Thread: Generation 2021 (Chapter 35 - Into the Forest Again, 15)

I love the Chapter and I also love DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION. I think it is cool how you included them playing it.

Actually, a lot of people comment on how the like the fact that I include a lot of non-Pokemon stuff in my fics.

It's actually because it's really only half fanfiction. You notice how I break canon to an almost criminal degree? This is because the only thing that's the same here is the universe (and even then, I have it take place on Earth). A lot of it is my original creations, and the Gym Leaders are various characters submitted by fans of the story.

In fact, I'll extend that invitation here. If you want to send me an OC Gym Leader, simply send me a description of it and I'll see if I can include it in the story.

Wait, what would Jesus be, a tiny Arceus? ;D

Originally Posted by The Dethroned

Wait, what would Jesus be, a tiny Arceus? ;D

Nah, Jesus would be Jesus.

And here's chapter 13! Now I'll just hope for more reviews instead of just views...

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Chapter 13 - Moments of Truth

"Alright," said the lady, in the camera room. "Say cheese." She took a picture of both trainers.

After about two minutes, their cards were printed out.

"Hmm," said Rachel. "Nice picture. Nice card, too. Let's see..." She read the card, which contained a bunch of information on her that the counter lady had asked her about. "Name: Rachel Palton," she read. "Blood type: O, Trainer ID number: 2564-1073-8922. Birth date: April 7, 2010. Eye colour: black. Why do they need my eye colour anyway?"
"Beats me.", said Suigun, looking at her card and Ken's.
"What's your ID number?" asked Rachel.
"It's 5681-2006-7449. Hey, 2006? That's the year Hikaru was born!" said Ken, surprised.
"You two also need badge cases," said the counter lady. "Those are free anywhere." She pulled out two cases from a drawer.
"I already have one," said Rachel, pulling her badge case (which had no badges) out of her backpack.
"Alright, then," said the lady. "Here's one for you." She gave one to Ken, who put it in his backpack.

"So, then," said the lady, putting everything away. "You were here for a battle?"
"Yep," said Rachel. "We're taking part in that cosplay convention at the Pokémon Center now. We just finished the last event, so we want to relax a bit."
"It's another 500 pyen to get in," the lady said. "Once you have that, you can come and go as you please for the rest of the day."
"Really?" said Ken. He took 500 pyen out of his pocket. "Alright, here you go, onee-san."
"Here's my fee," said Rachel, slapping a P500 bill down on the table.
"And mine," said Hikaru, placing 500 pyen gently on the table.

"Thank you very much," said the lady, taking the money. "Enjoy your stay."

* * *

"How is the operation coming?" asked Diabla.
"Just fine, ma'am," the officer next to her said. "The next step is to raid Cerulean City's Aquarium. They have many rare artifacts that we could potentially use for materials to continue building the machine."
"Alright," said Diabla. "But make sure you don't kill a single person in the process. If I hear that somebody died in there, I'm firing your whole team. If they threaten you too much, retreat."
The officer gulped, sweating. "Yes, ma'am." This would be hard.

* * *

"The battle will be between Rachel of Spectrum Town and Misu of Cerulean City!" said the referee. "Each side will use one Pokémon each in two battles!"

"Go, Budew!" said Misu. "Nice to meet both of you," said the Budew to Rachel and Suigun.

"Who said I was using Suigun?" said Rachel, throwing out a Pokeball. "Go, Taillow!"

The Taillow flew up in an arc again and tackled Rachel from the air. "Ow..." said Rachel, on the ground. "After spending five days as a Blaziken, you'd think I could resist that kind of a hit..."

"Sorry!" said Taillow. "I'll see if I can stop that."

"You'd better, 'cause that Budew is charging something up!" said Rachel, pointing to the Budew.

"Solar... Beam!" the Budew aimed the beam at Taillow, who took it full blast. She fell to the ground, hurt but not fainted.

"Taillow..." said Rachel. "Use Wing Attack!"

"On it!" she chirped, as she flew over to the Budew and struck it with her wings. But the attack was rather weak, and a swift Poison Powder from the Budew was enough to knock Taillow out. "Switch out your new Pokémon!" said the referee.

The next battle put Rachel's Sentret against Misu's Bulbasaur. "Hold on a sec," said Rachel. "I always thought Ceruleans were known for their Water-types. All yours are grass! What gives?"

"Oh, that's only the Gym Leader," said Misu innocently. "It's not like every trainer from Cerulean uses grass-types. Besides, it means I can whoop her."

"Sentret," said Rachel, after the referee raised his flags. "Curl up into a ball!"

"Defense Curl!" said the Sentret. The Bulbasaur immediately tried to tackle the Sentret, but Rachel was faster than that. "Use Rollout!"

Before the Bulbasaur had a chance to tackle Sentret, Sentret rolled onto it, slamming into it and knocking it backward. She then skidded to a halt and rolled back, hitting the Bulbasaur three, four, five times. When Sentret was finally finished slamming into the Bulbasaur, it was knocked out.

"Want to do a few more?" grinned Misu, who took out another two Pokeballs. Although the referee had signalled the end of the match, neither one had left the field. This would be a friendly match.

"Alright," said Rachel. This time, she took out her yellow-and-blue Pokeball, and simply stuck it out in front of her, calling forth Suigun who was watching this whole time.

"Bad choice," said Misu. "I thought you knew that Water-types were bad against grass."

"Well, there's no harm in trying, is there?" said Rachel.

* * *

"Don't feel bad," said Suigun to Rachel, after they lost the battle and were waiting for another one. "Neither of us knew she had a Breloom."
"Yeah, but I feel bad for being stupid. I knew that you were weak against Grass-types."
"We managed to hold out for pretty long nonetheless," he said. "And you did win against her Bulbasaur."
"Thanks," said Rachel, petting Sentret, who was talking to Clyde about her victory. "And so I rolled around wildly and just went bam bam bam bam bam, slammed that Bulbasaur in the body five times in a row..."

* * *

After a few more battles for each person, they left the club. The club had its own Pokémon Centre, so they didn't need to worry about healing in between battles.

"Man, those were tiring!" said Rachel, who was having a hard time breathing. "I had no idea such strong trainers came to a club like this!"
"You said it," said Ken, whose heart was pounding. "I didn't realize battling Pokémon could take so much out of you."
"At least we didn't lose any money by losing all those battles..." said Rachel. "I bet they only would have asked for, say, 150 pyen apiece anyway, considering our skill levels."
"You know," said Ken. "The rules of the World Pokémon Association say that a Trainer can never be required to give more than half his on-hand money as prize money in a battle."
"But who's going to ask for that much anyway?" said Rachel. "Remember all those trainers on Route 50 that we lost to? They only asked for about 72 to 96 pyen a pop, and we gave them more than twice that." She paused for a second before continuing. "...and why do you know so much about the WPA's rules anyway?"

They headed back to the Pokémon Center, where they started playing cards. One game that Rachel especially liked was Crazy Eights. Suigun played as well.

"I'll play two sevens on your six of hearts," said Rachel, placing two more cards on the table – a seven of hearts and a seven of clubs.
"Darn it," said Ken, drawing a card. He now had six. "I still can't play anything. Your turn, Hikaru."
"Let's see..." he said, thinking. He then played a single nine of clubs.
Suigun then looked at his cards. "I've got one!" he said, playing three jacks on the table. "I skipped all three of your turns. Now," he said, slamming down another set of four cards. "Four nines! I win, baby!"

"Hey, you cheated!" said Rachel, accusingly.
"Did not," he said.

"Fine," said Rachel. "Let's play a different game instead. Have you ever heard of 24?"
"Nope," said Ken.

"It's a game where I lay up four cards on the table, and we try to make a mathematical equation using adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing that comes up to 24."

"Sure!" the other three players said.

The first set of cards that Rachel set down were a 6, 5, 7, and 9.

"Hmm..." said Ken, deep in thought. Rachel was thinking too, but Hikaru got the answer first. "Subtract 5 from 7, multiply by 9 to get 18, and add 6 to get 24!"

"You've got the hang of it!" said Rachel. "Do you want to play too, Suigun?"

"I'm no good at mind games. I'll pass," he said, as Rachel dealt down another four cards.

* * *

The next day, it was time for them to go to the awards ceremony, which happened at 11 o'clock. By 10:55, Rachel, Ken, and Hikaru were dressed up in their respective costumes. "And now, the day you've all been waiting for!" said the announcer from the previous six days. "It's time for... the awards ceremony!"

The crowd cheered for a small while, and then the announcer continued. "I said, at the beginning of this week, that there were three grand prizes, right? Well, here they are!" She waved her hand towards three tarpaulin-covered platforms that were currently coming out from backstage, driven by a small golf cart. Each tarp had what appeared to be a huge prize behind it, about a metre high.

"Only out of generous funding by our sponsor can we give these huge prizes. May I call the CEO of our sponsor to give some final words and comments."

More nonsense about the sponsor ensued from that Yamauchi guy. Finally, it was time to go for the prizes. "First, we have... in third place... this cosplayer was a Pokémon trainer that spent three long years participating in Pokémon contests. With 251 points, all the way from Alto Mare, Meuropa, may I present, Katsuya the Gyarados!"

A huge round of cheering occurred. "And here's your prize," said the announcer, throwing open the cover on the first platform, and revealing a giant boxed set of coloured stones, containing at least eighty of them in sixteen different colours. "A full set of evolutionary stones, as well as 25,000 pyen in prize money!"

The crowd went bonkers as the Gyarados slithered up and the cosplayer inside the costume suddenly burst out of the costume, showing herself. "Hi everybody!" she said, cheering sweetly into the microphone. "I'd just like to say thanks very much for my friends, in the audience there, for all their help and support!" She grabbed the prize and held it up in the air as she ran off, leaving the Gyarados costume where it was.

"Umm... Katsuya-san?" said the announcer. "You forgot your costume."

"I know," she said. "I'm just putting this away. I'll be back to pick it up."

The crowd cheered again as the announcer said, "And now for second place!" she yelled.

"This contestant came all the way from Oakridge City, from the Kyuuda region in America. He, along with his other friends, has come across all the way to this great big land of Japan simply to show his love for Pokémon. With 271 points, here is... Kevin the Mawile!"

The crowd cheered wildly again as an oversized Mawile came up to the podium – with its giant Venus fly trap-like jaw, and faced the announcer with the non-jaw face.

"You, my dear friend," said the announcer, "get... this!" She flung open the second prize – which was a collection of tickets to various restaurants all around Kanto and Johto. "Just for coming here and winning, we're giving you and your friends bunches of free passes to eat at some of the best places around this part of Japan! As well, you get 50,000 pyen in prize money!"

"Umm... thanks," said Kevin, walking off confused with the set of tickets and the money.

The crowd quieted down again once the announcer held up a card.

"This last one," the announcer said, reading a card, "was a hugely surprising result. We've never, in the seven years that this convention was held before this week, had a score this high before. This cosplayer was just amazing. According to one of his costume makers, he had no experience in these costumes, but worked extremely hard with a group of girls to get the hang of the costume, and score well. He was a Pokémon trainer for five years before this contest, and is an official referee for Pokémon battles. Right next to here from Pallet Town, with a whopping 289 points, I give you Hikaru the Garchomp!"

As Hikaru stepped to the stage, the crowd gave him a standing ovation. "And here's your prize, Hikaru." The announcer threw the third and final tarpaulin off, revealing a stone pillar with a box on it. "A fully operational Pokémon Storage System laptop computer, which complies fully with the World Interdimensional Storage System specifications! You can store anything you want, anywhere you want, as it comes with a fully sponsored storage space account worth 125,000 pyen a year. Plus, you get 100,000 pyen in prize money. But WHO CARES! This computer is more than enough to balance all that money out!" It seemed like the announcer was infatuated with the computer itself.

But Hikaru had different things on his mind. He asked the announcer for the microphone, to make an acceptance speech.

"Oh?" said the announcer. "It looks like our winner would like to make an acceptance speech!" She handed Hikaru the microphone. "Go right ahead!" But as soon as she let go, the microphone dropped to the ground, as Hikaru didn't have any hands in the costume. After the crowd laughed for a moment, the announcer put the microphone on a stand, and let Hikaru speak.

"Ladies and gentlemen..." he cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, I'm not very good at introductions. But I'd just like to, you know, give my thanks for all the help those girls that 'caught' me have been throughout this entire event." Hikaru stretched out a hand – erm, claw – toward the six girls who stood up in seemingly patriotic pride. "In fact," he continued, "I haven't done much of the work at all – it's all thanks to those girls. They've been slaving over this costume - " he flexed some of its parts, allowing the machinery inside to be heard – "for the past year and a half just so that they could capture an unsuspecting boy like me and 'force' me to do this competition."

"But later, I came to enjoy it, as I realized just what this thing could do. And on top of it all, my friends, Rachel and Ken," he pointed another claw toward them, still in their Blaziken and Medicham costumes, "came along willingly with me, boosting my confidence. Ken's my little brother. Howya doing, Ken?"

"Good so far," replied Ken.

"Coming back to the girls," said Hikaru, gaining some momentum, "during the time I was off, I had asked them all about what they did to make the costume and its corresponding show – and it's truly an amazing story – involving much dedication, skill, and teamwork. It's definitely not easy to create a routine that a person like me with no experience can just snap up in two days and still create the effect that it was well rehearsed and outright awesome. If anything, it takes even more time than creating and practising one that actually needs to be practised for several months. If there is anyone that deserves the credit for my first placing in this contest, it's these girls. A round of applause for them!"

As Hikaru walked up, took the computer and other parts, and carried them to the girls, the crowd was cheering for not only him, but Rachel, Ken, Milo, Marcus, and the five other girls who were in on this project.

"Here you go," said Hikaru. "Divide the prizes as you see fit."

"You can keep the laptop," said Milo. "We're fine with just the money. And we're just happy to have introduced you to the fine art of cosplay!"

"Actually," said Hikaru, taking out his backpack, "I already have one." He reached into the back pocket of his backpack, and brought out a laptop that was somewhat smaller and clunkier than the one he had just won. "This is my old laptop, a Dimension 3240."

"So what?" asked one of the girls. "Give it to Rachel or something."
"Sure," said Hikaru, handing the laptop to Rachel.

"What use do I have for that? Give it to Ken." Rachel handed it over to Ken, who promptly gave it back.
"You need it the most," he said to Rachel. "I share one with Hikaru, storing my stuff. You don't think we actually carry sixty pounds of stuff everywhere, do you?"
"But I'm not carrying sixty pounds of stuff."
"You'll end up doing that if you don't have one of those. You're going to be doing a lot of shopping later on."
"I see your point," laughed Rachel, placing it into her backpack.

At that moment, Katsuya came back to pick up her costume. When she saw that the awards ceremony was over and that the closing presentations were starting, she was perplexed. "What did I miss?"

* * *

That night, the girls organized a congratulatory party for Hikaru, using up half their prize money in the process. The party involved lots of snacks like chips and nachos, as well as many spins of the bottle as boys kissed girls and girls kissed boys back. Rachel and Ken refused to participate in this specific game, despite being called on quite a few times. There was also a match of Super Mario Bros. going on, and Ken was beating anybody who dared to play Mario against his Luigi.

"Tomorrow," said one of the girls to Rachel during the party, "we're headed back for Cinnabar Island, where we live. After the end of the convention, we let Hikaru keep the costume."

"That's nice to know," said Rachel. "I bet he'll really want all the memories from this event."

At the end of the party, it was already two o'clock in the morning. All the people who had participated were all tired out, including Hikaru himself, although he had tried to avoid it. The trio went to sleep in Room 321 again.

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I sincerely apologize to the person whose Nintendo DS friend code is 2564-1073-8922. Same goes with 5681-2006-7449 and 1093-2822-1116.

*edit* P.S. I am going to laugh out loud if anybody here actually has those codes.

And here's chapter 14!

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Chapter 14 - Route 51

Rachel was in a dream world again. She was climbing on an ice-cold mountain, with all the thermal protection she could possibly have on her. But she still felt cold. Why am I so cold?

As she kept on climbing, the weather only got colder and colder. Then suddenly it felt hot—no, it was cold again. Then it was hot—no, cold—no, hot! What was this?

Suddenly, she was at the top of the mountain. How did I get here? I only started climbing!

Then, she was falling off the mountain, towards the hard ground below...

Rachel woke up with a start. They were still in the Pokémon Centre. She saw Ken and Hikaru in the bunks beside her, as well as the remnants of the party that they had had to congratulate Hikaru. Rachel could still remember that Hikaru didn't want anything to do with it, despite being somewhat hung over.

* * *
When Hikaru woke up, the sun had barely come out of the sky. He read the alarm clock. 5:12 AM. "Wow," he said. "I've only been asleep for three hours? And yet I feel strangely refreshed."

He opened the door to Room 321, and found a Pokeball next to the door, with a note stuck to it. "For good luck." Hikaru took the Pokeball in first, took a shower, and brushed his teeth.

Afterwards, he changed into his clothes and walked outside with this strange Pokeball. A green-haired nurse was at the desk, and greeted him. "You're up early."

"Am I?" asked Hikaru. "I thought most older trainers got up half an hour earlier."

He walked outside to the training field, and let this new Pokémon out. To his surprise, it was a Gabite. "Gaaarrr!" it screamed, as it was let out and turned to face Hikaru. Hikaru checked the back fin – this one had a cut, so it was male.

"What's your name?" Hikaru asked the Gabite. No doubt he belonged to one of the girls.

"Gaaarrr."

"Well, that helps," quipped Hikaru sarcastically. He then remembered that one of the girls said something about owning a Gabite...

"Neither did Gabriel, my Gabite, when I tried to teach it to him."

So his name was Gabriel! "Is your name Gabriel?" asked Hikaru.
"Gaaarrr," the Gabite said, while nodding his head.

"Alright, Gabriel. You're with me now."

"Gaarr?" said Gabriel, tilting his head questioningly. Hikaru could sense that Gabriel was wondering where his "big brother" was. How could he explain...

* * *
That morning, after Rachel and Ken woke up, they set out for Route 51, along with Hikaru. They met bunches and bunches (and sometimes literal bunches) of trainers along the way, allowing for more earning of money as they kept defeating a bunch of easy trainers along the way. They noticed that the trainers here were much more thrifty, taking out wallets full of 5000-pyen and 10000-pyen bills and handing them maybe 400 or 500 at most. Eventually, though, they ended up once more with so much money that they were happy to give away 1000 or 2000 pyen at a time when they lost to avoid overstuffing their wallets.

* * *
That night, they found a small clearing in the woods, just off Route 51.

They settled there, and Rachel booted up her new laptop for the first time. "Hmm?" commented Rachel. "I thought these were supposed to be high-tech. Why is there only a single window telling me to 'Install Linux'?"

"Oh, you haven't installed the operating system yet," said Hikaru. "In order for the laptop to run, it needs to have some software unpacked and installed."

Rachel's head was already spinning. "How about you do it for me?" she said to Hikaru.
"Alright," he replied.

Hikaru spent the next half-hour setting up Rachel's laptop for its first use. He muttered some stuff to himself for a small while, and then asked Rachel a question. "First of all, what do you want to name it?"
"Hmm... I don't have a Pokedex, but I think I'll name this laptop Calculus. You know, like a calculator?"
"Sounds good to me," said Hikaru, continuing his muttering. "...set system partitions, no we don't want to do anything like that...configure 802.11z memory card? Since when was that there? Set location and time... Cerulean City, Japan for the time being."

Hikaru asked Rachel the second question. "What would you like your username to be?"
"Hmm..." said Rachel, thinking hard. "How about Suigun? After my Buoysel, of course."
"Fine with me," said Hikaru, entering it in. Suigun was peering at the screen as Hikaru typed. "How do you know so much about computers, anyway?" he asked Hikaru.
"I'm an official referee, remember? I had to learn how to do this stuff in order to set up storage sites and cameras to keep track of officially recorded matches."

About twenty minutes later, the laptop was done setting up. "And... voilà!" said Hikaru, presenting his work. Rachel looked at it. "Wow!" she said, excitedly. "There are so many functions!"

"Now don't get ahead of yourself," said Hikaru. "Try one thing at a time. First, try transferring something, which is most of what this laptop does. To do that," he said, pressing a button on the side of the laptop, "You need to hold it in front of this beaming device." A stick-like device, attached to the right side of the laptop where the CD slot would normally be, came out.

"Now, the account was already preconfigured to this computer, and is permanently attached to it," said Hikaru, explaining how the account worked. "So, you can't access any other account from this laptop, and no other computer, laptop or otherwise, can access this account."

"What you do," said Hikaru, pointing the mouse over to an icon that looked like a Pokeball, "is open this program. It will log you in, and you can withdraw and deposit items at your leisure. Try it."

Rachel tried, and became occupied for the next 20 minutes trying to withdraw and deposit certain items. All she did was point the stick-like device at whatever she wanted to transfer, and it would go there. One requirement of the device was that the item was not attached to anything on the ground. Rachel tried working around this by pointing the stick-like device at the ground, just to see if the machine worked properly. To her relief, it did, and she did not accidentally transfer the entirety of Route 51 into a storage space.

"That's not the only thing this can do," said Hikaru, closing the program. "Look at all this other stuff."

Rachel and Ken spent the rest of the night looking at the various pages on the Internet. They found various site dedicated to Pokémon – "Heh?" said Rachel. "Look at this one – they spell 'Celebi' the Romaji way."

"And what's a Smogon?" snorted Ken.

"Look at this one," said Rachel, pointing to another area of the screen. "Whoever heard of a place called 'Glitch City'?!? It sounds like some sort of high-tech city, but only with various bugs."

Then, they came across some of the... less tasteful sites. "There's a board called 'Yonchan' here..."

"...and one called 'Uncyclopedia'. These people have too much spare time. I mean, just look at some of the gory stuff they include here."

They spent the rest of the night looking at more distasteful webpages, either making grimaces or laughing their heads off as Hikaru watched from his own laptop. "Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to give such a good one to them..." he thought, as he closed his own laptop and headed off to sleep.

* * *
The next morning, Rachel woke up first. She opened her laptop again, and stored away some things she didn't really need – her Blaziken costume, primarily. She also stowed away her sleeping bag and spare Pokeballs. She checked her account capacity, and was pleased to see that the little stuff she had transferred didn't take up even 0.1% of the storage space.

As Ken and Hikaru woke up as well, Rachel was already doing some jogging. She ran back to them, greeting them. "Hi, guys!" she said cheerfully.

"You're up bright and early..." noted Hikaru. "Storing away some stuff?"

Rachel stopped dead in her tracks. "How did you know...?"

Hikaru shrugged. "It happens with all new technology. You fawn over it for a few days. I should know, having done the same thing myself."

* * *
They set off again. By the time they reached Mt. Moon, a few days later, it was starting to get much hotter. They were contemplating about whether to walk into the caves or around the mountain, which would take twice as long.

"I say we climb over it," said Hikaru, suddenly. Ken and Rachel immediately said "nuh-uh", at around the same time.

"Why not?" said Hikaru. "I'll promise you, it's a more scenic route."

"But there are more people going through the caves," said Ken. "It'll be more likely to meet trainers in there." He then turned to Rachel and whispered, "Hikaru just has a problem with caves."

They kept walking, and discussing the problem.

* * *
"Do we really want to go through this spooky cave?" said Hikaru, standing at the mouth of the caves in Mt. Moon.

"Come on, it's not even dark in there anymore, now that so many trainers have left lights in there," said Ken. "Why are you so afraid of caves, anyway?"

Hikaru reminisced to the time when he himself had gone through Mt. Moon to get to Cerulean City.

"So, Piplup," said Hikaru to his Piplup. "Do you think we'll be able to get through here safely?"
"Sure," said Piplup. "It's not like I'm a water-type or anything..."
"I'm scared about Zubats, then, not the Geodudes. But alright..." Hikaru took a deep breath, and let it out again as he walked in.

Three hours later, they still hadn't left the caves. "This is starting to get creepy..." said Hikaru. He felt like the walls were starting to close in around him. And suddenly, there was an earthquake!

As the rocks shook, Hikaru noticed that Piplup was missing. "Piplup!" cried Hikaru, over the sound of the shaking ground. "Where are you?!?"

"I'm scared..." said a small, plainitive voice. It was another boy, around seven years old. "I came in here looking for a Magmar, but couldn't find one."

"Don't you know it's dangerous in here? Anyway, we should try and get out before these rocks—ahh!" Suddenly, a pile of rocks slid right in front of them, blocking their path. On the other side was a wall of rock, which was impenetrable.

The ground stopped shaking after a while. The boy started crying. But Hikaru had other matters on his hands. "Piplup!" He kept crying. "Where'd you run off to?!?"

Hikaru looked around their cramped space, and saw a blue blob, barely moving. "Hey, Piplup," he said, turning his started Pokémon around, and then getting his backpack out. "I'll have you good as new in just a minute. I need to find a Potion..."

But there was no medicine inside at all. All Hikaru had were a few bandages. "Dammit," said Hikaru. He then turned to the boy. "Are you okay?"

"Never felt better, but I don't think it's going to be easy getting out of here."
"Neither do I," said Hikaru.

Hikaru checked his PokeGear, a gift from Professor Rowan. No signal. Damn.

Hikaru wrapped the few bandages he had around his wounded Piplup. Now all we can do is wait.

As they waited, Hikaru got increasingly scared that nobody would find them. Piplup's breathing was getting slower. Are we going to die in here?

They suddenly heard a voice. "Hey, Drake! Where are you?"
"Over here, big bro!" said the boy, whose name Hikaru took to be Drake.
"Gardia, use Hydro Pump!"

Suddenly, a large stream of water came crashing into the wall of rocks that was holding them inside the cave, breaking the wall and letting in some fresh air. On the other side was a Gyarados, along with its owner, a boy who looked to be at least fourteen years old. "Hey, Drake, you okay?" the boy said, then turning to Hikaru. "And who are you?"

"My name's Hikaru," said Hikaru innocently. "I was looking after your brother here after the landslide."

They shook hands. "Glad you helped. Come on now, Drake, let's get you home." He carried the boy out, leaving Hikaru with Piplup.

Hikaru walked around for another half-hour, looking for an exit. He found one, and right next to it was a Pokémon Centre. He rushed to it, thinking about the condition of his Piplup...

* * *
Hikaru took out an old, battered-up PokeGear from his backpack. "This is the one I used inside that cave," he said.
"However touching that story was, I still want to go through that cave," said Ken stoically. "You need to face your fears for once."
"You know, though," said Hikaru. "The top route might be harder, but there are a lot of rare Pokémon up there that people who take the cave path often miss. I learned that the second time I came to Mt. Moon, when I decided to take the top route instead."
"Then I'm going up with Hikaru," said Rachel. "I know I personally don't want to see Geodudes and Clefairies all the way through."

"Fine," said Ken, with a grumbling tone in his voice. "We'll go your way. Stupid cave-o-phobe..."

As they climbed the mountain route, Ken started getting tired. And they still hadn't found any of the rare Pokémon that Hikaru had promised. "I still think Hikaru's just being a willy," grumbled Ken as they continued trudging up.

Finally, they found a trainer. But this trainer didn't look like any they'd seen before. She looked like she was from somewhere less civilized. She wore a purple woollen shirt with beige pants that didn't match at all. And on her feet were wooden slippers that barely covered the soles of her feet. She greeted us sweetly. "Hello, are you three visitors?"

"Why yes," said Ken, pretending to be chivalrous. "We are. Our names are Ken," he pointed to himself, "Rachel," he pointed to Rachel, "and Hikaru," he pointed to Hikaru. "And what, m'lady, might your name be?"

"Oh, stop it," the girl said, giggling. "My name's Akari. I'm from the house up on this mountain. What brings people like you up here?"
"We're Pokémon trainers," explained Rachel. "We came up here to get past Mt. Moon on our way to Cerulean City."
"So why didn't you go through the caves?" Akari asked. "Almost everybody does that the first time around."
"I guess we're not part of that 'almost everybody' then," said Rachel. "Say, do you know how far up the mountain we are?"
"I just came from the top," said the girl. "I've been climbing down for about the past two hours or so."
"Let's keep on going, then," said Hikaru, saying thanks to that girl for their conversation.

After walking another half-hour, they came across a cavern in the face of the mountain. "You know what, let's spend the night here," said Ken, looking at the darkening sky. "I'm pooped."

They settled down there, taking their sleeping bags out. "You know, we should try to find some berries around here," said Hikaru. "That extra sushi we bought at the food store won't last us long."

They searched around the face of the mountain for another half-hour before coming across a tree. "Hey, I've never seen fruits like these ones before!" said Rachel in delight, as she placed her fingers under the small red berries.

"They're cherries," said Hikaru. "Kind of like those Cheri Berries you see at the Pokémon Center all the time. You see the blossoms for a similar type of tree all over Japan."

"You mean cherry blossoms?" asked Ken. "Yep," replied Hikaru.

They picked as many as they could, eating some along the way and bringing a few to their Pokémon, which they let out for the night.

As their Pokémon played with each other, the trio started planning things in the future. "What are we going to do once we get to Cerulean City?" asked Rachel.

"Challenge the Gym. What else?" said Ken. "I haven't gotten any badges yet, and neither have you."

"Yeah, but what are we going to do there? It's not as if we're robots trying to move around and collect badges."

"We'll see when we get there," said Ken.

* * *
That night, they built a campfire inside the cave, with the help of Ken's Charmander. "You know," said Hikaru, looking at the pitifully small fire, "you should try learning how to build a real fire. That amount of wood is not going to last for long."

"But it's all the wood I could find," said Ken. "It'll have to do." They promptly went to sleep along with all their Pokémon.

The next morning, Rachel woke up to find a Duskull staring her in the face. Eye to eye. "Eeeeeeeeek!" she said, and sat up, bolt upright.

"What?" said Ken sleepily, jolted awake by this happening. "Where's the fire?" he said drowsily.

"It was out before I got to sleep," said Hikaru, who was already up. "You guys sleep heavily. Look outside."

Rachel looked outside. The sun was already up, at least a third of the way into the sky. She quickly looked at her watch. 10:59. "Eeeyahh!" she screamed. "This late?"

"Must be because we're tired from the long climb," noted Ken, looking down at the ground below the mountain. "Look how high up we are."

Rachel looked down. "Whoa," she said. "We're more than a kilometre up!"

"Not that high," said Hikaru. "More like 500 or 600 metres. We'll have to hike around it, but I really want to take you guys to the top. That's where all the rare Pokémon are."

"So the reason we haven't seen them is because we're too far down?" asked Ken.

"You got it," said Hikaru.

And so, they set off, entirely forgetting the Duskull that was still in the cave.

* * *
They walked for a few hours, and came to a dead end. "Okay, so where do we go now?" asked Rachel. "There's no way forward." She looked up, and saw that there was a ledge, about 100 metres above them.

"Nowhere to go but up," said Hikaru, pointing to a series of handholds and footholds in the rock. They picked up all their Pokeballs, and put them into their backpacks.

Ken went first. "You know," he said as he started putting his feet into the first two footholds. "There's no safety equipment. What happens if we fall?"

"Oh, don't worry," said Hikaru, still at the bottom. He picked out two Pokeballs, and let the Pokémon in them out – a Bayleef and a Fearow. "Alright, you guys," said Hikaru. "Fearow, fly Bayleef up to the top. Bayleef, after Fearow gets you to the top, use your Vine Whip to support us while we climb."

"On it!" said Fearow. "Sure thing!" confirmed Bayleef. Fearow picked Bayleef up and flew to the top. Then, Bayleef let down his vines and wrapped them around Ken. Ken started climbing. Left, right, left, right...

Ken reached the top of the cliff with much difficulty. Next it was Rachel's turn. Bayleef let down his vines again, and they wrapped around Rachel's waist. They tried going a bit further than that, but Rachel slapped them off there. "Stop trying to be a pervert," called Rachel to the Bayleef above her.
"Aww..." Bayleef said, disappointed, although Ken heard it as "Baayyy..."

Rachel climbed up as well, and so did Hikaru a few minutes later, with Suigun around his neck. After they had all gotten up the cliff, Ken pointed ahead. "Look!"

Just a few metres ahead was a small plateau – an oasis of life on this light brown, rocky mountain. There was a small lake as well as many trees. And besides all of that was...

"Look at all these Pokémon!" said Rachel, amazed.

There were all sorts of Pokémon here – on the ground, an Anorith, some Kabuto and Vulpix, a single, towering Onix, and some others congregated around the lake. In the air, there were Skarmories and Scythers and Gligar – even a few Riolu in the trees here and there. There were also the more common ones like Sandshrews and Trapinches, that dotted the population of the lake.

One especially brave (or foolhardy) Kabuto crawled up to Ken. "Kikikiki..." it called. Suddenly, a mass of Kabuto were upon Ken, who let out his Charmander.

"Charmander, torch these Kabuto!"

The Charmander did so, and all the Kabuto were burned to a crisp. "Great job, Charmander!" said Ken, who then noticed that his clothes were burned, too. "Ack! What did you do?!?"

"Char!" said the Charmander happily.

"If it's any help, he really did say 'char'," Rachel called behind her back, as she walked toward the trees.

-----------------------------------

This would be the point where the story starts getting more serious.

*edit* Oh no, I forgot something! There's an intermezzo between Chapters 14 and 15. Here it is:

-----------------------------------

Intermezzo - Mountain Range

The Duskull floated up the rocky slide. He found the scent of human on the rocks. Was it those trainers he had met that morning?

As he reached the top of the slide, he saw the familiar oasis of life. He knew this place well – it was his home. As he used Secret Power to open the tree which he lived in, he saw a boy and a girl running through the small strip of trees in this area. Following them was a lone grey Gligar, presumably intent on eating them. That was something the Duskull cared nothing for – eating. It was overrated. They ghosts never needed to – heck, they didn't even breathe.

From the window in his small, dank home, he watched as the boy and girl ran and suddenly tripped over each other. Some shiny red-and-white orbs fell out of the boy's pocket. The Duskull didn't know, nor did he care much, what those red-and-white orbs were. But that didn't stop him from thinking about it. Were they a person's eyes? Was this child some sort of murderer who had clawed the eyes out of the girl he was running with?

As they turned around and rolled over each other, the Duskull saw the girl's face, and to his relief, her eyes were still there. He didn't know what would have happened if he had to fix her eyes.

And fix them he could – he was the medic around this place. The reason he had followed them into the cave that night was because they were tired – and injured. They didn't know that they were, but the Duskull could sense when a part of a human's or Pokémon's body wasn't all right. And during that night, he had brought various medicines that were made from the flowers on the mountain. He had slathered and massaged lotions onto their bodies, which seeped into their skins and healed their bones and limbs. Had they gone on without his help, they might have been too weak and tired to climb the rocky ledge.

He kept watching as the boy and girl talked about their travels, of faraway places that he had heard of from many a traveller who came up the mountain. They were unusually young for travelling up – only ten years old, the Duskull estimated. If scaled into years that he had lived, they were barely two.

They got up and left for the pond, and the grey Gligar that the Duskull had seen earlier followed them. The Duskull sighed. He never owned up to his work. But who could blame him for moonlighting it? Nobody but another Duskull would trust a Duskull that came up to them with strange-smelling liquids on its paws. Except for that one boy...

* * *
Rachel was walking in the small patch of trees as Ken then tackled her to the floor. "Hey, what was that for?"
"I was trying to catch up to you," said Ken.
"Well, next time, try a bit harder," said Rachel spontaneously.

There was an uncomfortable pause, and then they both burst out laughing. "I didn't understand – at all, what you just said," said Ken, his sides heaving.
"Come to think about it, neither do I," Rachel admitted, while giggling.
"You know," said Ken, regaining his composure. "Originally, we were just training partners. I had wanted to break off from your team at some point in the training."
"But now?" asked Rachel, interested.
"Now, I think I'll stick along." Ken ran a finger on Rachel's dirty black hair. "How about we go for a swim?"

They headed to the pond, where they saw a few schools of Magikarp and Feebas. "Feebas?" asked Rachel, as Ken mentioned them.
"They're a type of fish that are really rare in Hoenn and Sinnoh, and pretty much thought to be nonexistent here in Kanto," explained Ken. "You wanna catch one?"
"Nah," said Rachel. "Let's take a dip first."

* * *
As Suigun was floating in the water, calming his nerves, he suddenly felt two bodies splash into the water, creating a wave that sent him underwater for a moment. Rachel and Ken. He could tell by their scents and the way they splashed. He heard Rachel suddenly scream from the coldness of the water. "H-hey, S-s-su-i-g-g-gun!" called Rachel, shivering. "C-c-come s-sw-swim wi-i-ith u-u-us!"

Suigun watched as Rachel and Ken dived into the lake. He dived in as well, and looked at the various species of fish and water creatures in here. He then noticed that this pond went deeper than he had thought – in fact, he went straight down for thirty seconds without reaching the bottom. He swam back up to get some air, and went back down again.

The second time, he noticed much more. The rock formations were sloping down, and there were multitudes of species here as well, including one very long fish he took to be a Gyarados. It swam up to him, and tried attacking. But this Buoysel was too good for that – he was experienced in battle. He dodged any attacks the Gyarados tried aiming at him, and swam further down into schools of Feebas.

He noticed that there was a hole at the bottom here, and went through the tunnel. He resurfaced in a small cavern. He looked at the inside – this looked like a small alcove inside the mountain that led elsewhere. He swam up to the edge, and climbed out.

There were many beautiful crystals here. They gleamed with a glow that was almost mystifying.

A splash behind Suigun made him turn around in alarm. It was Rachel and Ken, much to his relief. "We thought we'd follow you," explained Rachel. "Wow! What are those?"

"No idea," admitted Suigun. "Let's just watch these crystals."

Suddenly, a swarm of Masquerain came this way, and fluttered over them, reflecting multiple colours off the glowing crystals. "Wow..." gasped Ken in awe. Suigun was amazed, too. So this is what I would have missed if we had taken the bottom route...

* * *
Hikaru was sitting in the small patch of grass, as suddenly, a Duskull floated up to him. "What do you want, Spot?" asked Hikaru. He knew this Duskull, having been here before. He recognized it by the small red dot on its right molar, and thus had named it Spot. It was Spot that had made Hikaru feel much better that morning, and had scared Rachel out of her wits.

"I'd just like to know who those two others were," answered Spot. "And didn't I say my name was Lemoure?"

"You're always going to be Spot to me," said Hikaru. "The boy's my brother, Ken."
"And the girl?"
"Some girl we met in Pallet Town. Her name's Rachel."

"Hmm," said Spot, in thought. "You know, they dived into the lake and went into the cavern on the inside of the mountain. Perhaps you should follow them."

"Nah," said Hikaru. "Let's just say here for a while."

Hikaru thought back to the first time he came around to this place.

"Whoo," said Hikaru. I finally made it here.

He sat down in the small patch of grass, looking at the ground a kilometre below him. Eventually, he fell to the ground on his back, realizing that he was sore all over. He thought, this place is real nice. Much better than those dank caves.

Some time later, a Duskull floated up to him. "Kya?" it said.
"What do you want?" asked Hikaru.
"Kyaaaaa," said the Duskull, opening its sleevelike paws and revealing a strange smell.

"What is that stuff?" asked Hikaru. The Duskull wrapped one of its paws around a surprised Hikaru's arm, and Hikaru could feel some strange liquid seeping into his skin. It suddenly hurt, but only for a moment. Then. his body felt alright again. "Is that... medicine?" he asked the Duskull.

"Hihihi..." the Duskull laughed, nodding his head, his paw still wrapped around Hikaru's arm.
"What's your name?" asked Hikaru.
"Kyaaaaa," replied the Duskull.
"Well, that helps," said Hikaru sarcastically. He noticed a red spot on the Duskull's right molar. "I'll name you Spot," he declared, smiling.
"My name's Lemoure..." replied Spot.
"Whatever," said Hikaru, who lay back on the ground.

A few minutes later, though, Hikaru was starting to get worried. Rachel and Ken still hadn't come back. He decided to dive in himself, and Spot followed him.

"Brr," he said, shivering as he slowly adjusted to the temperature of the water. He then dived into the water, entering the little alcove and coming out the other end.

At this end, he found Rachel, Ken, and Suigun watching a swarm of Masquerain's wings reflect the glowing light of the crystals. He knew this sight himself, having seen it just two years ago.

At that point, Ken piped up. "I'm bored," he said. "Wanna go forward and see what we find?" he added, as he pointed down the rest of the cavern.

They kept walking, and eventually came up to an opening elsewhere on the mountain, with Spot still following them.

-----------------------------------

Without it, there's a gap between chapters 14 and 15.

Chapter 15, coming right up!

-----------------------------------

Chapter 15 - Mt. Moon

As Rachel and company kept walking up the side of Mt. Moon, it got somewhat hard to breathe. "Is it the thin air, or are we just tired?" asked Rachel.

"I think we're just tired," said Ken, trying to catch his breath. "We should stop here again," he added, pointing to another cavern.

"Let's sleep outside," suggested Hikaru. "I can tell you about what the stars say."

And so, they camped outside that night, under a starry sky. Ken and Hikaru were outside, watching the stars. "Look at that one," said Hikaru to Ken, pointing north at the Big Dipper. "That one's a giant Ursaring," he explained. "The ancient Romans named it Ursa Major. Now, if you look at those two stars," he said, pointing to the two stars on the far side of the ladle, "they point to a third star on the tail of a constellation that looks like a Teddiursa."

"That star," continued Hikaru, "is called the North Star. At night, sailors use it to tell which way is north."

"What about that one?" asked Ken, pointing to a constellation near the horizon that looked like a W.

"That's Cassiopeia, the Milotic. See how the constellation snakes around like one? There was a story once, of a Milotic that boasted too much of its beauty. She was eventually placed in the sky by order of Kyogre, in a place where she would be upside-down half the time."

"And that one?" Ken pointed to a stream of stars that surrounded the Teddiursa.
"That one's Draco, the Rayquaza."
"Really?"
"Yep," said Hikaru, looking back up.
"One last one," said Ken, pointing directly overhead at one group of stars that looked like a bird, flying overhead. "What's that one?"

"Oh, that one's..." Hikaru's eyes widened. "No way. That can't be..."
"What?" asked Ken. "Is that some other legend that I've missed?"

"You remember Akari? From when we came up the mountain? She told me that if I ever see that constellation, it means trouble is brewing ahead. That's Lugia."
"But isn't that constellation in the night sky all the time? It wouldn't just suddenly appear, would it?"
"It only appears when that central piece, the White Star, appears," noted Hikaru, pointing to the top star. "It's been a hundred years since it last appeared in that exact place."
"Well, whatever trouble it is, we'll just have to face it head-on, no?" said Ken.
"Yep," replied Hikaru.

They slept outside. As Ken and Hikaru were gently snoring, and Suigun's inflatable ring was inflating and deflating, Rachel was turning around in her sleeping bag, unable to sleep. She kept seeing a bright light out of nowhere, even though the moon wasn't even out in the sky.

Finally, after another five minutes of tossing and turning, she got up and sat there, looking at the night sky again. She watched as meteors fell against a backdrop of glowing stars and the moon—hold on a second. There was no moon just a few minutes ago! Where did this one suddenly come from?

She watched as what appeared to be the moon grew in the sky, and started moving a bit. As it grew and grew, she noticed that it started moving faster and faster until it passed almost directly overhead. She looked behind her at the receding ball of light as something suddenly dropped from the air into her hands.

It was a small white glass orb, glowing with some sort of energy. She looked at it – from high, from low, left and right – it was just a ball.

Suddenly, the ball of glowing light disappeared, and a shape like some sort of bird came up. It was no longer glowing, but Rachel could tell that its arms were white.

It flew down to meet Rachel. "You're Lugia, right?" she asked, after she got far away enough from Ken, Hikaru, and Suigun.

"Yes, child," erupted a voice in Rachel's head. The Lugia then turned away for a second, looking for a Berry or something to eat. It found one and started nibbling at it. "Excuse me, Lugia-sama, but why are you here in the first place?" asked Rachel.

"I am here to take your place," said the Lugia simply.

"What do you mean?" asked Rachel.

"You'll find out in due time," replied the Lugia. It flew off onto a mushroom rock, a small ways off in the distance, and started sleeping.

As Rachel watched Lugia sleep, she suddenly rose into the air. "What the...?" she said, as she turned around in midair, trying to figure out where she was. She turned her head, which moved much more than it was supposed to – her neck had gotten longer. Now she was trying to figure out what she was. She tried turning herself upright – and found that she had a blue-and-white tail. She looked left, and right – at her arms, which were now white, flat, and appeared furry.

She tried flapping them, and found that they pushed her up from air resistance. She tried doing a few loop-de-loops in the air, and flew up and away. So this is what it's like to fly...

She flew an entire circle around Japan, looking down at all the cities. She flew above Johto, looking at the valley pass of Blackthorn, the rocky ruins of Alph, the seaside city of Olivine... she found that she could see quite well, even being able to see people sleeping in their rooms. She saw some people look up at her and rub their eyes.

As Rachel flew back to Mt. Moon, she noticed the mushroom rock again. Except that the sleeping Lugia wasn't there anymore – what was there instead was... her.

* * *
The next morning, Ken and Hikaru woke up to Suigun trying to say things to them. "Bui-bui bui bui-bui bui buibuibui!" he was saying frantically.
"What happened? Did a Vileplume attack you? Did a Rattata try to come and steal our stuff? What is it?"
"Bui! Bui bui!" Suigun was pointing to Rachel's sleeping bag. He then smacked his forehead. "Boo-whee..." [My god...]
Ken turned to the sleeping bag, and saw that Rachel wasn't in there. "Rachel's missing!"

"Hey guys," said a voice behind them.

"Hey, look, it's Rachel!" said Ken.

"Bui-bui-bui! Bui bui, bui buibui!" said Suigun angrily. He tried to run up to Rachel, but was stopped by her right foot.

"My are we hyperactive today, Suigun," said Rachel. Suigun saw Rachel cast him a piercing glare, and then turn back to Ken and Hikaru.

"So, are we going to climb up?" asked Rachel, who seemed slightly unsure of herself.

"Definitely!" replied Ken. They set off.

* * *
All the while that they kept walking up, Rachel said nothing. Up in the middle of the path, they found a wild Skarmory, eating some berries on a bush that was growing here. Ken stepped up. "I'm catching this one!" he said, excitedly. "Charmander!" he said. "Use Ember on that Skarmory!"

"Char!" The Charmander let out a stream of flaming embers. The Skarmory, however, noticed it out of the corner of its eyes and flew away in panic.

"Don't let it get away, Charmander!" yelled Ken. "Run for... umm..." he noticed then that the Skarmory had flown away off the ledge. It suddenly circled back and flew toward Ken, aiming with its beak.

Ken tried running away, but the Skarmory simply turned in his direction. He ducked just as the bird swooped above him. "Charmander, try using Ember again!"

This time, the embers landed, burning the Skarmory and making it fall in the ground in front of him.

"Alright, Charmander, you've had enough." Ken sent out Denchu next, letting the Charmander simply watch. "Denchu, Thunder Wave, then Thundershock!"

"Pi...ka chuuuuuuuu!" Denchu made the Skarmory twitch in pain as it got shocked and paralyzed. It then fell to the ground in front of them, fainted.

"Great job, Denchu," said Ken as he threw a Pokeball at the Skarmory. It shook once, twice, three times... and stopped.

"Char!" Ken looked once at his Charmander. "What's wrong?"

"Chaaar." Oh, that's what was happening...

Both Ken and Hikaru watched as his Charmander changed into a Charmeleon. He glowed, then a spike grew out of the back of his head, and he grew taller. When the glow faded, his skin was a darker shade of red, and his claws were longer. "Char," said the new Charmeleon. The voice didn't change much – it only deepened a little.

"You know," said Ken. "I should really name you something. You are my starter, after all. It would be wrong to name everyone else but not you." He let out Gamer to decide.

"Poli... wag!" she said, shaking her head. "What's wrong?" asked Ken. "You think he's fine the way he is? How about I name him Blaze or something?"

Gamer promptly slapped Ken on his cheek. "Okay... so that's not a good idea."

"Name him Tokagex," piped up Rachel. "That seems like a better idea."

"Char!" confirmed the Charmeleon happily. Rachel smiled. "Tokagex it is!"

* * *
As they kept climbing up, Suigun's mood got worse and worse. How come he just couldn't tell Ken and Hikaru what was happening?

Finally, they came across a small house. "That's Akari's house," said Hikaru to Ken. "We're at the top of the mountain now."

"You know," said Ken. "Back at the bottom of the mountain, she said she only took two hours to get to the top. How come it's taken us three days?"

"Maybe she has a bird," said Hikaru. "Like you do now." He walked up to the house's door and knocked. An old lady greeted them. "Why, if it isn't Hikaru-kun!" said the lady, surprised. "What brings you up here?"

"My little brother," explained Hikaru, showing her Ken.

"Ah, so the legacy continues. Your brother here," said the old lady, talking to Ken, "was actively challenging the rules of the Pokémon League when he was just thirteen. As Akari-chan tells me, he is the man responsible for quite a few of the rules that are in the Pokémon League today."

"You never told me that!" said Ken to Hikaru. Ken then turned back to the old lady "But how would you know that?" he asked. "Not to be disrespectful, but you live on top of a mountain. I always thought old ladies like kimi-san were secluded old ladies that didn't care much about the world outside."

"Not at all!" said the lady. "I care a lot about the world my little Akari is in, especially when it has to do with Pokémon. You know, Hikaru was responsible for the half-a-trainer's-money limit on payouts. Before that, trainers left and right were being cleaned out."

"Really?" Ken looked at Hikaru like he was an alien. "You did that?"

"Well, not by myself," replied Hikaru sheepishly. "I got support from a lot of trainers and Gym Leaders alike."

"Aw, don't be so modest," said the old lady, slapping Hikaru on the back and sending him crashing to the floor. "It's getting late," she said to Ken, looking at the darkening sky outside. "You'd best stay here for a night."

"Thank you, obasan," said Ken.

* * *
That night, Suigun refused to go near Rachel. "What's wrong?" asked Ken. "I thought you were friends with Rachel."

"Bui bui bui buibui," replied Suigun. Ken couldn't understand him at all, but he knew that something was wrong.

Just then, Rachel piped up again. "I have something to tell you all."
"What is it?" asked Ken.
"It's a prophecy. Kind of a long story, really."

* * *
"46, 47, 48..." Peter was counting his steps. He had heard from some people that every 256 steps he walked, he would meet at least one trainer to fight. Although it was nighttime, he was still eager, and so was his Pokémon. "55, 56, 57, 58, fifty—argh!" A large gust of wind had blown him off the ground, and made him fall face first.

Peter looked up. Something had created that gust of wind. It looked like – a Lugia!

"I must be lucky, then... if that thing flew straight above me, it probably means something!" he said jubilantly, thinking of what he could tell his friends.

He picked up his PokeGear, and snapped a photo of the receding Lugia. "Yes, now I have this to show my friends!" He then smacked his head. "Arrgh, I lost count! Now I need to start over..." he started pacing slowly again, in the direction he was travelling. "One, two, three, four..."

* * *
"Well, now that you've told us that, don't you think we're going to try and avoid it?" asked Ken, after he had heard it. They had gone outside, next to a burning fire.
"And you were the one who told me to face my fears head on..." quipped Hikaru.
"Well, it's reasonable! Not everybody can just barge into a criminal organization's base and say, 'I want this menace to stop, so stop it now!' No, they're just going to laugh at us and throw us right back out."
"Now that my work is done, I must return," said Rachel – or what was originally Rachel, anyway. What they saw there instead was a Lugia. "Farewell, young travellers."

The Lugia flew away without a second thought, leaving Ken and Hikaru wondering where Rachel was.

* * *
It was a moonshiny night out in Pelagos Town – but this town wasn't in any of the four regions, it was just in Japan in general.

And on this moonshiny night, two lovers were out on the beach, walking. "So, how do you like this night, Jane?" asked the man, Carlos.

"It's a lovely night," replied Jane, holding Carlos' hand. Then, out of the corner of Carlos' eye, he saw something fly his way. A huge gust of wind appeared, lifting both of them up a few feet into the air. They crashed into the sand, and Carlos picked up Jane frantically, asking if she was okay.

"I'm fine," said Jane, holding up a thumb. She looked in the direction they were walking in, and saw a white-and-blue bird. She rubbed her eyes, thinking that it might go away. To her surprise, it didn't. Another one of those birds flew down, and met the first just as Carlos walked back up to Jane. "Let's go," said Carlos.

As they left, they didn't see the two Lugia fly away as well.

* * *
"Come inside," said the old lady, looking at Ken and Hikaru watch the stars. "You should get some sleep. Your girl Rachel might not come back for another night. And Akari's not back home either."

As they went inside, Ken was worried. What if Rachel never came back? He went to sleep on that thought, on the guest's bedroom.

* * *
"Hey Ken. Wake up." A hand was prodding Ken's shoulder as he woke up.

"Mmmhh..." Ken's dreams the previous night had wiped away all the stress from worry that had built up that night. "...what time is it?"

"Time to wake up, silly," said the voice, which Ken recognized as Rachel's. "Rachel!" he cried in joy. "You're back!"

"You know something," said the old lady, who had just come into the room. "Not many trainers come up here on the first try. I should give you something before you leave again, for paying us a visit." She left their bedroom for a moment, and came back with a box of candies, handing it to Ken. "For your Pokémon. You should try one too – it's good for your health."

"Thank you very much, obasan," said Hikaru. "We'll be sure to come back again sometime later."

"By the way," said the lady. "If you've forgotten which way is back down, it's to the left if you want to get to Cerulean City."

"Thanks," said Ken, as they took their things and left.

As they left, Spot appeared, and asked the lady where they had headed off to.

* * *
"So, we go left," said Ken, pointing to the left. They looked down, and Ken gulped. They were so high up now that the horizon was curved. He looked down – it was a long, long way to the bottom. Had they really climbed up that far? He looked back, and saw that they weren't even halfway up the mountain. Wow...

Ken overheard Rachel talking to Hikaru. "You wouldn't believe what happened last night," he heard Rachel say. Ken bet he would...

"You should try letting your Skarmory out," said Hikaru. "You know, get it acquainted with you."

"What, Ken has a Skarmory now?" asked Rachel. "Lucky!"

"What? You have a Pidgey," replied Ken. "And a Taillow."

"That Skarmory could fly you down," noted Hikaru. "It doesn't look like you can make it very far down here."

"Alright," said Ken. He brought out a Pokeball, but it was Denchu's Pokeball. "Pika?" he asked Ken.
"No, sorry," said Ken to his Denchu. "I meant to let this guy out," he said, fishing out the Skarmory's Pokeball.

"Kwaaaah!" the Skarmory cried as it was let out. It tried to fly away on its own, but Ken leaped up and grabbed onto its feet. "Where are you going?" he asked.
"Kwaaaah," it replied, as it flapped its wings to try and fly back down. Ken landed on the ground, and so did the Skarmory. "What are you doing?"

"Kwahh," the Skarmory said bluntly.
"You don't like me? Why not?"
"Kwahhh," replied the Skarmory.

"She said, you're a trainer. She hates all trainers," said Rachel, acting as a translator.
"But why? You've never been under one before," protested Ken.
"Kwaahh!" cawed the Skarmory.

"'NO U,'" translated Rachel, making a confused face.
"You know," said Hikaru, bringing out his laptop. "I think this Skarmory will need some more training than usual."

Hikaru typed a few things, opened the transporter, and out came two pieces of thin, wiry rope and a falconer's glove. He handed these to Ken. "What am I supposed to do with these?" asked Ken.

"Put them on," said Hikaru. "More specifically, put the glove on your right hand."

"But this Skarmory isn't anything like a falcon..."

"It still helps," said Hikaru, who flicked his wrist to throw the end of one of the ropes at the Skarmory. It cawed in surprise as a device at the end of the rope wrapped around its right leg. Quickly, Hikaru attached the other end to the falconer's glove.

"You should let out your other Pokémon, too," said Hikaru. "You know, to get the Skarmory used to them."

The Skarmory tried to fly away again, and almost lifted Ken up into the air a second time. But Hikaru held him down. "You're really going to need some grip, hmm..." he noted, as Ken managed to pull the Skarmory back. Ken then reached onto his belt and let out all his Pokémon. "Gamer! Tokagex! You guys're up!"

The Skarmory screeched something again. "Come again?" asked Rachel. "I couldn't hear you."

"Kwaaaaahhhhhhh!?"
"'What are you planning to do to me, human?'", relayed Rachel.
"I'm just trying to be friendly," said Ken.

"Kwaaahh!"
"'If I wanted friendly, I'd go back to the mountain. You know, where I belong.'"
"But I'm your trainer!"

"Kwahhhhhhh."
"'Who said I agreed to that?'"

As they kept arguing, the ground started shaking the slightest bit. "Hold up," said Hikaru, tensing up. Rachel, Ken, Hikaru, and even Ken's Skarmory stopped what they were doing. "Something's happening below us."

The ground rumbled one more time, as the sloped ground they were on suddenly gave way. "Rockslide!" shouted Hikaru, as the ground rumbled and they started sliding down.

As they slid, Hikaru tried to reach Ken, while his Skarmory was trying to fly away – but couldn't, because of the wire attaching it to Ken. Tokagex and Gamer, on the other hand, were trying to reach Ken as well, but were slipping and sliding too much to reach him. Ken saw Hikaru, and tried to reach him, but the falling rocks were hitting him and Hikaru too, and they couldn't reach each other. Suddenly, Ken fell onto a ledge and bumped his head on it, blacking out.

* * *
The rocks stopped moving, having piled up onto a ledge. The Skarmory was trying to fly away, but was still trapped by that rope. She flew down to Ken, where that Charmeleon and Poliwag from earlier were standing, looking at his lifeless body. If only she could get herself free...

"What should we do?" asked the Charmeleon.
"I don't know," said the Poliwag. "Hey you!" she called to the Skarmory. "You should come over too, you know. We need to figure out what to do with Ken. He's your trainer as well."
"Pah," scoffed the Skarmory, "What do I want to do with humans?"
"Consider yourself lucky that you're not under a Capture Styler's control," said the Charmeleon. "I hear from Hikaru that those things brainwash you until the Ranger who has it turns it off, and then you don't remember what you were doing for that time. Besides, Ken is my friend, too."
"I wonder what underhanded tricks he did to get you that way..." said the Skarmory, unconvinced.

"Listen," said the Charmeleon. "Ken's a good guy to me. I remember about a month ago when we had just started out. We were barely starters, and I was a puny little Charmander. I couldn't do anything and neither could Ken. But as the days went by, we got to know each other. We battled together. We became stronger. We became friends."
"Sure, he's as stupid as you can probably get," continued the Poliwag. "But that's not his fault. People are just like that. I promise, when you get to know him better, we'll all be good pals."
"Alright, you guys," said the Skarmory. "Let's stop talking and help him first."

* * *
"Hikaru? Ken? Where are you guys?" Rachel found herself in another cavern.
"Bulubulubulubulu," said a voice right next to her. "That was a doozy, alright."
"Suigun!" yelped Rachel. "Where are we?"
"On the inside of Mt. Moon, I'd care to guess."
"Can you get us out? I don't have a pickaxe or anything like that. Here or in my laptop."
"I'll try what I can. Water Gun!"

The stream of water managed to blow away some of the rocks, but more just piled on. "We're going to have to find another way out," declared Rachel, who suddenly noticed that it was strange that there was still light in here, even though they were in a cave. Where was it coming from?

* * *
"Rachel? Ken!" Hikaru was frantic. He had slid further down than anybody, and needed some help. "Fearow!" he yelled, pulling out a Pokeball, and letting out his Fearow. "Can you fly me back up there?"

"Krooooo!" cawed the Fearow, in affirmation. He also knew that they were looking for Ken. Hikaru got on the Fearow's back, and they took off.

As they circled around the face of the mountain, they found Ken's Pokémon, dragging rocks in an attempt to help him. Even the Skarmory was there helping – probably because it was forced to due to that rope, Hikaru thought, with mirthless humour. He landed, and the Skarmory instinctively jumped up to attack him.

"Char! Char man der!" said Tokagex, and the Skarmory turned back. They exchanged a few more words, and the Skarmory stood down, allowing Hikaru to come in and examine Ken. "This doesn't look good..." he said. "We'd better get to the nearest Pokémon Centre, and fast."

-----------------------------------

From here on, it's angst all the way. *spoiler, LOL*

Just a friendly reminder. If you want to read more before I post it here, head over to my blog!

I read the first five chapters since I didn't have much time.
I like your story a lot. The characters are really interesting and catchy, I like Suigen the most and the Pokemon's personalities are riot!
(Cracked up at that Bellsprout at chapter 2 I think. And the legends are good, too.
Keep up the good work.
Peace!

Originally Posted by Thabet

I read the first five chapters since I didn't have much time.
I like your story a lot. The characters are really interesting and catchy, I like Suigen the most and the Pokemon's personalities are riot!
(Cracked up at that Bellsprout at chapter 2 I think. And the legends are good, too.
Keep up the good work.
Peace!

Thanks.

The legends? You mean the part where the priest keeps substituting Pokemon names? That was just a sick little joke of mine.

Yeah, that Bellsprout has an attitude. I might give it a cameo later.

I also meant by the legends, Pheonix. I like his attitude.

Originally Posted by Thabet

I also meant by the legends, Phoenix. I like his attitude.

Ah. It does change later on. A bit. I think.

BTW, there's another "legend" in there, if you cared to look :D

Shh... I have to tell you a secret. A spoiler, to be exact. In this chapter, Hika--*gunshot*

Whoops, that was one of my secretaries, trying to give away part of the story! Don't worry, I just dealt with her. Here's chapter 16. Enjoy!

-----------------------------------

Chapter 16 - Down the Mountain

The climb down was significantly easier than the climb up, with all their birds helping. Hikaru had to manage six Pokémon now – and that wasn't including the ones he still had on his belt. The Skarmory carried Ken down, its claws holding onto him as gently as possible without letting go altogether.

When they reached the exit from the caves, they saw trucks, and members of Team Yin operating those trucks. "What's going on down there?" asked Hikaru. "What are they doing?"

They managed to touch down right at the entrance to the cave. There were a lot of scared-looking trainers near the entrance, peering nervously into the entrance. "What's wrong?" asked Hikaru.

"Th-th-th-they j-just cam-m-me out of ther-r-r-re!" yelped one trainer frightenedly. "T-t-team Yin!"

Just then, they heard a roaring noise, as a Jeep came ripping out of the caves. "Out of our way!" said the woman driving the Jeep. But then, she found that her Jeep was blocked by a Snorlax. "What are you doing here?" demanded Hikaru.

"It's none of your damn business what we're doing here, now move it, you Snorlax!"

"Kabi..." the Snorlax was charging up an attack. "...gonnnnnn!" It let out a Hyper Beam toward the car and hit it, knocking the driver out. "So you're not going to play nice, are you?" said the young woman, with a toothy grin on her face. "In that case, go, Houndoom!" A Houndoom came out, and immediately breathed scalding flames onto the Snorlax. The Snorlax, however, was unmoved, as it turned itself upright again and started snoring. "Hah!" said the lady, the mad grin still on her wide-eyed face. "Your Snorlax couldn't hurt a fly!"

"But you haven't hurt it either..." said Hikaru, with a cocky tone. "Go, Fearow!" He released his Fearow. "Strike away that Houndoom!"

"Two can play at that game..." said the lady, smirking as she brought out another Pokeball as well. "Ampharos! You're up!"

"Phee!" said the Ampharos, as it came out. The Fearow was swooping near the Houndoom. "Shock that Fearow!"
"Pheeeeeee!" the Ampharos created a Thundershock that hit the Fearow – as well as the Houndoom. "No! Ampharos! What are you doing?!?"
"Pheeee," said the Ampharos to the lady, looking apologetic. "Well, at least the Fearow's down..." the lady muttered, looking at the scene.

"Fearow!" cried Hikaru. "Get back up!"
"Kroooooooo!" The Fearow was up and flying again. "Now," said Hikaru. "Hit that Houndoom once more!"

"Don't let him! Use Thundershock again, Ampharos!"

But the Fearow dodged it, and hit the Ampharos instead, knocking it into the Houndoom. Both were fainted on the ground. "Wuughhh..." they both moaned.

"Damn you," said the girl. "You're making me get serious!" She was about to pull out something from her belt, when suddenly... "Stop!"

They heard a gentle girl's voice coming to them from behind Hikaru. "Stop all this!"
Hikaru turned around. "Akari! It's you!"
"Please stop!" Akari ran out in front of Hikaru's Snorlax, her arms outstretched in front of the lady and her destroyed vehicle.

"What do you want?" said the lady leerily. "This is a battle between me and this trainer over here! Now step out of the way if you don't want to be killed!"
"No!" shouted Akari. "I will not stop! You are the one who should stop! You are disrupting the natural balance of the mountain!"
"What do I care about your stupid natural balance? We're trying to create what should have been a natural balance anyway!" The lady pulled out a Pokeball. "Magmar!" the lady cried. "Burn out that girl!"

The Magmar shot out its fire, and Akari stood there, frozen in both fear and determination. Then, Hikaru appeared in front of her, taking the full blast of the flames. "Hikaru!" cried Akari. "What are you doing?"

"Get away!" said Hikaru, looking back at her. For one moment, she thought she saw something in his eyes. But that moment quickly faded away as Hikaru was knocked away by the flames, screaming in pain. He fell down next to Akari, and she hurried away immediately, following his order. The Skarmory followed her, still carrying an unconscious Ken.

* * *
"Hey, Suigun," said Rachel. "We've been walking around for hours, and we still haven't found any way out. And that light is still in here."
"Maybe we've been walking in circ-whoa!" Suigun fell to the ground, as the ground was moving up and down again. "Another earthquake?"
"Don't think so," said Rachel. "We'd better keep going down."

They kept walking, and came across an opening. "Hey, look, it's—whoa, what happened here?"

Rachel saw a lady in a Jeep trying to get past a Snorlax. And in front of her was... "Hikaru!"

She ran towards him, but the Magmar that was also there blew out some flames, which she dodged, falling onto Suigun. "Ow! What was that for?" yelled Suigun, who saw the Magmar. Suigun stood up, and started saying, "What was that for, you lousy Magmar?"
"My boss doesn't want you coming near that kid," said the Magmar coolly.

"'That kid' over there is our friend! Water Gun!" Suigun gurgled out a large stream of water, which the Magmar promptly dodged. "Hahaha, can't get me like that," laughed the Magmar.
"Then let's see how you hold up against a Surf!" A wave of water rose behind Suigun, which he hopped onto and rode. The Magmar was helpless to dodge, as the tidal wave hit him straight in the face, sizzling out his fires and creating a lot of steam.

"What are you doing, kid? You should know better than to mess with me," said the lady who owned the Jeep. "I'm a member of Team Yin! You are one of the people we are trying to help!"

"Help, schmelp," said Rachel indifferently. "All you're doing is destroying the world!"

"Think whatever way you want..." replied the woman, feigning resignation. "Magmar!" she called to her Magmar. "Burn out that girl!" The Magmar blew out another stream of flames.

"Like I'm going to let you," said Suigun again. "Aqua Jet!" Suigun created a jet of water in front of him, which rammed straight into the flames, dousing them and hitting the Magmar.

"D'argh! And to think that I'd seen it all..." said the Magmar, before it fainted.

"Magmar! You useless, stupid, sluggish piece of junk!" grumbled the lady with gritted teeth, smashing the Pokeball onto the ground. The Pokeball was unharmed, and the lady suddenly looked scared. Maybe that was her last Pokémon, thought Rachel.

"You haven't seen the last of me!" said the lady, running off into the woods next to the path.

* * *
"Hurry!" said Akari to the Skarmory. She was running as quickly as she could toward Cerulean City. "We need to get Ken to a hospital right away!"

"Kwaahhhh," said the Skarmory.

"I should get a bird, too?" said Akari, quizzically repeating what the Skarmory had just said. "Oh, you're right!" she said. "I have one, too!" She took out a Pokeball, and released a second Skarmory. "Zephura!" said Akari. "Fly me to Cerulean City!"

"Kwah!" cawed Zephura in agreement. The two Skarmories then flew off, following the path that would lead them to the city...

* * *
"Hikaru!" cried Rachel as she ran up to him. "Are you okay?"

No response. "Hikaru! Wake up!" Hikaru's eyes opened a crack.

"I... don't think I have much time left," said Hikaru, with a weak voice, his eyes opening a bit further.
"What happened?" asked Rachel, noticing the burns all over Hikaru's chest. Blood was seeping out of it, leaking onto the ground.

"I... got hit by the Magmar..." answered Hikaru, who suddenly grunted in pain.

"Don't strain yourself," said Rachel, grabbing Hikaru's hand. "I'll get you to a hospital. It'll be okay."

"I sure... hope so..." said Hikaru, staring blankly up. "I can't even... see you now."

Crap, thought Rachel. If he's that bad already, what'll happen when we get him to a Pokémon Centre? And I don't have any flying Pokémon. Crap, crap, crap.

"I... want you and Ken to have this," said Hikaru, holding up a strange-looking Pokeball. "It's Gabriel. I'll give all my Pokémon to you two as well."
"Tell Ken..." said Hikaru, his voice barely at a whisper, "...that he shouldn't get into any trouble."
"And tell Akari... that she doesn't have to be sorry."
"And tell yourself..." whispered Hikaru, his voice starting to fail. "...that you... don't..."

"That I don't what?" said Rachel, tears welling up in her eyes. "That I don't what?!?"

The Pokémon were all looking at this sad sight as well. "Hikaru-san..." whimpered Gamer, about to cry. "...even if you did hear me wrong the first time I said my name, that doesn't mean I'm not your friend..."
"Kroooooo," crooned the Fearow sadly.

Hikaru lost his grip, and fell on the ground.

* * *
"Joy-san! Nurse Joy!" shouted Akari, as she flung open the doors to the Pokémon Centre. "We've got a bunch of injured Pokémon here, and a trainer!"

"Oh my god!" gasped Joy, as she saw Ken's mangled body. "We've got to get him to a room right away!" She pressed a button on her belt, and a pair of Chansey came with a stretcher. They put Ken on it, and carted him off.

"Thank you for bringing him here," said Nurse Joy. "Where are his Pokémon?"

"They're with Rachel," explained Akari. "But you should look after Ken first."

"I'll do that," said Joy, turning to the care room, muttering to herself. "Ken's his name..."

* * *
Rachel had a problem. She couldn't drag Hikaru all the way to Cerulean City, but her two flying Pokémon were much too small to carry either of them. "Hold on..." thought Rachel out loud. "Hikaru's Fearow! Maybe I could have him do something!"

Hikaru's Fearow raised his head at the mention of his name. "Can you carry Hikaru to the Pokémon Centre in Cerulean City? I can't."

"Alright," said the Fearow, carrying Hikaru on his back and flying off.

Rachel let out her other Pokémon. "What should we do?" she asked the group of six that she had. "We don't have any more flying Pokémon."

"Well, we're not in any danger, so we should just walk."
"Maybe we should report that crazy lady to the police."
"Well, we have no idea where she's gone now."

Rachel went with the walking idea. "You guys should train, anyway. They're all at hospitals now."

* * *
The Fearow landed in front of the Pokémon Centre. "Another one?" asked Joy, somewhat exasperated. She walked to the front door and opened it. "It's almost seven o'clock... and this boy is horribly charred! We need to get him to the emergency room right away!"

The Chansey came again and carted Hikaru off, leaving Nurse Joy wondering whether her job was starting to become too stressful.

* * *
Ken woke up with a start. "Man, this journey's more exhilarating than I thought..." He looked around. He was in a hospital bed. "What... happened?"

"You were knocked out," said a familiar voice.
"Rachel?"
"Close," said the voice. "I'm Akari."
"Am I at your house again?" he asked, with a dreamy, woozy look on his face.
"Nope, you're at the Cerulean Pokémon Centre," she said.

"Cerulean City? I'm there already? What about Rachel and Hikaru?"
"Um... about Hikaru-san..." said Akari, shuffling uncomfortably.

"Did something happen to him?" Ken found his strength again, and grabbed Akari's shoulders. "Tell me!"
"He... was badly burned when trying to protect me from Team Yin. I don't know where he is now, because he told me to run away."

"Team Yin?" asked Ken. "Those bastards..."

"Team Yin was the ones who caused that rockslide too," said Akari. "I was off to Cerulean City on an errand, and when I came back, I saw the rocks sliding off the top, at the same time that Team Yin was coming out of the caves."

Just then, they heard the two Chansey cart another patient by. Ken caught a glimpse of who it was. "That was Hikaru!"

He ran off to where they were carting him off. Hikaru... he thought, as he ran. ...please be okay.

* * *
As Rachel kept walking down Route 52, she met another trainer. "Hey, you! Let's battle!" the trainer called out.

"Alright," said Rachel, feeling like she needed a challenge to take her mind off things. "How many?"
"Three sound okay?"

"Great!" Rachel brought out three Pokeballs. "Let's battle!"

She looked back, being used to Hikaru refereeing her matches. But when she looked back, nobody was behind her. She sighed. "This is what I get for deciding to walk alone..."

"What are you waiting for?" asked the other trainer, who had already brought out his first Pokémon, a Rattata.
"Alright, here... we... go!" she said, with something of a grunt of effort on "go!" as she threw out a Pokeball, revealing her Sentret.

"Sentret, tackle the Rattata!"
"Rattata, go right in with Hyper Fang!"
"Giiiiiiii!" Before Rachel had a chance to react, the Rattata had already bitten her Sentret. "Sentret!"
"I... couldn't... do it..." said the Sentret with a voice that seemed like she was about to cry... then she fell down face first onto the ground.
"Sentret!" cried Rachel, pulling out Sentret's Pokeball. "Return!"

"Alright," said Rachel. "Let's go, Taillow!"
"Okay," said the other trainer. "Go, Magmar!"

As soon as Rachel saw the Magmar, she was reminded of Hikaru. What am I doing here?
Suddenly, Rachel took back her Taillow, and ran away. "Hey! Where are you going?" said the other trainer. "We didn't finish our battle!"

* * *
"Hikaru!" yelled Ken as he busted open the door to Hikaru's room.
"What are you doing here?" demanded Nurse Joy, who was looking over Hikaru before she turned to face Ken. "Get out of here, we need to concentrate!"
"He's my brother!"

"Is he?" she asked, turning to Ken, suddenly morose. "I'm sorry to say, he doesn't look too good. His entire body is covered in third-degree burns. We're getting a monitor on him. Chansey!" she barked at the Chansey standing over Hikaru. "Status report!"
"Chan sey..." said the Chansey, looking downcast.
"What?!?" shouted Nurse Joy, in a rage that Ken had never seen anyone from the Joy family in before.
"How is Hikaru?" asked Ken, worried.

"He's..." Joy started crying. "...we...couldn't...save him."
"What?!?" cried Ken, in the exact same rage as Nurse Joy. He turned around and punched a wall.

"What is wrong?" a small voice said, next to the door.
"...A...a...kari..." stuttered Ken, trying to sober up. "Hikaru's... gone..."
"This is all my fault," she noted bitterly. "If I hadn't tried to stand up to that lady, none of this would have happened."

Ken couldn't hear Akari. He was now crying in his own corner of the room, as the Chansey's normally pricked-up hairs curled down in sympathy. There they stayed for quite a while.

* * *
Rachel huffed and puffed as she ran towards Cerulean City, ignoring any trainers who tried to call her to battle. She had even recalled Suigun into his Pokeball, because she wanted to concentrate on running.

When she made it to the outskirts of the city, she scanned around for the Pokémon Centre, and found it. "Let me guess," said a downcast Nurse Joy at the service counter. "You're looking for Hikaru?"

"Yes," said Rachel. "Please show me."

They went to the room, where Ken was in a corner, sucking his thumb. Rachel looked over Hikaru – he wasn't breathing, and the monitor that the Chansey had set up wasn't moving at all. "Is he..."

Nurse Joy nodded her head sadly.

* * *
The next day, they arranged a quick funeral, involving a burial of Hikaru using his Diglett's Dig. Both Rachel and Ken had decided that having a proper funeral would only make Ken feel even worse. "Rest in peace... aniki," said Ken, saying the name he had never called his brother, as he saw Hikaru's body being placed in the crude hole that the Diglett had dug.

A moment of silence followed.

"Do you... still want to challenge the Gym?" asked Rachel quietly, trying her hardest to be considerate.

"Of course..." said Ken. But his voice was overly soft, and shaky. "I'm going... to do it... whatever it takes..." he said, alternating each word with a sob.

-----------------------------------

So... did you like it? I'm concerned because this chapter got all the negative reviews that I've gotten so far for this story.

NO!
You killed Hikaru! I liked him. Awwwoooo
Ah oh well, at least he died a hero. Anyway, Nice chapter man!

Thanks for the moral support, Thabet.

Here's Chapter 17, for your viewing pleasure.

-----------------------------------

Chapter 17 - A Friend Indeed

The next day, Ken was standing in front of the Cerulean City Gym's doors. "I've got to do this," he told himself firmly. "For Hikaru."

The night before, he had trained all four of his Pokémon by battling in the training centre. Rachel had left him alone, not wanting to spark any reactions. Ken didn't mind. But what he really didn't understand was why he kept losing at the training centre.

"Go, Octillery! Shoot your ink at that Pikachu!" shouted Takana.
"Denchu! Use Thundershock!" hollered Ken back. Denchu did that, and the Octillery fell down, unable to move.

Alright, thought Ken. I've got this one.

"Now it's your turn, Ivysaur!" Takana sent out his Ivysaur.
Ken withdrew Denchu. "Tokagex! Your turn!"

"Use Razor Leaf!" said Takana. Before Ken had a chance to react, the leaves hit Tokagex, knocking him down. "And now slam into him!" said Takana.

Ken started becoming angry. "Rrrraaaagh! Use Flamethrower!"
But as Tokagex breathed the flames, they suddenly spurted out at double strength while completely missing the Ivysaur. The stream then stopped, as the Ivysaur successfully slammed into Tokagex, knocking him out.

Ken stopped replaying the battle in his mind. Those battles were yesterday, he thought. He took a deep breath, and opened the door.<!--more-->

"Hello?" he called. "Anybody there?" There was nobody in the Gym, and it was all dark inside.

"No, but I am," replied a voice.

The lights suddenly turned on, revealing a man standing at the other side of a giant swimming pool, which had many floaters in it, of different colours and shapes. The man himself was dressed in blue pants with yellow stripes and a yellow shirt – he was tall and a bit skinny, and sported yellow, combed-down hair on a white face. "My name is Frank," he said, right away. "And I'm the Gym Leader of Cerulean City. Do you challenge me today?"

"You didn't even... introduce yourself properly..." said Ken, with a twitch of his eyes. "My name's Ken Hoshimoto. And yes, I challenge you today!"
"Let's see... oh, you don't have any badges! Well then, this will be a piece of cake!"
"Don't take me so lightly!" said Ken, a hint of anger in his voice. "Go, Denchu!"

"Pi-ka!" said Denchu as he came out.

"There was your first mistake!" said Frank laughing. "The challenger should never send out his Pokémon first! Go, Staryu!"

"Hyah!" The Staryu came out, and immediately struck Denchu with a spinning kick before he even had a chance to react.
"Pika!" Denchu was knocked backward, and fell in front of Ken.

"What was that for?" shouted Ken. "You didn't even call an attack!"

"So?" replied Frank, grinning. "Do I have to?"

"Denchu, Thundershock this guy real hard," whispered Ken. Denchu ran out and did so.
"Piiii...ka, chuuuuuu!" The Staryu was spinning again, and this attack hit the Staryu as it was spinning towards Denchu again. The Staryu started twitching, and fell down into the water. It rose up again, as Ken yelled, "Another Thundershock!"

But this time, as Denchu let out the shock, it suddenly spurted out at double strength and abruptly stopped before the attack reached the Staryu. "What's wrong? Keep going!" yelled Ken.

"Pika...chuuuuuu!" Again, it spurted out, and stopped. The spinning Staryu came out again and tackled the Pikachu out of the ring.

"Denchu! What's wrong?!?" yelled Ken.

"Pi...ka..." squeaked Denchu weakly. He then fell face first onto the ground.

"Denchu!" Ken ran up to Denchu, and picked him up.

"He won't battle anymore," said Frank with a dismissive air. "You should take him to a Centre. I think I'm done with you for today."

"Che..." Ken grumbled as he returned Denchu and left the Gym to go to a Pokémon Centre. But by the time he had walked halfway there, he started crying again. He sat down on a bench near the road. "Hikaru..." he sobbed. He stayed there for a few seconds, and suddenly, Rachel was there in front of him. "What's wrong?"

"I'm still thinking about Hikaru," said Ken.
"I hear you," replied Rachel, trying to be comforting. "But there's nothing we can do about that. It's not your fault he... went away."
"If only I had been more useful!" Ken slammed the bench he was sitting on. "All I did was watch you guys battle! You and Hikaru did all the hard work – I was acting the part of the little brother just because he was there! And I was out cold most of the time when Hikaru was—" Ken felt Rachel's hand slap him hard on the left cheek.
"What are you trying to blame yourself for?" asked Rachel, grabbing Ken's shoulders. Ken suddenly quieted.

"Sure he's dead now, but sometimes, these things just happen! It's okay to keep him in memory, but not to blame yourself like this! Are you going to stop training Pokémon just because of some incident like this?"
"I don't know," said Ken, face tilted downward.

Rachel sighed. She took her good luck charm, the Death Star-like device that could release Pokémon, off from her neck, and handed it to Ken. "If you do decide to stop, you can use this to release all your Pokémon. Think about it." Rachel then turned and walked away, leaving Ken alone.

* * *
Diabla's hand slammed down onto the table. "What do you mean you didn't find the ancient fossils?"
"They weren't there," said the voice on the phone. "Simple as that. And one of our Jeeps was found destroyed next to the opening of Mt. Moon."
"No matter," said Diabla, who took a puff on her cigarette. "If they're not there, keep moving towards Cerulean City. That's where we were going to go next, anyway. Make sure that our buildup is not taken down. And remember our no-kill policy."
"Yes, ma'am," said the man on the phone, with a very tremulous voice.

* * *
I never meant to stop, said Ken to himself, looking at the device in his hand. The sun was already setting, and he had been sitting on the bench for over two hours. All I want to do is to make Hikaru proud.

As he sat there thinking, a man came down and sat beside him. Ken looked up – it was Frank. "Had a rough day?" he asked. "You looked sick when we battled. And the way your Pokémon attacked..."

"You wouldn't know anything about it," said Ken sullenly, turning away.

"C'mon," said Frank. "Be a good sport. I'm not going to laugh at you."
"My brother died yesterday," said Ken, trying to sound as bland and emotionless as possible.
"I'm sorry to hear that," answered Frank. "How did he—"
"I don't really want to talk about it," said Ken, more loudly, frowning and turning away.
"But talking about it is the only way you'll feel better," said Frank. "If you just keep stewing like that, you'll never let it go and move on."
"I'm don't feel bad," asserted Ken forcefully. But he knew that it was a lie.
"You know I can tell you're lying, right?" said Frank. "When a Pokémon battles, it reflects the emotions of its trainer. During that battle earlier today, your Pokémon were all attacking blindly, without aim or purpose. They were just in a rage, just like you were. I can tell that you're disturbed by something. So give up your act. Spill the beans."

Ken inhaled deeply, and exhaled. "Alright," he said.

* * *
"Hey, dad," said Rachel, on the video phone in the Pokémon Centre. "I'm in Cerulean City."
"I can tell," noted Matthew, looking at the imagery behind Rachel. "How'd you do? You haven't called me in more than a month! It's almost the end of May!"
"Well, I haven't gotten any badges yet..." said Rachel sheepishly.
"Really? What were you doing all this time?"
"I got myself into a tournament in Viridan Forest, won second place, entered a—"
"Who got first?" asked Matthew, cutting in.
"This girl named Kyril. I don't know where she is anymore, though."
"What happened in Pewter?"
"We entered a contest – in costumes, no less," said Rachel, forgetting that she was by herself.
"So I heard," said Matthew. "This person named Hikaru Hoshimoto got first place."

At the word "Hikaru", Rachel suddenly blanched. "Do you know this person, Rachel?" asked Matthew.
"Well, we were travelling partners. I was with him and his little brother, Ken."
"So you do have a travelling group," said Matthew. "Most beginning trainers start in groups too, splitting off later when they become more experienced."
"Glad to hear that," mumbled Rachel glumly.

"Something wrong?" asked Matthew, concerned. "You look sad."
"Well, it's just that..." Rachel was quiet.
They waited for about 20 seconds, and Matthew decided to break the ice again. "I heard that Team Yin was in Mt. Moon, looking for some fossils yesterday. Did you get hurt at all?"

"Actually," said Rachel, lightening up a bit, "we didn't go through the caves at all. We went over the mountain." She darkened again as she remembered what happened next. "There was a rockslide, though, and our group got separated."

"That's terrible!" said Matthew, astonished. "What happened next?"
"I don't know what happened to Ken and Hikaru, but I got lost inside a cave and walked around for hours until I got to the exit. Then, I found Hikaru and his Snorlax lying on the ground."
"And then?"
"I ran up to him, and he looked like he was badly burned. Then, one of the women from Team Yin got me into a battle."
"Why didn't you get out of there?" asked Matthew. "You're lucky to still be alive."

"I know that," said Rachel. "But I couldn't just leave Hikaru there. Anyway, after that, I sent his Fearow out to fly him away to the Pokémon Centre in Cerulean City."
"Why didn't you call 119?" asked Matthew. Rachel paused, cursing herself inwardly for her stupidity.
"I didn't think of it at the time," answered Rachel, now unsure of herself. "But when I finally got there, Ken was already there, and Hikaru was dead on the bed."
Matthew sucked in a breath, and took a moment to regain his composure. "Did you... hold a funeral for him?"

"We used his Diglett to dig a grave," replied Rachel. "I didn't want Ken to feel horrible by organizing him a proper funeral. I don't think Hikaru would want it, either."
"Well, whatever you think is best..." said Matthew. "How's Suigun?"

"Fine as a fiddle!" said a voice next to Rachel, as Suigun popped onto the screen. "And Rachel's been doing fine too. I mean, she's nearly died twice, but nothing serious."
"I see," said Matthew with a grin. "That reminds me," he continued suddenly. "I remember going to Viridian City a few days ago, and saw a missing child poster out for you. Whatever happened to that?"
"Oh, they probably forgot about it," said Rachel. "I am a Pokémon trainer, after all."

* * *
"...and that's how I got here," said Ken, finishing his story.
Frank was in tears. "Ohhhh! How sad that story was!" He took out a giant handkerchief and blew it.
"You're... overreacting," said Ken, a little creeped out.
"But I'm not doing any worse than you are," said Frank, suddenly sober again, and smiling. "You can't let this thing haunt you forever," he continued. "Everyone gets over it eventually. Don't worry yourself too hard."
"What would you know about it?" asked Ken.
"Your brother... he was your best friend, right?" asked Frank back.
"Pretty much."
"I've lost my best friend before too," said Frank. "He was a wonderful boy... by the name of Josh. At least, he was wonderful until his heart was darkened. One day, when we were playing soccer together, a pair of Rocket bandits came and took him away. They returned him to me the next day, turned into a Rocket bandit himself. Eventually, his real mind broke out of the brainwashing, and he committed suicide when he realized what he had done."

Just then, an alarm sounded. "Oh no," said Frank, worried.
"What's wrong?" asked Ken.
"There's something going on at the Aquarium. And it's not nice." Frank ran off.
"Hey, wait up!" yelled Ken, running after him.

* * *
"Electabuzz! Get them all out of there!" yelled the executive. She was a redhead, with a black-and-white uniform much like Team Galactic might have, except with the colours reversed and with a yin-yang symbol where the G would be. "And make sure this time, that you do it correctly!"

The security guards were running up, trying to surround them. They were mostly short and chubby men who were assigned the job because they had nothing better to do – it wasn't most days, after all, when somebody wanted to steal a bunch of small fish.

But today was different. Today, they were protecting the museum vault that contained one of their most valuable items – the Gem of Aquarius. And they were protecting it from an extremely deadly force.

"Electabuzz!" called the executive again. "Let's do this again! Shock those doors!"
"'Le-booooooo!" The Electabuzz created a bolt of thunder that crashed open the doors.
"Alright, that's the last door!" cried the executive in joy. "And now... my little darling..."

"Stop!" said a voice.

"Who is it?" said the executive in a sing-song voice as she slowly turned around and her eyes widened suddenly as she saw who it was. "F-f-f-frank!"

"Yep," said Frank. "What are you doing here... Alice?"
"I'm a commander in Team Yin!"
"And I'm going to kick your butt! Swampert! Come on out!"

"Buuuaaa!" cried the Swampert as it stomped on the ground a few times.

"No matter on that! Electabuzz, Thunder Punch!" The Electabuzz punched the Swampert hard, and sent it flying into the wall, creating a cloud of dust.
"You've gotten better," said Frank with a smirk.
"No, you've gotten worse," replied Alice. "Don't you know that the challenger should never let out his Pokémon first?"

"Whoever said I was the challenger?" said Frank. The dust cleared, revealing a Swampert ready to bounce off the wall and attack. "Swampert, use Mud Shot!"

"Buuuuuaaa!" The Swampert pounced, and the stream of muddy water came upon the Electabuzz and knocked it down, on the ground. "Argh! Let's go, Victreebel!" growled Alice, throwing out another Pokeball.

"Aghh!" Frank knew that his Pokémon were no match against Grass-type attacks. "Swampert, use Mud Shot again anyway!"

"Buuuuaaaaa!" The shot hit the Victreebel, but no significant damage appeared. "You're not going to win that way!" laughed Alice.

"Not if I can help it!" Rachel appeared on the scene.

"Who are you?" asked Frank, turning to the girl who had just appeared to help him.

"My name's Rachel Palton, at your service," said Rachel.
"But from what Ken's told me about you, you're just a beginner! So why would you be able to—"
"I'm here," said Suigun.

"Ohh, a Buoysel! How cute, but I don't think it'll really—" Frank was silenced by a Water Gun.

Dripping wet, he gave up. "Alright, you can fight. Just don't get into trouble. This isn't a friendly battle, you know."
"I know. Suigun!"
"Mm," grunted Suigun in agreement.

"What are you waiting for?" asked Alice. "Let's go, Flareon!"

A Flareon came out, and lunged directly for Suigun. "Suigun, use Aqua Jet!"

"Aqua Jet!" Suigun lunged toward the Flareon as well, and they knocked into each other, creating a lot of steam. "Ahh!" said Alice, as the force of the attacks created a shockwave that blew the steam into her eyes. "My eyes!"

"Now, aim a Hydro Punch!" said Rachel. At that moment, Ken came in. "Ken! It's you!"

Ken was out of breath. "I... had to... come here..."

"Come on, help me battle this lady!" said Rachel. "It looks like she has more than four!"

"I... can't," said Ken. "I'm useless."
"What?" said Frank, looking back. "Was our talk useless?"
"I don't want to hold you guys back," said Ken.

"Whatever. Let's keep going!"

As Ken watched, Rachel and Frank kept battling against Alice, and started losing. He watched as she slowly inched her way forward, pummeling Rachel's Taillow and Clyde, and Frank's Staryu and Swampert with her own Flareon and Victreebel.

As Ken watched, Rachel and Frank's Pokémon were slowly being beaten. Clyde was already knocked out, and Rachel brought out her Sentret. But all he did was look at the situation and do nothing. He realized this, and his eyes widened, as he broke into a sweat. What am I doing? I'm being such a coward! They really do need me! And this is what Hikaru would have wanted! Not for me to back down like this, or to rush in headlong in a rage, but to keep on going the same way!

He stood up, and walked over to the place where they were fighting. They were desperate now, aiming their attacks wherever they might make a hit. A bit of music started playing in the background, as Ken walked up and said, "I'm ready. Go, Tokagex! Skarmory!"

"Char!"
"Kwaaaahh!"

"What's this?" asked Alice. "Another trainer?"
"Yeah," said Ken, spinning a Pokeball on his finger. "And I think I feel much better."

Don't believe them when they tell you love has got me down.

"Go, Tokagex! Flamethrower!"
"Chaaarrrr!" The flames hit Victreebel, knocking him down while still burning.

Do you think that I'm the type that love can push around?

"Crap," said Alice, bringing out another Pokeball with a Kingdra. "Kingdra, douse those flames!"

I may bend, but I won't break, my passion can't be bound,
I'm gonna conquer love before it conquers me.

"Denchu!" yelled Ken. "Shock that Kingdra!"
"Pi ka!" [With pleasure!] As Ken watched, the Kingdra fell on the ground, fainted.

"Arrrrgh! Flareon, get that Pikachu!"

"Feeeeeh," cried the Flareon, as it shot flames onto Denchu and tackled him, sending him flying into the wall.

Patched my broken heart together, wiped the tears away.
Ready now to brave the world and face a brand new day.

"Gamer!" said Ken, releasing Gamer. "Douse those flames!" Gamer sent a Water Gun on Denchu, stopping the flames before they did too much damage. She then turned the stream onto the Flareon, cooling its fur and knocking it over.

Here am I with head up high, the fire's burning bright,
I'm gonna make a thousand dreams come true tonight.

When the stream stopped, the Flareon was all cold and shivering, and suddenly it lay down, spirals on its eyes. Ken high-fived Gamer with her tail. And the slap didn't hurt this time – it was one of friendship, of recognition.

Oh! Let the thunder crash, oh, let the storms begin!
I won't stop until it's over, 'cause I'm going out to win!

"This isn't over yet!" cried Alice, releasing a fourth Pokémon. "Medicham!"

"You think that's going to stop me?" said Ken. "Skarmory, use Steel Wing!"

Oh, watch my spirits soar, oh, higher than before!
Mou dou ni mo tomaranai!

As the Skarmory zoomed above both the Victreebel and the Medicham, striking them with her steel wings, they both fell down backward, hard onto the ground. The Victreebel had spirals on its eyes.

Oh, dream the wildest dream, oh, aiming for the sky!
I'm a rocket to the moon, I'm gonna live until I die!

The Medicham acted on its own accord now, running toward the Skarmory. But the Skarmory dodged it, flying up high into the air. It stopped and charged at the Medicham again. "Kwaaahhhhh!"

Oh, spirit, fast and free! Oh baby, you and me!
Mou dou ni mo tomaranai!

As Ken's Skarmory knocked into the Medicham, the Medicham flew into the air, and fell down again, with spirals on its eyes.

"No!" shouted Alice in frustration. "How could a little kid beat me?"
"That's what you get for messing with my friends," said Ken. Rachel looked at him now – so cool, and determined. "You're so cool now!" she blurted out, catching herself too late.
"Hmm," said Ken with a smile, as the music ended.

"He's got fighting spirit, all right," mused Frank. "Just needed a little push to get him over it." Frank then turned to Rachel. "You know this guy?"

"He's my travelling partner," said Rachel happily. She then turned to Ken. "Welcome back," she said, putting a hand onto his shoulder. He was surprised for a moment, but then relaxed.

"We should call 110," said Rachel. "We're not going to want this girl to go anywhere."

After the police came and arrested Alice, Frank turned to Ken and Rachel. "You guys showed real courage today. And, to my mind, that's one of the most important things about being a Pokémon trainer. Winning badges, and competitions... they don't mean much in the long run. Speaking of badges..." he reached into his pocket, fishing out two Cascade Badges. "Take these. For a great battle today."

Ken handed his back right away. "I can't take this," he said. "I haven't beaten you in a battle yet."
"Neither can I," added Rachel, handing hers back as well. "I'd rather become a better trainer first."
"Well, in that case," chuckled Frank, taking the badges back. "See you in the Gym sometime."

As he walked away, Ken's Skarmory cawed once. "What's up?" asked Ken.
"Kwaaaahhhhh!"
"She says Akari gave her a name while you were asleep," said Rachel.
"What is it, then?" asked Ken.
"It's Telia," replied the Skarmory.

"Alright," said Ken, holding up a Pokeball. "I'll call you by your name from now on. Return... Telia."

When they left the museum, Rachel asked Ken where they would go next.

"Let's go to Saffron City," said Ken. "I still haven't met all those new Pokémon."

It was already night time, so they decided to go to the Pokémon Centre to rest up before heading back on the path.

"Here, catch," said Ken, throwing something in the air to Rachel. Rachel caught it. It was the Death Star-like device. "I won't be needing this anymore," he said. Rachel smiled.

-----------------------------------

Just a comment about my spelling, I use "center" when referring to the middle of something, but "centre" when referring to a place of gathering, like a Pokemon Centre.

When I finally get this caught up with the official release, the line on my signature for this fic will have the next update instead of the chapter number that's on my blog.

The background music is the first ending song to the Legendz anime.

Very nice chapter, your battles are very intense and interesting.
You use a lot of description and such almost as if you vision yourself in the scene when you write, good.
Oh but one thing, its Buizel not bouysel, sorry but its true....hehe XD
Look forward to the next chapter.
Could you check out my fic while your on it?
Thanks.