Pokemon and all related trademarks belong to Nintendo

Pokemon and all related trademarks belong to Nintendo. The story, its original contents and ideas, and any original characters belong to the author and cannot be used or reprinted without the author’s permission.

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A Time for Change

By nightdragon0 (nightdragon0@hotmail.com)

“Ugh...ow...” Hazuki moaned.

“Hey boss! I think the kid’s waking up!” A voice called.

“Hmmm...let me see.” A second voice replied.

Hazuki felt like she was on a boat, the waves gently lapping against her vessel. She could hear the sounds of the sea all around as she opened her eyes.

“Kyle?!” Hazuki gasped, seeing a Lapras face come into her view.

“Erm, I think you have me mixed up with someone else.” The Lapras spoke with a firm male voice. It was just that he seemed so similar to one of Hazuki’s old friends, who’d been lost during a previous battle.

“Oh yeah. Sorry, I was a little startled.”

“Think nothing of it.” The Lapras replied. “It’s good that you’re all right, after we found you and your companion adrift in the sea like that.”

Hazuki realized she’d been lying on his back and sat up to have a look around. The Lapras she was riding was at the front of a school of other Lapras, one of which was carrying Gwyen. However, there was water all around, stretching as far as eye could see.

<I’m sorry, that last battle didn’t go very well.> Asiyu’s voice told Hazuki.

The blue haired girl petted the Ankh on her belt, indicating for Asiyu to ‘not worry about it’.

“We had a little accident, and we’re really grateful for your help.” Hazuki spoke.

“We certainly are much obliged to help those in need.” He smiled. “My name is Alric, and this is my clan.”

“I’m Hazuki, and that’s Gwyen over there.” Hazuki gestured.

“Ow, yeah. Accident is right.” Gwyen called from the back of another Lapras. “Next time I....whoa!!”

SPLOOSH!!!

Gwyen attempted to stand on the Lapras’ back and slipped off, landing headfirst in the ocean.

“Gargh!! Cold!!!” Gwyen scrambled back up onto the Lapras who’d been carrying her.

“Hey, you’re a water-type too aren’t you?” The aforementioned Lapras turned his head. “You can’t possibly not know how to swim.”

“I can! I’m....just not used to these sea waters!” Gwyen huffed. “I’m mostly around fresh water after all.”

“She’s a Suicune.” Alric noted. “Your kind don’t even need to swim, considering you have the ability to walk on water.”

“Really?” Hazuki looked up with interest. “You never told me that Gwyen.”

“Well, yeah, it’s true. That’s one of the finer arts of my race.” Gwyen began. “I...well...you see....haven’t really practiced much...”

Everyone else sweatdropped.

“Oh boy, why didn’t you just say that you couldn’t swim?” Hazuki moaned.

“I can!! Wargh!!” Gwyen sprang up, lost her balance and fell into the water again. That had her scrambling for her ‘ride’ again.

“Well you’re certainly an interesting pair.” Alric laughed. “We’re on our way back to our village, and you’re welcomed to rest up there. Then, we’ll find a way to drop you back at the mainland.”

“That’ll be so cool, thanks.” Hazuki nodded.

“I’m not too familiar with the lands from which you come from. I was hoping you could tell me.”

“Erm, we’ll rather lost too see.”

“Haha, well in that case, there’s a port we sometimes go for trading sessions.” Alric decided. “That would be a good place to start.”

“Hey boss look there!” One of the pack suddenly called out.

“What the?!” Alric stared, seeing a column of smoke rising in the distance. “No, the village!”

“The Pirates again?!” Another Lapras moaned.

“Pirates?” Gwyen wondered.

“We’ll explain once we get there.” Alric declared. “Hold on tight you two! We’re heading there at full speed!”

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“So, you really want to go for it Kris?” Jade looked up from the map on the table.

“That ‘Prophet’, as he calls himself, seems to have some reason for helping us.” Kris answered. “I don’t feel right about it, but we have to move out. We’ve waited several days already and can’t allow Raguragi’s crew to beat us to the crystals.”

“Even without the others?”

“I believe that they’ll make it.” Kris nodded.

“Hmmm, I’ve been scanning for the energy waves of the teleporter Nala told us about.” Zian called from the other side of the room. “I’ve managed to pick up faint traces of hers and Alken’s signals. Apparently, the energies from the Spirit Crystals can activate the teleporters.”

“So, we just have to find one?” Jade confirmed. “A lot harder than it sounds.”

There was a sudden tapping sound at the window, which caused everyone to jump. The hovering form of a red and white Latias materialized, waving with one of her wings.

“Hi there! I know this is really sudden for you guys, but I could help.” She called. “I’m Rynn, and your buddy Alken helped me out once.”

“You’ve met Alken?” Kris walked over and opened the window, allowing Rynn to fly in.

“Yeah and I really do want to return the favor and...I heard you talking about the teleporter and all.”

“So, you’re the mysterious presence Epsilon sometimes senses around here.” Zian muttered.

“Well, yeah. I was sorta shy and plus, I really didn’t want to just fly in and scare the life outta everyone.” Rynn continued, flying around the room. “So, how about it? I can show you guys where a teleport point is!”

“Nala did mention something about one of Alken’s encounters.” Kris decided. “All right then Rynn, we’re coming. Let’s just let Sid and Epsilon know that we’re heading out again.”

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Rynn led Kris and Jade up the mountain path, towards the place where Alken had originally obtained his Spirit Crystal.

“So it’s my family’s job to look after this Secret Garden see?” Rynn was explaining. “Alken and Abetos helped us out by clearing out the dark energy. A while after we left, my brother and I happened to uncover another of the Garden’s secrets.”

“A teleport point?” Kris asked.

“Yes. There was this old well we uncovered and it led into a hidden chamber. We found a mystic object locked in there, called the Soul Dew. Around it were all the symbols designating it as a teleport point.”

<We’ll be able to work from there.> Bahamut’s voice rang out.

“Hey, you two have been very quiet lately.” Kris tapped the sword which contained the Dragon’s Spirit Crystal.

<We’ve been recovering our energy.> Lombadra added in. <You can say we’re fully charged, but we can’t do anything without your other halves.>

“Yeah, Storm and Nightslice.” Jade sighed, turning his head. “I hope they’re all right...”

He’d been walking at the front of the group and Kris saw the soil in his path suddenly move a little. Immediately, she dashed forward and knocked him away, just as a humongous Steelix emerged from beneath.

With a roar, the metallic snake swung his tail, forcing Kris and Jade to dive for cover.

“Hey what do you think you’re doing?!” Rynn yelled angrily. “Mist Ball!”

The Latias sent off a ball of psychic energy, which struck Steelix in the face. That caught his attention and the snake turned towards her, roaring furiously.

“Erm...hehehe....oh crap...” Rynn muttered nervously.

Rynn panicked as Steelix charged towards her, but the snake halted when Kris threw a Shuriken at his face. He simply bent his head over and blocked the attack with its tail.

“Damn, not good.” Kris growled.

Rynn saw a chance and quickly launched a Dragon Breath attack. Although it struck dead-on, Steelix still managed to push through it and slammed Rynn into the mountainside.

Then, a beam of electrical energy suddenly struck Steelix’s head. Hovering in the sky above was a new Dragon.

This one was also humanoid in structure, covered by orange colored scales with yellow at the shoulder pads, arm pads, waist line and shin pads.

The head was serpent-like and elongated; jaws lined with white fangs. There was a golden mane at the back of the head, leading down slightly past shoulder level. A jaggered mask, shaped like a lightning bolt pattern covered the entire upper head, leaving jaws untouched and the black colored eyes uncovered.

The Dragon had bird-like wings with golden feathers. Between the wings lay a metallic section with holes, from which crackles of electricity could be seen.

The claws were yellow with five fingers. And running from back of fist to the elbow joint was a similar metallic section with a series of holes. Finally, the legs ended in three toed talons with two pointed forward and one pointed backward, all yellow in color.

“Who...?!” Jade gasped.

<Could that be... Myollnir?> Lombadra wondered. <The Legendary Dragon of Thunder.>

“That’s the one the Prophet mentioned to us.” Kris noted. “Why didn’t you tell us this earlier?!”

Steelix slammed the ground, sending huge chunks of rocks flying towards Myollnir. The agile Dragon dodged every single one before swooping down and hitting the snake with a Thunderbolt.

“The thunder elemental attacks shouldn’t be hurting that Steelix.” Jade stared. “But it looks like he’s in pain.”

Despite that, Steelix moved and continued to attack, attempting to hit the Thunder Dragon with his jaws and tail. Myollnir slipped through his coils, flew to his back and sent off the Sacred Fire ability by putting her claws to together.

Everyone was forced to step back as a huge column of flames engulfed both Myollnir and her opponent.

“Be on your guard, Raguragi’s troops will be out there at every corner.” Myollnir said in a strong feminine voice. “We will meet again.”

When the flames cleared, there was no trace left of either combatant other than a blackened, burnt-out spot on the ground.

“Ugh...” Kris pulled herself to her feet and moved over to the spot. “What’s the Prophet’s goal, really? I just don’t know...”

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“Ouch...we really have to stop ending up like this...” Alken groaned.

“Ugh....yeah...” Abetos agreed.

The actions of the teleporting device had dumped the pair into another dark cavern.

Alken took note of the same circle of symbols at their current location. He had a feeling that there were more places with strange symbols like these.

Then, a loud roar sounded from outside.

Alken and Abetos glanced at each other and then ran to the entrance of the cave. What Alken saw caused him to jump back in shock. The area outside was a rocky wasteland with mountains and valleys stretching as far as eye could see.

And around those parts were gigantic figures. Not any kind of Pokemon, but the actual Dragons. Alken saw many flying around and some perching on the cliffs. It was like going back in time and seeing the prehistoric ages with all sorts of huge, ferocious creatures.

The huge shadow of a Dragon passed over the cavern, forcing Alken to duck back inside to avoid detection.

“Well, I can safely say that Skiar’s brought us to the land of the Dragons.” Alken muttered. “They seem a lot wilder than the ‘civilized’ Pokemon we’ve seen.”

“Perhaps those were simply the civilized areas.” Abetos suggested.

Alken blinked as Skiar sent another vision into his mind. He ‘saw’ it from a first-person perspective, as if he were the one running there himself.

The figure, whom he assumed to be Skiar, was dashing and jumping across cracks and holes in the rocky ground. All that led to an opening at the base of a volcanic mountain.

The view then rushed backwards, images of the places flying past, and ‘hit’ Alken. The dark haired man stumbled back, holding his head.

“That where you want us to go Skiar?” He asked.

“Well, we’re on Dragon ground, so we should let him lead.” Abetos spoke.

“Yeah, good idea.”

Several minutes later, it was Skiar, the Dark elemental Dragon, who emerged from the cave and flew off, disappearing amongst the other Dragons in the area.

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“Over here guys.” Ryan the Latios gestured towards a well beneath a large tree.

Rynn had brought Kris and Jade to the Secret Garden, the same place Alken had previously been to. It remained the same however; a beautiful garden with a large assortment of exotic plant life, stone ornaments, benches and a fountain in the center.

Tall trees went high up into the sky, their leaves forming a thick canopy that allowed only a little sunlight to seep through. Several glowing crystals on stands served to provide the rest of the illumination.

The pair of humans couldn’t help but admire the beauty of the area, despite the urgency of the situation. It was Rynn’s brother who had finally gotten them to get moving.

“Down there?” Jade asked.

“Yeah, it’s really an underwater tunnel that leads into another chamber.” Ryan nodded. “Just hold your breath for a while and I’ll bring you through in a flash.”

“Well here goes then.” Kris muttered, grabbing onto Ryan’s right wing.

Jade took hold of the other wing and Ryan plunged into the well. The area was dark and the water cold, but Kris and Jade held on tight as Ryan whizzed through the water as easily as through air. The well went vertically downwards at first, but then turned into a horizontal path, and finally, a tunnel that led upwards.

The three emerged in a large chamber, shaking themselves dry. The only source of light was a large gem in the center of the room, giving off a soft bluish glow.

“It’s pretty isn’t it?” Rynn asked, emerging from the watery passageway. “That’s the Soul Dew I told you all about.”

“Rynn, you’re supposed to be resting after that battle.” Ryan growled. “You took a bit of a beating there.”

“Hey I could’ve kicked his ass if I wanted to.” Rynn huffed. “But I’m so good that I thought I’d better go easy on him.”

“Yeah right.” Ryan sighed, sweatdropping.

“So these are the symbols Nala mentioned.” Jade knelt down and touch the patterns that surrounded the Soul Dew.

<Hmm, yes I feel the energies here.> Lombadra commented. <We’ll be able to activate the teleporters from here and designate a location.>

“I’ll take the Saffron location.” Kris decided.

“You sure?” Jade looked up with concern.

“I’m the one with the stealth training.” Kris insisted. “That area is Dragon grounds, and from what we’ve heard, they’re far less partial to ‘aliens’.”

“Well, I guess I can’t argue with that.” Jade sighed. “Be careful all right Kris?”

“Heh, have you ever had a need to worry about me?”

“Sometimes.”

<Hey you two!> Bahamut interrupted. <That’s pretty touching, but we’ve got a little proposition for you.>

“Which is?” Kris queried.

“Foreign elements?”

<The sides of you that are Pokemon in nature.> Lombadra replied. <Sit back and watch.>

Kris and Jade felt shocks going through their bodies as they begun to glow. Ryan and Rynn covered their eyes, and when they were able to look forward again, a Scizor and Charizard stood in place of the humans.

“Wow, this is quite something.” Kris muttered, looking over her Scizor body. “Last time I was in a Pokemon body, I was a Scyther.”

“Well, it brings back memories too.” Jade added in, rubbing his snout. “Not all good ones.”

<We’ll be able to maintain these forms of yours for longer periods.> Bahamut explained.

<And hopefully they’ll help out.> Lombadra continued. <That’s all we can do for you right now.>

“Hey, thanks you two.” Kris smiled, touching the sword that hung by her side. “It’s really thoughtful of you two.”

<Oh enough with the mushiness and get going!> Bahamut snapped.

<It was his idea really.> Lombadra spoke from the Spirit Crystal in Jade’s utility belt, which was strapped across his Charizard chest.

Kris and Jade glanced at each other and shook their heads.

“Now that’s something I don’t see everyday.” Ryan remarked, flying around the two.

“Guess you’re heading off now.” Rynn hovered between Kris and Jade. “When you see Alken and Abetos again, make sure you tell them that I really want to see that totally HOT Dragon they change into. Ah, the handsome prince of my dreams....ugrh!”

“More like your delusions of grandeur.” Ryan sighed, dragging his sister off by the ear.

“Ow! Ow! Owie!! Ryan!! Ouch!!”

That got a laugh from the group. Nodding to each other, Kris and Jade entered the circle of symbols. Their ‘Legendary Weapons’ quickly activated the teleporters, sending two beams of light shooting out of the mountain and into the dark, night sky.

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“This looks like a forest.” Nala muttered, pulling herself up.

“Well, thanks for stating the obvious.” Riot replied.

The rays of light had dropped the pair off in a ditch in the middle of a forest of tall trees. The canopy formed by the tree tops blocked out most of the sunlight, leaving dimmer rays to pass through. The air around was moist and the odd cricking of insects could be heard all around.

Nala saw the circle of symbols in the ditch, representing the teleportation point they’d taken to get here.

“Hey Erizar, just how do those things work anyway?” Nala asked the Dragon spirit. “According to my watch, a few days have passed. We were lost in the teleportation or something?”

“Yeah, maybe they work differently each time.” Riot suggested. “I wonder if it happened to Alken and Abetos too.”

<You two woke me up how long ago and now you’re asking?> Erizar’s voice replied.

“Well, point taken.” Nala scratched her head. “Let’s try going this way then.”

The pair moved down a dirt trail which seemed to have been deliberately cut through the forest. It wasn’t long before they arrived at a small shrine.

It was shaped like a miniature temple and painted green like the rest of the plant life around. There was a sign below the shrine too, which read ‘The Shrine of Ilex Forest’.

“Ilex Forest is close to Azalea Town in our world right?” Riot queried. “Perhaps it’s the same here too.”

“Yeah, look at this...” Nala pointed.

Suddenly, the shrine doors flew open, revealing a glowing green bell hanging within. As if mesmerized by the glow, Nala leaned forward.

“Hey, I don’t think you should touch that Nala.” Riot warned. “Nala? Nala!!”

Nala tugged on a string beneath the bell, causing it to emit a strange ringing noise.

“Huh? Wha?!” Nala blinked. “I...did I do that?”

“You looked like you were in a trance.” Riot moved closer.

<Something’s wrong.> Erizar remarked. <I can sense it.>

With the odd ringing noise was still going, Nala and Riot were glancing around, looking out for anything that might happen.

While they didn’t see anything, the pair realized that there were more noises than just the ringing of the bell.

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Nightslice’s world was a blur. He’d truly begun to feel the aura of the land flowing through his roots and up to his body. That was why his mind told him to stay here, enjoying the peace and tranquility.

However, there occasionally were thoughts that this was all wrong. It was like a little voice screaming from within. It was the voice of his true self, though almost completely suppressed by the nature of his altered plant form.

He shot a glance over to his friends, Storm and Vance. Both had their eyes closed and seemed to be resting peacefully.

Garrick the Bulbasaur was off to the side when a light emitted from further down the path. Nightslice couldn’t seem to remember what was down that plant covered tunnel, but Garrick glanced over with concern.

“Hm?! Gargh!!!” Garrick was suddenly stuck by a series of flying leaves and thrown back.

“So, these are the Sacred Fields?” A voice laughed. “I expected them to be better guarded than by a little dino like you.”

“You cannot trespass here! I am the guardian of the fields!” Garrick growled.

“But you can’t do anything about it, can you?” The figure stepped into view. It was another plant type dinosaur, a Grovyle, who was accompanied by several Ivysaur.

Him...Juncan...? Nightslice thought. Where is he from? Damn, my memories are all foggy...

“We’ll see!” Garrick tapped a vine on the ground.

Immediately, the other vines near and in the tunnel came to life. Nightslice blinked, remembering something just like this had happened to him and Firestorm.

When we first came here, we were... Nightslice struggled. We were attacked! Just like that!

Juncan simply stood still, grinning, and raised a greenish crystal in his claws. At once, all the vines stopped their assault, falling to the ground. Many of them turned brown and withered.

“Too bad none of your silly little tricks can affect me when I have this.” Juncan proudly held up the Grass Spirit Crystal.

“Gurgh...” Garrick backed away.

“I’ll make this easy for you.” Juncan declared. “I’m looking for the Eternal Spring, and I know this place holds the secret to finding it. Give me that information and I’ll leave you alone.”

“Never! That is the field’s most guarded secret!” Garrick shouted. “Razor Leaf!”

Juncan blocked the attack with the Leaf Blades on his arms.

“Fine have it your way!” Juncan growled. “Troops! Attack!”

The accompanying Ivysaur fired off their own Razor Leaf attacks, pelting Garrick with the sharp spinning projectiles. Juncan then leapt in and slashed at Garrick in an X-formation. That was easily enough to thrown the Bulbasaur to the ground.

“Shit, this is really bad.” Firestorm whispered.

“But we can’t do anything while we’re stuck like this!” Nightslice replied. “Damn it!”

“No challenge at all.” Juncan huffed, stomping a foot on his fallen opponent. “Well, we’ll do this the hard way then. Torture you till you decide to talk! Troops, take him! And get a few of his precious friends as hostages too.”

“Yeah boss!” A couple of the Ivysaur soldiers used their vines to restrain the weakened Garrick. One of them slammed Garrick’s head against a nearby rock until he lost consciousness.

“Hey, I may hate the guy, but even he didn’t deserve that.” Firestorm growled.

“Well, who do we have here?” Juncan walked over to the pair. “You two...as plants! How utterly ironic!”

Storm and Nightslice tried to bite him with their ‘mouth’ sections, but Juncan stepped aside and grabbed their heads. Both were struggling like mad, but as ever they remained firmly rooted down.

“To have you two, helpless and at my disposal.” Juncan grinned. “That’s priceless. I’m gonna make you suffer for that humiliating defeat you gave me earlier.”

Slowly, he ripped the transformed plants out of the ground and stuffed both into a large leather sack. The other Grass elemental inhabitants were making panicked noises. None of them knew how to fight, or even what to do much less.

That made it easy enough for Juncan’s troops to gather up some of the smaller ones and stuff them into leather sacks too. Juncan then walked up to the huge Sacred Tree, glancing at it. He reached down and took the glittering object at its base.

At once, the area around darkened and the sunlight that was streaming down onto the tree suddenly disappeared. Juncan whistled at the object in his claws, a white shimmering crystal.

The Non-elemental (Normal) Spirit Crystal.

“Ah yes, this certainly is my day.” Juncan bragged. “Well, I’ll be back here once I have the location of the Eternal Spring.”

Inside the darkness of the leather sack, another pair was feeling quite the opposite of Juncan’s triumph.

“Just when you thought we couldn’t possible get any worse off.” Firestorm sighed.

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Bashaamo found herself here at the prison cell again, watching the little human child. It wasn’t out of duty this time, but interest instead.

Raguragi wanted her for something and Bashaamo didn’t know what. She wasn’t told this sort of thing, but she had her suspicions. Now, watching the girl, she began to feel more and more like there was something special about this child.

Yusia was eating a meal from the tray Bashaamo had brought her, and suddenly looked up.

“You’re watching me again?”

The Blaziken realized her head was visible through the cell’s window and leaned back against the wall. Yusia apparently knew she was still there and continued talking.

“You always seem so sad.” The young girl whispered. “That’s different from the others.”

Bashaamo’s eyes widened, though she was sure she was out of viewing range.

“I am at times too, but my sister always makes me feel better.” Yusia said.

“I lost all those emotions a long time ago.” Bashaamo replied. “I was a warrior from birth, as was my family. As warriors, honor and power comes at a price.”

“I’ve never had a family until sis came along. I can only remember being in a cell like this.” Yusia continued. “Everyone told me that I was...born differently from others. I really don’t know why.”

“Hm...”

“There was a friend I used to have, a Lapras, who was always around me when I was in the cell. But one day, they just took him away, and I never saw him again...” Yusia sniffed.

Bashaamo closed her eyes, lost in thought.