Renée Markov

Renee was on a decline, which was only expedited due to her often forgetting her medicine due to stress. She was barely holding it together, and knowing the fate of the world was possibly in her hands was unbearable. It all boiled over one night, where Steven had to intervene. But aside from comfort for a short period of time, there wasn’t much he could do – though he did note he was currently staying in Sootopolis with his new boyfriend, so he could help keep watch over sacred sites Aqua may target.

It would come to Renee’s surprise that she was contacted by someone familiar: a member of a group similar to aqua, Team Magma. Magma had been pretty much curb-stomped by Aqua and hadn’t been much of a threat, but Renee had encountered them a few times in squabbles. This person in particular was a woman named Courtney, a Magma admin who was worried for her girlfriend’s wellbeing. Her girlfriend was Shelly, an admin of Aqua, who had confided to Courtney of the Aqua leader Archie’s declining state as he prepared to unleash the ocean god Kyogre.

Renee was surprised to learn that even those involved were hesitant on committing to Aqua’s true goal, but she agreed to help Courtney. Courtney gave Renee the location of Aqua’s hideout, which Renee promptly stormed – Izzy by her side.

But it would seem she was too late. Archie had already left in his submarine with the Blue Orb, and was going to break the seal on the underwater cave that Kyogre was said to slumber in. Shelly was waiting by the port, and offered to give Renee a lift to Seafloor cavern, desperate for any attempt to stop Archie, who she’d believed had lost his mind.

The cavern wasn’t very far off, and Renee was able to dive down with Izzy’s help. To her horror, the seal had already been broken – and she wasn’t sure how much time she had left.
Renee desperately ran through the cave, and any Aqua grunts there did nothing to stop her.
She finally approached Archie, who almost seemed as if he was expecting Renee. She beat him in a battle, but it was too late. He refused Renee’s orders to stand down and activated the Blue Orb anyways.

The stone prison in the center of the lake at the bottom of the chamber began to crack with light, and soon enough, a glowing figure emerged from it. Though the light made it hard to tell, it didn’t seem like it was a pokemon at all, but rather… a woman? Renee had trouble getting a good look. But soon enough, an ear-splitting cry rang out, and the figure darted through the bottom of the central lake and out of the cavern, all the while Archie yelled orders, demanding he be listened to – to no avail.

Archie and Renee both seemed dumbfounded, and the two individually ran through the cave and back up to the surface – only for their horrors to be confirmed.

It was difficult making it onto a sandbar in the first place, as the waves had become aggressive, with relentless rain only making things worse. While Archie seemed to snap back to reality, horrified at what he’d done, Renee felt like nothing but a failure. This had been her one job, and even then, she’d failed to stop Archie from flooding the world. She was certain she was going to die… that everyone was going to die. And it was all her fault.

Renee’s trance was broken somewhat by hearing the ringtone of her phone, which she picked up. It was Steven, though it was hard to hear him through the sounds of the storm. He urged Renee to meet him in the historical preservation society near the sealed Cave of Origin as soon as possible. Renee was frantic is saying that with the state of the seas, there was no way she’d make it with just Izzy or Shelly’s boat – besides, Sootopolis was on heavy evacuation orders and all above-water exits were jammed.

Which was when Archie interjected.
He said he could take Renee through one of the underwater entrances with his submarine, which would get them even closer to the Cave of Origin. Though Renee was hesitant, she decided it wasn’t really like she had any other choice. 

In the submarine, Renee had the breakdown that adrenaline had prevented her from having, and Shelly and Izzy did their best to help her bring it together just a bit. As they ascended to the water’s surface once more, Renee took a deep breath and promised herself that she would try to stay determined until the bitter end.

Through the rain, Renee was greeted by Steven, his aforementioned boyfriend Wallace, a few scientists from the preservation society, and Magma leader Maxie.
The ground was already flooded by around 5 inches of water, so the crew sloshed through and made their way inside the building – which had power thanks to the scientist’s pokemon. The bottom floor was completely flooded, so everyone went to the second floor’s lobby to catch a breather. 

Renee gave Steven the biggest hug she’d ever given someone, and as much as she wouldn’t want to admit it, started crying, pleading ‘I’m sorry‘. Steven did his best to comfort her, even though he was quite on edge himself. Everyone else let them have their moment, before Wallace spoke up. He spoke kindly and calmly, despite the obvious panic in his eyes.

He introduced himself as Sootopolis’s new Gym Leader, and the lead Sootopolian historic coordinator. Clarifying the last bit, he essentially boiled it down to meaning he was one of the few people who had access to the Cave of Origin.

He knew Renee was spiraling, but insisted there was a chance to reverse everything – and gestured to Maxie. Maxie pulled out a red suit, and said it was the absolute product of Magma’s science – a suit that could withstand almost anything, from the bottom of the ocean to the heat of a volcano, and maybe even the vacuum of space. If someone were to wear the suit, they’d be able to withstand Kyogre’s rage and possibly battle it and make it calm down.

So the question arose – who would wear the suit and confront Kyogre? There was a bit of a moment of silence before Steven stood up and volunteered. He was quickly shot down by Maxie, who noted that it wouldn’t fit him – it was designed to be worn by his admin Tabitha, who he said had a body type almost exactly like Renee, if anything.

Renee was still stressed beyond belief, but hearing she’d have a chance to reverse everything, to save everyone… it was her only option. She simply nodded, and moved over to check if the suit fit – which it did, perfectly.

For the next few minutes, Renee was given encouragement from everyone, and hugged Steven one last time – because she feared it might be her very last hug altogether.

Along with Izzy, who should’ve had no issue as a water-type, Renee was escorted into the Cave of Origin by Wallace, who sealed the doors behind her.
It was… surprisingly calm inside the cave. But as Renee descended the submerged steps down into the cave, she could feel an increased sense of unease. 

Eventually, she found herself in a large cavern, with a large pool of water at the center – not entirely unlike the Sealed Cavern. The cavern was crackling with energy, and water and debris were flying everywhere – swirling around a central point, a woman floating in the center.
It was hard to move through the cavern from all the divine energy, but Renee found herself getting closer to the floating woman.

Suddenly, the woman noticed her, and Renee was slammed harshly against the cavern’s walls by water, breaking her helmet. While Maxie might’ve considered natural elements, he certainly didn’t consider divine wrath.
Renee blacked out for a few seconds, before coming to her senses – and everything hurt. Izzy was hurriedly pawing at Renee’s chest to make sure she was ok, and after a few seconds, Renee staggered to her feet – though partially keeled over.

She limped over to the center, through all the energy and water, and waded through the pool. She was yelling at the blue-haired woman now, with everything she had left in her. Begging her to stop, that the world was beautiful – that there were people and pokemon living together, and that it was worth saving.
Renee eventually got within reaching distance of the woman, and grabbed her by the foot, pulling her down and into the water.

And then, everything was calm. Renee took a second to breathe before the woman stirred in the water below her, to which Renee extended an arm to help her up. Renee tried her best to give calm words of reassurance… not so subtly mimicking how Wallace spoke. The woman looked at her, confused, and talked in a language Renee had never heard before, though it did sound a bit like Hoennan.

After some failed communication attempts, the two just sat there in a feeling of mutual understanding. The woman started to cry, and Renee did her best to comfort her… while Renee had absolutely no idea what was going on, she assumed the woman had a lot of mental unpacking to do.
But Renee was still badly hurt, and doubled over in pain, eliciting a concerned noise from the woman. She said something unintelligible, before helping Renee up and slowly walking over to the cavern’s door. Renee just let it happen, and was guided back up the cave by the woman – and once the door was in sight, the woman descended back into the cavern to let Renee leave by herself.

Once she exited, she saw the storm had stopped and the skies were a clear, cloudless blue. Everyone was waiting for her and smiling, and as she exited, Steven ran to hug her – though it quickly turned into him catching her as she truly collapsed.

Renee was rushed to the hospital and treated for a minor spinal injury, among more minor injuries. When she awoke, she was met with Steven’s teary-eyed face, along with that of Wallace. It was still painful to move, but the two friends met in a heartfelt hug.

It was finally over, and Renee had won.

It was a woman about Renee’s age, and she looked like a mess. She didn’t introduce herself, and simply proclaimed she knew who Renee was. Renee, believing her to be a wannabe-challenger, quickly and harshly cut her off before closing the door on her to get ready to meet Steven.

When Renee went to the cafe to meet Steven, she found he was indeed riddled with anxiety. He confessed someone had set fire to the Devon Corporation head office, though that wasn’t the important thing. The important thing, as Renee learned, was that a large meteor was on a crash course with Hoenn. Renee was horrified, but due to the public location of the meeting, she had to tone down her reaction.
The plan was to use a ground-breaking device Devon had developed to send the meteor to another dimension – really. It sounded like science fiction to Renee, but then again, she’d lived through stranger.

Steven found that he was too overwhelmed, and said that they should probably head to his home in Mossdeep, as they both had business there. Renee was curious as to what, until she remembered that Hoenn’s space center was located in the town. They were greeted by Wallace, and Renee went and stayed the night at Steven’s place.

In the morning, Steven and Renee had a meeting at the space center that was meant to check the progress on the world-saving device. The lead researcher at the center, Professor Cosmos, revealed the device and explained it in all its glory – even though it looked like nothing more than a remote. 

While Renee and Steven were signing paperwork, a tapping noise on one of the windows bugged Renee to the point of opening it – which was when the woman Renee encountered earlier swooped in. She introduced herself as Zinnia, and after insulting Steven, revealed that she had planned to summon Rayquaza to destroy the meteor – and that Devon’s plan would interfere.
Renee was just frustrated, but Zinnia wouldn’t listen. Using her whismur, Zinnia got a hold of the remote device and destroyed it. Renee was horrified, and so was everyone else. Zinnia seemed pleased with herself, and before she left, punched Steven square in the face, saying something about ‘revenge’ and his father.

Renee rushed to grab tissues for Steven’s now bleeding nose, as well as calm down Cosmos. Cosmos admitted that due to time constraints, they had to time to create a second remote.
So, it seemed like now, Zinnia’s plan was the only option.

As it would turn out, Zinnia had hit Steven hard enough to break his nose – while it didn’t require surgery, the pain was still bad and the ER doctors recommended he take it easy for at least the next 3 days… which left Renee and Steven strapped for time.

As those 3 days passed, Renee and Steven were mostly lethargic – staying in Steven’s house, trying to do anything to take their minds off of the meteor. The day before the meteor was supposed to hit, Steven felt he was losing his mind and left the house to get food from the nearby Pokemart.

Renee retreated to the room she was staying in, before a commotion outside caught her attention. Wallace had shouted a command to his milotic, and now Steven and Wallace were bickering about something.
When Renee ran outside, she could see Zinnia laying unconscious on the pavement, and heard Wallace mention a knife… which made her freak out. The three went back and forth about the situation before they agreed to disarm Zinnia and bring her inside.

It took a while for Zinnia to regain consciousness, but when she did, she was still a bit light-headed. Renee tried talking to her, admitting she held the belief that Zinnia was capable of saving the world, but Zinnia simply deflected everything Renee said. After some honest conversation, Zinnia broke down and told Renee and Steven the truth about who she was and her past.
Renee’s feelings for Zinnia only grew more worried, yet compassionate. Zinnia was trying what she believed was in the best interest of the world… a position Renee herself had been in a decade ago.
Eventually, everyone fell asleep, and Renee woke up early as she couldn’t sleep well due to the impending doom in the air. She was surprised to see Zinnia gone, but found a note from her instructing Renee to meet her at the sacred Sky Pillar – and to possibly bring any ‘fancy space stuff’ with her.

Renee took a quick detour to the space center to pick up the old, yet repaired Magma suit. It could withstand the vacuum of space, after all.
She was then escorted by Wallace over to Sky Pillar, who waved her goodbye from his boat. 

There, Renee came face to face with Zinnia once again, but this time she seemed to have the attitude of someone who had nothing to lose. While Renee was concerned about the stability of the crumbling tower, Zinnia insisted the two climb to the top, as Zinnia told Renee a story of Draconid history regarding Rayquaza… though it was odd. Zinnia referred to Rayquaza almost like she was a human – words that brought her back to seeing the strange human woman instead of Kyogre all those years ago.

The two had finally ascended to the top, and after some chatter, Zinnia proceeded to pull out a talisman and commence the ritual for summoning Rayquaza. Though not immediately after, a glint of green soon shone through the sky, and with a blast of air as Rayquaza landed, the old god presented itself before the two trainers…
…And that was when the combination of air pressure and surprise got to Renee, and she passed out.

When Renee awoke, she could see Zinnia crouching in front of her – Rayquaza in the background. Zinnia helped Renee up, and bid her adieu – but Renee stopped her. She couldn’t let Zinnia go up into space to her death, so Renee quickly pulled out the Magma suit. But after some quick examination, it would reveal that the suit wouldn’t fit Zinnia. So, Renee offered to go up in Zinnia’s place.

Zinnia seemed offended by this notion, but Rayquaza thought otherwise and sided with Renee. After a quick battle, with Rayquaza at Renee’s side, it was decided Renee would wear the Magma suit, mega-evolve Rayquaza, and destroy the meteor.
There was a heartfelt goodbye between the two, before Renee gripped Rayquaza’s horns tightly, and the god sped into the atmosphere.

It all happened so fast and was hard to comprehend, but almost as soon as Renee mega-evolved the dragon god, there was some kind of heavy impact that had Renee bracing herself. Then… it was done. Renee looked behind her, and could see the earth, along with small, green-glittering pieces of rock.
The meteor was gone. The world was safe.

But something was off. Among the glittering debris, there was a monolithic triangle floating in space. Rayquaza seemed to notice too, and entered a hostile stance. The triangle then started to move erratically, before stopping suddenly – followed by tendrils slowly emerging from the monolith. All of a sudden, a creature broke through and attacked, but Rayquaza quickly dodged. 

It was a creature unlike any Renee had ever seen before… was it even a pokemon? It sure didn’t look like one.
Rayquaza battled the creature for a brief moment, but Renee was starting to run out of air. While she still wasn’t sure if the strange creature was a pokemon, she hesitantly brought out an ultra ball and threw it towards the creature – the little gravity that existed in the atmosphere was luckily enough to propel it. 

And as Renee held her breath, the creature… was caught? Rayquaza seemed shocked too. Renee went to collect the pokeball, and Rayquaza descended back to earth. It was a quick drop-off, and Rayquaza flew off into the distance.

Renee looked around, and found Zinnia was nowhere to be seen – however, she did spot a note weighted under a rock. The note was from Zinnia, who proclaimed she’d be going somewhere far away and would likely never see Renee again. Renee didn’t realize what the note truly meant at the time, and took it with a grain of salt.

That night, Renee finally attended the meteor shower she had gotten tickets two, though she had nobody to give the second ticket to, as Steven was busy decompressing after all the stress.
As she sat on the hill behind the space center watching the stars, a woman approached. She was about to say something, but slipped and fell tumbling down the hill. Renee, shocked, rushed after her, and offered to help the woman up at the bottom.

Renee walked up the hill with Emmy, and sat down in the spot she had originally claimed. Renee was curious, so she asked Emmy why she had approached her. Emmy thought for a bit, then responded that she was a friend of Zinnia’s, who had told her about Renee. Renee instantly became more receptive, knowing the person wasn’t a complete stranger. But Emmy said she was just stopping by, and had to be somewhere – but she wanted to meet up with Renee more officially. Emmy asked if Renee would meet her at a certain diner in Fallarbor town, and Renee agreed.

The next day, Renee met Emmy at the diner as promised. The two hit it off rather well, though the meeting took a turn for the worst when Renee mentioned Zinnia’s final message – and suddenly, the two pieced together what it really meant. Luckily, the diner was relatively quiet this early, so the two were free to have a mutual moment. Emmy felt awful, and so did Renee – she wished she figured it out sooner. Emmy eventually confessed that with Zinnia gone, she had no place to stay. In an attempt to lighten the mood, Renee offered to let Emmy stay in her guest room until she could get a place of her own.
While Renee had only met Emmy the day before, she felt an innate trust in her due to her connection to Zinnia, as well as the fact that she admittedly found her attractive.

The two decided to walk back to Renee’s home in Rustboro, because Emmy said she knew a shortcut through Meteor Falls. But when they reached the caves, Renee was starting to realize Emmy was taking a different route – going deeper into the caves than she’d think was necessary. When Renee asked about this, Emmy simply said she had something cool to show Renee first.

The two eventually came upon a massive cavern – it appeared to have its own ecosystem, with trees and lush grass as far as the eye could see. Emmy seemed excited to show it to Renee, calling it ‘Hoenn’s best-kept secret’. Renee was in total awe – she had no idea a place like this could even exist. But Emmy’s show had only just begun.

Emmy asked if Renee wanted to see ‘something cooler’, though asked if she promised she wouldn’t pass out this time. The last question confused Renee, but she was intrigued nonetheless.
Emmy stepped back, and was quickly consumed in a light – though almost as soon as she was, in a flash, in her place stood Rayquaza. 

Renee couldn’t believe her eyes, yet somehow… she could? Kyogre and the woman, and how Zinnia talked about Rayquaza… it all came together. Renee understood now – the legendary gods of the world had a secret human identity, and Emmy was Rayquaza.
It all made sense. No wonder Emmy felt so familiar with Renee!

Emmy laughed a bit in her dragon form at Renee’s wide-eyed look, before flying a couple of loops, and finally returning to the ground in human form. She seemed impressed with herself, as Renee started tripping over her words asking questions.

The two would walk out of the cavern and back to Renee’s house with a new sense of solidarity.

Renee had never had a ‘real’ crush before. Sure, she’d been on a few dates she’d been set up on, but nothing ever came of them. But something about this was different.
Everything about Emmy just seemed to enamor Renee. When they had discussions about the region’s history or otherwise, Renee felt like she could listen to Renee talk all day. And the longer Emmy stayed with Renee, the more this feeling grew.

As gutsy as she was, Renee still had some difficulty vocalizing her confession – in fact, Emmy found out by catching her practicing her confession. Emmy seemed to take it well, and soon after the two felt like they could call themselves a couple.
While Emmy was a bit oddly distant for the first week or so after the confession, she quickly turned as equally sweet as Renee was to her. Renee kind of felt bad that it was happening so fast, but… it just felt right. 

The strangest was yet to come, however – out of the blue one day, Renee received a text from a mystery number. When Renee confirmed it was her they were texting, the number sent a photo that made Renee jump – it was Zinnia, and a blonde woman Renee couldn’t help but feel like she’d seen before. Upon showing the picture to Emmy, she rushed out the door and took Renee for a flight to a secluded house.

There, in that house, was Zinnia, alive and well. And with her was the blonde woman, who Renee would learn was actually Aster. Aster was a legend too, she’d learn, and had recently regained her human form after it was killed. The four talked for a long time, catching each other up on what had happened.

And so began Renee’s new normal. Emmy fully moved into Renee’s home, and the two were deeply in love. They’d have visits from Aster and Zinnia frequently, and the four developed a bond that was like family. Renee was also happy to see that Zinnia was getting along a lot better with Steven, and the three would spend a lot of time sparring and bouncing training ideas.

Inevitably, Renee and Emmy got married after dating and living together for 4 years. They were both certain that if anything, they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together.
Which begged the question…

Renee had never considered children, she’d always been too busy. But with Zinnia’s help in managing league work, Renee stopped to consider… did she want kids? Emmy had talked about how she wanted a family of her own in the past, and after some deep discussion, the two settled that they’d indeed want to bring a child into their life.
But the League Summit in Sinnoh was coming up, so they figured they’d put their plans on pause – for just a moment.

Out of the blue, Emmy was called urgently by Zinnia, who was on Mt. Coronet’s peak. She didn’t give any details, other than Emmy needed to neutralize a situation NOW. Renee was concerned, but let her wife go deal with it. As it would turn out, a ‘team’ calling themselves Galactic had successfully summoned Palkia, and by sheer coincidence caused the emissary of Dialga to go into overdrive. By neutralizing the situation, Emmy effectively saved the universe from being torn apart.

Nothing much changed afterwards, but things started to get a bit tense after Zinnia reunited with Cynthia, who happened to be her lost mother. Zinnia found her other mother’s diaries, which detailed various crimes and blackmail Joseph Stone had committed – and how those who opposed him often ended up dead. Renee was only tangentially involved, but she still worried for Zinnia and Cynthia’s safety – especially knowing how awful Joseph could be firsthand from Steven.

Though, shortly after the Galactic incident was resolved, Emmy came to Renee bearing a question. Arceus themself had offered her a reward for effectively saving the world once more, but required Renee’s consent for some unknown reason. Emmy admitted Arceus was vague with her, only saying to grant Emmy’s ‘greatest desire’, but Renee agreed to whatever reward the ultimate god had in store.

So, Renee and Emmy waited. They had no idea what to expect, as Arceus never elaborated on their intentions. But after a few weeks of unexplained symptoms on Renee’s end, a visit to the hospital confirmed what they thought to be impossible. Against all odds, Renee was pregnant.
Neither Renee nor Emmy believed the doctor at first, but inevitably accepted the result. After the initial period of confusion, the two pieced together that this must be what Arceus meant.
They were both overjoyed, and began preparing for their new child immediately – almost over-enthusiastically so. 

Their found family was mostly occupied putting together the case against Joseph Stone, and after their initial confusion from the announcement as well, they were all excited for the two.
As research into to Joseph Stone case continued over the following months, things became more serious. Aster ended up coming into contact with and permanently disarming Mr. Stone’s hit of choice, which let everyone know loud and clear that he’d caught word of their work.

Renee was unable to attend the trial, due to being 8 months pregnant – but heard things escalated quickly, and took a turn for the worst. Zinnia had been shot multiple times and was in critical condition – even being declared dead at a point. But she pulled through, and the family was reunited once more. Despite attempts at worming his way out of it, Joseph Stone was found overwhelmingly guilty of his crimes.

With the biggest looming presence now out of the picture, the family was free to live their lives as they pleased.