Meanwhile, Landon lay unconscious in the pit. The moonlight barely shown on the inside from the tree canopy above him. Toya’s eyes trembled a bit as the light stirred her awake. She rubbed her eyes and glanced around the darkness. Her eyes moved from a long dark tunnel before her, to her unconscious trainer. “Mudkip!” She gasped. Toya clambered across Landon’s stomach and started licking his face. His eyes trembled and he waved his hand at her. “Not the water bucket, mom. Let dad do it…” He mumbled. “Mud-kiipp!” There was a loud gurgling sound as Toya splashed him with a light water spray. “Dah!” Landon sat up and spat. It took him a little bit to adjust himself awake. He rubbed his eyes, “Thanks, Toya,” he rubbed Toya’s belly and her tailfin wagged gleefully. He got to his feet and glanced up. “Wow, we’re really down here.” His voice echoed. Landon walked up to the wall. It looked firm enough; he struck it with his fist just to make sure. With a deep breath, he jumped up and grasped a petruding piece of the wall. “Yeah, we’ll be out of here in no time—” Suddenly, the piece crumbled beneath his weight. “Yahh!” Thud!! “Ooooh!” He rubbed his sore bottom that he landed on. “Okay, not the best plan.” “Mudkip?” Toya gave him a worried look. “I’m fine, thanks—” “Kip-kip!” She tugged on his pants with her teeth. Landon blinked in confusion. “Mudkip!” Toya pointed forward to the tunnel she spotted earlier. “Hey, great job, Toya!” Landon beamed at her. She clambered onto his shoulder and he started down it.

       The rocky tunnel was dark and a bit damp. Drops of water from above echoed against the solid stone walls. Landon walked with his hand along the wall. The cave was becoming darker the further he traveled. His and Toya’s breathing contributed to the small sounds. “I wish I had batteries for my flashlight—I can’t see a thing.” As if replying to his request, the Crystal Bell sparked to life, glowing its bright Crystal Blue. The beam of light beat around the rocky walls. “Oh…that’s a lot better.” Landon said and Toya nodded. Their travel was slow and silent, though the cave noises still occurred. Soon, Landon’s footsteps went from a firm stomp to a light splash. “The water from above must have made its way down here. That means that there’s an exit nearby.” He thought to himself. The bell’s light reflected off a barricade of boulders ahead. Landon frowned and scratched his head. “Well, this is a nice situation we’re in…!” He gave a grin and reached to his belt; he pulled the gray-star poke’ball and let it open in his hand. “Tambourine, I choose you.” A flash of light burst from it and Tambourine came out. “Furret-furret!” She said, chipper to be out of her poke’ball. Landon nodded to Toya and she jumped off his shoulder. He then grasped the hilt of the sakaba-tou. “Okay, let’s work together to clear this out.” “Mudkip,” “Furret!” Landon took the battou-jitsu stance. His Poke’mon got down on all fours. They all focused their vision on one point; the one point where the precision of their attacks would break it. “….Let’s go!” He withdrew his sword and swung at the wall. Toya front-flipped with her tailfin poised for Rock Smash; Tambourine drew back her fist and it started to glow with her Dynamic Punch. They all struck the wall at the same time and watched it crumble to a million pieces in a puff of smoke. “Yeah!” “Yay!” The three cheered. The Crystal Bell started to glimmer brighter. Landon didn’t notice as he was too busy patting his Poke’mon on their heads. Suddenly, the smoke was forced to disperse by a rush of wind. A brown speck of light became visible through the swirl for only a second; the three were forced to shield their eyes. When the dust and air cleared, Landon dared to open an eye. “…What is that?!” He gasped. Tambourine and Toya glanced up as well with the same expression as their trainer. The shimmering brown speck of light floated in mid-air brightly. “Ack!” Landon gave an abrupt wince, clutching his left hand. A burning pain shot through the right side of his palm like a hot needle. He pulled his glove off in immediate reaction to the pain. As soon as his glove hit the ground, the light bolted at his palm; it shot into the area where the pain singed his palm. Next to the snowflake insignia, the orange symbol of a boulder appeared. “It’s another one of those symbols!” Landon said through a slight wince. Tambourine and Toya put their paws on it gingerly. “I’m alright,” “But what are these symbols’ meaning? And do they have to keep burning me?”

 

       Landon, Toya, and Tambourine crawled out of the rocky tunnel back outside. The open road on his left lead back to the mouth of the forest. Fixed in the ground was a white sign. “Oh-no! we’re back where we started from this afternoon!” Landon exclaimed, crawling out of the hole. Tambourine and Toya followed behind him onto the soft Grass. “Toya, Tambourine; let’s go back into the forest and try to sniff out May and Zeru.” Landon ventured into the forest first with the others bringing up the rear. He held the lace of the Crystal Bell in his hand so that eh light reflected onto the ground. He could see his friends’ footsteps and knew he was going the right way. Toya and Tambourine kept close to his side silently. Landon’s hand was still stinging from the new symbol that formed earlier. But by now, he was used to weird things happening to him. Around the pit that he slipped in earlier and deeper into the forest, Landon noticed that the stride of footsteps had become greater. “They must’ve been running, but from what?” He thought to himself. The three came to a purple door at the end of a wall of shrubs. “Furret? Fur,” Tambourine trotted up to it and dared to touch it. “A door in a forest? Now I’ve seen it all,” Landon glanced at the ground to May’s, Zeru’s and—he guessed—Treecko’s footprints. “But they didn’t come around here.” He pushed through the door and they walked inside.

 

       May’s, Zeru’s, and Phanpy’s footsteps echoed throughout the maze slowly. Every turn they took seemed to be a dead end or just another pathway. The trails seemed as if they were never-ending. “My feet hurt and I’m hungry.” May complained lightly, staring at the ground. “Phanpy-phanpy,” Phanpy agreed with her. “I want to stop too, but we have to find a way to get out of this maze first.” Zeru said. May let out a short sigh. “We should’ve stayed outside.” “It was either get skewered or get lost.” When she thought about it that way, she felt a little better to be in the maze. They started out looking for Landon and ended up lost themselves. SWEEEE-PFTH! “Yay!” Zeru jumped back from a spinning silver shuriken that stuck the ground. “Not again!” May shrieked. “Let’s get out of here!” “Phanpy!” The three ducked in cover as they sprinted again. They had no idea where they were going; they just kept on running, taking any turn that cam to them. The shurikens flew overhead in a mad fury, striking the floor, but missing the mirrors. Zeru skidded around the corner just as one nearly took his foot. The three panted heavily under the stress of their running. In a desperate attempt to get away, they all turned down a nearby corner. “It’s a dead end!” May exclaimed as they slid to a halt face-to-face with a mirrored wall. Zeru clenched his teeth in irritation. He whirled around to see the rain of stars slowly edging closer. “I have to find a way out of here.” He though to himself. “Okay, enough running!” May stepped up. She drew a Poke’ball from her belt and went for a pitcher-style throw. “Go, Slowpoke!” It burst open and Slowpoke came flying out. “Slowwwwww!” It yawned. The stars came inching closer with each second. “Okay, Slowpoke, use your Confusion attack!” May exclaimed. “Slowpoke!” Slowpoke poised its body to attack; it started down the barrage of shurikens with a serious expression. “…slowwwwww!” Slowpoke opened its big mouth and let out a long yawn. It curled up around May’s legs, starting to go to sleep. “DON’T GO TO SLEEP!” May pulled on Slowpoke’s tail irritably. Zeru and Phanpy sweated anime style. “Slowpoke,” Slowpoke started towards the side mirror. “Now what’re you doing?” May asked. “We’re running out of time!” Zeru watched the ninja stars shoot closer. I seemed to be examining it for some reason. “….Slowpoke-slowpoke!” Slowpoke pointed to the mirror with its tail. Phanpy walked over, “Phanpy-Phanpy?” “Slow-slowpoke,” “Phanpy?!” Slowpoke nodded and Phanpy dashed back to her trainer; she pulled him over to the wall with her trunk. “What? Phanpy, what’re you—” Zeru’s jaw dropped. He stared into the mirror, but didn’t believe what he saw. “My reflection—” “May pointed out, “It’s gone!” Sure enough, they all stared into the mirror, but nothing else stared back. “Slowpoke!” Slowpoke walked straight and pushed its body through the seemingly solid mirror. “Dah!” The others gasped, “This place is just full of surprises.” SWISH! Another shuriken nearly hit Phanpy. “Phanpy!” She shrieked and dashed in behind Slowpoke. “GO!” Zeru pushed May in first, then vaporized in it himself just as four shurikens skewered the area they stood in earlier.

 

       “Yaaaaaaahhh!” Landon, Toya, and Tambourine screamed as they dated through the mirror maze. A large boulder stretching as wide as the hall tumbled towards them. Landon took every turn that came to him, dreading what would happen if they slow down. “Why do I always get stuck in these kind of situations?!” He shouted. He hoped they didn’t hit a dead end. Landon, Toya, and Tambourine sprinted down a long corridor with pathways along the side. “Which one to take?” Landon asked. “Furret!” Tambourine pointed to the one coming up on the right. “Okay,” Landon nodded. They slid around the corner, hastily grouping up. The boulder tumbled down the corridor with an eventual crash, meaning it had hit a dead end. “Whew!” The three let out a sigh of relief. Suddenly, there was another loud crashing sound and the ground trembled. They sweated anime style, daring to turn around. Once more with a dangerous tumbling, another large, rugged boulder came rolling down the right corridor. “Ahhhh!” The three turned-tail and rushed down the pathway. “Furr-furr-furr-furr!” “It’s not your fault!” Landon told his Poke’mon. They turned around another corner and –BANG!!

       “Ohaaa…” There was a series of moans. Landon rubbed his head and opened his eyes. May, Zeru, and Phanpy, and Slowpoke were all sprawled on the floor. “Hey, Zeru, long time-no see.” Landon said and Zeru flashed a thumbs-up. “Oh, Lan! We were so worried about you!” May pulled Landon into a hug. The tumbling sound echoed through the corridor as the boulder came rolling down. “Ah!” Landon and his Poke’mon shrieked. “I’ve got this!” Zeru jumped forward and pushed his sleeve up. “…Here I go!” “Zeru, you fool!” He thrust it forward like a rocket—and flew right through it. “Dah!” His arms flailed as he fell on his face. “It’s…it’s fake?” Landon blinked with the rest of his friends. The boulder phased like computer pixels as it moved right through them. “Ouch!” Zeru rubbed his face. May helped him up to his feet and glanced to the side. “Hey, look; it’s a door!” She pointed to some sort of glass door. Instead of having a doorknob, it had some mechanical device with buttons in its place. “Well, it’s pretty useless unless it has a lock on it.” Landon said. “H-hey! Hold it r-right…there!” Two breathless voices called from behind them. Slowly, Yoshimari and Tsubimi trudged up to them in a sluggish manner. “Just a second.” Tsubimi held up a finger. The two reached into their cloak pockets, withdrew a bottle of Mt. Moon spring water, and gulped half the bottles. Almost instantly, they stood up straight and grinned. “That’s a lot better.” “Yeah, running around in this maze is exhausting.” “Why do you keep following us?” Landon asked. (Background goes into a labyrinth setting.) “A stealth like dark, we’re shadows of the night.” “Blanketing over those who do things right.” “Where treasure glitters, we’re there to claim.” “To higher riches, we’ll surely aim.” “Tsubimi!” “Yoshimari!” (Background goes starry with the Team Darkhorn symbol) “We’re Team Darkhorn, the pirate thieves.” “Don’t mess with us; you’re out of your league!” Team Darkhorn recited.

       “I don’t think I’m ever going to get used to that.” Zeru sighed in annoyance. Yoshimari reached to one of his Poke’balls and tossed it. “Let’s cut the idle chatter and take your EX Poke’mon. Go, Loudred!” It burst open and Loudred appeared. “Loudred!” It flexed its muscles. “Go, Tailow!” Tsubimi sent out Tailow. “Slowpoke, return,” May called back Slowpoke and took out another poke’ball. “Totodile, release now!” She tossed it and Totodile burst out. “Tototototo!” It danced. “Tambourine, you’re up.” Landon said and his Furret stepped up. “Tambourine, taunt ‘em with Tail Whip!” Tambourine turned her back on her opponents and started waving her tail arrogantly. Loudred’s temple beat as its anger rose. “Loudred, don’t make any rash decisions.” Yoshimari warned. The excessive taunting of Tambourine’s tail continued to annoy and enrage Loudred. “Grrrr…Taa! Loudred!” It clenched its fists and charged recklessly. “Loudred, no!” “Now, Tambourine, use your Headbutt!” Landon said. Tambourine whirled around and launched her body forward with her head lowered; she crashed into Loudred, causing it to fall. “Tailow, attack now!” “Taiiloww!” From out of nowhere, Tailow swooped down and started pecking at Tambourine. “Fur-fur-fur,” Tambourine tried to swat the bird away, but failed. “Water Gun attack!” May’s voice rang, followed by a jet of water crashing into Tailow. “Thanks, May,” Landon turned to her. “Not a problem.” May flashed a thumbs-up. “Use Fury swipes!” They shouted together. Tambourine and Totodile raced towards their opponents with claws drawn; they swiped at them furiously and repeatedly, leaving some scratches and claw marks. “Oh-no!” Team Darkhorn exclaimed. “This battle is over,” Landon thrust his fist in the air, “Finish with Dynamic Punch!” “Furrrr!” Tambourine drew her fist back and it started to glow in a fierce white light. She thrust it forward heavily, allowing it to crash into both Loudred and Tailow. There was a minute, but powerful explosion as the two Poke’mon were sent crashing into their trainers, leading to all four crashing into the wall. “This is so—” “—degrading,” “Loudred,” “Tailow,” They coughed. Their bodies were covered in soot from the attack. Suddenly, there was a loud rumble and the maze shook again. Team Darkhorn looked to the left to see a large boulder tumbling their way. “Ayeeeee!” They shrieked. Team Darkhorn jumped up without hesitation and began to run for their lives down the left corridor. Landon ran over to watch them flee from the fake entity. “Ha-ha! Keep going, Team Darkhorn.” He laughed. He turned to walk away when his foot crunched a piece of paper. “Huh? Team Darkhorn must have dropped this.” Landon picked it up and read it as he walked back to his friends. Tambourine and Totodile slapped each other a high-five as congratulations. “What’s that you’ve got there?” Zeru asked. “…‘Trick master is the smartest’?” Landon read. There was a sudden series of clicks and beeps coming from the mechanical device at the door. A loud click issued and the door practically swung open. Landon, May, and Zeru gave each other a skeptical look. “It beats being in this maze. Let’s get out of here.” Zeru said. The friends nodded and walked on through.

 

       “Whaaaaa!!” The sound of clapping and cheering reached their ears the farther the group walked through the dimly lit corridor. A spotlight shown down on them as they left out onto a large stage. Hundreds of people crowded around it in the massive auditorium. May, Zeru, and Landon looked both shocked and perplexed. Toya and Tambourine hid behind Landon’s legs. “Congratulations,” A familiar voice sounded. The old man from the forest made an advance towards Landon and his friends. He reached up to the scruff of his cloak, “Thanks for taking—” He pulled it off along with his hat to reveal a younger man underneath. He was wearing a blue suit and red bow tie around his neck. His hair was short and black and he wore glasses. “—the Trick Master Challenge live!” At this, the crowd cheered even louder. The man twirled a microphone in his hand, holding it up to his face. “Let’s give a round of applause for our three contestants: May, Zeru, and Landon!” He announced with the crowd’s cheering. “Great, now he knows our names?” Landon blinked. He, May, and Zeru sweated anime style. To think that the whole thing was just a game…. “Here,” The trick Master held up a large Poke’mon egg. The white shell was sprinkled with black spots all over. Landon took it, but was still frowning. “This is your prize for winning the—” “You creep!” Zeru growled. He raised his fists and dashed towards the Trick Master. “How dare you freak us out like that!? I’ll get you!!” “Whoa!” The Trick Master turned-tail and ran. Zeru chased him around the stage in circles, running right at his heels. All he had to do was catch him—and rearrange his face! Landon, May, and their Poke’mon laughed as they watched. They didn’t plan on stopping Zeru anytime soon; the payback was kind of nice. Landon held the Poke’mon egg close to his body. “I wonder what’s inside…?” “I don’t know, but I don’t think I’ll be doubting Zeru’s suspicions for a while.” May said. (Once again, our heroes have found their way out of trouble and into another strange victory. Who knows what awaits our heroes in the next exciting episode of “Poke’mon X”!)

 

Fast Fact answer: Landon’s Pikachu still shocks itself when it uses electrical attacks . Stay tuned for more Fast facts.

 

                                      “Shine the Sky” (Ending Theme)

 

Shine the sky!

Crystal power hit the high—

Flying current to my victory

Try and Try!

Never give the fight away

I’ll take every challenge that I can get in my hands

Des—tiny!

Prophecy I can’t ignore

Know what surprises that it has in store

Shine the sky!

A new adventure I will face

Another chance at victory with Poke’mon!

 

 

 



THIS IS THE END OF EPISODE 21. SEE YA'