CHRIS

"Look at that," Chris proudly pointed to the top of the thick stone shell of a building that was being raised. On top of it, the deep blue mark of the Empress and Kyogre flew across a great flag. Beneath the Royal Glamour banner, a white flag with crossed yellow and blue swords was being raised. It was his flag, his banner, the start of his own family. "We will live on in history, Azumarill." The blue aqua rabbit Pokémon smiled up at it with starry eyes.

Chris Marsh II stood for hours every day overseeing the work on what once was his father's ancestral home. It had been a poor, drab thing most of his life. Made of old wood that creaked in the night. It was why he spent most of his upbringing in Mauville with his mother, Sarah. That was, until he left to become part of the First Generation.

The builders were erecting beside it a large, stone palace, fit for one of the Kings of the Great Spirit Families of old. He had always wondered why the Marshes didn't live like the other Kings of Hoenn. No there are no Kings, he thought, only Her Majesty's great Empire. Chris Marsh II was no king, he was better than his father's family. His banner was testament to that: a blue sword and a yellow sword, representative of the joining of Houses Marsh and Spark, with the pure white background symbolizing the support of the Empress's own great marble castle.

"Azu!" his Spirit Pokémon cried. Chris heard it too: footsteps approaching him in the sand, and he heard the familiar voice. It had been so long since he had seen his late father's cousin, Hera Love.

She was tall for a woman, with sandy blonde hair and accompanied by a young Gardevoir, the Spirit Pokémon of her family. She bowed respectfully to her Lord Cousin. Chris waved his hand allowing the guards to let her pass. She was, after all, Chieftess of Oldale. He briskly walked over and braced her for a hug.

"Hera!" Chris said with a smile. "How good to see you!"

"And you," she said politely. Even though she was nearly twice Chris's age, she was still respectful to her superior. She glanced at the stone building being raised. "I had to come see it for myself. I guess it's true, then. You will be Lord Governor from Slateport?"

Chris Marsh smiled and looked down at his Azumarill. "It's been seventeen years since a Marsh was in Slateport. It's time to carry on the torch my father should have passed down to me himself. You know what it's like, not having a father who's there for you. It's hard but we must persevere."

Hera hung her head shortly before gathering herself again. Chris felt a twinge of guilt come up inside of him. Unlike Chris, Hera had known her father. He had disappeared during the Unification of Hoenn when Chris was still a baby, seventeen years ago. "No, it's quite alright," Hera said with a smile. "I do know what he would say, though." She laughed and stood beside Chris. They both looked at the wooden frames where the builders were adding layers of stone to the new Slateport Palace. "He would wonder what that white flag with swords is, and where his King's banner was."

Chris felt slightly annoyed by that. There are no Kings anymore, he said. He had to forgive her silently though. She wasn't part of the first generation. She wasn't instructed in the truth. She grew up in a different time. "It's my flag," he responded finally. "The flag of a new era of the Marsh family."

Hera looked down again at Azumarill curiously. "It's a shame all the Mudkip eggs were lost during the Unification," she said quietly. Chris felt Azumarill's slight jealousy at that. "Let me give you some advice, cousin, if you will have it." Her voice was soft and kind.

Chris had to hold back a scowl as he listened to her. A wise Governor listens to council, he recalled. "Let's hear it then," he said, feigning excitement.

"The citizens who lived in the Slateport Kingdom before the Unification... The citizens of Oldale, Petalburg, Littleroot, Dewford... They still remember the Marshes. The Unification was a confusing time for them, some still might have some reservations about the Empire from Sootopolis and their new rulers."

They do, Chris knew. Even here the Draconids hide in the shadows, causing trouble for Her Holiness. It reminded him of the second Draconid prisoner he had caught recently, chained to a heavy rock on the beach. I'll need to show Ahab when he gets here.

Hera and Gardevoir looked back at the palace-in-progress, Chris Marsh's new flag, and even stole a glance again at Azumarill. "The people still love the Marshes, they still love you, Chris. They know your name, they respect it, and they remember what the name Marsh stood for. What the banner of the Marshes stood for."

"What are you saying?" he asked Hera. Chris felt confused. Was there a point to all this? He felt like she was wasting his time. The envoy had said Ahab would arrive at Slateport any moment with news of the latest High Council. Still, he listened to his father's cousin.

"Perhaps your new banner is a bit much, Chris. I'm on your side. My family were loyal Chiefs to the Marshes for centuries. My father would have died for your grandfather. I loved my aunt, your grandmother, until the day she disappeared. You need to make the people remember that you are a Marsh. Inspire their loyalty. Appeal to their traditions-"

"Thank you, cousin," Chris said, as he spied a familiar sight in the distance out to the sea. He and Azumarill dismissed Hera quickly. She was starting to bore me, he thought. There is a new tradition, a tradition of might and greatness, and her word arrives now.

He could recognized the familiar wake anywhere: Ahab riding on his powerful Gyarados. Chris arrived at the beach when Ahab dismounted, and they shook hands together. It had been almost a month and a half since he had seen his mentor. Even this time, Ahab cracked a rare smile on his harsh, tanned and wrinkled face. He smelled like the salt of the sea, as always.

Ahab gestured with his head towards the in-progress castle from where Chris had come from. "I was right to expect grand things from you, boy," he said. His voice was raspy, but still powerful.

"Surely you'll come visit when the New Marsh Castle is completed." Azumarill and Gyarados waded into the shallows to practice sparring together. Ahab laughed at the sight of it.

"Of course," he chuckled. "You're the apple of my eye. I wouldn't miss it for the world..." His voice trailed off and he rested his hand on the pommel of the sword he wore at his side. Ahab seemed to be staring at something behind Chris.

He turned around himself, and saw Hera and Gardevoir walking along the beach with some Oldale guards. Chris knew they would take the west road back to the town they oversaw as part of Chris's jurisdiction. He saw Gardevoir turn its head. The Spirit Pokémon's green face seemed to lock eyes with Ahab for a split second before they continued on their way.

Ahab broke the silence. "You had a visitor today?" he asked.

"I did," Chris said. "My cousin came to see the castle. She thinks I should keep the old Marsh banner-"

"She's right," Ahab interrupted. "It is my sister's wish that we honor the traditions of the kingdoms we unified. I appreciate the ambition, though. To have your own new banner" He laughed out loud. "Maybe I'll talk to the Empress about it, if you wish."

Of course! Chris could have hit himself in that moment. He had forgotten another lesson. "That won't be necessary. 'Solidarity, not conquest'," he repeated from his teachings. "I'll keep the old banner." He had almost forgotten something. "Come!" he told his old mentor. "Not far from here I have something to show you."

They began to walk along the beach, and Ahab spoke his news as well. Chris listened intently to every word. "You may want to have a talk with your mother. We had an incident with her latest representative. It seems there is still some want for the old way of exchanging food."

Chris thought about that. It made sense, but he had to speak for his mother, Sarah Spark, who was still his loyal Chieftess. "She wasn't educated in the ways of the First Generation like I was, my lord. I'll speak with her. I'll make her see the glory of the Empress's Holy Rain." He looked up at the sky, it had been grey and cloudy his whole life, ready to rain on a moment's notice. Chris Marsh II knew that if he ruled to honor Her Majesty's wishes, she would occasionally bless his Kingdom with sunlight, by using her mighty power and Spirit Bond with Kyogre to remove the clouds.

"Good man," Ahab responded. "It also seems the Draconids have struck again."

"Where?"

"Mt. Pyre. They found his mark on a killing within the fortress itself."

Chris's heart skipped a beat. Leo, he thought. Leo is in danger. He remembered his friend he had lived with that year during the First Generation training. Chris knew who "he" was. Burningtree. "Aaargh!" Chris grunted in frustration. He had been there only weeks ago. He could have investigated this. "I should have been there. If only I had gotten off the ship when it delivered Leo to his home..."

"Leo was trained as a First Generation the way you were," Ahab consoled wisely. "And Lord Governor Specter has been loyal to my sister since before the Unification. They will handle it."

Chris and Ahab walked in silence the rest of the way. They finally, they arrived at the weathered man at the rock. It was low tide now, so the water only came up to his waist as he sat in the sand. Corphish crawled all over the man, snipping at his fingers and toes. He was asleep.

Chris looked at Ahab. "Draconid scum," he told his mentor. Ahab eyed the man with hate. "He was caught delivering messages. One of them was signed with Burningtree's mark."

"Did you read them?" Ahab asked.

"I tried," Chris responded. "They were in code. I thought perhaps a few days with nothing but the sound of the ocean and Wingulls crying he would tell us what they meant."

Ahab took a step forward. His boots splashed in the inch-deep water. "You disappoint me, boy," he laughed. "You need to be more up front than that."

Chris smiled. "Then let's see what he has to say." He picked up a clump of wet sand, and threw it at the sleeping Draconid's face. It hit him square on the jaw. The man awoke and spit sand out of his mouth. He met Chris's gaze with loathing, and then when he saw Ahab standing above him, his eyes shrank with fear.

"You know who I am?" he asked.

"I've heard stories," he coughed. His voice was dry. No one could afford to drink seawater and expect to live.

"You know what I want? What did the letters say? Who were they for?"

"I'm just the messenger," he replied. "They didn't tell me how to read the markings." Ahab kicked him.

Chris walked up to the man and stood by his mentor's side. "There was an assassination at Mt. Pyre?" he asked. The Draconid prisoner nodded. "My friend, Leo Specter, lives there. You should tell us what you know."

"Not... not for long he doesn't," the prisoner chuckled before Chris gave him a kick in the belly. The man doubled over his chains and coughed up a spit of blood. "I told you... I don't know anything else."

"It's a shame," Ahab growled. "Then you're of no more use to me."

"You think you can stop us?" The man interrupted. Chris had to admire his bravery even in the face of his death. "We have more friends than you think. Powerful allies. Just you watch."

Chris and Ahab just stared at the man. The young Lord Governor of Slateport turned his head at a sound approaching them. It was Azumarill, riding on Gyarados' back through the shallow waves. The tide was rising again. Teacher and Student turned around and began to walk back to their Pokémon. Chris figured the Draconid scum didn't deserve the mercy of a quick death.

"Wherever you go; wherever the Empress tries to clench her fist; the Draconids will be there to stop you," the prisoner called back out to them.

Chris drew the dagger at his belt and eyed Ahab. His mentor nodded at him with a frown. He turned around and looked the prisoner in the eye. He couldn't have been more than twenty feet away, Chris judged. "Not for long they won't."

And just like Ahab had taught him, he threw the dagger.