Pidgeot and Radianz darken the sky as they took off from Mt. Kiln. Jace’s birds flew with them and Astral sat in Creidi’s lap. Jace never did find that Moltres she wanted, but the girls had come away with a ponyta and vulpix each. In addition Jace had caught a growlithe, a Houndour, and an Ignite; a flame colored eagle with power over fire. Creidi came up with a cyndaquil and a Phlogiston; a strange fire tiger.

"So where are you from Jace?" Creidi asked.

"Violet City, you?"

"I’m from Mahogany."

"I would have thought you were from Cinnabar."

"Why?"

"You love fire types."

"What does that have to do with were I’m from?" Creidi asked raising an eyebrow.

"I like flying types because of Falkner." Jace said with a shrug.

"Nope, just like um cause I like um. But that begs the question: why did you choose to start with a fire type?"

"Because they are my favorite as well." Then after a pause she added, "And I was afraid of starting with a Zubat." Idly she rubbed her shoulder and the bite scare there on.

"Speaking of fire. What is that?" Creidi pointed. Over the horizon the town of Topaz came into view. On the fringe of the village a tower like structure was a blaze.

"Creidi, call out Suicune and summon a storm. Seraph, Gyrfalcon, Xatu; return. Aquatro Whirlpool, Pidgeot get me in there!"

"Radianz, follow her. Suicune, Summon Storm and Whirlpool!" Creidi commanded. She wasn’t sure what Jace had in mind, but it was impulsive and Creidi could only hope it worked. Radianz and the birds turned and dove for the burning building as thunderclouds formed over head and the rain started to fall. As they passed the building the two water types screamed and a colossal cyclone of water formed out of the rain and engulfed the building. The fire hissed and subsided.

The two girls made another pass just to make sure it was completely out before coming in for a landing. The dragon and Pidgeot touched down in a ring of spectators. Suicune and Astral jumped to the ground with Creidi, while Aquatro landed on Jace’s shoulder. From the crowd a large man in a suit and top hat approached with an excited gate. On his chest was a flashy pin with the word ‘Mayor’ on it. He grabbed Jace’s hand and began to shake it hard enough to make Aquatro hop off with an indigent squawk.

"You two young ladies are truly amazing." He said turning to shake Creidi’s hand but changed his mind when her dogs and dragon growled. "I have never seen such heroism. You should be commended. With the two of you around that damned bird will never hurt our town again."

"What bird?" Jace asked with interest. ‘Please let it be a Moltres!’ she thought hopefully.

"Some peacock thing." Jace’s heart sank just a little, "Shows up every evening and starts lighting things on fire. It has come to the point that we have no other option but to put it out of our misery. Unfortunately it is too agile for our gunmen. But if you engage it in battle it won’t be able to dodge." The man said animatedly as if it were the best news he had ever heard.

"If you think we are going to help you kill a pokemon, you have another thing coming." Jace snapped. Creidi nodded pointedly as she rested the hand on Jace’s shoulder, to keep her from hitting the man.

"But if you don’t help, we will never get rid of it." He almost whined.

"Then give me a chance to capture it." Jace said snidely. This guy probably had never thought of such a thing.

"Young lady, don’t be absurd!" His tone changed again, this time to commanding, "Even our local gym leader was unable to capture the creature. What chance to you have?"

"We’re the best, enough said." Jace replied simply. Creidi hoped Jace wasn’t biting off more then they could chew.

"Sweetheart, I’d love to see that." Said a man with an Australian accent. He had long blond hair and sky blue eyes. He was dressed casually in a blue shirt and jeans.

"And who are you?" Jace snapped.

"Name’s Avis, Sweetheart; the Topaz town gym leader. And if you can catch that bird, not only will I give you an invitation to my gym but also a pokemon each from my private collection."

"You’re on." Jace said coolly.

*********************************************************

Jace and Creidi entered their hotel room. It was very much like all the others. This time the room gave the impression of being on a cloud in the sky. They put their stuff down and released their pokemon. Jace was livid.

"Can you believe they asked us to help them kill a pokemon! We’re pokemon trainers for heaven’s sake. What would possess them to think we would help! Even the gym leader was in on it!" Creidi decided it was in her best interest to just nod.

"And another thing!" Jace snapped, "I don’t trust that mayor. I think he’s going to use us as bait for that bird." Creidi stepped up and placed her hands on Jace’s shoulders.

"Jace, yelling like your insane isn’t going to help anything. What we need is a plan." Jace sighed and nodded on agreement.

"What do you suggest?"

"You’re the flying type expert, you tell me." The two girls sat down and began to make their plan. Their pokemon chimed in every once in a while to add something or give their opinion on one thing or the other. Soon the day was growing short.

"Creidi, can I count on you to do something for me?"

"I’m with you all the way."

"I need you to stay on the ground."

"What? I can’t help you if I’m on the ground."

"What are going to do? Release your non-flyers a 100 feet in the air?" She followed this with a sound of a bomb falling. Creidi rolled her eyes good-naturedly. Jace continued, "Like I said, I don’t trust that mayor. I think he going to go ahead and try to shoot the bird. I want you to make sure that doesn’t happen."

"You got it." Creidi confirmed with a nod.

*********************************************************

The two girls stepped firmly in to the fading light and looked to the sky. All around citizens began to gather. They murmured and muttered their opinions on the girl’s chances. Suddenly they grew quiet and looked to the sky. The bird was approaching.

To say that the bird was breath taking wouldn’t be doing it justice. Its hawk like body was no longer then a human forearm, but its peacock tail was at least three times that. Vibrant hues painted its body the color of dusk. Not just royal blue or pastel pink, but the actual sunset. At the base of it's breast was a large hot orange disk that resembled the sun. The orange melted away into a golden yellow, the yellow into a blood crimson, the scarlet faded into a pink and the rose into an eggplant purple until it's head was a spectacular midnight blue. Raging red eyes were hidden amid the sleek blue feathers. Its wings were elegant and perfectly formed. On the tips of it's feathers were tongues of violent red flames draping down while the contours were a deep sapphire flecked with silver. It's tail was stunning. The same sun disk on it's breast decorated the base of it's tail until it blended into midnight blue. Iridescent stars blinked from the end of each tail feather in the fading light. Both girls audibly gasped at the sight.

"Identify." Creidi said pulling out her pokedex and pointed it at the bird.

"Shirasharmi: The bird of dusk. No other information available." Creidi made an annoyed face. Technology bites.

"Ok Pidgeot," Jace said, "Let’s go!" Jace mounted and they took to the air.

"Good luck." Creidi whispered. Shirasharmi saw Jace coming and flew to meet her with a cry of its name.

"Aquatro, I choose you. Cloudburst!" The water bird appeared in a flash of red. With a shriek of rage she summoned a huge deluge on to the peacock. The bird came out a bit wet, but none the worse for wear.

With a scream the Shirasharmi summoned a Solar Rush, a tornado like attack. The golden flames wrapped around Aquatro with a fierce crackle. Aquatro was quick to quench the flames with her water gun. The dusk bird growled, then released a Solar Flare from its mouth.

"Aquatro, agility and whirlpool!" The water bird dodged just in time to avoid the flaxen flames then screamed, commanding the cyclone of water. The spinning water twisted and turned at Aquatro’s will.

Suddenly Shirasharmi’s wings burst from the tornado. With a powerful flip it batted the water away. Its eye gave an angry gleam, before opening its mouth and releasing a huge golden flame flood. Aquatro didn’t stand a chance and Jace was force to recall her.

"Xatu, Psychic!" The strange bird appeared and shot the purple energy at the Shirasharmi. The bird screams in pain, before once again releasing the Solar Flare. Xatu successfully dodged most of it, but got his tail feathers singed.

"Mystic Eruption!" With a flash of the psychic’s eyes the air filled with violet energy. Shirasharmi’s scream wrenched the air. Quickly regaining control, the evening bird shoots off an orb of liquid fire, Corona. The sphere hit its mark with devastating effects.

"Good job Xatu. Go Gyrfalcon! Blizzard!" The white and pitch bird emerged and summoned the storm of Ice and snow with a cry of its name. Shirasharmi was thrown and buffeted about for several minutes, before the storm released him.

"Don’t give him a chance to attack, Neptune’s Gale!" With a scream like nothing Jace had ever heard from her gentle bird a tempest of ice, snow, water, and thunder wrapped itself around Shirasharmi. The gale roared for several minutes.

"That’s enough." Jace said. Gyrfalcon relinquished her attack to reveal a very disheveled and exhausted Shirasharmi. The bird was hovered in the air, but it seemed to take all his energy. With a final flap of his wings, Shirasharmi began to fall to earth.

"Ultraball go!" Jace yelled and hurled the ball after him. The ball hit its mark and sucked the peacock bird inside. The ball shook then pinged. Gyrfalcon dove and caught the ball in her talons, before returning it to Jace. But no sooner did the ball touch her hands then it vanished in a flash of white. Jace made a disappointed face as she remembered that she was only allowed eight pokemon.

"Thank you Gyrfalcon. Take us down Pidgeot." Jace and the two birds decided proudly to the street to see an unusual scene.

Radianz and Arcanine had a large number of men with sniper rifles pinned against a building. Astral had a small group running around in circles with his Dazzle attack. Creidi was treating a bullet like wound on Suicune’s shoulder while Raikou guarding her back. Espeon was using a psychic attack to smash any gun she saw. Houndoom was trying to wrestle a rifle from a man. Finally Articolt had the Mayor pinned inside a dome of ice.

"So, have any trouble while I was gone?" Jace chuckled. Creidi favored her with an annoyed look.

"Oh no, it was just peachy."

"That’s good to hear." Jace smiled.

"You’re loving this aren’t you?"

"Let’s go find a pokemon center."

***************************************************************

Just like Avis had promised their invitation was waiting for them at the front desk when they returned to the hotel. The girls went to their room to make preparations. Jace traded Ampharos for Shirasharmi while Creidi inserted a map chip into her pokedex.

"Hey Jace, look at this." Creidi called to her companion, who was currently fawning over her new pokemon. Shirasharmi was lapping it up.

"What is it?" She asked leaning over Creidi’s shoulder. On the pokedex screen, where the map usually was shown, there was a tiny blinking dot. As the girls watched the dot drifted slowly across the screen in a very wind swept pattern.

"That’s odd." Jace mused. Shirasharmi gave a squawk and flew from Jace’s shoulder, out the open glass door, and landed on the balcony railing. "What is it Sharmi?" Jace asked as she followed her bird.

"Sharmi?" Creidi snickered.

"Well, Shirasharmi was a mouth full." Jace answered disdainfully. The girls stood next to the peacock as it pointed up to the sky with its wing. The girls looked up and saw … clouds.

"I don’t get it." Creidi confessed.

"I think I do, call out Radianz." Jace said. Creidi released her dragon and the girls followed Sharmi.

The peacock led them higher and higher over the city. Before they knew it they were above the clouds and looking down on an arena. The whole thing was disguised as a cloud. The two touched down across from Avis and Creidi recalled Radianz. Sharmi landed on Jace’s shoulder.

"I’m impressed." The Aussie leader complimented, "It takes most trainers a few days to find my gym. But I see you had some help." He eyes Shirasharmi distastefully.

"You’re just mad that a lowly trainer did something you couldn’t." Jace cooed. Avis growled and Jace just put on one of her cocky smiles. Creidi mentally slugged her.

"By the way," Creidi interrupted, "Don’t you owe us a pokemon each?"

"That I do." Avis agreed dryly. He gave a sharp whistle and a pidgeotto flew to him, two miniaturized pokeballs clutched in its talons. Avis made some motions and the pidgeotto flew across the arena gave one pokeball to each girl. The balls had barely touched their hands when they disappeared in a flash of white light.

"What were they?" Creidi asked. She had wanted to at least see it.

"You both got a Psychi; now, on to more important things. By now I’m sure you have found that every gym is different. In my gym I will have a one on one battle with each of you. Jace you’re first."

"Fine. I choose the bird you couldn’t beat, Shirasharmi GO! Solar Flare" Shirasharmi flew gracefully from Jace’s shoulder to the center of the arena.

"Go Articuno! Ice Beam!" The ice blue bird erupted from its ball and shot out the icy blast. The Ice and Flare met mid field. The Flare easily won out and the ice bird had to dodge, but still got its tail burned.

"Now Sharmi, Celestial Fire!"

"Articuno, Powdered Snow!" The ice bird sent out a flurry of razor sharp snowflakes and Shirasharmi released the attack that had beaten Aquatro. Like Aquatro, Articuno couldn’t dodge.

"Very good Jace." Avis complemented, "You have earned your badge. Creidi are you ready?"

"Yap!" She fingered Raikou’s pokeball in anticipation.

"Good, Go Zapdos! I heard you had a Raikou, hope you don’t mind." He teased. Creidi paused. He had her pegged. Then a smile crossed her face.

"I also have an Articolt; Go, Neptune’s Gale! Hope you don’t mind." The ice horse burst from his ball with a whinny. In an instant the storm of ice, snow, wind, water, and thunder wrapped around the electric bird and began battering it. From with in the bird began to thrash about, causing more damage then help.

"Zapdos, Whirlwind!" The bird responded with a cry and turned it’s thrashing into controlled flapping. Under normal circumstance the force of the wind Zapdos was stirring up would have been enough to throw Articolt from the arena. That is ‘under normal circumstances’. The only effect Zapdos’s attack had was to make the Gale worse and it proved to be his undoing.

"You have both proven yourselves worthy of the Sky Badge." He said handing them each a badge shaped like and bird carved from the finest yellow Topaz.

Behind him Articolt was congratulation himself. He danced about, his icy pelt gleaming in the sun. Them the gleam turned to a glow. Articolt’s body grew two hands (a hand is four inches) in height, his mane and tail got lager, and a pair of radiant blue wings emerged from his shoulders. The glow receded and Articorn reared up and screamed into the sky with a powerful flap of his wings.

The Pegasus landed in front of Creidi and nuzzled her ear with a soft nicker. It was hard for Creidi to believe that this horse was the same one she had rescued from certain death so long ago. She climbed between his wings (now that his shoulder was at the same height as her head, this was no easy task) then pulled Jace on behind her. With a triumphant scream, Articorn leapt from the side of the cloud with Shirasharmi following behind.