I shuffled around Ecruteak city, Pol sitting on my shoulder and Jay tagging along behind. I’d left Hades at the Pokčmon centre to recover from his Mechyena-inflicted wounds and we were now ‘checking out the sights’ at Nurse Joy’s suggestion.

Somehow, I’ve always acquainted the word ‘sights’ when stuck on the end of ‘checking out the’ as something less than ordinary; eye grabbing, you know? So far, Ecruteak was beating that ideal deep into the ground.

    I came to a stop outside a small Oriental-styled building, shifting Pol’s weight on my shoulder, and waited for Jay to catch up. The house was fairly small (in Malmarsh standards, that is) but it still managed to obtain the ‘largest building award’ in the town, aside from those towers I’d glimpsed as we’d hurried to the Pokčmon centre on the way in.
    Like the other scattered structures, this one included dark wooden walls, a Sudowoodo-shaped tree out front and a grey metal roof adorned with Gyarados heads at every corner and ribbed with carved scales. I was practically certain that one of those roofs was going to squish the flimsy wooden frame of a house supporting it and couldn’t help but flinch back whenever the wind picked up. So far, however, the boxes had stood strong.

    Flicking a powder blue feather - courtesy of my shoulder-roosting companion - from my forearm I gave an impatient sigh and glared at the top of the slowly advancing Jay‘s head. He had his nose buried in an ‘Ecruteak: the town for fun, enjoyment and a sprinkle of mysterious history’ tourist guide he’d picked up at the Pokčmon centre, its once colourful and glossy pages now faded and dull.

    “And?” I inquired impatiently once he was close enough to hear, gesturing with a thumb to the building behind me, “What’s this meant to be?”
He flipped over the guide and squinted at a page obscured from my view, eyebrows drawing together as he intensified his search. The damn guide had every single place noted in it, even poor helpless people’s homes, so it would be there. The challenge was to find-
    “Dancing hall.” Jay suddenly erupted, finally removing the guide from its stuck-to-nose position and actually looking around the place.
He frowned, seeing how deserted this ‘dancing hall’ was.
“The guide says there’s a queue right to the edge of town to see the geisha girls dance, even on the best of days.” He whined, “I don’t see it!”
    I snarled and snatched the expensive-looking colour print from his frantically clutching hands, flipping through the slippery pages until I found my prize.
“ ‘Printed at Goldenrod Printing co., 1997.’ “I quoted, stabbing an accusing finger at the small white print in its bright green surround, “You don’t seriously expect this to still be reliable, do you?”
    Jay snatched it back, holding it protectively to his chest.
“Some of the information has to be right!” He snapped defensively, “Like this,” He gestured to an article headed with a photo of a blackened tower (but focused on the fence out front) and the words ‘burnt tower’ printed in the flowing computer equivalent of cursive.
“Wow,” I muttered sarcastically, “It’s a tower. And it’s burnt! That’s gotta be a bonus.”

    My male companion ignored my comment, pushing past me in the direction of the treacherous Route 38 with the guide held out proudly in front. After thinking for a second I followed; what else was there to do around here anyway? The burnt tower wasn’t that far away, and as we passed the gap in the town’s leafy walls Polienix shivered slightly on my shoulder. Her mother’s death was obviously still playing heavy on her mind as she hadn’t said a thing since we’d arrived in Ecruteak. To tell the truth, I didn’t blame her.

    I was too busy wondering exactly what was going on in Pol’s mind to realise Jay had stopped, nearly trampling the guy before I noticed. Before us towered a huge structure, an ominous black shadow against the calm clear blue of the late summer sky. The top levels had been either hollowed out or destroyed by flames long since extinguished, all that remained of the upper floors charred skeletons of their former selves. There was something about that tower, something… powerful, perhaps. Either way, that boring old ruin drew my attention like a magnet. Now this was a ‘sight worth seeing’. I actually wanted to go in there.
    I left Jay to his triumphant smirk as I strode up to the doorway, only to find a crooked sign born by a dusty chain blocking my entrance. With a scowl I crouched down to read it, Polienix lending a helpful wing as she wiped away the thin layer of road grit and dust.

It read in block capitals.

Underneath, scribbled on as an afterthought was written ‘as of 6-10-01’.

   I bit the inside of my lip, no matter the ‘health and safety reasons’ I really wanted to go in there. Not only did it hold some strange appeal but the alternative was the continuation of Jay’s out-of-date tour! Raise your hand if you’d choose that!
    Before my unwanted tour guide could pop up behind me and read the sign I grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him under the chain and inside, giving him a look I hoped said ‘no complaining!’. Internally the tower was shadowed and musty, the thin shafts of light that sliced through holes in the upper floor being the only form of illumination. The floor was made of thick wooden boards, scarred by the shuffling feet that had once pounded them daily.
    The walls, however, were still smooth, some of the lower wood still clinging to the remains of glass-like varnish. Despite that, burnt tower was in a serious case of disrepair. Well, I guess you’re thinking: it was mostly destroyed by fire, what d’you expect? Well, not this. The fire had only ever reached the upper levels and the most damage it had done to the ground floor was melt the varnish on parts of the walls nearest the ceiling. However, there were huge gaping holes in the floor! I could actually see splotches of the rocky basement through them from where I was standing at the exit.

    “Well, I guess we know why there are health and safety reasons now.” Polienix noted quietly.
“Health and safety reasons?” Jay cried, his bluey-green eyes flicking from Polienix to me, “What’re we doing in here if there’re health and safety reasons not too?!”
I was about to respond when a huge shadow blocked the light, leaving the three of us bathed in darkness. Before I could so much as turn all the way around to face whatever it was in the doorway a heavy fist had grabbed me by the back of my shirt and hefted both Jay and myself from the ground, our sleeves digging into our armpits.
    As quickly as we were up we were down on our behinds in the dirt, Polienix lifting off my shoulder and fluttering above us in the air while a man with the widest shoulders I’d ever seen glared down at us. He was clothed in standard guard clothing; black trousers, white shirt hidden by a black blazer done up the front to the collarbone by a series of obsidian buttons, and a grey tie around his neck. His red hair was cropped short up the sides, a little longer on the top, and the Johto league insignia was emblazoned over his left breast.

    “What do you think you’re doing?” he demanded in a definite Violet city accent, “This is a restricted area!”
Jay and I could only blink foolishly, a nervous laugh sliding its way from my mouth before I could do anything about it. The guard’s eyes flashed angrily at me, his bushy eyebrows pulled so close together they were practically blending.
“This is not a laughing matter!” he snapped, “You kids might think this some big joke but it’s dangerous in there. Now scat! If I see you ‘round here again it’ll be big trouble!”
    Giving the guy hasty nods we stumbled onto our feet and took off at a dead run, coming to a sliding stop only when we’d reached the door of the Pokčmon centre.
“Like… we really… needed telling…” Jay gasped about the guard’s orders, “We’d be… nuts… to go back there!”
    I nodded in agreement as Pol landed on the roof of the ‘centre, but inside I was already planning. That tower was more than just a reject tourist attraction. It had secrets, damn big ones from the way my intuition was raging inside me, and I was going to be the one to find them out.

After all, what was the worst thing that could happen?

    The alarm set beside my bed went off at one o’clock sharp, pulling me straight out of a fairly stupid dream involving capturing small lunch cheeses in Pokčballs. The clock was a gaudy thing, made of cheap and nasty orange plastic trimmed with bright purple. It emitted short sharp beeps at regular intervals, the red-lit digital display flashing madly like some sort of flustered Chinchou.
    I growled and slammed it off with a slightly lumpy pillow, cursing angrily as the strong silver light of a full moon shone insistently into my sleepy eyes. I scrubbed away the wet cement that begged my eyes to shut, ignoring the protesting snuffles Hades gave off as I moved beneath him. Being your standard Bad Dog he was sprawled across my legs, stubby tail beating the thin sheets whenever I so much as glanced in his direction.
    A quick shove to my dog Pokčmon freed my legs and I was up, the nylon carpet barely budging under my weight. Around me the room was a mass of grey shadows, the bed barely distinguishable from the cream carpets in the gloom. The only thing stopping me from tripping over my own feet was the pale moonlight and (one hopes) my own brain.

    Groping like a blind man across the bedside table and nearly knocking the clock from its precarious perch on the edge I finally gripped the durable handle of a heavy-duty torch, hefting its reassuring weight from stand to bed where it received a thorough sniffing from the resident puppy.
    I quickly tugged a thin grey fleece supplied by the last Pokčmon centre over my head, pulled on the combats from yesterday and rammed my feet into my shoes. The torch handle fit comfortably in my hand, my only weapon against the full arsenal of unseen objects darkness commanded. As quietly as possible I padded over to the door and eased it open into the absolute blackness of the hallway.
    With equal caution I inched it closed behind me and secured it with a click that seemed smothered by the dark, only to hear a little whine come from knee-level. Resisting the urge to slap my forehead I looked down, my eyes greeted by the vague outline of a small black canine form that had plopped itself down at my feet.

    I flung him my best glare, but there was no way> I was going to do the whole open-door-shove-dog-in-close-door routine, yet alone risk having him start yowling or whatever. As quietly as I could I patted my thigh in indication that he follow and made my way out of the Pokčmon centre. If it were any other town I’d have had to make up some excuse to get past the ever-there Joy or Chansey ready for emergencies but as it was this was Ecruteak. Joy and her assistants were no doubt long since bedded down.

    It was a lot brighter outside, no ceiling or walls stopping the clear moonlight from pouring over the ground in its full glory. Of course, there was much more room for shadows, but despite recent experiences I was becoming more and more at home in the night.
    Hades, his knife-like wounds stitched and one leg bandaged, trotted along beside me; his good behaviour surprising me like nothing else. Where was the scampering fiend that chased anything that moved? Where was the nipping, biting, chomping little monster I’d come to expect from him? Huh, not that I was exactly missing it. All in all, this was definitely a good change.

    It was a short walk to reach the Burnt tower, its skeleton-like form bursting out from above the tops of the small Ecruteakian houses when I’d walked no more than fifteen steps. I kept the little buildings between me and the forest, the soft hooting of a Hoot-hoot floating to my ears from the living barrier of vegetation. Through the big gaps between houses I caught sight of the flashes of a range of eyes illuminated by the moonlight, saw the swift rustling of leaves as different nocturnal Pokčmon dashed about the woods. Nothing big though. Nothing with metal joints and leering red eyes.
    The tower itself actually looked better in the night, rising like a structure of smooth black bones high into a sky pocked with twinkling stars. Our friendly neighbourhood guard was missing as well, just as I’d hoped. He’d probably gone home for a good night’s kip and I could hardly blame him. Must be boring, guarding a tower from non-existent tourists. Jay and I ‘breaking in’ was probably the most exciting thing to have happened to him recently.

    As I walked up to the entrance, ducking under the chain for the second time that day, Hades emitted a low growl from deep inside his throat. I looked back at him, eyes scouring the night for any signs of danger. But there was nothing, just Hades crouched low on the path growling at the air. I sighed and gestured for him to follow.
“Cummon, Chaos dog.”
    He didn’t move.
“I said, come on!”
The growl rose higher, the fur along his back raising in a straight line from nose to tail.
“Why don’t you lis-”
    I was cut off by a flash of movement shooting across in front of me. It - whatever it was - slammed hard into Hades’ flank, sending the puppy tumbling over onto his back. The thing landed itself on his stomach and legs, pulling back to strike. In the brief amount of time in which it was stationary, I got a glimpse of what this creature really was. At first glance I thought it might be a deranged Wavig (the water starter for the Janera league), but that idea was quickly dismissed. I couldn’t see its colouring through the gloom, but the large leathery wings that sprouted from its back were way too big to be a Wavig’s. They were huge, more than twice the size of the creature itself!
    Everything about this animal seemed out of proportion. Its tail was incredibly long and slender, snapping through the air like a bullwhip, and its muzzle went from wide to slender to rounded at the end. I took all this in to my system in half a second, leaving just enough time to notice the sparkling white teeth that were currently aimed at my Pokčmon’s exposed neck. I didn’t have time to think, to regret, to wonder about creature cruelty laws. All I saw was Hades, trapped; the creature, ready to strike; my own trainer shod foot, crashing into its exposed side.

    Our attacker let out a hiss like the air gushing from the mouth of a balloon, literally flying off Houndour and thudding onto the ground. I grounded my foot quickly, before I could lose my balance, and glared at whatever it was. Slowly it got back up; huge wings curving to lie limp against the ground as it got all four legs up underneath it. There was a definite draconic air around this monster, from the scales I could just about pick out in the moonlight to the stubbly ridge that ran down its back.
    Hades didn’t waste a second. He was up on his feet; lips peeling back to reveal long, yellowed canines as a heavy growl reverberated through his throat. His opponent returned the growl with its own hiss, one much different from the sound of surprise and pain it had let out before. No, this one was coloured with the dark tones of deep malice. As it hissed the dragon-creature folded its wings back up, raising itself onto its toes.

What happened next happened so fast I could barely blink.

    In a burst of speed this creature suddenly shot out to my left, leaving trails of itself behind it as it ran. It leapt, rolled, and flapped its wings into momentary flight before landing again to continue its run, never once losing any speed. It circled Hades and I until my Pokčmon’s eyes were rolling and I couldn’t tell after-image from enemy. This had to be agility, no doubt. Which meant this thing was a Pokčmon. Which meant I could battle it, as long as we kept the noise down.
    I blinked away nausea from the on-going move, steadying my spinning head with one hand.
‘Right. Battling.’
This would be my first proper fight, I realised. After all, Yanma vs. Polienix didn’t exactly last too long.
‘Hades, don’t fail me now.’ I thought.
    I slid my Pokčdex from my pocket and watched the screen. Apparently our opponent was moving too fast to be identified, as my ‘Dex sure couldn’t pick it up.
“Hades battle stats, display.” I instructed the little machine, remembering the manual I’d read while waiting for nightfall.
    With a flash of light and a small ‘clink’ the screen changed, displaying instead:

Hades (M) Lv.13
HP: MAX
Attacks:
Leer - Reduces opponent’s accuracy
Ember - A fire-bases attack. May burn opponent (10% success)
Roar - Scares opponent away; forces trainer to swap Pokčmon
Smog - A poison-based attack. May poison opponent (40% success)

    ‘Okay,’ I thought to myself, ‘Let’s do th-’
“Hades, NO!” I screeched, one hand grabbing and tearing at my hair while the other nearly broke my Pokčdex in half.
While I’d been fiddling about with my battle machine, Houndour had been creating battle plans of his own. He leapt forward! Straight into the path of the oncoming… uh, thing!
    The other creature broke sharply, trying to spread its wings to slow its flight, but it was going too fast. The two Pokčmon smashed together, bouncing apart on collision to land about three metres each from where they’d collided.
I leapt to my dog Pokčmon’s aid, “Hades? Hades, you stupid dog! What did you think you were doing?!”
    He let out a low whine and stumbled up, flinching noticeably as his wounded leg made contact with the ground. I frowned, great, go out in the middle of the night in an attempt to go someplace I wasn’t allowed to, get Pokčmon hurt, get other Pokčmon hurt… Other Pokčmon? I glanced over my shoulder to see the extent of the damage that thing had received.

   To my surprise it was scrabbling to get up, claws scratching at the ground as it hauled itself to its feet. It stood there, sides heaving as it gasped for air, for a few seconds before pulling its gaze from the ground to catch that of my own. I can say one ting: that thing was NOT happy. In fact, it looked positively furious. Foaming at the mouth type mad. Except for one difference - this Pokčmon wasn’t foaming at the mouth. It was sparking along the body.
    My mind instantly made that connection. Sparks = electric type = electric shocks = heart palpitations = heart attacks = pain = death. Square that and divide it by pi and what do you get?
“RUN!” I yelped, any fear of being caught by our friend the Johto league guard fleeing my mind in the face of the ugly word equation I’d just come across.
    Grabbing Hades under his front legs I hauled him up into my arms and legged it, fleeing full tilt away from the thing… and up towards Burnt tower. It turned! It followed! With the most graceful leap I could muster while my arms were full of puppy I cleared the chain, my toe just catching the top of the sign and sending it jolting jerkily on its chain.
    It was pretty tough going once I got inside. The fairly obvious fact was that the floor was less than complete and any wrong step could send me tumbling down and down, down into the foundations of the place. For some reason, I didn’t fancy that one much. But still, that evil little thing was right on my heels, lightning bolts leaping about its scaled flesh as its small clawed hands thundered against the dirt.

    The stairs were right in front of me, within jumping distance! I got ready to launch myself, a silent clock in my brain ticking away the milliseconds before I had to fire my muscles and leap…
SNAP!
My harasser’s jaws! Twin rows of razor-sharp teeth cut easily through the hem of my shirt, pulling me back and setting me off balance.
    “Woah!” I cried, risking a glance over my shoulder.
My eyes met the glinting golden orbs of the draconic Pokčmon and I decided it was time to haul serious butt. With every once of strength I could muster, I yanked myself free, leaving a good sized hunk of cloth behind, and leapt up the stairs, taking two steps at a time. I stopped at the top and turned around, just in time to see the very tip of a long, bullwhip tail disappear away.

    With a sigh of relief I let Hades down onto the charred-black floor, removed the heavy-duty torch from its position hanging from my wrist by its handle and grabbed my Pokčdex from my pocket. Leaning my head and arm out a gaping hole in the wall, I trained the dex’s sensor at the retreating form of the Pokčmon, just before it disappeared into the trees.
    “MYDRAL.” the Pokčdex informed me, “THE LITTLE DRAGON POKČMON. IT INHABITS WOODED AREAS CLOSE TO HUMAN CIVILIZATION SO AS TO GAIN POWER FROM ELECTRICITY LINES. KNOWN TO GO FOR PREY UP TO THREE TIMES THEIR SIZE, THESE POKČMON ALMOST ALWAYS HAVE BACKUP ON HAND.”
    “Great,” I muttered, more to myself than to Hades, who sat attentively with his head on one side.
“I guess I should be glad our little Mydral just so happened to be alone, huh?” I said to my companion, plopping down beside him on the floor and scratching him behind his velvety pointed ears.

    The ground was almost sandy, covered with tiny black particles that dug almost painfully into the palms of my hands. It was strange; I’d wished with all my being to get in here no matter what, but now I’d achieved that goal the urge inside of me still wasn’t ebbing. It was as if… as if I still hadn’t done what I was meant to, as strange as that sounded.
    Finally, when I was sure the after-effects of being chased through the night again had worn off, I got to my feet and flicked on my torch, the bright bulb bursting through the penetrating darkness and giving me a good look at the level of destruction on this floor. And I’ll tell you, it was an absolute wreck.
    Burnt and broken, the once-great structure resembled the inside of a cave, with walls scorched into a smooth and slightly curving shape. The black of the walls seemed to absorb my guiding beam of light, letting it free only when it travelled out of one of the holes where the fire has burnt through. I found myself once again wishing that the Burnt Tower guard was a heavy sleeper: with this powerful flashlight I was probably making the building he was meant to be guarding look like some sort of inland lighthouse.
    With that in mind, I flicked the bright yellow beam over the floor and committed the only gap and any imperfections to memory before turning it off. For a second all I saw was darkness and the moon out a break in the opposite wall but then my eyes started to adapt. Sure, my vision wasn’t as good unaided as it had been with the help of the light, but I wasn’t totally blind.

    Suddenly, a bone-chilling wail went up from the crowded mass of trees behind and below me. It dipped between high and low in pitch, the main sound accompanied by a strange rattling that reminded me of the sound given off by a rattlesnake’s tail, only deeper and louder. Another voice joined it; one much higher and lacking that same feeling of pure unbridled strength. I turned around to have a look out one of the fire-created ‘windows’ when…
    WHAM!
Collision! Something way bigger than the Mydral that had been chasing me earlier shot through the gap, its huge wingspan sending the tips of its wings slicing though the old wood of the tower. I saw an explosion of shattered wood, a head the length of my entire arm, teeth! Claws! A back-swept golden spike protruding from the back of a thick royal purple neck!
    And then I was falling, straight back through the single hole in the floor and leaving Hades behind. The air whistled past my ears as I hit the edge of the floor below with a shock of burning agony and then tumbled down through a smaller opening to the floor below. Ow. Pain.

    It was a nightmare come true. The surrounding area was pitch black, a darkness so thick it clogged up my throat and made my eyes strain themselves trying to see. I was sprawled out on my left side, the pain causing my flesh to pulse with each beat of my heart against the cold floor. Beneath my cheek the ground was even but rough, like some sort of stone. It hurt just to lie on it, but I wasn’t sure whether it was a good idea to move yet. The pain may have been proof that I still lived, but that was enough evidence, thank you very much.
    I managed to roll my eye up so I could see through the slash in the ceiling. Although none of the light seemed to penetrate that far, I could see Hades peering down anxiously at me. Whatever that thing that had hit me was, it had obviously left after the deed was done. If it hadn’t I was fairly sure that my Pokčmon would be a tasty Houndour sandwich by now.

    Slowly, carefully, I began to peel myself off the harsh stone of the floor. My body throbbed painfully from the fall as I sat up, leaning my back against something curved as I let cautious hands search my aching self from anything really bad. Although I detected several growing lumps under the surface of my skin - the worst situated on my left ankle - my hands came up dry: no blood.
    “Blasted thing.” I muttered about whatever had knocked me down here, searching blindly for my torch.
Finally my hands closed around the hard handle of the appliance and I got up into a kneeling position, ready to try my battered and bruised legs out-

    I stopped dead, a strange smelling breeze drifting in and out, in and out across my face. In and out, in and out, as rhythmical as the tide. Or something’s breath. Fear gripped me once again; the force of the intake and expulsion of air was heavy enough that it had to be something big. Something… huge. Perhaps even as big as Mechyena… But no, Mech’s breath had smelt of steel and the iron of blood, not like this. This was like nothing I’d ever smelt before, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t dangerous.

    I fumbled clumsily with the thick switch of the heavy torch, that strange heat billowing across my face in waves. Why wouldn’t the damn thing turn on?! In a bout of desperation I slammed it against my bent knee, hoping against all hope that I hadn’t just busted it permanently. To my short-lived relief it flickered on with a loud clunk, the powerful radiance of the heavy-duty bulb igniting everything in front of me in a flood of light.
    Flat metallic surfaces greeted my eyes, radiating out in jagged spikes that reflected the light of my torch straight back into my eyes. Huge shadows were cast as the harsh brilliance caught against the sharp contours of the mask-like surface, shadowed pits of oblivion glaring down at me from the centre of it all.
    The remaining luminance that had avoided being spent on this magnificent sight flitted across the knots and tangles of dark hair that hung behind, shifting slightly in the light breeze that wafted through the basement-like area we were in. With a rumbling growl this beast - this thing - leant forwards into the beam, angular predatory eyes appearing through the shadow and fixing hawk-like on my stock-still form.

    Despite being one of the most terrifying things I’d ever seen, outdoing Mech by a long way, I had to admit that this creature was magnificent. Now in the full beam of the light the yellows, reds and silvers of its face greeted my eyes perfectly. It reminded me somewhat of a lion, but at the same time of a dog or hyena.
    As I cringed back, shivering, it let out another rumble from its great throat. But I wasn’t quite as scared as I had been last time, because now it sounded much more benevolent than it had previously. It was almost as if it had realised I was just a petrified, hurt human girl who was utterly incapable of wounding it.
   I managed to force a tiny smile in the hope that it wouldn’t hurt me, but instead it just turned away and walked off to the centre of the basement, to a slightly higher area. I noticed that it limped on the left side and that its coat bore the burns of electricity. Along its right flank I glimpsed - or rather, didn’t glimpse - patches of missing fur stopping what remained from lying flat. Whatever this beast was, it had been in quite the fight. Maybe it had had a run-in with Mech too?

    No, looking at it again, I could see that this creature had far more power than Mechyena could even dream about… and that scared me even more. It meant that there had to be something stronger around and, while this one seemed fairly placid, I had no way of knowing that the other wasn’t.
    Gulping back what remained of my fear, I stood up completely and swept my torch light across the whole area. Hmm, rock, rock, rock, rock, rock, rock, big lion/hyena beast, rock, rock, rock, metal cylinder… Wait, what was that doing there?! I hobbled towards it, only to discover a forest of huge cylinders shining at me from behind it. In fact, they extended all the way around one side of the basement and I’d been leaning on one previously.
    I leant closer to one, ignoring the cries of protest from the bruised leg I was putting extra weight on, and ran my free hand over the smooth surface of the metal. The cylinder in question was only a few inches taller than I was, made of some form of steel or aluminium and plastered with a big green sticker.
“Potassium.” I read out loud, “Group one.”
   Another one behind it read caesium; another stated that it contained a batch of lithium; still another claimed that inside lay enough beryllium to blow up a good sized town when treated properly. I took a step back, letting the light wash over as many as possible as my eyes darted from one to another.
“However put these here was completely insane.” I muttered to myself, eyes full of disbelief.
These cylinders were chock full with the most reactive of chemicals containable. For example: caesium. High on the reactive list in group one. Mix it with water and you’ve got quite the explosion.

    I took a few steps back, but my foot caught on something. Looking down, I caught sight of a swath of what looked like purple cloth. Reaching down, I picked it up and held it up to see. It was there for maybe half a second before melting into a crystalline pool of water in my hand and dripping down onto the floor below. I shook my head, this place was strange, and turned on my heel… only to come face to face with the resident of this basement yet again. Its eyes narrowed and then…

WHOOSH!

    Raikou, Suicune and Entei sat together silently in the centre of their rock-and-earth home, needing no words to express to each other whatever they felt like. Entei, full of a lion’s pride and power, sat in the centre, Suicune to his right with all her aquatic wit and speed. To the left lay Raikou, the muscles under his thin golden pelt moving like water as he stretched.
    They sat and they conversed, seemingly oblivious to the presence of a fourteen year old girl who stood in plain sight to their left. Her blood-red hair was pulled back into a ponytail, amber eyes darting from legendary to legendary in curiosity, amazement and a tint of fear. She looked out of place in the dim light of the basement, almost as if the green light of a forest was coiled around her.
    Raven frowned, and opened her mouth to speak, when suddenly there was a loud scraping noise from the far wall as a boulder was wrenched aside. The three legendary dogs were gone in a flash, leaving only the ghostly girl standing there as a whole hoard of men and women poured into the area.

   They wore black or white uniforms of exactly the same style, with exactly the same red ‘R’ sewn across the front. They worked quickly, carrying huge canisters of different elements into the basement until one whole wall was completely covered. Then they left, aware of neither the trio hiding behind a small outcrop of rock nor the deeply confused girl standing right among them.
    She opened her mouth again, the horror of seeing someone run straight through her still hanging heavy in her mind, but then…

WHOOSH!

    The scene changed again. It was still inside the dreary basement, but now Entei found himself faced by both of his siblings, their eyes glowing with malevolent intent. The whole area was lit up with an eerie green light, the fire Pokčmon’s shadow lying long and dark along the floor. The others had no shadows. All they had was anger.
    And then, sparks flying from one while a frozen aura sprung up around the other, both sprung at their brother…

WHOOSH!

    I staggered, reeling from what I’d just seen. Entei regarded me solemnly, as if he’d just shared his greatest secret with me. His voice, if you could call it that, spread throughout the cavernous space, echoing off the walls. My siblings turned against me, he told me, but through no fault of their own. Thus they keep a place within me. There is an exit to your left. Leave, and know that Maeldren will not hurt you.
    I tried not to choke on my own amazement. A legendary? Talking to me?!
“Uh… thanks…” I managed, before hobbling away backwards, afraid to take my eyes off him.
I had a feeling that his words would haunt me for a while.

    After the claustrophobic darkness of the burnt tower basement it was a relief to get back up onto the ground floor, even if I was now chancing getting caught by either the Mydral or the other creature. Of course, Entei had said that Maeldren - whatever one of those was - wouldn’t hurt me. Maybe that extended to Mydral as well? Well, I could only hope.
    Switching off my torch to avoid attaching any extra attention, I scuttled out into the open, greeted by the tiny box houses of Ecruteak.
“Hades!” I hissed as loud as I dared, “Cummon chaos dog, let’s go!”
He didn’t come.
    With a groan, I headed back inside the building, but it was as dark, still and dead looking as always. After walking three complete circuits around the tower, I knew that he wasn’t there either. That left three other options: one, he was dead; two, he’d decided to go back to the Pokčmon centre without me; or, three, he was in the forest. The forest was closest so, trying to ignore the chill that ran up and down my arms from the wind that was picking up, I decided I’d have a look. I wouldn’t go too far, but I’d hardly be a good trainer if I gave up on my Pokčmon that easily.

    Gritting my teeth, I strode out into the forest, pushing aside stray branches that ripped at my ponytail as I moved forward.
“Right Ray,” I muttered darkly to myself, “No more night time exploring. Especially not in bloody forests!”
I hadn’t gone too far into the gloomy place when I came upon a single clearing, a clearing that housed a sight I certainly wasn’t expecting.
    Sprawled out across the ground lay our little Mydral friend, lying as stiff as a board with both wings outstretched from its sides. The reason for this stillness? The sharp teeth that were currently clamped around his purple-scaled neck might - just might - have been the reason. Houndour was standing there, his lips pulled back in the best snarl he could make while his mouth was full of Mydral neck. His eyes blazed with a perverse kind of joy as he looked up at me, his stumpy black tail swatting the air furiously behind him.
    “Alright!” I cried, “You’ve got ‘im, Hades!”
I was about to order a bite attack when my conscience caught up to me.
“Bi-” I cut myself off, “Er, use a… Let go of it and…”
What could I do? I could finish it for that Mydral right then with but a simple command to my Houndour, but would that be right? I could have Hades drop it and try for a Tackle attack, but I knew from experience that little dragon was literally lightning-fast. Maybe…

    Reaching into one of the big pockets of my black combats, I produced a red and white sphere. The ball grew in my hand and I gave Mydral a look. Its angular draconic eyes widened at the sight of the Pokčmon catching device.
“So,” I mused, “You know what it means to be captured, huh?”
    In reply the little dragon let out a stream of ferocious hisses, spits and the higher version of that wailing cry I had heard earlier, just before what I had guessed to be a Maeldren had shown up. I winced: the last thing I needed was for that thing to turn up even if Entei stuck to his word.
    Before Mydral could utter another call, I flung the ball at its head. It bounced on impact, momentarily stunning the creature, before emitting a stream of cerise light that absorbed Mydral out of his captor’s jaws. The Pokčball hit the ground with a heavy clunk and rocked back and forth, back and forth, back and forth…

    TSEEEEW! With a blinding flash the ball exploded open again and Mydral re-emerged, all swishing tail, blazing eyes and angry bolts of lightning.
“Maaaaaardriiiilllll!” it cried victoriously and leapt at me, fangs bared.
“Ack!” I yelped as its claws bit into my shoulders, its weight forcing me back into the moist humus that coated the ground.
    I managed to get my hands up in time to grab its upper and lower jaws and stop it from biting me, but Mydral’s talons still raked my skin, getting tangled and caught in my loose grey fleece. It let out another bawl and suddenly every muscle in my body convulsed. My head crashed back! My limbs flailed erratically, bashing painfully against rocks, ground and tree trunk alike.

    “DOUR!” In a flash of black, silver and ruddy orange Hades slammed into my attacker, the lightning bolts that rippled down his glossy coat doing little to no damage to my dog Pokčmon in his current enraged state. I managed to roll over enough to see both combatants land, Houndour’s claws digging deep into the earth as his muscles rippled like liquid steel beneath his coat. Even his bandaged leg seemed incapable of stopping him.
   Before Mydral could do anything Hades had landed a heavy headbutt attack into its gut, sending the electric dragon stumbling back in shock. As I watched on, the little puppy belched out a ring of flame around his body and charged his enemy again, sending it flying and burning simultaneously.
   With a pained yell it staggered back and fled into the surrounding undergrowth, one wing trailing at an odd angle and a few claws on its left paw nearly torn off. Smouldering and bleeding, it was gone.

    Immediately Hades was all over me, his big pink tongue lapping my face hysterically as I pulled myself to my knees. Every part of me ached; you know that feeling you get in your muscles when you run too hard and then stop dead?
“Good boy Hade.” I told him warmly, “You did a great job, yeah?”
He replied with a happy snuffle, bouncing up and down like a mad thing, before trotting a ways from me. Using a tree to support myself I stood and followed him out of the woods and back into town…

    Something to remember: Never wonder what the worst thing that could happen might be. Fate has a way of showing you how big its teeth are not long after…

   Oh ya, I've gotten quite a few e-mails from reviewers who are concerned about me. O_o I find this... very strange... that people can read into my own life through my fiction, but heck, some of you must be psychic. I am currently under a lot of stress (divorce papers coming through for my parents, my mum's boyfriend around all the freakin' time, my father getting his Japanese girlfriend pregnant with some half-breed bastard... wait, did I say that last bit out loud?) and it is starting to show. But I will say this: my writing is what keeps me sane. I know, I know, I may be overworking myself and adding to the stress with my forum obsession, but the forums keep me from burning out as well. I really appreciate that people care though. It's kinda... nice... to have you guys inquiring into whether I'm alright or not. Makes me feel... wanted, in a way. ^////^ I guess all I can say is mega thanks, it's people like you guys that make my life worth living (aside from the simple fact that I quite like being alive ^.~).

   Thank you to everyone, reviewer or otherwise, and I hope this chapter brought you some level of joy. It's the least I can do.