtered two guards, taking each of their swords as he and Combusken stared down the remaining five of them, and their captain, the one with the Sharpedo armor.

            CRACK! A rock dislodged from the ceiling as it fell to the cavern floor. There was a sickening crunch, and only four guards remained. The fifth had been crushed by the boulder.

            Hector then realized that he had no time to marvel in awe at Brandon's fighting skills. This place is going to fall apart, he realized. The water began to fall like rain inside the cavern, and Hector noticed that he was now ankle deep in the water. He wondered what would happen first: would he be killed by the guards' swords, crushed piece of the cavern, or would he drown a slow death in the ice cold water?

            The captain in the Sharpedo armor didn't wait around to find out. A blue blur shot out of the water. It was a Pokémon that looked exactly like the picture on his armor. The huge man looked around, and Hector knew that he was having the same thoughts.

            "Don't let them escape," was all he said before he grabbed the Shark Pokémon's fin, and leapt into the falling stream of water much the same way the Empress and Kyogre had before.

            The water was rising faster now, and Hector felt something brush across his knee. He looked down and stepped back in horror. Milotic's body had floated towards them. Rocks continued to splash down, raining more water and making it hard to see. Hector looked at Brandon as he made his way toward his friend's side.

            He looked over their enemies, it was four against three. Hector had no doubt that Brandon and Combusken could take each and every one of them... but at what cost, and how long would it take.

            "This is where it ends, then," Hector said. He caught Brandon's eye.

            "For them." Hector felt Brandon push him away. He stumbled out of the rain... back into the cave from which they had emerged. "GO!" yelled his friend as Hector made his way up winding rocks of the cave. He heeded Brandon's advice as he ran, footsteps only feet behind him. Brandon.

            He ran up and up and up... until he came upon a dead end. The winding tunnel had collapsed, fallen rubble blocking his path. Hector turned back around and saw Brandon there, followed by Combusken and the four guards.

            "Brightflame scum," said one of them.

            "If you say so," Brandon said with a smirk. He pointed with one of the swords at the ceiling. "Crush them!"

            Combusken inhaled and then shot out a river of hot flame at the ceiling of the tunnel above the guards. When one of them realized what was happening, he rushed them, spear outstretched. Hector put up his arms to defend himself just as the ceiling rumbled and fell on top of them.

            He felt a stab of pain as he looked down at his left arm, it was bleeding profusely, and he couldn't even lift it. He felt the salty kiss of water on his face as water began to cascade down the fallen rubble on top of the guards. Combusken's fire had collapsed the ceiling, and up above the sea began to trickle in.

            "Combusken, go!" Brandon said. The fire bird seemed to be in a noticeable pain as the salty water hit its feet, but soon it was out into the fresh air.

            Hector tried to follow the Pokémon up the rubble, but the pain in his arm was unbearable. He felt himself slip and fall, but then he was caught. Brandon Brightflame had his arm around him. "Don't you even think about staying here," he said.

            Together they climbed out of the rubble. The sky outside was dark and stormy. Rain fell in all directions, limiting their vision to a few hundred yards all around. In his pain, Hector could notice the shallow shoreline, and the great white cliffs of Sootopolis behind them.

            Hector felt himself lowered against the cliff. Brandon held his injured arm up to have a look. "Looks like it hurts," he said. "But you'll be alright. Just stay awake, and I'll bandage it up." The Prince of Lavaridge tore his ragged prisoner's shirt off and began to wrap it around Hector's arm. It hurt, but the fisherman's son felt safe as the cloth tightened around his gash.

            "BUSKEN!" Brandon's Pokémon shrieked. Hector only had time to witness a fin veering towards them at a high speed out of the shallows. Lightning flashed, and Hector saw the bird get knocked into the water by a shark-like Pokémon.

            "NO!" Brandon yelled. Thunder rolled and Hector could make out the bird standing in the water as it shot flame and punched at the Sharpedo circling around it

            "AAAAARGH!" came another voice from above.

            Brandon rolled away from Hector and began to engage a huge man in combat. It was an ambush, Hector knew. He turned his head. His vision was swimming now, a mixture of the rain and pain in his arm.

            Brandon and the Empress's captain were matched blow for blow, but Hector knew it was only a matter of time. Brandon wasn't armored, and his Spirit Pokémon seemed to grow weaker standing in the rain.

            Combusken lashed out what would normally have been a devastating kick at the Sharpedo, but the water Pokémon dodged it skillfully, raking Combusken's head with its bottom fin. The bird collapsed on all fours into the water.

            Hector knew that Combusken was beaten. Out of the water, for a final time rose the Sharpedo's dorsal fin. Closer and closer it got to the bird. Hector staggered to his feet. He could see the shark's eyes and then it opened its jaws...

            The fisherman's son gathered all his remaining strength and lunged in between the two Pokémon, reaching out with his wrapped left arm, hoping against hope that he could hit the Sharpedo.

            Lightning flashed again. The thunder drowned out his shriek of pain as the water Pokémon clamped its jaws down on Hector's injured arm. He felt himself get shaken side to side and dragged through the water. The salty spray filling his mouth, trickling down his throat, filling his lungs. The cold was washing over him as all will to fight left him...

            Then came an intense warmth. His arm was released and he gasped for breath as he breached the surface of the water. The pain was gone as his heart was racing. He looked up at his savior, a tall Pokémon with a red beak and cream colored feathers. Its wrists emitted a comforting fire as the Pokémon set Hector down onto the beach. It evolved to save me, Hector understood. He remembered back to the battle of Mauville, when his friend Chris Marsh's Marshtomp had evolved into Swampert to avenge his friend, Ryan...

            He gazed into Brandon's Spirit Pokémon's eyes and he saw the dorsal fin once again rising out of the water, slicing through the waves at an intense speed. Hector tried to open his mouth to warn the Pokémon, but the giant bird already knew. It leapt into the air, its almost human-like leg ablaze, and kicked the Sharpedo as soon as it broke out of the water.

            The blue Pokémon spun up into the air, and the evolved Pokémon leapt up to catch its fins with its blazing hands. The shark tried to clamp its jaws around anything it could find. The red bird spun and threw the Pokémon at the dueling humans.

            It let out a deep cry and Brandon seemed to understand without a second thought. The Prince collapsed into the churning water as the Sharpedo hit its own Spirit Human in the chest, knocking the huge man into the waves. Brandon wasted no time, and as if on instinct, he leapt out of the water again, and skewered the Sharpedo with both of his swords. He held them there as the water turned red, and the big man finally stopped moving.

            Only the sound of rain and thunder could be heard as Hector saw Brandon throw down his swords and rush back towards him. "Now why did you go and have to be a hero?" he said. Hector saw his face turn a pale white as he looked at his arm. "You had to go ruin what I was trying to fix. You stupid fisherman's son, you should leave the fighting to the warriors."

            Hector could feel the warmth around his body in the water. It was blood, he knew. His blood. He turned his head to look down at his arm. It was a mangled mess of skin and blood and splintered bone. His hand was still attached by what looked like a white stick. Little bits of what remained of Brandon's shirt was still wrapped around his elbow. Everywhere the water was red as blood.

            He fought and conquered the urge not to faint. He gasped and looked back up at Brandon's face. Lightning flashed and a speck appeared in the distance. The rain began to fall more intensely and the speck became a ship; a ship flying the coral colored serpent of House Glamour.

            "It's over," Hector said, tears pouring down his cheek. The pain in his arm came back. His vision blurred in and out.

            "No don't say that," Brandon said. His voice was shaky, as Hector had never heard it before. "You can't leave me. Stay with me."

            Hector didn't have the heart or the strength to tell him that the ship was approaching. It was a Sootopolis ship full of armored warriors, ready to end them once and for all.

            He began to gasp for breath. "NO!" Brandon yelled. "You're my only friend! You can't leave me. Not now, not like this..."

            Lightning flashed again, and Brandon's evolved Spirit Pokémon noticed the ship. The flames burned on its wrists and then went out.

            There was a final flash of light, and the rain stopped. Hector had finally done what he thought was impossible: he had saved a friend.

            He heard voices. Familiar voices. Ryan? Chris? He saw a green Pokémon staring down at him, and the gruff voice of a man's. Apollo?

            Brandon Brightflame was there apparently, too. "Save him," Hector heard him say. "Save him, or I promise I will personally tear your limbs off."

            Hector felt his head hit the floor. The last things he saw were a small, smiling Pokémon standing next to an old, grouchy looking man. Farther back, he saw a woman sitting on the wooden deck, a blue blur in her arms.

            He strained his eyes with all his remaining strength and saw that the blur was a Mudkip. He remembered what the Pokémon looked like from when he and his friend Chris were children.

            "There, there, Lily," came the woman's voice. She caressed the little Mudkip's fin. Hector noticed how half of its head and the fin on top were a deep crimson, like blood in the water. "Fear not, my child," came the voice as the pain left Hector's arm. "Don't be afraid, Lily. It's only a storm."