TheoLeung@Sprint.ca

gtkelpie@hotmail.com

Viridian City loomed into view as the trio of travelers followed the radar that Carter had provided for them. According to the readings on the radar, Tim/Burner were flying directly towards Indigo Plateau. It baffled the three why he would be heading towards there, but nevertheless, the pursuit must continue.

"Why Tim? Why run away?" Ryna thought, unable to understand the thoughts that revolved around her friend’s head. She asked herself this very question many times before, but when she asked herself now, it wouldn’t go away. It puzzled the trainer why he ran, and now the question was beginning to take its toll, biting away at her heart.

"Hey, Ryna, are you listening?" Simon asked, trying to ask as lightly as possible. Ryna broke from her stasis, staring up at the other two trainers.

"Pardon?" she replied meekly. She heaved a sigh, now beginning to wonder if she can continue on such a journey, or if she, herself, will now be a burden on the others.

"I was just saying how we should stop at Viridian to restock and possibly stay for the night," Simon repeated, though Ryna didn’t know. "It is a long journey from here to Indigo Plateau and if may be best to rest up for the journey." Ryna checked the time, seeing that it was now mid-afternoon. She nodded, unable to bring herself to say anything. The journey continued in silence, aside from one mental conversation.

"I hope she feels better soon," Psy spoke out psychically. Amy gave a psychic nod as a response. The two held a private conversation, which Amy taught to Psy before heading out from Pallet Town.

"Then we better find Tim as soon as possible," Amy replied, heaving a mental sigh.

"Why is that?" Psy inquired. She reached and touched the mind of Ryna lightly, another psychic technique that Amy taught her.

"Can you feel it?" Amy asked, though she knew the answer already. Psy mentally nodded, understanding the pain Ryna was enduring. Sooner or later, she will succumb to that small darkness that is eating away, and then, it would be a point of no return.

"Is there…anything we can do?" Psy asked, her voice pleading for a positive answer. She was soon disappointed, when the Jynx failed to give her any response what so ever. The conversation ended then, leaving the two silent for the remainder of the trek.

* * * * * *

"Back again," Ryna whispered sullenly. She stood on the balcony of her room in the Pokémon Center, gazing northeastwards towards her goal. Towards her friend, her comrade, her…’love’?

She sighed, reminiscent of the fact of the first time she was here. It was a clear sunny day, and she was anxious and energetic. Her Pokémon journey was just beginning, and with her Charmander, she set out for great expectations. Slowly, from this point, her team grew and she met new friends on her travels. How it went from becoming a great trainer to wanting to be a perfect friend…perhaps even more then that…

Here she is now, heading towards the Indigo Plateau, but this time, with a different reason. Not her initial one, something that is now more important to her then ever before. Even if she would not stay at Indigo Plateau for any longer then a day, she would still be there.

"Is it destiny? Or something else?" she questioned herself, unable to comprehend any sort of answer. With a weak sigh, she entered back into her room, noticing Lin sleeping peacefully on the bed. Unconsciously, the Pikachu pulled the blanket closer to her, the slight breeze chilled her slightly as it entered the open balcony door. Quickly, yet silently, Ryna closed the door behind her to prevent her Pikachu from catching a cold.

"I might as well get some sleep," Ryna told herself, seeing the long day that was going to come from the following day.

* * * * * *

"This is Indigo Plateau? Of the Pokémon League?" Psy asked, astonished of the size of the stadiums. Five different stadiums, the center being the grandest of them all, able to house possibly a million people to watch these tournaments.

Ripper, on the other hand, wasn’t exactly impressed. In actuality, he finds distractions like these divulge from the present tasks.

"He’s not here, is he?" Simon asked Carter.

"No, he isn’t," Ryna replied, sensing it within herself. The hopelessness of the situation slowly crept upon her. Both Psy and Amy could feel it, that the presence of Burner, or Tim as the case may be, was not here; and could hear the agony and suffering of the trainer’s heart at such a loss.

"He’s heading west," Carter whispered, tapping his radar once, then twice, then thrice to make sure it was working properly.

"I heard they were making another Stadium there, Pokémon Stadium, which is un-affiliated with the League," Simon spoke out.

"It wouldn’t be smart to head out to day," Lin injected, implying the setting sun. "Rest is of the essence. No need to take foolish chances out there." Everyone agreed, though their spirits dropped with the news of Burner’s departure.

* * * * * *

"I was dreaming of being here," Ryna thought, standing up against the soft wind. She pulled her jacket closer to herself, containing as much warmth as possible. Below her, lay the battleground, the field of conflict that she wished to participate in. Better worded, she used to believe that.

The large stadium light remained dim, towering over the arena. Ryna herself stood in upper levels of stadium, and without any crowds around, she had a dominant view. Not that it matter, there would be no battling.

The moonlight shined brightly, a sign of serenity amidst the chaos. Ryna heaved another sigh, again pondering the intent on Tim’s constant retreating. It was so strange. She never understood why he is running, and probably never will until she catches him. Until then, it’s pray for the sanity of her mind, heart, and soul.

* * * * * *

"Is there a way we can help her?" Psy asked Amy desperately. The Bulbasaur could not stand the pain Ryna was going through anymore, and wished with all her heart to assist her in anyway.

"Unless one of us can hold Burner down at that new Stadium with our Psychic abilities, I doubt it," Amy whispered back, though whispering wasn’t really necessary in a telepathic conversation.

"So, nothing?" Psy asked, depressed. Amy motioned a mental nod, shaking her head in rejection. Psy lowered her head dejectedly, seeing little hope for the situation now. The best the two could do is wait and see what develops in the near future.

* * * * * *

Lin perched on top of the railing, glancing across the stadium towards her trainer. She looked so small, from the vantage point the Pikachu chose to view her trainer and friend. She was surprised when Carter approached.

"Spying?" he asked in one word, though it didn’t need an answer. Lin continued her ‘spying’, also sensing the despair and hopelessness from her as Amy and Psy have, though it was intuition that led the Pikachu to that conclusion, not Psychic abilities.

"Strange…how much Tim has an impact on our lives…" Carter whispered, leaning on the railing. Lin glanced over at the former Special Forces operative, questioning the wording. "I…came along with you all…to maybe help Tim out…I owe him that much…"

"The agony that he’s been through, the pain, the suffering," Carter continued, though the words came out softer and softer with each passing breath. "Both his friends ‘abandoned’ him. I’m here to rekindle that friendship." Lin was quite surprised at the man’s openness. Carter has generally been a secretive person since she first met him, and here he was now, spilling his heart.

"We’ll find him, for everyone’s sake…" Lin spoke out, continuing to watch over Ryna.

* * * * * *

Morning quickly arrived, and the trio with their Pokémon made haste towards Pokémon Stadium. Westwards, possibly towards destiny, or perhaps not. Ryna wasn’t sure, she just had an ominous feeling in the distance.

"Do…you feel that?" Amy asked Psy telepathically. She was implying the strong psychic waves emitting from the Pokémon Stadium.

"Yes, I feel it," Psy replied, shuddering. With that amount of psychic power, it was even possible for the most inept Psychic Pokémon or people to feel it. At the level of these two, it was quite easy to tell there was a powerful force at Stadium…

"Angel?" Amy asked, but Psy shook her head.

"If it was…him…I would’ve felt it by now…No, it is something different," Psy replied, snapping back in shock at the suddenness. The psychic power suddenly receded, as if something just broke…the chain of power, like a rock through glass.

"What…what was that?" Amy inquired, also shocked by the Psychic feedback. To encase something so large with such Psychic power, then have it stolen from you…it was strange…

"Something is wrong…" Psy spoke out loud, dropping the telepathic talk between the two. The three trainers and their Pokémon all turned to face them, as if something horrible was about to happen.

"What do you mean?" Simon spoke out first, wondering if it was god news or not. So far, the group had their fair share of terrible news. Any more would just make their day.

"There’s…something at Stadium…" Amy whispered, suddenly screaming out in pain. Psy, who also felt, closed her eyes tightly, and tried her best to shut out the pain surging through her body.

"Hey, what’s wrong?!" Ryna shouted out, as Simon and Carter headed to their Pokémon. Amy held onto Simon weakly as the pain slowly surged off, while Psy had a little more trouble to adapt.

"Screaming…flames, the howling of scorched flesh…" Amy gasped, unable to understand what it all meant. Ryna wasn’t sure what it all meant, but she knew something had happened at Stadium, and somehow, she felt a loss in her heart…

"Simon, Carter, make sure your Pokémon are all right, then catch up with me," Ryna told them, then began a sprint towards the newly constructed Stadium. There was no time for the two to respond, as Ryna quickly left their view, Lin following close behind.

* * * * * *

It was getting late, as the sun was already beginning to set when Ryna reached Stadium. However, the large crowd surrounding the entrance of Stadium proved that there was little fatigue within the group. Ryna, impatient and fearful of the consequences here, quickly pushed her way through the mob, though stopped by security guards at the front. Camera bulbs and video crews snapped pictures and recorded the action, indicating something at large in this location.

"Hey, let me through!" Ryna protested, but to no avail, as the guard didn’t even budge from his position. She tried to push past the guard, but no luck, the guard stopping her outright. She was about to give up when she heard a familiar voice.

"Ryna!!" she shouted, out, Ryna quickly turning to face her old friend.

"Sarpal!" Ryna shouted back, surprised to see the Glacier City trainer out here. It was one of the last things she expected. After a quick chat with the guard, Sarpal convinced him that Ryna was a friend and should be one of the first to know about the news.

"What the heck happened here?!" Ryna exclaimed, after getting past the buzzing of the outside mob of reporters and spectators, safe inside the Stadium itself.

"I’m not…sure how to say this…" Sarpal whispered, as if holding back her emotions. Ryna didn’t press it yet, as Sarpal continued to lead her towards the center of Stadium.

* * * * * *

The arena field looked horrendously scarred. It was quite clear the mini war that took place in here. Most dominant of the battle was the large strip of scorched land that almost went from one end of the field to the other.

"As you can notice…we had some trouble in here…" Sarpal spoke, Ryna nodding slowly. She couldn’t believe what kind of havoc was wreaked in here. "And…there was some casualties…" Sarpal sniffed, leading Ryna to one of the waiting rooms, where all her Pokémon rested, as well as soon others.

"Ryna?!" Charles piped up, to notice his original trainer first and foremost. Slowly, one after another, they all glanced up at the two new occupants, though there was definitely looks of fatigue and/or depression... Ryna quickly identified all of them, except there was one missing from the group of Pokémon, the one most important to the trainer of these ones.

"Where’s…Spark?" Ryna asked, though she quickly altered that question. "Where is Sam?"

"She’s…she’s…" Sarpal couldn’t bring herself to say it.

"She’s gone," Hydra finished, lowering his head sullenly.

* * * * * *

It didn’t take long for Sarpal to explain the entire event at Stadium that transpired before she arrived. How the battle for Prime Cup unfolded into what would led into a deadly conflict between two sides, which eventually lead to the fall of a friend…

As for a return story, Ryna filled in Sarpal’s past for her, leaving the sapphire haired trainer in a state of shock and question of her own identity.

The two stood alone outside the perimeter of Stadium, contemplating the new information that was just digested. The sky was auburn as the passing of the sun and the rising of the moon came near.

Sarpal glanced up, noticing another familiar face walking out of Stadium. Ryna stared, also noticing the newcomer, though staggering to believe if that was really him.

"Sarpal, can you please hold on for a second?" Ryna asked, heading towards the stranger. Sarpal gave a quick nod as Ryna rummaged through her memories, attempting to identify him.

"Tetsuo?" she asked out loud, forcing a serious reaction from the other teen. The other trainer quickly whipped around, frightening the hell out of Ryna. There was a split second of malice on his face, though it suddenly receded, most likely from his noticing that she was a girl.

"Huh? How the hell did you hear that name?" he asked.

"I-I read about ‘your’ file at the Chimera lab on Mt. Moon, while me and my friends were exploring up there," Ryna replied, initially frightened, but summoned the courage to answer.

And by the reaction from the Tetsuo’s face, he seemed shocked at first, but was lowering his hostility towards her. "Mount Moon!? …Who are you? So, you were involved with Chimera too?"

"My name is Ryna…" the Pallet Town trainer replied. "…and I’m involved in Chimera, so to say. I wasn’t a Team Rocket project’ however the group who…did this to me had the same intent…" She trailed off at the end, unable to say any more on the subject.

"I…see…" Tetsuo commented, apparently not happy with that answer. Ryna, now thinking back at her time at Mt. Moon, remembered another question that mingled in her curiosity all this time.

"Who is Rena?" Tetsuo paused for a long moment, sizing up Ryna, making her a bit uncomfortable, but she accepted his ‘scan’ as being his nature.

"Rena…it’s a long time since I heard that name," he answered, glancing up and down Ryna a bit more. "She calls herself Shadow now. She was…well, I suppose you could say she is the closest thing I had to a sister. She…went through the same thing I did." Tetsuo continued to evaluate Ryna, though he had bitterness to his voice for the next comment. "So…you’re Chimera. How did they screw up your life?"

Ryna was silent at the beginning, afraid of his tone of voice. "I can’t say if my life was screwed up…" she finally replied. "…growing as if I was a normal human being with a ‘gift’ to talk with Pokémon. However…a friend…died protecting me from those who wanted me back…" She sighed, holding back a choked sob, remembering Tim.

Ryan wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to continue this conversation, considering all the horrid memories that were returning to her mind.

"How many more of us are there?" Tetsuo asked, though his voice was more curious now, and all signs of hostility were dropped.

"I…I’m not sure…perhaps we’re the only ones, perhaps there are others. I’m sorry, but I can’t really give you a definite answer…" The question had also sparked in Ryna’s mind before: ‘How many people like them were out there?’

"It’s okay," Tetsuo responded. "I didn’t really expect you would know that much. By the sound of it, you weren’t as involved—you grew up like a normal human being. You have no idea how lucky you are."

Ryna halted herself, deciding to change the subject again. She had another question for Tetsuo, one she asked herself back at the Mt. Moon lab. "How do you…feel about…yourself?" Tetsuo gave an ominous silence…trying to form the correct words. He seemed saddened though.

"I guess I know what you’re asking," he replied after much deliberation. "I see myself as human, essentially. Do you?"

"Essentially, yes," Ryna responded. "we are still human, yet…we are a bit more as well…"

"In my case, a lot more," Tetsuo added dryly. Ryna decided not to pursue the topic, seeing how this path was going too. There was purpose for her visit here, one she wished to fulfil.

"Have…you seen something like a Moltres, just…a bit bigger? I’m trying to track him down…" Ryna asked, hoping that someone from Stadium saw Burner overhead.

"THAT thing? You’re kidding. It save all of us when it flew over the Stadium, broke Mewtwo’s hold. It went west like a comet. So, it was something to do with you—can I ask how?"

Ryna wasn’t sure how to respond, grasping her pendant. "That Moltres…actually…Phoenix, his name is Burner…I’m chasing him, to get an answer, even possibly a friend back…" Ryna released her hold on her pendent, allowing it to swing back and forth like a pendulum. "I just hope to reach him soon…"

"Good luck…" Tetsuo commented. Ryna sighed, nodding, thankful for the help. Still, more questions arose faster then she believed, specifically one that she wondered herself.

"Did you know who your parents were?" Tetsuo heaved a sigh, though answering.

"No… All I know is that I was taken from them a long time ago. I don’t remember anything about it. I guess it doesn’t matter now anyway, no parent would want a freak as a child." Ryna sighed, wondering if his last statement held any meaning.

"My parents were part of the Chimera research team…but when they realized they couldn’t go through with it, they whisked me away from the facility on a Pidgeot." She paused for a brief moment, gathering her thoughts, sighing during the break. "I haven’t heard or seen them since, and I don’t remember anything about them. My adopted mother raised me since then, and even after she knew about…my genes, she still sees me for her daughter…"

"Lucky you," Tetsuo commented. "I don’t suppose I’ll ever have a human family. I hope and pray that I won’t end up like my cousin Shadow, hating humankind… Well, I wish you good luck in your search, and I wish I could give you more help than I have done…"

"Wait!" Ryna exclaimed, as if she was about to be hung up on the phone. "What are your plans now?"

"Huh, I wish I knew," he answered, glancing away. "I’m leaving for a while…need to get my head straight. I though Shadow and I were the only ones…now suddenly I find out about all this. Sooner or later I want to investigate Chimera…and to find my real parents. You’ve opened some old wounds." Ryna nodded slowly, understanding everything.

"Well, then I wish you well…" she offered, getting a smile back from the teenage boy. He was about to leave, but gave her a final thought.

"By the way…the name’s Shade."

<Fin>

Well, that concludes another session of talk from me. =) Eh, again, credit to GTK for helping me out with the Chimera topic. Shade and Shadow are copyright of him, and if you want permission to use them, ask him through his e-mail address at the top of the fic.

If you are curious about what happened at Pokémon Stadium, and with all the events that run parallel to my series, check out his stuff at www.twinseeds.freeserve.co.uk . The fic is ‘Pokémon Revelation’. Of course, some of it may be spoiled already, but I guarantee it’s a good read. Trust me, this guy KNOWS how to write. ^^

Again, thanks to G for all the help. THANKS G! ^^