Chapter Text
Maxie held his hands behind his back, staring at the bulletin board that hung on his office wall. He examined every last bit of written information that he had gathered on the whereabouts, powers, and effects of the legendary Pokemon, Groudon. He exhaled deeply, casting a sidelong glance at the stack of books on his desk, which were very neatly organized with notes inside marking points of interest in each book. The redhead reached a hand over and picked one up, opening it to a page that clearly depicted an old drawing of the Red and Blue orbs, both drawn in black ink with evident use of berries for the red and blue colouration within them both. Maxie jumped, slamming the book shut when he heard a sudden knock at the door, followed by the familiar voice of one of his admins.
“Leader Maxie, we’re all ready.” Courtney said clearly. Maxie furrowed his brow, scowling before swiftly moving to his door and turning the knob to open it. The pink-haired admin behind it gave him a soft yet dangerous smile, one that he was used to. However he barely spared her a passing glance as he immediately closed the door tight behind him and moved down the hall without even a peep.
“Tabitha,” he said, approaching the heavier-set admin with his usual dead look on his face, to which the admin turned and gave his boss a salute. “Is everything in order here, are we ready to depart?” Tabitha gave a clear nod, turning towards the grunts of Team Magma, who were all preparing their departure. “Excellent, thank you.” Maxie similarly nodded, however it was more discreet. He turned to Courtney and finally looked her in the eyes as Tabitha moved to his side, almost attaching at the hip. He flinched, his eyes darting to the smaller admin before his muscles tensed and he sighed.
“I thank you all for keeping with us during this,” he said, his voice projecting throughout the room. “However, with the research we have gathered thus far, I believe it is safe to assume that allowing myself or others to make an attempt at controlling Groudon could result in death. Therefore, we will only be departing today for this sole purpose: To continue gathering as much information as we can on Groudon and its abilities. Granted, we have collected much now, but it is not enough.” Each grunt looked at each other with confused expressions before turning their heads back to both of the admins and their leader. “With that being said, we shall be taking our leave now. Please continue your work here until we return, thank you.” Maxie stepped down from the tiny metaphorical podium he had placed himself on, holding his hands behind his back just as he did so earlier and turning away from his team, leaving them all to discuss the confusion amongst themselves.
As he returned to his office to gather papers and files, Tabitha and Courtney came running after him, both seemingly just as confused as before, if not more. “Leader Maxie,” Courtney stepped up. “What do you mean when you say that gaining control of Groudon could result in death?” she inquired, Maxie sneered in annoyance. “I meant what I said, Courtney.” he replied, carrying the files in his arms while walking directly past them and down the opposite side of the hallway that he had gone before, this one led to the exit of their hideout. Both admins exchanged a look of concern before running after him, slowing down as they got closer, though Tabitha was trailing behind a bit (Courtney is just a fast runner).
“L- Leader Maxie!” she interrupted, placing a hand on his shoulder to easier gain his attention, forcing him to look her dead in the eyes. “You aren’t still going to go through with it then, are you?” Maxie almost looked offended, batting her hand away from him as he fixed his overcoat and re-folding the sleeves at the end of them. “Of course not, Courtney. I am not a fool like that Archie of Team Aqua.” he stated, his tone seeming to change to that of a higher pitch when mentioning the other man’s name, striking more confusion in Courtney when she swore the man’s cheeks were heating when doing so. This all went right over Tabitha’s head, however. Courtney reluctantly and discreetly nodded her head to acknowledge that she heard what her boss said, and watched as he turned around to continue moving forward. She looked to Tabitha who looked back with a similar stare of slight annoyance, then sharply turned on her heel to go back towards the grunts. With Maxie leaving base, someone had to order them around, and she knew Tabitha wasn’t going to do it.
Maxie looked back as the doors shut behind him, watching his admins walk back, Tabitha lagging behind as usual. He exhaled deeply, spreading a few files out in front of him, studying them one last time before leaving. Though, these didn’t depict a single fact about Groudon, nor the Red Orb. Instead, it told information on Kyogre and the Blue Orb.
“He has no idea what he’s gotten himself into..” Maxie muttered, folding the papers back into his folder and holding it in his arms. “Someone has got to stop him before it’s too late, it’s quite unfortunate that I have to be that someone.” He finished loading up what he needed to and sent out his Crobat for company. She purred like a Delcatty when perching on his shoulder, nuzzling her head up against his cheek affectionately. The redhead rubbed her head with a small smile, however hesitated afterwards.
“Do you think he’ll know better?” he asked his partner, though she only cooed in response. Not like he expected words from her anyway, she was a Pokemon. “...You’re right.” he muttered. “He’s never known better, always the one to jump right into things without even giving them a second thought.” he chuckled, followed by a sigh. “I just hope that this time, it won’t cost him anything more than just a few lectures from that admin of his.” Reluctant, he left behind the vehicle he was supposed to take, instead walking to his destination: the top of Mt. Chimney. It wasn’t that far away from their base, so it made the trip a thousand times easier. Once he got there, he would take the Red Orb, as well as the Blue Orb if given the chance. He couldn’t risk it falling into his hands.
Maxie began the decently long trek up the mountain, coming across Zubats and Golbats inside of it here and there, as well as families of Slugma and Magcargo, most of which his Crobat communicated with to let them know that they meant no harm. When finally reaching the top, he saw the one man he didn’t want to see there: Archie. In his hands shone the brilliant sapphire Blue Orb, thin topaz-coloured lines glowed across his body before fading. Suddenly, he turned to face Maxie, his lips curling into a smile.
“Yer a little late, scamp.” he teased, moving closer after pocketing the orb. He stood in front of Maxie, towering above him like a skyscraper. His Sharpedo-like fangs glinting under the sun, golden twinkles swirling in his eyes. Maxie gulped, sweat beading down his forehead as he felt almost intimidated by this act. However, he quickly pulled himself together, taking a step back as Crobat chirped angrily at Archie.
“Refer to me as a ‘scamp’ one more time.” he huffed, proud of his refute. Archie bit his lip in annoyance, slipping past Maxie with a sigh and a shrug of his shoulders. “G’luck with Groudon then, scamp. ” He continued walking into the dark depths of the mountain and leaving Maxie alone atop of it. He gritted his teeth angrily, the word ‘scamp’ echoing through his mind like the scratching of fingernails against a chalkboard. He hated that word, he hated it with every fibre of his being, so much so that he could snap at any moment had he heard it again.
He took a deep breath, regaining his cool composure as he pressed forward, his fingers wandering to the glowing surface of the solid ruby gem. Reddish-gold twinkles danced upon his fingertips as he felt power slowly course through him. He closed his eyes, letting it do so until he felt like it had done enough, to which he pocketed the gem and made his way out of the mountain.
At the base of it once he exited, his phone began to ring. In big, bold white letters on his screen, it read TABITHA . Maxie exhaled before answering it, clearing his throat when he did so.
“Yes, Tabitha. What is it?” he inquired, although seemingly annoyed. The boy on the other side of the line seemed to be whimpering, though Maxie didn’t worry too much. This was Tabitha, after all.
“S- Sir- I think they’ve already begun…” he weakly cleared his throat, gathering his composure. “Team Aqua, they left a few minutes ago. Courtney said she saw them departing near Lilycove. I think they’re going to the Seafloor Cavern now.” Maxie grumbled, “Alright … I’ve got the Red Orb, We’re on our way back now.” he said, ready to hang up. “Of course, see you soon.” He tapped the screen, looking on past the horizon as far as he could while angrily shoving his phone into his pocket.
“Archie, you’re such a fool…”