-The mysteries of the past are beginning to come to light, but the future seems to grow more uncertain. As the Dragon Riders split up for their various missions, Alugard sits waiting…and watching. Ninth in a series.

 

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.

 

 

Twin Revelations 

By Gregory Stephen nightdragon0@hotmail.com

 

 

Firestorm

  “So it’s settled?” Kris asked.

  “Sure. If you’re heading off first, I’ll just send Nightslice over to you via Pokeball transporter when we’re done.” Sabrina answered. 

  “Yeah, at least it’ll save me the trouble of having to walk.” Nightslice said.

  We, the Dragon Riders were outside Sabrina’s gym. As Kris and Jade had decided previously, they were traveling down to Cerulean City and then to Mount Moon to investigate the recent sightings. People had been reporting strange lights in the skies at night that was speculated to be UFOs. Scientists had flocked down to the highest peak of the mountain chain, where the ‘UFOs’ had apparently landed. Currently, no public statement had been made and the police were restricting entry of any unauthorized personnel.

  Basically, that equaled ‘We’ve found something and don’t want the press to know about it’.        

  “See you guys later!” Kris waved, as she, Jade and myself left.

  “You do know that sneaking into a restricted area is illegal, right?” Jade asked worriedly after a few minutes. 

  Kris and I both smiled evilly.

  “Nah, all the security measures in the world couldn’t keep me out of something.” Kris grinned, “Besides, no one’s gonna see me!”  

  “Yeah and if you thought she’s good wait till you see me.” I bragged, “I could sneak past any guards with my eyes closed.”

  “Great,” Kris replied, “cause since you’re so confident, I’ll be going down to the Cerulean Gym and you guys can check out the mountain.”

  “Sure thing…HEY!” I just realized I’d been played out. Darn it!

  “Agreed? Great.” Kris walked on without waiting for a reply, “Let’s hurry then.”

  I could practically read her mind: Score one for the gals!

  “Hey a minute! What’d I do to deserve this?!” Jade ran after her, “The Charizard’s the one with the big mouth!”  

  “Jade! I resent that comment because my jaws are physically bigger!” I roared. No human was going to outdo me. “Besides, you owe me for yesterday when you left me paralyzed on the floor for 2 AND A HALF HOURS!”

  That incident…I don’t really want to talk about that.

  “Well, Sabrina was fresh out, all the stores were closed and it was Jade’s fault cause he was the one who bought a bunch of Burn heals instead of the Full heals.” Kris argued.

  “It was the store’s fault cause they were the same color!”

  “No, it was you.”

  “You were rushing me Kris!”

  “It was also your fault that we were late because YOU led us in the wrong direction!”

  “And how was I supposed to know that map was upside down?”

  “That’s what a NORTH ARROW is for, you idiot!”

  “HEY! YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE PAYING ATTENTION TO ME!” I clenched my claws, roared and flared my wings. 

  That was when I realized my companions were already far ahead.  

 

 

 

 

Nightslice

  Sabrina shut the door and walked over to the mat where I was sitting cross-legged.

  “Sure is quiet here,” I commented, “almost gives off a somewhat peaceful aura.”

  “This is my private meditation room,” Sabrina explained, “we psychics must spend a fair amount of time in deep meditation in order to better understand the ways of the spirits, the workings of the world and thus, better focus our powers by placing ourselves in harmony with nature.” 

  “Erm…” I used a claw to scratch my head.

  Rather deep stuff. But isn’t that almost like me?

  “Don’t worry, my friend. I am very strict about not being interrupted during my meditation periods. We shall not be interrupted.”

  “Guess that’s good.” I said, biting my lip. And it can hurt when you’ve got fangs as big as mine. 

  “You are a little nervous.”

  “Yeah, guess you can read my mind.”

  “I try not to do that unless I have obtained a subject’s permission.”

  “Then…”  

  “I have to admit, so am I. I’ve worked with other humans, but I have never tried anything like this with a Pokemon before.”

  “Honors me to be the first.”

  Sabrina gently took the upper side of my claws in her hands. It was a warm, gentle feeling. For a moment, I remembered the time Kris had first pulled me out of that icy tomb. One of the real memories I had. Was it just a year ago? Seemed like an eternity to me.   

  “Ready?” she asked. “Just remember, to truly understand the future, we must be able to look into our past.”  

  “Right. Ready as I’ll ever be.”

  “Close you eyes…focus…open your mind…and search deep within.”

  “Breath deep, seek peace.” I repeated what Sabrina had told me earlier.

  Before I even knew it, I was there…

 

 

 

 

Kris

  It was a hot day.

  And that was an understatement. ‘Blazing inferno’ might’ve been a better term. I was beginning to regret choosing to walk along the North-South highway. No doubt it was the shortest route, it seemed to stretch on and on.

  The road had been built with large container trucks in mind, no for hikers. The few and sparsely spread trees along the roadside didn’t give much cover from the merciless heat. All grass and the road as far as eye could see. Not many vehicles were passing by either. Just a few trucks here and there, with a couple of cars every hour or so. 

  I’d long since thrown off my leather jacket and gotten out my sunglasses. Still, I could feel the heat of the road through the soles of my shoes.

  And yet, that wasn’t the worst part…

  “Kris, can we stop yet?” Jade gasped.

  “Water…need water…” Firestorm moaned. 

  “Grrr…” I got out the water canister and tossed it at him. “You keep this up and all the water will be gone before we get there.”

  “Hey...gulp...I may be a fire element,” Firestorm said, “but…gulp…I can still suffer from sunstroke.”

  “And that’s from the guy who claimed to be able to do the butterfly in a lava pool.” Jade taunted.

  “Well, that’s different from prolonged exposure to overheated conditions.”

  “Come on! Just a couple of hours more and we should be there.”

  “That’s what you said the last time.” Firestorm groaned.

  “Yeah, just get him to fly us there and we’ll be fine.” Jade jabbed a thumb at the Charizard. 

  “Hot air rises, remember?” I reminded him, “It’ll be even worse up there.”

  “Uh-huh, like Jade doesn’t have enough in his head already.” Firestorm grinned.

  “Hey how bout you?! You got lots more in your belly!” Jade snapped back.

  I placed around while they argued. It’s a wonder why guys have so much energy when they want to fight. I had my back to the incoming traffic and somehow had unintentionally wandered to the center of the road.

  That was why I never saw the car coming.

 

 

                 

 

Nightslice

  “What is this…?” I wondered.

  One moment, I had blinked. Next, I was standing in a long, dark hallway. Lights at one end, lights at the other.

  “We’re inside your mind.” Sabrina had suddenly appeared right next to me. “Inside your memories.” 

  “Hmmm…I always imagined it like this,” I muttered, “you know, some long corridor with no obvious beginning or end.”

  “This way.” She pushed open a door that had magically appeared on the wall.

  There was a bright flash of light and I blinked. Now, we were in a laboratory. One that was crowded with scientists.

  “Whoa!” I gasped as one of them stepped through us.

  “They can’t see or hear us,” Sabrina explained “because we’re not really there.”

  She grabbed one of my claws and held it up. I realized it was somewhat translucent, as was her hand, enabling me to see through it.

  “Looks like something’s happening over there!” I flew up above all the heads to get a cleared look.

  The people were crowding around an incubator. On it, was a single large egg.

  “It’s hatching!” someone yelled.

  “Come on! This is the last one!”

  “It’s gotta work this time!”

  “We can’t loose this one too!”   

  Little by little, cracks appeared all over the shell. The researchers, although excited, were extra careful not to interfere with the hatching, least they cause more harm than good. It could’ve been hours, I couldn’t really tell. But finally the hatchling’s perseverance paid off. A section of the eggshell finally came off.

  First thing to appear was a tiny claw.

  My jaw dropped. When the rest of him emerged, I nearly fainted.

  “It’s…me…”

  Somehow, I knew it. I can’t really explain it. I just did. And I was hovering there in the air, staring as the researchers cheered and congratulated my younger self. They immediately went to writing notes and taking measurements. Then he went straight into a small cage.  

  The baby opened his eyes, blinking in the bright lights. Dozens of strange humans were all around. Running, talking, chatting excitedly. Some were calling their colleagues. Many were staring intently at the cage.

  "It’s alive!"

  "At last, success!"

  (Kinda like the baby velociraptor-hatching scene from Jurassic Park.)

  “Even the youngest child can see and remember things,” Sabrina suddenly spoke. She was behind, calmly sitting down on a chair. I’d completely forgotten she’d existed. “Various pieces of images may be stored in his mind, although he may not yet recognize them. Only when he finally learns and comes to understand do these images start to make sense. Then only do they become memories. ” 

  “So that means…I somehow remember this?” 

  “Most likely.”

  I walked over to a table and tried to flip open one of the journals there. Unfortunately, my claw passed right through it.   

  “Prodigious…” I muttered.

  “Remember we both need to keep focused. We can’t stay for too long, however we can find out the most important parts.”

  “Understood.”

  “Here.” Sabrina waved as another door of light opened.

  I took one last look as the scene of the researchers happily crowding around my young self. It happened that my gaze fell upon a calendar on the wall.

  It was dated: 18 January 1978.   

 

 

 

 

Kris

  “Kris! Watch out!” Jade yelled when he saw it.

  Firestorm gave a roar of warning. 

  I barely heard the horn and the screech of tires before my instincts kicked in. I jumped to one side, rolled over and ended back up on my feet.

  “Whoa! Sorry there! Didn’t see you.” A brown, spiky-haired boy in the red, long convertible called, “You OK?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine.”

  The boy didn’t seem very old, maybe 10-11years, but I could tell he was fairly matured for his age. Plus, he had a bunch of girls around his age dressed like cheerleaders in the back and an older one driving the car.

  “You really should be more careful on the roadside,” he grinned, “cause I’d hate to see someone as cute as you get into an accident.”

  “Yeah, thanks.” I muttered.

  Jade and Firestorm came running over.

  “Hmmm…that’s a very strong looking Charizard you have there.” He commented, “You a Pokemon trainer?”

  “Yes, I’m Kris.” I offered my hand, “And this is my friend, Jade.” 

  “Gary Oak,” he shook it, “Pokemon trainer extraordinar.”

  “Gary Oak? Do you by any chance happen to be Professor Oak’s grandson?”

  “So you’ve heard of me.”

  “I happen to know you grandfather. He had quite a lot to say about you.” I said, “And I happen to know you good friend Ash too.”

  Firestorm was quickly getting bored of the conversation. He did a very Charizard-like thing, lowering his head slightly and scratching it with a foot. Jade, being himself, made the mistake of leaning against Firestorm the moment the Charizard was balanced on one foot. This caused both of them to stumble over.

  I quickly turned away from the scene.   

  “Oh, Ashy huh?” Gary had a wide smirk across his face.

  “I see there’s something between you two.”

  “Well, some things are best left unspoken.” Gary folded his arms and closed his eyes, “Now, how about a match. One on one.”

  “Ha, accepted. I’ve never backed down from a challenge.” I clenched a fist and gave Firestorm a nod.

 

 

 

 

Nightslice

  “Hmmm…this is a little more familiar.”

  I’d seen brief flashes of these scenes back when Alugard captured me. Now, I was standing there watching them. Each time we stepped through a new door of light, we came to a different scene.

  Each time, I stayed and watched for a while. Every time, it seemed the same. I took note of the calendar and saw the years pass, from 1978 to 1982. I had spent my life in pacing around in cages and floating in fluid-filled tanks for some tests unknown to me. All the while listening to the monotonous humming of the computers, being watched day and night.

  I want to be free! To see the world outside!

  I shook my head. The thoughts had suddenly snapped in. I could actually feel the despair, the curiosity and every emotion I’d felt back then. 

  What was my purpose in life? Is it was for nothing more than the humans to run their twisted experiments on?

  We then came to the scene of the day they took my father, in his cage, away. I stood there listening to his roars and screeches as he banged on the bars of his cage. It was just too much for me to bear. 

  “Father!” I didn’t care if I wasn’t really there.

  I ran after them all the way to the corridor as they loaded his cage onto the elevator. He suddenly looked up, staring straight in my direction. I could’ve sworn he was staring straight at me. His expression changed to a ferocious, menacing snarl. It was almost too familiar.

  I got a good look at him. However, without the use of my other senses, I would not have been able to pick him out, even if he was alive out there, somewhere.

  While it is true that some of my kind have distinctive battle scars or features, it’s nearly impossible to tell a Scyther apart by appearance alone. Although a trainer can develop the talent for recognizing his or her Pokemon. 

  I did, however, notice his eye color. The left was blue, like most of my race; the right however was a deep red.        

  “I’m sorry.” Sabrina was suddenly next to me. She seemed to have the tendency to appear out of nowhere.

  I realized my eyes were tearing and I hastily wiped them out with my arm. I didn’t even need to look back at my younger self to feel his pain.

  Slowly, the pain and despair turned to a sense of determination and anger. The will to escape was so strong now that nothing would stop him.     

  I was alive! A living creature! I would never allow them to continue treating me like a lifeless object! I had a mind like theirs! Once the time was right…

  The humans watching me never suspected I was doing the same. Slowly learning everything I needed to know. They all seemed surprised at how quickly I learnt and how easily I passed all their stupid tests.

  “This was how you gathered up the knowledge to escape.” Sabrina commented.

  I nodded.  

The scene in front of us changed. Now we were watching a replay of that fateful night. The one where the drunken guard had gotten a little too close to my cage, enough for me to drive my claws thought his back. He went down without a sound.

  In the darkness, my younger self reached out with his claws. Twisting and stretching until he reached the numerical lock outside. He pushed the keys he’d seen the humans press so many times. The door swung open.

  The time is now!

  As silently as the night itself, he moved towards the laboratory door… 

  “This is it,” I said, “I never got past this part before…” 

  I fell into step behind the image of my younger counterpart. Waited as he listened for any sounds. Then, slowly, reached his mouth for the door knob… 

 

 

 

 

Alugard

  “Gragh! Watch it!”  

  The Machamp mechanic waved a ‘sorry boss!’ gesture. He was supposed to be repairing my damaged wing and had somehow managed to hit the side of my head with one of his tools. Four arms and no brains. On any other day, I would’ve thrown him halfway to China. This time, I was just too tired.

  <Seems they got ya pretty bad boss, > he spoke for the first time in a while, <Ya shouldn’t have gone off alone like we suggested. >  

  “My bad.” I muttered, too tired to come up with an argument.   

  <Well, look at it this way boss, least ya kid takes after you. > 

  “Humph.”

  Not the sharpest tool in the shack, but perhaps he had a point. 

  “Did you sent Stormwind and Firefly out on their mission?” I queried.

  <Just, as ya wanted boss. > 

  “Good.” I closed my eyes and leaned back against the workbench.

  These were just part of our merry little band.

  An image happened to come into my mind. It was myself, back in the undersea lab as the humans dragged my cage away. Separating my son form me, completely messing up the plans we’d set into motion long ago, one which had been prophesied for even longer. 

  I frowned.

  The future is not fixed until the moment we live it. I’d learnt that the hard way. It had been my own fault too, I’d been too careless, but that’s another story. Form then on, I knew things wouldn’t be going exactly according to plan. It was my challenge then, to steer the matter to my favor.  

  I’d been careful in choosing my allies. Since the time they’d taken me away from the lab, I’d been forced to fight under Team Rocket. 15 years, I’d spent there. Planning, watching, waiting. 

  Secrecy, vicious fights, ill treatment…all these qualities built perfect allies out of other Pokemon. I met many who had a distinct hatred for their human masters, and it was a simple feat to win their allegiance. Of course, I had to choose those with at least some form of intelligence. 

  Stormwind and Firefly had been the first two. The sole unique weapon, besides my intelligence, I had was the power of a dark aura, the ‘Will of Shadows’, the ability to instill knowledge in other beings, influence their actions and to a certain extent bend them to my will. It was one of the eight Forbidden Skills of Kaiser.

  But the basic ingredient was the hatred, the darkness and the thoughts of revenge that all of them carried. That was what drove them on. And that was all the assurance I needed.   

  There was a lot more I could tell you. Who I truly am, what I truly am, why, how, what happened…however, even I am not spared from ordeals of both physical and mental exhaustion.

  Damm, I’m talking to myself again…

  Sleep finally stole my consciousness away.              

 

 

 

 

Kris

  “Excellent,” Gary said, snapping his fingers. The girls started doing a little cheer for him.

  “Hey ladies,” Jade’s camera was in his hand, “gimme some smiles!”

  “Wow!”

  “OOOOOHHHHHH!”

  The girls squealed in delight and pulled poses as Jade snapped shots from every possible angle.    

  (Everyone else sweatdrops.)   

  “Why I let him tag along, I have no idea.” I said quietly.

  Meanwhile, Gary had already thrown a Pokeball.

  “Go Arcanine!”

  The wolf like fire Pokemon materialized in a flash of light, growling menacingly.

  “Then we fight fire with fire. Firestorm, flamethrower!”

  My Charizard unleashed the devastating fire attack. Arcanine held its ground, fiercely braving the flames as it dug its claws into the ground. It was still standing after that.

  “Return fire!” Gary yelled.

  “Show em’ how tough you are!” I shouted.

  Now it was Firestorm’s turn to face the fire. Holding his claws in front of him, he grasped the flames in a way only a fire type could. The force of the attack was pushing him back, leaving tracks made by his claws in the dirt. Finally, he let himself fall backwards, tossing the flames harmlessly into the sky. 

  “You OK?”

  Firestorm rolled to his feet and gave a thumbs-up.

  “It managed to stand against that?!” Gary muttered.

  “That and more. Earthquake, now!”

  The Charizard drove his fist into the floor, violently shaking the surroundings.

  “Jump!”

  Arcanine leapt into the air, evading the ground attack.

  “Now, Take down!”

  “Fly, quickly!”

  By the time Arcanine landed on the spot, Firestorm was already in the air.

  “Dragon Rage!” I ordered.

  “Arcanine, go after em’! Don’t let him use it!”

  With a roar, Arcanine leapt into the air after Firestorm. Firestorm ended up letting loose the attack at point blank range, the blast heavily damaging his opponent. However, the back blast from his own attack did not do too well for him either.

  Both combatants hit the ground hard, then slowly pulled themselves up. Neither was defeated…yet.

  Then it happened that both of us got the same idea at the same time.

  “Skull Bash!”

  Considering Firestorm’s head was probably spinning right now, he probably couldn’t have seen was his opponent was doing. Apparently, the same applied to the Arcanine. Because both reared back, changed…and collided headlong.

  “Ouch.” Gary muttered, grimacing.  

  “Yeah, ouch.” I said dryly.

  Both Pokemon collapsed in a heap. Gary and I ran over to take a look.

  “Arcanine? You all right?” Gary looked up from his Pokemon. “It’s out cold.”

  “Same here.” I ran a hand across Firestorm’s scaly chest, then put him into a Pokeball. He wouldn’t be walking for the rest of the day. “Hmmm…a two way knock out. So, who shall we say won the day?” 

  “I’d call it a draw, for now at least.” Gary grinned and extended his hand. “Not many can do that to me.”

  “Then you’ve now got some competition.” I returned the smile, shaking his hand.

  “And say, where was that you people were headed again?”

  “Cerulean City.”

  “Cerulean eh? Well that’s now too far off. Tell ya what, how bout I give you a lift?”

  “You would?” Well, that was a stroke of good luck. “Sure.”

  “Since its not everyday I meet another trainer almost as good as I am.” Gary winked.

  “Well, watch where you put your feet, otherwise you just might trip and fall.” I told him, “Just a little piece of advice. Now…”

  Jade was still talking to the girls, only now he had a piece of paper in his hand.

  “OK, so this is your phone number, cell phone, e-mail….”

  I walked up to him and kicked him in the shin.

  “OOOOWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!”

 

 

 

 

Nightslice

  “We have to go! Now!” Sabrina had suddenly grabbed my arm and was dragging me away. It caught me by such complete surprise that I forgot to resist.

  “Wait! I need to know this!” I protested.

  We were back in the long, dark corridor, running.

  “Your enemies approach us, in the material realm!”   

  “Alugard? Dammit why now?!”

  I could see it now. The light at the end of the tunnel, where we’d first entered. Sabrina was a few steps ahead of me. We had almost reached the light when…  

  BOOM!

  My head hit the wall. I immediately shook it off and jumped to my feet. I was back. In the same room, in the gym. Only now part of a wall was blow open and Sabrina was lying over to one side.

  “I’m all right.” She answered my unasked question as she pulled herself up. “Alakazam…” 

  She rolled a Pokeball and let out the psychic Pokemon.

  “Help…him…ugh…”

  Then was when I noticed a small dart stuck in her arm. Alakazam used his telekinetic powers to remove it.

  <It’s some form of poison. > He told me telepathically. 

  BOOM! Another explosion shook the area.

  The psychic would be an excellent ally, however his trainer needed him more right now.

  “Think you can take care of her?” I asked.

  He nodded.

  <Beware, your opposition is strong. > He gave a final warning. Holding onto the gym leader, he teleported away.   

  I somersaulted through the hole in the wall and landed outside, assuming a battle stance. I immediately noticed that it wasn’t Alugard. It was instead, a couple of fliers. Peering more closely, I made them out to be a Fearow and a Pidegot.   

  These two were different. Not completely robotic, not even partially like Alugard. The only odd thing was some tubing strapped beneath each of their wings. Yet, I somehow felt something. They were with Alugard, I knew it immediately.

  So, he hadn’t been lying when he talked about a ‘we’. 

  I saw them release something from those tubes. Only when an explosion occurred immediately thereafter did I realize it. Those tubes carried some miniature bombs. They were like the missiles located beneath a fighter jet’s wings.

  Some of the junior trainers that had been putting up a fight were now running for cover, together with their Pokemon. That scene just made me really mad.

  So they want to play, do they?  Well, I’ll show them!

  <Hey you bastards! > I shouted in my own language, <You wanted me, right? Come and get some! >

  Each one gave me some menacing stares before completely abandoning their attack on the gym and coming straight for me.

  I was cursing my own hotheaded nature for practically tossing the element of surprise out the window. That’s one thing with Firestorm and me. We’re both wise-crackers at times, thinkers the next second and plain reckless at the worst of time. Not only that, the two flyers had an advantage over my bug-type element.

  Distracted by my own thoughts, I almost didn’t manage to dive away as the birds dived bombed.    

  That was too close!        

  One made a turn and immediately came back. I dodged. 

  The second rose higher up and swooped down. That was the instant I landed after evading the first attack. As a result, I was ploughed into a nearby wall.  

  Ouch! Seems like they know how to work together. Now they’re double-teaming me. And I haven’t got Kris and the others around. 

  One thing most people think is that it’s the trainer’s job to simply go round barking out orders. One additional thing some do is watching our backs. Kris can usually see what we can’t, especially when we’re caught up in the frenzy of the fight. One thing I’ve learnt on the battlefield, if an ally tells you to do something, do it. It could save your life.  

  The Fearow was coming for me again. I timed myself and at the last possible instant, spun away and smacked his back, redirecting his force into the wall.

  The Pidegot, seeing his ally face first in the wall, launched a couple of his missiles at me. Using Swords Dance, I spun furiously, enough to create a small whirlwind and throw the missiles off course. Just my luck I ended up facing away from him.

  Obviously, that was a bad position to be in. I followed my instincts, turned around and Slashed downwards. The blow caught him as he was trying another dive bomb, smashing him into the floor.

  By now, the Fearow had recovered. He used a Fury Attack, coming to me with a series of fierce beak jabs. I avoided them with my Agility move, then used the momentum to spring up onto a lamppost.

  I charged and aimed a Wing Attack. The Fearow nailed me with a Drill Peck, straight to my chest. The Pidegot came back, and jumped onto me, using his body weight and momentum to shove me down. The Fearow joined in, and together, they pinned me down, face to the ground.

  One of them grasped his talon around the back of my neck. I could feel his powerful muscles tensing. It would only take one slight motion to snap my neck. Grimly, I closed my eyes and waited for the end.

  Instead, the Fearow leaned his head close to mine, and spoke.

  “A message from Alugard: this battle has only just begun. Remember that.”  

  It was in human speech, but didn’t sound natural; more like it had come through a microphone.

  Then they let go and disappeared almost immediately. Guess birds can go very fast when they want to.

  I was left lying there, not too badly injured, but with a major piece cut out of my ego. At that moment, I really wanted to go back into my Pokeball. Defeat was defeat, after all.

  I smacked the floor in frustration.                     

  

 

 

 

Jade

  It was dark by the time we got to our destination. After waving goodbye to other trainer, Gary, we headed straight for the Pokemon Center. Kris was now engaged in a conversation with Professor Oak.

  “Mount Moon eh? Well, people have been reporting sightings of all kinds of things from around there for years.” The Professor was saying, “However, I’m not even sure if half of it is even true.”

  “How about the more recent ones?” Kris asked.

  “Well, yes. It’s been enough to get a research team sent down there. But from what I’ve heard, the public access to the main passages is restricted at the moment.”

  “It couldn’t hurt to try and get a close up, right?” I asked. “If we’re away from where they are?”

  “I suppose not. Just try to stay out of trouble.” He cautioned.

  “Sure, we will.” I smiled.

  Both of us crossed our fingers behind our backs. 

  “Then again, you probably will anyway. No need to cross your fingers, friends. I was so much like that too when I was younger. Why did I ever tell you about the time I got into trouble with the police because I…” 

  “Erm, professor!” Kris waved her hand in front of the screen. “My phone bill! But anyway, thanks for sending Wartortle back. Look after Onix, OK?” 

  “Oh, sorry. I get carried away sometimes.”

  “And be sure to give my regards to your grandson, and Ash and company too.”

  “Definitely.” Prof. Oak replied. “Nice chatting with you, K…yargh!”  

  “Mmmuuukkkk!”

  Ash’s Muk had just done its favorite thing-- jumping onto the Professor.

  “Argh! Muk, get off me! Ow, my back! See you later, Kris and Jade!” 

  We were both laughing as Kris terminated the link.

  “Well, looks like we’re sleeping on the Pokemon Center couches again.” Kris remarked.

  “Better than the street, I suppose.” I replied. “And tomorrow?”

  “Same plan.”

  “Which means I get to hike up the mountain.”

  “With Firestorm. But don’t expect him to let you ride him.” Kris spun Firestorm’s Pokeball with a finger. “I’ll just let him stay in for tonight.”

  “It’s always me, isn’t it.” I sighed. “Oh well… ‘She’ll be coming round the mountain when she comes, she’ll be coming round the mountain when she comes…’  

  Kris obviously didn’t like my singing. I just don’t want to say what she did to me after that.

 

 

 

 

Nightslice

  “You feeling better now?”

  “Yeah, except for my pride.” I answered dryly.

  Night had fallen and I found myself leading against the wall of Sabrina’s hospital room. Alakazam was there too, just for safety reasons.

  Fortunately, the poison hadn’t gone too deep. The gym leader was in no life-threatening situation, but she did need some rest. She’d gotten a bunch of visitors earlier on, mostly her junior trainers her parents and the police.

  The police were onto the situation, but I doubted they would find anything. Sabrina hadn’t mentioned any of our personal secrets and I was just her Pokemon as far as they were concerned. Her dad had taken charge of the gym, but I felt people were going to be winning quite a few Marsh Badges now.

  “I’m sorry.” I said, “I feel that your injury was my fault…”

  “Don’t say that,” Sabrina made an effort to sit up, “evil will always exist. But if those who can go against it won’t, then who will? Believe me, there was a time when I was a bad person too…” she let it trail off. “Although that’s behind me now, I still feel that I must redeem myself. If I wanted to stay out of trouble, I certainly wouldn’t have offered to stand by your side.”  

  “….” I wanted to say something, but simply nothing came out.

  “There is another thing,” Sabrina said, “remember when I said that we had to go?”

  “Yes.”

  “What I needed to do was break our links to the past, in your memories.”

  “And?”

  “I succeeded for myself, but for you, I fear I might have left at least one link…”     

  “Wait a sec, I don’t understand.”

  “That means…”

  I suddenly felt very dizzy. My entire vision was spinning a full 180 degrees. I felt cold sweat breaking out.

  “Hey, are you…”

  I didn’t hear anything else she said. The last thing I was aware of was myself collapsing onto the floor.

 

 

 

   

??????

  As usual, they left no guards around. But tonight was different. Tonight, was liberation….

  As for every night, I was chained and shackled to the metallic ‘bed’. They’d chosen their spots well: around my neck, jaws, body, wrists, ankles and tail. My head was placed flat against the ‘bed’, with my chin in the air. That mean I would not be able to see a thing I was doing.

  Normally, escape would be all but an illusion. Even the slightest movement was out of the question. This time, I’d done the impossible. In between all those test schedules and training, I’d managed to get some grease onto my body. Namely, at my wrists, waist and tail.

  I’d spent years watching and slowly learning. My only goal was to be free of the human masters who’d kept me captive here for no reason I could understand.        

  I knew where to release controls were. I knew the code too. It was just a matter of reaching it. The 9 digit pad was located just above where my right claw was shackled to…almost as if to mock me.

  That’s what the grease was for. So that I could squeeze my tail, body, then claw up just enough to hit the keys.

  For hours I toiled, focused only on the single, excruciating task I had brought upon myself. Micrometers at a time, I twisted and shoved, pushing my body, straining my muscles, challenging the laws of physics.

  An eternity seemed to pass, but finally, I hit the four buttons required.

  CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!

  Those were the most delightful sounds I’d ever heard. Each and every one of the shackles came loose.

  Immediately, I jumped off and flexed my muscles. I was bleeding, having torn the skin and scales at certain places, especially my wrist and exhausted too. However, I had no time to lose.

  The light from the flames on the tip of my tail illuminated the room enough for me to see the door. I walked up to in and turned the knob, as I’d seen them do it so many times before.

  The passage outside was clear. I cautiously stepped out…and crashed right into another Pokemon emerging from the room opposite mine. I’d seen a few of its kind around before. Green, like a mantis crossed with a dragon, with a pair of deadly looking swords for hands.

  Scyther, I think. That’s what the humans called it.

  <Whose side are you on? > I growled, realizing that he could still be an enemy. It was almost too good to be true. 

  <The side that lives. > Was his grim reply.

  With that, he headed for the nearest elevator. Without another word, nor a single doubt in my mind, I followed my new comrade.

  Together, we were going to escape…or die trying.           

 

 

 

 

??????

  I wonder why I let him follow me.

  That lizard with the flame at the end of his tail. 

  My first thought was that he could quite easily become a liability. A few moments later, I was forced to change my opinion. He made it a point to walk quietly, without even so much as a click of his claws against the metal flooring. He too, kept looking up, wary in the security cameras located at various intervals. Considering he had made it this far by himself, he deserved a chance.

  Our trip to the first elevator was uneventful. This one only served the B levels and floor 1, and would take us only as far as that. We had to seek out another that would finally bring us to the world above.

  If I remembered correctly, this level was B7. B10 was the lowest level, and the ‘power generator’ room. I had managed to figure out it was important, but little else. I hit the ‘up’ button and watched the lights blink as the elevator moved.

  I tapped my ally and gestured to ceiling. For safety, it was a good idea to stay up there, just in case the elevator was occupied. I flew up and braced myself against the ‘L’-shaped corner, pressing my feet against each one. He jumped up and did the same.

  A pair of human guards emerged, chatting casually. We took the opportunity to jump down and knock them both out cold. The fools never knew what hit them. Neither would they be going anywhere for a while.  

  We got in and I hit the highest button. The doors silently closed and we watched the blinking lights as the elevator rose.

  For a moment, I shifted my gaze towards him. He did likewise.

  Nothing was said. Just the looks on our faces conveyed feelings indescribable by any words I knew.

  Fate has smiled broadly on us today.

       

 

 

 

Firestorm

  “Awake at least, sleeping beauty?” Jade taunted, “Man, you’d make it really easy for a knight to rescue the princess."

  “Ah, shut up.” I moaned.  

  This was weird. I’d gotten some pretty long hours of rest and yet, my body seemed to be aching all over. There wasn’t a single sign of exhaustion on my body, like it was all in my mind.

  But that would be rather dumb. Then I remembered!

  “Oh yeah, I just had the weirdest dream last night.” 

  Kris was coming towards us now, tucking her cell phone into her pocket. Jade waved his hands to get me to lower my volume. After all, we were in a Pokemon center.  

  “I was this Charmeleon, see, sometimes at least. You know, some parts I was actually him, some parts I was looking from a third person perspective, like a video game. Guess I’m not making any sense, huh? You know how dreams are, all weird and stuff.”  

  “Go on.” Kris urged. That seemed to have aroused her curiosity. “Just tell us what you remember.”

  “Erm…well…he broke out of some kind of prison of something, in the middle of a laboratory. Then he met up with this Scyther. And the two of them were sneaking around, busting up some guards and then they went into some large elevator. That’s all…”

  “Was it like the lab we all know?”

  “Geez…I’m not sure…”

  “I know it’s just a dream, but it seems almost too coincidental.” Jade said, his light mood darkening a little.

  Kris dragged us to a corner of the room where we’d attract less attention. 

  “I was talking to Sabrina just now,” she whispered, “Seems Nightslice and her had a little run-in with some of Alugard’s guys.”   

  “So he does have allies,” I muttered, “I suspected that even he could not accomplish the feats he did on his own.”

  “The two of them OK?” Jade asked.

  “Both got a little whacked around. Sabrina’s in the hospital, but it’s nothing serious. As for Nightslice,” she paused to catch a breath, “he’s unconscious now and Sabrina says that there might be a problem.”

  “Problem? What problem?” I asked, worried. There’s some sort of a ‘love-hate’ relationship between us and as much as I ‘hate’ the fellow, I just can’t stand to see anything bad happen to him either.  

  “She wasn’t really sure either and she’s certainly in no condition to look into it. But it was something about forming a link for their conscious minds to travel back into Nightslice’s memories. When the attack came, she wasn’t able to completely break the link that joined Nightslice’s mind to his past.”

  “So?”

  “This is the part she doesn’t know, since it’s never happened before. However, this is her guess. Imagine that link is this rubber band.” Kris pulled a rubber band out of her pocket and stretched it between her two thumbs. “If I hold it tightly, it’s not gonna move. But,” she moved one end up. The rubber band slipped off one thumb and snapped back onto the other. “it can slip if I hold it loosely.”     

  “I see what she’s getting at.” Jade continued, “It’s like his mind could be randomly snapped back to the past at any time.”

  “Then…how about me? Was that his past I saw?” I didn’t think I was really following.

  “Remember Nightslice has a lot of hidden powers we and even he himself don’t know about. He could be unconsciously activating them without knowing. Sabrina suspects that it could cause some sort of unpredictable reaction to occur. Like maybe affecting those close to him, or at least someone who was there too.”

  “….”

  “Hey storm, does it mean…” Jade started to ask.

  “Don’t know.” I cut him short. “Team Rocket took me when I was an egg. I was hatched and raised there. I know it.”

  But that was always an assumption. You don’t know that for sure, right? My inner voice was arguing, Maybe, just maybe…

  “Firestorm…”

  Kris put a hand on my shoulder. 

  “What’s our next course of action?” I asked, trying to change the subject.

  I was beginning to feel that for every answer we got, two more questions would pop up in its place.

  “There’s nothing we can do for Sabrina or Nightslice now, so we’ll just carry on with our original plans.” Kris decided.

  Jade nodded his approval. 

  Nothing much was said after that. Seemed like everyone needed time to think.

  So it ended up being a silent walk as our group split up with Kris heading to the local gym and the rest of us heading up the road to Mount Moon. 

 

 

 

 

Nightslice

  “Grrr…what the?!” I sprang up. The morning sun was gleaming down into my face.    

  <Take it easy and don’t over exert yourself. > Alakazam pushed me back down onto the couch.

  “What the heck was that?! That dream, it was too real to be just a dream.”

  “I was thinking that too. Especially when you suddenly blacked out like that.” It was Sabrina’s voice. She was sitting up in the hospital bed now. Apparently, I’d spent the night sleeping on the couch.    

  “This had something to do with my memories, right? That link or whatever you couldn’t break. So what’s this I’m experiencing?”

  “This might take a while…”

  “Try me.” I sighed inwardly. Another long explanation was coming right up.

  Darn, what I really want is more action right now.

 

 

 

 

Firestorm

  “No luck?” I asked as Jade came trudging back to our little hiding place in the bushes.

  “Nope, no way I could get past them.”

  “We’ll just have to settle for the small one then.”

  He’d just tried showing them his card, identifying himself as a member of the press, but the police offers stationed there wouldn’t let him into the ‘restricted’ area.

  It was mid afternoon now and we’d reached the base of Mount Moon. Jade had somehow managed to convince me to fly him part of the way there, which had saved us a whole lot of time. Still, we didn’t seem to be getting anywhere.

  The authorities had blocked off access to the trails leading to the main peaks of the mountain chain, where supposedly the UFOs had landed.  

  That left us with only a few of the smaller ones to explore. Mount Moon consisted of a series of interconnected underground tunnels, which ran for miles through the mountains themselves. Seeing the area as a favorite Pokemon catching spot to some, the more commonly used parts of the tunnels had been mapped out and several routes had been constructed through them.

  This served as a safe passage through the mountain as well as a ‘hunting trail’ that trainers could follow without fear of getting lost. Bolder ones could still follow the dirt road outside in the forest and find other passages just waiting to be explored.   

  We’d already spent some time searching through the mapped out routes that hadn’t been blocked off, however it had all been done in vain.      

  Jade took a drink from the water canister as we rested for while. Our hiding place had been well chosen, and we were able to clearly see the blocked main road, where the officers politely turned travelers away. Right now, we were watching the two officers repeating their act on a bunch of reporters with cameras.

  Then, something caught my eye. One man at the back of the group seemed to be slowly distancing himself from the group. With the police officers distracted they failed to notice him moving further and further away. Finally, he stepped briskly off the road and into the forest.

  “Looks like someone’s sneaking past.” Jade said, noticing the scene too.

  “Shhhhhh!” I whispered, keeping a close watch on the man.

  Something was very suspicious about this person. He carried neither camera nor any writing materials and was consistently looking in all directions, like his life mattered on not being seen. A police barrier had been set up throughout the forest close to the affected area with guards constantly patrolling the borders. If the fellow was thinking of sneaking in through the forest, he obviously had another thing coming.

  But wait, he was headed in our direction. And we were nowhere near the borders.

  “Hide!” Jade whispered.

  Fortunately, we had that covered. We’d chosen a spot under a tree with leaves of a slight orange color, close to than of my scales. I quickly squeezed my body under a pile of the orange leaves and allowed Jade to crawl under. Warping my wings around us, I tucked my tail under my body and curled up my neck as much as I could.

  We Charizards can stay very still if we want too and I added on to that effect my lowering my breathing rate. Only my eyes and nostrils were left exposed, but those were unlikely to be noticed unless closely examined.

  Ignoring the other sounds of the forest, I continued to listen for the footsteps of the man. They were coming closer and closer each second. I was beginning to wonder if he’d seen us.

  He came closer still and stopped. His boot came down…about two inches away from my muzzle.

  Fortunately, he hadn’t noticed us, but had stopped to check his watch. He took another look at the surroundings and started moving, more quickly now.    

  That had been rather intense, but at least I gotten a vital piece of info that confirmed my suspicions. 

  “That was close!” Jade gasped as I let him up.

  “I could’ve easily taken him out.” I muttered, “But just now, I managed to see through his shirt. He was wearing a black shirt with a big letter ‘R’ on it.”

  “Team Rocket?! What are they doing here?”

  “We have to find that out. And I bet they’ve got something to do with the ‘UFOs’ around here too.”

  “No kidding.” Jade agreed. “Can you get his scent? We’ve got to trail him!”

  I began sniffing. My nose isn’t as good as Jolteon’s, but it isn’t bad either.

  “Got it!” I cried triumphantly. “Just follow me.”      

  We ran along for a while until Jade noticed the way we were going.

  “This doesn’t lead anywhere to the main peaks. I think it goes to a smaller one nearby.”

  “That must’ve been Team Rocket’s idea to keep nosy travelers out of their way.”

  “Hmmm…hey, look!”

  Both of us dropped to the ground as we noticed our suspect up ahead. He took one final look around before disappearing into a partially concealed opening in the side of the mountain.

  Jade looked at me.

  “Let’s do it!” I declared.

  “Right!”

 “However, TURN OFF YOUR DAMMED CELL PHONE FIRST!”

  (Jade faints.)

 

 

 

  

Kris

  “Wartortle, skull bash!”

  Wartortle used the bottom of the pool as a spring board and shoved off it, hitting the Seaking from beneath and sending it flying up and onto the pool side floor.  

  “Seakingseakingseakning!” It flopped helplessly on the floor.  

  “Oh, return.” Daisy recalled the Pokemon.

  “Nice going sis,” Lily said, “You like totally lost that one big time.”

  “Well, you didn’t do any better with the Goldeen of yours!” Daisy yelled back.

  “OK, so it’s like my turn now?” Violet was jumping up and down, waving her hands, “Go Starmie!”

  And these three gym leaders are Misty’s sisters? Boy, she sure has a weird family.

  “Starmie, Water Gun!”

  That caught me a little off guard. Wartortle was knocked back into the pool’s wall.

  “Wartortle!” I jumped into the pool and pulled him to the surface. “You all right?” I asked, while treading water.

  He gave a soft moan.

  “You were great. Take a rest now, return.” He’d just fought two battles in a row, after all.

  I pulled myself back onto the floating platform.

  “Nice move,” I commented, “But I’m gonna bring out my really big guns now. I choose you, Gyarados!” 

  “RRRROOORRRRRR!!!!!!”

  “Oh wow!” the sisters exclaimed, “your Gyarados is so cute!”

  (Kris and Gyarados sweatdrop.)  

  “Cute…?” I staggered.

  Gyarados made a motion with his tail, which was basically equivalent to a human shrugging his shoulders.

  “But just because it’s cute doesn’t mean I’ll go easy on it.” Violet declared, “Starmie, Bubblebeam!”

  “Now you’re talking! Gyarados, Water Gun!” 

  The water attacks clashed, sending water spraying everywhere.

  “Use Tackle Starmie!”

  “Gyarados, Take Down attack!”

  Bang! Both Pokemon clashed, then moved back, slightly stunned.

  “Quick, Double Edge!”

  “Gyarados, dive under water!”

  Gyarados reacted swiftly, avoiding Starmie’s attack, but at the same time stirring up a huge wave that upset my balance and sent me into the water again.

  Let’s face it, I’ll never be a good surfer.

  “Use your Hyper Beam!” I called from the water.

  Gyarados rose and begun charging the attack.

  “No way! Starmie, use your Hyper Beam!”

  The two powerful beams clashed for a while. Gyarados eventually won, it’s beam being more powerful and cutting though that of his opponent’s. Starmie hit the wall with a dull thud and its energy crystal begun flashing.

  “Total bummer.” Violet moaned.

  The battle was over.

  Daisy came over and helped me out of the pool.

  “You battle technique was like, way cool Kris.” She smiled, “But you’re all wet too. Here.”

  She put a towel into my hands, together with the Cascade Badge. I was glad that I had the sense to take my jacket off before stepping onto the platform.

  Behind us, her sisters were excitedly patting my Gyarados. And he seemed to be enjoying the attention too. 

  “Running a little late, are you?” Daisy asked, “Most other trainers, like passed by here a long time ago.”

  “Nah, I just don’t go the same way everyone else does.” I added the badge to the inside of my jacket, bringing the number up to five.”

  “Cool. Anyways, it was awesome meeting you Kris.” Daisy and I shook hands.

  “Yeah, you guys too.”

  “Be sure to, like come back and battle us again some day.”

  “Guaranteed.”

  “Oh, oh!” Lily and Violet called out, “And be sure to tell that bratty sis Misty of ours that we’d said ‘hi’. And say ‘hi’ to her boyfriend too!”

  I had a good laugh.  

 

 

 

 

Alugard

 

Accessing Pokemon transfer system database…

Processing…Please wait…

System online…

Connection established…

Please enter user name and password:

 

User name: <Darksword74>

Password: <*********>

 

…Checking…validating…

Warning…invalid user name or password.

Access denied.

 

D:\> Override_exe.

 

...Checking… 

Emergency firewall…off

User data…off

Security System…off

Access granted.

 

D:\> Download: final_obj. 

 

Downloading…100%…Complete.

 

C:\> final_obj.exe

 

Checking…Program will be executed. <Y/N? >

 

Y

 

Executing…100%…Downloading…100%.

Transfer complete.

 

  “There,” I looked up from the computer screen, “pathetic excuse for a security system.” With my robotic right hand, I carefully pulled the CD out and stored it. “You’re gonna get a real big surprise out of this…” 

  A dark grim crept across my face. Indeed they would…