-Nightslice's dreams are about to lead Kris deeper into the mysteries surrounding the past of her two Pokemon companions. Fifth in a series.

 Author’s Note: The back-story about the history of the Pokemon world in this fic is not officially from Nintendo. It’s simply my interpretation of the information in the first two Pokemon movies, along with some stuff of my own. Hey, it’s my fanfic and my series after all. Sorry, but I’m not able to provide any of the actual story lines.

Nightslice jerked up ready to fight until he remembered where he was and calmed down. Lying in a bed, in a ward of the Lavender Town Pokemon center.

"Same dream, again…"

"Vee." Said Eevee. The small brown Pokemon hopped onto the top of his head. Nightslice gave him a smile, then looked back down at himself.

The Scyther’s shoulder joints were still wrapped in the plaster casts. He’d spent weeks recovering after his previous near-death encounter. The broken bones had healed and he was almost ready to get back out on the field again. His trainer, Kris, had been patiently waiting for him. Everything should’ve have gone back to normal, except for one thing.

The dreams.

Or more like brief flashbacks actually. Occasionally, he’d get a scene or two thrust into his head. He assumed they were extracts of his past that were lost to his amnesia. Places and faces he didn’t recognize. Events he didn’t remember. It was frustrating, having such a strong urge that he knew what it all meant and yet, not knowing at the same time.

He’d kept most of it to himself, but now that he was waking up screaming almost every night, Kris and Firestorm wouldn’t ignore it. The nearby Pokemon Tower was a spiritual gathering place for the souls of the dead. Such a gathering of occult forces would certainty be enough to trigger off his chain of flashbacks.

All you need, he’d been told, was someone susceptible enough to ‘hear’ the voices of the spirits.

Nightslice glanced at his reflection in the mirror. The image that stared back was like any other Scyther you would see anywhere else in the world. Include his battle scars here and there and you’ve got a pretty average Pokemon.

"Average is not a word I’d use to describe myself." He said to himself.

"Vee?"

"Oh, nothing."

All questions but with no answers. Nightslice leaned his head back and stared dreamily out at the bright, full moon.

"Guess I have to trust in my friends."

"Vveee." Said Eevee.

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

"Kris, it’s 1 am in the morning." Yawned Firestorm. The Charmeleon flopped down on the roadside for the third time.

"This is very important." Kris muttered. She reached down and begun dragging him by his tail.

"Ow! Ow! Ok, I’ll get up!" Firestorm dragged himself to his feet and trudged along behind Kris. "But I still don’t see why we can’t wait until morning."

"Like I said, it’s very important. Look, we’re here." Kris paused in front of an old, stone building. Digging into her jacket pocket, she fished out the set of keys she’d obtained from Mr. Fuji. She inserted the largest one into the keyhole and turned it. The old doors swung open even as their hinges creaked in protest.

There was a dusty counter just inside the hall. Behind it were rows and rows of books, all lined neatly on shelves. Cobwebs and dust adorn every nook and cranny of the huge room, not to mention all the books as well.

"Ok, this place gives me the creeps." Firestorm muttered, "I can see why no one’s been here for years."

Kris stepped boldly in and dragged him along, the door slamming behind them.

"Hey Kris, who knows what sorta creepy things might be running around here?!" Firestorm looked around nervously as he followed Kris.

"Whatever they are," Kris replied, "I know you’ll be there to protect me while I make a run for it."

Firestorm gulped.

"Anyway," she continued, "we’re now walking in the oldest library in town. Also known as the ancient library."

"But what are we doing here in the first place?"

"We’re here because I believe this place in linked to Nightslice’s past."

"Why?"

"Remember the dreams he keeps having? One of them was of him fighting in some sort of locked underground room. Sound familiar?"

"Huh? I don’t…" Firestorm paused for a moment, "Oh yeah! Much like one of Team Rocket’s secret training gyms."

"Correct. The ones where’d they lock Pokemon in and let em’ beat the crap out of each other."

"From personal experience, I know." Firestorm muttered, recalling the years he’d been raised by Team Rocket. So much fighting and violence that Firestorm shivered when he thought back about it.

"And since it was only here that Nigthslice started getting all these dreams, something in this area must’ve triggered it off. Not only was this library the oldest and most fitting of his descriptions, it also has some underground rooms."

Firestorm raised an eyebrow with interest.

"Apparently, this building was constructed over the remains of an old castle. They said that the lower rooms were once the castle’s dungeons, but they had been locked and abandoned for years."

"Or so they thought." Firestorm added in. "Kris, I see what you’re getting at! You suspect this dungeon was secretly used as a Team Rocket training ground. And that Nightslice was one of the Pokemon trained here!"

"Exactly my point." Kris finished. The pair had reached a small door in the far wall of the huge room. Kris pulled out another key and used it to open the door. She had to barge into it twice with her shoulder before it came open. A set of stone steps led down to a dark room below.

"Some light please."

Firestorm stepped forward and held out his flaming tail to light up the room.

"I’ll still say it gives me the creeps." Firestorm muttered.

The flight of stairs wasn’t very long. With their path illuminated by Firestorm’s tail, they followed the path until it led down into a room with a deal end. Besides the flight of stairs, there was no other way to go. There were door-like structures all around, however, they’d all either collapsed or had been sealed up, making it impossible to get through. Firestorm lit a candle and handed it to Kris.

"Let’s split up and comb the area." Kris declared.

The pair moved to opposite corners of the room and begun poking at the rubble. Kris noticed something odd. She had stepped on a pile of rocks, but didn’t hear the crunch of pebbles against each other. The sound was rather muffled, much like…paper?

She got down on her knees and begun digging through the pile until she came up with an old and tattered book. Blowing the dust off, she flipped through it. The words were in a rather odd dialect, one that Kris recognized as the language of the Prophets. This was an interesting find indeed.

"Kris!"

She got up and ran over to Firestorm, who handed her a broken lock. Kris recognized its design immediately. It was the type that Team Rocket used for their Pokemon training gyms. Turning it over in her hands, she carefully examined it.

"Looks about 2-3 years old, taking the cool, dry climate of this area." Kris said, "The Rockets were definitely here, but probably not for very long."

"So Nightslice was once here too?" Firestorm asked.

"Provided what he’s seeing in his dreams in actually true. But still, they’ve got dozens of secret hideouts all over the place. He could’ve been in anyone of them."

"There could still be other explanations. And the possibilities seem endless. And what of his other dreams?"

"I agree, Storm. We don’t have any solid evidence to work with. I myself don’t want to start getting any crazy theories." Kris gestured for them to leave.

"Hey," Firestorm said, looking at the old book, "isn’t that the Prophets’ Book?"

"This?" Kris answered, surprised, "It’s written in their language, but I’m not sure if this is the legendary book itself."

"Legendary book?" asked Firestorm as they walked, "Hey, I only know its title. What’s in the book that’s so legendary about it anyway."

"For starters, do you know who the Prophets are in the first place?"

"Enlighten me."

"OK, they were an ancient human tribe who were said to be able to contact nature’s spirits and speak with the gods. Naturally, they took upon themselves a quest to compile a complete history of our world, right from its creation by the gods. You taking in all this?"

"Yep."

The pair were now back upstairs and were locking the door to the basement. They seated themselves at a table before Kris continued the story.

"The book was eventually completed and passed down through generations. As time passed and the world developed, the ancient ways of the tribe were drowned out by today’s technology. The book then disappeared and was never seen again."

"Until now. Or at least, when whoever left the book there…left it there."

"Yes. Many others tried to replicate it, but none of the others, no matter how accurate, were ever as detailed as the Prophets’ Book. Now that I have the chance," Kris reached up and pulled another book off a shelf, "not to mention resources, might as well see what it says."

"You want to try and translate it? Well, good luck! I’ll go check round the rest of the place." Firestorm gave her a nod, then left.

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

Five hours later…

"Firestorm, where are you?" Kris called.

"Over here." Came the reply.

Kris rounded the corner and found the Charmeleon leaning against a bookshelf, staring intently into a book. There was enough light from his tail for Kris to read the book’s title.

‘The Art of Black Magic’

Kris immediately snatched it out of his claws.

"Hey!"

"Firestorm! You shouldn’t be reading this sort of thing!"

"I swear I wasn’t reading it! I was just checking this up!" he took it back, flipped through the pages and showed a page to Kris. On it was the photograph of a small pendant.

"Remember how Aaron pulled off that mind controlling trick on me? I’m pretty sure I saw this thing around his neck when it happened."

Kris studied the picture and the article beside it. Other than giving several theories about it, there was no useful information.

"From the way both of you described him," Kris said, "even I have to agree that he was acting rather strangely."

"So it could be that odd pendant…"

"Yeah, we’ll have to be extra careful the next time we encounter him." Kris closed the book and tossed it aside, "By the way, I think I’ve been able to get something out of the Prophets’ Book."

She led Firestorm back to the table and flipped the Prophets’ Book to the first page. It was decorated with pictures and drawings. Much like a series of murals of the walls of pyramids, with very few words.

"Here. The first few pages tell of the creation of the world and its creature by the gods." Kris slowly flipped through the pages. The picture showed a view of the planet from space and many different creatures. "The interesting part begins here."

Kris pointed to a picture that showed a black dragon with its eyes gleaming in an evil grin.

"The story goes: But one sort to disrupt the harmony of the beautiful world that the gods had created. He was the dark dragon known as Kaiser. He rallied behind him many dark Pokemon, leaving terror and destruction in their wake."

Kris flipped the page and indicated the next picture, a shinning white dragon soaring down from the heavens.

"Then, just when it seemed all hope was lost, the holy dragon Harasalt emerged. He led his own army of Pokemon in a headlong clash with Kaiser’s forces."

The next set of pictures different Pokemon fighting. Or at least, that was how Firestorm interpreted all the weird scribbling.

"The battle lasted for a thousand years with both sides locked in bitter combat. Many fell, never to rise again."

The next picture showed a group of Pokemon gathered around a fallen Harasalt.

"At last, the dark was defeated. However, it had taken every last ounce of Harasalt’s strength to accomplish it. Before the mighty dragon drew his last breath, he left behind a single egg."

Firestorm recognized the next few drawings as the great storm of ancient times.

"The price was greater than just his loss as the battle had brought a great storm of destruction over the world, wiping out all but the few Pokemon who’d survived the great battle. All of them were so sad seeing the destruction they’d caused that they forgot their opposing sides and begun to weep as one."

The picture showed the tears flowing in a whirlpool, seeping down into the ground.

"Their tears flowed down to the very center of the planet itself and life was restored to our world."

Firestorm finally relaxed his tense muscles and leaned back into his chair.

"So, that’s the old legend." He gasped in awe.

"But there’s more. The dark dragon Kaiser had also managed to leave behind an egg. From these would come the descendents of these legendary warriors. These descendents would be the only ones able to inherit the unique techniques used by their ancestors. Harasalt’s Sacred Skills and Kaiser’s Forbidden Skills. A total of 16 completely unknown techniques, 8 on each side. Among their ranks, two more would rise to battle as their forefathers once did and the fate of the world will be decided."

"That’s…simply am…"

Kris suddenly slapped her hand over his muzzle and pointed to the door. Kris had locked the door when they’d entered. Only now someone was knocking on it. Actually, them were barging at it. The sounds of grunts and a crowbar being used to smash open the lock could clearly be heard.

"Quietly…" Kris whispered.

Firestorm nodded. He doused the candle’s flame and stuffed it under a bookshelf while Kris shoved the Prophets’ Book into her pack. Finally, they hid round a corner and threw Kris’ leather jacket over Firestorm’s flaming tail and tied it. Without the light of his tail, the room was thrown into complete darkness.

The door was then broken down. Even in only the dim moonlight, Kris recognized the five intruders. Agents of Team Rocket. They talked quietly among themselves for a while, then spread out and begun combing the area.

Definitely searching for something. Kris patted the old book in her backpack, realizing it was probably what they wanted. Firestorm was tensing himself to fight, but Kris held him back and shook her head. She pointed to the nearest window and mouthed ‘get out of here!’

The pair begun crawling low to the floor, taking extra care to avoid being seen. They had to make several detours, running left and right to keep out of sight. However, their way was suddenly blocked by a pair of agents waking down the aisle. The Rockets were blocking their only escape route, the window.

Kris and Firestorm hid under a table with a tablecloth.

"Any ideas?" Kris whispered hopefully.

"Just one." Answered Firestorm. The Charmemlon crawled out from under the table and sneaked up on the two Rocket agents.

He was doing a good job, except Kris noticed the leather jacket she’d tied around his tail was coming loose. Desperately, Kris waved to him but Firestorm wouldn’t look her way. Firestorm was right behind the two agents when the jacket fell off, exposing his flaming tail.

And that lit up the dark room like a light bulb.

"Huh?"

"What!"

The two Rocket agents spun round. Firestorm had no choice but to torch both with a flamethrower and follow up by swinging his tail and sending them flying into the nearest wall. The process was effective in knocking them out, but the racket had alerted the other agents.

Kris sprung into action. Reaching into her belt pouch, she pulled out a shuriken (a ninja’s throwing weapon) and sent it flying. It neatly cut the ropes that held up a ceiling-mounted signboard, sending the signboard crashing down onto the heads of the next two Rocket agents. The last man was too far away to do anything.

Firestorm quickly broke open a window and scrambled through it, followed by Kris. They were in a narrow alley between the old library and the adjacent building. A pokeball suddenly came flying from the broken window and landed in front of them. It opened to reveal a Hitmonchan. Firestorm stepped up to the challenge.

"You wanna piece of me?! Come n’ get it! Rrrrrrrr!" Firestorm launched his flamethrower attack.

"Hit!" It leapt over the flames, landed in front of Firestorm and gave him a mega punch in the face.

"Grrrr…" muttered Firestorm, rubbing his sore chin, "You’ll pay for that!" he lifted a claw to the air as his eyes glowed with a soft blue light. "Confusion!"

The psychic attack threw Hitmonchan into a wall.

"Wartortle, skull bash!" Kris’ voice came from behind.

Firestorm instinctively sidestepped to allow his teammate to attack. The tiny turtle, with his head lowered, rushed past Firestorm and knocked Hitmonchan’s feet out from under it. Hitmonchan landed flat on its face, unconscious.

"Isn’t there a rule about hitting below the belt?" Firestorm turned his head back to Kris.

"Yeah, it’s the ideal place to hit." Kris smirked, "Come on! Let’s get outta here!"

"Hey!" Firestorm shouted as Kris grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and dragged him off. Wartortle sighed, then followed them.

The Kris and Firestorm stumbled into Nightslice’s room to find the Scyther up and slashing at an imaginary target. Kris was too exhausted to give Nightslice the ‘you’re supposed to be in bed’ lecture and flopped down on a couch. Firestorm curled up on the floor beside her.

"Welcome back people," said Nightslice with a faked cheerful tone, "looks like someone’s been up all night."

"Yeah, up, running and fighting Team Rocket." Kris muttered, "Tell ya after I catch a few winks."

Firestorm was already snoring.

"At least check out this new move I’ve been working on!" Nightslice said enthusiastically shoving Kris to her feet with his claws. "Eevee thinks its great, right Eevee?"

"Vee!" Smiled Eevee, jumping onto the bed and pointing his ears up.

"See that chair there?" Nightslice backed off and pointed to a chair on the other side of the room. Kris nodded drowsily.

Nightslice ran to pick up speed, somersaulted forward and while in mid-air, brought the back of his heel down on the chair, shattering it to pieces.

"Neat huh?" Nightslice grinned.

It was certainly an eye opener, although Kris didn’t say it out loud. She was just too tired from the night’s work.

"I’ll just let you pay for that chair." She muttered as she flopped down on the couch again.

The Scyther face flopped.

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

Two days later, the group left Lavender Town. On the roadside, Kris found herself locked in a tight duel with another trainer.

"Cloyster, spike cannon!"

"Gyarados, hydro pump!"

Kris’ Gyarados launched its water attack, punching through Cloyster’s spikes and slamming into it. Cloyster clamped its shell shut, absorbing some of the impact.

Cloyster’s resistant to water attacks, Kris thought, but let’s see it try and resist this!

"Finish it Gyarados! Dragon rage!" the huge sea serpent opened its mouth, charging up a huge blast of energy.

"Oh no! Cloyster, withdraw attack!" its shell clamped shut, but this time it wasn’t enough to block out the attack. There was an explosion, after which Cloyster was sent flying several feet away, landing with a loud crash on the grassy field. The trainer moaned.

"Return." He withdrew the defeated Pokemon, "Go! Pinsir!"

In a flash, the strong bug Pokemon appeared, gashing its head-mounted pincers. Seeing that Gyarados was already panting from exhaustion, Kris recalled it. Even with her back turned, Kris could picture Firestorm and Nightslice waiting anxiously behind for their chance to fight. Firestorm, having won two fights, would probably be exhausted as well.

"Nightslice, get ready to rumble!"

"About time too." Nightslice whispered as he dashed past Kris and onto the battlefield.

"Pinsir, vice grip!"

"Nightslice, agility!"

Pinsir attempted to grab a hold of Nightslice, but the Scyther was just too fast for it. It angrily snapped its pincers as Nightslice dashed around it in circles.

"Focus energy, then use the seismic toss!" the trainer shouted.

"Quickly, double team!"

Nightslice created multiple images of himself. Confused, Pinsir charged at one of them, only to crash to the ground.

"While it’s down," Kris shouted, "slash attack!"

Nightslice dashed out from behind the illusions. He was a blur of motion, whizzing past his opponent and slashing twice. Dazed, Pinsir got up facing the wrong direction, accidentally exposing its back to Nightslice. Realizing his opportunity, the Scyther used the mid-air heel drop move he’d showed Kris earlier. The well-aimed blow hit Pinsir at the back of its head, knocking it out cold.

Nightslice landed beside his fallen opponent and roared in triumph.

"The battle is won." Kris smiled.

Kris was still talking to the other man while Firestorm and Nightslice decided to take a drink from the nearby stream. And like after every other battle Kris had fought, the pair were bragging about their individual performances. To whom? Why, the other one of course.

"Ha, did ya see how I took out that Tangela," Firestorm was saying, "absolutely flawlessly."

"It’s a grass type for cryin’ out loud," Nightslice replied, "all you did was torch it with a flamethrower. My fight with the Pinsir was somewhat more…dramatic. And I bet I could’ve taken out the Magmar too."

"You?! It would’ve roasted ya!"

"They can’t roast what they can’t hit."

The duo didn’t stop their debate even as Kris waved goodbye to the other trainer and came over. After two years of having this particular pair around her, Kris had almost gotten used to it. Almost.

"Turns out he was a travelling salesman." She stepped between them and interrupted, "Quite a stroke of luck, considering we were getting low on supplies. Oh and by the way," Kris reached into her pockets, "I’ve got something for each of you."

Kris pulled out a couple of apples and stuffed them into Firestorm and Nightslice’s jaws. Without another word, she walked over to the shade of a tree to rest.

Firestorm and Nightslice could only stare dumbly at her, then furiously at each other. A silent message was being passed between them.

Night was quickly falling and the group were looking for a good spot to set up camp.

"Looks like we’re around the Maiden’s Peak area," Firestorm muttered, turning the map around in his claws. He noticed Kris patting a pouch on her backpack.

"You know, I still wonder what else was written in the old book." Kris muttered, "when the Rockets interrupted us, there were still three lines left which I hadn’t translated yet."

"Huh, so do I Kris." Firestorm said.

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

The trio were now walking past a cliff the overlooked the open sea. Nightslice, trailing a little behind the other two, suddenly stopped. He stared intently at the cliff for a while, then begun walking towards it. When Firestorm noticed this, he tapped Kris on the shoulder to get her attention and them followed Nightslice.

"The aura of this place seems so…familiar." Nightslice muttered. He closed his eyes and sniffed at the air.

"What is it?" asked Kris, coming up from behind.

"Something’s here, I…I just know it." He suddenly bent down and clutched his head between his bladed claws. "Can’t remember…dammit! Argh!"

Furiously, he kicked a small stone off the cliff. When he brought his foot down, the ground beneath it promptly collapsed.

"Yargh! Ow!" Nightslice fell through the hole and hit the floor of some sort of cave.

"Hey, you ok pal?" Firestorm asked.

"Fine, but you guys are gonna want to come see this!"

Kris and Firestorm dropped down the hole and raced to where Nightslice was. The Scyther was kneeling and staring at an odd-looking block of stone. It was too smooth and even to have been formed by natural means. Roughly the size of an A4 sheet of paper, it glowed with a mystifying golden light. There were several lines of words carved on its surface, but none of the three could read them.

"Curious…" Nightslice muttered. He slowly reached out with a claw, but a sudden flash of the golden light sent him flying to the other side of the cave. "Ow! What on Earth was that?"

"Haven’t the slightest clue," Kris said, stepping forward. "But be careful."

She was reaching forward to get a better look when a loud buzzing sound interrupted them. She signaled for Nightslice to take a look. Nightslice scrambled up to the surface and came down a second later with a concerned look.

"A helicopter." He gasped, "With about a couple dozen masked Rocket agents. They’re searching through beach below."

"Darn, how’d they know we were here?" Firestorm yelled.

Kris patted the bulge on her backpack and looked down at the stone tablet. Then the realization hit her.

"Guys, you think we can cover up this hole?"

"Sure, there are a couple of large rocks up there." Nightslice answered. "But why…"

"No time to explain," Kris got up and begun climbing out. "But if my guesses are correct, this place is what they’re searching for. They want the tablet. And we can’t let them have it!"

Everyone scrambled out and Firestorm shoved two large stones into the hole while Nightslice threw some dirt over it.

"From the looks of things," Firestorm shot a glance down at the Rocket agents below, "they’re gonna comb this entire area, which includes this cliff and the stretch of forest here too."

"Kris, you know we can’t possibly take out two dozen of em’ at once." Nightslice said.

"I have a plan." Kris grinned, "We ninjas specialize in sneak tactics, remember?"

"Oh this is gonna be very interesting." Nightslice smiled with an evil grin.

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

Night had fallen on the quiet forest.

Firestorm tied the last knot and signaled Kris with a thumbs-up. From her perch on the tree branch, Kris acknowledged with a nod and gestured for him take his position. Firestorm carefully hid his flaming tail beneath his body and took hold of a free end of the rope.

The group of shadowy figures was rapidly approaching. Firestorm recognized the first two almost immediately. Aaron and Scarlet of Team Rocket.

Heeheehee, now I’ll have my revenge on you, Aaron.

Firestorm once again noticed the strange pendent Aaron was wearing. Aaron was twiddling with a white rose while Scarlet whispered some things to him. Firestorm let them come close enough, then snapped a twig between his fingers and rustled the grass around him. The Rocket agents were all alerted to the sudden noise.

"Someone’s here!" said one of them.

"There!" said another, pointing to the rustling grass.

"Ha, come on out." Aaron sneered, pocketing the white rose.

"Yes, we won’t hurt you…much." Scarlet added in.

"Prepare for trouble." Scarlet started the all too famous Team Rocket motto.

"Yes, make it double." Aaron continued.

Firestorm pulled the end of the rope he was holding.

"To…aaarrrrrgggghhhh!"

A rotten log that had been tied to the tree above them suddenly fell. It smacked Aaron, Scarlet and two others onto a patch of grass, which immediately collapsed into a hole beneath them. The four people landed with a loud crash, moaning and groaning.

Firestorm leapt from his hiding place and torched two more, leaving them screaming and charred from the flames.

"Catch me if ya can!" he called back as he ploughed through the remaining soldiers and sprinted away, in the opposite direction from the concealed cave.

"Get it!" yelled one of the soldiers.

Kris watched the group chase Firestorm away, them leapt from her branch ran sprinted towards the concealed cave.

Deep in the forest, four more soldiers were walking past a huge tree, two on each side. Up on top of the tree, Ivysaur and Wartortle nodded to each other.

Wartortle used his water gun to shoot a target hanging from a tree below. This caused a net full of coconuts to open and fall onto the Rockets’ heads, knocking them out cold.

On the other side, Ivysaur shot a single razor leaf to sever a pair of ropes holding up a log. It fell onto the heads of the other two soldiers, knocking them out as well.

They shook hands (or a vine and a hand actually) and stood admiring their handiwork.

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

Firestorm was nearing the edge of the forest. He could also see the edge of the cliff coming up.

Just then, a bullet whizzed past him, almost hitting the left side of his head. The Charmeleon craned his neck to look back at his pursuers. As he did, he didn’t notice a thick vine in his path. Firestorm tripped over it, flew several feet and hit the floor face first.

Dazed, he didn’t realize he was perilously balanced on the edge until it was too late.

Firestorm’s left foot slipped and his lost his balance. He went over the edge with a roar. The long, ten-story drop seemed frighteningly short to him.

It ended with a dull, snapping sound and his world fading into darkness.

Up on the cliff, the Rocket agents looked down as Firestorm’s crumpled form, sprawled out on the rocky beach below.

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

Nightslice waited till they were in range, then hacked away at the rope. A net, made out of vines, fell and entangled six of the eight soldiers. When the other two spun around in surprise, Nightslice activated another trap, this one by cutting a different rope.

This one dropped a couple of sandbags straight onto their heads.

Nightslice was triumphantly brushing his claws against each other when a grenade suddenly landed by his feet. Instinctively, he leapt away.

Unfortunately, this meant jumping out from under his cover. As he leapt into the open, he was promptly smacked in the chest with a glue missile. Nightslice was thrown against a large, flat rock by the cliff edge. The force of the impact spread out his arms, legs and wings and the glue sticking them there. The sticky substance sealed his eyes and jaws shut, with the back of his head stuck to the rock’s surface.

"Mmmppphhhmmhp!" his furious cries were all muffled by the glue.

"Yeah I got it!" proclaimed a rough voice, presumably belonging to the agent who’d shot him.

"Nice, but what’d we do with it?" a second voice asked.

"We complete the mission first, then we’ll come back for it." The first voice replied, "Cause it won’t be going anywhere anytime soon."

The pair of footsteps died off into the distance.

"Mmmmrrrpphhhh!" Nightslice struggled in vain. He tried to pull his head forward, but the stretchable glue snapped taut and pulled it back. The top of his elongated head snapped back to the rock surface with a painful thud.

No! NO! Dammit! He silently cursed his stupidity. He’d fallen for a dud, a false grenade. Now I’m stuck to this stupid thing like a squashed bug. Man, I can’t even move a limb. But at least I can still breathe. Aside from his nostrils, the rest of his body was entirely covered in the sticky glue.

Firestorm came to with a severe pain in his head. Agonizingly, the present came back to his thoughts.

Desperately, he tried forcing himself up. However, his body refused to respond to the orders from his brain.

His head flopped weakly down on the rocks. He caught a glimpse of his burning tail, which was glowing weaker and weaker. The flames were slowly dying out.

His eyelids were getting heavy. Slowly they snapped shut.

All was silent.

Firestorm’s head moved in silent protest.

With that thought, his dimming tail fire burst into a huge blaze. His eyes flew open, glowing with the burning red of his flames.

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

Completely unaware of her friends’ plight, Kris was racing through the dense forest.

"I’ve got it! I’ve got it!" A Rocket soldier suddenly came running holing a large leather bag.

"Oh no you don’t!" Kris yelled, tackling the guy. The two rolled over the ground, struggling to grab the bag while exchanging punches with each other.

Kris saw Eevee behind her and several more soldiers approaching from the front.

"Eevee! Catch!" Kris knee butting her opponent, she grabbed the bag and tossed it.

"Veeee!" Eevee acknowledged and jumped forward. Unfortunately, the little Pokemon was so small that it got caught in the bag instead.

"Shit!" Kris muttered. The other agents were approaching fast.

Suddenly, the bag glowed and something burst out of the bag with a white flash of light.

"Jolt! Jolt!"

"Alright! It’s Jolteon!"

"What?" the fallen soldier gasped, "You mean that was actually a thunder stone?!"

"You are a complete moron!" one of the other soldiers yelled.

"Jolteon, thunder shock attack!" Kris commanded.

The group of soldiers cried out in pain as they shocked by the electric Pokemon, leaving their bodies still shaking from the electricity. Jolteon landed in front of Kris, growling with delight. Kris patted it on the head.

"Split up." she whispered.

Kris and Jolteon sped off in different directions as more soldiers appeared.

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

Nightslice was still struggling when he heard another set of footsteps.

"Need some help?" It was Firestorm’s voice. But there was something a little different about it. It was deeper, more powerful and with much more confidence.

Nightslice did his best to nod.

"I’ll help you get some of it off. You’ll have to wash the rest off later."

The first thing that Firestorm ripped off was the glue covering his face. When Nightslice opened his eyes, he had the shock of his life.

"Firestorm? Is that you?" he gasped in disbelief.

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

Owing it to a wrong turn, Kris accidentally found herself backed to the edge of the cliff. Surrounded by at least a dozen of the soldiers. She shot a glance down. The long drop down to the beach below didn’t look very promising. Behind her, the crimson-red morning sun was just rising on the horizon. They’d been running around for the whole night.

"We’re got you now!" one of the soldiers sneered.

"Not on my account!" A powerful voice declared.

All heads turned to the source of the voice. Silhouetted against the blazing glow of the sun, a huge, dark form arose. Almost five feet long, with wings that spread to almost twice that length. There was no mistaking it.

Charizard.

Kris’ heart swelled with pride.

The power of the dragon unleashed.

"Feel the wrath of fire spin!" she declared.

The dragon conjured up a gigantic tornado, which burnt with intense flames. All the Rocket agents were sent running and screaming from being charred by the flames. Firestorm followed up by launching a fireball to the ground.

Nightslice and the other Pokemon arrived just in time to see a huge explosion, which sent the evildoers soaring off into orbit.

Against the morning sun, everyone watched as Kris and Firestorm, in his newly evolved Charizard form, stood facing each other. Kris threw her arms around his neck in a grateful hug. The dragon returned the gesture with his claws and wings.

Nightslice closed his eyes and lowered his head. A smile broke out across his face.

The party was gathered in the small cave where Firestorm was recalling his glorious comeback.

"All I saw was darkness, then a light came through and I reached for it." He said, "then…" Firestorm looked down at himself, "…I did it."

"Man, that was really neat!" Nightslice said, "But with all those injuries, how’d…"

"I really don’t know," Firestorm replied, "like a miracle of something. And that this…" Firestorm tapped the metal mask on the left side of his head, "…still fits."

"Yeah, you’re right." Nightslice muttered. Everyone had gotten so used to Firestorm’s look that they’d practically regarded the mask as part of his face.

"Jolt! Jolt!" Jolteon jumped into Kris’s lap.

"Looks like he wants some attention too." Firestorm said.

"Hey Jolteon," Nightslice called, "you were great too! I definitely like you better this way. But no more climbing onto my head, ok? You’re too big for that now."

"Jolt! Jolt!" he replied happily.

"Firestorm, maybe I have an explanation." Kris stood up and pointed to the stone tablet they’d strived so hard for the whole night to protect.

"Kris, I don’t…" Firestorm begun, then he paused and closed his eyes for a moment, "…yes, maybe."

Firestorm walked over to the stone tablet. As he did, it begun to glow brighter and brighter. Everyone else had to shield their eyes. Firestorm knelt down and touched the tablet with a claw.

At once, a voice resounded in his head. From the expressions on his friend’s faces, Firestorm could tell that they’d heard it too.

<One worthy of my power has come forward at last. > The disembodied voice reverberated. <Answer me truthfully and I shall show you the way. >

Firestorm nodded.

"The answer is slash." Firestorm said.

The brightness of the golden light intensified.

Firestorm thought for a while, looking back to the others for support.

"Fire spin."

The stone tablet shattered into pieces and an orange light emerged. It merged with the golden light and formed the shape of a dragon. A roar resounded throughout the cave. There was a bright flash. Then, silence.

"The sacred technique, Spin Slash." Firestorm said.

"Can it be true," Nightslice gasped, uncovering his eyes, "Firestorm a descendent of the holy dragon Harasalt?"

"It’s actually quite possible," Kris replied, "I never knew where Team Rocket took him from."

Kris pulled out the Prophet’s Book and begun flipping through it.

"Wait a minute," she gasped, "this page was empty before. Now…"

She held it up for all to see. Nightslice silently read it. The words were now in English.

‘Spin Slash. A flying elemental move executed by rotating one’s body 360 degrees and lashing out with claws and fangs.’

"I…hardly believe it myself." Firestorm muttered.

"Hey guys, I’ll leave you to ponder this alright?" Nightslice got up, "But I’m gonna go down to the river nearby to wash the rest of this stupid glue off me."

He used a claw to indicate the glue still sticking his wings down to his back.

"Back soon!" Nightslice called as he ran off.

"Jolt! Jolt!" Jolteon suddenly dashed over to where the stone tablet had been and begun digging.

"What it is Jolteon?" Kris asked.

Jolteon cleared some dirt away and carefully pulled something out of the ground it had been buried in.

It was another stone tablet, much like the one that Firestorm had just obtained the first of the sacred skills from. Only this one glowed with a deep purple light instead.

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

Nightslice splashed more of the cool river water over himself. The glue was gone at last. He’d never felt so happy to be stretching and spreading his wings before.

Nightslice was bending down to drink when he heard someone else splashing into the river. Had to be Firestorm, cause the footsteps made roughly the same splashes as his did.

"Hey Firestorm, come to join me?"

He was busy slurping the cool, fresh water when he realized something. Now that Firestorm was a Charizard, he should’ve made much louder splashes. Gyarados was out of the question and Kris’ other Pokemon were much too small. Which meant…

"Not Firestorm, I’m afraid." A cold voice sneered.

Nightslice spun round to fight. But before he even had a chance to see his attacker, a sledgehammer was thrust straight into his face.

The Scyther’s unconscious form hit the water with a loud splash and was, much more quietly, dragged off into the surrounding bush.

To be continued…