"See! I have the power of Earth at my beck and call!"

The crowd gasped unanimously as the stout man gestured violently at the ground; unflinching as it erupted before him in a spray of dirt. "The twelve prophets of the elements have this ability for a reason! We are to summon the ancient elemental powers of long ago, allowing this land to prosper as it did before our coming!"

Slowly his hands turned a vile brown colour as he whirled to face the crowd behind him. "Watch now as I create a vision with sheer elemental power!"

He shuddered as his hands shook with effort as slowly, brown spheres enfolded them. "Earth! I summon you now!"

The crowd hushed. A small child in the circle screamed shrilly. Behind the man rose a vast figure from the very ground.

The scream worked wonders for the inert crowd. They scattered almost instantly; most gathering up small children.

"Wha-what?!" the man gasped, letting go his power; and turned around slowly. His eyes met with the glowing, dark brown crystalline spheres of a dragon.

"You have summoned me," the dragon rumbled. "And so I am here. What would you have me do?"

The man gasped, his hand instinctively clutching at his Adam's apple, and stammered a reply. "I... I can't believe it! I did it! Would you grant me omnipotent elemental powers?"

The dragon's eyes flickered for a second; flashing with an unknown emotion, and then it chuckled, its long tongue smelling the air. "Th-th-thhhh... I can only grant you my Earth powers. But with them, you will be able to search for the others, and perhaps receive what you wish for. Do you accept?"

"Gladly!" came the quick reply.

"Go with my thanks," the brown creature replied, and raised a claw. Faster than the man's eye could follow, it whipped forward, embedding itself into his chest. "This is the power you craved so much."

"Yeeeeaaaaarrgh!" the human screamed, bucking and jerking as unthinkable amounts of energy coursed into his body; forming a repository around his heart.

"It is only unfortunate that your meagre size cannot handle a third of Earth power; let alone my strength. You summoned me for a price, which I have now paid. And thus I go free."

The man, his veins now clogged with dirt, flopped onto the dragon's hand, lifeless. The dragon flicked his talons with revulsion, allowing the dead human to fall onto the ground. Then, opening his broad wings, he launched himself from the ground, creating a fissure where he had stood.

A few kilometres away in a small house bordering the bushland, a girl reclined on her bed in the upstairs bedroom; reading silently. Her short brown hair, gathered loosely into a ponytail, was smoothed back impatiently as a rebellious strand fell loose onto her face.

Downstairs, an orange coloured Pokémon lay whining, its eyes fixed intently on the doorway outside. Suddenly it stood up, and started pacing urgently; grumbling in its throat.

"Aspen!"

The girl upstairs groaned as the voice of her father came from the kitchen downstairs, and closed the book reluctantly. "Yeah?"

"Come here for a second. Inferbern is acting strangely."

Walking downstairs, the girl Aspen noticed the worried look on her Pokémon's face immediately. "What's wrong, 'coal?"

"Ffrrrr..." it whined, gazing at her with pleading eyes and scratching at the front door.

Behind her, her little sister Briar followed. "Is Mum home yet?" she asked, and opened the front door.

Simultaneously, the rumbling grew to a high enough frequency for humans to hear. Aspen's father Sage jumped up instantly, and gathered Briar into his arms, heading for the doorway. "Where would your mother be now?"

Aspen thought quickly.

"Ah... it's only an hour's walk; so she may even be close to home now."

"Stay underneath this doorway and don't move from it." Sage ordered. "I'm going to get your mother, and it's very important I know where you'll be."

Briar nodded seriously; and then he was running, up the shaking garden stairs to the main street.

Briar looked up at Aspen; who was now cradling the snarling Pokémon in her arms. "Hold onto the door, Aspen!"

"I've sorta got them full at the moment," Aspen groaned; hefting Inferbern to one side and taking the doorway with her now-free arm. "You've been stealing extra food from the pantry; haven't you?"

With a half-guilty, half-defiant look on its face, Inferbern yapped and scrabbled in her arms; straining towards the road. Both the girls looked; then Briar screamed as the ever-widening rent in the earth came towards them. "Look at the neighbour's house!" she managed; before nearly falling over in gesturing madly.

The cause of the fissure was visible; a long brown serpentine shape with a vast wingspan. "A huge Pokémon is stomping it!" Briar continued.

Aspen snorted. "How could that be a Pokémon?!"

The fissure had nearly reached their garden-yard. Aspen took Briar's hand. "Let's get out of here!"

"But... dad said to-"

"I don't care; I mean, just look at the thing!"

She stepped away from the doorway onto the ground outside, dragging Briar behind her. Briar struggled stubbornly for a few seconds, and Aspen let go her hand with a huff. "Come on!"

"Aspen! Look! In the sky!"

"We don't have time!" Aspen yelled, annoyed, and turned; just in time to see her younger sister disappear in a big downwards flood of rocks and clumps of soil.

"Briar!" she shrieked, throwing herself towards the hole, ignoring the shaking. There was a flash of something across her line of vision; first a red-grey mishmash, then a flash of green. Then, light footfalls sounded behind her.

Briar's sobs resounded loudly in her ears, as Aspen stood up and turned yet again. A strange teenager held her young sister in a firm grip while three others stood tensely around her. "I win," smiled the one in red, and grinned at the one in green.

Aspen rushed to her sister without a word and hugged her closely, ignoring for a second all that was going on around her. Then she looked to the others. "Thanks."

"Sorry we weren't here beforehand. We were a bit delayed. Have you seen a green dragon anywhere?" one of them said.

Briar sniffed, most of her tears forgotten, and pointed across the road. "There's a brown one."

"Right," the other growled, and extended her wings. ("Wings?" thought Aspen curiously.) "Maybe this one will be a little more forthcoming." She flew quickly over and landed in front of the dragon.

"I'm Cedar," another said. "This is Robert, and Philippa; my other friend over there is Louisa."

Aspen looked over to where Louisa was dwarfed by the enormous brown shape. The earthquake subsided momentarily, until Louisa shouted something pointedly, and the dragon roared in contempt; bringing its large foot down heavily. "Go back to sleep? Th-th-thka! Human, it was your kind who wished to witness the true powers. And so I will not begrudge them!"

He roared to emphasise the point. When Louisa did not flinch, his hackles rose in dire warning and it was only a split second later than his mouth erupted with a gaseous brown flame that headed straight for the figure in front of him.

Louisa had tensed as she noticed the neck bristling; and leapt off the ground as he attacked. "Don't make me fight you!" she yelled angrily, and swept back in the air towards Aspen and the rest.

Now uninterrupted by Louisa, the dragon continued in his destruction of the house opposite Aspen's. "We have to get out of here," Aspen said, turning to Philippa. "Our parents are out there somewhere."

"But what's going to happen when mum and dad get back and we're not here?" Briar asked, looking to the house and the hole where she had taken a tumble.

Aspen laughed desperately. "I think once he's finished with the neighbour's house he might start on this one. And dad's belt is still inside. Can you guys wait here for a second and look out for our parents?"

She dashed inside, into the kitchen where she recovered her father's Pokéball belt, and then upstairs, grabbing her own.

Suddenly Briar was beside her. "Don't go into my room!" she growled as Aspen turned for her little sister's bed. "I can get my own stuff!"

Aspen rolled her eyes in reply, and then scanned her own room quickly for any other precious items she couldn't do without. There - her Pokédex, and over there on the bed was her Pokékit and her bag. That would have to do; she couldn't exactly take the computer from the other room.

Guess that might give us a good excuse to get one that isn't so prehistoric... she grinned, and grabbed a few random books of the shelves, stuffing them into her bag along with her other stuff.

Briar, meanwhile, was urgently sorting through her chest-of-drawers; tossing the clothes she wanted to bring onto the floor next to her. Aspen peeked in after slinging her bag on one shoulder and sighed. "Briar, you're hardly going to need a week's worth of clothing. If the worst comes to the worst, we can always salvage the stuff later!"

Briar was about to reply with a snide remark about how Aspen never cared about changing clothes, when she was interrupted by the voice of her father from the entrance of the shuddering house. "Come on you slackers!"

Briar was already seeing red after being hassled by Aspen, and she yelled back annoyed. "You always generalise! I'm almost nearly ready!"

Instead of being 'almost nearly ready', you're deciding whether to take the blue one or the green one... Aspen thought, and headed downstairs. "I'm coming dad!"

Rose, their mother, was beside Sage in the doorway. She hugged Aspen briefly as the teen went outside once more, and then looked upstairs to where Briar was still gathering items.

Louisa looked decidedly antsy when Aspen joined her and Philippa. "We don't have much time," she growled. "And that dragon is not happy with our continuing presence."

"I live here!" Aspen snorted, disbelieving. "I've lived here my whole life!"

Sympathetically, Cedar shook her head. "I know how that is." When Aspen turned to her and Robert, who were grinning ear to ear at the memory, Cedar shrugged. "Don't ask; it's too long a story to tell now..."

Inferbern meanwhile had been outside with the rest; not trusting the occasionally shuddering house for a second. Umbreon joined it in the garden, and politely sniffed it curiously. "What exactly are you?"

Inferbern perked up at being talked to by the strong Pokémon he had never seen before. "I'm a Fire Pokémon. I was Aspen's first choice."

Umbreon's eyes flashed red in surprise. "Aspen is a Commander? But she's still at home!"

Inferbern's head turned curiously to one side. "Yes, she is. Where else would she be?" He hunched up and began scratching furiously at one of his fluffy ears, a sign of nervousness at the other Pokémon's continuous scrutiny.

"That's very strange." Umbreon said, shaking his head and breaking eye contact. "When we are bonded to a Commander for the first time, they tend to want to travel around the many human cities and towns, getting awards by battling other Commanders." He laughed hurriedly. "The Pokémon battle the other Commander's Pokémon, is what I meant to say. Eventually we get strong enough to battle Master Commanders, and the humans collect glittering stones from them."

Inferbern blinked, the ear forgotten. "That sounds very odd to me. Why do they collect stones? What are they for?"

At least he didn't ask what battling is, Umbreon thought. Now that would be very hard to explain. "Well, as the opposing Master Commander's Pokémon are much stronger than normal, it's up to your own Commander and you to meld your own strengths in order to defeat them. Once that happens, the Trainers are rewarded with a that stone, acting like a merit to them and their battling skills. Of course, the Pokémon don't need anything like that to prove our strength." He smirked.

Inferbern nodded slightly, thinking about this concept. "It all makes sense I suppose. Maybe I should tell Aspen."

"Later," Umbreon cautioned. "There's too much going on now to add another side to your battling styles."

Meanwhile, Philippa had joined Rose and Sage at the front gate, peering anxiously at the rubble that was now the neighbour's house. Philippa turned to Rose. "It looks like he likes the neighbourhood. Maybe he'll decide to move in."

Rose shuddered, her blue eyes misty with unshed tears. "I don't understand. What on earth is making this happen?"

"That," said a confident voice at her ear, "is what we hope to find out somewhere on this island. And then put a stop to it."

"As Serebii said." Philippa reminded Louisa. "Is Briar ready?"

Louisa motioned with her head. Behind them, jogging up the steps up to the street was Aspen, Briar, Cedar, Robert and the two Pokémon: Umbreon and Inferbern, who had meanwhile been relaxing under the shade of the garden trees.

"Right," Sage nodded. "All ready?"

"Here's your Pokéball belt, and your bag." Aspen said, handing the two over. Meanwhile, Briar was giving Rose her handbag and her other small bag which held Rose's (albeit smaller) team.

And then, Louisa looked to Philippa. "Flying?"

"Flying." Philippa agreed. "But only if it's possible with everyone."

Without being prompted, Sage reached for his second Pokéball. "I choose Abmamylf!"

The ball flew; then up in the air, it exploded with a flash; revealing a large serpentine shape, lazily beating enormous feathered wings. "Tsssaaaaar!" it cried, and swooped down to allow Sage to jump on, giving a hand to Rose.

"Some of us don't have a flying Pokémon..." Aspen said sadly. "What are we gonna do?"

Sage tossed another Pokéball towards them. "I choose Watthorn! Aspen, you'll have to use one of mine. I only have one Pokémon that can fly."

The quadruped materialised, disdain coming over its face as it realised who it would be carrying. Nickering dangerously, it stood immobile as it waited for Aspen to come to it.

"Anything but Watthorn!" Aspen cried, disappointed. "You know it has no respect for me!" She came over to it, extending a hand cautiously; and it snaked its head forward, ready to nip the outstretched fingers.

She looked to Louisa and Philippa desperately. The two had linked arms and were hoisting Briar between them. Behind them, Cedar had already seated herself on a large feathered Pokémon Aspen didn't recognise, and Robert was clambering on behind her.

"Sorry, Aspen," Sage apologised. "Can you follow us from the ground alright?"

"Yeah, sure..." Aspen growled, feeling her temper mount. That would be right; wouldn't it! It's just too bad one of us can't get off the ground.

She mounted the long-legged electric Pokémon with bad grace, after recalling Inferbern. Watthorn growled in its throat and proceeded to flick its spiky tail back and forth across her legs testily.

With a loud hiss Abmamylf left the ground, Rose clamouring a little with nervousness. Behind her Cedar followed, her feathered Pokémon talkative as it flapped. "Pijuuu!". Then finally Louisa and Philippa rose, holding Briar steady.

Following the shadows of both Abmamylf and Pidgeot, Aspen bounced along on Watthorn's back as it trotted lazily down the road.

The sky darkened suddenly, becoming overcast in the space of a few seconds. The sun was soon lost behind a billowing cloud formation; from which a shape appeared and flew towards them silently.

There was a flash of lightning. Aspen's face contorted in surprise as she looked behind her, unbelieving. Spiralling out of the sky towards them was a yellow shape, behind it a huge storm cloud already flashing with electricity.

There was a crack of thunder, one that made her eyes close involuntarily; and before she could stop it, Watthorn screeched and bolted towards the neighbouring houses and the bushland behind them.

In the sky, Abmamylf hissed a warning as it flew higher. Soaring directly below them was a huge dragon, its wings folded slightly for speed. Dwarfed in front of the dragon's snout was the frothing Watthorn, and Aspen; who was barely able to stay on its bouncing back.

There was another flash of lightning, which blinded them all in the split second that the dragon lashed out with a clawed hand and snatched the two from the ground. It turned; and angled north towards the coastline.

In the immense grip of the dragon; Watthorn bucked and shrieked, bezerk. Both the smell of the dragon and also its electric power did nothing to help its intense fear.

Aspen struggled to get a proper handhold, feeling dizzy as the wind rushed past. Compared to this; thrill rides on Abmamylf were nothing. Everywhere the dragon flew, a storm followed; and soon the trees below her were whipped around in the storm wind.

Once over the sea she tried to crane her head around to look for any sign of her family and the others, but there was no way she could see beyond the leathery chest of her captor.

An island in the distance she had never seen before soon piqued her interest, and while Watthorn continued to struggle and snort furiously, she wriggled around and tried to focus on the blurry line of the horizon.

In shock, Sage hovered in the air on his Abmamylf. Nearby, Louisa frowned in concentration, still with one firm grip on Briar. "Why...?"

"Where was it headed?" Sage asked Abmamylf, who could possibly see better than Sage and Rose put together.

"Sssssssss... Towards the borders of Minami." it answered dolefully. "But I don't know why."

The island was tiny from the air; until the dragon spiralled closer and started to circle it slowly. Soon it was close enough for its wingbeats to ruffle the individual leaves.

When its talons opened, Aspen was totally unprepared, and however much she gripped onto Watthorn's spiky main; ignoring the sparks of static electricity that flicked into her fingers, she soon lost her grip, and tumbled through the air to land in the canopy; miraculously unhurt.

In the air above her, the dragon hovered for a second, studying her, and then wheeled away towards the beach where she saw it land.

She climbed down half the tree with little difficulty, and jumped the rest of the way, into a silent grove. There in the center was a Pokémon; seemingly dozing on a large shrine.

Its eyes opened, the only move it made that announced her arrival; and turned its liquid gaze to her.

Their eyes met.

Aspen was floating... her body cozily warm amidst a sea of light. Golden rays streamed over her face and body as she smiled, at peace. A voice echoed. "I... Ahahahaaaah! It has been so long! But, how to keep her power, when the human must die?"