Well, my hiatus is over! I'm sorry I made you wait so long for this chapter. This chapter is considerably longer than the other chapters though, so I hope it's worth the wait.
CHAPTER 13
Wind rushed through my feathers as I narrowed my eyes at the horizon, flying over the enormous buildings of Goldenrod City at a breakneck pace. Determined not to look behind me, I took a deep breath and accelerated to my top speed. The chaotic clamor of the city streets below faded into a distant whisper as I sliced cleanly through the tearing wind.
Suddenly, I perceived a change in my surroundings. The cold, gray skyscrapers of the city gave way to the lush, green trees of the countryside. Taking a deep breath, I gradually slowed down my flight. I spotted a nearby tree, circled around it a few times, and landed on its thickest branch.
A few quick breaths gave away Lightning’s presence, and I turned to see him land heavily next to me – apparently, he hadn’t expected me to fly so fast. He breathed deeply a few times before running his beak quickly through his ruffled feathers.
As I waited for Lightning to regain his strength, I closed my eyes and sighed. The fact that Lightning loved me – it was unavoidable, like a keen-eyed Fearow’s speedy Aerial Ace attack.
Love, I thought, confused.
Such an unfamiliar word. I shook my head.
Lightning’s handsome, but we can’t be together. Our trainers live too far apart – Falkner in Violet City, Ash on the path to the Pokemon League. I stamped my foot angrily.
Why am I even admitting that Lightning is handsome? Unless…
“Um, Thunder?” Lightning’s voice sliced through my ribbon of thought like a Scyther’s vicious Slash attack. “I thought… we needed to talk.”
“Right,” I said slowly, turning to face him. I almost flinched when I saw the lonely, hurt expression on his face.
Why did I have to hurt his feelings? I thought guiltily. I shook my head, deciding not to think about it for now.
“Well, there are two things, both of which are related to the progression of our journey,” I began. “First of all, now I know the true identity of Nature Hunter K.”
“Yes,” Lightning said. “Before you fainted from the battle against K’s Pokemon, you gasped, ‘Nature Hunter K is Falkner’s sister’.” He looked down, thinking. “How is that possible?”
I sighed in exasperation. “Don’t you remember the time Falkner received that letter from his sister, back when we were staying in the Azalea Town gym?” I asked. “His sister threatened to use nature to become the greatest Flying-type trainer of them all.”
Lightning cocked his head. “She said that?” he asked, surprised. “Truthfully, I completely forgot what that letter said. It was so long ago!”
“Lightning, how can you possibly forget about something that important?” I hissed, barely resisting the urge to yank the forgetful male Pidgeot’s plumes with my beak. “Falkner’s sister said that she was going to use
nature – and who is more obsessed with a Pokemon’s
nature than Nature Hunter K?”
Lightning closed his eyes, thinking. “Nature Hunter K catches Pokemon that have ‘good natures’,” he said slowly. “So she
is using nature to become a powerful Flying-type trainer!” Lightning sighed. “And here I thought that ‘nature’ meant plants and trees and such.”
I smiled, trying hard not to feel a sense of smugness. “You see, Lightning, sometimes you just need to
think,” I said good-naturedly. “Sometimes, you have to think out of the box – words may have more than one meaning.”
“Right,” Lightning said warmly. “You know, Thunder, you’re the smartest Pokemon I know.”
I shrugged uncomfortably. “Oh, I believe there are more intelligent Pokemon out there,” I said quickly, running my beak a few times through my chest feathers. “Well anyways, there is more evidence that Nature Hunter is Falkner’s sister.”
Lightning sighed. “Like what?”
“First of all, her Pokemon,” I explained quickly. “Falkner’s sister said that she had a Skarmory, Golbat, Gyarados, and Charizard. Nature Hunter K has a Skarmory, Golbat, Gyarados, and Charizard – we ‘met’ them during our most recent battle. Also – are you listening? – K
looks a lot like Falkner. I mean, the two of them have the same dark blue hair, the same light blue eyes, and even the same hairstyle.”
“Wow, you’re right,” Lightning said, sighing. “Now that I’m actually
thinking about it, K has a
lot of qualities that give away the fact that she’s Falkner’s sister.” He launched into the air so suddenly and quickly that the small green leaves on the tree trembled violently in the gust of wind he generated.
“Whoa, Lightning!” I exclaimed. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“Back to Violet City, of course!” Lightning yelled back. “I mean, I’ve got to tell Falkner that we’ve found his sister!”
“Wait a second, Lightning,” I said firmly, and Lightning sighed and landed back onto the branch.
“Seriously, Thunder?” Lightning asked grumpily. “What could possibly be more important than warning Falkner?”
“Lightning,
we can’t even speak the human language,” I said, exasperated at Lightning’s stupidity. “How are we supposed to tell Falkner that we found his sister? Sure, if we had Team Rocket’s over-intelligent Meowth with us right now, we could go back to Violet City. Actually, we wouldn’t be able to go back to Violet City, because Meowth can’t even fly.”
“True,” Lightning groaned. “But if Nature Hunter K ever goes back to Violet City to challenge her brother, we need to be there for him!”
“Falkner can wait,” I said adamantly, “because if I remember correctly Nature Hunter K only wanted to challenge him to a battle after she obtained her good-natured Pidgeot – me. And by the way, I had a horrible nightmare while I was lying unconscious in the Pokemon Center, and it is much more imperative than K and Falkner’s battle.”
Now it was Lightning’s turn to be exasperated. “Thunder, considering your practicality, I don’t think you’d believe in a dream in a million years.”
My feet shifted uncomfortably on the tree branch. “But it had Ash in it,” I said lamely.
“But really though, it was still just a dream.”
“Lightning, it’s a
nightmare, and a really important one. Can’t I just tell you what happened in it?”
“If it makes you happy,
fine.”
“All right,” I said happily, and I told him everything in full detail – standing on the ground floor of a dilapidated wooden tower, groaning in pain from the monstrous shiny Noctowl’s powerful psychic attacks, and staring in disbelief as Evil Ash said that he didn’t like me because Noctowl was more powerful than me.
“Hmm,” Lightning said once my story was over. “You know, I think Darkrai was trying to tell you why Ash broke his promise to you.”
“Exactly,” I sighed. I closed my eyes, thinking. “But what should we do about this Noctowl? I’m not even sure if he is real.”
“Well,” murmured Lightning after a short pause, “Morty’s Gengar is weak to Psychic attacks.”
“Huh?” I asked lamely. “Who’s Morty?”
“The gym leader of Ecruteak City, whose Gengar is a Ghost-and-Poison type!” Lightning exclaimed. “Challengers of that gym often use Pokemon with Psychic attacks, because Poison is weak to Psychic.”
“I get it now,” I said slowly. “If Ash challenged the Ecruteak Gym in his journey, he probably used Noctowl against Morty’s Gengar.”
Lightning nodded. “And if we can find Morty’s Gengar and talk to him, then maybe we can find more about that mysterious Noctowl in your dream.”
“Yeah!” I exclaimed, launching into the air. “Come on; we’ve got a Gengar to visit.”
_^^_^^__^^___^^__^^_^^_
A cool, gentle breeze ruffled my feathers as I perched on a high branch of a great oak tree. The faint early morning sun peeked tentatively out from behind a mass of dreary gray clouds, and the air carried the cool, damp scent of rain. A small group of Hoppip drifted over the rather large metropolis that sprawled in front of me – Ecruteak City.
The historical city looked almost as nostalgic as Violet. Traditional-style buildings, with beautifully curved tiled roofs, made up most of the structures in the metropolis. Gray stone pathways weaved among the quaint little structures, and a few tranquil blue ponds dotted the city, here and there. The most amazing and impressive structures I could see were the two enormous ancient-looking towers resting at the back of the city. They towered like giants over the rest of the buildings, reaching up to touch the sky. Both buildings looked very old, but one was well maintained while the other was dilapidated, wooden, and burnt.
I gasped. That second tower was familiar – I knew I’d seen it before, but I couldn’t exactly remember when or where. Then I recalled the nightmare I had when I left Goldenrod City. I closed my eyes, shivering as I remembered the enormous golden Noctowl with blazing red eyes. Painfully, I remembered everything: the old, dusty wooden tower room with floorboards that creaked from the ominous night wind, the Noctowl’s eyes glowing with an eerie blue light as it controlled my helpless body with Psychic, my body falling to the splintery wooden floor with a painful thud…
“I know that tower,” I whispered.
“Huh?” Lightning asked. He was perching next to me on the branch, surveying the city that sprawled before us. “What tower?”
“The old wooden tower over there,” I said, my eyes gazing at the burnt structure. “Remember the nightmare I had back at Goldenrod City, the one with the monstrous golden Noctowl? Well, I was in a dilapidated wooden building, which was all burnt and charred like that tower.”
Lightning followed my gaze, his eyes resting on the ancient structure. “If I remember correctly, that’s the Burnt Tower,” he said thoughtfully. “Hmm. If that tower was the setting of your nightmare, we can’t be too far away from finding that Noctowl.”
“Right,” I said, smiling. I giggled a little. “You know, Lightning, you’re starting to pick up some of my awesome intelligence.”
“You really think so?” Lightning asked, beaming. He gazed into my eyes. “Thanks, Thunder.”
For a short while, I looked back at him. The faint early morning sunlight reflected off his long, elegant plumes and turned them golden. I looked away uncomfortably, for I was beginning to feel strange and tingly inside. Lightning had never looked so handsome before, and I shook my head, confused. What was I doing? Why did I just let myself forget that Lightning was supposed to be just a friend? Heaving a quick sigh, I launched into the air and flapped my wings, trying to forget about what just happened.
“Thunder, what are you doing?” Lightning called from behind me.
“I’m doing what I came here for!” I snapped. “I need to find Morty’s Gengar!”
“Wait a second,” Lightning said sharply, following me. “Gengar’s a Ghost-type, and from my experience, Ghost Pokemon can be very difficult to deal with.”
“How can you be sure of that?” I asked, not really believing him.
“I’ve battled several of them at the Violet City gym,” Lightning explained patiently. “They’re really tricky. They can create illusions, vanish into thin air, and attack when you least expect it.”
I sighed and turned around to face him. “Oh, great,” I groaned. “Now what are we supposed to do?”
As if to answer my question, a deafening clap of thunder resonated from the dreary gray sky. A single drop of rain hit me squarely on my head, followed by another raindrop that bounced off my right wing. The rain picked up speed until it fell steadily in a medium shower, drumming softly on the curved tile roofs of Ecruteak City.
“I’m afraid we’ll have to postpone our ghost hunt,” Lightning said matter-of-factly. He looked around, searching for a place to seek shelter from the driving rain. “Aha,” he said as he spotted the Burnt Tower at the back of the city. “It should be safe in there.”
“Uh, are you sure?” I asked apprehensively, immediately recalling my terrifying nightmare. “It looks pretty… spooky.”
“Which is why we’re going there,” Lighting said confidently. “If I remember correctly, Ghost-type Pokemon like to hide in dark, scary places. If we seek shelter in that tower, we just might come across some of Morty’s ghosts.”
“All right; I trust you Lightning,” I said slowly as the first jagged lightning bolt of the storm fell from the sky. I gasped as it hit the Burnt Tower squarely on its tip, but a curious thing happened. Instead of zapping the fragile structure, the lightning bolt swerved, ran down the side of the building, and disappeared as it hit the ground.
“Whoa! How did that happen?” I asked, amazed.
“Lightning rod,” Lightning explained quickly. “Come on; I don’t want to get any wetter than I already am.” He flapped his wings and began his flight to the Burnt Tower.
I followed him, narrowing my eyes and focusing on our destination. As I got closer to the old wooden structure, I saw that it was equipped with a thick metal wire that ran from the top of the building to the ground.
So that lightning rod safely leads all electricity to the ground, I thought, amazed at the intelligence of humans.
But why would they want to protect such a dilapidated structure?
I followed Lightning through the front door of the building. Now that I was safely indoors, I sighed and shook all the rainwater out of my feathers.
“I’m so glad that we’re dry now,” I said as I looked around the ground floor of the building. It looked almost exactly like the ground floor in my nightmare, and I shuddered a little. “Okay, Lightning. Now that we’re here, what do we do?”
Lightning peered around the room. “I think we should search for Morty’s Ghost-type Pokemon,” he suggested. “Remember, if you see something very bizarre or scary, don’t panic. It’s probably just an illusion, and to stop it, just yell the words ‘We don’t want to hurt you guys’.”
“All right,” I said. Suddenly, a piercing, high-pitched shriek resonated from somewhere above me. I looked up and gasped.
“It can’t be!” I screamed.
“Huh?” Lightning asked. Then he looked up and his beak dropped open. “Is that the Noctowl from your dream?”
“Yes!” I yelled, terrified. The Noctowl was as enormous as ever, and had the same unusual golden feathers and blazing red eyes as the Noctowl in my dream. It emitted an ear-splitting shriek and dove towards me, wings folded as it executed an Aerial Ace attack.
My eyes darted wildly around the room. There was nowhere to fly except outside, where the terrifying thunderstorm still roared.
“We don’t want to hurt you guys!” Lightning yelled bravely, but his call did nothing to stop the giant Noctowl’s attack. Narrowing my eyes, I faced the gigantic Noctowl, readying a Steel Wing defense. I shielded myself with my metallic wings, closing my eyes and preparing for the devastating impact.
“Shadow, stop that right now!” A very angry male Pokemon’s voice resonated through the area. It had a mysterious, eerie hollowness to it, and I knew at once that it belonged to a Ghost-type Pokemon.
Slowly, I folded my wings, opened my eyes, and surveyed the scene that stood before me: the giant Noctowl had stopped in its tracks; a Gengar, who was clearly the source of the voice, stood at the foot of the old wooden stairs; and Lightning watched the scene half-terrified, half-bewildered.
“What?” complained a female Pokemon’s voice, which had the same ghostly, hollow quality to it as the Gengar’s voice. “Night, these two Pidgeot just barged into our home without asking!”
The Gengar, whose name was apparently Night, sighed. “Shadow, with that horrible storm going on outside, it’s clear that these two Pokemon just came in here to seek some shelter,” he said as he walked closer to the giant Noctowl – or at least the illusion of the giant Noctowl. “I know, I know, you’re just testing out your imitation of the shiny Noctowl that destroyed us four months ago. But I have to admit that it really isn’t a nice way to greet our tired guests.”
“Fine, fine,” Shadow groaned. I watched in amazement as the shiny Noctowl faded away into thin air. In its place floated a Haunter, a female with a rather annoyed expression on her face. I watched as she floated up the stairs and out of sight, muttering “ugh, he always catches me” as she left.
Lightning hopped over to me. “Are you all right?” he asked, with a concerned look on his face.
I shrugged. “I’m fine,” I said quickly. I eyed Night suspiciously. “Are all Ghost-type Pokemon like that?” I asked.
“Most of them,” Night sighed. “Truthfully, I enjoy a good scare now and then. But when our guests are wet, hungry, or tired, I don’t think it’s a really nice way to greet them.”
“No way,” I growled. “Especially because I know that Noctowl. I have a hunch that that Noctowl is why my trainer broke his promise to come back to me.”
“That kid named Ash is your trainer, eh?” Night asked with mild interest. He narrowed his eyes. “Why are you here? Ash passed through this place four months ago to destroy us at the Ecruteak Gym.”
“Well, you see, Ash released me a year ago in the Viridian Forest,” I explained uncomfortably. “He promised to come back for me, but he never has. That’s why I’m on a quest with Lightning here to find Ash again.” I glanced at Lightning with an expression on my face that clearly said, “You were right. Ghost-type Pokemon
are rather tricky to deal with.”
“Night, I’m sorry if we’ve bothered you,” Lightning said diplomatically, sending back a look that screamed, “Don’t say anything rude to a Ghost-type!”
“Thunder had a really bad nightmare about Ash’s shiny Noctowl,” he continued calmly. “We figured that if there’s one gym leader’s Pokemon who’s battled against that powerful Flying-type, it’d be you.”
Night hissed angrily. “Don’t even mention that destroyer’s name! He’s an insult to the dignity of the Ghost-types!” He turned away and groaned.
“Night, I understand that you are still upset about your loss,” I said respectfully, “but all we need to know is how powerful that Noctowl is. Truthfully, I’m not too fond of that Flying-type, either. But I need to know more about him if I want to continue searching for Ash.”
Night sighed and turned to face me. “I don’t know how Noctowl grew to be so powerful,” he groaned. “Ash’s Cyndaquil and Totodile were wimpy, of course. But Noctowl… he’s a freaking Normal-type and he destroyed us all!”
“Please, Night,” I implored, “will you please kindly tell us about the battle? We’d be very grateful if you did.”
“All right,” Night said after a moment of consideration. “I’ll tell you about the horrible battle, but no interruptions of any kind, okay?”
“Okay,” Lightning said earnestly.
“Well,” he began, “Dusk, Morty’s Gastly, was up first, as usual. Ash sent out his overpowered Noctowl, which apparently surprised his friends because Noctowl was supposed to be the ‘secret weapon’. Dusk and Morty were both a bit worried, but not too much because Noctowl was a Normal-type and we ghosts can all disappear into thin air.
“But then, that stupid Noctowl used Foresight and identified us all. Once that happened, we couldn’t even disappear! Thankfully, Ash was one of the stupider challengers and constantly switched Noctowl with Cyndaquil and Totodile. They were both wimpy, of course. Before Morty’s second Pokemon, Shadow the Haunter, had fainted, Cyndaquil and Totodile were both down.
“And then… Ash used his overpowered Noctowl again, because it was his last Pokemon. Seriously, we were
this close to destroying that lame old bird. But then that horrible thing had to learn how to use Confusion!” Night stamped his foot angrily. “Needless to say, we got destroyed after that freaking shiny Noctowl learned a Psychic-type move. Curse my stupid half-Poison typing.” He made an annoyed grumbling sound and floated away.
Lightning and I watched, perplexed, as Night floated up the stairs and disappeared from sight.
Lightning looked at me with a confused expression on his face. “Well,” he sighed, “Night must be really mad about that Noctowl.”
I nodded. “So mad about losing to a Normal-type that he didn’t even say goodbye to us,” I agreed bitterly. A terrible emotion was building up inside me – jealousy, rage, hatred, despair, and hopelessness all mixed up into a single horrible feeling. I turned away and closed my eyes. “That’s it,” I said listlessly as another loud clap of thunder shook the tower from base to tip, and a bright flash of lightning lit up the sky.
Lightning gasped. “Thunder, no,” he hissed. “This isn’t like you, at all. You visited the Violet City gym three months ago, determined to find Ash and asking me to help. I’ve sacrificed the comfort and glory of being Falkner’s best battler, and we’ve been through so many troubles together. How can you give up now, after everything we’ve been through?”
I sighed, not looking at him. “There’s no point in continuing our journey,” I said listlessly. “I know why Ash broke his promise now. I’ve been replaced.”
“You have not,” Lightning said sharply. “Just because Ash has another bird Pokemon now doesn’t mean he’s forgotten about you!”
“Forget it, Lightning,” I groaned. “He said he’d come back to me after running an errand for Professor Oak, but he didn’t. Why didn’t he come back? Noctowl, of course. It all makes sense: Noctowl is shiny, while I am not. Noctowl has psychic powers, and I don’t.” I sighed again. “I’m not stupid. I’m not going on a journey to find a trainer who doesn’t even love me.” With that, I launched into the air.
“Wait, Thunder!” Lightning called. His voice turned quiet. “What about me?”
Hesitantly, I turned around to face him. As I saw the hurt expression on his face, I cringed a little and landed in front of him.
I sighed. “I know what you’re going to say, Lightning,” I said softly. “But I need some time – some alone time – to think about it, I mean, everything that’s happened today.” I launched into the air again and hovered in front of him. “Just stay in the Burnt Tower, Lightning. If I come back by tomorrow morning, that means that I want to continue our journey. But if I don’t come back, that means that I’ve given up. If that happens, go back to Violet City. Don’t come looking for me, because I’ll be flying back to where I belong – Viridian Forest.” Without further ado, I turned and flew through the front door of the Burnt Tower.
I’d forgotten to check if the thunderstorm was still raging, but that didn’t matter because it wasn’t. Although the dreary, gray layer of rain clouds still hung stubbornly over the city, the cool breeze carried a new scent – the fresh, beautiful scent of the forest after a rain. I breathed the scent in deeply, feeling a little better.
I need to find somewhere to think, I thought as I scanned the city for a suitable place. As I spotted the other tower, the one that wasn’t ruined in any way, I smiled a little.
This looks like a good place, I thought as I swooped in for a closer look.
After all, I kind of miss perching high above everyone else.
To be continued…
