The Team Excalibur

Hi, Fox Lee as usual. Welcome to part four of Team Excalibur's post archive. The authors who contributed to this section are: Andy Gengler (Andy, Julie, Armin & Jimmy), Daeg Os Thorn (Daeg & Ni), Rex Lee (Kyosan & Adam), Fox Lee (Fox, Vance, & Quinn), Jon Ball (Jon, Thane & Falcon), Brittany Lopez (Lyith, Emily & Adam) & Rebecca Cherish (Tessa, Yusuo & Leiko). In case, for some reason, you missed parts one, two and three (but you really should read them, this will make a lot more sense if you do), here's a brief overview:

After the brief reunion of the team - as well as some new faces - in an abandoned warehouse where Thane has been hiding out, our heroes were soon forced to scatter again. Kyosan, Lyith and Tessa have been called on by Kismet, a mewtwo belonging to Tessa's brother Yusuo, to save his trainer from a terrible fever. With only a cryptic recipe to work from, the three young trainers set off to the Safari Zone to search for the three ingredients that could save Yusuo's live. Meanwhile, Daeg recovers fragments of his past, and his great dishonour as a ninja that was brought about by none other than Thane. In penance, he has been assigned a student, a strange girl with a secret, named Ni. Andy and Julie stumbled upon a single pokéball hidden in a Team Rocket stash, and have now been asked by Masaki to capture the three legendary birds. And Jon, after busting Fox out of Fuchsia Hospital's security ward, has escaped to an inn hidden in the hills for some brief R&R... including breakfast in bed, hiking, hot springs, bad weather and thieving pikachu...

Masaki sat in front of his little computer in the corner of his large suite, busily typing a memo to himself. At length, he stopped typing and leaned back on his chair, stretching, then wiggled his toes in his slippers, scratching above his eyebrow.

Over here, Masaki...

"Wha?" Masaki hopped off the chair, frantically searching for where the voice came from. He was about to alert security when he suddenly caught sight of a mew floating by the window.

"Izzat a Mew!?" Masaki gawked, then quickly composed himself, slowly approaching the window. "Y-Yes! It is! Th-this is amazing..."

The mew bobbed up and down in front of the window, whipping its tail around. Masaki slowly opened the window, careful not to frighten it away.

"Hey Masaki!" Kyosan shouted, popping his head up under the Mew. Masaki fell backward, startled. Mew floated into the room, regarding Masaki with an unreadable expression as Kyosan clambered through the window, with Tessa and Lyith to follow.

"Uh... Kyosan, right?"

"Yeah." Kyosan glanced toward Lyith and Tessa. "And these two are my friends, Tessa and Lyith."

"Hi."

"Yo."

"Uh... why didn't you just go through the front door, instead of climbing three floors to my window?" Masaki asked, standing up.

"Too many security guards," Kyosan answered. "We were chased by the police, so there's a good chance that we are supposed criminals of some sort."

Mew perched on Tessa's head, which she didn't seem to mind.

"How right you are," Masaki said, turning on the television set in his room. A woman in a formal blouse was reading from a transcript.

"... Are very dangerous, and if spotted, call for the authorities and steer clear - once again, they are very dangerous. If confronted, do not anger - they are most likely armed and will use their pokémon to battle..." The screen flashed and pictures of Fox, Daeg, and Kyosan appeared on the screen. Then some rough sketches of what appeared to be Jon, Falcon, Andy, and Julie were shown. "And here's a press release from the brave young man who risked his life trying to stop these criminals..."

The screen switched to a display of Vance standing behind a podium, with a half-dozen microphones attached. He had a gloomy yet somehow satisfied expression on his face.

"... I'm surprised and disappointed that my own sister - Fox Lee - would steal my ninetales, which I have spent countless hours raising, and then hire cronies to protect her and assist her in terrorist attacks..." Vance began. "... I knew that she was jealous of my excellent pokémon talents, but to become so envious as to steal my pokémon and run - bringing shame to our entire family! If you see her, or anyone that's around her, immediately - I repeat, immediately - contact the local authorities. Do not come into contact with her or her allies - rumors say that a mewtwo is amongst her guard..."

Kyosan turned off the TV, silently cursing. "Well, Masaki... it's really not advisable that we go out in public...can you get us a room or something like that?"

Masaki thought about it for a little bit, resting his chin on his hand, then looked up at Kyosan and at his friends. "Just tell me one thing... how big a balcony do you want?"

Lyith lazily stretched on one of the enormous queen beds in their room. Kyosan was digging through the refrigerator in the kitchenette, with Mew resting on the counter, curious to see what was there. Tessa was taking a shower.

"Nothing 'cept water and ice..." Kyosan pouted.

"Huh?" Lyith snapped into a sitting position. "You mean no food?!"

Kyosan nodded.

"How about we call room service?" Lyith grinned, picking up the receiver to the phone. "I'm sure such a rich person like Masaki wouldn't mind if we added a little to his tab..."

Kyosan shrugged, and stepped out of the room and onto the balcony. Downtown Fuchsia City stood behind the hotel, leaving Kyosan a clear view of the vast Safari Zone and the mountains behind under the pale moonlight. He thought about the riddle that still remained unsolved, closing his eyes and clearing his mind, feeling a gentle breeze across his face.

An odd noise stirred Kyosan back to reality.

And what are you up to?

Kyosan turned around. Mew was levitating a few feet from his face. "Trying to figure out the last riddle. Any ideas?"

Obviously exeggcute and exeggutor are out...

"Why?"

They are too obvious for the answer.

"Well then, what other pokémon are associated with eggs?"

Let's ignore the egg part. Do you know any pokémon that can be considered lucky?

Kyosan gave it some thought, leaning on the rail, as the mew gently eased itself down onto his shoulder. Then his eyes widened as he stood straight up, knocking Mew off.

"I got it - a chansey's lucky - and a chansey has an egg - it's a wild chansey's egg!" Kyosan started laughing triumphantly, crossing his arms.

Mew slapped Kyosan across the face with her tail. Calm down!

"Sorry," he said, rubbing his slightly swollen cheek. "We can get the chansey egg from the Safari Zone."

And what about the farfetch'd?

"I dunno... do you?"

Not at the moment... shall we continue this discussion inside? It's growing rather chilly out here.

Kyosan agreed, then slid the door open and indicated the entrance with a sweeping gesture. "Ladies first."

I'm a pokémon, but thank you. Mew floated in, and Kyosan followed, sliding the door shut. Immediately, the smell of something tangy invaded Kyosan's nostrils. He looked at Lyith, who was sitting on the bed, eating a pizza.

Kyosan grimaced. "Pizza again? Why must I - we - eat pizza every day? Aren't you tired of it?"

"Food is food, I guess," Lyith shrugged. "Besides, I don't mind. And Tess won't mind either. But you have to be the one who complains, huh?"

Kyosan grabbed a plate from the little kitchenette, smiling. "At least it's warm."

Tessa walked out of the bathroom, drying her hair with a towel, wearing a white shirt and shorts. "Ooh - pizza!"

Lyith grinned at Kyosan between mouthfuls, who was giving her a dirty look.

Tessa's hands pressed against the glass of their window. "So, how am I supposed to get this leek for you, Yusuo?" She turned to Mew. "I'm sure we can find a chansey. Hey, can you turn into a leek?"

I'm not gonna let you cook me! Mew protested.

Tessa laughed. "I guess you've got a point..."

Mew nodded. Well, we might be able to find a leek with the farfetch'd.

Tessa glanced at Mew. "No duh, we'll be able to get a leek from farfetch'd. But how in the hell do we find a farfetch'd?!"

Mew sighed. Probably the Safari Zone is our best bet.

Tessa nodded. "Yeah... but perhaps we should devise a real plan before we go."

Mew agreed.

Tessa looked at her old and quite tattered bookbag. "Since I found the group, I'd nearly forgot about my training pokémon. Some of them... some of them I probably haven't seen in a month or over..."

She hung her head regretfully, pulling out a dusty pokéball. "Pidgey! Come out, please."

The pokéball opened, and a red light poured into the room. She stroked the bird that materialized on the head. "Pidgey wanna treat?" The pidgey cooed.

"I'm sorry I haven't taken you out for a long time. I really am."

The pidgey cooed again, and put its head down to be rubbed. She smiled, obliged, and walked back to the window. The pidgey flew up to her shoulder as she looked out, and then turned back to find Kyosan.

I wonder what they had against Pizza... she wondered, but quickly shrugged it off. It wasn't important at all. What was important was saving her brother.

"Hey Kyosan, do you know what we should do?" she smiled. "When we find that farfetch'd, I wouldn't' mind taking the pokémon. I mean, after all, farfetch'd is a bird, right? Not quite like my pidgey here..." She moved to stroke Pidgey, but to her surprise, he wasn't not there. "Pidgey? Pidgey?"

She laughed, realizing that pidgey was on Kyosan's shoulder, playing with loose strands of hair. "Pidgey, now what did I tell you about playing in hair? Come on now..." She took Pidgey to her arm. "Sorry 'bout that, Kyosan. But that surprises me - Pidgey's one of those birds who's particular about who they're with. He doesn't even like Yusuo!"

Pidgey cooed, and hopped back off of Tessa's shoulder, then back to its pokéball.

"So like birds... okay, you can go back in." She decided to raise the question again. "So, how do we find these other two items?"

Thane sat in the dark room, waiting. A door opened across the other side, allowing a few slivers of light to enter along with the scientist.

"It's done sir." The scientist walked to Thane and handed him a very small device, no bigger than a thimble. "I've finished both projects for you."

Thane looked it over. "And this is the mind control device?"

"Yes sir it is... and..." The scientist motioned to the door across the room. Standing in the doorway was something similar to a gengar, but a lot larger. Its legs and arms were far longer than normal, and looked somewhat muscular. The extremities of each were equipped with a set of razor-sharp, ebony-black claws.

"So this is my gengar?"

The scientist nodded.

"Hmm... a new look demands a new name. It will now be ShadoWraith."

Then, Thane looked toward the scientist. "You've done a good job.. .but now, you've outlasted your usefulness to me..."

The scientist's eyes went wide. The last thing he saw before he was burned to death was the evil smirk on Thane's face.

Zarik 'the mad' Charlos walked down the dark hallway back toward his lab. Row upon row of caged pokémon filled the lab, except on one wall which was devoted to a massive machine and two work benches. The first bench was stocked with chemicals that had been taken from the captive pokémon, while the second was covered with all manner of strange machinery, including several half-dissected pokéballs and some sort of strange headband. This Zarik placed on his head, smiled wickedly, and picked up a evil-looking gun of some sort.

"Come Igor!" He shouted as he strode purposefully out of the lab. "We ride!"

Igor, Zarik's cybernetically enhanced primeape, appeared and followed his master out the door. The pair followed a winding path that eventually led to the remains of a crumbled building, where Zarik stopped and pulled out a device from his belt. The odd contraption made a 'ping' noise, and Zarik turned to found that his radar heat/motion sensor was correct - the one called Thane was exactly one and a half feet right behind him.

With this knowledge, Zarik suddenly turned, startled. Thane barely stood out, a dark figure in the darkness. His presence was only really betrayed by his eyes, glowing wildly.

Zarik hunched, and shied away from the menacing figure.

Thane smiled. "I no longer need a scientist. As a matter of fact, I just got rid of the last one."

Zarik suddenly quivered and stood tall. "Yes, I know all about how you fired the last one..."

Thane's smile grew tighter, and a dangerous gleam appeared in his eye. "You know too much, scientist."

Thane casually waved his hand at Zarik, and suddenly an odd expression of surprise crossed the spiky-haired man's face.

It was Zarik's turn to smile now. "I took the liberty of placing a energy dampening field around us. Your fire attacks won't work here."

Thane recovered from his surprise quickly, calmly drawing his sword and leveling the point with Zarik's throat. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you."

Zarik did a single backflip away, and grinned, with a insane light in his eyes. "I'll give you lots of reasons. Firstly, I can not only stop your fire powers, but I can weaken any psychic attack with this field. Secondly, I know about your altered pokémon, and I can do better. All I ask is that you help me get one pokémon - just a harmless little ditto that I was testing..."

Before Thane could answer, Zarik pushed a button on his belt. A sudden flash of light illuminated the area, along with a loud boom. Thane shook off the temporary blindness to see the scientist replaced by a small cellular phone and a business card that said simply, 'Zarik Charlos, Scientist'.

Daeg woke up. Something was wrong...

Suddenly he saw it - a dark figure, shrouded in robes, was coming out of the forest. Daeg grabbed his sword and rose, the blade shining in the lights. Looking about, Daeg realized that there were more of them - robed figures on all sides. One of them seemed to be leading the rest.

The elegantly-robed figure advanced, petting a dratini. Seeing that Daeg was awake, the figure stopped, and spoke in a thunderous voice. "My friends... today is a great day, the day we have been seeking. The chosen one walks amongst us! The chosen one must be shown our ways." He turned to Daeg. "You, hand over the chosen one to us for our guidance!"

Daeg looked about, Ni suddenly at his side. "Who are you, and who is this chosen one?"

The robed figure smiled in the moonlight. "We are the Followers of the Dragonite! I am the Grand Dragonlord, and I speak of the future Lord of our kind - the great dratini that you possess, the one who will show us the path to glory! Now give us Dratini!"

Daeg turned toward Ni. "This is your next lesson. When faced with overwhelming odds, retreat is the best option. But they have us surrounded, so we fight, punch a hole in their lines, and escape."

Daeg reached for a pokéball The robed figure gestured, and a flash of ice flew from the dratini at his side, knocking the ball from Daeg's hand. Suddenly, a horde of pokémon were released by the other Followers.

"Vileplume, sleep powder!" One of the Followers shouted. The flower pokémon sent out a billowing cloud that caused Daeg to drop where he stood, instantly falling into a deep sleep.

Ni bent down and picked up Daeg's sword, and the closest pokéball. As she threw the ball, Abra emerged, a cloud of psychic energy surrounding his small frame. Slowly, Abra opened his eyes, and they glowed with a eerie purple light as he sent out a telepathic message to everyone nearby.

I am sent by Mewthree to guard this Dratini, and Daeg is chosen to raise it! You can not have it!!

Then, Abra spoke aloud. "Abra...kadabra...alakazam!"

It was almost unheard of in pokémon history, but it happened. In a swirling haze of light, the little creature evolved.

Twice.

The newly-evolved alakazam stood looming above its opponents, waves of psychic power billowing out from it. The Dragonlord, refusing to give up, shouted "Everyone, attack!"

A bright red flash lit the area, as twenty pokéballs opened at once. Ni tossed her own pokéball, releasing Ditto.

"Ditto, ditto!" Ni yelled. Suddenly, her ditto transformed into a dratini, mimicking the dratini next to the Dragonlord. The enemy pokémon began swarming the small group, who stood valiantly around Daeg's sleeping body. A doduo attacked first, using its quick attack to charge forward with blinding speed. Ni used her metronome attack, and felt herself grow rock hard. She grunted as the doduo charged her, knocking the wind out of her. Then Ni retaliated with her metronome again, and sent a blast of thunder at the doduo that sent it flying. A raticate used hyper fang on Alakazam, who deflected it easily with a barrier and countered with a psybeam. Ni's ditto-cum-dratini used a hyper beam on the nearest attacking spearow, while the spearow's larger cousin fearow attacked the Alakazam with mirror-move, bouncing a psywave back at its opponent before being taken down by Ni's pin missile.

Then Ni began to glow. A voltorb flew toward her, but before it could self-destruct, she flew up high, letting it explode harmlessly beneath her. Then, she dived down attacking, the dratini next to the Dragonlord. She hit it with a slash attack, scarring it across the eye, and then reared back, preparing for another attack.

Then, she suddenly realised that her metronome was running low on energy. She turned and tried to call to Alakazam, but a tail whip knocked her down from behind. Seeing the situation, Alakazam teleported Ni and Daeg, along with their pokémon, to safety. Then, with a final burst, Alakazam blasted the Followers of the Dragonite with a beam of energy before teleporting away to join the others.

Ni was waiting protectively over Daeg when Alakazam arrived, bearing with him a strange bottle. Ni looked questioningly at the alakazam as it handed the bottle to her.

I want you to spray me with the contents of the bottle, Alakazam explained. Without question, Ni sprayed the Alakazam. Suddenly, he was surrounded by a strange glow, and shrunk slightly, becoming a kadabra again.

Keep going, he said. Ni sprayed again, the pokémon glowed again, shrinking, his spoons disappearing. He was an abra again.

Devolution spray, Abra explained. A hard-to-find substance that Mewthree has been working on.

With that, it fell asleep.

Left alone but for Ditto, Ni looked about their surroundings. A safe-looking, dark cave - they shouldn't be disturbed here, she knew, as she called her ditto back into its pokéball.

Ni tried to stay awake, but soon, she was fast asleep by Daeg's side.

Tessa sprawled out on the bed, looking up at the ceiling. So many things rushed through her mind. Ever since she joined up with the team, things had been so fast-paced. No time to just sit and relax. Or catch and train pokémon. Sometimes it seemed as if the group has more enemies than friends. But either way, she had gained allies, and that alone was an accomplishment.

Nightfall was coming, and the three were readying for bed. All but Tessa, who explained it was because she couldn't sleep, but really had other plans. Mew stared at her worriedly. Tessa gave her a look that clearly said 'I'll explain later'. Finally, after the other two had fallen asleep, Tessa closed her eyes and concentrated.

Kismet... can you hear me? Kismet?

There was no answer, but moments later, Kismet appeared in a blue light. You called?

Tessa nodded. "Yes, I did. Take me to the Safari Zone."

Kismet looked puzzled. You could have had Mew do that for you.

Tessa shook her head. "I need you to take me. Kismet, you know what you're doing. You can help me find what I need. Mew knows only as much as I."

Kismet nodded regretfully. Without the help of your friends?

Tessa sighed. "I've troubled them enough already with my problems."

Kismet just nodded again. Take my hand.

Tessa nodded, took Kismet's hand, and in moments they appeared in the Safari Zone. Practically in the dead of night, and pokémon were all around. Mew appeared seconds later. Tessa called the pokémon to her shoulder, then unfolded her list, looking at her notes on the side of the list.

"A farfetch'd leek and a chansey's egg," she said aloud.

Meanwhile, Leiko sat waiting, on the branch of a tree. "Just as I suspected. Farfetch'd, I choose you!" The duck pokémon appeared on the ground by the tree. "You know what to do."

The farfetch'd looked up at its trainer. "Farfetch'd! Faaaaaaaarrfe-e-e-tched!"

"Did you hear that?" Tessa asked her pokémon. "C'mon, hurry!"

All three ran toward the cry, but Kismet was skeptical. He didn't believe that things could be this... easy. As they reached the tree, they spotted the farfetch'd. Mew stopped short, sensing the same thing as the mewtwo. The farfetch'd's glare was evil as it jumped into the air and twirled the leek in its feathery fingers.

Suddenly, a net appeared over Kismet, and then a Master ball tossed at him. The Mewtwo, startled by the net, had no time to think of beating off the Master Ball, and was captured. Tessa's eyes grew wide. Mew grabbed the leek, in one quick motion, from the duck pokémon.

"Get out of here!" Tessa screamed to the Mew. "Take that back to the rest - I've got to help Kismet!"

Mew nodded, accepting orders, and disappeared. Tessa reached for her pokéballs. "Pikachu, I choose you!" The pikachu appeared in a flash of light.

"Chaaa..." it said, sparks flying from its electric sacs.

"Thundershock!"

It dashed up to Leiko, leaped into the air, and set forth a burst of energy. But before the electric rodent had time to attack, Leiko had summoned her kadabra.

Leiko smirked as the energy was released, apparently unscathed. "Kadabra, do your thing."

The kadabra held the struggling pikachu airborne, which was clearly painful.

Tessa glared. "Let him go!"

"Fine," Leiko said, a smirk on her face. The kadabra dropped the pikachu to the ground. Tessa felt relieved for about a second, until the kadabra had her up in the air. Tessa was in a painful predicament, and had only enough power to scream.

Finally, it had seemed if all her life were drained, and her eyes closed, unconscious. Kadabra released his hold, and she slumped to the ground.

"You're coming with me," Leiko commented, and then laughed. "And now I have you, Mewtwo..."

Tessa woke in a cold, almost dungeon-like room. It seemed like it hadn't been inhabited for years, except by the few spiders that inhabited the cobwebs. Tessa shuddered - It wasn't exactly the best thought... spiders...

Tessa heard footsteps, and got to her feet. It was Leiko.

"I see you're awake," she said, and unlocked the cell.

"Where are we?!" Tessa demanded.

Leiko looked back at her with raised eyebrows. "We're at Dark League hideout #354. And if you want to be technical, we're in the captor's hall." She pulled Tessa out of the cell by her arm.

Tessa's eyes narrowed. "What did you do with Kismet?!"

"Such a demanding child," Leiko mocked. "He's in our possession now, he's our pokémon."

Tessa became enraged. "He's my brother's pokémon! Kismet will never listen to you, do you hear me?!"

Leiko rolled her eyes. "Enough child's play.... I demand a battle."

"You can't just... just... demand a battle like that!" Tessa exclaimed. "You have to - "

Leiko grabbed her dagger from its sheath and pressed it to Tessa's throat. "I demand a battle."

Leiko dragged Tessa to the arena-like area of the hideout.

"Choose three pokémon," she commanded, and walked to her side of the Arena. "Let's see if you're as good as you think you are."

Silence filled the room, when again, finally, Leiko spoke. "I choose you, Pidgeot!"

"Pidgeooooot, pidgeot-geot-geot!" Screamed the pokémon at the top of its lungs.

"Fine, then I'll choose Pikachu!" The pokémon had recovered from its earlier state, and now stood ready to battle the pidgeot.

"Pika-chu!" It exclaimed. For a minute, the two pokémon stood, facing each other, sizing each other up.

"Pikachu, thunderbolt!"

"Pidgeot, fly attack!"

The pidgeot, considerably faster, took to the skies. Pikachu's electric sacs now fired up, and it set forth a powerful burst of electric energy as pidgeot was closing in. Tessa's look was triumphant, until she saw how the pidgeot just sailed through the energy, and pecked at Pikachu. The electric mouse fell to the ground, eyes swirling.

"What the?..." Tessa exclaimed, recalling her pokémon.

"Jolteon, go!" She called. The jolteon, considerably stronger than Pikachu, declared its name, and then proceeded to battle. "Jolteon, agility!"

"Jo-o-o-olt!" The pokémon exclaimed, picking up speed as it ran.

"Pidgeot, mirror move!" The pidgeot's speed increased as well as it dashed toward Jolteon.

"Jolteon, don't let it get you! Another agility, and then thunderbolt!" Jolteon sped up, and then let lose a lightning attack on Pidgeot. This time, Pidgeot faltered, almost losing all control of its flight, when Leiko smirked.

"Again, Pidgeot. Mirror move."

The pidgeot used thunderbolt against Jolteon, and the shock was too great. Jolteon fell to the ground - it was out of the match. Tessa clenched the next pokéball tight in her fist.

"Go, Arcanine!" She threw it out onto the battlefield. "Fire Blast attack!"

Arcanine lowered its head, then raised it, screaming its name as it sent forth a powerful fire blast. Pidgeot fell to the ground, smoking.

"Looks like we're having chicken tonight!" Tessa said with a smirk.

Leiko grew angry. "Pidgeot, return! Ninetales, it's your turn!"

"Ninetales. tails..." It said, as it escaped from the pokéball.

Tessa couldn't quite figure out Leiko's strategy. But she knew that speed was important in a battle. "Arcanine, agility!"

"Kaaaaaaa...nine!" Arcanine called as it gained speed.

"Ninetales, confuse ray!" Leiko called. Ninetales stopped dead in its tracks, and stared at Arcanine. Arcanine stopped running to meet the other pokémon's gaze, as an eerie look came over its eyes. The lighting in the room darkened, and then became light again.

Arcanine had become confused. He shook his head, trying to think of what he was supposed to do. "Arcanine, take down...now!"

Arcanine didn't understand the orders Tessa was giving him. He gave out a powerful roar, and going in for a bite attack. Luckily, the bite attack did have some affect. Ninetales was hurt pretty badly.

"Ninetales, double team!" Ninetales stepped forward, an odd stillness about it. And suddenly, there were three of it!

"Arcanine, fire spin!" Arcanine, revived from the confusion, engulfed all three forms of the ninetales in its fire. The real one fell, unconscious.

Suddenly a door opened, revealing Leiko's next - and final - pokémon. There was darkness beyond the door, and all that could be seen were two glowing eyes.

"Kismet!" Tessa's mouth widened. "Kismet!"

Who is this 'Kismet' you speak of? The mewtwo asked. Tessa looked at the mewtwo with shock and disbelief.

"Kismet, you're Kismet!" She tried to explain.

I am a nameless Mewtwo. This Kismet character is unfamiliar to me.

Leiko smirked.

"No..." Tessa looked up at Leiko. "What have you done to him?!"

Leiko's eyes narrowed. "Mewtwo is a dark pokémon. All it took was for me to erase his memory..."

Tessa burst into tears. "No! How could you have?! That means...he doesn't know Yusuo...you're...you're..."

Leiko took on a straight face once again. "Are you ready to battle?"

Tessa closed her eyes. Here's the strategy, Arcanine. I don't want you to lay a paw on Kismet. I know...a mewtwo's powers are too great for an arcanine. That doesn't mean you don't pretend to. What I really want you to do is attack Leiko, got it?

The arcanine looked back, and nodded.

"Go Arcanine, agility!"

Your attempts will be futile. But I will be fair. I will not use my Psychic Powers.

Tessa's eyes narrowed. "Kismet... we'll get you back, I promise. I won't leave here without you."

Arcanine used the attack as told.

"Now, Arcanine, fire spin!" Arcanine took a deep breath, and Tessa hoped that he would stay to the plan. He looked like he was going to spit it at Mewtwo, but instead turned his head sharply, and sent the fire blast towards Leiko. She held her hand up, and a jewel on one of her rings began to glow, triggering a barrier shield around her. She was unharmed.

Tessa was disheartened by this. "Arcanine, bite attack!"

"Mewtwo... swift."

This time the pokémon were in head to head combat. But before Arcanine got in to attack, Mewtwo had already hit it with a swift attack, sending it skittering across the floor.

"Arcanine!" Tessa called.

"Match is over, I'll claim my winnings," Leiko said, beginning to get bored with their battle.

Arcanine... Don't give up! Please don't give up! Don't let her take you from me!

Arcanine rose to its feet, and gave the Mewtwo a look of vengeance.

"Agility, now!" The arcanine gained speed with every step. "Again! Again! Reach your peak speed!"

Mewtwo was confused with the strategy, but Tessa seemed confident.

"Now, roar attack!"

Use take down!

The pokémon was inches away from Mewtwo. Leiko was amused enough to wait for Arcanine to use its puny roar against Mewtwo (it was puny in Mewtwo's case, at least). The fire pokémon stopped dead, and sucked in air as if it were ready to roar. But then, at the last split second, it leaped on Mewtwo, and smacked him against the ground.

"Canine!" It growled. Mewtwo pushed the pokémon off with little effort, and the battle continued. He was zoning in for another attack when Mewtwo finally became fed up. A blue glow danced around him, and he held arcanine in the air. One flick of the wrist, and Arcanine was slammed against the floor, breathless. Finally he began to breath, but only slowly.

"You know, little sister of Yusuo, you can keep your pokémon - for the moment," Leiko said, and allowed Tessa to call her pokémon back. Then, Leiko escorted her back to her cell, and locked her up. "We shall do battle again."

"Great!" Lyith cried sitting down in a pile of grass. "Where are we going to find a chansey at this time of night!? I'd rather be in bed."

"I don't know... Mew, any ideas?" asked Kyosan.

We aren't having much luck finding Tessa. Let's just try going east through the forest like the narrator said to.

"All right, let's go!" Kyosan looked down at Lyith. "The sooner we get started the sooner we'll be finished."

She glared up at him and Mew floating beside him. "I'm coming..."

"Are you sure the nest was east?" Lyith asked, wading through the tall grass.

"That's what Mew said..."

"Great... this is just great! Ever since I - "

I believe I've found something...

"Is it a nest?"

Appears so. The chansey is guarding it.

"Should we go after it?" Lyith asked, reaching for her pokéball.

Kyosan reached down over her hand. "No, let's try to talk to it."

"Talk to it! Are you crazy!? We can't talk to it... it'll just run away, and then..." Lyith sat down and curled up, burying her head in arms.

Did you forget about me?

"Mew can talk to it!" Lyith yelled, jumping up and hugging Mew. "You're great!"

Kyosan shook his head. "Come on... let's go talk to her..."

Tessa sat against the wall of her cell, her hand clenched around the pokéball that contained her injured arcanine.

"Arcanine..." She brought her other fist down hard in a nearby wall. It hurt, but she noticed that some of the wall crumbled as she did so. She felt the wall.

"Mud..." she exclaimed. "Hard, baked, mud!"

She pulled out another of her pokéballs. "Go, Dratini!"

In the flash of white light, the pokémon appeared. But before she could summon any of its attacks, a glowing light surrounded it. It elongated, and a horn developed on its forehead, where once had been a white circle. Its fins on the side of its head grew to look like two elegant wings.

"Dragon-air..." it sounded.

Tessa wanted to rejoice, but knew that at the moment she shouldn't. "Dragonair, surf attack, now!"

A wall of water rushed forward, breaking a large hole in the mud wall. "Good! Dragonair, Return!"

She now found herself in a rather... muddy predicament, with only a few stones to skip through. Rapidash... she thought.

"Come on, Rapidash! Let's get ourselves Free! C'mon! Free!"

Her pokémon exited the pokéball and stood, waiting for Tessa to climb on. Tessa nodded to her pokémon.

"Let's go!" she kicked rapidash hard in the sides, knowing it wouldn't really hurt, but it was enough to get them going. "Go, Rapidash!"

They found themselves racing endlessly through a deadened forest. It was dangerous for Rapidash to travel in such, with the burning intense flames that could ignite any twig that she accidentally touched. It was far away from their place of capture.

"You're the only one I have to ride... with Arcanine in this condition..." she sighed.

"Tachi!" A voice sounded."O!" about a dozen others chorused.

Tessa pulled herself to a stand, and leaned against rapidash. "You might have to battle, girl..."

The rapidash whinnied and nodded, searching for the source of the noise. It came closer, and the trainer and her pokémon stood, ready for battle.

"O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-!" Came the 'lead' voice. The same voice again called. "Tachi!" as it barreled from loose brush and tackled Tessa. It wasn't really big enough to do any damage, and it was kind of cute.

"Tachi-tachi-otachi!" It proclaimed. Tessa couldn't help but laugh, and raised her hand to pet the pokémon's head. It receded.

"Tachi..." it sneered, and stood on its tail.

"What a cute trick!" Tessa laughed and clapped her hands. The pokémon grew thoroughly annoyed by this. The rapidash now took its turn in the laughing.

When at last the pokémon was about to get up at leave, Tessa stopped it.

"Why don't you join us?" She asked. "You're so cute!"

She then thought about what she was saying. She pointed to Rapidash. "Unless you want to do this the hard way."

Rapidash got an evil grin on its face.

Otachi hid behind Tessa's legs. "Tachi! Tachi O-o!"

"Okay little guy. I've got a pokéball all for you!" She held it out, and the pokémon jumped back, shaking its head.

"Tachi. O-o-tachi!"

Tessa understood, slightly, and returned the pokéball to her backpack.

"C'mon Rapidash. As dry as it is, we have to get home." She returned herself to the pokémon's back, and escorted the little one on as well. "Let's go!"

Rapidash worked hard to find Fuchsia, but it was no luck for the both of them. As they rested in a small valley, a strange, but pleasing song, filled the air.

"What's that, Rapidash?"

Rapidash lifted its head, and looked toward a rock. Tessa followed its gaze to see none other than.. .an articuno!

"Oh my god! I have to get my camera!" She opened her bookbag, and began rummaging through. "Camera camera camera camera camera camera... camera camera camera... damn..." She did get it out. But let's just say she wasn't happy when she dropped it into the river.

"Oh, be damned..." she complained. By then, the articuno had lifted off, and flown away. But Rapidash urged for them to return to her back. Tessa grabbed Otachi, telling herself to forget about the Camera.

Kyosan, following Lyith, who was leading Mew, were headed to the chansey, which was now aware of its company. The chansey glared at the trio, cautious of the strange beings that it had never seen before.

"Nice and easy," Kyosan whispered to the two, slowly approaching it.

Mew floated to the Chansey, opening her mind, ready to speak telepathically, when a low, villainous song erupted from beyond the trees.

"Prepare for trouble!" A female voice shrilled as the song started.

"And make it double!" A male voice announced.

"Oh crap," Lyith sighed. "Not now..."

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation!"

Two large beacons of light flashed behind the trees. Smoke came out of nowhere.

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"We know it's you, Team Rocket!" Kyosan shouted over the impending Rocket theme song. "No need for dramatics... eh?" The music was abruptly cut off.

Musashi growled. "Never interrupt the Rocket motto! It energizes us, even at four a.m. in the morning!"

"Whatever."

The music picked up from where it was cut off, this time even more louder.

"Musashi," the female Rocket member yelled, posing.

"Kojiro," her partner shouted, striking a different pose.

"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!" Musashi and Kojiro, including Nyasu, broke through the trees on top of a large, wooden structure of some sort.

Kyosan started clapping uninterestedly. "Bravo. Wonderful. Now just dance your way back from where you came from."

"We're here to steal Chansey! We're not interested in your pokémon today!"

"Why Chansey?" Lyith asked.

"Because," Nyasu started, "Chansey are known as lucky pokémon."

"And since we seem to have to no luck at all of our skirmishes..." Musashi continued.

"... We're gonna take Chansey and it'll be our Team Rocket mascot, giving us good luck and fortune for our future successes!..." Kojiro trailed off, looking at his cat-partner in crime. "No offense, Nyasu, but you're not much of a good luck charm."

"None taken."

"Well we just want the egg. You seem to be using the chansey for nothing else but luck, so I guess it'll be alright giving the egg-less chansey to you," Lyith pondered.

"No! We want it all!" Kojiro whined.

"Go, super-hyper-ultra-patented-mega-great-thingy!" Musashi shouted, kicking the large, wooden structure she stood on. The wooden structure protruded arm-like poles with large nets on each of them, and one was thrown over Lyith, Kyosan, and Mew, another over the terrified chansey.

"Ah ha ha!" Kojiro cried. "We've outdone ourselves this time, Musashi!"

"Yes!" Musashi shouted triumphantly. "Not only do we have a Chansey, but we also have those two losers' pokémon to steal, and a rare Mew! That Chansey is already giving us good luck!"

Nyasu, in the midst of the overconfidence, turned to the net to see Lyith, Kyosan, and Mew gone. "Uhh, guys? The trap didn't work..."

"What?!" Musashi replied sharply.

"How did they escape from our carefully formulated net?" Kojiro asked.

"You guys are truly dense," Lyith remarked from behind the Rocket fools.

"Wha!? How did you get out?"

"The nets have always worked on that kid when we tried to steal his pikachu, but you guys got out in no time! How?!" Kojiro questioned.

"When you have one of these," Kyosan taunted, brandishing a pocket knife. "It's called a pocket knife. It fits in your pocket, yet it is a knife that is used to cut things, like your net."

"No fair," Kojiro whined again as Kyosan quickly freed the Chansey from the net.

"You're not getting away so easily!" Musashi roared, pulling some switches along the body of the wooden machine. More arm-like poles with nets at the end appeared, and advanced on Kyosan, who stood protecting the chansey. Kyosan fended off the nets and arms with his knife, frantically, making sure that the chansey remained safe.

"Ly-Lyith! I can't keep this up all night! Destroy that machine!"

Lyith observed the machine and found that it was conveniently made out of wood. "Flareon! Flamethrower!"

The flareon spat a continuous river of fire, instantaneously engulfing the wooden machine.

"Ack! I hope that the fire doesn't reach the petroleum-fueled engine inside the machine," Nyasu remarked, doing his best to avoid the flames.

The machine then blew up with a loud crashing sound, accompanied by fire and smoke, sending Team Rocket sailing over the horizon.

"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again..." They shouted before winking off in the distance.

"Good riddance."

"Yeah," Kyosan agreed. "Mew, let's talk to this Chansey about handing us its egg..."

The mew nodded, and floated up to the pokémon, staring at it directly into the eye. After a few minutes, the chansey, once confused, was now smiling and giving its egg to Lyith.

"All right! Now, to Yusuo's cabin!" Kyosan beamed, pointing westward. He called out his arcanine and hopped on. Lyith summoned her ponyta and saddled up, following Kyosan.

"Hey!" Lyith shouted at Kyosan. "Wait up! No fair! You gotta head start!"

If you don't mind, I shall be taking a catnap, Mew started, relaxing on Kyosan's backpack.

"Why do I have to babysit this egg?..." Lyith grumbled to herself.

The trio took off toward the abode of Yusuo, making up for lost time.

Tessa's walk seemed to be leading her nowhere. She came out by a small stream, stopping.

I need a rest, Rapidash whined to her through the mental link they had temporarily established. And a drink.

Tessa nodded. "Drink up, the water looks clear." She told her fire horse. Rapidash whinnied, and walked to the edge of the water. As it lowered its neck, a pokémon seemed to explode from the water. Tessa turned her head quickly to see what had gone on. She saw three vertical slashes on Rapidash's neck.

"Pikachu!" she yelled, in moments the pokémon was free from the pokéball and dashing towards the stream.

"Pika!" It called, letting loose a thunderbolt attack. The pokémon, now identifiable as golduck, jumped out of the water, weaker from the attack. Tessa smiled, confident. That is, until the pokémon raked its claws forward.

"Pikachu!"

Tessa pondered over who to send next, when a friendly. "O! Tachi-tachi o!" sounded. The gang of Otachi that Tessa's had formerly belonged to appeared on the scene. The one on Tessa's shoulder leaped off, and engaged in the battle.

"Tachi-Tachi! O!" It told the golduck. Tessa appeared confused. The golduck's eyes narrowed.

"Tachi!" It continued. When the Golduck's mind seemed unchangeable, the Otachi called orders out to his fellow friends. The gang of Otachi was on the golduck in seconds.

Minutes later, after many of the small creatures being flung off, the battle was over, and the golduck lay, exhausted from the fight. Tessa thanked her small friend, and drew her pokéball. For minutes it rocked back and forth, and then it yielded with a happy 'ding' that denoted her catch. Tessa smiled, and stuffed the pokéball into her bag with the others.

"C'mon Rapidash, we've got some heavy traveling to do."

As they continued on, the trees began to become less dense, and the sunlight was quite cheery. A flake of snow fell from the sky, and Tessa's Rapidash whinnied in delight as it landed on its nose.

"Kismet! We're back!" Kyosan shouted, bursting through the front door to Yusuo's cabin.

No response.

"Anyone home?" Lyith asked, looking around.

Once again, no one answered.

"No one's here..."

Lyith paced to Yusuo's bedroom, finding the door closed. She put her ear to the door, listening, then intruded into the room, only to find an empty bed and books scattered upon a desk in the corner of the room.

Mew floated into the room, glancing all around, then shrugged with a puzzled look on her face. Can't sense anyone... not even Kismet...

"And the longer it takes to find them, the shorter amount of time Yusuo has to live..."

Perhaps... Mew started.

Lyith and Kyosan glanced up to Mew. "Continue."

Perhaps if we could make the antidote ourselves?

"Of course! I have the sheet to prepare the ingredients! Right here!..." Kyosan trailed off, searching his pockets and backpack, but coming up empty handed.

"I don't have it!" Kyosan hesitated, then looked at Lyith. "You have it. Right?"

Lyith shook her head.

Kyosan hung his head, then remembered - he'd given the sheet of paper to Tessa a while back... before she was kidnapped!

"It's with Tessa... she had it when she was kidnapped!" Kyosan fumed, punching the wall, leaving indentations from his knuckles. He couldn't do anything now to help Yusuo, and he didn't have a clue to where Tessa was.

"Mellow out, Kyosan!"

Yes. Relax. I know things look bad, but we can't do anything else to help Tessa or Yusuo. The only thing we can do now is to wait for something to act upon.

Kyosan took a deep breath in, and exhaled loudly. "... Okay... I'm in control... sorry about that."

He walked out of the room into the den of the cabin, and flopped onto the sofa, exhausted from the journey there. Mew floated by with Lyith following from behind, heading into the kitchen.

"Is there anything to eat?" Lyith asked.

Try the refrigerator. I doubt that there's anything in there, though - Yusuo barely ever goes shopping.

Lyith opened the refrigerator to find a large pot with a sticky note attached to the side of it.

Cooking instructions;

Heat water until boiled. Add leek immediately into pot...

Startled, Lyith read it aloud, then presented her discovery to Mew. "Do you think Kismet made this for us?"

Mew looked over the sheet of paper. No... he'd never do something like that. Maybe he was preparing it so he would be ready to cook the minute we walked in...

"Well, we have the instructions, let's get cooking! I'll get Kyosan in here - I'm definitely no chef..." Lyith vacated the kitchen, then reappeared a moment later, dragging Kyosan by the sleeve of his jacket and carrying the items necessary for the brew.

"I don't cook... I can't cook... I don't want to cook..." Kyosan was protesting, trying to slink away.

Lyith sat him firmly on a stool. "Neither can I. That's why we're both going to figure this out."

Mew floated to the empty pantry and came back with two aprons, handing a blue one to Lyith and pink, frilly one to Kyosan.

"Uhh, I think you have my apron, Lyith," Kyosan ventured uneasily, holding up the pink apron to Lyith.

"Aw, rough it out. It's not like anyone's gonna see you - well, besides us," Lyith responded casually, tying the apron straps behind her.

"And here I'm supposed to feel relieved?"

Lyith glared at Kyosan, then ordered him to bring the pot to the stove. Kyosan wisely followed orders without any complaints after putting on his apron, and brought the pot to the stove. He gently placed it on one of the heating rings, then turned on the flame and partially sealed the top of the pot.

"Leave is alone for a while," Kyosan warned. "This way it'll boil faster."

"And you said you couldn't cook."

"I can't... but you just to be pretty stupid if you don't know how to boil water..."

"Watch what you're saying," Lyith replied sharply. Then, she read on from the recipe. "Slice leek and sprinkle with sleep powder. Allow leek to sit until it turns brown, then place in boiling water."

Kyosan opened a drawer, digging through silverware until he found a respectable-sized knife in his hand.

Lyith snatched the blade before Kyosan got to cut anything. "I'll do the cutting!"

"Are you sure you're not going to cut yourself?"

"I'll be fine - worry about the water." As Lyith started cutting the leek up, she couldn't help but notice that the entire time, Kyosan was watching her. "What's the matter?"

"..."

"Say it," Lyith commanded, pointing the knife at Kyosan.

"Well - heh heh..." Kyosan hesitantly started, "... I just have a responsibility to watch you at all times when you have a weapon in your hands. Especially when I'm within stabbing range..." He gestured a circle around Lyith. Lyith ignored Kyosan and continued cutting the leek in a careless manner, pretending to be one of those master chefs who could slice and dice a veggie with lightning speed.

"Slow down; you might cut yourself," Kyosan warned, watching the knife bounce here and there.

"Mind you that I have hand-eye coordination that surpasses even Mew here, and I can go as fast as I want or as slow as I want, without cutting my - " Lyith stopped speaking and started making an odd sound from her mouth as her eyes began to water. She shakily let a breath out, dropping the knife and grasping her index finger with her opposite hand.

Kyosan and Mew immediately rushed to her side, prying her hand away to administer first aid.

"You're lucky that your cut was a little more than a scrape - not even serious enough to be called a cut," Kyosan scolded, rinsing off the injured finger with a damp towel and then placed a Band-Aid on the cut.

"Hey, knock it off, with the 'I'm so much more mature than you are' act!"

Kyosan, maybe you should tend to the leek...

Kyosan nodded and carefully finished cutting the vegetable. "Lyith, hand me the container of sleep powder."

Lyith picked up the container, which was sitting next to the chansey egg, and passed it to Kyosan, using the collar of her shirt to cover her nose and mouth. Kyosan held his breath as he opened the container, immediately dumping the powder on top of the sliced vegetable. He backed away and waited for the powder to settle before continuing, as the vegetable immediately turned brown. Then Mew used her psychic powers to levitate the vegetables into the boiling water.

Lyith read out loud from the recipe. "Add yolk of chansey egg and leek to boiling water."

"Simple enough," Kyosan mused, picking up the rather large egg. "Lyith, get a bowl - a big bowl - for the yolk."

Lyith brought a large, metal bowl to Kyosan, and he started tapping the egg to the rim of it. However, the eggshell didn't crack. Kyosan redoubled his efforts and hit harder, but still no crack. Gradually, he put more force in, until he was literally smashing the egg into the rim. But still not a mark was made.

Kyosan dropped the egg, which harmlessly bounced away with no cracks or signs of damage.

"Lemme try," Lyith said, gesturing toward the egg. Kyosan complied and tossed it toward her. Lyith started smashing the egg into the counter, quickly growing more and more agitated until she started swearing violently at it for not breaking. She turned away in disgust and walked out of the kitchen, hurling the abused egg onto the floor.

A moment later, she returned with a large dictionary and started swinging madly at the seemingly-impenetrable egg, but it still remained unbroken. She ran out of the kitchen again to come back with a bedpost and started bashing - failure. A large rock found outside in Yusuo's lawn - failure. A frying pan - failure again. Yusuo's bathroom sink - another failure.

"Damn this *beep*ing piece of *beep*! It won't *beep*ing break! Aaargh! You *beep*in' son of a *beep*ing *beep*," Lyith raged madly, repeatedly bringing the frying pan down upon the egg.

"Chill out!" Kyosan shouted, attempting to restrain Lyith from further violent outbursts by holding her back. He was instantly repelled by a swinging frying pan that almost knocked him out cold.

"Not until that damned egg is flatter than my finger!" Lyith argued, swinging at the egg again. After another string of failures, Lyith took the abused item outside, and released her ponyta. "Ponyta! Stomp that egg flat!" Lyith ordered savagely, pointing to the egg on the grass. The ponyta reared up and brought its diamond-hard hooves down on the egg. Finally, visible cracks could be seen on the hard shell.

"Good job, ponyta! Do it again - but with a little less force than before."

The ponyta obeyed, and cracked the egg open - all the gooey, jelly-ish innards oozing out onto the grass. Lyith quickly retrieved what was necessary with the bowl, then called her ponyta back. She then ran back into the house.

"Allow broth to simmer for three hours," Lyith said, reading the final instructions on the recipe. "Simple enough..."

"I need a vacation..." Kyosan whined, holding a bag of ice to the egg that was currently forming on his own forehead. Mew started laughing as Lyith once again eyed Kyosan suspiciously.

As the weather gradually grew colder, more snow started to fall, worrying Tessa that her rapidash wasn't able to handle the upcoming severe cold. She brushed white flakes from her face as she started to look for a place for lodging. She couldn't find any building or signs of humanity anywhere.

Tessa recalled her rapidash and decided to walk to find some source of warmth in the forest. The light snowstorm eventually turned into a massive snowstorm, powdering the trees and ground all white and puffy. She shivered as winds started howling through the trees.

She continued to trudge on for an hour or so, before she exited the forest, a blanket of snow caked upon her. Tessa ran through the open field before her, in search of a place to rest and warm up. She discovered a cobbled road after some more traveling, and rejoiced as she followed a paved road along the side, knowing that it would take her to a city. The snow continued to fall, even more harshly than before. She felt like an icicle, until she saw a house - a mansion, in fact - through the snow storm.

The lights weren't on inside the house. Tessa was curious to know if anyone was home. She struggled to the front door and rang the doorbell in hopes to be invited inside, but even after waiting, she received no answer. Tessa rang the doorbell again, and heard it chime melodiously from the within. Still, no answer.

She checked the handle to the door to see if it was unlocked. It turned easily, and the door slowly opened. Logically, Tessa went inside. A wave of comforting warmth swept over the near-frozen trainer, who so greatly appreciated it. She pulled off her soaking wet shoes and coat, and walked further into the house, leaving her outer wear by the closed front door. It was dark inside, so she stumbled around to find a light switch. When she succeeded, she found herself in the den of the mansion. Furniture was spread about and drew attention to the front of the fire place with logs of wood beside it.

Throwing some of the wood into the fireplace, she called her arcanine for a simple task - to start a fire.

"Arcanine," Tessa started, with another shiver, "start a decent fire with those logs."

The arcanine obeyed, and spat some flames into the brick fireplace. A fire upon the logs burst, and Tessa released a weary sigh. She fell back, resting on the ground, smiling, enjoying the heat. Her arcanine, noticing her shivering and her soggy clothes, moved closer to his trainer to warm her up. Tessa hugged the arcanine.

"Thank you," she whispered into its ear, exhaustedly. Then, she fell asleep, and dreamed of having a picnic with her brother and Kismet and Mew, and not a care in the world.

"I'm going to find Yusuo," Lyith said casually, walking to the front door of Yusuo's house.

Kyosan held a puzzled expression on his face as he followed Lyith out the door. "Do you know where he is or something?"

Lyith shrugged. "No idea. But it beats sitting around, doing nothing for another two-and-a-half hours." She rolled a pokéball along the yard, and her ponyta popped out.

"I'll come with," Kyosan started, his hand descending to his pokéball containing arcanine.

"It's better if I do this alone," Lyith quickly declined.

"But - "

"And besides, you have to watch the broth. Plus, Yusuo might come back."

"Yeah, but if you get hurt, no one will be there - "

"I'll be fine - I can take care of myself." Lyith rode off, heading in no particular direction, just trying to guess where Yusuo would be. Kyosan stood motionless by the door, with a worried look on his face.

"I just don't like the feeling of this..." he muttered, then came back to his senses as a fierce wind ripped through the trees, blasting freezing air across the landscape. Kyosan shivered and went back inside as the once-sunny sky transformed into thick, puffy gray clouds.

Mew floated through the house, trying to clean up as best as she could, which was nearly perfect. She was busy levitating trash from the floor into the nearest garbage can when Kyosan walked in, hands in his pockets, never lifting his head up.

Mew acknowledged Kyosan's glumness and perched on his head. Cheer up. As they say, 'tis the season to be jolly.

Kyosan smiled and released a deep sigh. "Thanks."

He picked up the Mew and cradled her in his arms, strolling around the cottage. He relaxed on the same sofa which he had rested before.

You must be under a lot of pressure, Mew said mentally. You're emanating a lot of stress waves.

"Stress waves?"

I just wanted to sound more scientific. Actually, it is just the way you do everything. You were different from the way you normally act - I can tell that, just by seeing you walk around the cottage. It seems like all the energy has been drained out of you.

"You're good."

Yes, I am... but why are you so uneasy?

"Just this whole thing. PokéGods, the Darkness League, constant run-ins with Team Rocket. And complete strangers that I have never known before, but as soon as I see them, I get a... a comfortable feeling... like I can trust them..."

I get that same feeling, too, whenever I see you.

Kyosan smiled again. "Yeah, me too. But not just you - Tessa, Lyith, Jon, Fox, Falcon, Andy, Julie, Daeg... they're all people I know I can trust. Even if we had some bumpy starts."

Kyosan stood up, without Mew, and walked to the kitchen to check on the broth. He came back a moment later, with an inquisitive look on his face. "Hey, Mew... mind if I ask you a somewhat personal question?"

I see no harm in that, Mew replied.

Kyosan thought it over carefully, then posed the question. "Are you the only mew, or are there others just like you?"

There are other mew, besides me.

"Interesting. Do you know where they are or live?"

No clue. I really don't seem to remember anything until I met Tessa.

"You don't remember your parents? Where you were born? Anything from your past?"

I do remember two things from long ago. I remember when I first met Tessa, and how we became good friends. And I remember me, playing along the clouds in the sky, before I met Tessa.

"Nothing else?"

Not a thing. I guess you could say that nothing important was going on during my early years - that's most likely why my past remains in a constant mist.

Kyosan agreed, knowing how anything significant in your life would be constantly reviewed by your subconscious, and you would forever be thinking of things you might have done to change it. He knew it too well.

But the funny thing is... Mew started, letting out a yawn.

"Continue..."

The funny thing is that ever since we've met, I've remembered nearly everything - important or not. Like the time when you and Tessa fell into the river... Mew started smirking.

"Same here."

The two continued their discussion as snowflakes started their descent from the sky and littered the grass white.

"Oh, great... it's snowing..." Lyith sighed as snowflakes landed on her and her ponyta. She halted the fire horse and hopped off. The ponyta whined, looking worried, and nudged Lyith.

"Sorry, ponyta, but you'll do no good in the snow," Lyith said, holding the pony's pokéball. "Ponyta, return."

The familiar red blaze of energy engulfed the ponyta, returning it into the pokéball. The snow continued to fall, showing no signs of cessation, as Lyith ploughed on through the deepening banks. Lyith pulled her jacket collar tighter around her neck. She really didn't enjoy the snow - though ironically she grew up in the town of water pokémon. But she pushed on through the snow, trying to find Yusuo. If she was too late, and he was stranded out in this, she would only find a frozen corpse...

At the thought of this, she started running, searching with a renewed urgency, when she suddenly tripped. Pulling herself out of a Lyith-shaped indent in the crisp white carpet, Lyith started grumbling, but caught herself before she started to swear. She picked herself up, brushing snow off her jacket, then immediately checked what had tripped her.

It was the body of Yusuo.

After brushing off the snow that had accumulated on him, Lyith checked his pulse. He was alive, buy his face was pale and pinched, nearly blue with cold.

"C'mon," Lyith grunted with effort as she picked up Tessa's brother, looping her arm around his shoulder. "Time to go home."

Yusuo started to respond, faintly and opening his eyes. He looked around, seeing Lyith, and tried to talk back, but made nothing but groans.

"Shh," Lyith said. "You're most likely freezing cold, and in great pain." She took off her jacket and wrapped it around him. "Just try to walk. If you can't, then just try to move forward."

Yusuo started walking, but only managed a few stiff steps before collapsing into Lyith's arms. Pain, wracking his body, like something was tearing him open. Lyith sensed this, and was even more determined to press on.

"Give up now," She muttered with a 'cruel-to-be-kind' brutality, "and you'll never see Tessa again."

The words hit Yusuo's heart, and even through the pain, he shakily stood and started walking weakly under Lyith's direction. The snow continued to fall, and Lyith shivered violently as snow gathered on her hair and bare arms, her dripping wet T-shirt nowhere near adequate protection from the cold.

"Tessa..." Yusuo managed, and stumbled, almost falling. Lyith caught him again.

"S-she's fine," Lyith stuttered as she lied through necessity. "Now, s-stand up and let's g-get b-back to your w-warm home."

Yusuo found his feet again, and started walking on his own. Lyith walked next to him, supporting him when it was needed. Altogether, they were moving at a very slow rate.

Forty minutes later, Lyith felt completely drained. She was extremely cold - or at least she had been ten minutes ago. Now she had progressed to completely numb. Yusuo was in a slightly less severe state, thanks to Lyith's jacket, but they were both suffering.

"This c-c-can't g-get any w-worse," Lyith muttered, crossing her arms, looking for any signs of previous traveling. She succeeded by finding footsteps from her ponyta - though barely visible from the snow and wind. She sneezed, and felt really dizzy, and reached for her pokéballs. She threw one upon the snow, and her flareon jumped out. It immediately ran to Lyith, trying to warm her up by shooting flames near her.

Lyith groaned. What a time to bring out the wrong pokémon. She pulled out another pokéball, releasing ponyta. "Flareon, return - it's too cold out here for you."

The fire fox avoided the beam of red energy from the pokéball, apparently angered.

"W-won't... let you... a-alone... f-freezing..." Yusuo stuttered, shivering.

Lyith glared at her nearly-frozen friend. "P-Ponyta, p-pick up Y-Yusuo."

The ponyta obeyed, dropping its head under Yusuo's legs, then raised its head back up, causing Yusuo to slide onto its back.

"F-follow those t-tracks y-you m-made earlier b-back to the c-c-cabin with h-him. M-make sure h-he d-doesn't f-fall off."

The flaming horse looked worried as it neighed and nudged Lyith's shoulder.

"D-don't worry ab-bout me. I c-can make it b-back."

The ponyta glanced at Lyith once more, then sped off into the curtain of snow.

"All r-right, F-Flareon..." Lyith's voice was getting weaker. "R-return..."

She held a pokéball next to her waist, but before she managed to recall the pokémon, she collapsed, completely exhausted and chilled to the core. The flareon ran to her side, brushing its tail along her face, breathing fire next to her, scared that Lyith was unconscious, she would never wake up again.

"Soup's almost ready," Kyosan reported as he came out of the kitchen.

Doesn't smell very pleasant, Mew gagged.

Kyosan smiled slightly. "And after all that hard work we put into making that thing..."

A faint neighing sound interrupted from the outside. Kyosan and Mew darted to the window, where they saw Lyith's ponyta, rearing on its hind legs, with a person on its back. Kyosan immediately opened the door to let the pokémon in. It dashed inside, neighing loudly, motioning its head at its cargo.

Yusuo! Mew shouted.

Kyosan picked up the unconscious man and laid him on the couch, then noticed that Yusuo had Lyith's jacket wrapped around him. "Where's Lyith?"

The ponyta nudged him, neighing. It moved to the open front door and came back, indicating that Lyith was still outside.

"Mew, take care of Yusuo - I'll go find Lyith!" Kyosan said, hopping onto Ponyta's back. "Lead the way, Ponyta!"

The ponyta sprinted out of the house, racing through the snow. Kyosan held on for dear life as snowflakes quickly shot past him, whipped into an icy, blinding whirl with Ponyta's speed. He squinted his eyes and gritted his teeth as he bent low over the mane of the horse pokémon, praying he wasn't too late...

Lyith...

Huh?

Lyith...

Is it...Emily?

Correct.

Why did you contact me?

You're nearly dead.

But I feel fine.

Your life is in great danger from the snow.

Aww, give me a break. It's just snow.

Yes, but as you grew up, you never came into contact with snow. If it would snow in Cerulean City, you would just stay indoors. This is your first time that your body had fully experienced the harshness and cruelty of snow.

I see.

You must live on. For your friends' sake. For your flareon. For yourself.

Myself?

Your flareon is doing all that's within its power to keep you warm. Of course yourself.

What do I have to look forward to in life?

Your friends. Your duty. Your family. Have you forgotten about Jon?

Jon... my family... after so long... I guess he would be kinda pissed if he found out that I had died...

Of course.

Yeah. I see your point. I'll do my best to fight... thank you, Emily.

The flareon had gathered a small pile of kindling, and set it ablaze near Lyith. The fire eventually diminished due to the icy wind, but Flareon kept it going by bringing more twigs and branches, despite the snow. It was weak too, mainly from the cold, but also from exerting even more heat from its body to keep Lyith warm.

Lyith slowly started moving, groaning unpleasantly. The flareon reacted by jumping up and down on her chest, breathing fire right above her face. Lyith opened her eyes and rolled over, knocking the flareon off.

She stood up and stretched, yawning. "What a nice nap."

The flareon whimpered, looking upon Lyith. She looked down to see the weak and cold flareon, and patted her head.

"Thank you, Flareon. You kept me from freezing. I owe you my life." She picked up her dropped pokéball, pointing it at Flareon. "Return. It'll be warmer inside."

Red energy engulfed the pokémon, then disappeared, taking Flareon with it.

Then, she heard the familiar pounding of hooves against the ground, rapidly drawing nearer. Her ponyta appeared from the shower of snow, with Kyosan clinging tightly to the fiery mane. The fire horse came to a sudden halt, and the male trainer looked around, seeing Lyith.

"Aren't you cold?" Kyosan jumped off the horse, offering his jacket to Lyith. "You've only got a T-shirt on!"

Lyith rejected the jacket. "I'm fine," she said weakly.

Kyosan chuckled. "You're as stubborn as Jon. Maybe even Fox." He placed the jacket around Lyith's shoulders anyway. He thought, as he looked at her, that he noticed something a little different about her, but didn't know what. It was unexplainable, so he shrugged it off, telling himself he'd think about it later.

"Thanks," Lyith acknowledged. She went to her ponyta, but nearly lost her balance.

Kyosan ran to her, helping her stay up. "You're gonna fall off if you try riding your ponyta. Arcanine! C'mon out!"

The pokémon jumped out, then shivered and whined at Kyosan for the snow.

"I know, I know. It's snowing. Just fire up and you'll be fine."

The arcanine used a variation on its ember attack, one that instead engulfed itself in its own flames. After 'firing up', it instantly seemed much more comfortable.

"Interesting trick," Lyith observed. "Maybe I should teach my pokémon to use it..."

Kyosan smirked, then climbed onto his pokémon, offering Lyith a hand up. She accepted the hand and was graciously lifted up.

"Ponyta," Kyosan commanded. "Lead the way back home. Arcanine, follow it."

The fire horse sped off back to Yusuo's cabin, with the graceful arcanine following close behind.

The snow was still falling in heaps as Kyosan and Lyith neared Yusuo's cabin. Lyith had her hands wrapped around Kyosan's waist, clutching on to him. During the ride, she had almost fallen off on more than one occasion, for the snow was extremely deep and the going rough. Every so often they'd hit a spot where they'd sink deep into the snow and flounder momentarily before moving on.

"Did ponyta get Yusuo to you alright?" Lyith asked as they came to the cabin.

"Yeah, I left him with Mew to come get you. I hope she didn't wait to give him the antidote."

Kyosan jumped off Arcanine. Lyith slid off and turned to ponyta.

"Thanks, girl. Ponyta, return."

Kyosan recalled his Arcanine, and the pair walked into the house.

I was getting worried about you, Mew said, darting to the door

"How's Yusuo?" Lyith asked, barging in front of Kyosan.

He's doing much better. At the first taste of the antidote, color came back to his face.

"Because it's working, or because our cooking was that bad?"

Mew smiled and nodded. Yusuo is doing better, you can go see him if you want, but he does need his rest.

"Come on, Kyosan," Lyith said dragging him into Yusuo's bedroom. She knocked lightly as she opened the door. He was lying on his bed, breathing softly as flecks of snow melted against his window.

Kyosan spoke first. "Yusuo?"

He turned in his bed, facing the two. Lyith stepped back behind Kyosan as he walked to Yusuo's bedside.

"Kyo-" he coughed, and waved him closer. "Kyosan, thank you. I believe I have you to thank for saving my life."

"And Lyith."

"I see... thank you, both. Where is Tessa?"

Kyosan, at a loss for words, turned to Lyith.

"She's not here right now, but you'll get too see her soon, don't worry," she lied.

"Perhaps then I should rest..." he said, as his eyes fluttered closed.

Kyosan stood up from his bedside, then turned to Lyith, his eyes saying the same thing as she was thinking. Where was Tessa?

Lyith forced a weak smile as she pushed open the door to the living room, where a warm fire was blazing. "Let's go sit out by the fire. You can keep my company while I get warm."

Lyith sat down on the rug in front of it, her wet clothes creating darker marks on it. Kyosan sat down beside her, staring into the fire.

"Don't worry. She'll show up."

"I hope so. Yusuo will be heartbroken if anything happens to her."

"I know..." she replied. The two sat in silence for a moment, as the burning wood cracked.

"Kyosan..." Lyith took a deep breath, her eyes watering slightly. "Thank you for saving me."

Looking puzzled, he replied, "it's okay. I told you I should have come along though, in case something happened to you. I could feel something was going - "

Lyith reached over and hugged him, sobbing. "I'm sorry for not listening to you. I don't usually have someone to get advice or help from. And even though I've been so mean to you, you still came after me when I was in trouble and needed you..."

Lyith let go of him, stood up, and handed him his jacket. "Here's your coat. Thanks for letting me use it. I have extra, dry clothes in my bag...I'll be back."

She walked into one of the spare bedrooms. Kyosan turned back to the fire, and closed his eyes as its warm breath wafted across his face.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, and opened his eyes quickly.

I feel her.

"Tessa?! You do?!"

The phone rang, Kyosan jumped up and charged toward the table on which the phone was sitting.

"Hello?" The video slowly faded in.

It was Tessa.

"Kyosan!"

"Tessa! Where are you? Where have you been!?"

"It's a long story, but I'm in someone's empty mansion... I hope they don't mind, but it was cold and - wait, have you found the ingredients for Yusuo's antidote?!"

"That's a long story too. But he's okay. Say, it looks like you're at my place..."

"Your place? You mean you live in a mansion?!"

"Yeah... could you step out from in front of the camera so I can see?... Yeah, it's mine..."

"You don't mind me being here, do you?"

"No! When Yusuo wakes up, we'll come on over. That way we can have everyone together. Maybe send Yusuo with Mew, and Lyith and I can ride over. Sound good?"

"Sounds great! I guess I'll see you in a few hours then?"

"Yeah, until then. 'Bye Tessa."

"'Bye Kyosan," she said as the picture faded out.

"I told you she'd be ok," Lyith smiled, walking toward Kyosan.

"You were right," he glanced up at her. "Are you okay now?"

She smiled again. "Of course."

All right, but I can only take him with me.

"It's okay, you teleport yourself and Yusuo to Tessa, and Lyith and I will meet you there," Kyosan turned to Yusuo. "Are you sure this is okay with you?"

He nodded, "Yes, I'll let her know you're coming."

Be careful, and remember to keep warm.

Lyith smiled, "You guys take care. We'll see you in a little bit."

Mew circled around Yusuo once, and then held his hand as a purple mist engulfed them. When the mist disappeared, they were gone.

Lyith pulled on her dry jacket and zipped it all the way up. "Ready Kyosan?"

He pulled on his own jacket and slid a pair of gloves on. "As ready as I'm going to be. Try and keep as warm as possible. Keep close to me. I know where we're going..."

"Anything else, fearless leader?" She asked, grinning.

"Not that I can think of - let's go." Kyosan pulled open the door, and a blustery wind rushed past them. "Let's go."

Tessa smiled to herself. Finally being able to see Yusuo healthy again. Her brother, who'd taught her everything she'd ever need to know about pokémon. Sure, they'd got into fights when they were kids... back when Yusuo was still at home...

"Hey, little twerp, stay outta my room!" Screamed a voice, as a shoe came hurtling out the doorway.

"Sheesh..." Tessa said under her breath and continued to trudge down the hall. "Fine, I will! But next time you need me for something I'm not gonna be 'dere. So Nyah!"

Tessa giggled at the memory. But seeing Kyosan... she trailed off in thought. Strangely enough, I miss him the most. It's a weird feeling, you know, Mew... She paused, remembering that Mew was not with her.

She did ponder much with herself on how strange it was that she would rather see - but her thoughts were interrupted when a pink aura arrived in the next room.

"Mew!" She ran for her pokémon first, and squeezed her tight.

Uhh, Mew can't breath here... lemme go! Mew joked.

She paused, and looked over at Yusuo. They exchanged smiles, and she hugged him.

"Glad to see you're better, oh brother of mine. Say, since I last left, found any giiiiiiirrrrrllllfriiieeeeeeeends?" Tessa smiled, and enjoyed watching her brother blush.

"Why would you want to know, squirt?"

Tessa smirked. "Only lookin' out for my big brother. If you got a girlfriend you know I'd have to come around and make trouble."

Yusuo and Tessa both laughed. Then Yusuo raised his eyebrows. "And what about you, Tessa?"

Tessa blushed fully, face red as a cherry.

"Ah, so you do. So, what's his name?"

She finally was able to stutter, "Well, you can't call him a boyfriend boyfriend. I'm not really sure if he even likes me but - "

Yusuo smirked. "'Tis that Kyosan, isn't it?!"

Tessa became even more flushed that earlier. "How did you - wha - "

The black-haired trainer pointed to an innocent-looking mew.

"I'll get you for this, you little snitch!"" Tessa threatened the small floating pokémon.

Moments later, a knock-knock-knock was heard, coming from the doorway. All Yusuo saw was a flash of purple hair, and then the door was opened. As soon as Kyosan walked in the door, Tessa embraced him.

"Missed you," she said. "And thank you..." she continued, speaking to both Kyosan and Lyith.

Yusuo, leaning against a wall, finally spoke up. "So, where's that trouble-makin' rascal, Kismet?"

Tessa hung her head. She tried to speak, but there was only silence.

"Kismet? Where's Kismet? Tessa, what are you hiding?"

She didn't want to speak of it, but she did. "When I was out collecting some of the items, Kismet was captured by Leiko. His memory was erased completely. I know, we have to get him back, and we will. I'm sure Mew can help."

Yusuo stumbled back. "Kismet..."

Mew glanced at Tessa. I don't know if we can return his memory to him... she informed only her would-be trainer.

But we have to...Kismet is as special to Yusuo as you are to me!

Mew replied only with silence.

Only then did Tessa remember that some of her pokémon needed tending to, especially her arcanine. She called him from his pokéball. She could see he was completely out of breath, and very weak.

"Kyosan, do you by chance have any potions?"

Yusuo almost laughed, but didn't. "Hey Tessa, what ever happened to all that 'nothing can beat my Arcanine' talk?"

Tessa walked up and slapped her brother across the face. "I'm sorry if you want to be so cocky, Yusuo. But for your information, Kismet did this."

She narrowed her eyes. Arcanine was her favorite, aside from Mew. And if something wasn't done soon, complications could occur...

Kyosan nodded, and disappeared up a flight of stairs, to return only moments later with a bottle of potion.

"Thanks. You know, I don't know what I'd do if he didn't make it..." she said, and started tending to its wounds. It narrowed its eyes and winced in pain. "It's okay, you'll be fine..."

And then, as if by sheer fate, a name came to her. "You'll be fine, Windfyre."

She paused, startling even herself with this newfound name. As she leaned back to a stand, a pokéball rolled out of her bag. It was different, a metallic blue color, with a small water symbol on the front. Kyosan leaned to pick it up and return it to her.

"Don't believe I've seen this one yet. So, what other pokémon do you have, Tessa?"

Tessa quickly retrieved the ball and tried to hide it. He can't see his Christmas present yet, she thought.

"Hmm? Oh, that one? It's... uh... nothing..." she stammered.

Finally, she decided to tell them about what she saw. "You guys, you'll never believe this story... but when I was - "

A small brown creature interrupted her.

"Otachi!" It demanded.

Tessa rolled her eyes. "That's the last one, you pig." She said, annoyed, and handed it an apple.

"Ota!" He said cheerfully and leaped on her lap.

"I heard a brilliant song when I was in the forest... and I looked up onto a cliff and saw an articuno." Again she paused. "You know, I headed in the direction it was flying... perhaps it meant to save my life... no, seriously. And I wanted to take a picture, but I dropped my stupid camera into the river while I was trying to get it out of my bag."

She smiled again. "And then I found this little bugger. He's a... uhhh... uhhh..."

Otachi. I don't know about the specifics of this pokémon, but it appears that it is a 'tail stand' pokémon. Mew broadcast. They're fairly common, even though most trainers don't venture into the places where they dwell.

Tessa stroked the pokémon's head. "Isn't he sweet?"

Not as cute as I am! Mew protested. The group laughed, and despite the cold outside, felt decidedly warm.

Falcon had searched through the wreckage of the lab on the island off Fuchsia city a thousand times, but still he returned. The question haunted him, plagued him as surely as Jon's feelings for Fox plagued him. As he straightened up from searching through the rubble, he posed the question again: Nothing. No records, no videos, no nothing. Why did the lab blow up?

"Damn, still nothing," he muttered, dealing a solid kick to another piece of the wreckage.

Deciding that the search was over for that day at least, the mewtwo gave up and headed back toward Jon's place...

Thane sat in his chamber, looking at the tiny device that would allow him to control any pokémon. Then, he called out ShadoWraith, and handed the small device to the pokémon.

"Use your abilities to plant this on the mewtwo Falcon."

The gengar nodded and phased out of existence.

Flying back to the mountain inn, Falcon barely felt the slight disturbance behind him. He paid no attention to the minute abnormality, assuming it was a bird or the like. He could never have seen ShadoWraith, who had rendered himself invisible to carefully place the device on the back of the mewtwo's neck. Then, as quickly as he had come, ShadoWraith had disappeared back into nonexistence. Falcon never knew he was there or what had happened.

As before, Jon saw the armor-clad figure come forward, toward him.

"Jon, this will be the last time I come to you in your dreams," McVire said. "I must tell you of your heritage, and more.

"Long ago, when I was young, the first eggs of the three legendary birds were to hatch soon. A group of knights were formed to protect these hatchlings, and somehow they were endowed with the three elements of the birds, lightning, fire and ice.

But as these were hatching, so were three other birds, what one might call evil incarnations of the birds. They were called Blackbolt, Fyreraven and Darkblyzzard. For reasons still unknown to us, they wanted to kill Zapdos, Moltres and Articuno. The three evil birds soon converted some of the knights bound to protect the birds, setting them instead the task of killing them. Thane is an ancestor of the converted ones. You are an ancestor of the protectors.

"You and your sister are the last remaining of the protectors. Thane and a few are the last remaining of the converted ones, and he has gained the knowledge to use his powers fully. I know how you are rivals, and I wish to help you. When you wake up, you must find the sword of your ancestors, Dark Lightning. It is in a temple where you must pass tests to get it. Jon, I know you can do it.

"When you wake up, walk east of where you are sleeping you will soon find the temple. Go alone."

McVire turned and slowly walked away into a bright light that engulfed him, and Jon woke up to sunlight shining in his eyes. Fox still lay peacefully by the dying fire. He quickly wrote a note saying he would be gone for a short while, and put it beside her sleeping form. Then, he quietly headed out of the camp toward his destination. After pushing his way through much brush, he came upon the temple.

As he slowly stepped inside, he heard a voice inside his head. To acquire the sword of your ancestors, Jon, you must pass tests of courage, strength, wisdom, and purity.

"I'm ready for anything," he whispered, mostly to himself. As he walked down the dim halls, ahead he saw an alakazam, standing in front of what appeared to be a chessboard.

The voice came inside his head again. You must first prove your wisdom by beating this alakazam in a game of chess.

Alakazam sat down at one side of the chessboard, Jon took the other. Minutes that became hours ticked by, and the game finally came down to a situation where Alakazam sat with two pawns, one knight, and his king, while Jon was left with only one pawn, a bishop and king. Jon managed to finally defeat his opponent, but his watch said that not less than two hours had passed. He sure hoped Fox hadn't woken up yet...

Jon continued down the dimly-lit hallway, and soon came to a massive iron door. You must now face a gauntlet of pokémon to prove your strength.

The large iron door opened into a small chamber with another, similar door at the other end. In between him and the door stood a machamp, muscles flexing in the anticipation of a fight. The young man felt a foreboding sense of certainty as the door he had entered through swung shut behind him.

The machamp charged at him, no warning given. Jon dived to the side and swept the fighting pokémon, which went down but caught itself with one set of its arms, punching Jon with the others. Jon staggered backward, then regained his footing and kicked the machamp squarely in the chest. The kick didn't seem to effect it as it came in and punched Jon in the chest four times, then grabbed the young trainer and hurled him up for a seismic toss. But Jon regained control in the air, and as he came down, he crashed his foot into the machamp's face, effectively KO-ing it.

As Jon caught his breath, the next iron door opened, revealing a room the same as the last. This time, a golem was waiting to battle him, pale red eyes gleaming. Jon was sweating, and his jaw and chest hurt from the punches, but he forced himself through the doorway and listened as the door again closed behind him.

The golem did not waste any time to attack. It had already tackled him and nailed him to the wall by the time the door had closed. Fighting to keep his footing, Jon waited for the megaton pokémon to try and tackle him again, and at the last minute dived out of the way, sending the pokémon crashing into the wall. Enraged, it started throwing rocks at him. He staggered around, ducking and diving out of the boulders' paths, then he waited for it to try and tackle again. This time, he jumped up and kicked it forward into the wall even harder, finally dropping it to the ground, unconscious.

Jon sat down, breathing heavily, soaked with sweat, and holding his side. How much more...?

After a short rest he stood up. The next door opened, and on the other side a rhydon sat. This room had only a thin path to stand on, and on each side there was a pit of boiling lava.

As soon as the door closed the rhydon charged. But this time, Jon had learned from his mistakes, and as it was coming at him he grabbed the horn and used it to flip himself up onto the head of the rhydon. The rhydon tried to shake him off by bucking around wildly, not noticing that it was slowly edging toward the cliff. Feet slipping on the edge, it tumbled over, almost taking Jon with it. But the trainer was ready and at the last minute sprang off of the rhydon's head and onto the thin ledge that spanned the lava pit.

The lava was making Jon sweat even more as he sat, catching his breath. Then, the sound of another door grating open snapped his head up.

On the other side of this door there was another room, but this time there was no floor at all. The whole room was a lava pit.

To prove your courage you must walk across this pit. Only if you do not fear will you pass unscathed.

Jon took a deep breath. That was a lot to ask. Hoping this voice was telling the truth, he closed his eyes and took one step forward.

Mercifully, instead of falling into the pit, his foot hit solid ground. He took another with the same results, but when he looked down he saw no floor under his feet, just the pit below him. He slowly continued across in the same fashion until he came to the other side.

The next room he saw seemed to be filled with lightning, sparkling and crackling in great blinding balls. But it never left that room - it seemed to be confined somehow, as though invisible barriers kept it in. On the other side there was the door he had to reach, and he could just barely see the shimmering silhouette of the sword.

The voice came to him the last time. You must prove you are pure of heart by crossing this room of lightning. If your intentions are noble and your soul pure, you will not be harmed.

Jon nodded again, to no one in particular. He closed his eyes as he stepped into the room, but couldn't keep them closed for long. He had to look at the lighting, the way it struck him and coursed through his body, but resulting in not even the slightest injury. Soon he had reached the other side, and almost felt regret at stepping away from the lightning.

Then, Jon stepped into the large chamber that lay before him and walked up to the sword.

"Dark Lightning..." he murmured, touching the hilt. Then, suddenly, the information on how to use his powers flooded into his mind. He saw visions of the past, of the other wielders of the sword, the stories of how they had been betrayed. It hurt his head like the several thousand volts he had just passed through should have, and he gritted his teeth in pain as his mind consumed it all.

Then it was over. He had a full understanding of his power and could use it at will - though he knew sometimes it would be draining.

Beside the podium on which the sword had rested lay a scabbard, a simple thing of dark leather that would fit nicely on his back. But as he picked it up, slipped Dark Lightning into it and strapped it over his back, the rumbling of the ground at his feet suddenly gave him the urge to get out of there. Fast.

The whole room started shaking, bricks grating free of their places in the wall and huge stone arches crashing down from above. Jon bolted back through the rooms he had passed without even stopping to look, feet as much a blur as his mind. He burst out of the temple's arching doors just as they collapsed in behind him, leaving only a huge cloud of dust and a pile of rubble as testament to its existence.

He looked back at the rubble and panted, then slumped down to rest for a minute. Then, he realized he would need a bath, preferably before he rejoined Fox. He found a stream nearby and washed his clothes off, then slung them over some low branches to dry whilst he washed himself. When they had dried out to a satisfactory degree, he redressed and set off back to camp, one thought weighing heavily on his mind - if Fox was up, he would have some explaining to do.

In her first moments of waking, Fox merely yawned and rolled over. She didn't feel like getting up yet... and why should she? Down on the ground, she could see the pokémon still sleeping soundly... Jon was apparently missing, but that didn't really matt -

Fox sat bolt upright. Down on the ground?!

Blinking several times, the trainer confirmed that she was, indeed, about twenty feet above the rest of her camp, resting on several massive coils of rock. As she turned, she found herself confronted by the massive face of a giant onix, stone eyes closed contentedly in sleep.

"Oh... shit..." she murmured, eyes widening. There was only one pokémon she was truly afraid of (clefairy, but damned if she was going to let that one out), but she really didn't like onix. Especially when one had several tons of its snake-like self wrapped around her.

"... Jon..." she said quietly, not wanting to wake the sleeping onix, in hopes that he was somewhere nearby. "... Help..."

No reply. Fox glanced at the massive face of the sleeping onix, then decided to chance an escape.

As soon as she moved, one giant eye popped open, blinking at her. Then the other eye opened, and she could have sworn that the giant face, at least twice the length of her body, grinned at her.

"Jon, ya bastard, were the hell are you?!" Fox yelped.

Apparently having heard her cry, Jon appeared a second later, looking more than a little worse-for-wear after the morning's trials. When he looked up at her, he nearly fell over backward in shock. There was a massive onix curled up next to the campsite, and trapped in its coils was Fox.

"Fox?" Jon blinked.

"Help... me... you... moron!" The female trainer seethed.

"O-o-o-nix?" The big rock pokémon inquired, nudging her with its nose.

"Eep..." Fox shrunk into a little ball, holding her arms over her head and shutting her eyes tightly.

"Hold on!" Jon fumbled around in his backpack for a pokéball, even though he didn't like the odds of being able to take down an onix after how badly they'd been beaten up by a mere geodude... especially after the rhydon, golem and machamp he'd just tangled with...

Jon stopped a second shy of throwing King's pokéball as the massive rock-snake opened its mouth, extended a huge stone tongue, and licked Fox affectionately. Jon's eyes widened, then he grinned, and laughed in relief. "Hey! I think it likes you!"

Fox made a small noise of disbelief as the onix rubbed its head against her like some sort of giant cat, making a deep rumbling noise somewhere in its throat that was presumably purring.

"Hah!" Jon slumped to the ground, watching in amazement.

"Put me down, you outsized worm!" Fox cried, thumping the pokémon on the nose (and then immediately wishing she hadn't chosen to slam her fist into solid rock). With an immediate look of repentance, like one might expect from a reprimanded child, the onix wrapped the thin end of its tail around Fox's midsection and placed her on the ground, with attempted (but fumbled) delicateness. Then, with what might have been the onix equivalent of a pout, it laid its head on the ground beside her, eyes growing large and trembling.

"You jerk!" Fox cried angrily, glaring at the big pokémon. "You scared the crap outta me!"

"Onix?" The rock-snake's bottom lip trembled persuasively.

"Go away!" Fox yelled, booting the massive pokémon square in the nose. "Get lost! I don't like onix!"

"O-onix?!" The onix immediately looked devastated.

"Get lost!" Fox repeated, pointing away from the campsite.

With a rumbling, depressed sigh, the giant snake turned away and slowly slithered its way into the woods, head down in disappointment.

"Aw, that was mean!" Jon protested, watching it go.

"I don't care!" Fox snapped. "I don't like onix and I never have! They remind me too much of that jerk-off brother of mine..."

"But look how sad you made it!"

"I don't care!" The female trainer repeated, turning away from him with folded arms. "Let's just get back to the inn..."

Jon shrugged and started packing up his sleeping gear, and Fox finally noticed the sword strapped to his back.

"Say - where'd you get that?" She inquired, pointing to it.

"Long story," he replied with another shrug. "I'll tell you later."

The pair set off again, Fox decidedly grumpy and silent, and Jon not saying anything, so as to avoid upsetting her worse. The pokémon, with the usual exception of Shinji, had been returned to their balls for the journey. The pikachu they had encountered last night had apparently taken matters into its own paws - when they had looked around for it after the onix episode, they had finally found it inside one of Fox's spare pokéballs. Angel had reported that it wasn't going to let such a good food source get away. Fox had rolled her eyes in disgust, but Jon was pretty sure she was glad to have it with her.

After a fairly uneventful journey, they arrived back at the inn to hear a polite message relayed over the loudspeakers. "Attention patrons - would the owner of the giant onix please remove it from the sunbathing deck immediately? Repeat, the owner of the giant onix, please remove it from the sunbathing deck immediately..."

"Shit, shit, shit," Fox muttered, fuming with anger. "I am gonna kick that thing's big stony ass all the way to Cinnabar Island..."

Sure enough, upon arriving at the deck, they found the same onix they had encountered that morning. Upon seeing Fox, it gave a joyful growl and thundered over to wrap her in an adoring stone embrace.

"Let me go!" The infuriated girl raged as she scrambled free, then continued to take out her wrath in violent swearing and vicious kicks to the pokémon's abused nose. She didn't notice the spare pokéball that fell off her belt and rolled over the ground.

"Uh... Fox..." Jon pointed to it.

"... Never did like onix, never will like onix, definitely never want an onix..." Fox was ranting, completely ignoring him. The onix, however, noticed the stray ball, and its eyes lit up like Christmas had come early. Bellowing in delight, it tapped the button with its nose, and began to disappear in a familiar red haze.

"... So just go away and leave me... oh... shit..." Fox trailed off, devastated, as she realized what had just happened. "No!"

"Looks like you're stuck with him, eh Fox?" Jon grinned, barely able to stop himself from bursting out in hysterical laughter.

"Shut the hell up, battery boy!" She snapped. Then she looked down at the pokéball, and for a moment Jon thought she was about to kick it to the horizon. Instead, she picked it up, with a furious curse.

They headed back to Jon's room, Fox even more sour than before.

Somewhere off in the distance, in a secret Rocket base...

"Jimmy, my reports show that Masaki has sent two trainers out after the four legendary birds. Perhaps you know one of them - your brother, Andy. And he is three days ahead of you. What are you going to do about it?"

"I'll crush him like the bug he is with my rhydon! My pokémon are undeafeated - he is no threat to us. In fact, I'll just let him capture the four birds, and take them from him when he's finished."

"... Very well then. Your ship is waiting..."

Andy looked out over the billowing seas. It had been three days since they'd set out, and since then, Andy decided to go to Fire Mountain first - Wartortle and Golem had a resistance to fire-type attacks. Chansey was allowed to roam freely on boat - Andy had offered to free it, but it refused to leave. Julie was still intrigued by her new pokemon pikablu - from what they could tell, it was both a water and electric type.

"Look, Andy," said Julie, pointing toward an island that looked like a mountain spouting from the sea. "There it is! Fire Mountain... we made it."

"Great - let's go open that parcel Masaki sent me," replied Andy. The young trainer pulled out a box sent to them by Masaki. Inside were eight Great Balls.

"Wow - Great Balls! These will help a lot. We'll have those birds in no time! said Andy.

"Look - there's a letter..." Julie fished out a piece of paper that was in the package, and read, "Dear Andy - Your regular pokéballs will not work on the birds. Use these for a better chance of capture. Good luck - Masaki."

Just then the ship docked at Fire Mountain. Andy threw out the yacht's anchor. "Let's go..."

"Stay here Chansey," Julie advised. "This island is full of dangerous fire pokémon, so you might get hurt."

"Wait, that reminds me - you stay here too, Venusaur," Andy added, throwing Venusaur's pokéball onto the deck. "With all the fire pokémon around here, you'd be burnt to a crisp."

Then, he turned toward the island. "Let's go."

The air was hot and dry. Actually, that was a bit of an understatement - the atmosphere on the island was pretty much the gaseous equivalent of a desert. Fire pokémon probably liked it that way, Andy surmized as they walked.

"Look!" Exclaimed Julie, suddenly pointing up at the sky. "There it is! Moltres!"

Instantly, Andy's eyes followed her direction, and sure enough, there it was. It soared overhead in brightly burning majesty like a bonfire in the sky, and perched on the top of the mountain before them.

"That must be its nest or something," Julie noted. "C'mon, let's go..."

The two trainers began climb the mountain.

A short time later, Jimmy's boat pulled on shore. He noticed the yacht straight away.

"So, you're here, eh?" Me muttered thoughtfully to himself. "Hmph. Not like it makes a difference. Even if you are lucky enough to catch Moltres, I will take it from you..."

Andy and Julie were halfway up the hill when they heard a sound you'd never expect to hear on Fire Mountain.

"Seel! Seel!"

Andy glanced over. A seel? What was a seel doing on Fire Mountain. Yet it was definitely there - it flopped arond on the red rocky surface of the mountain, apparently not in great health.

"It looks a little dry..." Andy noted. "Wartortle! Go! Water gun attack!"

Wartortle shot a spray of water at the seel, which the clearly dehydrated pokémon enjoyed rather than be hurt by it. As it enjoyed the shower, Andy pulled out a pokéball and tossed it at the seel. After a little twitching, the ball managed to calm the newly-captured pokémon down, and the trainer retrieved it.

"Look!" A voice exclaimed from nearby. "Another water pokémon dares to invade our island! We must show these trainers!"

"Yes!" Replied another. "We will show them!"

Suddenly, along with a very unpleasant feeling in his gut, Andy realized that it was the pokémon that were speaking! He and Julie had been surrounded - by magmar, charmander, charmeleon and charizard... growlithe and arcanine... vulpix and ninetales... flareon...and they were all looked very angry, very ready to attack...

"Silence!" Came a new voice, stern and commanding, regal in its order. The group respectfully as Moltres, the legendary bird of fire, stepped forward.

"So, you came to challenge me, eh?" It said scornfully.

"I... uh... um..." Andy stuttered, as the bird leered at him.

Moltres chuckled. "You've got guts, kid. Very well - I accept your challenge, but don't expect to win." The magestic bird turned to its pokémon followers, and gestured toward Julie. "Take the girl to the boat these two arrived in. I will return this boy there after he has lost. Now go."

The group of pokémon were carrying Julie away before she could even protest, much less resist. Moltres regarded Andy, then grabbed him by the shoulders with its talons, spreading its wings and soaring to the very top of the mountain. "Let's rumble!"

Moltres flapped its wings. "Well, send out your first pokémon, and I shall crush it!"

"Hah - this should be easy!" Andy grinned, tossing out a pokéball. "Golem! Let's go!"

"Golem!"

"Snuff out this bird with rock throw!"

Golem quickly (quickly for a golem) piked up three large bouders and heaved them at Moltres. Nimbly, the great fire bird dodgedd the first two, but the third connected with its chest. However, it was barely dazed by the blow.

"So you you wanna play hardball, eh?" Grunted the bird. Moltres took in a deep breath and realeased a blast of fire upon Golem. It seemed to affect Golem pretty badly, but the weakened pokémon wasn't without wits. It ran up and grabbed onto Moltres.

"Goooolllleeeemmmm!" A huge explosion engulfed both Moltres and Golem, and Andy realized his pokémon had usedd its selfdestruct attack. In a matter of seconds, the smoke cleared, to leave Moltres still standing, Golem lying at its feet.

"A - huff - wasted effort," gasped Moltres. "A valiant one, but wasted... nonetheless..."

"You're gonna pay for that, Moltres! Wartortle, Get'm!"

Jimmy looked up in the sky. Flashes of flame danced around the mountain island's peak.

"Hmm... looks like the volcano on this island is going to erupt soon..." he muttered to himself as he walked.

"Halt!" A voice cried, momentarily stopping him in his tracks. "You there! Get away from here! This cave is off-limits!"

Jimmy turned slightly, to see a magmar dutifully blocking the entrance to a cave.

"Thanks for pointing that out to me," he said with a smirk. "Now step aside, or I'll have to harm you.. .ah, heck, why bother telling you? Go Rhydon! Stomp this guy!"

Rhydon flew at the Magmar and proceeded to stomp on it several times. The fire pokémon, injured, released cry of pain and anger that echoed over the island...

Meanwhile, the fire pokémon carriyng Julie stopped, suddenly lifting their heads to the sky and letting out the same mourning cry. Julie backed away, testing, but they didn't try to stop her. They seemed totally absorbed in their lament. Soon, the sound had been caught and continued by every pokémon on the island, and finally found its way to Moltres...

"No!" The great bird cried in furious disbelief. "My baby!"

"Wartortle! He's off-guard - use hydro pump!"

Still distracted, Moltres was hit hard, and finally fell to the ground in a stunned wave of flame.

"All right! Ultra ball, go!" The young trainer caught the ball as it absorbed Moltres then bounced back, and exulted. "Yes! How do ya like 'dem apples, Moltres?!"

"You fool!" Moltres' frantic voice emanated from inside the ball. "We must save my egg! Some one is taking my egg!"

"Ha!" Jimmy scoffed as he slipped into the cave. "I could defeat this entire mountain if I wanted to... but I'm on a tight shedule here, so let's see what's behind door number one!"

He smirked as he saw a round, white object in the darkness.

"A moltres egg..." he grinned to himself. "...Of course! Forget the bird! With an egg, it will listen indefinitely..."

"Sir, this is Agent G reporting, repeat, Agent G reporting..."

"I am here Jimmy," Sakaki's voice replied over the radio. "I trust you have good news?"

Jimmy grinned. "Well, I was unable to locate the moltres on the island, but..."

Giovinni was instantly furious. "You dunderheaded oaf! How dare you radio me without the bird! You're cat chow! You're dead meat! You're - "

"But you didn't let me finish, Sir." Jimmy calmly continued, a sly edge finding its way into his voice. "I don't have the moltres, but I do have... its egg." Jimmy said slyly.

"..." Sakaki's tirade stopped as suddenly as it had begun. "... You... you're a genius! It must be the time of spawining for the legendary birds! And why bother with taming a full grown moltres when we can just raise its child to do our bidding?!"

Jimmy's mood, on the other hand, had just been disrupted by a small noise from outside. Someone nearby? If somebody had been listening in, the whole plan could be jeapordized...

"Wait a moment, Sir..." whispered Jimmy, then quitely edged his way out of the cabin, peered over the side of the boat...

Crouched beside the boat so she could hear clearly, Julie looked up as a shadow fell over her from above. Then, springing back to her feet, she obeyed the base instincts that were very loudly ordering her to run...

"Rhydon, go! Bring her to me!"

Julie tried to run, but Rhydon was too quick, tackling her and taking her down.

"Hey, you're Andy's friend, aren't you?" Jimmy observed with a smirk. "That must mean he's here! Hmm... I think we can use you..."

"Ungh - let me go!" Grunted Julie. "Andy and Wartortle will make you sorry!"

"So, that little wimp of a pokémon finally evolved eh? He's still no match for Rhydon!"

Jimmy, disappeared into his boat for a moment, to retrieve some rope. Noy knowing what else to do, Julie carefully dropped her pokéballs into the soft sand of the shore. Thankfully, he didn't seem to notice as he returned and tied her legs together.

"Sorry Sir," Jimmy radioed as he hauled Julie into the boat. "Must be going... I'll meet you at Rock Mountain with the egg... over and out."

"Hold it, Jimmy!" Came Andy's voice over the rumbling start of the engine. "You aren't leaving this island with that egg!"

Jimmy glanced back to see Andy riding Moltres, and cursed.

"Wartortle, go!" Andy cried, and Moltres swooped low over the deck for him to throw the pokéball into the sand, flaming wings blazing and forcing Jimmy to hit the deck. He was still a little off guard from Moltres' attack, and wasn't ready for Wartortle's ice beam, which caught his lower legs and trapped them in a solid block of ice.

Furious, Jimmy yanked out his stun-gun and aimed it at Moltres. The shot went off before either the bird or the trainer riding it could react, and the gun let loose a blast of energy that sent Moltres reeling. The bird and its newfound trainer hit the soft sand with a thud, and lay dazed.

"Rhydon, get me out of here!" Jimmy barked, as Rhydon ran over and used its horn to chisel Jimmy out of the ice.

"Wartortle! Wrrrrr!" An extremely angry pokémon cried, from the shore.

"Don't try me, runt!" Jimmy snarled, pointing the gun at Wartortle. The pokémon, however, didn't attack - instead it started glowing with red light, slowly growing and distorting and finally swelling into its final evolved form, blastoise.

Jimmy fired his stun-gun at Blastoise, muttering, "I'm still not impressed." Then, vaulting neatly over the side of the boat, he walked over and pointed the gun at Moltres' head. "And as for you..."

But before Jimmy could pull the trigger, the sound of angry battle cries turned his head to the tirade of fire pokémon bearing down on him. With another quick curse, he hopped back into his boat and sped off, with both Julie and the egg still in his control.

"You okay, Moltres?" Andy asked the great bird as he stood up, brushing himself off.

"As well as can be expected," Moltres replied, getting up slowly. It looked reproachfully at Andy's belt. "I suppose you'll return me to my pokéball now, won't you?"

"I suppose so... unless you promise not to run away. We're a team now, and I'm going to need your help in finding the other three legendary birds. And my friends... if they're still alive..."

"Well I guess I can join you... after all, I want my egg back... all right. But you must let my child free when we get the egg and return him to this island."

"Deal. Now let's get Wartortle and head for Zapdos' location. And - ow!" Andy was cut off as he stubbed his toe on something. Crouching down, he was surprised to find that it was one of Julie's pokéballs. Andy sifted through the sand and found a second.

"Julie must've dropped these when she was kidnapped..." Andy guessed. "Uh-Oh! I forgot about Golem! He needs some revive fast! I have some potions on the ship - Moltres, fly me over there!"

Moltres nodded and grabbed Andy's sholders in his talons, flapping toward the yacht. "Wait - what about your wartortle?!" Squawked Moltres.

"You're right! Quick, turn back..."

They landed in the sand, and Andy found the pokéball... but no sign of Wartortle. Andy sat down for a minute on a large rock, confused. " I don't get it... where could he be?"

Suddenly the rock started to move. "Bbbblllaaaaassst..."

Andy sprang off the rock and was amazed to see a large blastoise.

"Blassssstttttoisssseee!" Cried the pokémon, triumphantly.

Whoah! Andy thought. Did my wartortle evolve into a blastoise? ...Only one way to find out... He reached for Wartortle's pokéball. "Blastoise, return!"

The beam sucked in Blastoise, and it was confirmed. Wartortle had evolved! But Andy didn't seem too happy.

"What's wrong?" Asked Moltres. "You should be happy it evolved."

"I'm worried," Andy confessed. "Blastoise is not my original pokémon, and he might not obey me any more..."

Moltres nodded. "If you're a good trainer, and show love and respect for your pokémon, he will obey." With that, the bird grasped Andy's shoulders again and flew off to the ship. Just as he finished administering healing to Golem, Andy recived a phone call on the radio-phone.

"Hello?"

"Andy? It's me, Jon."

"Great! You're okay!"

"Yep! And so are all the others - I've spoken with them."

"Great!"

"How's your quest for the Legendary Birds going?"

"Masaki told you, huh?"

"Yeah..."

"Listen, Jon, I need some help. My younger brother is working for Team Rocket, and is on a quest for the three Legendary Birds as well. He's kidnapped Julie, and the moltres' egg. They headed to the Power plant near Rock Mountain. I don't suppose Falcon can teleport you there or we can meet there or..."

"Say no more." Jon displayed an address over the video screen. "Meet me at this address. We'll keep an eye out for your brother and Julie."

"Thanks Jon! See you in a few days!"

"Bye..."

Click.

Kyosan had a sour feeling the entire time Yusuo was there. The trainer's best friend, who'd helped him through anything, had been taken and brainwashed. Kyosan felt so sorry for him... he knew what it felt like to lose someone dear...

"Cheer up, Yusuo," he started, noticing Tessa's brother gazing off into space. "We'll get back Kismet for you."

Yusuo looked at him, and through his eyes Kyosan saw shrouded uneasiness. But he also saw the glint of hope among the darkness.

"Really? You'd do that for me? After all the trouble I've put you through?"

Kyosan immediately nodded, as did Lyith, Tessa, and Mew.

Yusuo smiled, and stood up from the couch he was sitting from. "Then how about we find Kismet now?"

Lyith, a puzzled look on her face, glanced at Yusuo from in front of the fireplace. "Now? As in this moment?"

Yusuo nodded. "The sooner, the better. Kismet might find us first, and if he gets the first attack..."

"We'd all be dead," Tessa finished from the other end of the couch. "What do you say about this, Kyosan? I know where the base is."

He toyed with the idea a little. "Well, it's like going to the spider's lair or letting the spider come to us."

"We really are pressed for time here. The Dark League should've noticed that I've disappeared by now - "

We already have figured that out, Tessa, a voice interrupted in everyone's head.

Kyosan nearly jumped at the sound of that voice; so icy, cold, but hypnotic and mellow. He looked around, trying to find out where it had come from. That's when the mewtwo, Kismet, came crashing in through the window, ready for action.

"Great," Kyosan made out, standing up, holding a pokéball, as did everyone else. "The spider's got us trapped."

Tessa's eyes searched the room, looking for an escape. She glanced at Yusuo, and then to Kyosan, seeing if either of them had found a way out. Neither looked like they'd even thought of escaping.

"Great..." Tessa muttered. We're gonna die... she added to herself. A blue aura surrounded Kismet, and he almost laughed as he sent forth a blast of energy.

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh - " Tessa was cut off by another energy blast from their direction. A barrier instantly was formed over the group, the tiny Mew floating alone outside of the monstrosity. Her eyes narrowed with seldom-shown emotion as she flew over to the mewtwo.

Tessa ran against the barrier. What the...I can't get out! She dashed into the wall several times, finally falling in exhaustion. "We're stuck..."

This is my battle, Mew calmly pointed out. You could be severely injured if I let you fight. Any of you.

"This is not just your battle!" Tessa screamed at the top of her lungs. "We're in this together, Mew!" Then, the young trainer shut her eyes and took a breath. Opening them slowly, she made yet another dash towards the barrier wall. As if it were made of water, the wall broke away, and sealed after Tessa was out.

"As I said, Mew. This is our fight."

Mew sighed as, after opening the barrier for Tessa, she sealed it shut again. Tessa...it's been in my blood ever since I was born. I am destined to prove myself. Mew caught herself, and paused. It was the first time she'd recalled anything from her past life, anything about her parents. They'd told her when she was young that it was her destiny. She hesitated, troubled - she didn't want to take the path expected of her...but she knew she had to protect Tessa...

"Mew..." Tessa begged. "Let me fight with you..."

It almost killed us the last time, Mew warned.

"Almost. But it didn't."

Too Risky. Let me fight.

With that, mew sped off towards her larger counterpart. She started to glow, a pink aura surrounding her. Tessa fiddled through her pokeballs, pulling out the one that belonged to Pidgeot, then called her pokémon out, leaping onto it.

"C'mon..." she whispered. "Don't let this turn into a disaster! Pidgeot...whirlwind!"

The bird pokémon spiraled up towards the sky, then turned against the Mew, whirlwinding it away from the battle. Tessa closed her eyes and clenched her fists. If only her dragonair would evolve, then perhaps she would have a chance battling against Kismet. But Dratini had only recently evolved, and likely wouldn't again for quite some time.

Mew floated up towards Tessa. You really do want to battle, don't you?

Tessa just glared.

Recall your pokémon.

"I'm riding it, Mew! How the hell do you expect me to recall it without becoming a pancake?!"

Mew glared, and Tessa did as told. Squinting her eyes shut and expecting to fall...

... But she wasn't... falling...

Mew's eyes fastened on Tessa, unmoving for what seemed like hours.

Give me complete control over you, the little psychic pokémon commanded. Tessa did as she orederd, letting go of her thoughts, her fears, her dreams, her self...and then, nothingness...

Confused, she opened her eyes. All around her - blackness.

When the battle is over, I will return you to your formal self, a voice sounded.

"You said I could battle with you!" Tessa screamed.

You are...

Tessa glanced around in the blackness, and suddenly, she was seeing out of Mew's eyes as if they were windows. "Where am I?"

In the non-matter part of my mind...

Then, silence, as the battle raged on.

An unexpected knock sounded on the locked door at Jon's place. Fox glanced at her companion, who shrugged before getting up and walking to the door. He had barely opened it an inch when Andy burst in, heart pounding and gasping for breath.

"Andy!" Jon shouted.

"Sorry I'm so late..." the other trainer panted. "The inn was so small it was nearly impossible to find..."

"Well, welcome to my charming abode," Jon ushered Andy in. "As you can see, Fox is with me."

Fox glanced at Andy when she was mentioned, then went back to watching the news with Shinji on her lap.

"This is nice and all," Andy commented, surveying the area where Jon lived, "but I don't have time to stay and rest. I gotta get Julie back from Jimmy and stop him from getting the Zapdos from the abandoned power plant!"

"The abandoned power plant?"Jon echoed. "You mean the one where the working conditions got so dangerous because of electric pokemon invading that they had to shut it down, and barricade the road there?"

"That's the one," Andy confirmed. "Rumors are that Zapdos stays there for sanctuary. No-one's ever been brave enough or concerned enough to go."

"Until now," Jon said, cracking his knuckles. "I'm interested in that Zapdos myself. Ya coming with us, Fox?"

Fox shrugged. "Beats whatever the hell I'll be doing here."

"C'mon outside, then," Andy motioned for them to follow, walking out the door. "We can get airlifted there."

"Whaddaya mean 'airlifted'?" Jon inquired. "You have a pokemon that can fly us there?"

Fox picked up Shinji and followed Andy out the door, leaving Jon back inside.

"Hold on - lemme get Dark Lightning," Jon yelled, picking up the sword that lay next to the closet. Then he ran outside to see Andy summoning a pokémon, and added the afterthought, "ya sure it can handle all our weight? It'd have to be pretty stro - "

Andy smirked as Moltres flew out, screeching its name and shooting flames into the air.

"You have a Moltres!?" Fox gaped. "You mean you went to the fire islands near Cinnabar?"

Andy nodded, then turned to Moltres. "Moltres, sit down and let us three climb on top of you."

The legendary pokémon glared at Andy, then complied. "Just to get my egg back, I'm listening to you. Hurry it up."

"It talks!?"

"Hmmph, well, I could say the same of you. Of course I can talk. That's why I'm so rare."

Andy, Fox and Jon clambored on top, and the moltres sped off into the clouds.

"Hey Jimmy," the bound Julie started as she was dragged through the power plant. "I see a large gap ahead - why don't you jump off it?"

Snarling, the young Rocket turned on the girl and backhanded her angrily. "You're lucky that I'm holding you as my hostage - if you weren't such good insurance against Andy, you would've been dead a long time ago!"

Julie made a face, and spat on him. With an angry cry, he dropped her and snatched out a knife, pressing it close against her face. "Would you like to die now or come with me, you little bitch?!"

"Same thing, moron," Julie snapped back.

Jimmy glared at her as he put away his knife, then slapped her again. "You're such a comedienne, aren't you? Maybe I should just leave you here, next to that pit over there. Or somewhere in that maze we passed. Andy would have to make the extra effort to make sure that you're alright..."

"You're sick."

"Am I? Why, thank you."

Moltres landed in front of the power plant, waiting as its cargo of humans disembarked and Andy recalled it.

Jon moaned comically. "Jetlag..."

Andy and Fox approached the front door, with Jon lagging behind. Fox turned the handle.

"Its locked..."

Shinji let out squeaks of disapproval from her shoulder.

"I'll take care of it," Andy said, reaching for the pokéball containing Blastoise, but Jon motioned for him to put it away.

"I got this," he assured the others. Then moved to stand in front of the doorway, arms outstretched, palms facing the door. A faint orange-yellow aura engulfed him, and sparks started leaping from his fingertips. A few bolts of electricity jumped from one hand to another, then started to meld together between them, forming a small orb that hung suspended between his hands. It grew like a living thing, writhing and pulsating as if trying to escape, then shot out toward the door as Jon released it. There was an explosion on impact that made the ground tremble beneath them, and a huge cloud of smoke that engulfed the small group.

When the smoke cleared, there was no longer a door, nor any signs of a door ever having been there. Instead, a large hole, roughly the size of a doorway.

Jon cursed. "Didn't hold back enough."

He turned back to his friends with an I-told-you-so grin, and saw Andy's eyes bulging over his dropped jaw. Fox, on the other hand, had her arms crossed and her chin tilted defiantly, insisting that she wasn't impressed.

"What?" Jon asked innocently, grin widening. Andy made no reply, instead making a series of whimpers and odd strangling noises.

"Ah yes," Jon continued, as if the thought had only just occurred to him, "my powers. It turns out I'm a 'protector' - well, a descendant of the protectors. I'll explain later when it's more convenient."

Andy, either convinced by the answer or two stunned to inquire further, shrugged it off and ran into the power plant turning only for a moment to gesture toward the sword across Jon's back. "By the way, nice sword."

Jon raised an eyebrow. "It's more than a sword; it's Dark Lightning. And - "

"It slices, it dices, it makes Julianne fries," Fox interrupted in an irritated tone, shoving past him. "Cut the crap - we know it's good."

Jon fumed, and dashed after them.

At length, the trio came upon a chasm that ran the entire breadth of the room, effectively blocking their pursuit.

"How do we cross this thing?" Andy asked, looking to his friends for suggestions.

"It's a good long way down," Fox commented, peering down the dark gap. "I doubt that we can get back up if we fall..."

"We could call your moltres to get across," Jon theorized.

"This room is way too small for any flying," Andy shook his head. "The goal is to rescue Julie and get Zapdos, not burn the plant down with everything in it."

"I think your friend Jimmy crossed by using a plank," Fox pointed to a discarded board of wood that lay on the other side.

"So Jimmy ran across and knocked the plank off on his side," Andy said dejectedly. "Typical."

"None of my pokemon could get to the other side," Jon admitted.

"Nor mine. Blastoise could never make it."

"Mine neither," Fox put in. Shinji protested with a burst of squeaks at her ear. "No, you could not jump over, and I'm not going to let you try." She told him firmly.

"Wait...you have an onix!" Jon started grinning. "Onix is easily long enough to make it across!"

"Dammit! I'm not using onix to get across! If I call him out, he'll think I like him!"

"Face it," Jon smirked. "It's the only way across."

"Never!" She snapped defiantly. "I'd rather go fight Vance again than use that stupid onix!"

"Then... Jimmy's already won..." Andy sighed. "And I'll never see Julie again..."

Fox couldn't take it. Her friends were more important than her stubborness. Most of the time. Sometimes. Well, now, anyway. She sighed, pulling out the pokeball containing her unwanted onix.

"Fine..." she muttered. "Get yer big stoney butt out here, then..."

The onix materialized from the pokeball with a joyful roar, and immediatly acknowledged Fox's presence with an onix hug. Or in this case, a wrap.

"Get off me, rockhead!" Fox ordered, squirming to get free. Shinji snapped fiercely at the massive rock snake, but it seemed unfazed.

"Grrooooonnix," the onix rumbled happily, with a big stoney grin.

"Ack! I hate you!"

Jon started laughing. "It really does like you, Fox. There's some sort of inexplicable bond between you two..."

"Well, you can take what you think and shove it up yer ass!"

Jon quickly recoiled with a snide comment. "You should be glad that your onix cares about you so much! And that it isn't as over-protective as Shinji there..."

Jon quickly took back the comment as Shinji sprang at him, snarling.

"Listen up, you big hunk of stoney stupidity!" Fox yelled, finally struggling free of the onix's embrace. "Get off of me and form a bridge that we can cross. And you'd better do it right, or I swear I'll never call you out again..."

The onix quickly obeyed, and stretched itself over the gap. The three trainers crossed, Fox last, and as soon as she reached the other side, the rock snake stopped being a bridge and resumed being a tight coil around his beloved 'trainer'. Jon supposed it had figured it deserved a reward for being so obedient.

"Will you get off me?!" Fox raged, beating on its nose with both fists. Then, obviously remembering there was a better way, she pulled out the onix's pokéball and recalled it.

"And what's this?" Jon asked, coming across a hallway. To his left, it continued down, a dozen or more corridors branching off from it - and he saw the same thing on his right. "Crap... a maze."

"I never cared for mazes," Fox said.

"The last time I did a maze was years ago," Andy commented.

"I've never really paid attention to these things..."

"I'm horrible at mazes."

"I've always cheated and gone through the walls," Jon added sheepishly.

"This sucks," Andy groaned. "We're gonna be at this maze forever!"

"Couldn't you use your powers to blow holes through this thing?" Fox asked Jon.

"Not if I don't wanna exhaust myself. And I can safely say I don't."

The three stood in silence, until Fox spoke up again.

"We can cheat, you know..."

Jon glanced at her. "How?..."

Fox hung her head in defeat as she held up a pokeball.

"Oh? I thought that you wouldn't use the onix - you'd rather fight your brother again..." Andy reminded her. Shinji squeaked something at him that was no doubt obscene.

"I'm only doing this for the sake of Julie," Fox said firmly. "It's about time we got to skip ahead for a change."

The rock pokémon materialized again, completely overjoyed, and constricted Fox, clearly thinking that being called upon twice by her within a matter of minutes was a blessing. After the usual nose-beating and yelling and swearing, the onix faced the female trainer, eager for orders.

"Break those walls down, and find the exit from this maze!" Fox commanded. The onix wasted no time into charging at a wall, breaking through it like tissue paper. The huge rock snake worked in an outward spiral around them, smashing every wall it came across until it finally revealed the exit along the opposite side of the room. With a cry of triumph, it swept back and dove under Fox, escorting the swearing girl to the exit.

"You stupid damned lump of stone!" She raged ineffectually as they went. "I should drop you off in the middle of the ocean..."

Jon and Andy followed behind, grinning.

"Rhydon - leer the zapdos!"

Jon, Andy and Fox burst into the room to see Jimmy's rhydon staring at the legendary bird of lightning, then sticking out its tongue and moving its eyes around in a wild manner. The Zapdos blinked a few times, then shook it off and drill pecked the Rhydon, but with little effect.

"Hey Jimmy!" Andy scrambled ontop of the debris in the doorway. "Back down! Your fight's with me!"

Jimmy turned, showing some clear surprise. "Well, you're here pretty early! You must've blown through the obstacles like nothing!"

"They were nothing!" Jon spat.

None of them noticed it, but Zapdos was looking at Jon with a strange, unredable expression on its face. He had the sword...could it be? Had the protectors returned?... The legendary bird toyed with the idea, then decided it would pretend not to notice, to see if this boy really was one of them.

Jon drew his sword, and pointed the blade at Jimmy. Both the trainer and the sword started emitting little warning sparks. "Let Julie go, or you'll be in tiny, crispy pieces."

Fox stepped forward, with Shinji at her side. "You'd better run like hell if you piss any of us off."

"Blastoise," Andy commanded as the pokémon emerged, "get ready to use your hydro pump."

Zapdos used that moment to strike, uleashing a thunder attack on the rhydon and overcoming the advantage the othe pokémon had. The huge pokemon fell to the ground, knocked out. Jimmy started swearing as he recalled his rhydon, then picked up a stone from the ground and hurled it at Jon in a swift, unexpected motion. Jon was ready, though. As if he'd been doing it all his life, he expertly sliced the stone into two seperate pieces - or at least would have if the rock hadn't exploded on impact.

"Mark my words," Jimmy started, as he pulled out a smoke bomb from his jacket. "We will meet again, and I will beat you, without the help of your friends." Then he threw the smoke bomb to the ground, in an explosion of thick smog. Once the smoke cleared, Jimmy had dissapeared, leaving everyone else to worry about the zapdos.

But the great bird, floating in the air, dropped to the ground moved to Jon, bowing its regal head in submission. "You are a descendant of a protector. You possess the powers of electricity, and the sword Dark Lightning, the power of which only true protectors can withstand. I am rightfully yours."

Jon's face broke into a grin as he whipped out a spare pokeball. "You're mine, Zapdos!"

The zapdos accepted the pokéball without fighting, and was sucked in. In matter of seconds, Jon held one of the rarest pokémon in existence.

He grinned at the ball. "Welcome to the team!"

"Mew!" Kyosan shouted, pounding on the barrier. "Let us outta here!"

We'll let you out when the battle is over, a telepathic message informed him. It took him a while to process the fact that he heard not only heard Mew's voice, but Tessa's as well.

"You're no match for Kismet!" Yusuo tried desperately. "I trained him too well!"

Such rubbish! Kismet snorted, the thought broadcast to the entire room. You've never trained me. Master Leiko raised me and made me who I am. The mewtwo began to gather energy, readying himself for a psychic attack against Mew.

Kismet! Mew and Tessa cried out in one voice. How can you not remember how Yusuo has treated you! He was your only friend! He helped you! He trained you!

Refusing to give up, Lyith pulled out a pokéball and dropped it. Flareon emerged, and Lyith immediately ordered it to use its flamethrower against the barrier. Kyosan quickly caught on and sent out his arcanine.

"I figure everything burns, including this barrier, indestructable or not." Lyith said to Kyosan, reaching for more pokeballs along her waist. "This thing will eventually overheat or melt or burst or something along the lines of collapsing. Go! Charmander! Growlithe! Vulpix! All of you, use your flamethrower attacks!"

The other three fire types materialized, assisting the arcanine and flareon.

"Magmar!" Yusuo ordered as his spitfire pokemon appeared. "Go with the flow! Use your flamethrower too!"

The magmar started using its flamethrower attack with expertise, adding to the combined attack, and true to Lyith's words, the barrier did change colors, perhaps a sign of destruction. But it still held, and things quickly heated up inside. As didd the battle raging outside...

"Mew!" Tessa warned her psychic buddy. "Careful! He's coming in with a kick!" Having an extra set of eyes was helping Mew avoid many blows, but some still managed to find their marks on the tiny pokémon. Mew avoided the kick and shot a blast of energy at the mewtwo, who quickly counterattacked with a blast of his own. The two energy balls collided into each other, cancelling out with a small explosion.

"When he charges at you again, fight back with a headbutt to the chest," Tessa advised, watching the battle from Mew's eyes. The mew nodded, and prepared for the daring tactic. As theorized, Kismet charged at Mew again with a fist outstretched. Mew, floating a meter off the floor, lowered her head and zipped straight into Kismet, only to be batted away by his leg. Mew and Tessa cried out in pain as she was sent back, almost crashing into the wall. Tessa was rapidly coming to grips with the situiation - what Mew felt, she felt. What Mew said, she said. What Mew did, she did also. The two were completely linked in almost everyway. So... if Mew died... Tessa died...

"Mew!" Yusuo shouted, sweat drops running down the side of his face. "If you fight defensively, you'll surely lose! Kismet can't be defeated by a few jabs and hits!" Then, he turned to his other friends as he noticed the fire pokemon slowly losing strength to continue. "This barrier is too strong..."

His magmar stopped using its attack to catch its breath. Eventually, all the fire pokemon stopped, unable to continue without a break. The barrier still stood strong, but there were clear signs of destruction beginning to show on it.

"Our pokemon can't break through." Lyith said dejectedly, recalling her pokémon. "This barrier outclasses them all..."

Kyosan recalled his arcanine, Yusuo recalled his magmar, and the three worriedly turned back to the battle outside. Kismet grinned as he charged at Mew once again.

"Incoming!" Tessa cried. "Avoid and counterattack with with a psychic attack to the chest!"

Mew glared at Kismet, lowering her head and anticipating the mewtwo's attack. She held a charge of energy in her hands and rolled away at the last moment to shoot the blast into Kismet's chest. But the bolt bounced harmlessly off Kismet's chest, much to everybod'y horror. Kismet sidekicked the mew away, then followed up by shooting a volley of energy balls at the tiny pink pokémon. Mew grimaced in pain as the shots impacted, each feeling like holes torn out of her.

Mew sank to the floor, breathing heavily. If I die, the barrier will disapear. This does not look good...

"No shit," Tessa gasped.

Kismet walked to Mew, seizing the nearly-unconsious pokemon and holding her up by the neck.

In a matter of moments, you'll be dead, and that ditz inside of you, too, he hissed, cruel laughter lacing his thoughts. Hold still - this will be rather painful!

Lyith was furious. She'd never seen anything so cruel as this. A new sensation errupted inside her, inexplicable. She felt rejuvinated, revitalized, but at the same time, she burned with bloodlust for Kismet. The feeling seemed completely new to her, but her inner senses told her that it had been dormant for quite a while. But she had no time to think on it - all she could think now was to stop Kismet from delivering the final blow...

"Kismet!" Yusuo cried, voice growing steadily closer to breaking as he pounded against the barrier with both fists. "I order you to put her down! Kismet! Kismet! Dammit, listen to me Kismet!" A sob burst from his throat as he dropped his head. "... Put her down... please..."

I'll take care of you as soon as I'm through with this trash, Kismet snarled scornfully. He tossed the mew into the air, and charged up for another energy blast...

As Mew descended to the ground, she and Tessa both saw the mewtwo charging up the final blow. The pokémon managed a small smile. Time seemed to slow down, heartbeats turning into whole minutes, as they watched the energy springing from Kismet's hands...

I knew I couldn't beat the mewtwo, Mew said weakly. That's why I tried to keep you in the barrier, to keep you safe. But if you had stayed, you probably would've killed yourself trying to escape it, anyway. I... I knew this was a one way trip... and I feel very guilty for letting you come out, to suffer the pain I knew I must feel... and to die... Tessa... I'm sorry...

"Heh... ironic..." Tessa made out sheepishly. "I've trusted the mewtwo with my life... well, you live and learn, I guess..."

"NO!" Lyith screamed, raising her hands. "I won't let you!"

A faint, red aura engulfed her, embers starting to leap from her palms. Unimaginable spirit, welled up inside her, unwilling to die out. She narrowed her eyes as they lit up, sparkling with energy.

"Eat this!"

All the embers floating around her hands gathered at their heels and expanded into a churning orb of fire. The concentration of flaming energy slammed through the barrier like a rock shattering through glass, and sped in the direction of Mew, only to dart past in front of her and collide with Kismet's energy blast, sending both beams ricocheting harmlessly off each other. Yusuo started swearing. Kyosan jumped back, overawed by what he was seeing. Lyith stood with the red glow swirling around her, hair lifted and tossed about by an unseen wind, eyes red with passionate fury.

Mew/Tessa, eternally greatful, pulled herself to her feet, a rush of adrenaline driving her to continue the battle.

Kismet glared at Lyith. You're next, girl...

The barrier broken, Lyith smirked and stepped forward.

Ni fell to the ground, grasping her head.

"Ni!" Daeg cried, rushing to her side. "Are you okay?"

"Big... powers..." Ni managed. "...They are errupting from a certain place... waves after waves of energy... causing disturbance... it's so big, it hurts..."

Daeg stood up and narrowed his eyes, and suddenly he felt it, washing over him. His eyes bulged open, and his jaw slightly dropped. "Oh, man - I can feel it, too! It's huge! I can't believe I missed it the first time!"

Ni stood up, taking his hand. "Hang on tight. I'll teleport us there."

Daeg agreed. "Odd as it may be, it seems to be the most logical thing to do - feels like some force is drawing us in, with or without our consent..."

And the two vanished into thin air.

Falcon, casually floating back to Jon's place, suddenly felt the great disruption like a blow to the head that left him reeling. He nearly fell from the sky, and floated still in midair for a moment. Whatever it was, it seemed to effect everything on the planet. The woodland creatures, all the wild pokémon of the forest, had suddenly gone silent. The wind had stopped blowing slowed to a perfect calm. Even the rivers were slowing, almost to a trickle.

Damn, that is strong! Falcon thought. The powers... they are... almost inconceivably dominant...

He closed his eyes and used his psychic abilities to sense where these large powers were coming from. He pinpointed it - somewhere near Viridian City.

Falcon sped off in the direction, knowing that whatever was going on, it was big.

"I caught a new pokemon," Jon started singing and repeating it to himself. As the trio walked along.

"You didn't catch it!" Fox shot back crisply. "It just accepted you as its trainer!"

"Yeah, but I didn't have to do any work for it," Jon grinned. "Besides, I'd say that Zapdos was pretty smart for recognizing a wonderful trainer such as me."

"Hah! Recognized you as a 'wonderful trainer'? That's a damned and lame excuse! You heard it - it was obligated to accept you!"

"And what about you? You never caught a pokémon! You just become their friend! And - aack!" Jon was cut off as Shinji tackled him, trying to gnash his face.

"Next time I meet that jerk, Jimmy," Julie snarled, rubbing her wrists where the ropes had burned her, "I'll rip his throat out so he won't be able to say anything!"

Andy smiled. "My sentiments exactly."

"Shinji," Fox called off her pokémon as he continued to snap at Jon's face, "there'll be other times when you can exact revenge on him. But for now, leave him alone. He might cut you up with that damned sword."

Obediently, Shinji jumped from Jon onto Fox's head, baring his lovely pair of chompers at the male trainer. Jon gave Fox a dirty look as he stood up, brushing dirt off his jacket. Then, he froze instantaneously as he felt it - an incredible wave of power that swept over him. Something was amiss. He could tell that the others had noticed it too - they stood transfixed, as he did, looking around in wonderment.

"Did... did you guys feel that?" Andy asked, unsure. Everybody nodded.

"I can really sense it," Jon murmured, dazed. "It's like waves of energy crashing over me..."

"Do you know where it is?" Julie asked.

Jon didn't reply. Instead, he stood still and cocked his head slightly.

"I think I know where it is," he said, pointing westward.

"Since when were you a psychic?" Fox asked sarcastically.

Jon shrugged. "Maybe it came with my powers. Maybe Falcon's rubbing off on me. Who knows? Who cares?" He called out his Zapdos. "Smash a hole through the roof!"

The Zapdos obeyed and drill pecked its way through, then swooped back down and awaited further commands.

"I'm going to where that major power is," Jon shouted, climbing ontop of Zapdos. "I dunno about the rest of you, but if you care, head westward!"

"Hey, wait for me, dammit!" Fox cursed, running to the Zapdos. The legendary bird of electricity flew up into the air and streaked across the sky.

Andy glanced at Julie. "Wanna follow them?"

"Sure," Julie said.

Andy called his moltres and the three sped off in hot pursuit.

Mew/Tessa charged at the mewtwo. Kismet sidestepped, but was tackled byYusuo.

"Sorry!" Yusuo managed, before he was tossed to the other side of the room like a rag doll. Kismet glanced at Kyosan, who was cautiously watching his every move. Well?

"Well what?"

Aren't you going to attack me, like your friends are trying to?

Kyosan dropped to a defensive martial arts position from which he had learned a while ago. He never thought he would actually use it. Until now.

Mew shot a psychic blast at Kismet, catching the mewtwo off guard. Kismet retaliated nearly instantaneously by flinging himself towards the weary Mew, but just before he impacted, a newcomer to the battle slammed into him throwing him aside.

"Falcon!" Kyosan shouted, feeling relief well up.

Falcon glanced at his purple-haired friend. What did I miss?

Yusuo slowly stood up, looking from at Falcon to Kismet and back again. "Huh... whu... another mewtwo?"

Falcon grinned. So I am.

Kismet jumped back to his feet. Ah... finally. Someone worthy of a battle.

Falcon looked at Kismet, and the mewtwos' eyes locked. Neither of them moved. Falcon held a smug looking face. Kismet clenched his fists.

Kismet made the first move and charged straight at Falcon. Falcon, a millisecond late, charged straight at Kismet. The two colossal forces clashed into each other, exchanging body blows and energy blasts. Falcon followed through with a round house kick that knocked Kismet away, then continued with a slight uppercut, taking advantage. Then he sidekicked the other mewtwo away, watching Kismet impact with the wall in a shower of dust dirt.

"This 'Falcon' is a pretty good fighter," Yusuo mused.

My friend taught me everything he knew, and then some, Falcon smiled. Then, an unexpected thunder attack caught Kismet off-guard, barely giving him time to throw up his barrier in front of it. Falcon looked up, amazed to see a Zapdos hovering above them.

"Hey, Falcon!" Jon shouted, jumping off the Zapdos and landing semi-gracefully near his psychic counterpart.

Well, speak of the devil, Falcon said, grinning at Jon. The Zapdos lowered itself to allow Fox to climb off, and a moment later Moltres appeared to deliver Andy and Julie. The group were still getting over their amazement at the chance reunion when Daeg and Ni shimmered into existence. The group was together again...but for how long?

"Good work, Shadow," Thane smiled at his gengar, who had just teleported in. He toyed with the switch that would activate the mind control machine on Falcon for a few moments, then grinned and flipped it on.

He brought the small microphone on the machine to his mouth, and ordered, "kill them. Kill them all."

In admist of the battle, and the reunion with his friends, Falcon suddenly fell to the ground, holding his head as a terrible, wracking pain coursed through him. He flinched as it rumbled around to his temples, eyes squeezed shut, teeth gritted in pain.

When his eyes opened, he had changed. All the color was gone. He stared indifferently at his friendsas he charged up up an energy blast, unleashing it without any warning at Jon, his own trainer.

"What the - Falcon!" Jon cried as the group scattered out of the way. "What the hell are you doing!?"

You must die, Jon, Falcon said. His voice was different. It was like a machine, cold and uncaring, devoid of all emotion. There was no trace of Falcon left in it.

"Oh... crap..." Yusuo murmured blankly. "Two mewtwos..."

Kyosan's eyes widened with fear as he looked up at Falcon and Kismet. "We're screwed."

Jon stared up at his friend, refusing to believe it. This was the mewtwo with whom he had become best friends, with whom he'd spent most of his life. Falcon, with whom Jon had shared everything with. They'd been through everything together... they'd saved each other's lives... it couldn't end like this...

"Take care of Kismet!" Jon ordered the others, his tone leaving no room for argument, not even from Fox. Then, he turned to Falcon. There had to be something left in there of his friend... "Falcon...?"

"Last words?" Asked Falcon, ready to fight. Ready to kill.

"What happened?..." Jon asked. "This... this isn't you... I know you..."

"They must die," Falcon replied simply, in that mechanical, monotone voice. "And so must you."

"Falcon! Stop it!" Jon yelled, desperate, at his lifelong friend. Falcon simply backhanded his trainer, sending him flying toward the wall of the house. He slammed into the wall of the house with a thump and a cry of pain, and fell to the floor.

"Jon!" Fox had yelled it out before she even knew she had, and instinct made her abandon the battle with Kismet and run toward him. But she hadn't closed half the distance between herself and Falcon when she came up against something smooth, solid and invisible - a psychic barrier.

"Falcon! Stop!" She cried helplessly, beating against the invisible wall.

"You shall not interfere," the mewtwo said calmly, never turning his attention from Jon.

"No!" She cried again. "Jon!"

Slowly, Jon stood up, managing a pathetically weak smile in Fox's direction. He felt blood running down his forehead from a large cut, matting his hair, making him dizzy and disoriented. Not that he was exactly thinking clearly at the moment. He was so overcome by the shock... the thought that Falcon, his best friend, could do something like this to him...

"Falcon..." the young trainer pleaded, tears standing in his eyes as the big mewtwo gripped him by the neck, lifting him up. "Please... stop... I don't want to fight you... I won't fight you... what's wrong with you?..."

Falcon seemed not to hear his words, flinging the boy away like nothing, throwing him into the trunk of a tree. Jon's body bounced off the tree with a splintering crack, and collapsed into a heap in the grass. A shiver ran down his back as, refusing to be defeated, Jon pulled himself up once more, using the tree for support.

"Falcon..." he tried again, barely able to talk for his coughing blood onto the dirt. "... Why?..."

He fell forward, siezed by spasms of pain. Falcon made no reply as he walked over to Jon and grabbed him by a handful of hair, slammed his head against the tree.

Fox sank to her knees against Falcon's barrier, powerless to help, choking back tears. "Jon..."

Inside of his head, Falcon was trying desperately to fight it, to regain for control of his body. He saw everything taking place, and was horrified. But he could not control his body in any way. With every time Jon's head smacked into the tree trunk, he felt the blows inside him as surely as if it had been him. But there was nothing he could do to make it stop...

Jon's face was bloody, but he made no move to resist. Not that he would have been able to defeat Falcon now, anyway... he was too far gone...he was already starting to lose consciousness...

Outside the barrier, Fox noticed it first - a tiny trail of smoke rising from the back of Falcon's neck, as if something were burning there. She could never have known from her viewpoint the struggle that was going on inside - the mind of a mewtwo against a device designed to control it. Falcon had to stop this, had to get out! He would not let it win! He would not be imprisoned in his own body and made to watch while he killed his best friend!...

Falcon screamed. Not a physical scream, but a psychic scream - an agonized cry that pierced the minds of every living creature with in miles, human and pokémon and everything else. Jon felt it, tearing through him as fresh pain above what he already felt. Fox and Kyosan and the others all felt it, many of them dropping to their knees with the agony. Even Kismet and Mew felt it as it smashed through their carefully constructed psychic shields, trapping their minds within it. For a moment, everybody was as one being, all feeling the pain. Even though there was no sound except what they imagined, it was as if the entire world was resonating with the force.

And then, Falcon pitched forward, something tiny exploding in a small cloud of smoke at the base of his neck. Bleeding and hurt badly, Jon dragged himself to his friend's side. What had happened? He'd never touched Falcon, never laid a finger on him...

"Falcon!" Jon cried weakly, sliding one arm under Falcon's neck, to hold up his friend's head,a nd to check for a pulse. Then he felt something attached to the back of Falcon's neck. He pulled it off with a sharp tug, and looked at it closely. Strangely, it was a tiny, charred lump of slightly melted metal, still smoking... a machine? Or what had once been, anyway... that must have been it... what had made Falcon attack him...

"Jon!"

He barely had time to turn before, to his utter shock, he found Fox's arms wrapped around him.

"Jon..."

"Fox, are you - "

"Shut up!" She ordered, voice choked with tears. "Just... shut up!"

He stayed there for a minute, sitting in the grass and bleeding, with an unconscious mewtwo next to him and an emotionally unstable female trainer clinging to him like he was going to disappear. But as much as he didn't mind their current position, there was still the other mewtwo... he gently disentangled himself, trying not to flinch at the pain it caused.

"Fox - Kismet, remember?" He reminded her softly.

"Yeah," she stood up briskly, as if nothing had just happened. "Right, Of course. Let's go."

You've wasted enough of my time, Kismet snarled to Kyosan, Lyith and Yusuo. Now I'm going to finish you off.

"Not this time!" Snarled Kyosan.

Kismet laughed. And just how do you plan on stopping me?

Just then Mew, who had floated behind Kismet, let out a burst of physic energy, hitting him in the back, and throwing him to the floor.

"Like that!" Called Lyith. Mew began to charge up once more, as Kismet rolled over. He quickly twisted himself around and shot back into the air.

I thought I took care of you - both of you, he said looking at Mew, and Tessa inside her. Mew released another physic burst into Kismet, who shot above it, so that it just missed him, and then retorted with a beam of his own energy. Tessa, sensing what Kismet was about to do, warned Mew just in time. As the shot rocketed toward Mew, she teleported behind Kismet and released a brutal blow to his back, that pitched him across the wall. This time though, he didn't get up...or even make a move to...

"No!" Yusuo cried, running to the mewtwo, expecting the worst.

"... I'm... I'm... sorry... Yusuo," coughed the mewtwo as Yusuo rolled him over, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Kismet?"

"I don't know what over came me... it was all... so fuzzy... but it's clear now..."

Kismet's breath faltered, and his eyes fluttering closed.

Tessa had never seen her brother cry before.

A second later, she was no longer looking through Mew's eyes. She was free again, and herself.

"Whooh!" She gasped. "Sure beats bein' the size of a red blood cell, huh?"

Stand back, Mew warned the group that was now crowding around Yusuo and the fallen Kismet. They backed away as a pink aura began to glow around Mew.

"No!" Yusuo screamed.

Tessa quickly moved in front of her brother, blocking him from the small creature. "Yusuo, no! She's healing him!" She guessed. And in truth, she was. The Mewtwo's breath slowly quickened from its near-halt, and his eyes finally fluttered open. Time... he would need time to recover... but he would survive... he would live...

Mew sighed, and drifted to the ground. She would need as much rest as he.

Tessa, a quick voice sounded in the young trainer's head. Tessa.

"What the hell?" Tessa inquired.

You are an Arcanine trainer...

"Well, yes I am, but who the hell are you?"

Everyone glanced at Tessa. Yusuo guessed what was going on, but knew only as much as Tessa did.

No need to explain, the voice said, almost conveying an evil tinge. Just come to this place.

Tessa saw a picture, she almost recognized its whereabouts. And then, like magic, her mind knew where to go.

Come here... I will be waiting for you...

"What the?..." Tessa asked again.

"Who was it?" Yusuo questioned.

"He never said... or rather, it never said. It's a pokémon, though." She looked at Yusuo. "You didn't hear it,did you?"

"Nope."

"But you don't train Arcanine..." she pointed out.

"I do!" Kyosan interrupted.

"But you don't speak with the pokémon the same as I." She added.

Heruga... The voice whispered.

"Wait! ...It said its name is Heruga." She added. She wanted so badly to ask mew, but the little psychic was so weak...

Mew blinked her eyes, and sat up, too weak even to hover. We're mindlinked, Tessa. You don't even have to ask. Heruga is a pokemon who seems to be a rival of Arcanine. It's an evolved form of Deriburu, who resembles growlithe and could be considered its rival. Mew took a breath. Heruga is dog-like in appearance, a fire type, and has a spade on its tail, looking much like that of a devil or demon in fable. She paused again. I'm guessing it wants to battle. To see if it can prove its strength. If it can reach you, it probably has strong telepathic abilities - for a pokémon, at least. I doubt it can speak to any that do not 'hear' pokemon, such as you. But it can speak for far distances.

"All right, a new pokémon to capture!" Tessa grinned. But looking around, she decided perhaps they had better fix up the place before they took on any new quests.

I will come, Tessa mindspoke. Wait for me. I do not know how long it will take me to get there...

After a few hours of rest, Mew claimed to be 'good as new', although Tessa was still suspicious over her condition. Kismet was sleeping like a log, and Tessa's arcanine dozed off by the fireplace like a faithful dog. She walked up to it and sat against it, petting gently.

"Hey, bud," she said as she sat down beside him. He whined almost playfully. "Are you ready for this, bud?"

Ready? He inquired, tensing up. Ready for what?

"You didn't hear?" she said, stroking his head.

No, I didn't hear anything.

"You and I are going into a battle," she said, and smiled. "We're gonna win, Arcanine."

A battle? Against whom?

Tessa paused. "Against what I would consider a rival."

Arcanine said nothing further.

Night fell, and Tessa was hanging up miscellaneous Christmas decorations. The tree was finally up, after many hopeless attempts by the crew, and a good deal of argument. The lights and ornaments made it just perfect, and Fox had surprized them all by taking over decorating operations and displaying a deal of artistic flair. Kyosan, Tessa expected, was in the other room, along with everybody else.

"Perfect time," she whispered to herself, then opened her sack and pulled out a metallic blue pokéball.

Ooh, what's that? Mew inquired.

"None of your buisness, snitch," Tessa replied smartly. "I'd tell you, but your mouth's the size of a snorlax!"

I resent that, Mew said, turning her back.

"You found the name for yourself."

Hmmph.

Tessa quickly shoved it into a box before any further questions could be asked, then found some silvery wrapping paper in a closet. As she began wrapping, Mew nodded in understanding.

I see, Mew sent knowingly. A Christmas present for Kyosan. Thoughtful, you are.

Tessa smiled. "Yeah, well...you understand me, right? It's too bad he can't talk to pokémon the same as I can. Then I wouldn't have to go into this alone. I don't know what this 'Heruga' has up his sleeve. I can't even tell what he looks like."

She finished wrapping the box and set it neatly under the tree, after sticking a nice little tag on it.

Have him come with you - I'm sure he wouldn't turn down the offer, Mew pointed out, but Tessa shook her head.

"It didn't ask for anyone but me. In fact, I would rather you stay home as well. You're like a whole other person Mew."

The pink pokémon turned around in a circle. You have a special talent. One that will make you a pokémon master. Truly. And of heart.

"Couldn't have done it without you and my brother. You're both very close to me."

I could never be the pokémon I am without you, Mew smiled. Through thick and thin, and ups and downs, we'll always be together. Pokémon...and master.

"That's great...that's really a wonderful thing to know," Tessa said, hugging her pokémon.

The more pokémon you aquire and the more time you spend using your powers, the stronger they will become, Mew complimented. Pretty soon, total concentration will not be a requirement.

Tessa thanked her, and walked back over to Arcanine, stopping halfway to grab a string of garland and hang it in the doorway. With a grin, Mew floated up and tacked on a sprig of mistletoe.

Just in case Kyosan comes by, she winked.

"Well, I guess its time for bed." Tessa lied, trying to hide her blush. "I'll be right in after you."

Mew floated up the stairs, disappearing into the upstairs hall. Tessa waited for less than a minute, and then led her Arcanine to the door.

"Let's do it," she said with confidence. Hopping up onto her pokémon, she spurred it into the night forest, nothing to guide them but Tessa's pure instinct. Something, something she couldn't define, seemed to guide them away from the large branches that would disconnect rider from pokémon, from streams that might have posed a threat to a misplaced arcanine ankle. Still, Tessa felt that however right it seemed, her efforts were in vain.

As they went, a small pink pokémon glided their way. I knew you'd leave, and I can't leave you alone. Recall your Arcanine.

Tessa did as directed, and in moments Mew transformed into a powerful bird pokémon, copying the form of an articuno.

Tessa looked at Mew. "That wasn't you earlier..."

Mew blinked. Me when? You saw an articuno?

Tessa then knew that her eyes had not decieved her. "Yes I did. And then it started to snow."

Stupid legendaries, Mew joked. Later, once the Christmas festivities are finished, perhaps we will go and find your articuno, no?

Tessa smiled. "That'd be awesome..."

Okay well, enough stalling. Hop aboard, Tessa.

In moments, Tessa was aboard Mew, and the pair took off. Transferred through their mindlink, Tessa's inexplicable knowledge of where to go flowed into Mew, and guided them on direct course towards a dormant Volcano.

"That is the place" Tessa muttered.

Mew, in the form of an articuno, dove down into the steaming volcano, only to find it empty.

"Damn - what's wrong? Was this all a dream?"

Articuno deformed into Tessa's mew, and looked about, curiously.

A Dream? Came a rough voice. A Dream, it was not...

Two glowing eyes appeared in a nearby cave, and a pokémon stepped out, not much smaller than an Arcanine.

Where is the opponent? It inquired cooly, twitchy his demon-spaded tail.

"If its a fight you want, Heruga, its a fight you'll get."

Not I, declared the dark-colored demon pokemon. 'Tis my master wants to battle you. The pokémon looked at the trainer. I'm guessing another victory. Take out your Arcanine.

Tessa did so, and the heruga appraised the huge fire dog.

Impressive... he said with a smirk. Follow me.

They left through the same cave that Heruga had emerged from, coming into a large cleared area, entirely flat.

Master, the heruga whined, and hurried through the door. The trainer has come.

The 'master' Heruga stepped foreward. A larger-than-normal sized one, according to Mew, it stood the size of Tessa's Arcanine. Arcanine lowered its head and bristled its fur, growling. Tessa clenched a pokéball tight to her back. "Go, Arcanine!"

Since there was no one to summon the Heruga, he fought for himself. Before Tessa could call her first attack, he hurled a fire spin attack on Arcanine. The pokémon whimpered, but quickly leapt from the flames.

"Arcanine, use agility!" Tessa called. "Pick up your speed!"

Heruga adopted this strategy himself, and spat a flamethrower periodically. Tessa's arcanine did the same, matching his opponent's strength, speed and skill. The commanding finally had to go psychic, because of the confusion of watching the two, and the loud noises they produced. And at last, Tessa no longer had control, as the battle had become too intense. She could only sit by and watch the two pokémon, ancient rivals, fight it out.

Then, all at once, there was quiet. Dust blew around the flat land, but did not clear from the spot of their last clash. Tessa fought a gasp, for fear that her Arcanine could have been... But then, the dust blew away, to reveal an arcanine standing triumphantly over the large heruga. The demonic pokémon cocked an eye open, and forced itself to a weak stand.

Your pokemon only won because you are a strong trainer, Tessa. I still am greater than the average Arc - he paused and collapsed, breathing hard. Tessa was filled with pride.

"Yes, Heruga - and now I'll claim my prize." She hesitated, and tossed out a pokéball. It hit the Demon-tailed pokémon, then writhed once, twice, and then yielded with a happy click. Arcanine gently tended to his bite wounds.

"Don't worry, just wait till we get you guys back to the house," she said, pausing. "You know...you're too special, Arcanine. Just calling you Arcanine just doesn't work. And you've proven to be faster than the wind, and stronger than the flame. So I call you WindFyre. Do you like it?"

The pokémon bounded happily and barked.

"Good, WindFyre. Now you have a new name, and I have a new pokémon! One step closer to being a master!"

WindFyre licked Tessa's hair, messing it up. "Hey, buddy. I gave you a title, you're not supposed to give me any more bad hair days!" WindFyre barked happily and wagged his tail.

"Wait'll I show off my new pokémon!" She grinned. "But... Heruga is an evolved form. Perhaps, do you think that I shall find a Derubiru here as well?"

Mew shrugged and floated over to Tessa. Don't know. But it'd be a shame to take that big guy away from what he is. He was the leader of this place, and a strong one at that. I don't know, but if I were him, I'd want to stay.

"You are right..." Tessa called the Heruga from the pokeball, and grabbed an emergency potion from her bag, spraying it on the Heruga. Its eyes fluttered open, as it began to regain strength.

Tessa. You've truly proven yourself. You could have kept me to train and yet you understand what is best... here. Your true prize.

Out of a small cave walked two proud looking derubiru puppies. One pounced playfully at the other and gnawed at its ear, and Tessa laughed.

At least one is yours, Heruga relayed. I'm sure you have a friend that is an Arcanine trainer, and they may also enjoy the challenge of raising one of the derubiru.

He smiled, and walked back to the cave. Tessa immediately knew why. Being that he had a bit of psychic intuition, the Heruga was able to read Tessa's mind. He knew about Kyosan, and also knew that it would be hard to split up two pokémon who were close to the best of friends. She smirked. Tessa pulled out a second pokéball, and both of the derubiru entered with hardly any trouble. The skeleton-like pattern on the pokémon and their evolutions was rather disturbing, but was overlooked easily by their friendliness and playfullness.

Tessa smiled, and turned to Mew. "Take us home."

Lyith was curled up in bed, an odd happiness washing over her. The feeling had first came when she'd awoken from what had almost been a snowy death. This was going to be one of the best Christmases she had every had. Not that it was saying much, since Lyith had never really had much of a Christmas.

She laughed to herself, remembering all that'd happened in preparation for Christmas. Kyosan, Daeg, Jon and Fox had left to cut down a tree and had returned, snow covered, with a monster. Getting the tree in the door was hysterical. It hardly fit and the branches kept whacking everyone. It took the combined strength of the entire group to pull the tree in into the room where it was to be set up. Of course then there was the trouble of getting the tree standing. It was entirely too tall. And soon, after a few arguments, they agreed to cut a little bit off the bottom so it'd fit.

And if the tree hadn't been difficult enough already, it had utterly refused to stay standing. Each time they'd get it up, the tree would just fall back down. Usually on someone, unless the others were warned of it falling. But after a few mishaps, the tree was standing, and no longer did they have to worry.

By the time things had been taken care of, everyone agreed they needed a break. So the hot chocolate was passed around as they told stories and shared memories in front of a warm fire. And once everyone had something warm in their bellies, they set, once more off to work. The guys offered to do the house decorating, generously leaving Lyith, Tessa, Fox, Ni and Mew to decorated the tree (mostly due to the fact they were still worried about it falling over). Once they had finished the tree, and the house looked great, the rest of the day had been a happy blur of recollections and reconnaissance. Jon had caught Fox under the mistletoe and attempted to enforce a time-honoured tradition, but he'd had second thoughts when, going very red, she'd told him just where he could shove his traditions and his mistletoe, and anything else he cared to.

Lyith smiled to herself, as she remembered it all, and pulled the covers tighter. Her flareon snored softly beside the bed.

"Aww... how cute," Lyith said as she petted the dreaming pokemon. With a deep breath, she decided maybe it was time for some shut eye. Not moments after she had drifted into sleep, she heard a loud bang in the hallway, followed by soft swearing.

Tossing the covers to the side, she ran into the hallway, finding Tessa on the floor with her stuff all around her.

"What are you doing?" Whispered Lyith. "Where have you been?"

Tessa groaned and pulled herself up. "I was... out."

"You went after that... Heruga, didn't you?" Lyith asked, scolding, but then grinned. "So, what happened?"

Tessa laughed and shook her head. "Can we go into your room? I don't wanna wake anyone... else up."

"Sure," replied Lyith with a grin, and dragged her into her room.

"So I won, and I caught Heruga, and I was allowed to take one of the derubiru," said Tessa, winding up her story.

"Wow... sounds like you had a truly interesting night."

Tessa smiled, "Yeah... I think I might give it to Kyosan, along with the... ahh... err... his other gift."

Lyith lowered her eyes. "Oh... I'm sure he'll like it."

"What's wrong?"

Lyith shook her head and rubbed her eyes. "Nothing. I'm just... tired. That's all..."

"Oh, I'm sorry! I forgot I woke you up!" Tessa stood to leave. "I'll see you in the morning, then."

She pulled the door shut quietly behind her, and Lyith took a deep breath, pulled the covers back over her. She rubbed her eyes, and stared at the ceiling.

"I shouldn't worry about it," Lyith sighed, and pulled the covers tighter. "I should be grateful I have friends... and great friends at that."

And soon was once more asleep.

Lyith...

Lyith...

Hmm...wha..what?

LYITH.

What!?

You've found them.

Them who?

Your friends. Your group.

I know...

Stay with them.

I don't want to leave anyways...

Lyith, please stay focused, you're making me irritable.

...'Kay...

LYITH!

I'm listening! I'm listening!

If you stay with them, you'll find answers about your past. No matter what happens, or who comes along, do not leave them. You'll never get back with them.

Why would I leave? For once in my life I'm happy.

I can't talk much longer, but you just... you must not leave the group!

...All right...

Good luck and God Speed, Lyith.

Bye Emily...

Bye Lyith.

The sun crept from the window onto Lyith's bed. She rolled over to prevent it from getting in her eyes,and began to settle back down when she heard laughter from downstairs, and the banging of pots and pans. Sounded like someone was trying to make breakfast. She quickly got dressed and ran downstairs to see what was going on...

When she got downstairs, the group seemed to be circled tightly around Jon.

"What's going on?" She asked.

Andy turned around. "I think Jon was trying to get us to help, but..."

"I'm cooking us breakfast," Jon replied, cutting off Andy. "Well? Is anyone going to help?"

There was a shifting of bodies, but no one gave any replies.

"Well... I seem to be the only one around here that can cook worth a damn," Jon said with a sigh.

"Well, I know Lyith and I can't cook," said Kyosan with a smile, remembering their earlier experiences.

"Fox told me that she couldn't cook... and Andy, Julie, Daeg and Ni all seem to have developed nasty coughs when I ask them..."

"I can see why not," Lyith said. "Who'd wanna cook for all of us?"

"Ya got a point there," Jon said with a smirk.

"But somebody has to do it, so I guess you get the job!" Lyith laughed.

"That's what I figured," Jon said, defeated. "But what does everyone want for breakfast?"

"Why not just make something quick, like pancakes, for everyone?" Suggested Fox.

"Sounds good enough..." Jon conceded.

"Right!" Fox grinned triumphantly. "I've done my bit! 'Bye!"

"Bunch of ingrates," Jon muttered as Fox hastily disappeared into the next room, followed by the others, who appeared not to want to help, but only to be able to eat what was made.

"Well, I'll help, even if I can't cook," Lyith offered. "So what do we need to do? I've never made pancakes before."

"Well, first we need to mix the batter," Jon said, as he rummaged around for a large bowl to make the batter in. Lyith opened the cupboard beside her and pulled out a bowl. "Big enough?"

"That should be good," Jon said as he started adding the ingredients in.

"Okay..." Lyith bit her lip. "Don't we need to turn on a grill or something to make the pancakes on? Might as well get it hot."

"Yeah. Could you do that for me?"

"Sure," she replied, walking over to the stovetop and turning one of the dials. "I might as well find the frying pan too, while I'm at it."

Lyith searched the cupboards as Jon added each of the ingredients into the bowl, and began stirring.

"Good idea," Jon continued as he mixed the batter.

"Why do you think they hide things like that from you?" Lyith asked, still searching.

"I've never figured that one out, but if you stop looking you'll probably find it," Jon replied, laughing.

"I think you're right," Lyith replied with a sigh. "But plates and silverware shouldn't be that hard to... and here's the frying pan!" Lyith shook her head. "You were right..."

"Told ya," Jon grinned. He soon finished mixing the batter and was about ready to cook.

"Okay, so lemme guess, you pour it onto the pan, flip 'em, and then you're finished... right?"

"Yeah, that's about it. Easy, huh?"

"Yeah... um... anyways..." began Lyith as she watched Jon, "... do you... remember anything when you were younger?"

Jon was duly surprized by the question, but still answered. "Nothing from when I was really young. Most of what I remember is from when I was in an orphanage."

"Yeah?..." Lyith stared at the ground. "I was never in an orphanage, but I can't say that where I was, was any better... don't suppose I have much to complain about though... I could've be left out in the rain instead."

"Well, I think wherever you were, it was probably better than where I was. Believe me... Lyith... do you remember any of your younger childhood? Maybe your mother or father?"

Lyith wiped her eyes. "I have this... person... that comes to me in my dreams... I've had flashes of memories... me and... my brother sitting in the front yard... and then I hear a woman screaming... and... that's all..."

"I'm sorry," Jon said gently. "Does it hurt to remember?"

"Sorta...I've spent my whole life wondering and searching. It's hard not remembering anything at all, and when you do, you'd rather that you didn't remember at all. The screams are awful. And I don't know who it is, or what's happening. It's scary."

"...I'm sorry to make you remember that. But, now, I'll join you in your search. At least you'll have a shoulder to cry on, and someone to support you."

Lyith gave him a small, quick hug. "Thanks, Jon. It means a lot to me. So... do you think they're alive?"

"Who knows? But I think they might be."

"I hope so. I have a lot of questions to ask them." She smiled. "Like what in the hell happened to me yesterday..."

"Huh?"

Lyith gave Jon and odd look. "Um... it was really weird. I was getting so angry at Kismet..."

"Oh, that..." Jon smirked.

"Yeah... that."

"I know about that..." Jon said. He formed an electricity ball in his hand to show her.

"Oh my god!... You... how? Shit!... This just keeps getting weirder and weirder!"

"That's the reaction I usually get."

Quickly, Jon gave her a brief run-down on what had happened, and about their ancestors...

"Wow... I never even thought of anything like that..."

"I had to learn about it in my dreams... strange... but..."

"But what?"

"I dunno... it's just strange... and I guess there was no other way to learn."

"I guess..." Lyith said, a little dazed by everything.

"So... I don't know much about you still... anything you'd care to tell?" Jon asked.

"Well," Lyith took a deep breath, "there isn't a whole lot to tell. I was raised by an old couple who found me... and with me so attached to fire pokémon, and living in a village of water trainers, I left as soon as I could. I traveled around trying to find out about my parents... and that's when Emily came to me... and then I found you guys."

"I see..." Jon said, then smirked, and winked at her. "Any love interests?"

Lyith blushed. "Well... um... why do you ask?"

"I'm curious... I have to protect my sister. Can't have you with the wrong guy."

"Oh, I don't think you have to worry about that," Lyith said with a smile.

"Oh, really?" Jon inquired. "And why not?"

"Well... you already know him, and I'm pretty sure you trust him."

"Hmmm... well, that narrows it down," Jon said. Lyith eyed him carefully, and then whispered a name in his ear. He nodded and smiled.

Lyith grinned. "Well, I think the others might be getting angry. Should we let them eat?"

"Oh yeah!... I almost forgot. Yep, let's finish..."

Lyith placed all the pancakes on a large plate. "So what about you? Do you have any 'interests'?"

"Uh... why, no... what would make you think that?" A tinge of red lit his face.

"I dunno... but we all saw what happened when you hung out that mistletoe... and whenever you're arguing with her and you score a point, Fox blushes just like you are now," Lyith said with a wink.

Jon coughed and turned away from the grinning Lyith. "Anyway... let's serve this food to the starving people, huh?"

"All right," Lyith said with a grin, and walked into the other room carrying plates. Jon followed her with a plate of pancakes in hand.

"Finally!" Called Andy, looking rather hungry. "I thought you two got lost in the kitchen!"

Jon smiled and set the pancakes on the table. Within moments everyone was on top of each other, getting themselves a platefull (but of course Andy was first in line). Soon the plate of pancakes was empty, and Jon was heading back into the kitchen to cook some more.

Lyith grinned as Jon dragged himself back in to fix another batch. "Hey Fox, why don't you go help Jon this time?"

"Why?" Fox shrugged. "I can't cook."

"Neither can I... oh well, I suppose I'll go help then."

Jon was already in the kitchen, starting on another batch. Lyith walked over with a smile.

"I suggested Fox come help you, but I don't think she wanted to."

"Oh, I see," Jon smiled. "Well, that kinda sounds like her."

Lyith laughed. "Sure... so... I told you about myself, now what about you? What about your past?"

"Well, let's see... I was raised in an orphanage, but the caretaker was mean and had rules that were way too strict.When we broke a rule we got beaten, and that happened quite a lot, I can tell you. I was there for a long time, and I used to sneak out with Falcon to fight Thane... and eventually, when I was ten, we ran away. I pretty much wandered for the next years, and I stayed with a friend who owns an inn when I wasn't on the move. And eventually, I met up with all of you. That's about it."

Lyith was quiet for a moment. "I'm sorry... but they say past troubles make you stronger for the future."

"I think that's true," Jon said.

"Do you regret, it then? I assume it wasn't easy of course... but..."

"Well, I certainly didn't like it... but in the long run, I think it helped me out in life a lot."

"I'm sorry. It wasn't very nice saying that. But I always try to look on a brighter side."

"It's quite alright... it doesn't hurt to talk about as much since I went back."

"Back?"

"I went back to make sure that no other kids went through what I did," Jon paused. "I got the head of the orphanage fired... and a little more."

"Oh..." Lyith smiled. "I think there's something to that 'a little more'... not that it matters of course, I'm sure they deserved it."

"Yeah... well anyway... I'm glad I found I still have some family..." Jon said, glancing at his sister.

Lyith smiled again. "And I'm glad I found my brother. To be honest, I never thought I would."

"I didn't even think I had a family, if we're being honest," Jon said.

"I knew I did, I could feel it... at least when I was younger. But by the time I set off on my own, I wasn't sure if they were alive. The feeling died... but I know now that I at least have you. Sort of ironic how we found each other though."

"Yep... very ironic."

"Maybe it was fate... oh! I think the pancakes are finished. Maybe we should feed the starving group!"

"I think you're probably right... if we wait any longer we could get some limbs gnawed off or something!"

He set the last of the pancakes on a plate, and the pair headed back into the other room. Andy opened his mouth to complain about how long it took again, but closed it when he saw the glare Lyith shot.As soon as the plate was put down Jon decided to sit down and get something to eat for himself.

"At last the cook - and helper - get to eat for themselves!" Lyith said, glaring at Andy. I was in doubt if there'd be anything left!"

"Ya gotta be quick," Andy said, munching on a pancake.

Julie, who was sitting beside him, laughed. "I don't think you should say anything else! After all, Jon is the only one who can cook, and you wouldn't want to be left without anything."

"But I was talking to - "

"So," asked Lyith,cutting off Andy, "Christmas is in how many days?"

"I think it's only two days away." Jon said.

"Wow... not much longer..." Lyith said, and started to finish her pancakes, making plans.

How long can these moments of happiness last? Who's going to win Kyosan's affection - Tessa, or Lyith? Why is everybody but Jon so bad at cooking? You could ponder this, or you could head on to part V!