I think by now you should have learned to never trust me when I say I promise I'll update faster. It just ain't gonna happen. But I swear to you I will see this story to its conclusion, even if it's the last thing I do. This story is my baby. And you all seem to love it.

Obligatory list of Trainers/Pokémon:

Kaiba: Pikachu (male), Minun (male), Ursaring (female), Vulpix (female), Charmeleon (male), Lugia

Mokuba: Drifloon (female, Phasma), Plusle (female, Lyset), Riolu (male, Ramses), Ralts (male, Mirth), Tangela (female, Hazel), Jirachi

Joey: Houndour (male), Growlithe (male), Mightyena (female), Electrike (male), Delibird (male), Entei

Mai: Lapras (Raine), Absol (Midnight), Skitty (Lace), Roselia (Fleur), Rapidash (Epona), Kyogre

Serenity: Shellder (Brook), Eevee (Hyacinth), Ivysaur (Lisianthus), Bayleef (Geranium), Mawile (Echo), Swinub (Pigmund)

Téa: Happiny, Butterfree, Jigglypuff, Buneary, Spheal, Marshtomp

Bakura: Seviper (Venom), Sandslash (Amane), Umbreon (Darkness), Gastly (Kneph), Cubone (Zuka), Celebi

Tristan: Magmar, Ambipom, Shroomish, Geodude, Scyther, Cranidos

Yugi: Quilava, Sableye, Donphan, Trapinch, Bagon, Arceus

Malik: Aerodactyl, Arbok, Golbat, Kabuto, Omanyte, Moltres

Last time: Yami Yugi and Mai seem to be getting somewhere with Kyogre on their search for Groudon. Joey and Serenity have found a Darkrai victim but are unsure of what to do. Mokuba and Tristan are about to enter Sky Tower. Yami Bakura has fallen into a place with strange gravity… and Téa and Malik are searching in the mountains. Will they capture their Legendaries? Find out in this installation of… POKÉMON HEARTS!

Joey and Serenity sat uncomfortably next to the patient's bed. It was a young boy, with short curly black hair, his eyes squeezed shut. Joey shot his sister a worried look, who returned the gaze.

"What do we do now?" he asked.

Serenity thought about that question for a moment. "Well, this boy was put into this coma by Darkrai. It's not really a coma but an eternal nightmare-filled sleep. In the Pokémon games, the only way to counter this is getting Cresselia to help."

"Great, but where do we find this Cresselia?"

Serenity shrugged, frowning. "In the game, she's on an island. So I guess we start there?"

Joey stared dumbfounded at her. "Sis, you can't be serious. Japan has tons of islands!"

Serenity chewed her lower lip, looking at her hands in her lap. "I know, I know… But short of baiting Darkrai, which by the way I would have no idea how to do, I can't think of anything else."

"There's gotta be some clue as to where Cresselia is!" Joey insisted. "Some clue from the games, or the Pokédex!" He clenched his fists and ground his teeth. "CRESSELIA!" he shouted, as if trying to beckon it.

And beckon her he did – that is, it seemed like he beckoned her, but really she was already on her way and it was just nice timing – for though the two Trainers did not realize it at the time, Cresselia is drawn to victims of Darkrai. She brings good dreams in her wake, and fights to counter Darkrai's evil intentions. A pink shimmer streamed through the hospital window and hovered above the boy's bed. The boy immediately stilled, his face relaxing as he let out a sigh. Then the shimmer curled in an empty space in the room, resolving into a blue swan-like creature with three pink crescents sprouting from its torso. It hovered above the floor, staring at the two stunned Trainers for a moment before dipping its head slightly as if to say "you rang?"

Mokuba and Tristan were making slow but steady progress in Sky Pillar. The first dozen floors were cleared with only a few battles with ghost Pokémon. Soon after, however, they found the door to the staircase locked. Mokuba noticed a small hole in the wall, and when he climbed through it he found himself on the other side of the door. Quickly he unlocked it and let Tristan through.

The floors got more and more complicated as the two Trainers climbed higher and higher, and the increasing frequency and difficulty of wild Pokémon battles did not help their progress. The small passages Mokuba had to crawl through began to lead to whole other rooms with weak floors and traps that Tristan had to lift using a pulley system from the main room.

Mokuba had lost count several floors ago, but when they stopped to rest he guessed they were on Floor 35.

Yami Bakura travelled along the upright islands for as long as he could, heading vaguely in the direction the shadow sped. He didn't quite trust the islands that appeared to be sideways or upside down, not even the ones with water falling sideways or up off the sides. This… place he was in had unknown rules, and he had to be careful.

But it got to a point where if he wanted to stay "upright" he'd have to go backwards and retrace all of his steps back to where he started. And that wasn't happening. Instead he sat down at the edge of his island and crossed his arms, thinking. Or, more accurately, moping.

"Why don't you try jumping?"

Bakura started. He had forgotten Ryou Bakura was still there. He was so used to having complete control over this body.

"And risk falling into oblivion? No thanks," he replied through the mind link.

"Don't be such a coward."

Yami Bakura nearly started again, he was so surprised at Ryou's bluntness.

"I'm not a coward; I'm good at staying alive."

"We're never going to get anywhere if we don't try jumping to another island."

Yami Bakura didn't reply right away. He loathed to admit that his lighter half could ever know better than him, but Ryou was right. They weren't going to get anywhere.

As if to insult him, Ryou added, "If you're too scared, I could do it."

Yami Bakura growled and said out loud, "No way in hell! I'll do it myself." No way his lighter half could ever be braver than him. No way.

Bakura pushed himself to his feet and, briefly brushing a finger against his Millenium Ring, faced the nearest perpendicular island. With his brow furrowed, he sprinted towards the wall of rock floating a few feet away from his island. He foot came down on the edge and he leaped for the wall. For one terrifying moment he was certain he would crash into the wall and fall forever, but halfway there gravity shifted. He face-planted onto the other island.

"There, that worked pretty well, didn't it?"

"You shut your trap, boy."

Grinding his teeth together, Bakura got to his feet and ran his fingers through his hair. A lightning bolt appeared in the distance, shooting into the oblivion, followed by an inhuman shriek. Someone was fighting over there. He was much closer to the lightning now as well. It wouldn't be too long until he caught up.

As he travelled, he got better at landing on other islands. He found a way to twist his body mid-air so that he landed on his feet nearly every time. As he got closer to the fighting, he sped up. He could even hear more of the attacks and some indiscernible shouting.

He jumped onto an island with a particularly large amount of boulders and strange vine-like trees. He heard a human shout out and could tell he was close. He pushed past the trees and crouched behind a boulder at the edge of a clearing. His knee nudged a white Pokéball with a black top and a red protrusion, a Timer Ball he immediately pocketed. Bakura peeked out from behind the rock and sharply gasped through his teeth.

At the edge of the island floated a massive snake-like Pokémon with six black smoky tendrils sprouting from its back like wings and a golden armored face. In front of it, getting to his feet with a Pikachu looking back at him, was the missing Seto Kaiba.

Malik and Téa left the unconscious Stantler in the clearing behind them and headed back into the dark forest, hoping they wouldn't run into any more herds of Pokémon. The ground began to slope upwards, and soon enough they were hiking up their first mountain. Malik's Kabuto seemed to enjoy being on its Trainer's head, and so there it remained. Téa's Buneary cheerfully hopped alongside the duo, relishing in the mountain air.

The two Trainers were mostly silent as they concentrated in their climbing. When they got above the tree line, they stopped to rest and look out over the mountains.

"What are we even looking for?" Malik asked.

"Not entirely sure," Téa replied. "I want to check out caves first though. Pokémon can easily hide there, so it'd be a good place to start."

Malik nodded and pointed. "I see one that looks sizeable over there, on the mountain next to us."

Téa exhaled loudly. "It's pretty far, we wouldn't be able to get their before nightfall probably."

Malik grinned, holding up two of his Pokéballs. "I've got a shortcut." Téa smiled, understanding, and returned Buneary to its ball, Malik doing the same to Kabuto. Then, he released Moltres and Aerodactyl. He hopped onto Moltres's back, and Téa unsteadily clambered onto Aerodactyl's. Keeping low to the tree line, the two Trainers flew over to the cave's entrance.

As Kyogre took Yami Yugi and Mai further out to sea, the air seemed to get drier and the sun hotter. They were both soon spread-eagled on Kyogre's back despite the strong wind. Indeed, the wind seemed to make everything hotter.

"We must be close to Groudon by now," Mai complained. Yami nodded aimlessly, trying to think if any of his Pokémon could help him keep cool and wondering if it was worth it to try and dip a hand into the water and risk falling off.

Yet, a few minutes after Mai spoke up, Kyogre began to slow. The Trainers sat up in anticipation and looked out over the Sea Basin Pokémon's head. Several paces in front of them was a relatively small island completely covered in sand. And on it, lumbering back and forth, was a giant red Pokémon reminiscent of a type of dinosaur.

"Groudon," whispered Yami.

Mai leaned down to stroke Kyogre's cheek. "Kyogre honey, do you think you could knock Groudon out for us? With a Hydro Pump or something, maybe?"

Kyogre rolled its eyes and grumbled as if in laughter. Mai took that as a no. She looked back at Yami and told him, "Looks like we're on our own in this fight."

Yami shrugged. "I expected as much. The Legendaries don't seem to like fighting for us unless we're in danger." He hopped off Kyogre into the shallow water near shore and held up a hand for Mai. She took it and slid off her Pokémon's back. "We can do this though, if we team up." Mai grinned and nodded in agreement.

"And I've got just the Pokémon for this," she said, pulling out two Pokéballs just as Groudon noticed the two humans and roared. "Go, Raine and Fleur!"

Yami smirked as Lapras and Roselia were summoned. He didn't have any Pokémon that would have a type advantage against Groudon, but he wasn't about to let Mai fight alone. "Bagon and Sableye, I choose you! Go, use Heabutt and Fake Out!"

"You too, Raine and Fleur! Water Pulse and Leech Seed!"

Sableye disappeared and reappeared near Groudon's head, slapping it around the ears. As it cringed, Bagon rammed its head into the giant Pokémon's shin, a move followed closely by a sphere of water hitting it square in the stomach. Roselia shot vines that wrapped around Groudon's torso and began to pulse a faint green.

By this time Groudon had recovered from Sableye's Fake Out. With a roar it swung at the ghost by its head. Its Slash went straight through Sableye, but it scared the ghost back to the ground. It stomped on the ground and broke the vines binding it. The ground shook and split, catching Roselia and Bagon with an Earthquake. Both Trainers cried out for their Pokémon. Bagon in particular seemed to have been hit particularly bad. And it didn't help when Groudon opened its mouth and blew a Fire Blast in Bagon's face.

"Bagon!" Yami shouted, running towards his wounded Pokémon. Groudon angrily swung at the trainer, but Yami slid under its Slash and grabbed Bagon before dashing out of the danger zone again. Mai dutifully distracted Groudon again with Magical Leaf and another Water Pulse.

Yami held Bagon and apologized to it. "I should have made you fight such a strong Pokémon without training you more," he muttered. "Here, I'll return you to your Pokéball so that you can rest." Yami pulled out the red and white ball, but Bagon batted it away and struggled out of its Trainer's arms. Yami stared. "You… still want to fight?"

Bagon nodded fiercely and started to glow. Mai gasped when she noticed. Bagon grew rounder and taller, and when the glow faded, his Pokémon looked like a round white Ball with a black face and legs. Yami's Pokédex revealed that his Bagon had evolved into Shelgon. He smiled then, and told it, "Okay, give this big guy your best attack. Go, Dragonbreath!"

Shelgon turned and leapt back into the fray. It breathed a mighty purple gust that hit Groudon in the face. Groudon seemed mostly unaffected by the attack but struggled to move as quickly. It was Paralyzed.

Yet Groudon could still move somewhat. Taking aim at Roselia, it shot another Fire Blast. Sabeleye quickly moved in front of the grass Pokémon and used Detect to block the super effective fire. Lapras sent a third Water Pulse at Groudon's head, hitting it so hard that Groudon stumbled. It had trouble staying on its feet, and accidentally hit itself with its own Slash. The Water Pulse had Confused it. Roselia took this chance to capture it once again in Leech Seed.

"This is going great," Yami said, "but how are we gonna catch it?"

Mai smirked and held up a Timer Ball. "I found this while you were distracted by your Pokémon evolving. Taking aim at the enormous Continent Pokémon, she chucked the ball as hard as she could. Groudon disappeared into red light and was absorbed into the ball. It fell to the sand with a dull thud.

It shook once. Twice. Groudon did not want to be in there. Thrice. And finally, after the tensest moment either Trainer had felt in a long while, the ball stilled. Both human and Pokémon present cheered.

Groudon had been caught.

This felt a lot longer when I was writing it, ha ha. Sorry Mokuba's and Tristan's, and Malik's and Téa's sections were so short :/ But they'll be longer next time.

Seriously guys, I truly am sorry I don't update more often. I adore each and every one of you who have stuck with this story, as well as any new guys. I love getting your reviews and alerts. Thanks a lot guys. :)

Cheers!