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Chapter Fourteen: Blue Lightning
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \
Legendary Pokémon are often associated into trios and duos, so as to identify them as a group serving some higher purpose. Across generations, it has been a glaringly obvious fact that these rarely-seen and magnificent powerhouses are quite separate from the rest; they organize themselves into a rough hierarchy and are not led by mere instinct.
The Johto trio of Raikou, Suicune and Entei are slightly different in this respect as the original ones were said to have been created by Ho-oh itself. Using a yet unknown and apparently mystical method, the Rainbow Pokémon was stated to have revived three Pokémon from death. In Ho-oh’s rage following the attack on the Tin Tower, legend claims that he had developed these three species himself – but it is widely believed to be simply a myth. In fact, there have been prehistoric records of the trio’s sighting long before human civilization began, leading many researchers to believe that Ho-oh only acted as a mere catalyst which led to the species attaining their legendary status.
It is confirmed that the trio has multiple members of the same species, having a “Prime Trio” much like that with the Kanto-based legendary birds. Unlike the prime birds which can be found in the Orange Archipelago, the location of the Prime Trio is unknown, much like the knowledge of the Prime Ho-oh’s whereabouts.
The physical prowess of the Legendary Beasts is said to be greater than that of the Birds, but is still below that of the Dragon Trio (Dialga, Palkia and Giratina) and the Origin Trio (Kyogre, Groudon and Rayquaza).
~Preface to Ho-oh: The Evasive Legendary by S. Oak
/\/\/\/\
Meir chuckled as he watched the young trainer literally drown into his meal. He was very lucky that Bliss had told him about their new travelling companion’s hefty diet when he had stumbled upon Ivysaur working furiously in the Pokémon Center’s kitchen. He didn’t want to think about what could have happened if they hadn’t brought their extra supplies: it would be heartbreaking to tell the young trainer to eat within rations due to limited food supplies. Even though he was a black hole when it came to food, he complimented it several times and it was – in a way – very endearing.
He sighed as he removed that thought from his mind. His senses were tingling again, and he was frustrated with waiting. All four of the quartet had expected that the team may be split up at some point of time, but Meir still found it difficult to organize his thoughts with the constant worrying about the other two of their party, as well as what was coming next. Ever since his installment as the Champion, he and Bliss never got to spend enough time together and it was all to exasperating to know that she was merely a kilometer away.
He watched absently as Ash finished his meal, and surprisingly went on to tidy everything up and put it back, ever so carefully, into the itemballs. Being out on the road for so long would force some habits into anyone, no matter how lazy or messy they were. Ash was very unlike himself, but they still got along really well. Even despite the age difference, they shared a common passion for Pokémon. That alone was enough to seal their friendship. Meir had found out that Ash had been very competitive, unlike himself, from the moment he began his journey in Kanto. This was an interesting difference which he often noted between himself and many of the other top trainers of the world. He wasn’t into competitive battling at first, and much like May, merely wanted to learn more about the world. It wasn’t until a couple of run-ins with legendary Pokémon, and the coaxing of his blonde-haired travelling companion that he took up battling.
Ash looked at Meir expectantly until he realized he wasn’t getting any response. He sharply flared his Aura (something that the older trainer had been teaching him on the road) which caused the other to jolt in surprise. Aura flaring was merely the creation of an acute pressure difference in the air, where the sudden suction would send a sharp pinching sensation to the other person: be they sensitive to Aura or not. Meir had asked him to use it whenever he got a little carried away by his thoughts – which turned out to be pretty often.
‘Sorry.’ Meir chuckled, rubbing the back of his hair in embarrassment. Ash just shook his head and got onto his feet. At first, he had been very conscious of Meir. After all, it sunk into his mind that he was travelling with the very person whose position he had so often dreamed of having. He was able to make out their similarities, but the difference in sheer power and intellect was daunting and very real. If Ash was the same as he was five years ago, he would have pestered him for a challenge. However, the more mature Ash of today had opted to analyze his future opponent calmly. It surprised him when he thought about how much his way of thinking had changed. It had to change and "evolve" if he wanted to reach the next level.
The duo continued walking for a while, skirting the perimeter of the small lake which they had found. There were quite a few lakes here and there despite the small size of the island, fed by a myriad of small streams. The volcanic activity of the island coupled with the geological activity created temporary, natural “distillation zones” on the island which drew on water from an underground reservoir and purified it quite autonomously. It was just one of the small quirks about the island, and it was almost as if the miniature spot of land was carefully pieced together like an intricate, accurate clock.
Merely a minute into walking did Meir get the danger message from Bliss. Ash, being fanatically worried about both May and Pikachu, ran off towards the small thunderstorm with a rather serious-looking Meir in hot pursuit.
/\/\/\/\
‘Raikou?’ breathed May, looking in awe at the majestic legendary beast. The royal yellow Pokémon was looking directly at them, as if waiting for the duo to make the first move. Carefully, May extracted a Pokeball from her bag, seeing Bliss do the same out of the corner of her eye. She noticed that the lightning bolts created by the miniature storm were growing ever closer to them…but were carefully not targeting them directly.
‘Pikachu,’ Bliss said quietly, gaining the yellow Pokémon’s attention, ‘Do exactly as I tell you to, alright?’ She never took her gaze away from the awaiting legendary in front of her, slowly walking towards the electric giant as she briefly passed May. Pikachu was quick to follow.
The electric rodent, on Bliss’ instruction, was sending out a carefully-controlled Thunderwave to counter the effects of Raikou’s lighting storm. Electricity, be it static or not, always tried to find the shortest route to bridge whatever difference of potential an object had accumulated. This fact led to a simple way to prevent the lightning from striking any of the trio. Bliss had Pikachu charge the damp air around them – weakly but continuously - making it have a higher potential than the ground, and thus a lower net charge difference. This would cause the lightning to ignore that small patch of land and instead strike the adjacent ground harmlessly. The only drawback to this was Pikachu’s electricity totally ruining her and May’s finely kept hair, but that was a sadly necessary sacrifice.
‘Bliss! Wait!’ May said, just as the older coordinator was about to release her Pokémon.
‘What is it?’ she asked, her eyes still on the electric giant in front of her.
‘I..I don’t think Raikou wants to fight us.’ May began uncertainly. ‘Remember what Lugia said about a “trial of grace” or something?’
The older coordinator didn’t respond verbally, but nodded, finally letting her gaze fall away from the electrical legendary. It didn’t take a genius to notice that Raikou’s periodic lightning bolts were far from the random strikes of a natural thunderstorm. It was a carefully coordinated display – one which demonstrated the sheer power of electricity and the respect it commanded. Occasionally, small fires would occur at spots of dry vegetation, adding a sense of thrill and danger to the scene. The Pokémon stood at what seemed to be the centre of it all, seemingly ejecting tiny, but visible currents from its body, and charging itself as the lightning storm raged on.
‘Beautiful…’ Bliss whispered, her eyes widening in realization. May was right – they were coordinators and Ho-oh wanted to see how good they were. The display Raikou was putting on right now would have been enough to win a Grand Festival, as any battle fought with the powerful Legendary later would have no variation on its outcome.
That was it. They had to prove that they were better than Raikou – both in grace and in strength. But…how they supposed to do that?
‘Pikachu, please stop your countershield.’ Bliss requested. The yellow rodent, who had been continuously discharging itself, complied with the command. Bliss quickly worked on a basic Aura technique – the earthing shield. It was one of the first techniques which was taught to trainee Aura Guardians centuries ago – a virtual lightning rod that nullified electric-type attacks as long as an individual didn’t get too close to it. This was a necessary precaution. Maybe Raikou didn’t want to fight them, but electricity could never be trusted so easily. No one, not even a Legendary Pokémon could guarantee perfect control over something like that.
Bliss turned her head towards the left, seeing as how May had stepped forward to a position beside her. ‘You’re right.’
‘Raikou doesn’t want to fight?’
‘No, it wants to see an electric show.’ Bliss grinned. She took out a second Pokeball, putting her first one back in. ‘Ever done an electric-type appeal before, May? It’s time you do one right now.’
Bliss nodded at her two companions and they returned the gesture in understanding. They had to beat the Thunder Pokémon at its own game.
/\/\/\/\
‘We’re here!’ announced Cynthia, in her usual cheerful, but quiet voice. The rest of her party wasn’t so enthusiastic anymore, mostly because of the long (and very dusty) rock climb they had to suffer. Mysteriously enough, Cynthia didn’t seem to have even an inch of dirt on herself, her golden hair was still shining as brightly as ever. When they asked her about it on their first stop ( which they had after a kilometer’s ascent from the base ) she explained that it was due to a mild Aura shield, which she couldn’t extend to the other due to it interfering with Garchomp’s Rock Climb. Many groans and nearly a day full of Rock Climbs and resting later, they had arrived at the peak.
The groups grumblings were put to rest when Cynthia called out her Alakazam to use his Psychic and clean out the dust from all of them, acting like a human-dirt vacuum cleaner. The uneasiness of being “cleansed” in that unorthodox fashion soon turned to awe as they emerged into the sunlit peak, with a magnificent view (and a little hypoxia) of the Sinnoh region. Granted, they were unable to see the southern shoreline – Sinnoh was a large continent after all – but they could make out the distant lights of Eternia in the west and Celestic in the east, along with an artistically sculpted landscape which was a mixture of green, white and gray.
It was then that they realized how cold it was. Cynthia grinned as she handed them some very elaborate coats, getting a mixture of grateful and mean looks. Grateful for getting them something warm to wear, and mean for taking so long to give it to them. All of them proceeded onto their most obvious next destination – a brightly lit tunnel which had been quickly built for the extraction. Next to it was what looked like an ancient, treaded path – the original path that led up to the Spear Pillar, the summit of Mount Coronet.
Cynthia frowned. She had gotten used to maintaining her enhanced senses permanently, but she had to turn them “off” for the time being – she didn’t want to feel like she was freezing to death in the icy landscape! She and the others never came to know that they were being watched as Team Galactic was already calling for reinforcements.
/\/\/\/\
‘Stay as low as possible.’ muttered Bliss, tossing her Pokeball into the air. Surprisingly enough, the small, yellow Pokémon that emerged from the ball landed gracefully on the ground, as if it was gliding through the lightning. A Coordinator needed to remain graceful under any circumstance – it seemed Bliss wasn’t doing that as well as her tiny yellow furball. She blamed it on static electricity and how it totally messed up her hair.
‘You have a Pichu?’ asked May, surprised to see the yellow, energetic bob. Beside her, Pikachu looked onto its pre-evolutionary form with curiosity.
‘Mmm.’ acknowledged Biss, her eyes flickering between her electric-type, and the one they were up against. ‘She’s the offspring of my Ditto and Cynth’s Raichu. Cynthia pretty much forced me to take an electric type – I’ve never had one before.’
Bliss was momentarily distracted by the beeping of her comm. device, revealing it to be a quick message from Meir, saying that they’re on their way. Despite that assurance, Bliss knew that they had to finish the job quickly – the geological disturbances would be a real setback to the movements of their two companions. May nodded at Bliss, signaling her understanding. They would have to do this alone. It was their challenge.
‘Pichu, let’s start with a thunder! Point it upwards!’ said Bliss, closing her eyes partly to visualize her electric appeal. With the huge static buildup around them, it was going to be difficult for the electric types to direct their attacks, which was an obvious setback. Pokémon controlled electricity by changing the alignment of magnetic diploes on their skin, particularly the electric types had developed locations to store charge which they accumulated by a gradual process of friction –with the wind. The exact details were unknown, but it was assumed to be done by an intricate system of ionizing their food and outer body fat. Raikou, being as large as it was legendary, easily created a charged atmosphere around itself, thereby limiting the electrical control that smaller Pokémon relied upon. Even ground-types, said to be immune to electric attacks, were vulnerable with the internal charge redistribution. Indeed, electricity could be very dangerous!
Pichu cooed in affirmative at her trainer’s command, already charging up to shoot a Thunder attack into the clouds. This could do one of two things: if they were fortunate, it would neutralize the powerful charge distribution around them to some extent; on the other hand, it could very well give them a powerful jolt. Pikachu was rapidly trying to converse with May as its younger version was preparing to discharge. The blue-eyed coordinator seemed to vaguely understand him (not as well as Ash, but manageably), her eyes widening at the brilliance of the Pokémon’s plan. When it came to electricity, Pikachu knew a whole lot more than she did, so she decided to go ahead with it – with a few modifications of her own pushed in: Her first electric appeal.
Eventually, Pichu managed to fire the Thunder into the air without problems. The yellow spark triggered a dazzling display of violet lightning bolts all across the sky as the small Pokémon’s pale yellow light slowly faded away. Grunting in finding a satisfactory challenge, Raikou started walking ever close to the two coordinators, leaving the gate to the top of the valley blocked by a continuous electrical discharged – its own version of an electrified fence.
Roaring, the Legendary Pokémon extended the same electric “fence” in a wide circle, encapsulating itself, the coordinators and their Pokémon into an area that was neigh impenetrable.
‘We’re trapped!’ exclaimed May. Somehow, it wasn’t fear but excitement that pounded through her – the fence of electricity may be deadly but was an absolutely awe-inspiring sight to behold. The thin, controlled sparks seemed to weave themselves into an almost symphonic pattern, warming the area and becoming a lone beacon of light on the deserted island.
‘Beautiful…’ whispered Bliss, giving May a small nod. They were trapped, but they had a job to finish. At the younger coordinator’s command, Pikachu leapt into action. The fortunate part about the yellow rodent was that it always obeyed Ash’s friends, no matter what it was ordered to do (which included giving his trainer a jolt if he was being lazy). It created a strong bond of trust, and a sense of warmth – just like its trainer.
‘Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!’ commanded May, as the yellow rodent initiated the attack as per their plan. With a graceful leap, the electric type slowly formed a yellow, crackling sphere around itself; This appeal was inspired by the one that Ash had used in the Terracotta contest to great effect. Pikachu already knew how to do it, and May was free to modify it to her personal style. She had achieved considerable success in her second objective for which she went to Johto: eliminating her battle-influenced style to one more graceful and refined for contests. It was impossible to eliminate the old style which was derived from Ash’s, completely. This created a new approach which she extended into her appeals as well – she showcased both brute force and speed (like her old form) along with her newly developed layer on top.
Bliss’s eyes widened at the growing yellow sphere that was Pikachu. Cynthia had been correct in telling her that it was unique: probably as a consequence of Ash’s aura leaking into the small Pokémon. She was also impressed at the fact that May had been able to follow the first, unspoken rule of contest appeals in these circumstances: the Pokémon, not the coordinator, should be the center of the appeals.
‘Pichu, drill left! Use the trick you did in your first contest!’
The smaller yellow Pokémon wheeled around, looking attentively at her coordinator as she quickly relayed some instructions using complicated hand gestures. Bliss had developed this technique pretty early: teaching her Pokémon how to follow her hand movements to correspond to their actions. It was a simple solution to the problem of forgetting their appeals on stage, or to sort out an embarrassment due to a mishap.
Around the chaotically bouncing Pikachu, who was using his path to carve an intricate design on the ground using his spherical shell of electricity, Pichu began moving in a great circle which covered the entire pattern which Pikachu was carving with Raikou’s help. Their objective wasn’t to compete with the legendary Pokémon as they first thought. It was to help it carve a message into the ground, using a carefully contrived “electrical chisel”, and by helping their Pokémon follow a path designed by Raikou using different intensities of electric and magnetic fields at different points.
Coding one circle after another, Pichu began to spring in and out of the various concentric shapes it had created to help in leveling and detailing them. A tinge of blue – Bliss’ Aura – helped it cover the imperfections and miniature dents which it had missed. Eventually, as the sky became dark due to the sunset, the pattern was finally complete and both the trainers and Pokémon collapsed in exhaustion. Raikou carefully studied the result of their work, sending a small spark to the trainers, repressing their nervous systems to a state of unconsciousness, before disappearing into the sunset.
The last thing May heard before the shock sent her into unconsciousness were two voices shouting out her name, a pair of chocolate brown eyes … and darkness.
Chapter Fourteen: Blue Lightning
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \
Legendary Pokémon are often associated into trios and duos, so as to identify them as a group serving some higher purpose. Across generations, it has been a glaringly obvious fact that these rarely-seen and magnificent powerhouses are quite separate from the rest; they organize themselves into a rough hierarchy and are not led by mere instinct.
The Johto trio of Raikou, Suicune and Entei are slightly different in this respect as the original ones were said to have been created by Ho-oh itself. Using a yet unknown and apparently mystical method, the Rainbow Pokémon was stated to have revived three Pokémon from death. In Ho-oh’s rage following the attack on the Tin Tower, legend claims that he had developed these three species himself – but it is widely believed to be simply a myth. In fact, there have been prehistoric records of the trio’s sighting long before human civilization began, leading many researchers to believe that Ho-oh only acted as a mere catalyst which led to the species attaining their legendary status.
It is confirmed that the trio has multiple members of the same species, having a “Prime Trio” much like that with the Kanto-based legendary birds. Unlike the prime birds which can be found in the Orange Archipelago, the location of the Prime Trio is unknown, much like the knowledge of the Prime Ho-oh’s whereabouts.
The physical prowess of the Legendary Beasts is said to be greater than that of the Birds, but is still below that of the Dragon Trio (Dialga, Palkia and Giratina) and the Origin Trio (Kyogre, Groudon and Rayquaza).
~Preface to Ho-oh: The Evasive Legendary by S. Oak
/\/\/\/\
Meir chuckled as he watched the young trainer literally drown into his meal. He was very lucky that Bliss had told him about their new travelling companion’s hefty diet when he had stumbled upon Ivysaur working furiously in the Pokémon Center’s kitchen. He didn’t want to think about what could have happened if they hadn’t brought their extra supplies: it would be heartbreaking to tell the young trainer to eat within rations due to limited food supplies. Even though he was a black hole when it came to food, he complimented it several times and it was – in a way – very endearing.
He sighed as he removed that thought from his mind. His senses were tingling again, and he was frustrated with waiting. All four of the quartet had expected that the team may be split up at some point of time, but Meir still found it difficult to organize his thoughts with the constant worrying about the other two of their party, as well as what was coming next. Ever since his installment as the Champion, he and Bliss never got to spend enough time together and it was all to exasperating to know that she was merely a kilometer away.
He watched absently as Ash finished his meal, and surprisingly went on to tidy everything up and put it back, ever so carefully, into the itemballs. Being out on the road for so long would force some habits into anyone, no matter how lazy or messy they were. Ash was very unlike himself, but they still got along really well. Even despite the age difference, they shared a common passion for Pokémon. That alone was enough to seal their friendship. Meir had found out that Ash had been very competitive, unlike himself, from the moment he began his journey in Kanto. This was an interesting difference which he often noted between himself and many of the other top trainers of the world. He wasn’t into competitive battling at first, and much like May, merely wanted to learn more about the world. It wasn’t until a couple of run-ins with legendary Pokémon, and the coaxing of his blonde-haired travelling companion that he took up battling.
Ash looked at Meir expectantly until he realized he wasn’t getting any response. He sharply flared his Aura (something that the older trainer had been teaching him on the road) which caused the other to jolt in surprise. Aura flaring was merely the creation of an acute pressure difference in the air, where the sudden suction would send a sharp pinching sensation to the other person: be they sensitive to Aura or not. Meir had asked him to use it whenever he got a little carried away by his thoughts – which turned out to be pretty often.
‘Sorry.’ Meir chuckled, rubbing the back of his hair in embarrassment. Ash just shook his head and got onto his feet. At first, he had been very conscious of Meir. After all, it sunk into his mind that he was travelling with the very person whose position he had so often dreamed of having. He was able to make out their similarities, but the difference in sheer power and intellect was daunting and very real. If Ash was the same as he was five years ago, he would have pestered him for a challenge. However, the more mature Ash of today had opted to analyze his future opponent calmly. It surprised him when he thought about how much his way of thinking had changed. It had to change and "evolve" if he wanted to reach the next level.
The duo continued walking for a while, skirting the perimeter of the small lake which they had found. There were quite a few lakes here and there despite the small size of the island, fed by a myriad of small streams. The volcanic activity of the island coupled with the geological activity created temporary, natural “distillation zones” on the island which drew on water from an underground reservoir and purified it quite autonomously. It was just one of the small quirks about the island, and it was almost as if the miniature spot of land was carefully pieced together like an intricate, accurate clock.
Merely a minute into walking did Meir get the danger message from Bliss. Ash, being fanatically worried about both May and Pikachu, ran off towards the small thunderstorm with a rather serious-looking Meir in hot pursuit.
/\/\/\/\
‘Raikou?’ breathed May, looking in awe at the majestic legendary beast. The royal yellow Pokémon was looking directly at them, as if waiting for the duo to make the first move. Carefully, May extracted a Pokeball from her bag, seeing Bliss do the same out of the corner of her eye. She noticed that the lightning bolts created by the miniature storm were growing ever closer to them…but were carefully not targeting them directly.
‘Pikachu,’ Bliss said quietly, gaining the yellow Pokémon’s attention, ‘Do exactly as I tell you to, alright?’ She never took her gaze away from the awaiting legendary in front of her, slowly walking towards the electric giant as she briefly passed May. Pikachu was quick to follow.
The electric rodent, on Bliss’ instruction, was sending out a carefully-controlled Thunderwave to counter the effects of Raikou’s lighting storm. Electricity, be it static or not, always tried to find the shortest route to bridge whatever difference of potential an object had accumulated. This fact led to a simple way to prevent the lightning from striking any of the trio. Bliss had Pikachu charge the damp air around them – weakly but continuously - making it have a higher potential than the ground, and thus a lower net charge difference. This would cause the lightning to ignore that small patch of land and instead strike the adjacent ground harmlessly. The only drawback to this was Pikachu’s electricity totally ruining her and May’s finely kept hair, but that was a sadly necessary sacrifice.
‘Bliss! Wait!’ May said, just as the older coordinator was about to release her Pokémon.
‘What is it?’ she asked, her eyes still on the electric giant in front of her.
‘I..I don’t think Raikou wants to fight us.’ May began uncertainly. ‘Remember what Lugia said about a “trial of grace” or something?’
The older coordinator didn’t respond verbally, but nodded, finally letting her gaze fall away from the electrical legendary. It didn’t take a genius to notice that Raikou’s periodic lightning bolts were far from the random strikes of a natural thunderstorm. It was a carefully coordinated display – one which demonstrated the sheer power of electricity and the respect it commanded. Occasionally, small fires would occur at spots of dry vegetation, adding a sense of thrill and danger to the scene. The Pokémon stood at what seemed to be the centre of it all, seemingly ejecting tiny, but visible currents from its body, and charging itself as the lightning storm raged on.
‘Beautiful…’ Bliss whispered, her eyes widening in realization. May was right – they were coordinators and Ho-oh wanted to see how good they were. The display Raikou was putting on right now would have been enough to win a Grand Festival, as any battle fought with the powerful Legendary later would have no variation on its outcome.
That was it. They had to prove that they were better than Raikou – both in grace and in strength. But…how they supposed to do that?
‘Pikachu, please stop your countershield.’ Bliss requested. The yellow rodent, who had been continuously discharging itself, complied with the command. Bliss quickly worked on a basic Aura technique – the earthing shield. It was one of the first techniques which was taught to trainee Aura Guardians centuries ago – a virtual lightning rod that nullified electric-type attacks as long as an individual didn’t get too close to it. This was a necessary precaution. Maybe Raikou didn’t want to fight them, but electricity could never be trusted so easily. No one, not even a Legendary Pokémon could guarantee perfect control over something like that.
Bliss turned her head towards the left, seeing as how May had stepped forward to a position beside her. ‘You’re right.’
‘Raikou doesn’t want to fight?’
‘No, it wants to see an electric show.’ Bliss grinned. She took out a second Pokeball, putting her first one back in. ‘Ever done an electric-type appeal before, May? It’s time you do one right now.’
Bliss nodded at her two companions and they returned the gesture in understanding. They had to beat the Thunder Pokémon at its own game.
/\/\/\/\
‘We’re here!’ announced Cynthia, in her usual cheerful, but quiet voice. The rest of her party wasn’t so enthusiastic anymore, mostly because of the long (and very dusty) rock climb they had to suffer. Mysteriously enough, Cynthia didn’t seem to have even an inch of dirt on herself, her golden hair was still shining as brightly as ever. When they asked her about it on their first stop ( which they had after a kilometer’s ascent from the base ) she explained that it was due to a mild Aura shield, which she couldn’t extend to the other due to it interfering with Garchomp’s Rock Climb. Many groans and nearly a day full of Rock Climbs and resting later, they had arrived at the peak.
The groups grumblings were put to rest when Cynthia called out her Alakazam to use his Psychic and clean out the dust from all of them, acting like a human-dirt vacuum cleaner. The uneasiness of being “cleansed” in that unorthodox fashion soon turned to awe as they emerged into the sunlit peak, with a magnificent view (and a little hypoxia) of the Sinnoh region. Granted, they were unable to see the southern shoreline – Sinnoh was a large continent after all – but they could make out the distant lights of Eternia in the west and Celestic in the east, along with an artistically sculpted landscape which was a mixture of green, white and gray.
It was then that they realized how cold it was. Cynthia grinned as she handed them some very elaborate coats, getting a mixture of grateful and mean looks. Grateful for getting them something warm to wear, and mean for taking so long to give it to them. All of them proceeded onto their most obvious next destination – a brightly lit tunnel which had been quickly built for the extraction. Next to it was what looked like an ancient, treaded path – the original path that led up to the Spear Pillar, the summit of Mount Coronet.
Cynthia frowned. She had gotten used to maintaining her enhanced senses permanently, but she had to turn them “off” for the time being – she didn’t want to feel like she was freezing to death in the icy landscape! She and the others never came to know that they were being watched as Team Galactic was already calling for reinforcements.
/\/\/\/\
‘Stay as low as possible.’ muttered Bliss, tossing her Pokeball into the air. Surprisingly enough, the small, yellow Pokémon that emerged from the ball landed gracefully on the ground, as if it was gliding through the lightning. A Coordinator needed to remain graceful under any circumstance – it seemed Bliss wasn’t doing that as well as her tiny yellow furball. She blamed it on static electricity and how it totally messed up her hair.
‘You have a Pichu?’ asked May, surprised to see the yellow, energetic bob. Beside her, Pikachu looked onto its pre-evolutionary form with curiosity.
‘Mmm.’ acknowledged Biss, her eyes flickering between her electric-type, and the one they were up against. ‘She’s the offspring of my Ditto and Cynth’s Raichu. Cynthia pretty much forced me to take an electric type – I’ve never had one before.’
Bliss was momentarily distracted by the beeping of her comm. device, revealing it to be a quick message from Meir, saying that they’re on their way. Despite that assurance, Bliss knew that they had to finish the job quickly – the geological disturbances would be a real setback to the movements of their two companions. May nodded at Bliss, signaling her understanding. They would have to do this alone. It was their challenge.
‘Pichu, let’s start with a thunder! Point it upwards!’ said Bliss, closing her eyes partly to visualize her electric appeal. With the huge static buildup around them, it was going to be difficult for the electric types to direct their attacks, which was an obvious setback. Pokémon controlled electricity by changing the alignment of magnetic diploes on their skin, particularly the electric types had developed locations to store charge which they accumulated by a gradual process of friction –with the wind. The exact details were unknown, but it was assumed to be done by an intricate system of ionizing their food and outer body fat. Raikou, being as large as it was legendary, easily created a charged atmosphere around itself, thereby limiting the electrical control that smaller Pokémon relied upon. Even ground-types, said to be immune to electric attacks, were vulnerable with the internal charge redistribution. Indeed, electricity could be very dangerous!
Pichu cooed in affirmative at her trainer’s command, already charging up to shoot a Thunder attack into the clouds. This could do one of two things: if they were fortunate, it would neutralize the powerful charge distribution around them to some extent; on the other hand, it could very well give them a powerful jolt. Pikachu was rapidly trying to converse with May as its younger version was preparing to discharge. The blue-eyed coordinator seemed to vaguely understand him (not as well as Ash, but manageably), her eyes widening at the brilliance of the Pokémon’s plan. When it came to electricity, Pikachu knew a whole lot more than she did, so she decided to go ahead with it – with a few modifications of her own pushed in: Her first electric appeal.
Eventually, Pichu managed to fire the Thunder into the air without problems. The yellow spark triggered a dazzling display of violet lightning bolts all across the sky as the small Pokémon’s pale yellow light slowly faded away. Grunting in finding a satisfactory challenge, Raikou started walking ever close to the two coordinators, leaving the gate to the top of the valley blocked by a continuous electrical discharged – its own version of an electrified fence.
Roaring, the Legendary Pokémon extended the same electric “fence” in a wide circle, encapsulating itself, the coordinators and their Pokémon into an area that was neigh impenetrable.
‘We’re trapped!’ exclaimed May. Somehow, it wasn’t fear but excitement that pounded through her – the fence of electricity may be deadly but was an absolutely awe-inspiring sight to behold. The thin, controlled sparks seemed to weave themselves into an almost symphonic pattern, warming the area and becoming a lone beacon of light on the deserted island.
‘Beautiful…’ whispered Bliss, giving May a small nod. They were trapped, but they had a job to finish. At the younger coordinator’s command, Pikachu leapt into action. The fortunate part about the yellow rodent was that it always obeyed Ash’s friends, no matter what it was ordered to do (which included giving his trainer a jolt if he was being lazy). It created a strong bond of trust, and a sense of warmth – just like its trainer.
‘Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!’ commanded May, as the yellow rodent initiated the attack as per their plan. With a graceful leap, the electric type slowly formed a yellow, crackling sphere around itself; This appeal was inspired by the one that Ash had used in the Terracotta contest to great effect. Pikachu already knew how to do it, and May was free to modify it to her personal style. She had achieved considerable success in her second objective for which she went to Johto: eliminating her battle-influenced style to one more graceful and refined for contests. It was impossible to eliminate the old style which was derived from Ash’s, completely. This created a new approach which she extended into her appeals as well – she showcased both brute force and speed (like her old form) along with her newly developed layer on top.
Bliss’s eyes widened at the growing yellow sphere that was Pikachu. Cynthia had been correct in telling her that it was unique: probably as a consequence of Ash’s aura leaking into the small Pokémon. She was also impressed at the fact that May had been able to follow the first, unspoken rule of contest appeals in these circumstances: the Pokémon, not the coordinator, should be the center of the appeals.
‘Pichu, drill left! Use the trick you did in your first contest!’
The smaller yellow Pokémon wheeled around, looking attentively at her coordinator as she quickly relayed some instructions using complicated hand gestures. Bliss had developed this technique pretty early: teaching her Pokémon how to follow her hand movements to correspond to their actions. It was a simple solution to the problem of forgetting their appeals on stage, or to sort out an embarrassment due to a mishap.
Around the chaotically bouncing Pikachu, who was using his path to carve an intricate design on the ground using his spherical shell of electricity, Pichu began moving in a great circle which covered the entire pattern which Pikachu was carving with Raikou’s help. Their objective wasn’t to compete with the legendary Pokémon as they first thought. It was to help it carve a message into the ground, using a carefully contrived “electrical chisel”, and by helping their Pokémon follow a path designed by Raikou using different intensities of electric and magnetic fields at different points.
Coding one circle after another, Pichu began to spring in and out of the various concentric shapes it had created to help in leveling and detailing them. A tinge of blue – Bliss’ Aura – helped it cover the imperfections and miniature dents which it had missed. Eventually, as the sky became dark due to the sunset, the pattern was finally complete and both the trainers and Pokémon collapsed in exhaustion. Raikou carefully studied the result of their work, sending a small spark to the trainers, repressing their nervous systems to a state of unconsciousness, before disappearing into the sunset.
The last thing May heard before the shock sent her into unconsciousness were two voices shouting out her name, a pair of chocolate brown eyes … and darkness.
It's great Earthborn.